Engineering Commons^™

Tnt-Contaminated Soils Remediation For Volunteer Army Ammunitions Plant, Janice Tevonia Russell Horn

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Many facilities involved in the production of munitions, or with a history of munitions production or storage, are faced with the remediation of residual explosives in soil, groundwater and process wastewater. This requirement has become particularly prevalent with the closing of many military installations across the country. The Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant (V AAP) is a 6,681 acre Government owned and contractor-operated facility for the production and storage of trinitrotoluene (TNT). Two (2) technologies were investigated for TNT (nitroaromatic explosive) contaminated soils remediation. The technologies are phytoremediation and thermal incineration. Phytoremediation is an in-site wetlands-type remediation which uses plants. Thermal …

Surface Micromachined Pressure Sensors, William P. Eaton Iv

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Surface micromachined pressure sensors were designed, modeled, fabricated, and tested. They employed a piezoresistive transduction mechanism and were based upon circular diaphragms, which vary from 50 to 1000 μm in diameter and 1 to 2 μm in thickness. The piezoresistors were placed in Wheatstone bridge configurations to provide simple signal amplification and first order temperature compensation.

Of the different micromachining techniques, surface-micromachining has the advantage of being the most similar to integrated circuit manufacturing. Hence an existing IC equipment set can be used to create mechanical structures. Furthermore, the monolithic integration of a mechanical device with control electronics is simpler …

Single Row Routing: Theoretical And Experimental Performance Evaluation, And New Heuristic Development, David A. Hysom

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

The Single Row Routing Problem (SRRP) is an abstraction arising from real-world multilayer routing concerns. While NP-Complete, development of efficient SRRP routing heuristics are of vital concern to VLSI design. Previously, researchers have introduced various heuristics for SRRP; however, a comprehensive examination of SRRP behavior has been lacking.

We are particularly concerned with the street-congestion minimization constraint, which is agreed to be the constraint of greatest interest to industry. Several theorems stating lower bounds on street congestion are known. We show that these bounds are not tight in general, and argue they may be in error by at least 50% …

Gate Transient Equations For Digital Bicmos Circuits, Beshara Elmufdi

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Pratt & Whitney 4060: Power For The Future, Gregory Sumner

Honors Theses

The Pratt & Whitney 4000 engine platform is considered the most economical turbofan engine in its class. It is advertised as providing the most efficient service and the most reliability for air carriers. United Airlines utilizes the company's engines. The paper begins with basic turbine engine theory and moves on to engine classifications, where the Pratt & Whitney 4060 is introduced. The systems are covered in detail. Maintenance areas of service and inspections are described to show how personnel may interact with the computers. Finally, a description of activities during the author's internship describe the interesting facets of a semester …

Some Problems With Aviation Antiterrorism And Counterterrorism Policy: A Multi-Cultural Communication Approach, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This is the third in a continuing IBPP series of articles about aviation terrorism. (See IBPP Vol. 1, Nos. 12 and 15 for the first two articles.) It was presented at the international conference entitled "Aviation Communication: A Multi-Cultural Forum" on April 9, 1997 at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, Arizona. This article illustrates how five commonly accepted elements of aviation antiterrorism and counterterrorism policy usually perpetuate terrorism as opposed to attenuating it.

Telemetric Torque Measurement System, Jason Joseph, Francisco Sinta, Jeff Williams

Honors Theses

The Telemetric Torque Measurement System(TTMS) was designed to measure the torque produced by a snowmobile engine. The design of the TTMS was refined and modified in stages, leading to the final design. The TTMS consists of two basic sections: the transmitter section and the frequency demodulator section. The transmitter section effectively measures the torque on a snowmobilejack-shaft. The torque signal is converted into a voltage which is then fed into a voltage to frequency converter and converted into an audio tone. This tone is broadcast in the FM broadcast band via an FM transmitter. An FM receiver then receives the …

In-Situ Ellipsometric Control Of Magnetic Multilayer Deposition (Abstract), Xiang Gao, Scott Heckens, John A. Woollam

