Engineering Commons^™

Shock Processes In Water: Multi-Scale Comparison And Experimental Results, Longhao Huang

Dissertations (1934 -)

Water as the most common fluid on earth has extraordinary properties. The understanding of the dynamic response of water is important to planetary physics, biology and medicine. Inspired by the relationship between shockwave thicknesses and the intensity of property changes between pre-shock and post-shock states in gas medium, it is interesting to study the response of a liquid medium within shock process, such as liquid argon or water, from numerical and experimental methods, especially from different scales of simulations (continuum and molecular dynamics).Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations of Hugoniot hydrostatic compression and shockwave propagation processes are performed via Large-Scale Atomic/Molecular Massively …

Machine Learning Applications In Power Systems, Xinan Wang

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning (ML) applications have seen tremendous adoption in power system research and applications. For instance, supervised/unsupervised learning-based load forecasting and fault detection are classic ML topics that have been well studied. Recently, reinforcement learning-based voltage control, distribution analysis, etc., are also gaining popularity. Compared to conventional mathematical methods, ML methods have the following advantages: (i). better robustness against different system configurations due to its data-driven nature; (ii). better adaption to system uncertainties; (iii). less dependent on the modeling accuracy and validity of assumptions. However, due to the unique physics of the power grid, many problems cannot be directly solved …

Limitations Of Initial Orbit Determination Methods For Low Earth Orbit Cubesats With Short Arc Orbital Passes, James P. Johnson

Master's Theses

This thesis will focus on the performance of angles only initial orbit determi- nation (IOD) methods on observational data of low Earth orbit (LEO) CubeSats. Using data obtained by Lockheed Martin’s Space Object Tracking (SpOT) facil- ity, four methods: Gauss, Double-R, Gooding and Assumed Circular, will use different amounts of orbital arc to determine which methods perform the best in the short arc regime of less than 10 degrees of orbital arc. Once the best method for estimating the orbit is determined, there will be analysis on whether these IOD methods are accurate enough to predict a secondary observation session. …

Algorithmic Robot Design: Label Maps, Procrustean Graphs, And The Boundary Of Non-Destructiveness, Shervin Ghasemlou

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is focused on the problem of algorithmic robot design. The process of designing a robot or a team of robots that can reliably accomplish a task in an environment requires several key elements. How the problem is formulated can play a big role in the design process. The ability of the model to correctly reflect the environment, the events, and different pieces of the problem is crucial. Another key element is the ability of the model to show the relationship between different designs of a single system. These two elements can enable design algorithms to navigate through the …

Towards A Sociotechnical Reconfiguration Of Engineering And An Education For Ethics : A Critical Realist Investigation Into The Patterns Of Education And Accreditation Of Ethics In Engineering Programmes In Ireland, Diana Adela Martin

Doctoral

The focus of this thesis is on the provision and evaluation of ethics in engineeringprogrammes in Ireland, by placing this examinationin the wider cultural context of engineering education.The study benefitted from the support of the national accrediting body Engineers Ireland, and included 23 engineering programmes from 2 institutes of technology and 4 universities in Ireland which underwent accreditation between 2017-2019.By using a Critical Realistframe, the study undertakes a multi-layeredinvestigation of the engineering education system that takes into consideration theindividual level of single agents such as instructors and evaluators, the institutional level comprised of engineering programmes, as well as the policy …

Deep Learning Based Poisson Solver In Particle Simulation Of Pn Junction With Transient Esd Excitation, Ling Zhang, Wenchang Huang, Zeyi Sun, Nicholas Erickson, Ryan From, Jun Fan

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In particle simulations of semiconductor devices for electro-static discharge (ESD) study at the microscopic level, solving Poisson's equation is an inevitable but time-consuming step. In this work, a deep learning technique is utilized to resolve Poisson's equation for a PN junction under an ESD event, namely using a trained deep neural network (DNN) to predict the potential distribution according to the charge distribution and the boundary condition under a transient ESD excitation. To improve the generalization performance of the DNN, multiple typical ESD curves with different parameters are used as the excitation boundary to generate large amounts of training data …

Prospects For The Development Of Production Of Reagents For Drilling Solutions Based On Secondary Resources, S.B. Gaibnazarov

Technical science and innovation

The article discusses the prospects for the development of production of reagents for drilling fluids based on secondary resources. Currently, the big problem is the creation of new, highly efficient and affordable drilling fluids and they are essential for successful drilling, to increase productivity and reduce the amount of time. To solve these problems, the article considers the possibilities of synthesis and practical application of new stabilizers for drilling fluids based on waste from chemical enterprises of our republic. The basic physicochemical, rheological and applied properties of the developed stabilizer-reagents are investigated. Specific areas of practical application of the developed …

A Data-Driven Approach For Winter Precipitation Classification Using Weather Radar And Nwp Data, Bong Chul Seo

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study describes a framework that provides qualitative weather information on winter precipitation types using a data-driven approach. The framework incorporates the data retrieved from weather radars and the numerical weather prediction (NWP) model to account for relevant precipitation microphysics. To enable multimodel-based ensemble classification, we selected six supervised machine learning models: k-nearest neighbors, logistic regression, support vector machine, decision tree, random forest, and multi-layer perceptron. Our model training and cross-validation results based on Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) showed that all the models performed better than our baseline method, which applies two thresholds (surface temperature and atmospheric layer thickness) for …

