Engineering Commons^™

Improving Robustness Of Hydrologic Parameter Estimation By The Use Of Moving Block Bootstrap Resampling, Hamid Moradkhani, Mohammad Ebtehaj, Hoshin V. Gupta

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Modeling of natural systems typically involves conceptualization and parameterization to simplify the representations of the underlying process. Objective methods for estimation of the model parameters then require optimization of a cost function, representing a measure of distance between the observations and the corresponding model predictions, typically by calibration in a static batch mode and/or via some dynamic recursive optimization approach. Recently, there has been a focus on the development of parameter estimation methods that appropriately account for different sources of uncertainty. In this context, we introduce an approach to sample the optimal parameter space that uses nonparametric block bootstrapping coupled …

Further Developments On The Geothermal System Scoping Model, Mark Antkowiak, Rosemary Sargent, Jesse W. Geiger

Publications (E)

The fields of well construction and engineering, power plant construction and engineering, and reservoir engineering often proceed independently of one another. Yet the subsystems of a geothermal plant with which each of these fields is concerned need to be integrated in order to create a viable geothermal power system and make enhanced (or engineered) geothermal systems (EGS) a technical and an economic reality. Furthermore, each of these subsystems need to be examined in the context of the overall power system to aid with plant construction, and–more salient to the U.S. Department of Energy–to help determine best investment of research dollars. …

Hrc Enews — 2010 Summer, Megan K. Svarz

Publications (HRC)

This issue contains staff accomplishments and announcements, event listings, and a "new faces" listing for new staff, affiliates, and researchers.

Visual, Motor And Attentional Influences On Proprioceptive Contributions To Perception Of Hand Path Rectilinearity During Reaching, Robert A. Scheidt, Kyle P. Lillis, Scott J. Emerson

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

We examined how proprioceptive contributions to perception of hand path straightness are influenced by visual, motor and attentional sources of performance variability during horizontal planar reaching. Subjects held the handle of a robot that constrained goal-directed movements of the hand to the paths of controlled curvature. Subjects attempted to detect the presence of hand path curvature during both active (subject driven) and passive (robot driven) movements that either required active muscle force production or not. Subjects were less able to discriminate curved from straight paths when actively reaching for a target versus when the robot moved their hand through the …

Biogeography-Based Optimization Of Neuro-Fuzzy System Parameters For Diagnosis Of Cardiac Disease, Mirela Ovreiu, Daniel J. Simon

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Cardiomyopathy refers to diseases of the heart muscle that becomes enlarged, thick, or rigid. These changes affect the electrical stability of the myocardial cells, which in turn predisposes the heart to failure or arrhythmias. Cardiomyopathy in its two common forms, dilated and hypertrophic, implies enlargement of the atria; therefore, we investigate its diagnosis through P wave features. In particular, we design a neuro-fuzzy network trained with a new evolutionary algorithm called biogeography-based optimization (BBO). The neuro-fuzzy network recognizes and classifies P wave features for the diagnosis of cardiomyopathy. In addition, we incorporate opposition-based learning in the BBO algorithm for improved …

Biogeography-Based Optimization With Blended Migration For Constrained Optimization Problems, Haiping Ma, Daniel J. Simon

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Biogeography-based optimization (BBO) is a new evolutionary algorithm based on the science of biogeography. We propose two extensions to BBO. First, we propose blended migration. Second, we modify BBO to solve constrained optimization problems. The constrained BBO algorithm is compared with solutions based on a genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO). Numerical results indicate that BBO generally performs better than GA and PSO in handling constrained single-objective optimization problems.

On The Sampling Of Web Images For Learning Visual Concept Classifiers, Shiai Zhu, Gang Wang, Chong-Wah Ngo, Yu-Gang Jiang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Visual concept learning often requires a large set of training images. In practice, nevertheless, acquiring noise-free training labels with sufficient positive examples is always expensive. A plausible solution for training data collection is by sampling the largely available user-tagged images from social media websites. With the general belief that the probability of correct tagging is higher than that of incorrect tagging, such a solution often sounds feasible, though is not without challenges. First, user-tags can be subjective and, to certain extent, are ambiguous. For instance, an image tagged with “whales” may be simply a picture about ocean museum. Learning concept …

Coherent Bag-Of Audio Words Model For Efficient Large-Scale Video Copy Detection, Yang Liu, Wan-Lei Zhao, Chong-Wah Ngo, Chang-Sheng Xu, Han-Qing Lu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Current content-based video copy detection approaches mostly concentrate on the visual cues and neglect the audio information. In this paper, we attempt to tackle the video copy detection task resorting to audio information, which is equivalently important as well as visual information in multimedia processing. Firstly, inspired by bag-of visual words model, a bag-of audio words (BoA) representation is proposed to characterize each audio frame. Different from naive singlebased modeling audio retrieval approaches, BoA is a highlevel model due to its perceptual and semantical property. Within the BoA model, a coherency vocabulary indexing structure is adopted to achieve more efficient …

