Engineering Commons^™

Fast Compression Of Imagery With High Frequency Content, D. Scott Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

Image compression is an active area due to the many applications involving electronic media. Much research has been focused on image quality versus bit rate and/or algorithm speed. Here, we seek an effective image coder with a weighted constraint on speed. However, the compression must not taint the quality of impulsive features on the image. Moreover, the camera is operated in a mode that creates a dominant fixed pattern noise across the image array, degrading visual quality and disrupting compression performance. We propose a method that efficiently compresses such an image. We begin by characterizing and removing the fixed pattern …

Efficient Decomposition Of Large Fuzzy Functions And Relations, Paul Burkey, Marek Perkowski

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper presents a new approach to decomposition of fuzzy functions. A tutorial background on fuzzy logic representations is first given to emphasize next the simplicity and generality of this new approach. Ashenhurst-like decomposition of fuzzy functions was discussed in [3] but it was not suitable for programming and was not programmed. In our approach, fuzzy functions are converted to multiple-valued functions and decomposed using an mv decomposer. Then the decomposed multiple-valued functions are converted back to fuzzy functions. This approach allows for Curtis-like decompositions with arbitrary number of intermediate fuzzy variables, that have been not presented for fuzzy functions …

Multi-Output Esop Synthesis With Cascades Of New Reversible Gate Family, Mozammel H.A. Khan, Marek Perkowski

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A reversible gate maps each output vector into a unique input vector and vice versa. The importance of reversible logic lies in the technological necessity that most "near-future" and all long-term future technologies will have to use reversible gates in order to reduce power. In this paper, a new generalized k*k reversible gate family is proposed. A synthesis method for multi-output (factorized) ESOP using cascades of the new gate family is presented. For utilizing the benefit of product sharing among the ESOPs, two graph-based data structures -connectivity tree and implementation graph are used. Experimental results with some MCNC benchmark functions …

An Advanced Ambiguity Selection Algorithm For Seawinds, David G. Long, David W. Draper

Faculty Publications

SeaWinds on QuikSCAT, a spaceborne Ku-band scatterometer, estimates ocean winds via the relationship between the normalized radar backscatter and the vector wind. Scatterometer wind retrieval generates several possible wind vector solutions or ambiguities at each resolution cell, requiring a separate ambiguity selection step to give a unique solution. In processing SeaWinds on QuikSCAT data, the ambiguity selection is "nudged" or initialized using numerical weather prediction winds. We describe a sophisticated new ambiguity selection approach developed at Brigham Young University (BYU) that does not require nudging. The BYU method utilizes a low-order data-driven Karhunen-Loeve wind field model to promote self-consistency. Ambiguity …

A New Temporal Pattern Identification Method For Characterization And Prediction Of Complex Time Series Events, Richard J. Povinelli, Xin Feng

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

A new method for analyzing time series data is introduced in this paper. Inspired by data mining, the new method employs time-delayed embedding and identifies temporal patterns in the resulting phase spaces. An optimization method is applied to search the phase spaces for optimal heterogeneous temporal pattern clusters that reveal hidden temporal patterns, which are characteristic and predictive of time series events. The fundamental concepts and framework of the method are explained in detail. The method is then applied to the characterization and prediction, with a high degree of accuracy, of the release of metal droplets from a welder. The …

A Human Error Analysis Of General Aviation Controlled Flight Into The Terrain Accidents Occurring Between 1990-1998, Scott A. Shappell, Douglas A. Wiegmann

Publications

Although all aviation accidents are of interest to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), perhaps none is more disconcerting than those in which a fully functioning aircraft is inexplicably flown into the ground. Referred to as controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), these accidents continue to be a major safety concern within aviation, in particular general aviation (GA). A previous study as part of the FAA's Safer Skies agenda examined 165 CFIT accidents using root cause analysis and developed 55 interventions to address their causes. While the study represented the work and opinions of several experts in the FAA and industry, the …

Fire Behavior Of Some Southern California Live Chaparral Fuels, Lulu Sun, Xiangyang Zhou, Shankar Mahalingam, David R. Weise

