Engineering Commons^™

Applying Machine Learning Techniques To Improve Safety And Mobility Of Urban Transportation Systems Using Infrastructure- And Vehicle-Based Sensors, Zubayer Islam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The importance of sensing technologies in the field of transportation is ever increasing. Rapid improvements of cloud computing, Internet of Vehicles (IoV), and intelligent transport system (ITS) enables fast acquisition of sensor data with immediate processing. Machine learning algorithms provide a way to classify or predict outcomes in a selective and timely fashion. High accuracy and increased volatility are the main features of various learning algorithms. In this dissertation, we aim to use infrastructure- and vehicle-based sensors to improve safety and mobility of urban transportation systems. Smartphone sensors were used in the first study to estimate vehicle trajectory using lane …

Experimental Characterization And Crystal Plasticity Modeling Of Mechanical Properties And Microstructure Evolution Of Additively Manufactured Inconel 718 Superalloy, Saeede Ghorbanpour

Doctoral Dissertations

In this thesis, the mechanical behavior of the additively manufactured (AM) IN718 nickel-based superalloy and their correlations with the evolution of microstructure are studied comprehensively. The effects of manufacturing parameters, build orientations, and post processing procedures, i.e. standard heat treatment and hot isostatic pressing (HIP), on various mechanical properties including monotonic compression and tension strength, low cyclic fatigue performance, high cyclic fatigue behaviour, and fatigue crack growth behavior are investigated. Due to the high temperature applications of the IN718 alloy, elevated temperature properties are examined as well. Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) technique is employed to measure the initial and deformed …

Eece 7216/8216: Computer Vision (Syllabus), Madhusudhanan Balasubramanian

Electrical and Computer Engineering Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Principles and applications of computer vision, advanced image processing techniques as applied to computer vision, shape analysis, and object recognition.

Biom 2720: Experimental Design And Analysis For Biomedical Engineering (Syllabus), Stephen Strain

Biomedical Engineering Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Application of probability, statistics, error analysis, uncertainty in design and performance of biomedical engineering experimentation; discussion and evaluation of common experimental designs for medical device development.

Treatment Of Cutting Oil Via Fe0/Air And Al0/Air Using Waste From Auto Parts Manufacturing, Warangkana Srimoke

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Used shot blast and aluminium dross wastes generated from auto part manufacturing were applied as catalysts under the modified-air Fenton (MAF) system to treat synthetic cutting oil wastewater. Experimental designs were applied to find optimum conditions in terms of size and amount of catalyst, initial pH, initial cutting oil concentration, air flow rate, and mixing speed. Fe0 and Al0 forms were found in used shot blast and aluminum dross, respectively, according to XRD and XRF results, and the element contents of Fe and Al were found to be 96.37 % and 37.13 %, respectively. For used shot blast under the …

Network Function Virtualization Technology Adoption Strategies, Abdlrazaq Ayodeji Adeyi Shittu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Network function virtualization (NFV) is a novel system adopted by service providers and organizations, which has become a critical organizational success factor. Chief information officers (CIOs) aim to adopt NFV to consolidate and optimize network processes unavailable in conventional methods. Grounded in the diffusion of innovation theory (DOI), the purpose of this multiple case research study was to explore strategies chief information officers utilized to adopt NFV technology. Participants include two CIOs, one chief security information officer (CSIO), one chief technical officer (CTO), and two senior information technology (IT) executives. Data were collected through semi-structured telephone interviews and eight organizational …

Model And Data, Equilibrium Of Self-Formed, Single-Thread, Sand-Bed Rivers, Enrica Viparelli, Esther C. Eke

Faculty Publications

This submission contains the following files, also uploaded as Supplementary Information for the manuscript Equilibrium of self-formed, single-thread, sand-bed rivers submitted after major revisions to the AGU journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Excel file with embedded macro Equilibrium_calculator.xlxm, contains the solver of the analytical model presented in the manuscript.

Excel file Equilibrium_results.xlxs contains model data used to generate the plots.

Novel Tools For Analysis Of Disordered Sleep And Motor Behavior In Preclinical Models Of Disease, Dillon M. Huffman

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

Subtle changes in sleep architecture can accompany and be symptomatic of various diseases or disorders. Understanding the complex interactions between sleep and health requires the ability to characterize sleep, probe its underlying mechanisms through perturbation, and quantify dependent physiological outcomes. Rodent models have come to be accepted as a valuable tool for preclinical investigations. However, experimental tools to accomplish such research typically rely on laborious methods that limit throughput and flexibility. Thus, research tools that minimize workload could be of great value to the research community and expedite investigation of the underlying mechanisms of sleep and further the development of …

Changes In Cardiovascular, Respiratory, And Neural Activity By Music: Effects Of Breathing Pathway On Feeling Emotions, Mohammad Javad Mollakazemi