Will Very Light Jets Replace King Air Turboprops For Business Travel?, Vince Jean-Paul Pujalte

Applied Aviation Sciences - Prescott

The purpose of this research was to determine if Very Light Jets (VLJs) such as the Eclipse 500 might replace the Beechcraft King Air Turboprop as the preferred aircraft for short regional flights. There are often significant distances from the location of a given company to the nearest customer. Traveling these distances requires travel time, significant funding, and inconvenience. The research method utilized developed and distributed a survey to present owners of Beechcraft King Air Turboprops used for regional business travel. After careful analysis of the data, the researcher concluded that the present owners of King Air Turboprops were very …

A Comparison Of Induction Motor Starting Methods Being Powered By A Diesel-Generator Set, Adam John Wigington

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Starting induction motors on isolated or weak systems is a highly dynamic process that can cause motor and load damage as well as electrical network fluctuations. Mechanical damage is associated with the high starting current drawn by a ramping induction motor. In order to compensate the load increase, the voltage of the electrical system decreases. Different starting methods can be applied to the electrical system to reduce these and other starting method issues. The purpose of this thesis is to build accurate and usable simulation models that can aid the designer in making the choice of an appropriate motor starting …

Designing Software Product Lines For Testability, Isis Cabral

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Software product line (SPL) engineering offers several advantages in the development of families of software products such as reduced costs, high quality and a short time to market. A software product line is a set of software intensive systems, each of which shares a common core set of functionalities, but also differs from the other products through customization tailored to fit the needs of individual groups of customers. The differences between products within the family are well-understood and organized into a feature model that represents the variability of the SPL. Products can then be built by generating and composing features …

Mechanical Testing Device For Viscoelastic Biomaterials, Jeff D. Berg

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Nearly all biologic tissues exhibit viscoelastic behavior. This behavior is characterized by hysteresis in the response of the material to load or strain. This information can be utilized in extrapolation of life expectancy of vascular implant materials including native tissues and synthetic materials. This behavior is exhibited in many engineering materials as well such as the polymers PTFE, polyamide, polyethylene, etc. While procedures have been developed for evaluating the engineering polymers the techniques for biologic tissues are not as mature. There are multiple reasons for this. A major one is a cultural divide between the medical and engineering communities. Biomedical …

Design And Analysis Of Multifunctional Robot For Notes, Akiko Nakamura

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The elimination of all external incisions is an important step in reducing the invasiveness of surgical procedures. Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) is an incision-less surgery and provides explicit benefits such as reducing patient trauma and shortening recovery time. However, technological difficulties impede the widespread utilization of the NOTES method. A novel robotic tool has been developed, which makes NOTES procedures feasible by using multiple interchangeable tool tips.

The robotic tool has the capability of entering the body cavity through an orifice or a single incision using a flexible articulated positioning mechanism and once inserted is not constrained by …

Energy-Related Carbon Emissions In Ireland: Scenarios To 2020, Tadhg O'Mahony

Doctoral

The consumption of energy and related carbon emissions are a development challenge requiring analysis and policy insights. Current analysis of future change in Ireland relies on quantitative point forecasts within which accuracy is difficult to achieve. A scenario analysis approach has often been applied with the longer term but is also useful on shorter time-scales. This research applied a combination of decomposition analysis and scenario analysis to identify and analyse the driving forces of change in Ireland historically from 1990-2007 and in the future to 2020. The historical decomposition used the LMDI I technique and was further quantified to 2020 …

Analytic Construction Of Periodic Orbits In The Restricted Three-Body Problem, Mohammed A. Ghazy

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explores the analytical solution properties surrounding a nominal periodic orbit in two different planes, the plane of motion of the two primaries and a plane perpendicular to the line joining the two primaries, in the circular restricted three-body problem. Assuming motion can be maintained in the plane and motion of the third body is circular, Jacobi's integral equation can be analytically integrated, yielding a closed-form expression for the period and path expressed with elliptic integral and elliptic function theory. In this case, the third body traverses a circular path with nonuniform speed. In a strict sense, the in-plane …

Simulation Studies Of Pulsed Voltage Effects On Cells, Jiahui Song

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation research focuses on the new field of pulsed electric field interactions with biological cells. In particular, "Intracellular Electromanipulation" which has important biomedical applications, is probed. Among the various aspects studied, nanosecond, high-intensity pulse induced electroporation is one phenomena. It is simulated based on a coupled scheme involving the current continuity and Smoluchowski equations. A dynamic pore model can be achieved by including a dependence on the pore population density and a variable membrane tension. These changes make the pore formation energy E(r) self-adjusting and dynamic in response to pore formation. Additionally, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are also discussed …