Publications

Wildfire spread in living vegetation, such as chaparral in southern California, often causes significant damage to infrastructure and ecosystems. In order to study wildfire spread in living vegetation, four of the most common chaparral in southern California, chamise, manzanita, scrub oak and ceanothus, were burned and compared. The observed fire behavior included mass loss rate, flame height, temperature structure and velocity field above the burning fuel bed. It was observed that flame height increases mainly with heat release rate. By using successive images of the temperature field, a recently developed thermal particle image velocity (TPIV) algorithm was applied to estimate …

Density Of States Simulations Of Proteins, Nitin Rathore, Thomas A. Knotts Iv, Juan J. De Pablo

Faculty Publications

A modified version of a recently introduced algorithm that calculates density of states by performing a random walk in energy space has been proposed and implemented to study protein folding in a continuum. A united atom representation and the CHARMM19 [B. R. Brooks, R. E. Bruccoleri, B. D. Olafson, D. J. States, S. Swaminathan, and M. Karplus, J. Comput. Chem. 4, 187 (1983)] force field are employed for these simulations. This method permits estimation of the density of states of a protein via a random walk in the energy space, thereby allowing the system to escape from local free-energy minima …

Advances In Experimental Method And Analysis For Estimation Of Geometrically-Necessary Dislocations, Brent L. Adams, Bassem S. El-Dasher, Anthony D. Rollett

Faculty Publications

The authors wish to thank The Alcoa Technical Research Center for supplying the specimens and performing the compression tests. This work was supported by the MRSEC program of the National Science Foundation under DMR-0079996 as well as Lawrence Livermore Laboratory DOE/DoD Joint Program. An behavior of grain boundaries of the polycrystalline materials over a wide range of length scales during plastic deformation is considered. Electron backscattering diffraction and orientation imaging microscopy provide automated scanning measurements of the lattice orientation near grain boundaries. These methods are useful to set the necessary length scales. The data are presented for directionally-solidified pure Al …

A Joint Trajectory Generator For Motion Recovery, Edward Red, Wei Li

Faculty Publications

This paper describes an adaptive S-curve used to recover a tool path upon a system crash in the Windows operating system (OS). For a mechanism such as a robot or machine tool, the joint values, being delivered as setpoints to the servo-controller, are dynamically recorded by the real-time operating system also residing on the computer. The real-time OS can control the abort and record pertinent motion data after Windows OS crash.

Experimental Characterization Of The Mimo Wireless Channel: Data Acquisition, Analysis, And Modeling, Michael A. Jensen, Jon W. Wallace, A. Lee Swindlehurst, Brian D. Jeffs

Faculty Publications

Detailed performance assessment of space-time coding algorithms in realistic channels is critically dependent upon accurate knowledge of the wireless channel spatial characteristics. This paper presents an experimental measurement platform capable of providing the narrowband channel transfer matrix for wireless communications scenarios. The system is used to directly measure key multiple-input-multiple-output parameters in an indoor environment at 2.45 GHz. Linear antenna arrays of different sizes and construction with up to ten elements at transmit and receive are utilized in the measurement campaign. This data is analyzed to reveal channel properties such as transfer matrix element statistical distributions and temporal and spatial …

High-Resolution Measurements With A Spaceborne Pencil-Beam Scatterometer Using Combined Range/Doppler Discrimination Techniques, David G. Long, Michael W. Spencer, Wu-Yang Tsai

Faculty Publications

Conically scanning pencil-beam scatterometer systems, such as the SeaWinds radar, constitute an important class of instruments for spaceborne climate observation. In addition to ocean winds, scatterometer data are being applied to a wide range of land and cryospheric applications. A key issue for future scatterometer missions is improved spatial resolution. Pencil-beam scatterometers to date have been real-aperture systems where only range discrimination is used, resulting in a relatively coarse resolution of approximately 25 km. In this paper, the addition of Doppler discrimination techniques is proposed to meet the need for higher resolution. The unique issues associated with the simultaneous application …

