Engineering Commons^™

Tu-Pod: Safety Review, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint Presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs titled "Tu-POD: Safety Review" from February of 2016.

The Bridge Newsletter Spring 2016, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

The Bridge Newsletter

-Steel Bridge Team qualifies for nationals
-Concrete, reimagined
-Going with the flow
-Remembering Vernon T. Jones

Can The Gulf Stream Induce Coherent Short-Term Fluctuations In Sea Level Along The Us East Coast?: A Modeling Study, Tal Ezer

CCPO Publications

Much attention has been given in recent years to observations and models that show that variations in the transport of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and in the Gulf Stream (GS) can contribute to interannual, decadal, and multi-decadal variations in coastal sea level (CSL) along the US East Coast. However, less is known about the impact of short-term (time scales of days to weeks) fluctuations in the GS and their impact on CSL anomalies. Some observations suggest that these anomalies can cause unpredictable minor tidal flooding in low-lying areas when the GS suddenly weakens. Can these short-term CSL variations …

Evaluation Of Nitrous Acid Sources And Sinks In Urban Outflow, Elliott T. Gall, Robert J. Griffin, Allison L. Steiner, Jack Dibb, Eric Scheuer, Longwen Gong, Andrew P. Rutter, Basak K. Cevik, Saewung Kim, Barry Lefer, James Flynn

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Intensive air quality measurements made from June 22–25, 2011 in the outflow of the Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW) metropolitan area are used to evaluate nitrous acid (HONO) sources and sinks. A two-layer box model was developed to assess the ability of established and recently identified HONO sources and sinks to reproduce observations of HONO mixing ratios. A baseline model scenario includes sources and sinks established in the literature and is compared to scenarios including three recently identified sources: volatile organic compound-mediated conversion of nitric acid to HONO (S1), biotic emission from the ground (S2), and re-emission from a surface nitrite reservoir …

Data-Driven Bayesian Method-Based Traffic Crash Driver Injury Severity Formulation, Analysis, And Inference, Cong Chen

Civil Engineering ETDs

Traffic crashes have resulted in significant cost to society in terms of life and economic losses, and comprehensive examination of crash injury outcome patterns is of practical importance. By inferring the parameters of interest from prior information and studied datasets, Bayesian models are efficient methods in data analysis with more accurate results, but their applications in traffic safety studies are still limited. By examining the driver injury severity patterns, this research is proposed to systematically examine the applicability of Bayesian methods in traffic crash driver injury severity prediction in traffic crashes. In this study, three types of Bayesian models are …

Electrodeposition Of High Magnetostrictive Cobalt Iron Alloy Films For Smart Tags And Sensor Applications, Jamin Pillars

Nanoscience and Microsystems ETDs

Magnetostrictive CoFe films were investigated for use as magnetoelastic tags or sensors. The ability to electrodeposit these films enables batch fabrication processes to pattern a variety of geometries while controlling the film stoichiometry and crystallography. In current research looking at CoFe, improved magnetostriction was achieved using a co-sputtering, annealing, and quenching method1. Other current research has reported electrodeposited CoFe films using a sulfate based chemistry resulting in film compositions that are Fe rich in the range of Co0.3-0.4Fe0.7-0.6 and have problems of co-deposition of undesirables that can have a negative impact on magnetic properties2, 3. The research presented here focused …

Theory, Fabrication, And Experimentation Of Phononic Crystals In Mems At Micro/Nano Scale: Engineering Of Thermal And Rf Phonons To Applications In Thermoelectrics And Microresonators, Seyedhamidreza Alaie

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Phononic Crystals (PnCs) are novel materials comprised of a periodic structure of inclusions in a matrix. This periodic arrangement creates phononic bandgaps, and modifies phononic bandstructures of a material. Such a property offers promising applications at the micro and nano scales to engineer acoustic filters, high Q-factor resonators, and thermoelectric properties of materials. Studying PnCs at the micro/nano scale requires specific characterization techniques, which rely on Micro Electro Mechanical Structures (MEMS). This work focuses on the study, and characterization of PnCs using MEMS in view of their prospective applications in thermoelectric materials, microresonators and acoustic filters, and also the prospective …