Co-Reranking By Mutual Reinforcement For Image Search, Ting Yao, Tao Mei, Chong-Wah Ngo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Most existing reranking approaches to image search focus solely on mining “visual” cues within the initial search results. However, the visual information cannot always provide enough guidance to the reranking process. For example, different images with similar appearance may not always present the same relevant information to the query. Observing that multi-modality cues carry complementary relevant information, we propose the idea of co-reranking for image search, by jointly exploring the visual and textual information. Co-reranking couples two random walks, while reinforcing the mutual exchange and propagation of information relevancy across different modalities. The mutual reinforcement is iteratively updated to constrain …

Hybrid Time-Frequency Domain Analysis For Inverter-Fed Induction Motor Fault Detection, T. W. Chua, W. W. Tan, Zhaoxia Wang, C. S. Chang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The detection of faults in an induction motor is important as a part of preventive maintenance. Stator current is one of the most popular signals used for utility-supplied induction motor fault detection as a current sensor can be installed nonintrusively. In variable speeds operation, the use of an inverter to drive the induction motor introduces noise into the stator current so stator current based fault detection techniques become less reliable. This paper presents a hybrid algorithm, which combines time and frequency domain analysis, for broken rotor bar and bearing fault detection. Cluster information obtained by using Independent Component Analysis (ICA) …

Utilization Of Fly Ash From Power Plant For Adsorption Of Hydrocarbon Contamination In Water, J Sasithorn, D Wiwattanadate, S Sangsuk

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

Adsorption efficiency of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contamination in water with rice husk fly ash from a power plant was investigated in comparison with coal fly ash and silica from rice husk fly ash, with and without surface treatment. Naphthalene was used as a representative for PAHs, and Cethyltrimethylammoniumbromide (CTAB) was used as surface treating agent for the present study. Various factors, such as shaking rate, shaking time, pH of naphthalene aqueous solution, and adsorbentnaphthalene weight ratio, were investigated to identify the optimum condition for each adsorbent. Upon using 0.3 g adsorbent in 100 ml of 10 mg/l naphthalene solution, …

An Investigation Of Microstructural Change Of Low Alloy Steel Aisi 4150 By Seebeck Coefficient, T Samran, P Termsuksawad

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

Low alloyed steels, whose hardness can be modified by heat treatment, have been widely used in various applications. After heat treatment, they are normally destructively characterized and tested by many approaches via optical microscope and hardness testing. It is useful to develop a non-destructive method relating to its properties and microstructures. The proposed non-destructive approach in this study is the Seebeck coefficient measurement. The materials in this study were carbon steels AISI 4150 rod with a diameter of 1.3 cm and length of 3 cm. The specimens were heat-treated at 900ºC for 1 hour and were then cooled to room …

Nanoindentation Creep Analysis For A Spherical Indenter, Phani K. Praturi

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this work is to determine the strain rate sensitivity of the hardness in indentation creep and to investigate the relationship between the strain rate sensitivity of the hardness vH and the strain rate sensitivity of the flow stress vCT. A finite element model of nanoindentation creep was constructed and a parametric analysis was performed using Abaqus/Standard analysis software. It is found that the ratio vH / vCT does not maintain a unique relation with HIE• and varies with the increase in the ratio of depth of penetration to the radius of the indenter a/ R . Simulations …

Simultaneous Higher Harmonic Detection And Extraction Of Information From Oxygen Spectra, Karan Dineshchandra Mohan

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Wavelength Modulation Spectroscopy (WMS) is a highly sensitive technique that utilizes synchronous detection at the N-th harmonics of a modulating frequency, by modulating the laser beam used to probe a gaseous species. The advantage of this technique lies in the greater effective signal-to-noise ratio one obtains as a direct consequence of the larger amount of structure present in the higher harmonics, and thus a greater amount of information that can be obtained from that structure. We present the development of a novel technique where data at multiple harmonics is obtained simultaneously, rather than sequentially. This removes the susceptibility of the …

Action Recognition Based On Multi-Level Representation Of 3d Shape, Binu M. Nair

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A novel algorithm is proposed in this thesis for recognizing human actions using a combination of two shape descriptors, one of which is a 3D Euclidean distance transform and the other based on the Radon transform. This combination captures the necessary variations from the space time shape for recognizing actions. The space time shapes are created by the concatenation of human body silhouettes across time. The comparisons are done against some common shape descriptors such as the zernike moments and Radon transform. This is also compared with an algorithm which uses the same concept of a space time shape and …