In Situ Measurements Of Solution Conductivity In Microwave Field, Yong-Qing Su, Chun-Peng Liu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The curves of the conductivity as a function of temperature for 24 kinds of solutions have been in situ measured both in the microwave field and in absence of microwave field. The results indicated that the relationship between the conductivity in microwave field (L_w) and temperature (T) can be expressed by an equation L_w=a′+b′T+c′T² , similar to the one that is valid in absence of the microwave field L_n=a+bT+cT². Conductivity in the absence and presence of microwave field can be linked by the equation lnL_w=A+BL_n+CL²_{n …}

Environment-Induced Degradation And Crack-Growth Studies Of Candidate Target Materials, Ajit K. Roy, Brendan O'Toole

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

During the past two years (2001-2002) of this project, the primary effort was focused on evaluating the effect of hydrogen on the cracking behavior of candidate target materials namely, Alloys EP-823, HT-9 and 422 in aqueous environments of different pH values at ambient and elevated temperatures. More recently, emphasis is being placed to evaluate the cracking behavior of these materials in molten lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) environment at much higher testing temperatures so as to compare the cracking susceptibility in environments containing molten metals and aqueous solutions, respectively. The most recent tests to evaluate the cracking susceptibility were primarily based on …

Modeling Corrosion In Oxygen Controlled Lbe Systems With Coupling Of Chemical Kinetics And Hydrodynamics: Quarterly Progress Report 12/1/02- 2/28/03, Samir Moujaes, Yitung Chen

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The Lead-Bismuth eutectic (LBE) has been determined from previous experimental studies by the Russians and the European scientific community to be a potential material that can be used as a spallation target and coolant for the AAA proposed application.

Properly controlling the oxygen content in LBE can drastically reduce the LBE corrosion to structural steels. However, existing knowledge of material corrosion performance was obtained from point-wise testing with very limited density. The transport of oxygen and corrosion products, their interaction and variation of corrosion/precipitation along the flow are not well understood.

The first subtask of this project involves using a …

Use Of Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy For Stress-Strain Measurements, Ajit K. Roy

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The purpose of this collaborative research project involving the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the Idaho State University (ISU) is to evaluate the feasibility of determining residual stresses of welded, bent (three-point-bend), and cold-worked engineering materials using a new nondestructive technique based on positron annihilation spectroscopy. The proposed technique is to use x-rays from a small MeV electron Linac to generate positrons inside the sample via pair production. This method can be used for materials characterization and investigation of defects in thick samples that could not be accomplished by conventional positron technique or other nondestructive methods. The data …

Design And Analysis Of A Process For Melt Casting Metallic Fuel Pins Incorporating Volatile Actinides, Yitung Chen, Darrell Pepper, Randy Clarksean

Fuels Campaign (TRP)

UNLV has developed and will continue to develop process models for the analysis of melt casting processes. This work will continue to be performed under the guidance of Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) engineers to insure that their knowledge and experience benefits the project. The research to be conducted during year three will center on performing detailed analyses on a conceptual design of an inductively heated skull-crucible casting furnace. Processing conditions will be analyzed, basic models utilized, and detailed heat and mass transfer models will be developed to analyze the most promising processes. The goal of this third year is to …

Design And Evaluation Of Processes For Fuel Fabrication: Quarterly Progress Report #6, Georg F. Mauer

Fuels Campaign (TRP)

The sixth quarter of the project covered the following:

• Mr. Richard Silva continued the development of a simulation model with a Waelischmiller hot cell robot. Rich will continue to develop detailed 3-D process simulation models as his M.Sc. thesis project. Rich is employed with Bechtel at the Yucca Mountain project.

• Concepts and Methods for Vision-Based Hot Cell Supervision and control (Ph.D. Student Jae-Kyu Lee )

• An undergraduate senior student in mechanical engineering, Mr. Jamil Renno, was hired to develop the simulation model for the hot cell manipulator.

