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Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute Annual Technical Report Fy 2003, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

KWRRI Annual Technical Reports (USGS’s 104b Grant Program)

The FY2003 Annual Technical Report for Kentucky consolidates reporting requirements of the Section 104(b) base grant award in a single technical report that includes: 1) a synopsis of each research project supported during the period, 2) a list of related reports, 3) a description of information transfer activities, 4) a sumarry of student support during the reporting period, and 5) notable achievements and awards during the year.

Community Design Of A Light-Rail Transit Oriented Development Using Casewise Visual Evaluation (Cave), Keiron Bailey, Ted H. Grossardt

Kentucky Transportation Center Faculty and Researcher Publications

The Transit Authority of River City (TARC) is in the preliminary engineering phases of developing a light-rail transit system running from downtown Louisville, Kentucky to the city’s southern suburbs, a distance of approximately 15 miles. In collaboration with the research team, TARC wished to test an innovative methodology for improving community participation in the design of a light rail transit-oriented development for the Smoketown/Shelby Park area. The Smoketown/Shelby Park neighborhood is a low-income area located to the south of the University of Louisville Medical Center. A suitable site for the station has been identified by TARC and its design partners, …

Are Four-Year Universities Better Than Two-Year Colleges At Preparing Students To Pass The Faa Aircraft Mechanic Certification Written Examinations?, Jeffrey Bruce Summey, Marian C. Schultz, James T. Schultz

Publications

This study evaluates differences between two-year and four-year schools offering a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 147 aviation maintenance technician program. The actual average test scores were analyzed to determine whether students from four-year university programs were better prepared for the test than students from two-year college or technical school programs. Test scores can be viewed as a direct indication of the quality of the aviation maintenance programs at these schools. The study found that there was no statistically significant difference in the test scores between two-year college and four-year university students taking the FAA examinations. These results support previous …

Electrical Breakdown In Polar Liquids, Shu Xiao

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Hydrodynamic processes following the electrical breakdown in polar liquids, mainly water and propylene carbonate, are studied with electrical pulse-probe systems and optical diagnostics including shadowgraphy and Schlieren techniques. The dielectric strength of water in a repetitively pulsed power system is found to be 750 kV/cm and 650 kV/cm for pulses of 200 nanosecond and 8 microsecond duration, respectively. For energies less than 1 J, the discharge plasma decays in approximately one microsecond. The mechanical effect created by the expanding plasma is a shock wave which has an initial pressure of 1 GPa and decays within approximately 5 microseconds. The observed …

Hydrologic Variations Within Created And Natural Wetlands In Southeastern Virginia, Aaron Dyer Despres

OES Theses and Dissertations

The hydrology of wetlands, particularly how wetland soils collect, store, and redistribute water strongly affects how wetland systems function. In created wetlands, construction processes and materials influence the hydrology and consequently, the potential for successful reestablishment of target vegetation communities. During 2002–2004, the Virginia Department of Transportation constructed large mitigation wetlands on two different Quaternary aged surfaces with very similar hydrogeomorphic conditions. The Sandy Bottom Nature Park site (SBNP) located in Hampton, VA and rests on the sandy loam Tabb Formation while the Charles City Wetland site (CCW) lies on the older and clay-rich Shirley Formation. This study documents and …

Creating A Video Device Application, Kevin Septor

Honors Theses

A video device, such as a webcam, has the capability to be used in many ways, including recording video and behaving like a security camera. A TV tuner card can also record video, and in addition be used for watching television. However, the video hardware and device driver the operating system uses to access it are only capable of delivering raw frames of video. A user space application is necessary for exploiting the capabilities of such a device beyond reading sequential frames of video. This research explores the desiderata in a powerful video device application, and introduces a program that …

Mapping Of Thermo-Fluids Laboratory Experiments Into Web-Based Experiments, Sushil Chaturvedi, Rick Mckenzie, O. A. Akan, A. Priyadershini

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

A methodology is being developed for transforming physical experiments from the undergraduate thermo-fluids laboratory into a web-based virtual experiments. Important characteristics of physical experiments are identified in order to preserve them in physical to virtual domain mapping. Several commercially available software are employed to incorporate in the web-based experiments characteristics such as recreation of physical phenomenon in the virtual domain, measurement of physical quantities on a computer screen, assembly of virtual probes and coupling of the virtual experiment with a data acquisition software. A virtual reality software has been incorporated to enable web-based students to navigate through the virtual laboratory, …