The Influence Of Network Factors On Network Centric Operations, Mehmet Fidanci

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

As Information Age changes the lifestyle of all humankinds, it also changes the way how to defense and secure the borders are secured and defended. The Information Age is about information superiority. It evolves the command and control concept, proactively, to optimize the size of the units and their connections within a combat force for effective mission accomplishment. The biggest issue is how big a unit will be and how they will arrange and connect it to the command and control structure in order for the unit to be effective on the battlefield. While some arrangements connect to each other …

Multi-Scale Edge Detection Algorithms And Their Information-Theoretic Analysis In The Context Of Visual Communication, Bo Jiang

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The unrealistic assumption that noise can be modeled as independent, additive and uniform can lead to problems when edge detection methods are applied to low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) images. The main reason for this is because the filter scale and the threshold for the gradient are difficult to determine at a regional or local scale when the noise estimate is on a global scale. Therefore, in this dissertation, we attempt to solve these problems by using more than one filter to detect the edges and discarding the global thresholding method in the edge discrimination. The proposed multi-scale edge detection algorithms …

Analysis And Optimization Of Dynamic Spectrum Sharing For Cognitive Radio Networks, Manish Wadhwa

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The goal of this dissertation is to present the analysis and optimization of dynamic spectrum sharing for cognitive radio networks (CRNs). Spectrum scarcity is a well known problem at present. In order to deal with this problem, dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) was proposed. DSS is a technique where cognitive radio networks dynamically and opportunistically share the channels with primary users. The major contribution of this dissertation is in analyzing the problem of dynamic spectrum sharing under different scenarios and developing optimal solutions for these scenarios. In the first scenario, a contention based dynamic spectrum sharing model is considered and its …

Adhesion Behavior In Sliding Test Of Austenitic Stainless Steel On Vc Coated By Trd Process, R Piewnim, P Sricharoenchai

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

Austenitic stainless steel is prone to adhere to tool steels which are used as forming tools. This causes difficulties in the formation of stainless steels.(1) Hard coating on forming tools is a method to diminish adhesion problems. In this work, adhesive behavior of stainless steel was tested against VC coated by thermo-reactive deposition and diffusion (TRD) process. Sliding wear test was conducted under unlubricated condition at room temperature by a ring-on-disc tester. AISI 304 was used as a ring for sliding couple with VC coating layer. DC 53 steel was used as a disc on which VC with a thickness …

Pickling Kinetics Of Tertiary Oxide Scale Formed On Hot-Rolled Steel Strip, Y Jatuphaksamphan, N Phinichka, K Prapakorn, M Supradist

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

During hot rolling process a steel strip covers with oxide scales. These scales have to be removed by acid pickling process. This work focuses on the study of the scale removing rate of a hot-rolled steel strip in order to find an expression explaining the rate of reaction in hydrochloric acid. The study of scale removal is accomplished by utilizing the pickling simulator with different acid concentrations and pickling temperatures. There are two approaches that can be used to find a scale removing rate; the measurement of weight change and the iron concentration change after the pickling process. In this …

Preparation Of Hydrophobic Chitosan Using Complexation Method For Pla/Chitosan Blend, P Chouwatat, P Polsana, P Noknoi, K Siralertmukul, K Srikulkit

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

In this study, dioctyl sulfosuccinate-chitosan complex was prepared by a mechanical mixing of aqueous chitosan with sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate. As a result, hydrophobic chitosan was achieved. Characterizations of the complex were carried out including XRD, TGA, and FT-IR in order to follow changes in the chitosan structure. Thus produced chitosan complex was hydrophobic and anticipated to be compatible with PLA. Solution blending of PLA and hydrophobic chitosan was then conducted. Characterization techniques including XRD and FT-IR were employed to investigate the structure of the polymer blend. FTIR spectra showed that changes in the fingerprint of the chitosan amide band in …

Thermal Analysis Of Fe-Carbide And Fe-C Mixtures, R Tongsri, B Vetayanugul

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

Differential thermal analysis (DTA) was employed to monitor changes which occurred during heating of Fe-carbide and Fe-C mixtures. The DTA curves showed a relationship between endothermic peaks and phase transformations given in the Fe-C phase diagram. The transformations included (i) magnetic Fe to non-magnetic Fe, (ii) pure α-Fe to pure γ-Fe, (iii) γ + Fe3C → Liquid and (iv) pure γ-Fe to pure δ-Fe. Melting of the Fe-SiC powder compacts when sintered at temperatures higher than 1200°C was revealed and indicated by the endothermic peak of 1230°C. This peak corresponded to the transformation of γ + Fe3C → Liquid. That …