Engineering Commons^™

Generalized Energy Storage Model-In-The-Loop Suitable For Energy Star And Cta-2045 Control Types, Huangjie Gong, Evan S. Jones, A. H. M. Jakaria, Aminul Huque, Ajit Renjit, Dan M. Ionel

Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky Faculty Publications

The paper proposes a generalized energy storage (GES) model for battery energy storage systems (BESS), electric water heaters (EWH) and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. The analogies, including state of charge versus water temperature differential, are identified and explained, and models-in-the-loop (MIL) are introduced, which are compatible with the Energy Star and CTA-2045 general specifications and command types. Emphasis is placed on the proposed EWH model as it needfully fulfills a gap in present literature. The corresponding MIL has been implemented in the DER integration testbed, which was originally developed by EPRI, and satisfactorily validated against experimental results. A …

On The Modeling Of Bearing Voltage And Current In Pwm Converter-Fed Electric Machines Using Electromagnetic Finite Element Analysis, Peng Han, Yibin Zhang, Murat G. Kesgin, Greg Heins, Dean Patterson, Mark Thiele, Dan M. Ionel

Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky Faculty Publications

Bearing voltages and resulting currents in electric machines driven by PWM converters with fast switching and high dv/dt can cause premature bearing failures. With the transition from conventional Si devices to wide bandgap (WBG) devices and increase in switching frequency, bearing voltages and currents become more significant and need to be addressed from the early design stage. This paper proposes to use coupled field-circuit electromagnetic finite element analysis (FEA) to model bearing voltage and current in electric machines, which takes into account the influence of distributed winding conductors and frequency-dependent winding RL parameters. The three known bearing current types are …

Liquid-Vapor Distributions In Evacuated Small Diameter Channels For Improved Accuracy Of Initial Conditions In Modeling Of Oscillating Heat Pipes, Travis Mayberry

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

Oscillating heat pipes, also known as pulsating heat pipes, are increasingly becoming a preferred high-performance thermal ground plane in a variety of heat spreading applications due to a number of advantages over traditional copper-water wicked heat pipes, including their lighter weight, thinner profiles, simpler fabrication, and greater variety of material and working fluid options. A major barrier to even wider adoption, however, is the lack of comprehensive analytical models to simulate their performance. A key input to first principles models simulating the fundamental physics of the devices is the initial condition of liquid and vapor segment lengths and their distribution …

Autonomous Vehicle Communication Strategies Modeled In Virtual Reality, Nick N. Ferenchak Ph.D

Data

We sought to better understand how autonomous vehicle (AV) communication strategies impact human road users’ perceptions and behaviors. More specifically, we explored the impact of different external human-machine interface (eHMI) designs on understanding, task load, comfort, trust, acceptance, and reaction time. To accomplish this, we created virtual reality (VR) scenarios where human participants interacted with AVs. Participants experienced biking, driving, and pedestrian simulators and were brought back after initial testing to explore acclimation and learning effects. In terms of perceptions, the presence of an eHMI was the strongest predictor of understanding, comfort, trust, and acceptance outcomes in the statistical models …

Exploring Traffic Safety Problems And Challenges Of Older Roads’ Users In Louisiana: Causes And Countermeasures, Hany Hassan Ph.D, Saba Doulabi

Data

It is well established that older pedestrians and drivers with 65 years and above are among the most vulnerable road users. As the number and proportion of older road users (as drivers and pedestrians) grows in many countries, as well as their share in pedestrians’ and drivers’ crashes and injuries, it behooves transportation researchers to further investigate the safety and mobility challenges of older road users. This study aims mainly to provide a comprehensive investigation of older pedestrians’ and drivers’ safety challenges. To this end, a three-fold research approach is designed to thoroughly examine older road users’ safety challenges as …

Calculating Pile Downdrag: Experimental And Numerical Investigations, Hai Lin, Shengli Chen, Hussein Alqrinawi

Data

Piles can be exposed to significant settlement (i.e., downdrag) and compressive force (i.e., dragload) if embedded in consolidating ground. Downdrag has been included in the design of piles, but there is uncertainty about how downdrag and dragload are efficiently considered in the pile design due to the differences in the existing design methods (e.g., AASHTO and FHWA). Although several field monitoring programs were successfully conducted on pile downdrag, fully instrumented pile model tests are still needed to investigate the responses at the soil-pile interface to improve the design of pile downdrag. This research focused on investigating the downdrag and skin …

Urban Transportation Infrastructure And Cyclist And Pedestrian Safety, Hatim Sharif, Samer Dessouky

Data

No abstract provided.