General Creep-Fatigue Life Prediction Models, J. Toland, Tarun Goswami

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents a data bank that was compiled from published and unpublished sources. Using these data, low cycle fatigue curves were generated under a range of test conditions showing the effect of test parameters on the Coffin-Manson behavior of steel alloys. Generic equations have been developed in this paper to predict the creep-fatigue life of high temperature materials. Several new multivariate equations were developed to predict the creep-fatigue life of following alloy groups; I) Cr-Mo steels, 2) stainless steels and 3) generic materials involving the materials from the following alloy groups, solder, copper, steels, titanium, tantalum, and nickel based …

A Fast And Simple Algorithm For Computing M-Shortest Paths In State Graph, M. Sherwood, Laxmi P. Gewali, Henry Selvaraj, Venkatesan Muthukumar

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

We consider the problem of computing m shortest paths between a source node s and a target node t in a stage graph. Polynomial time algorithms known to solve this problem use complicated data structures. This paper proposes a very simple algorithm for computing all m shortest paths in a stage graph efficiently. The proposed algorithm does not use any complicated data structure and can be implemented in a straightforward way by using only array data structure. This problem appears as a sub-problem for planning risk reduced multiple k-legged trajectories for aerial vehicles.

Undergraduate Summer Research In Structural Engineering, Norbert J. Delatte

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

For the last seven years, a summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates site in structural engineering, funded by the National Science Foundation, has operated at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. During this time, 33 students from 22 colleges and universities have participated in the site. Participants are recruited nationally and have come from as far away as California and Puerto Rico. The program is intended to provide students interested in graduate studies with an introduction to research methods, and to provide students who will not continue their studies past a bachelor of science in civil engineering with a better understanding …

Stationkeeping Of An L₂ Libration Point Satellite With Θ-D Technique, Ming Xin, S. N. Balakrishnan, Henry J. Pernicka, Michael W. Dancer

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A new method for L₂ libration-point orbit stationkeeping is proposed in this paper using continuous thrust. The circular restricted three-body problem with Sun and Earth as the two primaries is considered. The unstable orbit about the L₂ libration-point requires stationkeeping maneuvers to maintain the nominal path. In this study, an approach, called the "θ-D technique," based on optimal control theory gives a closed-form suboptimal feedback solution to solve this nonlinear control problem. In this approach the Hamiltonian-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation is solved approximately by adding some perturbations to the cost function. The controller is designed such that the actual …

Optimizing Sequential Dual Tracer P.E.T. Studies Using A Combined 2d/3d Imaging Protocol, John W. Wilson, S. Borges-Neto, Timothy G. Turkington, James G. Colsher, R. E. Reiman, R. E. Coleman

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We have investigated a combined 2D/3D protocol for minimizing contamination in dual tracer P.E.T. studies in which the tracers are administered on a timescale that is short compared to the half-lives. We have performed a series of phantom studies on an Advance and a Discovery ST (GE Healthcare Technologies), using a torso phantom with cardiac insert (Data Spectrum Corporation) to simulate a combined FDG and NH3 scan protocol for a patient with ischemia. The phantom was imaged in a series of alternating 2D/3D acquisitions as it decayed over 6 half-lives. By comparing 2D and 3D images, we have verified that …

Coalgebras And Modal Expansions Of Logics, Alexander Kurz, Alessandra Palmigiano

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

In this paper we construct a setting in which the question of when a logic supports a classical modal expansion can be made precise. Given a fully selfextensional logic S, we find sufficient conditions under which the Vietoris endofunctor V on S-referential algebras can be defined and we propose to define the modal expansions of S as the logic that arises from the V-coalgebras. As an example, we also show how the Vietoris endofunctor on referential algebras extends the Vietoris endofunctor on Stone spaces. From another point of view, we examine when a category of ‘spaces’ (X,A), ie sets X …

Implementation Of Lean Method And Value Analysis In The Sandblasting Production Shop At Intersign Corporation, Elbert Zeth Nassey

