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Faculty Publications

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Articles 2881 - 2910 of 3294

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Piezoelectric Doping In Alingan/Gan Heterostructures, M. Asif Khan, J. W. Yang, Grigory Simin, R. Gaska, M. S. Shur, A. D. Bykovski Nov 1999

Piezoelectric Doping In Alingan/Gan Heterostructures, M. Asif Khan, J. W. Yang, Grigory Simin, R. Gaska, M. S. Shur, A. D. Bykovski

Faculty Publications

We report on the piezoelectricdoping and two-dimensional (2D) electron mobility in AlInGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on 6H–SiC substrates. The contribution of piezoelectricdoping to the sheet electron density was determined using an In-controlled built-in strain-modulation technique. Our results demonstrate that in strained AlGaN/GaN heterostructures, the piezoelectric field generates at least 50% of the 2D electrons. The strain modulation changes the potential distribution at the heterointerface, which, in turn, strongly affects the 2D electron mobility, especially at cryogenic temperatures. The obtained results demonstrate the potential of strain engineering and piezoelectricdoping for GaN-based electronics.

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Low-Frequency Noise In N-Gan With High Electron Mobility, M. E. Levinshtein, S. L. Rumyantsev, D. C. Look, R. J. Molnar, M. Asif Khan, Grigory Simin, V. Adivarahan, M. S. Shur Nov 1999

Low-Frequency Noise In N-Gan With High Electron Mobility, M. E. Levinshtein, S. L. Rumyantsev, D. C. Look, R. J. Molnar, M. Asif Khan, Grigory Simin, V. Adivarahan, M. S. Shur

Faculty Publications

We report on the results of measurements of low frequency noise in n-type gallium nitride (GaN) grown on sapphire with 300 K electron mobility of 790 cm2/V s. The noise spectra have the form of 1/f noise with a Hooge parameter α of approximately 5×10−2. This value of α is two orders of magnitude smaller than that observed before in n-GaN. The obtained results show that the level of flicker noise in GaN, just like that in GaAs and Si, strongly depends on the structural perfection of the material (the amplitude of the 1/f …

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Accuracy Of Scatterometer-Derived Winds Using The Cramer-Rao Bound, David G. Long, Travis E. Oliphant Nov 1999

Accuracy Of Scatterometer-Derived Winds Using The Cramer-Rao Bound, David G. Long, Travis E. Oliphant

Faculty Publications

A wind scatterometer makes measurements of the normalized radar-backscatter coefficient O of the ocean surface. To retrieve the wind, a geophysical model function (GMF), which relates O to the near-surface wind, is used. The wind vector can be estimated using maximum-likelihood techniques from several O measurements made at different azimuth angles. The probability density of the measured O is assumed to be Gaussian with a variance that depends on the true O and therefore, depends on the wind through the GMF. With this model for wind estimation, the Cramer-Rao (C-R) bound is derived for wind estimation, and its implications for …

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Evaluation Of The Use Of Optical Fiber Thermometers For Thermal Control Of The Quench Module Insert, Matthew R. Jones, Jeffery T. Farmer, Shawn P. Breeding Sep 1999

Evaluation Of The Use Of Optical Fiber Thermometers For Thermal Control Of The Quench Module Insert, Matthew R. Jones, Jeffery T. Farmer, Shawn P. Breeding

Faculty Publications

Issues regarding the use of optical fiber thermometers to control heater settings in a microgravity vacuum furnace are addressed. It is desirable to use these probes in environments such as the International Space Station, because they can be operated without re-calibration for extended periods. However, the analysis presented in this paper shows that temperature readings obtained using optical fiber thermometers can be corrupted by emissions from the fiber when extended portions of the probe are exposed to elevated temperatures.

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Nonlinear Robust Missile Autopilot Design Using Successive Galerkin Approximation, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard Aug 1999

Nonlinear Robust Missile Autopilot Design Using Successive Galerkin Approximation, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard

Faculty Publications

The application of a new nonlinear robust control strategy to the design of missile autopilots is presented. The control approach described and demonstrated here is based upon the numerical solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs equation by Successive Galerkin Approximation. Using this approach, feedback controllers are computed by an iterative application of a numerical Galerkin-type PDE solver. Application of this approach to the design of a pitch-axis autopilot for a missile having uncertain pitch moment and lift force is described.