Developing Notification And Enforcement Systems To Communicate And Administer Bridge Load Postings, Hany Hassan, Hisham Abdu Kunnah

Data

State and local law enforcement agencies in the US strive to enforce weight restrictions on trucks and heavy vehicles travelling on public roads as a matter of public safety and as a way of safeguarding vital transportation infrastructure. This research aimed to identify plausible notification systems that can effectively communicate bridge load postings to dispatchers and drivers, investigate and suggest possible approaches to communicate potential detour routes, and identify corresponding enforcement methods required to successfully administer bridge load postings. This report discusses the current practices of bridge load posting notification and enforcement systems. Also, it presents an overview of the …

Coupling Novel Soil Moisture-Suction Sensors And Uav Photogrammetry Technology To The Performance Of Highway Embankments, Navid Jafari, Anand Puppala, Xinbao Yu, Surya Sarat Chandra Congress

Data

The movement of water plays a critical role in the mechanical performance and service life of transportation infrastructure, especially for pavement subgrades and highway embankments consisting of high-plasticity, expansive soils that saturate and ultimately lead to infrastructure distress. Shallow slides along highway embankments are ubiquitous across Region 6 because long-term wetting and drying cycles considerably weaken these compacted soils. In the aftermath of heavy rains, pore-water pressures increase to a critical threshold such that a failure occurs. The implications of embankment failures range from repeated maintenance repairs to long-term road closures. A comprehensive approach to model highway embankments comprising of …

An Innovative Thermo-Energy Harvesting Module For Asphalt Roadway Pavement, Seyed Amid Tahami, Samer Dessouky

Data

The importance of green technologies for generating renewable energy and sustainable development is widely accepted. Road surfaces are exposed to solar radiation that generates thermal gradients and heat flow in the pavement layers. The heat stored can be harvested providing an untapped source of renewable energy. This report presents the design, construction, and assessment of an improved thermoelectric energy prototype for harvesting heat energy from roadway pavements. To accomplish this, various prototype designs were simulated using Finite Element (FE) analysis, followed by design construction and laboratory testing of the most promising prototypes to evaluate their power harvesting capabilities. The main …

Exploring Neural Networks For Predicting Sentinel-C Backscatter Between Image Acquisitions, Zhongdi Wu

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Measuring moisture dynamics in soil and overlying vegetation is key to understanding ecosystem and agricultural dynamics in many contexts. For many applications, moisture information is demanded at high temporal frequency over large areas. Sentinel-1 C-band radar backscatter satellite images provide a repeating sequence of fine-resolution (10-m) observations that can be used to infer soil and vegetation moisture, but the 12-day interval between satellite observations is infrequent relative to the sensed moisture dynamics. Machine learning approaches have been used to predict soil moisture at higher spatial resolutions than the original satellite images, but little effort has been made to increase the …

Automated Fiber Placement: A Review Of History, Current Technologies, And Future Paths Forward, Alex Brasington, Christopher Sacco, Joshua Halbritter, Roudy Wehbe, Ramy Harik

Faculty Publications

Automated fiber placement (AFP) is a composite manufacturing technique used to fabricate complex advanced air vehicle structures that are lightweight with superior qualities. The AFP process is intricate and complex with various phases of design, process planning, manufacturing, and inspection. An understanding of each of these phases is necessary to achieve the highest possible manufacturing quality. This literature review aims to summarize the entire AFP process from the design of the structure through inspection of the manufactured part to generate an overall understanding of the lifecycle of AFP manufacturing. The review culminates with highlighting the challenges and future directions for …

High-Order Deterministic Sensitivity Analysis And Uncertainty Quantification: Review And New Developments, Dan Gabriel Cacuci