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Correct determination of layer thicknesses on a subnanometer scale is crucial for studies of giant magnetoresistance, magneto-optical (MO) Kerr rotation, magnetic interlayer coupling, and other magnetic properties of metallic multilayers. Some structures such as [Co/Ni] and [Co/Pt] with fewer than 20 repeats are difficult to be analyzed by x-ray diffraction (XRD) due to too little material. In this work, in-situ spectroscopic ellipsometry (in-situ SE) is used to precisely determine the optical constants undisturbed by oxidation, and the growth rates of different metal films deposited in a sputtering chamber. In-situ SE determines both the constant and continuously changing growth rates …

A Generalized Solidification Model And Microstructural Verification For The Nd–Fe–B–Ti–C System Processed By Rapid Solidification, Matthew J. Kramer, C.P. Li, K.W. Dennis, R.W. Mccallum, C.H. Sellers, D.J. Branagan, Jeffrey E. Shield

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

For the Nd₂Fe₁₄B (2-14-1) compound, the optimal grain size should be smaller than the size of the single domain size of 150 nm. Transition metal carbides (TMC) also reduce the quench rate necessary to achieve the optimal or overquenched condition. This allows inert gas atomization (IGA) to produce viable magnetic materials. In this article we will demonstrate that optimal microstructure for the 2-14-1 can be produced by IGA with the addition of TiC. Moreover, a solidification model will be presented to show (1) how recalescence is a critical feature to the evolution of the microstructure in …

Spin Dynamics Of Er3+ In Erba2cu3o7−Δ, S. Skanthkumar, J. W. Lynn, Fatih Dogan

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Neutron scattering techniques are used to study the magnetic excitations of the Er ions in superconducting ErBa₂Cu₃O₇, a system where the Er ions order antiferromagnetically at TN=0.62 K and the sublattice magnetization obeys the relation for a 2D S=1/2 Ising model. Our data, which were taken on a cold neutron triple axis spectrometer using a horizontally focusing analyzer, reveal that there is a large gap of about 0.20 meV in the excitation spectrum, about four times the thermal energy kTN, as expected for an Ising system. However, we also observe dispersion of the spin …

Spin Dynamics Of Er3+ In Erba2cu3o7−Δ, Suntharalingam Skanthakumar, Jeffrey W. Lynn, Fatih Dogan

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Neutron scattering techniques are used to study the magnetic excitations of the Er ions in superconducting ErBa₂Cu₃O₇, a system where the Er ions order antiferromagnetically at T_N=0.62 K and the sublattice magnetization obeys the relation for a 2D S=1/2 Ising model. Our data, which were taken on a cold neutron triple axis spectrometer using a horizontally focusing analyzer, reveal that there is a large gap of about 0.20 meV in the excitation spectrum, about four times the thermal energy kT_N, as expected for an Ising system. However, we also observe …

Speed-Independent Asynchronous Sequential Circuit Design, John J. Kaplan

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

A majority of today's sequential circuits implemented with Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuit technology are based on synchronous design. Asynchronous designs often result in better solutions, especially in applications dealing with low power electronics and asynchronous input changes. However, asynchronous sequential circuit design theory is not widely understood and, asynchronous designs are hindered by complex design procedures. Additionally, design complications such as critical races and hazards affect asynchronous sequential circuits but not synchronous sequential circuits.

Synchronous circuits, although widely used, are also subject to serious design limitations in VLSI implementations. Delays in the clock distribution network must be considered …

Energy Based Approach To Earthquake Response Of Asymmetric Systems, Rakesh K. Goel

Civil and Environmental Engineering

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Code Period Formula For Concrete Mrf Buildings, Rakesh K. Goel, Anil K. Chopra

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The empirical formula specified in US building codes for fundamental vibration period of concrete moment resisting frame buildings is evaluated using periods of buildings measured from their strong motion records. The presented results show that the current code formula may lead to fundamental periods that are much shorter than the measured periods. In order to obtain better correlation between measured and computed periods, regression analysis technique has been used. The results indicate that the value of C, in the current code formula should be increased from its present value of 0.030 to 0.035.

Comparison Of Three Clustering Algorithms And An Application To Color Image Compression, Jihun Cha, Laurene V. Fausett

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

This paper investigates a traditional clustering algorithm (K-means) and two neural networks (SOM and ART-F). The characteristics of each algorithm are illustrated by simulating geometric space data clustering. Then each algorithm is applied to image data sets to compress the size by reducing the number of colors from 256 to 16.

