Engineering Commons^™

A Framework For Process Data Collection, Analysis, And Visualization In Construction Projects, Reza Akhavian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Automated data collection, simulation and visualization can substantially enhance the process of designing, analysis, planning, and control of many engineering processes. In particular, managing processes that are dynamic in nature can significantly benefit from such techniques. Construction projects are good examples of such processes where a variety of equipment and resources constantly interact inside an evolving environment. Management of such settings requires a platform capable of providing decision-makers with updated information about the status of project entities and assisting site personnel making critical decisions under uncertainty. To this end, the current practice of using historical data or expert judgments as …

Analysis Of Passive Louver Shading Systems And Impact On Interior Environment, Cory Joseph Brennan

Masters Theses

An installed passive louver shading systems can affect the heating, cooling, and lighting loads of any building, by altering the amount of solar energy, in the form of light and heat, from entering. The benefits of a louver system are derived from the application of solar geometry incident on the site and the climate within the area. By optimizing a passive louver system's design parameters, a building can reduce the total annual energy consumption due to artificial heating, cooling loads and artificial lighting. This research has implemented simulation modeling software, Energy Plus, to predict the effect of passive louver shades …

An Intelligent Computational Approach To The Optimization Of Inventory Policies For Single Company, Qinglin Duan

LSU Master's Theses

This study develops and tests a computational approach for determining optimal inventory policies for single company. The computational approach generally comprises of two major components: a meta-heuristic optimizer and an event-driven inventory evaluation module. Meta-heuristic is a powerful search technique, under the intelligent computational paradigm. The approach is capable of determining optimal inventory policy under various demand patterns regardless their distribution for a variety of inventory items. Two prototypes of perishability are considered: (1) sudden deaths due to disasters and (2) outdating due to expirations. Since every theoretical model is specially designed for a certain type of inventory problem while …

A 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamics Model For Forced Air Cooling Of Eggs Placed In Trays, Vikas Kumar, Ai Pheeng Wee, Sohan Birla, Jeyamkondan Subbiah, Harshanardhan Thippareddi

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Shell eggs must be cooled quickly after laying for controlling Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) growth. To fulfill a research need identified by Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), a 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model was developed to predict the temperature of eggs placed on a tray (6 rows × 5 columns) under forced air cooling. The continuity, momentum, and energy equations were solved along with standard k-ε turbulence model using PHOENICS software. The model was validated by conducting experiments in a wind tunnel at various air temperatures (7–11 °C) and velocities (0.3– 0.7 m/s). Root mean square error for predicting …

Decision Strategies For A P2p Computing System, Grzegorz Chmaj, Krzysztof Walkowiak

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) computing (also called ‘public-resource computing’) is an effective approach to perform computation of large tasks. Currently used P2P computing systems (e.g., BOINC) are most often centrally managed, i.e., the final result of computations is created at a central node using partial results – what may be not efficient in the case when numerous participants are willing to download the final result. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to P2P computing systems. We assume that results can be delivered to all peers in a distributed way using three types of network flows: unicast, Peer-to-Peer and anycast. We …

Simulation-Based Optimisation Model For The Lean Assessment In Sme: A Case Study, Amr Arisha, Amr Mahfouz, John Shea

Conference papers

Due to their space limitation and small production scale, small and medium enterprises (SME) are vulner-able to rapid changes. Lean principles are considered as effective improvement approach to eliminate sys-tem’s waste and inefficiencies. Although much of the academic materials have addressed the lean practic-es into large, global companies, they can still be adjusted to SMEs. Risks are usually associated with lean implementation process due to the drastic required changes in business policies and operations. Simulation can be successfully used to predict the impact of the proposed changes ahead of the implementation which helps to mitigate risks. Integrating simulation with optimization …

Executable System Architecting Using Systems Modeling Language In Conjunction With Colored Petri Nets In A Model-Driven Systems Development Process, Renzhong Wang, Cihan H. Dagli