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

Listening to music can induce emotional and physiological changes. Increasing recognition of the palliative effects of music has led to its use as an adjuvant therapeutic tool in the treatment of various diseases. It is also well known that autonomic nervous activities and some cardiorespiratory rhythms change in correspondence with music. However, less is known about how these effects triggered by music come about. Listening to music affects synchronization between electroencephalograms (EEGs) and cardiac rhythmic activity. This interaction between cardiac and electrical responses led us to investigate whether EEG segments synchronized to different portions of the cardiac cycle can better …

Facilitating Analysis Of Toxoplasma Gondii Bradyzoite Metabolic Activity Via Image Processing And Multivariate Logistic Regression For High Throughput Classification Of Mitochondrial Morphologies, Brooke Place

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

Approximately a third of the population worldwide is chronically infected by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. During chronic infection the parasite resides within tissue cysts as the poorly understood bradyzoite form. Observation of these bradyzoites via microscopic imaging within tissue cyst purified from infected mouse brains has shown metabolic activity with heterogeneous replication potential. With fluorescence microscopy imaging targeting the parasite’s actively respiring mitochondria, the parasite’s metabolic state can be further investigated as the morphology of mitochondria can be associated with specific physiologic states. However, manually classifying mitochondrial morphologies from these images can be tedious and prone to error as …

Risk-Based Construction Inspection, Shannon Rush

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

State Transportation Agencies have been experiencing staffing difficulties in the last couple of decades due to the deterioration of infrastructure and a large number of employees retiring or transitioning to the private sector. Therefore, the STA demographic has become much younger and a loss of critical knowledge has resulted from this changeover. Construction Inspection in particular has been severely impacted. Inspired by the NCHRP Synthesis 450, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has initiated the Risk-Based Construction Inspection project which focuses on prioritizing construction activities based on the risk associated with failure of that work item. The purpose of which is to …

Life Cycle Assessment Of Polylactic Acid Biopolymer Industrial Waste Management Techniques In Belize, Dennis J. Newby

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

In January 2020, the Government of Belize enacted an Implementation Strategy and Action Plan to phase-out single-use plastics and to transition to products like bioplastics. This work investigated the environmental effects of using alternative waste management techniques to manage polylactic acid biopolymer (PLA) waste by using life cycle assessment (LCA). The following treatment options were compared: landfill, landfill expansion, cogeneration, and anaerobic digestion. The landfill and landfill expansion processes both had a global warming potential of 0.01 kg of CO₂ eq. per kg of PLA waste managed compared to the cogeneration and anaerobic digestion processes -0.03 and -0.06 kg …

Assessing Freeway Crash Risk Using Crowdsourced Waze Incident Alerts, Eugene Boasiako Antwi

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Traffic data obtained through crowdsourcing are becoming more accessible to traffic agencies due to advancements in smartphone technology. Traffic managers aim to use this data to complement their conventional sources of data and provide additional context in their analysis. In this study, Waze incident alerts are integrated with GPS-Probe speed data and Kentucky State Police (KSP) crashes to assess their impact on traffic flow and safety on freeways in Kentucky. The analysis showed that the presence of a vehicle on the shoulder is associated with about 36.7% of freeway crashes in Kentucky. The presence of a vehicle on the shoulder …

Investigation Of Nitrate Transfer In Karst Basins During Storm Events Using Submersible Underwater Nutrient Analyzers, John Pike

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Knowledge of nitrate sources and pathways in karst basins remains incomplete and hinders management of nutrients that cause algae blooms and degrade municipal water supply. However, the increased availability of optical, ultraviolet nitrate sensors allows advancement of nitrate source and transfer for water managers. A concept model is hypothesized for nitrate transfer during hydrologic events and baseflow that considers the multiple porosity of karst. To test the concept model, 15-minute nitrate sensor data is collected with submersible underwater nutrient analyzers over a multi-year period from two locations in a karst basin in the inner bluegrass region of central Kentucky, USA. …

Localization Of Stationary Source Of Floor Vibration Using The Steered Response Power Method, Mohammad Royvaran

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

If the generated vibration in a building exceeds the acceptable limit design for a floor system, it is necessary to identify the source of vibration, a process known as localization. The objective of this study is the localization of stationary vibration sources, and the approach used is the steered response power (SRP) method. This method has already been shown to work well for wireless and acoustical applications to locate transmitter and sound sources, respectively. To the writer’s knowledge, this study is the first application of the SRP method to locate vibration sources using floor vibration measurements. However, because waves behave …

Landslide Site Assessment And Characterization Using Remote Sensing Techniques, Batmyagmar Dashbold

