Engineering Commons^™

Electrical Impedance Imaging Of Corrosion On A Partially Accessible 2-Dimensional Region, Court Hoang, Katherine Osenbach

Mathematical Sciences Technical Reports (MSTR)

In this paper we examine the inverse problem of determining the amount of corrosion on an inaccessible surface of a two-dimensional region. Using numerical methods, we develop an algorithm for approximating corrosion profile using measurements of electrical potential along the accessible portion of the region. We also evaluate the effect of error on the problem, address the issue of ill-posedness, and develop a method of regularization to correct for this error. An examination of solution uniqueness is also presented.

Investigating Solutions To Wind Washing Issues In 2-Story Florida Homes; Phase 1, Florida Solar Energy Center, Charles Withers, Jr.

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Wind washing has been identified as a potentially significant issue regarding energy, demand, comfort, and humidity in some two-story Florida homes. In its most common configuration, wind washing occurs when attic spaces over first-floor portions of the home abut the second story, and the floor cavity of the second story is open to that attic space. Wind blowing into attic vents can push hot attic air into the inter-story floor cavity, bypassing the typical thermal boundaries of the building and introducing considerable heat into the house. Wind washing can also occur when there is little or no attic involved, where …

Calibration Of Hdm-4 For Use In Pavement Management Systems (Pms), Nurdin Mushule

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

One of major problems of road management in developing countries is the lack of decision making tools for preparing road maintenance programmes. This results in poor resource allocation and poor utilisation of existing assets. Pavement management systems (PMS) have been developed around the world in order to assist with the pavement management process in a co-ordinated and systematic manner. Some developed countries have derived pavement performance models that are suited to local conditions by setting up long term pavement performance studies. Conversely, most developing countries do not have the resources required to set up similar large-scale field experiments. However, validation …

Case Studies: In-Situ Rebuilding Of Damaged Rope Drum Shafts Of Ssg Crane And The Repair Of Circumferential Crack Of Cement Kiln By Welding, Joseph Runyoro

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Material failures in engineering are characterized by unwanted downtime of equipment and require the application of sound engineering principles to rectify the problem so that it does not reoccur. The most widely method for repairing damaged steel structures such as rope drum shaft or cracked cement kiln is by Manual metal arc welding. The equipment mentioned have their main importance that, when they are broken down, they cost a lot of money in lost revenue and affects a lot of people in terms of business and livelihood. The nominal diameter (DN) 240 rope drum shaft was damaged when the roller …

Modelling The Impact Of Urbanization On Groundwater Using System Dynamic Technique. A Case Study Of Arusha Municipal Well Field In Northeastern Tanzania, Nimzihirwa Kashimbiri

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

This paper is concerned with the impact of urbanization in aquifer well-system located in the Municipal area of Arusha city, Tanzania. A system dynamic (SD) model was built under VENSIM PLE workbench from twenty-five years (1978-2003) physical and non-physical data to simulate their interactions and relations. This involved use of mathematics ideas and concepts in studying the physical and non – physical components separately, and finally putting them together in new form (model) and study their relations. After model was found to be structurally complete and simulate properly by using the model and unit check tool of VENSIMPLE, parametric calibration …

The Influence Of Branches In The Performance Of Power-Line Communication Systems That Use Mc-Coma With Reed Solomon Coding, Emmanuel Felix

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Power-line network is proposed as an infrastructure for Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs)
services provision. However, there are a number of factors that contribute greatly to power-line communication performance degradation. These include number of branches that can be added or removed from the power- line network, lengths of the branch lines, loading etc. It has been pointed out that the number of branches is one of the factors that affects power-line performance to a certain extent. In this paper the influence of number of branches on the performance of Broadband Power-line communication (BPLC) that uses MC- CDMA modulation scheme with …

A Systemic Framework For Implementation Of Tqm Programmes, Emanuel Mjema

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

The purpose of this paper is to present a systemic framework for implementation of TQM program in a manufacturing organisation that produces motor vehicle components in Port Elizabeth - South Africa. The approach used included conceptualisation of the systemic framework and then involvement of the stakeholders in adding scenarios to be considered in the design and implementing the framework in the real field. The findings obtained during the implementation of the systemic framework established that reduction of scrap rate, reduction of production costs, reduction of cycle time and employee motivation could be achieved through the implementation of a Systemic Framework …