Comparison Of Neural Network Applications For Channel Assignment In Cellular Tdma Networks And Dynamically Sectored Pcs Networks, William S. Hortos

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

The use of artificial neural networks (NNs) to address the channel assignment problem (CAP) for cellular time-division multiple access and code-division multiple access networks has previously been investigated by this author and many others. The investigations to date have been based on a hexagonal cell structure established by omnidirectional antennas at the base stations. No account was taken of the use of spatial isolation enabled by directional antennas to reduce interference between mobiles. Any reduction in interference translates into increased capacity and consequently alters the performance of the NNs. Previous studies have sought to improve the performance of Hopfield- Tank …

Neural Network Approach To The Determination Of The Geophysical Model Function Of The Ers-1 C-Band Spaceborne Radar Scatterometer, Sami M. Alhumaidi, W. Linwood Jones

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

Geophysical Model Functions (GMF) describing the relationship between the scatterometer normalized radar cross section (sigma-0) and useful geophysical parameters such as sea-surface wind vectors, wave heights, and sea- surface temperatures have been undergoing extensive research and development during the last decade. In this study, we investigate the use of two feed-forward neural networks, Multilayer Perceptron and Radial Basis Functions, for developing a useful and accurate representation of the C- band GMF. Collocated radar sigma-0 cells with global wind vector models were used as the database of the study. The resulting well-known biharmonic relationship between the sigma-0 and the relative azimuth …

Robust Partial Least-Squares Regression: A Modular Neural Network Approach, Thomas M. Mcdowall, Fredric M. Ham

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

We have developed a robust Partial Least-Squares Regression (PLSR) neural network approach to statistical calibration model development. Generalized neural network learning rules derived from a weighted statistical representation error criterion that grows less than quadratically are presented. This optimization criterion allows for higher-order statistics associated with the inputs to be taken into account and also serves to robustify the results when the empirical data contains impulsive and colored noise and outliers. The learning rules presented are considered generalized because they can be used to implement several specialized cases including: robust PLSR, linear PLSR, weighted least-squares, and variance scaling. The same …

Soft Computing: Frontiers? A Case Study Of Hyper-Spectral Satellite Imaging, Scott A. Starks, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Soft computing methods such as fuzzy control, neural networks, etc., often require lots of computations even for small amounts of data. It is, therefore, sometimes believed that for larger amounts of data, the required amount of computations will be so large that we will reach the frontiers of soft computing.

In this paper, we show, on the example of hyper-spectral satellite imaging, that this belief is often too pessimistic. We should not be afraid to use (or at least to try to use) soft computing methods even for large amounts of data.

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 39 Number 1, Spring 1997, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

6 - BLUE SKY INVASION Searching for the American Dream, aerospace workers transform the Santa Clara Valley. By David Beers '79, Illustrations by Dug Waggoner

15 - SEEING IS BELIEVING Professor Sally Wood develops software to help students visualize basic engineering concepts. By Laura Trujillo '92

18 - CONFRONTING THE SCARS OF CENTURIES A legal challenge to California's Proposition 209 is the latest round in a long- running debate over affirmative action. By Margaret M. Russell

26 - SHADOWY ALLIANCE A recent expose alleging CIA links to the crack cocaine epidemic in California's inner cities raises questions about responsibility and …

A Differential Active Load And Its Applications In Cmos Analog Circuit Designs, Vladimir I. Prodanov, Michael M. Green

Electrical Engineering

In this paper we describe a CMOS differential active load and show how it can be used to create various useful structures. Tunable current gain stages and current squaring circuits are discussed. Their connection to a differential pairbased transconductor results in broad-range tunable transconductor structures suitable for adaptive continuous-time filtering applications and a four-quadrant voltage multiplier.

Ole Miss Engineer 1997

Ole Miss Engineer

No abstract provided.

20th Conference On Senior Engineering Design Projects, College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences

Senior Engineering Design Conference

The 20th Conference on Senior Engineering Design Projects was held on April 17, 1997 at the College of Engineering and applied Sciences on the Parkview Campus of Western Michigan University. The college sponsors the conference to showcase the work of its graduating seniors, who are required to complete a capstone project that puts into practice what they have learned. Many of the projects are sponsored by business and industry.