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Intersign Corporation is a small signage manufacturing company in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which employs fewer than one hundred workers. The company produces variety of signage products and customized applications including room signs, room IDs, signs, suite IDs, nameplates, safety signs, menus, activity boards, traffic control signs, and many more. One of the company's main products, and the main subject in this study, is sandblasting products. Sandblasting production is a job shop operation which is placed in a 55 x 100 ft building (building B). In the near future, the company will expand this production by moving several workstations into the new …

State Feedback Integral Control By Velocity-Based Multiple Model Networks, Ruiyao Gao, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

Velocity-based (VB) multiple model networks have the advantage of allowing the capture of the dynamics of non-linear systems when compared to conventional multiple model networks, for they build a direct relationship between the non-linear system and the VB linearisation. To have the best use of modelled dynamic information for the controller design, this paper proposes a novel controller design approach, which associates an integral action with state feedback in local controller design. It overcomes the difficulty in the implementation of the velocity-based approach, which normally involves deducing the differential signal. It holds continuity with linear control theory in the analysis …

Implementation Of New Modified Smith Predictor Designs, Pauline Sourdille, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This paper outlines two modified Smith predictors developed previously by the authors and then presents the implementation results of these structures for the control of a pilot scale heating and ventilation system, the PT 326 process trainer from Feedback Instruments Ltd. These results are compared to the results obtained with a Smith predictor structure.

Determination Of The Phase Of A Transfer Function: Theory Versus Practice, Pauline Sourdille, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

In control systems, a way to evaluate the stability of a system is to determine the magnitude and phase of the open loop system transfer function in the frequency domain. But due to the nature of the phase expression, practice and theory are not aligned. Some problems arise when the phase is determined, caused by the properties of the arctan function. This paper analyses these phase problems for a third order lag system and a third order lag with time delay system. It also presents modifications to obtain the analytically correct phase values from the computed values.

Onset Based Audio Segmentation For The Irish Tin Whistle, Mikel Gainza, Bob Lawlor, Eugene Coyle

Conference papers

A technique for segmenting tin whistle audio signals according to the position of the note onsets is presented. This method focuses on the characteristics of the tin whistle within Irish traditional music, customising a time-frequency based representation for detecting the instant when a note starts and releases. Musical ornamentation, such as cuts and strikes, are very common in Irish traditional music and are played during the onset stage. Taking advantage of this musical feature, a novel technique for improving the onset time estimation is also presented.

Optimal Control Strategy Of Upqc For Minimum Operational Losses, Malabika Basu, Michael Farrell, Michael Conlon, Kevin Gaughan, Eugene Coyle

Conference papers

The paper deals with a new control technique for a unified power quality conditioner (UPQC), which is the most comprehensive of FACTS devices. The problems of power quality continue to gain in significance because of the proliferation of sensitive and harmonic producing loads in electrical networks. Greater awareness among customers with regard to supply integrity and a desire by suppliers to be able to guarantee a certain degree of power quality to customers is being reflected in the development of innovative power quality solutions. The UPQC, which is a combination of shunt and series compensation, is designed to cater for …

Understanding Manufacturing Energy Use Through Statistical Analysis, J. Kelly Kissock, John Seryak

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Energy in manufacturing facilities is used for direct production of goods, space conditioning, and general facility support such as lighting. This paper presents a methodology for statistically analyzing plant energy use in terms of these major end uses. The methodology uses as few as 60 data points that are relatively easy for most plants to obtain. Multivariable change-point models of electricity and natural gas use as functions of outdoor air temperature and production data are then developed. The statistical models can be used to predict energy use for energy budgeting, measure savings, determine cost structures, and diagnostic purposes. Moreover, in …

Software Quality Strategic Driver Model (Sq-Sdm 11), Ronan Fitzpatrick

Other resources

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Data Sets Using Trio Sonification, Charlie Cullen, Eugene Coyle

Conference papers

Recent advances in technology have suggested that sound and audio play a far greater part in our daily working lives than ever before. Mobile phone ring tones are now based upon polyphonic music sequences that allow relatively complex audio to be generated from a handset by way of conveying information (i.e. a call or message is incoming). This real world example of sonification suggests that far more could be made of sonification techniques for analysis- particularly in the business environment. One advantage of sonification is its relatively hands free nature in that once a sequence is being played it does …

A Wireless Traffic Probe For Radio Resource Management And Qos Provisioning In Ieee 802.11 Wlans, Mark Davis