Faculty Publications

This work reviews the state-of-the-art methodologies for the deterministic sensitivity analysis of nonlinear systems and deterministic quantification of uncertainties induced in model responses by uncertainties in the model parameters. The need for computing high-order sensitivities is underscored by presenting an analytically solvable model of neutron scattering in a hydrogenous medium, for which all of the response’s relative sensitivities have the same absolute value of unity. It is shown that the wider the distribution of model parameters, the higher the order of sensitivities needed to achieve a desired level of accuracy in representing the response and in computing the response’s expectation, …

Simple, Cost-Effective Fabrication, And Flow Dynamics Analysis Of A Passive Microfluidic Mixer Using 3d Printing And Soft Lithography, Md Fazlay Rubby, Mohammad Salman Parvez, Nazmul Islam

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Simple and low-cost fabrication of microfluidic devices has attracted considerable attention among researchers. The traditional soft lithography fabrication method requires expensive equipment like a UV exposure system and mask fabrication facility. In this work, an alternative and low-cost UV exposure system was introduced along with an alternative mask fabrication system. A previously reported passive microfluidic mixer was fabricated successfully using this modified soft lithography method. Challenges were presented during this modified fabrication method. Another emerging potential alternative for the fabrication of microfluidic mixers is 3D printing. It was also used in this experiment to fabricate a passive micromixer. This method …

Effect Of Non-Planar Tungsten V-Electrode Pattern In A 3d Printed Microfluidic System, Mohammad Salman Parvez, Md Fazlay Rubby, Shanzida Kabir, Meah Imtiaz Zulkarnain, Nazmul Islam

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Manipulation, guiding, and focusing of particles is an important phenomenon in the area of biomedical research. In most cases, particles are suspended in a microfluidic environment. These microfluidic environments can be high or low conductive. Most importantly these flows seeded with the micro-particles are manipulated and guided in microfluidic channels. Microfluidic channels have very low dimensions and considering the flow rate the characteristic of the flow in a microfluidic channel is laminar in nature. There are many micromachining methods available for fabricating microfluidic channels such as soft-lithography, wet etching, electroforming, PDMS molding, laser ablation followed by wet etching but in …

Performance-Based Building System Manufacturer Selection Decision Framework For Integration Into Total Cost Of Ownership Evaluations, Sarah L. Brown, Steven J. Schuldt, Michael N. Grussing, Louis B. Bartels, Michael A. Johnson, Justin D. Delorit

Faculty Publications

Facility managers are often faced with building system procurement or replacement decisions, requiring them to select a system from among competitive manufacturers. Total cost of ownership (TCO) criteria, informed by built assets in operation in the manager’s portfolio, provides some information to select the right asset manufacturer. However, managers must also consider technical performance to complete a more comprehensive analysis. Performance can be calculated using asset parameters like condition, age, and variation in condition to aid in TCO assessments. Leveraging past research and approaches, performance is calculated using an additive model that scales each parameter using a standard normalization technique …

Survivability Analysis In The Shadow Of Apollo: Part I - Cislunar Debris Propagation And Spacecraft Vulnerability, Nathan R. Boone, Robert A. Bettinger

Faculty Publications

Although the reality of routine travel and sustained operations and habitation in space likely remains several decades away, the building blocks of space exploration and space system development necessary to realize this reality are currently being laid by peer, near-peer, and emerging space-faring nations. Traditionally, global space operations were notionally limited to near-Earth space, with mission altitudes extending to geosynchronous or even highly elliptical orbits. During the 2010s, however, space operations began moving beyond this paradigm to encompass cislunar space with reinvigorated U.S. initiatives to return to the Moon via the Artemis program, planned commercial space projects, and an accelerated …

Quantum-Inspired Algorithm For Vehicle Sharing Problem, Whei Yeap Suen, Chun Yat Lee, Hoong Chuin Lau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Recent hardware developments in quantum technologies have inspired a myriad of special-purpose hardware devices tasked to solve optimization problems. In this paper, we explore the application of Fujitsu’s quantum-inspired CMOS-based Digital Annealer (DA) in solving constrained routing problems arising in transportation and logistics. More precisely in this paper, we study the vehicle sharing problem and show that the DA as a QUBO solver can potentially fill the gap between two common methods: exact solvers like Cplex and heuristics. We benchmark the scalability and quality of solutions obtained by DA with Cplex and with a greedy heuristic. Our results show that …