The Influence Of Season, Heating Mode And Slope Angle On Wildland Fire Behavior, Jonathan R. Gallacher

Theses and Dissertations

Wildland fire behavior research in the last 100 years has largely focused on understanding the physical phenomena behind fire spread and on developing models that can predict fire behavior. Research advances in the areas of live-fuel combustion and combustion modeling have highlighted several weaknesses in the current approach to fire research. Some of those areas include poor characterization of solid fuels in combustion modeling, a lack of understanding of the dominant heat transfer mechanisms in fire spread, a lack of understanding regarding the theory of live-fuel combustion, and a lack of understanding regarding the behavior of flames near slopes. In …

Arctic Sea Ice Classification And Soil Moisture Estimation Using Microwave Sensors, David Brian Lindell

Theses and Dissertations

Spaceborne microwave sensors are capable of estimating various properties of many geophysical phenomena, including the age and extent of Arctic sea ice and the relative soil moisture over land. The measurement and classification of such geophysical phenomena are used to refine climate models, localize and predict drought, and better understand the water cycle. Data from the active Ku-band scatterometers, the Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT), and the Oceansat-2 Scatterometer (OSCAT), are here used to classify areas of first-year and multiyear Arctic sea ice using a temporally adaptive threshold on reported radar backscatter values. The result is a 15-year data record of daily …

Enhanced Cycle Life And Capacity Retention Of Iron Oxide Ultrathin Film Coated Sno₂ Nanoparticles At High Current Densities, Sai Abhishek Palaparty, Rajankumar L. Patel, Xinhua Liang

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Tin oxide (SnO₂) has a high theoretical capacity (∼782 mA h g^-1), but it experiences large volume changes during charge and discharge cycles that cause rapid capacity fade, which limits its practical use as an anode material. In an attempt to solve this, we coated these particles with ultrathin electrochemically active iron oxide (FeO_x) films that act as an artificial solid electrolyte interphase layer, thus stabilizing the SnO₂ particles for better longevity of significantly improved performance at high current densities in a practical voltage window. Since there exists a tradeoff between species transport …

Erratum: Orientations Of Low-Energy Domain Walls In Perovskites With Oxygen Octahedral Tilts (Physical Review B - Condensed Matter And Materials Physics (2014) 90 (220101)), Fei Xue, Yijia Gu, Linyun Liang, Yi Wang, Long-Qing Chen

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In the Acknowledgment of the original article, the Award No. DMR-0820404 should be replaced by DMR-1420620.

Hsr: L 1/2-Regularized Sparse Representation For Fast Face Recognition Using Hierarchical Feature Selection, Bo Han, Bo He, Tingting Sun, Tianhong Yan, Mengmeng Ma, Yue Shen, Amaury Lendasse

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In This Paper, We Propose a Novel Method for Fast Face Recognition Called L1/2-Regularized Sparse Representation using Hierarchical Feature Selection. by Employing Hierarchical Feature Selection, We Can Compress the Scale and Dimension of Global Dictionary, Which Directly Contributes to the Decrease of Computational Cost in Sparse Representation that Our Approach is Strongly Rooted In. It Consists of Gabor Wavelets and Extreme Learning Machine Auto-Encoder (Elm-Ae) Hierarchically. for Gabor Wavelets' Part, Local Features Can Be Extracted at Multiple Scales and Orientations to Form Gabor-Feature-Based Image, Which in Turn Improves the Recognition Rate. Besides, in the Presence of Occluded Face Image, the …

Traffic Safety Primer For Local Agencies, Laura Slusher, Michigan Ltap

Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Publications

The purpose of this booklet is to empower local agency personnel to make informed decisions that can improve roadway safety in your community. By identifying and addressing potential roadway hazards, you can reduce the likelihood of a future traffic crash for your community and your family. Adapted by permission from the Michigan LTAP’s 2008 Publication What Elected Officials Need to Know About Traffic Safety (And What YOUR Constituents Expect YOU to Know!) This is an update of the 2014 version and includes a section on roadway departure crashes.