Near-Field Calculations For A Rigid Spheroid With An Arbitrary Incident Acoustic Field, John P. Barton, Nicholas L. Wolff, Haifeng Zhang, Constantine Tarawneh

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

A general spheroidal coordinate separation-of-variables solution is developed for the determination of the acoustic pressure distribution near the surface of a rigid spheroid for a monofrequency incident acoustic field of arbitrary character. Calculations are presented, for both the prolate and oblate geometries, demonstrating the effects of incident field orientation and character (plane-wave, spherical wave, cylindrical wave, and focused beam) on the resultant acoustic pressure distribution.

Magnetic Resonance Studies On Lithium Intercalation Into Carbons, Xiao-Rong Zhou, Zhen-Ming Du, Lin Zhuang, Jun-Tao Lu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electron spin resonance(ESR) and 7Li-NMR magnetic resonance (7Li-NMR) studies on lithium intercalation into carbons were reviewed based on recently published papers, including those by the authors of this review. Two kinds of electronic spins were found in ESR studies. One corresponds to the charge carrier electrons and is called the Pauli spin. From the ESR intensity of Pauli spins, the curve of the density of electronic states can be deduced for the carbon material studied and, in turn, the contribution of the band model mechanism to the lithium intercalation can be calculated for the given carbon sample. The other …

The Electrochemical Performance Studies On Novel Lifepo4 Cathode Materials For Li-Ion Batteries, Zhi-Cong Shi, Chen Li, Yong Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The cathode materials of LiFePO₄ and  LiFePO₄ coated with carbon were synthesized by means of solid state reaction and ballmilling. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, gas-phase element analysis and titration analysis methods. Electrochemical tests of two kinds of materials showed that both of them exhibit a 3.4V discharge voltage plateau, however, the coated samples demonstrated the improved performance in terms of discharge capacity and cyclic stability.

The Study On The Synthesis And Electrochemical Property Of K2Feo4, Yong-Long Wang, Ning Zhou, Shi-Hai Ye, Xue-Ping Gao, Feng Wu, Zuo-Xiang Zhou, De-Ying Song

Journal of Electrochemistry

The synthesis,characterization and electrochemical property of K₂FeO₄ for positive materal of lithium ion battery were studied. K₂FeO₄ with low purity was gained through the reaction of KCIO and Fe(NO₃)₃ in KOH solution and after recrystalization the purity of K₂FeO₄ reached 97%～98%. The methods of XRD and FTIR were used to measure the structure of K₂FeO₄ and its initial discharge performance was tested.

Study Of Electrochemical Lithium Intercalation Performance Of Ni0.67Mg0.33O, Zhen-Cai Huang, Mao-Hui Chen, Guo-Tao Wu, Jin-Kua You, Zu-Geng Lin

Journal of Electrochemistry

In the present work, Ni_0.67Mg_0.33O and NiO were produced by sol-gel method, and characterized by XRD, a rietveld refinement and the discharge/charge test.It was found that the magnesium-doping restrained the reduction of Ni and decreased the reversible capacity for the sample of Ni_0.67Mg_0.33O. But the formation of the solid solution after the magnesium-doping facilitated the high dispersion of NiO, and accordingly improved the electrochemical performance.

Application Of Biphenyl Electroploymerization For Overcharge Protection In Li-Ion Batteries, Li-Fen Xiao, Xin-Ping Ai, Yu-Liang Cao, Han-Xi Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electropolymerization of biphenyl at overcharged positive electrode was investigated for overcharge protection of Li-ion batteries. Biphenyl in electrolyte as an additive can electrochemically polymerize at 4.5～4.75 V(vs. Li/Li⁺) to form a layer of conductive film on cathode surface. The surface film increases the internal resistance and the gases released during the electropolymerization also increases the internal pressure of the batteries, which therefore enhance the sensitivities of the electrical disconnecting devices. During prolonged overcharge, the growth of the conductive polymer film can create short circuit between the positive and negative electrodes and cause self-discharge of the batteries to …

The Preparation And Characterization Of Zno-Pani Composite Film, Yan-Yan Xi, Huai-Guo Huang, Zhi-Xin Zheng, Ping Dong, Jian-Zhang Zhou, Ling-Ling Wu, Zhong-Hua Lin

Journal of Electrochemistry

ZnO nanoparticle films were prepared on the Au film, PANI film and ITO by sol-gel method, and their morphological optical and photoelectrochemical properties were also studied. The results showed that the porous structure of PANI can suppress the aggregation of ZnO particles, resulting in the blue shift of on-set in the UV-Vis spectra and fluorescence spectra of ZnO-PANI composite film compared with that of ZnO-Au film. It was suggested that the ZnO-PANI composite film can be used in photoelectric coversion.