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Successive Galerkin Approximation Of The Isaacs Equation, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard, John T. Wen Jul 1999

Successive Galerkin Approximation Of The Isaacs Equation, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard, John T. Wen

Faculty Publications

The successive Galerkin approximation (SGA) algorithm has recently been developed for approximating solutions to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs equation. The algorithm produces feedback control laws that are stabilizing on a well-defined region of state space. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the application of the SGA algorithm to two simple examples. The examples serve several purposes: first they illustrate how the algorithm is applied in a setting that is simple enough to write out in detail, second they demonstrate the convergence of the algorithm in a setting where the actual solution can be derived analytically.

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Successive Galerkin Approximation Of A Nonlinear Optimal Attitude Control, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard, Johnathan Lawton Jun 1999

Successive Galerkin Approximation Of A Nonlinear Optimal Attitude Control, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard, Johnathan Lawton

Faculty Publications

This paper presents the application of the successive Galerkin approximation (SGA) to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation to obtain solutions of the optimal attitude control problem. Galerkin's method approximates the value function by a truncated Galerkin series expansion. To do so, a truncated Galerkin basis set is formed. A sufficient number of functions must be included in this Galerkin basis set in order to guarantee that the solution will be a stabilizing control. By increasing the size of the Galerkin basis the quality of the approximation is improved at the cost of rapid growth in the computation load of the SGA. A …

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A Five-Year Development Plan For The California Aviation Database, H.-S. Jacob Tsao Jun 1999

A Five-Year Development Plan For The California Aviation Database, H.-S. Jacob Tsao

Faculty Publications

The California Aviation Database (CAvD) project was suggested by Caltrans Aeronautics Program to fulfill a need of the planners involved in aviation system planning and programming activities to locate and access aviation data and information in an efficient and comprehensive way. CAvD is being implemented in the form of an Internet website and is currently intended as a five-year project. However, the development can be accelerated, and the duration will depend on the available resources. CAvD is a joint project between the National Center of Excellence for Aviation Operations Research (NEXTOR) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). Its primary …

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Synthesis And Experimental Testing Of A Nonlinear Optimal Tracking Controller, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard, Christopher A. Bailey Jun 1999

Synthesis And Experimental Testing Of A Nonlinear Optimal Tracking Controller, Timothy Mclain, Randal W. Beard, Christopher A. Bailey

Faculty Publications

This paper presents a novel approach for developing tracking controllers for nonlinear systems. The approach involves the numerical solution, by Galerkin approximation, of the time-varying Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation and results in a nonlinear controller approximating the optimal tracking control law for a specified desired trajectory and cost function. Experimental results are presented for a nonlinear pendulum system.

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Oxygen Permeation Through Composite Oxide-Ion And Electronic Conductors, Kevin Huang, Michael Schroeder, John B. Goodenough May 1999

Oxygen Permeation Through Composite Oxide-Ion And Electronic Conductors, Kevin Huang, Michael Schroeder, John B. Goodenough

Faculty Publications

Oxygen permeation through composites consisting of four well-known oxide-ion conductors and a noble metal, Pd or Ag, is reported. The oxides were Zr0.9Y0.1O1.95 (YSZ), (Bi1.75Y0.25O3)0.95(CeO2)0.05 (BYC5), Ce0.8Sm0.2O1.9 (SSC), and La0.8Sr0.2Ga0.83Mg0.17O2.815 (LSGM). The results show that (BYC5 + Ag) yields the highest oxygen permeation flux, but the composite deteriorates with time. The composites (SSC + Pd), (LSGM + Pd), and (YSZ + Pd) give stable, but relatively lower oxygen permeation flux …

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Online Auctions, Michael N. Huhns, José M. Vidal May 1999

