Engineering Commons^™

Synergistic Decision-Making Systems: Using Models Of Decision-Making Behaviors And Resources To Design Better Decision-Making System, Ronald R. Carter

Masters Theses

Despite advances in decision-making systems, many practical issues remain unaddressed and much of the computer's potential for supporting decisions is unrealized. The existing systems are often limited to specific decision-making activities or domains, and they force the decision-maker to adopt a closed and inflexible way of doing things. What is needed is a new approach to building decision-making systems, one that is not focused on how decisions should be made, but on the behaviors and resources involved in decision-making and how they affect the results. This paper explores such an approach. It examines how models of decision-making behaviors and resources …

The Effect Of University Characteristics On The Bicycle Transportation Mode And Helmet Usage, Carlton C. Urban

Masters Theses

By performing a statistical analysis on data collected from the Internet, this study sought to determine if designated characteristics of a university actually affect the bicycle transportation mode and helmet usage on college campuses. The focus group for this research experience involved bicycle commuters affiliated with universities in the United States. Through the establishment of a World Wide Web home page and on-line survey, the author obtained data concerning estimated bicycle and helmet usage percentages, and campus characteristic data from bicyclist responses. The Internet was used as an innovative approach to collecting data. Essentially the participant would simply locate the …

Investigation Of Various Shaping Methods For The Development Of A Fully-Monolithic Cmos Constant-Fraction Discriminator, Robert Gentry Jackson

Masters Theses

In this work the design of a constant-fraction discriminator (CFD) fabricated in the Orbit Semiconductor l.2-Jl n-well CMOS process is presented. This timing pick-off circuit is designed for use in the readout electronics of the Lead-Scintillator subsystem of the Pioneering High Eenergy Nuclear Ion eXperiment (PHENIX) Electromagnetic Calorimeter at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The design was driven by stringent requirements including low power consumption, small area, arrayable, low cost and a fully integratable shaping network. Various integratable CFD shaping methods are investigated, and the candidate methods chosen for fabrication were the distributed R-C delay-line shaping, lumped-element R-C shaping …

Impacts Of Hypothetical NoX Sources On Ozone Formation In East Tennessee, Mamun Ahmed

Masters Theses

This thesis studied the effects of hypothetical NO_x sources located in East Tennessee on the tropospheric ozone concentrations impacting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) using the Urban Airshed Model (UAM). The product of this study is a technique of assessing the potential impact of a new or modified large NO_x source on ozone concentrations within a Class I area, which includes and up-to-date detailed emissions inventory. The East Tennessee Modeling Domain (ETMD) consists of 94 counties in six different states with an area of 75,900 km²: Tennessee (40), North Carolina (22), South Carolina (8), …

Applications Of Artificial Neural Networks In Interactive Simulation, Payman Jula

Masters Theses

Although there have been many improvements in simulation technology over the past few years, it still suffers from many limitations. Simulation methods are usually time consuming and hence not suitable for the interactive decision making processes.

In this project, applications of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to simulate manufacturing systems have been studied. The backpropagation Multiple Layer Perceptrons (MLPs) have been applied to simulate manufacturing systems. Some guidelines for developing appropriate ANNs have been presented. The results of ANN approach have been compared to those of conventional simulation methods.

Effects Of Hypothetical NoX Sources In East Tennessee On The Ozone Concentrations Impacting The Gsmnp, Donald W. Brew

Masters Theses

This thesis studied the effects of hypothetical NO_x sources located in East Tennessee on the ozone concentrations impacting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP). The product of this study is a technique of assessing the potential impact of a new or modified large NO_x source on ozone concentrations within a Class I area, without requiring an up-to-date detailed emissions inventory. The study evaluates the MAP-03 model as a screening tool for selecting the day to be modeled by the Urban Airshed Model (UAM) for each hypothetical source location. The four source locations selected to be studied in …

Radiological Characterization Of A Uranium Processing Facility, C. A. England

Masters Theses

This document describes the plan that was developed and is being carried out at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant to provide data needed for radiological characterization of the site in anticipation of new posting regulations provided in Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 835, as codified from Volume 58, Number 238 of the Federal Register. The characterization plan addresses the entire site in terms of three categories: 1) Outdoor paved surfaces, 2) buildings, and 3) outdoor non-paved surfaces. Instruments chosen for use in this project are described, as well as survey techniques and the data management scheme. A quantitative …

The Effect Of Wet End Operations On Sizing Loss In Alkaline Papers, Suresh B. Cherukuri

Masters Theses

Changes in wet end of alkaline papermaking affect the size development as well as sizing loss. These changes include pH, alkalinity and type of filler used. Precipitated and ground varieties of carbonate fillers and the alkalinity associated with · them are believed to be the causes for the gradual sizing loss in alkaline papers due the accelerated hydrolysis reaction of sizing chemicals at higher alkalinity.