Design Of A Two-Echelon Freight Distribution System In Last-Mile Logistics Considering Covering Locations And Occasional Drivers, Vincent F. Yu, Panca Jodiawan, Ming-Lu Hou, Aldy Gunawan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This research addresses a new variant of the vehicle routing problem, called the two-echelon vehicle routing problem with time windows, covering options, and occasional drivers (2E-VRPTW-CO-OD). In this problem, two types of fleets are available to serve customers, city freighters and occasional drivers (ODs), while two delivery options are available to customers, home delivery and alternative delivery. For customers choosing the alternative delivery, their demands are delivered to one of the available covering locations for them to pick up. The objective of 2E-VRPTW-CO-OD is to minimize the total cost consisting of routing costs, connection costs, and compensations paid to ODs …

Infrastructure Risk Reduction: The Case Of Drinking Water Emergencies, Mark Paine

Dissertations

Public water systems are an integral part of community infrastructure. Drinking water contamination or service disruptions have the potential to cause economic losses, limit fire suppression capability, and result in human illnesses. Until 2016, the United States federal government had not issued a disaster declaration due to contaminated water. The first federal drinking water disaster declaration due to contaminated water serves as a sentinel event demonstrating the need to increase focus on public water systems during all phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery. Previous studies evaluating risks to vulnerable populations associated with drinking water primarily utilized qualitative …

Adverse Weather Low-Probality Forecast Effects On Flight Fuel Planning, Fabio Castro, Diogo Umsza, David Louzada, Paulo Ricardo Lanzarini, Manoel Valente

Student Works

This project aimed to improve the efficiency of flight planning of regular airlines regarding the addition of extra fuel due to weather forecasts with low probability occurrence regarding rain and thunderstorm events (30 and 40% chances).

Recommendations:

• Expand the scope/sample of analyzed flights to include other significant strategic airports.

• Involve Operations Control Center, Air Operations Engineering, and Safety Department in future studies in order to create an effective policy for extra fuel supply (on planning and flight execution).

• Include in the study other meteorological phenomena and conditions that involve flights extra fuel supply, such as FOG, MIST, HAZE.

• Expand the …

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Stiffness Degradation In Fatigue Life Of Composites Using Dielectric State Variables, Muthu Ram Prabhu Elenchezhian, Partha Pratim Das, Minhazur Rahman, Vamsee Vadlamudi, Rassel Raihan, Kenneth Reifsnider

Institute of Predictive Performance Methodologies (IPPM-UTARI)-Archive

Composite materials are widely used in aerospace and automotive structures for decades and over the years the community has gained a better understanding of the damage and failure modes of composites under fatigue. In this article, a dielectric characterization methodology for in-situ monitoring of composites under fatigue environments is proposed. A novel method of measuring the dielectric state variables in Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BbDS) using Extremely Conductive Silver Epoxy Adhesive (ECSEA) paste is presented. These dielectric state variables serve to identify the precursor of the beginning of the end of life of the composite material under fatigue loading. The reliability …

Cement Bricks Based On Shredded Automobile Tires, Nour Waheed, Ibrahim M. Ibrahim, M. A. Radwan, M. A. Sadek, Hany A. Elazab

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The essential target of this is to make good, qualified bricks with economic background and to have several uses than ordinary brick that is utilized in construction of homes or any building. From these useful properties of those blocks are acoustic segregation and thermal insulation also with recovery of many wastes that don’t be benefit from them; create from them jobs to be reused and to make brick economically wise and to be applied for example the insulation. From those squandering, are the shredded used tires after being used and it can’t be used anymore. It was cleared that the …

Cochlear Inflammaging In Relation To Ion Channels And Mitochondrial Functions, Parveen Bazard, Jennifer Pineros, Robert D. Frisina, Mark A. Bauer, Alejandro A. Acosta, Lauren R. Paganella, Dominika Borakiewicz, Mark Thivierge, Freyda L. Mannering, Xiaoxia Zhu, Bo Ding

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The slow accumulation of inflammatory biomarker levels in the body—also known as inflammation—has been linked to a myriad of age-related diseases. Some of these include neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's disease, obesity, type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and many others. Though a direct correlation has not been established, research connecting age-related hearing loss (ARHL)—the number one communication disorder and one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases of our aged population—and inflammation has gained interest. Research, thus far, has found that inflammatory markers, such as IL-6 and white blood cells, are associated with ARHL in humans and animals. Moreover, studies investigating …