Online Auctions, Michael N. Huhns, José M. Vidal

Faculty Publications

Auctions on the Internet can involve not only consumers, but also businesses. They can form dynamically and enable the exchange of goods much as stock exchanges manage the buying and selling of securities. But because auctions have a wide scope and a short lifetime, the opportunistic behavior needed for successful interaction requires agents to both participate in and manage auctions. The article focuses on the use of software agents in such Internet based auctions

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Cryosphere Applications Of Nscat Data, David G. Long, Mark R. Drinkwater May 1999

Cryosphere Applications Of Nscat Data, David G. Long, Mark R. Drinkwater

Faculty Publications

Though designed to measure vector winds over the ocean, new imaging techniques facilitate the use of NASA scatterometer data (NSCAT) in cryosphere studies. NSCAT provides data of unprecedented coverage, resolution, and quality which, when coupled with the scatterometer image reconstruction with filtering (SIRF) algorithm, enables images of O at resolutions approaching 8 km over stationary targets. Such images are useful in ice mapping and classification, and multidecadal studies are possible by comparison with Seasat Scatterometer (SASS) data. The utility of NSCAT data in polar ice studies is illustrated through a review of two cryosphere applications of NSCAT data: (1) sea-ice …

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Postlaunch Sensor Verification And Calibration Of The Nasa Scatterometer, David G. Long, Wu-Yang Tsai, James E. Graf, Carroll Winn, James N. Huddleston, R. Scott Dunbar, Michael H. Freilich, Frank J. Wentz, W. Linwood Jones May 1999

Postlaunch Sensor Verification And Calibration Of The Nasa Scatterometer, David G. Long, Wu-Yang Tsai, James E. Graf, Carroll Winn, James N. Huddleston, R. Scott Dunbar, Michael H. Freilich, Frank J. Wentz, W. Linwood Jones

Faculty Publications

Scatterometer instruments are active microwave sensors that transmit a series of microwave pulses and measure the returned echo power to determine the normalized radar backscattering cross section (sigma-0) of the ocean surface from which the speed and direction of near-surface ocean winds are derived. The NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) was launched on board the ADEOS spacecraft in August 1996 and returned ten months of high-quality data before the failure of the ADEOS spacecraft terminated the data stream in June 1997. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the NSCAT instrument and sigma-0 computation and to describe the …

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The Probability Density Of Spectral Estimates Based On Modified Periodogram Averages, David G. Long, Paul E. Johnson May 1999

The Probability Density Of Spectral Estimates Based On Modified Periodogram Averages, David G. Long, Paul E. Johnson

Faculty Publications

Welch's (1967) method for spectral estimation of averaging modified periodograms has been widely used for decades. Because such an estimate relies on random data, the estimate is also a random variable with some probability density function. Here, the PDF of a power estimate is derived for an estimate based on an arbitrary number of frequency bins, overlapping data segments, amount of overlap, and type of data window, given a correlated Gaussian input sequence. The PDFs of several cases are plotted and found to be distinctly non-Gaussian (the asymptotic result of averaging frequency bins and/or data segments), using the Kullback-Leibler distance …

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Ultrasonic Enhancement Of Antibiotic Action On Escherichia Coli Biofilms: An In Vivo Model, Andrea M. Rediske, Beverly L. Roeder, Maren K. Brown, Jared L. Nelson, Rachel L. Robison, David O. Draper, G. Bruce Schaalje, Richard A. Robison, William G. Pitt May 1999

Ultrasonic Enhancement Of Antibiotic Action On Escherichia Coli Biofilms: An In Vivo Model, Andrea M. Rediske, Beverly L. Roeder, Maren K. Brown, Jared L. Nelson, Rachel L. Robison, David O. Draper, G. Bruce Schaalje, Richard A. Robison, William G. Pitt

Faculty Publications

Biofilm infections are a common complication of prosthetic devices in humans. Previous in vitro research has determined that low-frequency ultrasound combined with aminoglycoside antibiotics is an effective method of killing biofilms. We report the development of an in vivo model to determine if ultrasound enhances antibiotic action. Two 24-h-old Escherichia coli (ATCC 10798) biofilms grown on polyethylene disks were implanted subcutaneously on the backs of New Zealand White female rabbits, one on each side of the spine. Low-frequency (28.48-kHz) and low-power-density (100- and 300-mW/cm2) continuous ultrasound treatment was applied for 24 h with and without systemic administration of gentamicin. The …