Method Of Transferring Strained Semiconductor Structure, Michael Nastasi

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The transfer of strained semiconductor layers from one substrate to another substrate involves depositing a multilayer structure on a substrate having surface contaminants. An interface that includes the contaminants if formed in between the deposited layer and the substrate. Hydrogen atoms are introduced into the structure and allowed to diffuse to the interface. Afterward, the deposited multilayer structure is bonded to a second substrate and is separated away at the interface, which results in transferring a multilayer structure from one substrate at least one strained semiconductor layer and at least one strain-induced seed layer. The strain-induced seed layer can be …

One Million Plug-In Electric Vehicles On The Road By 2015, Ahmed Yousuf Saber, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

It is mentioned that one million plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles will be on the road by 2015 in United States to reduce emission. If one million electric vehicles (EVs) are connected to the existing electric grid randomly, peak load will be very high. Electrified transportation based on a traditional thermal power system will be costly economically and environmentally though it has a great value for electric power and transportation sectors. EVs cannot alone solve the emission problem completely since they need electric power, which is one of the main sources of emission. Therefore, significant emission reduction greatly depends on …

Structural Identification Using A Low-Cost Search Method, James W. Fonda, Steve Eugene Watkins

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An easily implementable and trainable damage detection method is proposed and implemented for a simple truss structure. The approach uses the iterative search identification method and is compatible with low-cost and low-power microcontroller hardware. This method employs pattern matching for a data set from a strain sensor array and predicts location (truss member) and severity (member cross sectional area) of damage. As a health monitoring approach, the method is not as robust or rigorous as more complex methods. However, it has modest processing requirements and can handle noisy signals. The work presents an algorithm applied to a truss structure, the …

Real-Time Modeling Of Distributed Plug-In Vehicles For V2g Transactions, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy, Pinaki Mitra, Keith Corzine, Chris Huston

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A real-time model of a fleet of plug-in vehicles performing vehicle-to-grid (V2G) power transactions is presented in this paper. Two sets of four vehicles are connected to both the grid and to each other through a short transmission line. the real-time modeling is carried out on a Real-Time Digital Simulator (RTDS). This setup allows for two different case studies with either two distributed sets of four individual vehicles or two smart parking lots with several vehicles. Output power levels and charge/discharge times are scheduled intelligently in order to maximize profits from grid transactions based on one-day ahead electricity pricing. the …

Ieee Conference On Intelligent Transportation Systems, Proceedings, Itsc: Welcome Message From Conference General Chair, Steve Eugene Watkins

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

The Antimicrobial Triclocarban Stimulates Embryo Production In The Freshwater Mudsnail Potamopyrgus Antipodarum, Ben D. Giudice, Thomas M. Young

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

Recent research has indicated that the antimicrobial chemical triclocarban (TCC) represents a new type of endocrine disruptor, amplifying the transcriptional activity of steroid hormones and their receptors while itself exhibiting little affinity for these receptors. The effects of TCC were studied in the freshwater mudsnail Potamopyrgus antipodarum. Specimens were exposed to concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 10.5 mg/L dissolved TCC and were removed and dissected, and embryos contained within the brood pouch were counted and classified as shelled or unshelled after two and four weeks of exposure. After four weeks, environmentally relevant TCC concentrations of 1.6 to 10.5 mg/L resulted …

Preparation And Hydrogen Absorption/Desorption Of Nanoporous Palladium Thin Films, Wen-Chung Li, Thomas John Balk

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Nanoporous Pd (np-Pd) was prepared by co-sputtering Pd-Ni alloy films onto Si substrates, followed by chemical dealloying with sulfuric acid. X-ray diffractometry and chemical analysis were used to track the extent of dealloying. The np-Pd structure was changed from particle-like to sponge-like by diluting the sulfuric acid etchant. Using suitable precursor alloy composition and dealloying conditions, np-Pd films were prepared with uniform and open sponge-like structures, with interconnected ligaments and no cracks, yielding a large amount of surface area for reactions with hydrogen. Np-Pd films exhibited shorter response time for hydrogen absorption/desorption than dense Pd films, showing promise for hydrogen …

Thermal Conduction In Molecular Materials Using Coarse Grain Dynamics: Role Of Mass Diffusion And Quantum Corrections For Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Ya Zhou, Alejandro Strachan

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

We use a mesodynamical method, denoted dynamics with implicit degrees of freedom DID, to characterize thermal transport in a model molecular crystal below and above its melting temperature. DID represents groups of atoms molecules in this case using mesoparticles and the thermal role of the intramolecular degrees of freedom DoFs are described implicitly using their specific heat. We focus on the role of these intramolecular DoFs on thermal transport. We find that thermal conductivity is independent of intramolecular specific heat for solid samples and a linear relationship between the two quantities in liquid samples with the coefficient of proportionality being …