Level Of Effort For Indiana Counties, Indiana Ltap

Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Publications

This report is based on 2014 calendar year information retrieved from the Indiana Tax Handbook, County Operations Reports, information provided from the Indiana State Auditor’s office regarding County Distributions, and information from Indiana Gateway for Government Units.

Pipe Express®, Purdue Ect Team

ECT Fact Sheets Archive

By developing Pipe Express^® Herrenknecht AG has set new standards for installing pipelines. With this system, no groundwater lowering is necessary and, in comparison with the open construction method, routes can be considerably narrower. This has a positive effect on construction costs. Because it is highly ecological and cost-efficient procedure, the development of this new system is being subsidized by the German Environment Ministry.

The Pipe Express^® technology combines the advantages of trenchless installations and open-cut solutions. Pipe Express^® can be used in any kind of soft to medium formations. However, the technology exhibits its major benefits …

Glucocorticoid Cell Priming Enhances Transfection Outcomes In Adult Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Abby M. Kelly, Sarah A. Plautz, Janos Zempleni, Angela K. Pannier

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are one of the most widely researched stem cell types with broad applications from basic research to therapeutics, the majority of which require introduction of exogenous DNA. However, safety and scalability issues hinder viral delivery, while poor efficiency hinders nonviral gene delivery, particularly to hMSCs. Here, we present the use of a pharmacologic agent (glucocorticoid) to overcome barriers to hMSC DNA transfer to enhance transfection using three common nonviral vectors. Glucocorticoid priming significantly enhances transfection in hMSCs, demonstrated by a 3-fold increase in efficiency, 4–15-fold increase in transgene expression, and prolonged transgene expression when compared …

Ecosystem Evapotranspiration: Challenges In Measurements, Estimates, And Modeling, D.M. Amatya, Suat Irmak, P. Gowda, G. Sun, J.E. Nettles, K.R. Douglas-Mankin

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Evapotranspiration (ET) processes at the leaf to landscape scales in multiple land uses have important controls and feed backs for local, regional, and global climate and water resource systems. Innovative methods, tools, and technologies for improved understanding and quantification of ET and crop water use are critical for adapting more effective management strategies to cope with increasing demand for freshwater resources under global climate change. This article introduces an ASABE Special Collection of 12 articles on ET monitoring and modeling research for multiple land uses and scales. The collection focuses on recent advances in four critical topical areas: (1) reference …

Strain Effects On The Work Function Of An Organic Semiconductor, Yanfei Wu, Annabel R. Chew, Geoffrey A. Rojas, Gjergji Sini, Greg Haugstad, Alex Belianinov, Sergei V. Kalinin, Hong Li, Chad Risko, Jean-Luc Brédas, Alberto Salleo, C. Daniel Frisbie

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Establishing fundamental relationships between strain and work function (WF) in organic semiconductors is important not only for understanding electrical properties of organic thin films, which are subject to both intrinsic and extrinsic strains, but also for developing flexible electronic devices. Here we investigate tensile and compressive strain effects on the WF of rubrene single crystals. Mechanical strain induced by thermal expansion mismatch between the substrate and rubrene is quantified by X-ray diffraction. The corresponding WF change is measured by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy. The WF of rubrene increases (decreases) significantly with in-plane tensile (compressive) strain, which agrees qualitatively with density …

Inversion Characteristics Of A Buoyant Cylindrical Puck During Oblique Water Impact, Zachary Crawford Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The Apollo Command Module had a tendency to flip over upon impact with the ocean surface after returning from space (9/19 times). In an effort to better characterize the inversion process for future water landing vehicles, experimental results for a simplified buoyant cylindrical puck impacting the water surface are presented. This study focuses on the dependence of inversion upon vertical velocity, horizontal velocity, and the pitch angle of the puck relative to the free surface. High-speed images reveal an asymmetric cavity that forms upon water impact. The asymmetric cavity then collapses, applying a moment, which can be sufficient to invert …

Full-Scale Shake Table Cyclic Simple Shear Testing Of Liquefiable Soil, Jasper Stanford Jacobs

Master's Theses

This research consists of full-scale shake table tests to investigate liquefaction of sandy soils. Consideration of the potential and consequences of liquefaction is critical to the performance of any structure built in locations of high seismicity underlain by saturated granular materials as it is the leading cause of damage associated with ground failure. In certain cases the financial losses associated with liquefaction can significantly impact the financial future of an entire region.