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Stratified Volume Diffractive Optical Elements As High Efficiency Gratings, Gregory P. Nordin, D. M. Chambers May 1999

Stratified Volume Diffractive Optical Elements As High Efficiency Gratings, Gregory P. Nordin, D. M. Chambers

Faculty Publications

We propose stratified volume diffractive optical elements as a new type of diffractive optical element that is capable of functioning as a high-efficiency grating in applications with requirements not suited to traditional holographic or diffractive optical techniques. In this approach, diffractive optical fabrication methods are used to construct an optical structure that emulates volume grating behavior. We discuss the diffraction properties of stratified volume diffractive optical elements and compare them with those used previously in both volume holographic optical elements and stratified volume holographic optical elements. A systematic design process is then presented for deriving structure parameters. We illustrate this …

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Portfolio Assessment In Aerodynamics, Nikos J. Mourtos Apr 1999

Portfolio Assessment In Aerodynamics, Nikos J. Mourtos

Faculty Publications

A new way of assessing student learning in an aerodynamics course through the use of portfolios is presented. The approach is portable to any engineering course, with a few modifications depending on content. The main idea is to allow students more responsibility for their own learning. Instead of having everyone in the class perform identical activities (homework, experiments, projects, tests, etc.), a cadre of assignments is made available to them. Students choose and perform (within reason) the ones that suit them better in terms of their own strengths and learning styles. The ultimate goal is for each student to demonstrate …

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The Probability Distribution Of Nscat Measurements, Paul E. Johnson, David G. Long Mar 1999

The Probability Distribution Of Nscat Measurements, Paul E. Johnson, David G. Long

Faculty Publications

NSCAT makes only indirect measurements of wind. The direct measurement is of the backscattered radar power. The signal power is contaminated by radiometric noise so a separate measurement of the noise power is subtracted from the signal-plus-noise measurement to estimate the backscattered power. Using the radar equation, sigma-0 is computed from the measured signal power. From multiple sigma-0 mesaurements made at different azimuth angles, the wind is estimated. In wind retrieval, the NSCAT sigma-0 measurements are assumed to have a Gaussian probability distribution with a variance which depends on the mean. Given this distribution model, the maximum-likelihood estimtor is formed …

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Observations Of Lattice Curvature Near The Interface Of A Deformed Aluminium Bicrystal, Brent L. Adams, W. E. King, S. Sun Mar 1999

Observations Of Lattice Curvature Near The Interface Of A Deformed Aluminium Bicrystal, Brent L. Adams, W. E. King, S. Sun

Faculty Publications

This work was partially supported by MRSEC Program of the National Science Foundation (DMR-9632556), and under the auspices of the US Department of Energy and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract W-7405- Eng-48. S. Sun gratefully acknowledges the comments of Professor E. T. Onat, Professor B. T. Chu and Professor W. Tong of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Yale University, and their valuable guidance in the process of completing this project as a doctoral dissertation. The assistance of B. El-Dasher of Carnegie-Mellon University is also gratefully acknowledged. Reported here is a study of the pattern of lattice curvature near the …

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Constructions Of Generalized Concatenated Codes And Their Trellis-Based Decoding Complexity, Robert H. Morelos-Zaragoza, Toru Fujiwara, Tadao Kasami, Shu Lin Mar 1999

Constructions Of Generalized Concatenated Codes And Their Trellis-Based Decoding Complexity, Robert H. Morelos-Zaragoza, Toru Fujiwara, Tadao Kasami, Shu Lin

Faculty Publications

In this correspondence, constructions of generalized concatenated (GC) codes with good rates and distances are presented. Some of the proposed GC codes have simpler trellis omplexity than Euclidean geometry (EG), Reed–Muller (RM), or Bose–Chaudhuri–Hocquenghem (BCH) codes of approximately the same rates and minimum distances, and in addition can be decoded with trellis-based multistage decoding up to their minimum distances. Several codes of the same length, dimension, and minimum distance as the best linear codes known are constructed.