Monoclonal Antibody Assay And Kit For Detecting Metal Cations In Body Fluids (Continuation), Randall R. Carlson, Jay S. Stout, Dwane E. Wylie, Fred W. Wagner, Malcolm Riddell

Biological Process Development Facility: Staff Publications

The invention provides method and kits for detecting a metallic cation in a sample of a body fluid. The preferred method and kits include the use of at least two different types of antibodies having different specificities. In the preferred method, the sample of body fluid can be contacted with an effective amount of a capture antibody specific for a naturally occurring polypeptide that can bind the metallic cation to form a first antigen-antibody complex. An effective amount of an antibody specific for an epitope on a metallic cation-naturally occurring polypeptide complex or an antibody specific for a metallic cation …

An Optimization Technique Of Airlines' Seat Inventory Management, Husam Abdallah Mahmoud Fanasheh

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

This study consisted of a simulation to maximize an airline's Origin- Destination revenues. It has been hypothesized that Linear Programming is capable of maximizing airlines' networks revenues. Simulation was performed with Linear Interactive Discrete Optimizer (LINDO). This project was designed to consider different fares and its classes along with multi flight connections. The seats' allocation process came out with the maximum possible revenues, and enough flexibility in terms of changing such allocation to work around competition and trends. Results came supportive to the hypothesis. Sensitivity analysis provided our model with a tool to modify and change different variables, like fares, …

Development And Initial Evaluation Of An Acoustic Apparatus Used For Testing Of Farfield Noise Emitted By A Propeller In A Short Duct, R. Duane Oleson

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this thesis was to design, construct and evaluate an apparatus which was used for testing of acoustic emissions by a propeller in a short duct. An apparatus was designed based on a combination of acoustic principles and a desire to be able apply the knowledge gained to a practical application such as an ultralight aircraft in an effort to reduce the overall noise levels emitted. The apparatus consisted of a 35 horsepower ultralight engine, a four bladed ultralight propeller, and a duct constructed of a foam core covered with fiberglass. Initial evaluations compared noise levels from the …

Passenger Knowledge Of Airline Safety Icons: A Cultural Study, Bridget L. Mattingly

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Japanese, Korean, and American cultures in their ability to comprehend icons used in airline passenger safety information. The 116 subjects were outbound international airline passengers traveling from San Francisco International Airport to either Japan or Korea. The instrument used contained thirteen icons similar to those on current passenger safety briefing cards. Subjects were asked to identify the icons as accurately as possible. Answers were graded on a three point ordinal scale, and frequency data were obtained. To test for significant differences between cultures, the data were analyzed through use …

The Design And Experimental Optimization Of A Wingtip Vortex Turbine For General Aviation Use, Andrew Roberts

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

A wingtip vortex turbine (WVT) is an induced drag reduction device that straightens the vortex flow (reducing induced drag and wake turbulence) and also produces a thrust force component. The WVT also has the advantage of extracting the rotational energy of the vortex to turn a generator, which could be used to power onboard applications during normal or emergency flight operations. A 1/4-scale model of a thrust-producing WVT has been designed and tested in a wind tunnel for optimal drag reduction and power generation for general aviation aircraft — specifically, a Piper Cherokee — in both a stationary and a …

Acuta Enews April 1997, Vol. 26, No. 4

ACUTA Newsletters

In This Issue

Achievement Award Nominations

Listserve Discusses Directory Assistance

Board Report

ATM at UNM

E-mail Etiquette

Spotlight

DC at a Glance

"Internet 2" Links North Carolina

Welcome New Members

Members on the Move

Evolutionary Codesign, Karthikeyan Ethirajan

Masters Theses

We present our approach to hardware/software partitioning for embedded systems based upon Evolutionary Algorithms. We have implemented it in a CAD tool, EvoC - Evolutionary Codesign which does automatic hardware/software partitioning of real-time embedded systems at the system level. Our objective is to find good design configurations that are tuned towards user's preferences. We are able to explore a large, often intractable design space using Evolutionary Algorithms while evaluating solutions having multiple and sometimes conflicting attributes in the light of Multi-Attribute Utility Theory. EvoC provides a generic format for specifying a wide variety of design problems and the implementation assumes …