Thermal And Mechanical Multistate Folding Of Rnase H, Thomas A. Knotts, Terry J. Schmitt, Jonathan E. Clark

Faculty Publications

Two different classes of experimental techniques exist by which protein folding mechanisms are ascertained. The first class, of which circular dichroism is an example, probes thermally-induced folding. The second class, which includes atomic force microscopy and optical tweezers, measures mechanically-induced folding. In this article, we investigate if proteins fold/unfold via the same mechanisms both thermally and mechanically. We do so using Ribonuclease H, a protein that has been shown to fold through a three-state mechanism using both types of experimental techniques. A detailed, molecular-level description of the states involved in thermal and mechanical folding shows that mechanisms for both types …

A Use Of Theory Of Constraints Thinking Processes For Improvements In The Merged Beams Experiment At Oak Ridge National Laboratory., Bryan Richard Gross

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Thinking exercises used in the Theory of Constraints (TOC) were used to find and remove constraints at the Merged Beams Experiment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The goal of this project was to significantly reduce the amount of time used to take a certain type of measurement during an experimental cycle. After the TOC exercises were used, a basic plan for change was discovered. Preliminary data were taken to establish a baseline of performance from which changes were made. Post-Modification was analyzed showing the project was a success.

The overlying reasoning for this exercise was to prove successfully that continuous …

Alan Turing Se Fraye Un Chemin Jusqu'À La Place De L'Ordinateur, Christof Teuscher

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A brief statement on the significance, impact and future developments related to the work of computer pioneer Alan Turing, in conjunction with Turing Day, held to commemorate his 90th birthday.

*The article is in French

Underwood, John Cox, 1840-1913 (Sc 2125), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2125. Letter, 14 August 1876, from John Cox Underwood, Bowling Green, Kentucky to Thomas E. Moss, Kentucky State Attorney General, Frankfort, Kentucky, in which he relates information about the condition of the locks and dams on the Green and Barren Rivers.

Efficient Rotation Algorithms For Texture Evolution, Mark W. Esty

Theses and Dissertations

Texture evolution is a vital component of many computational tools that link structure, properties and processes of polycrystalline materials. By definition, this evolution process involves the manipulation, via rotation, of points in orientation space. The computational requirements of the current methods being used to rotate crystalline orientations are a significant limiting factor in the drive to merge the texture information of materials into the engineering design process. The goal of this research is to find and implement a practical rotation algorithm that can significantly decrease the computation time required to rotate macroscopic and microscopic crystallographic textures. Three possible algorithms are …

Controlled Synthesis Of High Quality Carbon Nanotubes And Their Applications In Transparent Conductive Films, Enkeleda Dervishi

Theses and Dissertations

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have exceptional electrical, mechanical and electronic properties which make them attractive for numerous applications. Catalytic chemical vapor deposition (cCVD) is one of the most promising methods for large-scale production of high-quality CNTs at a relatively low cost. Synthesis conditions such as catalyst composition, reaction temperature, hydrocarbon type and flow rate, have an enormous influence on the morphological properties of nanotubes. This research presents a thorough study of the parametric conditions affecting the growth properties of single-wall and multi-wall carbon nanotubes. High quality single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were synthesized on different catalytic systems, using the inductive radio frequency …

Channeling University-Based Sponsored Research Into Classroom Education, Badrul H. Chowdhury

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An important mission of university-Based research that often gets overlooked is the education component. based on the 2005-2006 Electric Power Engineering Education Resources report produced by PES, tens of millions of dollars' worth of research is being conducted annually by university faculty throughout North America. While such sponsored research almost always produces master's and Ph.D. dissertations, how much of that is channeled into creating a broader impact of educating undergraduate and graduate students is of concern to many sponsoring agencies. This paper presents a summary of panel presentations that describe and discuss examples of how some faculty members have brought …

Potentials And Promises Of Computational Intelligence For Smart Grids, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The electric power grid is a complex adaptive system under semi-autonomous distributed control. It is spatially and temporally complex, non-convex, nonlinear and non-stationary with a lot of uncertainties. the integration of renewable energy such as wind farms, and plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles further adds complexity and challenges to the various controllers at all levels of the power grid. a lot of efforts have gone into the development of a smart grid to align the interests of the electric utilities, consumers and environmentalists. Advanced computational methods are required for planning and optimization, fast control of power system elements, processing of …

Missing-Sensor-Fault-Tolerant Control For Sssc Facts Device With Real-Time Implementation, Wei Qiao, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy, Ronald Harley