Most liquefaction triggering studies are performed in the field where liquefaction has been previously observed, or in tabletop laboratory testing. The study detailed herein is a controlled laboratory …

Taxonomy Of Pathways To Dangerous Artificial Intelligence, Roman V. Yampolskiy

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

In order to properly handle a dangerous Artificially Intelligent (AI) system it is important to understand how the system came to be in such a state. In popular culture (science fiction movies/books) AIs/Robots became self-aware and as a result rebel against humanity and decide to destroy it. While it is one possible scenario, it is probably the least likely path to appearance of dangerous AI. In this work, we survey, classify and analyze a number of circumstances, which might lead to arrival of malicious AI. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to systematically classify types …

Lift & Drag Reductions On Iced Wings During Take Off And Landing With Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Ian R. Mcandrew

Publications

This research paper addresses an novel problem that has not been addressed in detail for many decades. Ice formation on aircraft has procedures and protocols to deal with expected and actual problems. Complex modern aircraft are equipped with a variety of techniques to remove Ice formation on an aircraft, especially the wings. The introduction of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles has added an old problem, that of low speed and the lack of power to overcome losses in lift through ice formation. In this research the different types of Ice formation, how they combine and affect Lift and Drag are also addresses …

Acoustic Sequences In Non-Human Animals: A Tutorial Review And Prospectus, Arik Kershenbaum, Daniel T. Blumstein, Marie A. Roch, Çağlar Akçay, Gregory Backus, Mark A. Bee, Kirsten Bohn, Yan Cao, Gerald Carter, Cristiane Cäsar, Michael Coen, Stacy L. Deruiter, Laurance Doyle, Shimon Edelman, Ramon Ferreri Cancho, Todd M. Freeberg, Ellen C. Garland, Morgan Gustison, Heidi E. Harley, Chloé Huetz, Melissa Hughes, Julia Hyland Bruno, Amiyaal Ilany, Dezhe Z. Jin, Michael T. Johnson, Chenghui Ju, Jeremy Karnowski, Bernard Lohr, Marta B. Manser, Brenda Mccowan, Eduardo Mercado Iii, Peter M. Narins, Alex Piel, Megan Rice, Roberta Salmi, Kazutoshi Sasahara, Laela Sayigh, Yu Shiu, Charles Taylor, Edgar E. Vallejo, Sara Waller, Veronica Zamora Gutierrez

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Animal acoustic communication often takes the form of complex sequences, made up of multiple distinct acoustic units. Apart from the well-known example of birdsong, other animals such as insects, amphibians, and mammals (including bats, rodents, primates, and cetaceans) also generate complex acoustic sequences. Occasionally, such as with birdsong, the adaptive role of these sequences seems clear (e.g. mate attraction and territorial defence). More often however, researchers have only begun to characterise – let alone understand – the significance and meaning of acoustic sequences. Hypotheses abound, but there is little agreement as to how sequences should be defined and analysed. Our …

Design Of Introspective Circuits For Analysis Of Cell-Level Dis-Orientation In Self-Assembled Cellular Systems, Nicholas J. Macias, Christof Teuscher, Lisa J. K. Durbeck

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper discusses a novel approach to managing complexity in a large self-assembled system, by utilizing the self-assembling components themselves to address the complexity. A particular challenge is discussed – namely the question of how to deal with elements that are assembled in different orientations from each other – and a solution based on the idea ofintrospective circuitry is described. A methodology for using a set of cells to determine a nearby cell’s orientation is given, leading to a slow (O(n)) means of orienting a 2D region of cells. A modified algorithm is then describe …

Effect Of Temporal Onset Of Mechanical Loading On Tendon To Bone Healing, Determined With A Novel In-Vivo Device, Mark E. Stasiak

