Engineering Commons^™

Design And Modeling Of A New Biomimetic Soft Robotic Jellyfish Using Ipmc-Based Electroactive Polymers, Zakai J. Olsen, Kwang J. Kim

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Smart materials and soft robotics have been seen to be particularly well-suited for developing biomimetic devices and are active fields of research. In this study, the design and modeling of a new biomimetic soft robot is described. Initial work was made in the modeling of a biomimetic robot based on the locomotion and kinematics of jellyfish. Modifications were made to the governing equations for jellyfish locomotion that accounted for geometric differences between biology and the robotic design. In particular, the capability of the model to account for the mass and geometry of the robot design has been added for better …

Environmental And Economic Implications Of Energy Efficiency In New Residential Buildings: A Multi-Criteria Selection Approach, Florida Solar Energy Center, Delia D'Agostino

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The choice of the most appropriate technologies in buildings is often a challenge at the design stage, especially when many different criteria are taken into account. Consequently, the decision process relies often on one criterion only, such as costs or energy savings. We propose a multi-criteria approach based on multi-attribute utility theory to assess alternative energy efficiency measures, explicitly considering both environmental and economic criteria. We apply it to the design of a new residential building in Milan (Italy), with the aim to maximize CO₂ emission savings related to electricity and gas consumption, and to minimize embodied energy and …

Analysis Of The Effects Of Dam Release Properties And Ambient Groundwater Flow On Surface Water‐Groundwater Exchange Over A 100‐Km‐Long Reach, Stephen B. Ferencz, M. Bayani Cardenas, Bethany T. Neilson

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Hydroelectric dams often create highly dynamic downstream flows that promote surface water‐groundwater (SW‐GW) interactions including bank storage, the temporary storage of river water in the riverbank. Previous research on SW‐GW exchanges in dammed rivers has primarily been at single study sites, which has limited the understanding of how these exchanges evolve as dam releases travel downstream. This study evaluates how dam releases affect SW‐GW exchange continuously over a 100‐km distance. This is accomplished by longitudinally routing water releases through a synthetic river and modeling bed and bank fluid and solute exchange across transverse transects spaced along the reach. Peak and …

Fine Sediment Modeling During Storm-Based Events In The River Bandon, Ireland, Juan T. Garcia, Joseph R. Harrington

Publications

The River Bandon located in County Cork (Ireland) has been time-continuously monitored by turbidity probes, as well as automatic and manual suspended sediment sampling. The current work evaluates three different models used to estimate the fine sediment concentration during storm-based events over a period of one year. The modeled suspended sediment concentration is compared with that measured at an event scale. Uncertainty indices are calculated and compared with those presented in the bibliography. An empirically-based model was used as a reference, as this model has been previously applied to evaluate sediment behavior over the same time period in the River …

Modeling The Economic Machine Using Bayesian Inference And Statistical Networks, And Optimal Portfolio Construction Using Operations Research, Richard Yang

ENGS 88 Honors Thesis (AB Students)

In this paper, we propose a network-based model to attempt to connect modern macroeconomic theory with real world economic observations and trends. We find that by extending macroeconomic theory with credit leveraging/deleveraging thresholds, we are able to explain economic cycles in addition to long-term growth. Furthermore, we specifically explore the growth-inflation view of the macro economy as a basis for optimal portfolio construction and efficient asset trading. Connecting our network-based macroeconomic model and our optimal portfolio construction algorithm, we create a novel macroeconomic asset-trading framework.

Modeling Of Vapor Sorption In Nanoparticle Chemiresistors, Alexandra Oliveira

Honors Scholar Theses

Chemical vapor sensors possess a number of uses in a variety of fields, from environmental and health monitoring to food safety and national security concerns, such as the detection of improvised explosive devices. Many sensors currently in the market have the ability to detect the presence of a select few compounds and measure the concentration at which the species is present. However, these types of sensors require that the vapor to be investigated is known beforehand; they cannot be used for identification except on a case by case basis. In response to this issue, one branch of vapor sensor research …

Predictive Modeling Of Fate And Transport Of Three Prevalent Contaminants In Midwest Agroecosystem Surface Waters: Nitrate-N, Atrazine, And Escherichia Coli, Samuel Hansen

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The majority of streams and rivers in the United States (U.S.) are ecologically impaired, or threatened by anthropogenic stressors. Recent reports have found atrazine in drinking water to be associated with increased birth defects and incidences of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, with higher levels of significance from exposure to both atrazine and nitrate-N. In contrast, recent illnesses from E. coli contaminating vegetables that originated from irrigation water has increased awareness of identifying sources of E. coli entering irrigation reservoirs.

Methods to accurately predict atrazine and E. coli occurrence and potential sources in waterways continue to limit the identifying appropriate and effective prevention …

Evaluation And Modeling Of The Effect Of Tool Edge Radius On Machined Surface Roughness In Turning Uns A92024-T351 Aluminum Alloy, Ning Fang, P. Srinivasa Pai

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Tool edge radius plays a significant role in affecting the surface integrity of machined products. The vast majority of existing research, however, takes no account of the effect of tool edge radius in the evaluation and modeling of machined surface roughness, an essential indicator of surface integrity. The present study fills this important research gap and has performed a total of 45 turning experiments on Unified Numbering System (UNS) A92024-T351 aluminum alloy with carefully selected cutting tools with three levels of tool edge radii. This article describes the experimental setup and measurements of tool edge radius and machined surface roughness. …

An Investigation Of Three Subjective Rating Scales Of Mental Workload In Third Level Education, Nha Vu Thanh Nguyen

Dissertations

Mental Workload assessment in educational settings is still recognized as an open research problem. Although its application is useful for instructional design, it is still unclear how it can be formally shaped and which factors compose it. This paper is aimed at investigating a set of features believed to shape the construct of mental workload and aggregating them together in models trained with supervised machine learning techniques. In detail, multiple linear regression and decision trees have been chosen for training models with features extracted respectively from the NASA Task Load Index and the Workload Profile, well-known self-reporting instruments for assessing …

A Note On Kriging And Gaussian Processes, Mohammad Shekaramiz, Todd K. Moon, Jacob H. Gunther

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

An introduction to gaussian processes and kriging.

Details On Gaussian Process Regression (Gpr) And Semi-Gpr Modeling, Mohammad Shekaramiz, Todd K. Moon, Jacob H. Gunther

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This report tends to provide details on how to perform predictions using Gaussian process regression (GPR) modeling. In this case, we represent proofs for prediction using non-parametric GPR modeling for noise-free predictions as well as prediction using semi-parametric GPR for noisy observations.

Experimental Investigation And Modeling Of The Transformation Of Illicit Drugs In A Pilot-Scale Sewer System, Jiaying Li, Jianfa Gao, Phong K. Thai, Adam Shypanski, Ludwika Nieradzik, Jochen F. Mueller, Zhiguo Yuan, Guangming Jiang

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

In-sewer stability of illicit drug biomarkers has been evaluated by several reactor-based studies, but less has beendone in sewer pipes. Experiments conducted in sewer pipes have advantages over lab-scale reactors in providing more realisticbiomarker stability due to theflow and biological dynamics. This study assessed the transportation and transformation of sevenillicit drug biomarker compounds in a pilot-scale rising main and a gravity sewer pipe. Biomarkers presented diverse stabilitypatterns in the pilot sewers, based on which a drug transformation model was calibrated. This model was subsequently validatedusing transformation data sets from the literature, aiming to demonstrate the predictability of the pilot-based transformationcoefficients …