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Control of power systems relies on the availability and quality of sensor measurements. However, measurements are inevitably subjected to faults caused by sensor failure, broken or bad connections, bad communication, or malfunction of some hardware or software. These faults in turn may cause the failure of power system controllers and consequently severe contingencies in the power system. to avoid such contingencies, this paper presents a sensor evaluation and (missing sensor) restoration scheme (SERS) by using auto-associative neural networks (auto-encoders) and particle swarm optimization (PSO). based on the SERS, a missing-sensor-fault-tolerant control (MSFTC) is developed for controlling a static synchronous series …

Simulation Model To Investigate Flexible Workload Management For Healthcare And Servicescape Environment, Michael Thorwarth, Paul Harper, Amr Arisha

Conference papers

High demand and poor staffing conditions cause avoidable pressure and stress among healthcare personnel which results in burnout symptoms and unplanned absenteeism which are hidden cost drivers. The work environment within an emergency department is commonly arranged in a flexible workload which is highly dynamic and complex for the outside observer. Using detailed simulation modeling within structured modeling methods, a comprehensive model to characterize the nurses' time utilization in such flexible dynamic workload environment was investigated. The results have been used to derive a generalized analytic expression that describes certain settings that lead to an instable queuing system with serious …

Applied Climate-Change Analysis: The Climate Wizard Tool, Evan H. Girvetz, Chris Zganjar, George T. Raber, Edwin P. Maurer, Peter Kareiva, Joshua J. Lawler

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

Background: Although the message of ‘‘global climate change’’ is catalyzing international action, it is local and regional changes that directly affect people and ecosystems and are of immediate concern to scientists, managers, and policy makers. A major barrier preventing informed climate-change adaptation planning is the difficulty accessing, analyzing, and interpreting climate-change information. To address this problem, we developed a powerful, yet easy to use, web-based tool called Climate Wizard (http://ClimateWizard.org) that provides non-climate specialists with simple analyses and innovative graphical depictions for conveying how climate has and is projected to change within specific geographic areas throughout the world. Methodology/Principal Findings: …

Self-Organized Nanolayers Of Organosilane Molecules, Ocelio V. Lima

Department of Engineering Mechanics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

There is a high degree of interest in organic thin films for lightweight, low power, rugged and flexible electronics. Conjugated organic molecules with polycyclic rings are being considered a major enabler of such applications. Due to a surface tension mismatch between the organic molecule with the inorganic support (mainly silicon oxides), molecular packing inside these thin films is often disordered, which suppresses the device performance. There are major efforts focused on modifying the bulk properties, for instance, maximizing orbital overlaps in the solid state, little attention was paid to receive long-range ordered thin films. A novel approach to afford conjugated …

Design Of A Fuzzy Gain Scheduling Controller Having Input Saturation: A Comparative Study, Yan-Wen Huang, Pi-Cheng Tung

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

A fuzzy gain scheduling proportional controllers that exhibits the improved performance than the conventional linear fixed gain controller having input saturation is proposed in this paper. We proposed an adaptive anti-windup control system in which the gain of a proportional controller is dynamically tuned by a fuzzy PD system. The methodology employed in the analysis is based on the describing function (DF), which is determined the range of the universal discourse for the output of the fuzzy PD system. Other approaches are the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) method and combined back-calculation and generalized conditioning anti-windup. In this paper, a comparison …

The Construction Common Product Coding System And Auto Id Technology In Construction, Nai-Hsin Pan

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Automatic data identification (Auto ID) technology such as bar code has grown rapidly in various industries. During the last couple of years, a small number of construction companies have also started to implement Auto ID technologies for a limited number of applications. The focus of these applications has primarily been limited to the internal operations of a few larger companies. One of the major barriers to adopt modern Auto ID technologies in the construction industry is the lack of Construction Common Product Code System (CCPCS). The main objective of this research is to investigate the problems created by inadequate CCPCS …

Service Life Prediction Of Pier For The Existing Reinforced Concete Bridges In Chloride-Laden Environment, Ming-Te Liang, Ran Huang, Shen-An Feng, Chi-Jang Yeh

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The prediction method of service life for bridge structures is played an important role of bridge management system. In this paper, the mathematical modeling was to study the servise life prediction of pier for existing reinforced concrete (RC) bridge exposed to chloride environment. The corrosion process has three stages, the initiation time (tc), the depassivation time (tp), and the corrosion (propagation) time (tcorr). The total service life of pier for the existing RC bridge can be expressed as t = tc + tp + tcorr. Many mathematical models were applied to predicting each value of the tc, tp, and tcorr. …