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This work proposes an executable system architecting paradigm for discrete-event system modeling and analysis through integration of a set of modeling tools, executable formalisms, analytical tools, and animation tools. the essential step is converting SysML-Based specifications into colored Petri nets through a conversion scheme proposed here. Such a paradigm permits rigorous static and dynamic system analysis, as well as formal verification of the behavior and functionality of the SysML-Based design. This paper also compares the capabilities of the proposed executable system architecting paradigm with other executable formalisms. Further, it discusses the basic principles of executable architecture specification and analysis for …

Computational Simulations Demonstrate Altered Wall Shear Stress In Aortic Coarctation Patients Previously Treated By Resection With End-To-End Anastomosis, John F. Ladisa, Ronak Jashwant Dholakia, Alberto Figueroa, Irene E. Vignon-Clementel, Frandics P. Chan, Margaret M. Samyn, Joseph Richard Cava, Charles A. Taylor, Jeffrey A. Feinstein

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Background.  Atherosclerotic plaque in the descending thoracic aorta (dAo) is related to altered wall shear stress (WSS) for normal patients. Resection with end-to-end anastomosis (RWEA) is the gold standard for coarctation of the aorta (CoA) repair, but may lead to altered WSS indices that contribute to morbidity.

Methods.  Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models were created from imaging and blood pressure data for control subjects and age- and gender-matched CoA patients treated by RWEA (four males, two females, 15 ± 8 years). CFD analysis incorporated downstream vascular resistance and compliance to generate blood flow velocity, time-averaged WSS (TAWSS), and oscillatory shear …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Highly Textured Pt–Bi Thin Films, Xingzhong Li, Parashu Kharel, Shah R. Valloppilly, David J. Sellmyer

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

Pt–Bi films were synthesized on glass and thermally oxidized silicon substrates by e-beam evaporation and annealing. The structures were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy/selected area electron diffraction (TEM/SAED) techniques. Single-phase PtBi was obtained at an annealing temperature of 300°C, whereas a higher annealing temperature of 400°C was required to obtain the highly textured γ-PtBi2 phase. TEM/SAED analysis showed that the films annealed at 400°C contain a dominant γ-PtBi2 phase with a small amount of β-PtBi2 and α-PtBi2 phases. Both the PtBi and γ-PtBi2 phases are highly textured in these two kinds of film: the c-axis of …

Software Development Approach For Discrete Simulators, Grzegorz Chmaj, Dawid Maksymilian Zydek

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

Simulation is the most common approach to perform the problem research. Among several types of simulation, the most common way is the discrete simulation, which assumes the division of the time scale into fixed length time slots. Depending on investigated problem, simulation packages may be used or it could be necessary to design and create own simulation system. In this paper, we propose the complete pre-study scheme and the most commonly appearing implementation problems with suggested solutions. We also describe how to implement the exemplary simulator in C++.

Anticipating U.S. Population-Level Health And Economic Impacts Using Discrete-Event Simulation To Guide Health Policy Decisions, Odette Reifsnider

All Dissertations

This dissertation presents two applications of discrete-event simulation (DES) to represent clinical processes: (1) a model to quantify the risk of the maternal obese and diabetic intrauterine environment influence on progression to adult obesity and diabetes, and (2) a model to evaluate health and economic outcomes of different smoking cessation strategies. The first application considers the public health impact of the diabetic and obese intrauterine environment's effect on the prevalence of diabetes and obesity across subsequent generations. We first develop a preliminary DES model to investigate and characterize the epidemiology of diabetes during pregnancy and birth outcomes related to maternal …

Using Discrete Event Computer Simulation To Analyze The Effects Of Proposed Changes To Personnel In A Hospital Medical Laboratory, Gerardo Morales

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

A discrete event computer simulation is used to model a portion of the medical laboratory at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in order to assess the current situation as well as to review the planed personnel changes. The area under observation is the section in which the processor(s) receive, label and distribute the patient samples. There are four cases modeled in the simulation: The main focus is to determine if one or two processors are needed per shift and if the high level of phone calls poses a significant delay to the processors’ workflow. The simulation results indicate that having two …