Fibrin Gel Enhances The Antitumor Effects Of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells In Glioblastoma, Edikan A. Ogunnaike, Alain Valdivia, Mostafa Yazdimamaghani, Ernesto Leon, Seema Nandi, Hannah Hudson, Hongwei Du, Simon Khagi, Zhen Gu, Barbara Savoldo, Frances S. Ligler, Shawn Hingtgen, Gianpietro Dotti

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Regional delivery of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells in glioblastoma represents a rational therapeutic approach as an alternative to intravenous administration to avoid the blood-brain barrier impediment. Here, we developed a fibrin gel that accommodates CAR-T cell loading and promotes their gradual release. Using a model of subtotal glioblastoma resection, we demonstrated that the fibrin-based gel delivery of CAR-T cells within the surgical cavity enables superior antitumor activity compared to CAR-T cells directly inoculated into the tumor resection cavity.

Autonomous Farming With Uavs, Pallavi Agrawal, Karthik Manjunath, Cherokee Rawls, Sujitha Raj Rajagopal, Riad Alharithi, Kamal Thapa

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

As the global need for food grows, agriculture is adapting autonomous farming techniques to scale in response. One of the most useful tools are UAVs (Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles), which are providing invaluable information and assistance to farmers. In some countries, UAVs are being rapidly embraced, while in others this progress is much slower. For a number of reasons, the United States has not broadly adopted this technology in assisting agricultural practices. In this article, we focus on the challenges companies and farmers are facing in making use of UAVs and what might be done to push this technology into widespread …

Tourism Route Optimization For Portland, Oregon, Duane Murray, Mohammed Thawab, Adnan Binmahfood, Mohammed Zaid, Colin Owens

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

The city of Portland, Oregon has experienced an unprecedented reduction in tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This reduction in tourism has had a negative impact on all businesses in the area. This paper provides a methodology and tool that can be used to help local businesses potentially gain patrons, and at the same time help visitors in maximizing their time while minimizing costs. when visiting the city after the pandemic abates. To accomplish this, first, an itinerary of selected attractions are filtered by the visitor. Next, a linear programming method using a travelling salesman problem (TSP) algorithm is implemented …

Using A Light-Based Power Source To Defeat Power Analysis Attacks, Remus Valentin Tumac

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Power analysis attacks exploit the correlation between the information processed by an electronic system and the power consumption of the system. By powering an electronic system with an optical power source, we can prevent meaningful information from being leaked to the power pins and captured in power traces. The relatively constant current draw of the optical power source hides any variability in the power consumption of the target system caused by the logic gates' switching activity of the system as observed at the power pins. This thesis will provide evidence to show that using an optical power source should make …

Consideration For Scaffolding Open-Ended Engineering Problems: Instructor Reflections After Three Years, J. Swenson, M. Rola, A. Johnson, Emma Treadway, A. Nitingale, H. Koushyar, J. W. Lee, K. Wingate

Engineering Faculty Research

This full research-to-practice paper is a collaboration between researchers and instructors to examine the scaffolding of open-ended problems. Most assigned homework problems are closed-ended with one correct answer and are unlike the ill-defined problems practicing engineers solve in the workplace. To begin bridging this gap, our research team of engineering education researchers and instructors have been designing and implementing ill-defined, open-ended homework problems for the past three years. This study presents instructor reflections on considerations for scaffolding open-ended problems, made after examining survey data from their own students. We present the results in six practices of scaffolding that better support …

General Aviation Flight Safety During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Douglas D. Boyd

Publications

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 virus has caused over 582,000 deaths in the United States to date. However, the pandemic has also afflicted the mental health of the population at large in the domains of anxiety and sleep disruption, potentially interfering with cognitive function. From an aviation perspective, safely operating an aircraft requires an airmans cognitive engagement for: 1) situational awareness, 2) spatial orientation, and 3) avionics programming. Since impaired cognitive function could interfere with such tasks, the current study was undertaken to determine if flight safety for a cohort of single engine, piston-powered light airplanes was adversely affected during a period …