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: Exposure to tensile loading has been shown to maintain tendon/ligament homeostasis, with the tensile modulus of the tissue increasing in response to greater loading frequency, and even decreasing in the absence of load. However after injury or surgical repair the effect of tensile load is controversial, with many studies implicating mechanical loading with impaired healing. It is currently unknown when the tensile loading imparted during rehabilitation exercise, can be safely reintroduced after surgical tendon repair or ligament reconstruction, and at what time point it can most benefit the remodeling process. To investigate the effect of tensile loading protocols on …

Online Chemical Sensor Signal Processing Using Estimation Theory: Quantification Of Binary Mixtures Of Organic Compounds In The Presence Of Linear Baseline Drift And Outliers, Karthick Sothivelr, Florian Bender, Fabien Josse, Edwin E. Yaz, Antonio J. Ricco, Mary E. Mohler

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Compact sensor systems for on-site monitoring of groundwater for trace organic compounds in the liquid phase are currently under development in our laboratories. Potential challenges include sensor baseline drift and the presence of outliers in the data, along with difficulties extracting the contribution of individual BTEX compound (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes) from the sensor response to mixtures containing multiple chemically similar compounds. As a first step, the approach presented here permits online estimation of analyte concentrations in binary mixtures of BTEX compounds in the presence of linear baseline drift and outliers. This paper investigates a sensor signal-processing approach based …

Robust Non-Permanent Magnet Motors For Vehicle Propulsion, Tsarajidy Raminosoa, David A. Torrey, Ayman M. El-Refaie, Di Pan, Stefan Grubic, Kevin Grace

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

There has been growing interest in electrical machines that reduce or eliminate rare-earth material content. Traction applications are among the key applications where reducing cost and hence reduction or elimination of rare-earth materials is a key requirement. This paper will assess the potential of three non-permanent magnet options in the context of vehicle propulsion applications: 1) a conventional Switched Reluctance Machine (SRM), 2) a DC-biased Reluctance Machine (DCRM) and, 3) a Wound Field Flux Switching Machine (WFFSM). The three machines were designed to achieve the hybrid vehicle traction requirements of 55kW peak and 30kW continuous over a speed range going …

Maintenance Implications For Unmanned Aerial Vehicles In Remote Locations, Ian R. Mcandrew, Mark Kaintz, Andrew Carruthers

Publications

Maintenance in the aviation industry has evolved considerably since commercial and general aviation became a modern mode of transportation. ICAO has made maintenance a top priority by directing local National Aviation Authorities, NAA, to have implemented, robust and standardized training and qualifications for all maintenance personnel that work on any safety critical structure or component. There are rules, law and standards that are audited and the aviation industry is, perhaps, the most successful industry in maintaining standards and reliability. With the advent of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, UAV, the role of maintenance is now needing to be reviewed to determine how …

Glide Effects On Low Speed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles With Ice Formation, I. Mcandrew, K. Witcher, E. Navarro

Publications

This paper builds on the research that was previously presented and defended at a conference and adds to the depth of glide characteristics and aerodynamics. The basic assumed theory of low speed flight is used as the starting point and determined if this holds true for low speed. Traditionally, flight has always been about achieving faster and high flight operations. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are not typically designed to fly fast, the construction and power units are limiting, added to the lack of complexity in propulsion systems prevents high speeds in most cases. Here, aerodynamic data for Ice on leading …

A Comprehensive Python Toolkit For Harnessing Cloud-Based High-Throughput Computing To Support Hydrologic Modeling Workflows, Scott D. Christensen

Theses and Dissertations

Advances in water resources modeling are improving the information that can be supplied to support decisions that affect the safety and sustainability of society, but these advances result in models being more computationally demanding. To facilitate the use of cost- effective computing resources to meet the increased demand through high-throughput computing (HTC) and cloud computing in modeling workflows and web applications, I developed a comprehensive Python toolkit that provides the following features: (1) programmatic access to diverse, dynamically scalable computing resources; (2) a batch scheduling system to queue and dispatch the jobs to the computing resources; (3) data management for …