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The Behavior Of Inorganic Material In Biomass-Fired Power Boilers: Field And Laboratory Experiences, Larry Lin Baxter 8507091, Thomas R. Miles, Thomas R. Miles Jr, Bryan M. Jenkins, Thomas Milne, David Dayton, Richard W. Bryers, Larry L. Oden Mar 1999

The Behavior Of Inorganic Material In Biomass-Fired Power Boilers: Field And Laboratory Experiences, Larry Lin Baxter 8507091, Thomas R. Miles, Thomas R. Miles Jr, Bryan M. Jenkins, Thomas Milne, David Dayton, Richard W. Bryers, Larry L. Oden

Faculty Publications

This paper highlights some of the major findings of the Alkali Deposits Investigation, a collaborative effort to understand the causes of unmanageable ash deposits in biomass-fired electric power boilers. A group of interested industrial institutions and the US DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office's Biomass Power Program through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory jointly sponsored the project. The industries contributed both funding and, in most cases, use of facilities to the project and included Mendota Biomass Power and Woodland Biomass Power (both associated with Thermo Electron Energy Systems), CMS Generation Operating (formerly Hydra-Co Operations), Wheelabrator, Shasta and Hudson Energy, …

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Combustion Properties Of Biomass, B. M. Jenkins, Larry Lin Baxter 8507091, T. R. Miles Jr, T. R. Miles Mar 1999

Combustion Properties Of Biomass, B. M. Jenkins, Larry Lin Baxter 8507091, T. R. Miles Jr, T. R. Miles

Faculty Publications

Properties of biomass relevant to combustion are briefly reviewed. The compositions of biomass among fuel types are variable, especially with respect to inorganic constituents important to the critical problems of fouling and slagging. Alkali and alkaline earth metals, in combination with other fuel elements such as silica and sulfur, and facilitated by the presence of chlorine, are responsible for many undesirable reactions in combustion furnaces and power boilers. Reductions in the concentrations of alkali metals and chlorine, created by leaching the elements from the fuel with water, yield remarkable improvements in ash fusion temperatures and confirm much of what is …

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Determination Of A Methane Intermolecular Potential Model For Use In Molecular Simulations From Ab Initio Calculations, Richard L. Rowley, Tapani A. Pakkanen Feb 1999

Determination Of A Methane Intermolecular Potential Model For Use In Molecular Simulations From Ab Initio Calculations, Richard L. Rowley, Tapani A. Pakkanen

Faculty Publications

The possibility of obtaining an accurate site-site potential model suitable for use in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of methane from ab initio calculations has been explored. Counterpoise-corrected (CPC), supermolecule, ab initio energies at the MP2/6-311 + G(2df,2pd) level were computed for eleven relative orientations of two methane molecules as a function of C-C separation distance. C-C, C-H, and H-H interaction parameters in a pairwise-additive, site-site potential model for rigid methane molecules were regressed from the ab initio energies, and the resultant model accurately reproduced the ab initio energies. The model suggests that C-H attractions are dominant in weakly binding the …

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A Decision-Oriented Framework For Evaluating Deployment Strategies For Intelligent Transportation Systems, H.-S. Jacob Tsao Feb 1999

A Decision-Oriented Framework For Evaluating Deployment Strategies For Intelligent Transportation Systems, H.-S. Jacob Tsao

Faculty Publications

Because Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) R&D is performed for the ultimate deployment in the real world, deployment issues may limit design options for ITS concepts and technologies and, hence, can be viewed as constraints on ITS R&D. Therefore, ITS deployment issues must be studied at the outset of the R&D process. This paper develops a framework to help recognize and organize such issues. The findings can be used by ITS researchers in developing deployable ITS concepts and technologies and by ITS promoters in deploying ITS technologies having been developed already. Based on a focus on decisions impacting the deployment of …

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Spatial And Temporal Factors In Estimating The Potential Of Ride-Sharing For Demand Reduction, H.-S. Jacob Tsao, Da-Jie Lin Jan 1999