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Landslides are common and dangerous natural hazards that occur worldwide, often causing severe direct impacts on human lives, public and private properties. It is imperative to identify the landslide susceptible areas to avoid or mitigate the possible damage. Landslide prediction can be presented in a slope failure in spatial and/ or temporal terms. If it is presented in spatial term, it is considered a landslide susceptibility map (LSM) defined as the probability of spatial occurrence of slope failures. If it is presented in a combination of spatial and temporal distribution of the landslide susceptibility, it is commonly referred to as …

Artificial Intelligence And Soft Computing In Smart Structural Systems, Sajad Javadinasab Hormozabad

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Next-generation smart cities are the key feature in the next chapter of human life. Cities that employ innovative and technology-driven solutions to improve the sustainability, resilience, prosperity, and amenity of the community are considered smart cities. Development of smart cities requires fundamental innovations in many technical and technological aspects including those contributing to smart structures. Smart technologies improve the structural performance against natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, and promote the sustainability of structural systems. Next-generation smart structures encompass a variety of technologies including Structural Control (SC) and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). SC covers methodologies and technologies that modify the …

Towards A Holistic Risk Model For Safeguarding The Pharmaceutical Supply Chain: Capturing The Human-Induced Risk To Drug Quality, Heather R. Campbell

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

Counterfeit, adulterated, and misbranded medicines in the pharmaceutical supply chain (PSC) are a critical problem. Regulators charged with safeguarding the supply chain are facing shrinking resources for inspections while concurrently facing increasing demands posed by new drug products being manufactured at more sites in the US and abroad. To mitigate risk, the University of Kentucky (UK) Central Pharmacy Drug Quality Study (DQS) tests injectable drugs dispensed within the UK hospital. Using FT-NIR spectrometry coupled with machine learning techniques the team identifies and flags potentially contaminated drugs for further testing and possible removal from the pharmacy. Teams like the DQS are …

Understanding Absorption, Supersaturation, And Drug Activity In Solution: Working Towards Developing A More Biorelevant Media, Freddy Arce

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

With the looming dominance of poorly water-soluble chemical entities within the pharmaceutical pipeline, the pharmaceutical industry has leaned on the use of supersaturating drug delivery systems (SDDSs) to achieve efficacious concentrations within the gastrointestinal fluids. SDDSs aim to achieve concentrations in solutions greater than the solubility of the lowest energy crystalline form. However, the generation of supersaturated solutions of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) creates a strong crystallization potential, which is undesirable.

In product development, supersaturating products often fail in Phase I and Phase II clinical trials due to poor oral bioavailability and a lack of in vivo efficacy. Pre-clinical testing …

Development Of An Autonomous Navigation System For The Shuttle Car In Underground Room & Pillar Coal Mines, Vasileios Androulakis

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

In recent years, autonomous solutions in the multi-disciplinary field of the mining engineering have been an extremely popular applied research topic. The growing demand for mineral supplies combined with the steady decline in the available surface reserves has driven the mining industry to mine deeper underground deposits. These deposits are difficult to access, and the environment may be hazardous to mine personnel (e.g., increased heat, difficult ventilation conditions, etc.). Moreover, current mining methods expose the miners to numerous occupational hazards such as working in the proximity of heavy mining equipment, possible roof falls, as well as noise and dust. As …

Investigation Of Coal Burst Potential Using Numerical Modeling And Rock Burst Indices, Cristian David Cardenas Triana

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

Coal bursts are typically defined as a rapid failure of coal or surrounding rock producing a violent release of energy and ejection of rock particles. This phenomenon is extremely complex and dynamic, and this has made it very difficult to predict. In the last decades, different researchers have aimed to understand the sources and mechanisms of failure of coal bursts. Various indices have been developed to assess the burst potential such as the Burst Potential Index (BPI), Energy Storage Rate, and the Strain Energy Density. Lately, numerical modeling has also been used as a tool to examine the rock deformation …

An Approach For Predicting Flow Characteristics At The Continuous Miner Face, Kayla Henderson

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

As coal and rock are mined, dust is dispersed into the air. This dust, among other contaminants, poses a serious health and safety risk to mineworkers. Very fine dust known as respirable dust can infiltrate the deepest part of the lungs, and long-term exposure to these particles leads to a disease called coal worker’s pneumoconiosis (CWP). Occurrence of this disease declined steadily over the latter half of the 20^th century; however, a recent study indicates that CWP has reemerged with an upward trend beginning at the turn of the century. To combat dust exposure, mine operators use a combination …

Application Of A Novel Ventilation Simplification Algorithm, Caitlin V. Strong

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

Ventilation network analysis is an integral part of maintaining a safe mine environment. Despite its important role, liberties are often taken with the representation of networks in ventilation network analysis software. In order to provide an alternative to heuristic methods used by ventilation engineers, a simplification algorithm has been developed. This algorithm is designed to work as a compliment to ventilation software. Comparisons of original ventilation networks and simplified networks show little to no change in fan operating point. The program utilizing this algorithm provides an alternative to reducing networks with a parallel factor. It can also be used in …