Simulation And Control System Of A Railroad Track Power Harvesting Device, Kyle J. Phillips

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

With the vastness of existing railroad infrastructure, there exist numerous road crossings which are lacking warning light systems and/or crossing gates due to their remoteness from existing electrical infrastructure. Along with lacking warning light systems, these areas also tend to lack distributed sensor networks used for railroad track health monitoring applications. With the power consumption required by these systems being minimal, extending electrical infrastructure into these areas would not be an economical use of resources. This motivated the development of an energy harvesting solution for remote railroad deployment.

This thesis describes a computer simulation created to validate experimental on-track results …

A Water Distribution And Treatment Simulation For Testing Cyber Security Enhancements For Water Sector Scada Systems., Justin Robert Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are used by many critical infrastructures including electric power production and distribution, water and waste water treatment, rail transportation, and gas and oil distribution. Originally isolated proprietary systems, SCADA systems are increasingly connected to enterprise networks and the Internet and today use commercial hardware and software. As a result SCADA systems now face serious cyber-security threats. The need for testing and evaluation of developed cyber-security solutions presents a challenge since evaluation on actual systems is usually not possible and building complete physical testbeds is costly. This thesis presents the design and development of …

Slip Ramp Spacing Design For Truck Only Lanes Using Microscopic Simulation, Ghulam H. Bham, Manoj Vallati

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

For the Corridors of the Future project, slip ramps will provide access to trucks between the proposed truck-only lanes (TOLs) and general-purpose lanes (GPLs) for trucks to exit using at-grade interchanges. This paper proposes recommendations for slip ramp spacing between the TOLs and the general GPLs along Missouri rural interstate highways using a microscopic simulation model, VISSIM. Simulation of peak period traffic conditions indicated that heavy vehicle speeds were directly proportional to the lengths of the merge, diverge, and link sections. the proposed design recommendations for slip ramp spacing are based on the results of these section lengths. Central composite …

Agent-Based Under Hood Packing, Karthik Ravindranath

All Theses

Improving vehicle performance and passenger comfort has been a prime engineering concern and focus of research for many years in automotive design. Turning to high-performance components in an effort to improve vehicle performance alone is often not enough and their placement and interactions with other components should also be an integral part of the improvement process. With the advancement in hybrid electric vehicle technology, the packing of components under the hood is ever more essential and challenging. Under hood packing is a multi-objective optimization problem with many, and mostly conflicting objectives. A non-deterministic multi-objective evolutionary algorithm needs to be integrated …

Methods Development And Force Field Evaluation For Molecular Simulations Of Interactions Between Structured Peptides And Functionalized Material Surfaces, Galen Collier

All Dissertations

The process of protein adsorption to material surfaces is highly complex and it is one of the most fundamental concepts upon which progress in the field of bioengineering is based. The strategic design of material surfaces for optimal utility in specific biological environments is absolutely dependent upon a thorough understanding of the mechanisms underlying protein adsorption, yet there is still a very limited understanding of these mechanisms. The primary reason for this lack of understanding is that protein adsorption is a dynamic process which occurs at the atomic and macromolecular scale, where experimental analyses provide a view that is static …

Some Experiences, Thoughts, Ideas And Open Questions Relating To Applied Thermodynamics, Jim Mcgovern

Articles

In this paper I present some of my thoughts and experiences relating to 'applied thermodynamics' over my career so far. I explain my interest in thermodynamics, describe some topics I have worked on, point out some questions that appear still to be open and outline some ideas for work that could be done. I describe how I was inspired to pursue the area of applied thermodynamics, with reference to a glass, opposed-piston internal combustion engine. I put my heat pump research in the late 1970s briefly into today's context. Some of my research has been in relation to compressors, which …

A Relaxed Fusion Of Information From Real And Synthetic Images To Predict Complex Behavior, Damian M. Lyons, D. Paul Benjamin