Conference papers

The emergence of real-time services such as voice over IP (VoIP) and video streaming imposes stringent requirements on the performance of a network if quality of service (QoS) targets are to be achieved. In the case of wireless networks, some form of radio resource management (RRM) is typically required to allocate the available resources among the contending stations in accordance with their needs and respective priorities. A critical aspect of any RRM scheme is the ability to monitor resource usage and to determine the resource requirements on a per-station basis. In this paper we describe a wireless traffic probe for …

Power Coupling Between Two Step-Index Multimode Fibers Of Different Numerical Apertures With An Angular Misalignment, Cheng Gao, Gerald Farrell

Articles

Coupling efficiency between two step- index multimode fibers of different numerical aper- tures with an angular misalignment is calculated. The theory is presented using radiometry and geometrical optics. The limit case of the calculation is consistent with a previously published result. The results may be useful for applications such as power launching between two types of fibers with different numerical apertures for example silica fiber and plastic optical fiber(POF) and with an angular misalignment.

Purchasing Consortia And Electronic Markets: A Procurement Direction In Integrated Supply Chain Management, Bernd Huber, Edward Sweeney, Austin Smyth

Articles

In supply chain management literature, there has been little empirical research investigation on purchasing consortium issues focusing on a detailed analysis of information and communication (ICT) based procurement strategies. Based on the exploration of academic literature and two surveys among purchasing organisations as well as e-Marketplaces / procurement service providers (PSPs) in the automotive and electronics industry sectors, the research methodology follows a positivistic approach in order to assess the overall statement: ‘Effective participation in electronic purchasing consortia (EPC) can have the potential to enhance competitive advantage. Implementation therefore requires a clear and detailed understanding of the major process structures …

Information And Communication Technologies (Ict) Practices In Small Italian Transport And Logistics Service Providers: Empirical Findings And Critical Issues, Maurizio Caiazzo, Pietro Evangelista, Edward Sweeney

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

Rationalising The Construction Materials Purchasing Process, Alan V. Hore

Conference papers

This paper is concerned with the process used in locating and removing inefficiency in the construction materials purchasing process. In the first part, a case study is presented showing the build-up of costs involved in purchasing materials. Potential for substantial savings is revealed. The second part of the paper gives a status report on a rationalisation pilot project currently being undertaken by the Construction Information Technology Alliance (CITA). This project aims to show how greater effectiveness and efficiency can be applied to the administration of the construction materials purchasing process by the application of information technology already used widely in …

Applications Of Simulation In Semiconductor Manufacturing Facilities, Amr Arisha, Paul Young

Conference papers

Semiconductor fabrication facilities face many challenges through the many phases of their life cycle including design, build, various production ramps, and many levels of production. Confronted with global competition and rapidly changing technology and customer requirements, there is an increasing demand for rapid solution techniques to improve efficiency in manufacturing. The complexities and forces of both market and the process combine to make the use of simulation crucial at many different planning and control levels. While not a panacea for sustainable performance, simulation provides an effective vehicle for defining the path from competitive concepts to real world solutions and gives …

Evaluation Of The Et2000 Guardrail End Treatment, Kenneth R. Agent

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objective of this study was to report the results of the monitoring of the performance of the ET2000 guardrail end treatment in traffic crashes. This end treatment has an energy absorbing design in which a vehicle will push a guardrail extruder back as posts designed to breakaway are broken. The W-beam guardrail is flattened as it goes through the extruder and exits a slot away from traffic.

Data for a total of 135 collisions involving the ET 2000 were identified. A crash report was obtained in the majority of crashes and the damaged guardrail was inspected in almost all …

The Fuel Tax Compliance Unit: An Evaluation And Analysis Of Results, Suzanne Perkins Sapp

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The construction and maintenance of our nation's system of roads and highways is a major financial challenge. A majority of the responsibility for financing public roads and highways lies with state governments. Almost all states have special funds called Road Funds into which user fees and taxes associated with highway use are deposited. Unfortunately, Road Fund revenue growth has been slow due to the relative inelasticity of its revenue sources. At the same time, states face resistance to tax increases designed to enhance Road Fund revenues. One method of increasing such revenues, without increasing taxes, is to reduce evasion. Increased …