The Electrochemical Behavior Of Amorphous Ni-P And Ni-B Alloys In 0.5 Mol/L H2So4, Xu-Cheng Wang, Wei-Jiang Wang, Hou-Tian Liu, Zu-Zhan Yu

Journal of Electrochemistry

Polarization curves and impedance spectra were used to investigate the electrochemical behavior of amorphous Ni-P and Ni-B alloys in 0.5 mol/L H₂SO₄ solutions. The possible reason about the remarkable difference in the electrochemical behavior between amorphous Ni-P and Ni-B alloys was discussed.

An Eqcm Study Of Water Adsorption And Oxidation On Pt Electrodes In Sulfate Acid Sulotions, Heng Lin, Sheng-Pei Chen, Jin-Mei Lin, Ai-Lan Lin, Guo-Liang Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

Simultaneous frequency and current responses during potential cycling of Pt electrode were measured in 0.1 mol·L^-1 H₂SO₄ solution by using EQCM. Quantitative analysis of the mass change revealed that the increase of mass in the hydrogen and double-layer regions in a positive-going potential scan was due to water adsorption on the Pt electrode, further calculation indicated that water molecules adsorbed on Pt electrode in the double-layer regions through a low discharge quomodo .The EQCM studies provided quantitative results of surface mass variation during water adsorption and oxidation,and have thrown new light in elucidating the structure of …

Behaviors Of Fe-Cr Alloys During Cavitation Damage, Xia Bai, Dong-Bai Sun, Hong-Ying Yu, Hui-Ming Meng, Hui-Qin Li, Zi-Shuang Fan

Journal of Electrochemistry

The influence of the surface galvanic effect on the behaviors of three Fe-Cr alloys during cavitation damage in NaCl solutions have been investigated. The results showed that the galvanic effect caused by the inhomogeneity between the undamaged surface of the alloy and the damaged one will be enhanced by the area ratio of the undamaged and the damaged. The behaviors of alloys during cavitation are closely related to both their mechanical performance and anti-corrosion capabilities.

Study On The Corrosion & Electrochemical Properties Of Alloy Aa5083 And The Effect Of Active Chlorine In Seawater, Hong-Ren Wang, Jian-Hua Wu, Jun-Tao Wang, Hong-Bin Wang, Zhi-Gang Fang

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this paper potentiodynamic technique, cyclic polarization technique and immersion corrosion method were used to study the corrosion and electrochemical properties of AA5083 alloy in quiescent seawater, the effect of active chlorine on its properties was also studied. The results obtained indicate that the active chlorine has no remarkable impact on the corrosion and electrochemical properties of AA5083 alloy in area of design concentration which range from 0.2 to 0.5 mg/L, and it has favorable influence on the improvement of pitting corrosion resistance. While the pH value of seawater has evident influence on the corrosion resistance of AA5083 alloy.

Study For The Cathodic Behavior Of Active Chlorine On 316l Ss Electrode Surface, Hui Yu, Ming-Xian Sun, Yan Ma, Xiao-Bin Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The cathodic reducing reactions of active chlorine on 316 L SS electrode surface have been investigated by electrochemical techniques. The open circuit potential shifted positively and the limited diffusion current density increased significantly with the increasing content of active chlorine in the 3.5% sodium chloride solution. The two cathodic reduction processes of HClO and ClO^- exhibited on the surface of electrode with the active chlorine added to the 3.5%sodium chloride solution and the corresponding potentials of the two reducing reactions were confirmed. The linear relationship of the mass transport-limited Faradaic current, Id vs. the square root of the angular …