Faculty Publications

An important component of cognitive robotics is the ability to mentally simulate physical processes and to compare the expected results with the information reported by a robot's sensors. In previous work, we have proposed an approach that integrates a 3D game-engine simulation into the robot control architecture. A key part of that architecture is the Match-Mediated Difference (MMD) operation, an approach to fusing sensory data and synthetic predictions at the image level. The MMD operation insists that simulated and predicted scenes are similar in terms of the appearance of the objects in the scene. This is an overly restrictive constraint …

Evaluation System Design And Academic Performance Analysis Using Clustering And Simulation, Volkan Cakir

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The starting point of this study was to understand the possible causes of evaluation system change in a military academic environment. With that motivation the objectives of this study were defined as examining student profiles in a military academy, establishing the nature of academic performance, comparing student groups that were identified by course scores, analyzing student performance changes over time and developing a manageable evaluation system and curriculum by comparing different scenarios.

An analysis was performed on the literature on academic performance prediction, cluster analysis methodologies and their development, and specifically summarized cluster analytic academic performance studies where these two …

Discrete Event Simulation Manual: Manufacturing Applications, Brian T. Hughes

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Simulation, specifically discrete event simulation, is a useful tool for industrial and manufacturing engineers when dealing with system analysis. Currently, manufacturing engineers are only exposed to simulation for only a few weeks of their curriculum at Cal Poly. A series of labs are directed by a teacher’s assistant on how to complete a successful simulation experiment. However, there is no text available for student use during this demanding learning period. The simulation learning process involves learning a software program called ProModel, which students with little experience are expected to code, run, and interpret data from complex systems. By creating a …

A Petri Net Simulation Model For Virtual Construction Of Earthmoving Operations, F. F. Cheng, Y. W. Wang, Yong Bai

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

A common and extended Petri net simulation framework for virtual construction of earthmoving operations is developed to simulate dynamic changes of workflow and information flow in the earthmoving construction process and illustrate the constraint relationship between various operational equipment and construction restrictions. The proposed framework considers factors that influence earthmoving operations including randomness of construction activities, individual preference of equipment scheduling, and constraint relationship between equipment and construction environment. With the given equipment availability and project indirect cost, the framework can predict construction situation, equipment utilization rate, estimated duration and cost to achieve visualized and intelligent scheduling of virtual construction …

Integration Of Aeroservoelastic Properties Into The Nasa Dryden F/A-18 Simulator Using Flight Data From The Active Aeroelastic Wing Program, Alexander Wong Chin

Master's Theses

Aircraft structures have varying stiffness levels making them flexible. Consequently, this elastic property becomes increasingly important at high speeds affecting the flight dynamics of the aircraft.  In high speed aircraft such as the F/A-18, elastic structural properties must be accounted for to ensure confidence in predicted flight dynamics in order to avoid adverse aeroelastic phenomena throughout flight.

Data from the F/A-18 Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW) program was used to create aeroservoelastic (ASE) models at varying flight conditions. The discretized ASE models were integrated into the NASA Dryden F/A-18 simulator in parallel with the traditional 6-DOF (degrees-of-freedom) flight dynamics calculations to …

4-Bit Adder Design And Simulation, Amin Atwa, Ahmed Samir, Fady Soliman

Papers, Posters, and Presentations

The project is to design a 4-bit digital adder, while taking care of performance parameters: area, speed and power consumption, the team has chosen to design according to the cost function: Area*Delay*Power. The project is implemented in three phases: research phase, simulation phase, and evaluation/re-evaluation phase. The adder circuit implemented as Ripple-Carry Adder (RCA), the team added improvements to overcome the disadvantages of the RCA architecture, for instance the first 1-bit adder is a Half Adder, which is faster and more power-efficient, the team was also carefully choosing the gates to match the stated cost function. Gates are implemented using …