Capture Of Respirable Dust Using Maintenance Free Impingement Screen, Neeraj Kumar Gupta

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

Dust produced during mining activities has a detrimental effect on both miners’ health and operations’ safety. There is no definitive treatment for coal miners’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), which is caused by prolonged inhalation of respirable dust. Elevated coal dust concentrations have also been shown to cause several disastrous explosions in the United States and worldwide, resulting in the death of miners and loss of operations. Flooded-bed dust scrubbers are used on all modern-day continuous miners. These devices cleanse the dust-laden air and assist in bringing fresh air towards the mining face. Scrubbers use a multi-layered fibrous screen to capture airborne particles. …

Concepts For Development Of Shuttle Car Autonomous Docking With Continuous Miner Using 3-D Depth Camera, Sibley Miller

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

In recent years, a great deal of work has been conducted in automating mining equipment with the goals of increasing worker health and safety and increasing mine productivity. Automating vehicles such as load-haul-dumps been successful even in underground environments where the use of global positioning systems are unavailable. This thesis addresses automating the operation of a shuttle car, specifically focusing on positioning the shuttle car under the continuous miner coal-discharge conveyor during cutting and loading operations. This task requires recognition of the target and precise control of the tramming operation because a specific orientation and distance from the coal discharge …

Oxidation Pretreatment For Enhanced Leachability Of Rare Earth Elements From Bituminous Coal Sources, Tushar Gupta

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

Rare earth elements (REEs) are critical components in advanced electronics, clean energy technologies, and national energy and economic security. The global supply situation of these strategically valuable elements remains critical as the market is largely monopolistic. Thus, to alleviate the dependence on global imports, investments are being made in the research and development of innovative and cost-effective technologies for the indigenous processing and recovery of REEs from alternate sources that are cheap and abundant. Numerous research findings have identified potential benefits and proven the technological feasibility of extracting and selectively concentrating REEs from coal byproducts such as preparation plant rejects …

The Kentucky Re-Entry Universal Payload System (Krups): Orbital Flight, James Tyler Nichols

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Due to the uniqueness of atmospheric entry environments, ground facilities cannot accurately replicate re-entry conditions. Consequently, scientists primarily rely on numerical models to predict these conditions and inform Thermal Protection System (TPS) designs. These models often lack flight validation, which is necessary for increasing their fidelity. Thus, there is a substantial need to obtain such data to advance modeling capabilities.

The Kentucky Re-entry Universal Payload System (KRUPS) is an adaptable test-bed for scientific experimentation with initial application to TPS. This vehicle was designed at the University of Kentucky to serve as an inexpensive means of obtaining validation data to enhance …

Measurements Of Wind Turbine Wake Evolution And Trajectory During Morning Boundary Layer Transition And Under Wake Steering Conditions Via Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Stewart Nelson

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

In July of 2019, a flight campaign was conducted using semi-autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) at the Port Alma Kruger Energy wind farm in Ontario, Canada, to study various aspects of wind turbine wake evolution. Horizontal transects across the wakes were measured using modified fixed-wing aircraft fitted with a five-hole probe to measure the wind velocity vector. Reference boundary layer conditions were measured by an octocopter with an assortment of mounted sensors flying vertical profiles upstream of the turbines. Three experiments were conducted during the campaign, which consisted of a study on wake behavior during the morning boundary layer transition, …

Prediction Of Noise Emissions Using Panel Contribution Analysis Supplemented With Scale Modeling, Gong Cheng

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Panel contribution analysis (PCA) can be used to predict machinery noise emissions, component contributions, and to assess the impact of sound reduction treatments. PCA is a measurement approach that is advantageous for complex machinery that is not easily modeled using conventional numerical analysis approaches. In this research, PCA is combined with scale modeling in order to speed up the necessary measurement work. Moreover, the method can be applied to much larger machinery and noise emissions can be assessed prior to locating and installing the equipment. This eliminates the necessity to use voluminous anechoic chambers.

The machinery is first discretized into …

Kinetics Of Elementary Reactions In Graphene Oxidation And Kinetics Of Oh* In Hydrogen Flames, Siamak Mahmoudi

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Due to diverse applications of graphene, a kinetic mechanism describing rates of elementary reactions is extremely useful. To achieve that goal the elementary reactions need to be detected and their rates need to be determined. In this work the objectives are to use first-principle tools to find those reactions and analyze their paths in the context of graphene oxidation. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations provide the best approximation to the Schr\"{o}dinger equation, which is not feasible to solve analytically for large molecules like graphene. We have performed these calculations to find stable configurations (geometry optimization) and minimum energy paths between …