Spatial And Temporal Factors In Estimating The Potential Of Ride-Sharing For Demand Reduction, H.-S. Jacob Tsao, Da-Jie Lin

Faculty Publications

Traffic congestion has been a pervasive problem in many urban areas of this country. This paper studies the potential of carpooling among unrelated partners (i.e., inter-household carpooling) for demand reduction during peak commute hours. Basic questions about this potential include the following. Can the current population density, origin-destination distribution, tolerable pick-up and drop-off delays, departure time distribution, and the tolerance for deviation from preferred departure time support a sizable carpooling population that can make a significant contribution to traffic demand reduction? Could the proportion of long trips that are likely candidates for carpooling (e.g., those long trips with same O-D) …

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Preparation Of Mesoporous Tin Oxide For Electrochemical Applications, Fanglin Chen, Meilin Liu Jan 1999

Preparation Of Mesoporous Tin Oxide For Electrochemical Applications, Fanglin Chen, Meilin Liu

Faculty Publications

Mesoporous tin oxide stable up to 500 °C has been prepared for the first time using both cationic and neutral surfactants.

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Analysis Of A Lithium/Thionyl Chloride Battery Under Moderate-Rate Discharge, Mukul Jain, Ganesan Nagasubramanian, Rudolph G. Jungst, John W. Weidner Jan 1999

Analysis Of A Lithium/Thionyl Chloride Battery Under Moderate-Rate Discharge, Mukul Jain, Ganesan Nagasubramanian, Rudolph G. Jungst, John W. Weidner

Faculty Publications

A one-dimensional mathematical model of a spirally wound lithium/thionyl chloride primary battery is developed and used for parameter estimation and design studies. The model formulation is based on the fundamental conservation laws using porous electrode theory and concentrated solution theory. The model is used to estimate the transference number, the diffusion coefficient, and the kinetic parameters for the reactions at the anode and the cathode as a function of temperature. These parameters are obtained by fitting the simulated capacity and average cell voltage to experimental data over a wide range of temperatures (–55 to 49°C) and discharge loads (10-250 ). …

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Determination Of The Lithium Ion Diffusion Coefficient In Graphite, Ping Yu, Branko N. Popov, James A. Ritter, Ralph E. White Jan 1999

Determination Of The Lithium Ion Diffusion Coefficient In Graphite, Ping Yu, Branko N. Popov, James A. Ritter, Ralph E. White

Faculty Publications

A complex impedance model for spherical particles was used to determine the lithium ion diffusion coefficient in graphite as a function of the state of charge (SOC) and temperature. The values obtained range from of 1.12 × 10–10 to 6.51 × 10–11 cm2/s at 25°C for 0 and 30% SOC, respectively, and for 0% SOC, the value at 55°C was 1.35 × 10–10 cm2/s. The conventional potentiostatic intermittent titration technique (PITT) and Warburg impedance approaches were also evaluated, and the advantages and disadvantages of these techniques were exposed

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Exploiting Expertise Through Knowledge Networks, Michael N. Huhns, Larry M. Stevens Jan 1999

Exploiting Expertise Through Knowledge Networks, Michael N. Huhns, Larry M. Stevens

Faculty Publications

The paper discusses the necessary capabilities of knowledge networks: categorizing (the ability to classify Web pages and other unstructured data automatically); hyperlinking (the ability to add to each item of information appropriate pointers to other relevant items of information); alerting (the automatic notification of users and agents to new information that might be of interest to them); and profiling (the construction of models of users and agents to describe their interests and expertise).

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Personal Ontologies, Michael N. Huhns, Larry M. Stevens Jan 1999

Personal Ontologies, Michael N. Huhns, Larry M. Stevens

Faculty Publications

Corporations can suffer from too much information, and it is often inaccessible, inconsistent, and incomprehensible. The corporate solution entails knowledge management techniques and data warehouses. The paper discusses the use of the personal ontology. The promising approach is an organization scheme based on a model of an office and its information, an ontology, coupled with the proper tools for using it.

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