Development And Validation Of Biomechanical Models To Quantify Horse Back Forces At The Walk In Three Horse Breeds, Laxmi Raghunandana Kaidapuram

LSU Master's Theses

Therapeutic horseback riding is a common component of physical therapy programs. Quantification of the horse back forces will provide vital information to match therapeutic riders with equine partners. To meet this medical need, a model to quantify the horse back forces from ground reaction forces was developed to test the hypothesis that the forces transferred to a static weight on the horse’s back can be predicted given horse breed and weight. Simultaneous, real time kinetic, kinematic, and back force data on a static weight were collected from 7 adult horses: 3 thoroughbreds, 3 quarter horses, and 1 paso fino. An …

Integrating Demand And Traffic Simulation Modeling To Evaluate Adaptive Evacuation Plans, Thomas Jude Montz, Jr.

LSU Master's Theses

Significant efforts are currently being made by transportation officials to improve the planning and preparation of mass evacuations. The idea of adaptive evacuation plans is an avenue of research that could help improve future evacuation processes. Adaptive evacuation plans stem from the observation that different disaster threat scenarios require different evacuation responses. While adaptive evacuation planning can be generalized to any form of evacuation planning, this project focused on adaptive planning in the context of a hurricane evacuation.

This project was the first to adapt the demand models of Fu, et al, and Cheng, et al, into a regional-scale traffic …

Simulation And Visualization Enhanced Engineering Education- Development And Implementation Of Virtual Experiments In A Laboratory Course, Sushil K. Chaturvedi, Kaustubh A. Dharwadkar

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents results from a National Science Foundation grant titled "Simulation and Visualization Enhanced Engineering Education", funded by the EEC division. Although the scope of the project is quite broad, embracing a wide range of courses in three engineering disciplines, the present work describes the results obtained from application of simulation and visualization for development and implementation of web-based virtual engineering laboratories. The present work leverages the advancement in hardware and software technologies to map physical experiments into web-based virtual experiments that can be used to enrich student's laboratory experience. Four physical experiments in the thermo-fluids laboratory course have …

Accelerated Simulation And Testing Of Integrated Circuits Using High Performance Computing Machines, Matthew C. Markulik

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

As Moore's Law continues to hold true and transistor density becomes exponentially larger the need to rely on computer aided design (CAD) simulators has become more relevant and necessary. As we dive into the age of electronic reliance there presents a need to constantly improve methods to reduce time-to-solution for developing technologies. The reliance on CAD simulators for electronic development leaves engineers with an ability to improve the design process by improving these simulators or improving the methods in which these simulators are being utilized. With the advancement of quality fabrication processes and the ability to operate at sub-threshold levels …

Methodology To Convert A Transportation Planning Origin-Destination Matrix Into A Microscopic Traffic Simulation Origin-Destination Matrix, Jose Osiris Vidana-Bencomo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Microscopic traffic simulation (MTS) is a cost-effective approach for the evaluation of traffic conditions in urban highways networks. In MTS models, traffic demand that is entered into the network is specified by one or several Origin-Destination (O-D) matrices. A major challenge in the application of MTS for large urban networks is the specification of the O-D matrices. This dissertation proposes a methodology that may be used to transform a O-D matrix from a transportation planning model (which is based on Traffic Analysis Zone, or TAZ, and is readily available) into a O-D matrix for a MTS model (which is traffic …

Model Development Of A Virtual Learning Environment To Enhance Lean Education, Akalpit Gadre, Elizabeth Cudney, Steven Corns

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Modern day industry is becoming leaner by the day. This demands engineers with an in-depth understanding of lean philosophies. Current methods for teaching lean include hands-on projects and simulation. However, simulation games available in the market lack simplicity, ability to store the results, and modeling power. the goal of this research is to develop a virtual simulation platform which would enable students to perform various experiments by applying lean concepts. the design addresses these deficiencies through the use of VE-Suite, a virtual engineering software. the design includes user-friendly dialogue boxes, graphical models of machines, performance display gauges, and an editable …