Precipitated and ground calcium carbonate fillers are used as fillers and compared to non carbonate filler such as kaolin clay for their response to size development and sizing loss at lower and higher alkalinity ranges …

Using An Evolutionary Strategy To Solve Frequency Allocation Problems, Min Chen

Masters Theses

Frequency allocation problem (F AP) is to assign radio frequencies to a number of stations subject to a number of constraints, so that the minimum interference is suffered. FAP is NP-complete. In order to solve FAPs, there are interference constraints to be satisfied. There are two constraints of FAP which were the focus of this study: (1) co-channel interference, (2) adjacent channel interference.

Evolutionary Strategies (ESs) are very efficient optimization algorithms based upon the principles of adaptive selection found in nature. In this study, a (μ,A)ES algorithm was implemented to solve instances of FAP.

This thesis has demonstrated that …

Study Of Periodic Gust Loads On Airfoils, Tatsuya Nakajima

Masters Theses

The wings on aircraft can experience unsteady loads due to atmospheric disturbances; e.g., wind, the wakes of other aircraft, structural vibrations, or some combination of these sources. In some cases flow unsteadiness can be beneficial by augmenting the lift and reducing the drag; under different circumstances temporal variations in the flow can induce stall or cause structural failure.

In this study, the response of isolated (and tandem) NACA 0012 airfoil(s) to time-periodic unsteadiness have been investigated. The sources of unsteadiness include a time-varying free stream flow angle, a time varying free stream velocity magnitude, and an oscillating airfoil.

The predicted …

A Study Of Kanban Based Production System In Cellular Manufacturing Environment, Sanjay Bhargava

Masters Theses

The study of effects of production data variabilities on Kanban based cellular manufacturing system is vital before its design and implementation because it would give better understanding of their uncertain behavior.

In this research, a detailed analysis of a Kanban system, with subcell scenario, under dynamic operating conditions is performed. The Control variables considered were number of Kanbans, processing time variability, demand variability and machine breakdown. The performance parameters considered were profit, production lead time, machine utilization and material processing lead time.

Approximately 200 simulation runs were made with 3 replications each by varying one control variable at a time. …

An Approach To Just-In-Time Implementation In Discrete Parts Manufacturing, Phillip Gregory Shirey

Masters Theses

"Just-In-Time manufacturing is a philosophy that encourages waste reduction and the elimination of non-value-added activities. The processes affected include office and shop personnel. When successfully implemented, JIT accounts for improved production lead time cycles, reduced inventories, improved employee morale, reduced cost of goods, and continuous improvements of the total business process.

This thesis identifies real world problems many medium size U.S. manufacturing companies now face, and an approach to JIT implementation in discrete parts manufacturing. The approach includes developing strategies to motivate the employees and to implement the tools and techniques of JIT, Total Quality Management, ISO 9001, and MRP …

Investigation Of Electrotribological And Arc Erosion Behavior Of Cu-15vol.%Cr In Situ Composite, Zhongyu Chen

Masters Theses

Electrotribological and arc erosion behavior of Cu-15vol.%Cr in situ composite was investigated in terms of coefficient of friction, interfacial resistance, bulk temperature, and wear rate as a function of normal pressure, sliding speed, and electrical current. Microstructural change due to electrical sliding was studied to understand wear mechanisms. Cu-15vol.%Cr in situ composite was selected in this research because it exhibits an excellent combination of mechanical strength and electrical/thermal conductivity.

It was found that the average coefficient of friction decreased with increasing electrical current under dry electrical sliding. The average coefficient of friction was lower under lubricated electrical sliding than that …

Study On Rheological Behavior Of The Composites Of Recycled Hdpe With Recycled Tire Rubber Particles, Yanze Li

Masters Theses

This study was mainly concerned with rheological properties of composites of recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE) with recycled tire rubber particles at shear rates from 1.167 to 116.7 s^-1. The viscosity was investigated in terms of effects of shear rate, shear stress, temperature, concentration of recycled tire rubber particles and heating duration. The temperature was in the range from 160 to 250 °C and the rubber particle concentration was between 0 and 25%. The heat duration for the composites was up to 240 minutes before testing.

The viscosities of composites were decreased with increase in shear rate and …

Plastic Fiber Rolling For Concrete Reinforcement, Jeffery S. Thomas

Masters Theses

"Fiber reinforced concrete is gaining in acceptance and usage as its strength and toughness benefits are realized. Polypropylene fibers are currently the most commonly used fibers. However, the cost of virgin plastics limits the percent content that can be economically added to concrete. One would first believe that recycled plastics could offer a viable alternative to virgin-plastic fibers, but at present time extra selection and cleaning steps required to reprocess the recycled plastic into fibers makes it more expensive than virgin-plastic fibers. A fiber rolling process conceived and developed at the University of Missouri-Rolla has the potential of making recycled …

Force Diagnostics Of Aerodynamic Bodies Based On Wake-Plane Data, Bohus Ondrusek

Masters Theses

The conventional method of using a balance to measure lift and drag on a model in a wind tunnel only provides information about the total quantities of these force components. Wake-survey analysis is a different technique developed for determining aerodynamic force on a body. Compared with the balance measurement, it provides a great deal of information about decomposed constituents and it clarifies the source of the aerodynamic force, but it also requires considerable work. In 1989, J.Z. Wu and J.M. Wu developed a unique theory, based on vorticity, for determining sources of aerodynamic force on a body from wake-plane data. …