The Use And Explanation Of The Phase Angle In Forced Vibration Testing, Nicholas R. Slavin, Ryan D. Thornton

Architectural Engineering

Forced vibration testing is a tool used to characterize a structure’s dynamic properties. When subjecting a structure to a forced harmonic load, the results help define the structure’s fundamental frequencies and dominant mode shapes. However, when conducting testing, it is difficult to determine the contributions of each mode to the response at a given location in the structure. The recorded response from a forced vibration test is a combination of unknown modal constituents. Excitation may not result in the pure, single mode response that the experimenter desires, but may instead result in a combination of modal responses that obscure the …

Socio-Technical Transitions In The Water Sector: Emerging Boundaries For Utility Resilience In Barbados, Wainella N. Isaacs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Resilience is gaining popularity in the water sector where it described as contributing to reduced vulnerability to water-related risks and hazards including climate change. Unfortunately, literature in this area, contributed mainly from North America and Europe, is fragmented with a concentration on engineering resilience in water supply infrastructure. The absence of any scholarship on resilience for a small island nation, coupled with the absence of sociological contributors to building resilience in this sector motivated this research.

The goal of this research was to understand and evaluate how resilience is characterized and operationalized in the Barbados water and wastewater infrastructure system, …

A Parametric Study Of Cohesive Zone Modeling Applied To Interfaces Under High Impact Velocity Collisions, Tamanna Tasnim

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Understanding the response of energetic materials to dynamic loading is critical for the design and safety of energetic systems. Energetic materials may contain heterogeneous microstructures, and hotspots can form at microstructural interfaces. The hotspots in these microstructures can determine if a material is safe to use. This study presents an analysis of the effect of material interfaces on the dynamic behavior of a heterogeneous sandwich structure subjected to high-velocity impacts using the cohesive zone model. The current work explores the sensitivity of a sugar-PMMA heterogeneous system to interface properties like stiffness, strength, and fracture energy both for normal and oblique …

National Summer Transportation Institute: Increasing Career Awareness In Civil Engineering For Underserved High School Students, Melanie L. Villatoro, Janet Liou-Mark

Publications and Research

Our nation needs to increase the number of students pursuing degrees in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and those leading to transportation-related careers. In order to meet the demand for qualified graduates in transportation, it is necessary to diversify the pool of students entering college with an interest in these fields. The National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI) is an educational initiative developed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Department of Transportation (DOT). The NSTI at City Tech was designed to increase awareness of transportation-related careers among New York City high school students. The structure of …

South Texas Coastal Area Storm Surge Model Development And Improvement, Sara E. Davila, Cesar Davila Hernandez, Martin Flores, Jungseok Ho

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

The intensification of climatic changes, mainly natural geophysical hazards like hurricanes, are of great interest to the South Texas region. Scientists and engineers must protect essential resources from coastal threats, such as storm surge. This study presents the development process and improvements of a hydrodynamic finite element model that covers the South Texas coast, specifically the Lower Laguna Madre, for the aid of local emergency management teams. Four historical tropical cyclone landfalls are evaluated and used as a means of verification of the hydrodynamic model simulation results. The parameters used to improve the accuracy of the model are the tidal …

Determination Of Elevations For Excavation Operations Using Drone Technologies, Yuhan Jiang

Dissertations (1934 -)

Using deep learning technology to rapidly estimate depth information from a single image has been studied in many situations, but it is new in construction site elevation determinations, and challenges are not limited to the lack of datasets. This dissertation presents the research results of utilizing drone ortho-imaging and deep learning to estimate construction site elevations for excavation operations. It provides two flexible options of fast elevation determination including a low-high-ortho-image-pair-based method and a single-frame-ortho-image-based method. The success of this research project advanced the ortho-imaging utilization in construction surveying, strengthened CNNs (convolutional neural networks) to work with large scale images, …

Casimir Effect On Amplitude-Frequency Response Of Parametric Resonance Of Electrostatically Actuated Nems Cantilever Resonators, Dumitru Caruntu, Christian A. Reyes

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper deals with the effect of Casimir force on the amplitudefrequency response of parametric resonance of electrostatically actuated nanoresonators. The resonator is actuated by using an electrostatic force to include a f irst order fringe correction. Casimir force and viscous damping force are included in the model, as well. Both electrostatic and Casimir forces are nonlinear. The behavior of the resonator is investigated using two methods, the Method of Multiple Scales (MMS) for a Reduced Order Model (ROM) using one mode of vibration, and numerical integration of ROMs using up to five modes of vibration. ROM is based on …

Implementation Of Cholesteric Liquid Crystals In Fibrous Based Membranes, Ydana Yanell Virgen Gracia

Theses and Dissertations

The project consists of an investigation of optical sensors. On this project, the main focus was to implement materials that had properties such as thermochromism, piezochromism, and be able to detect volatile organic compounds with a color change response. The materials selected for this project were Cholesteric Liquid Crystals (CLCs) in different combinations and ratios. There were also four different methods using Forcespinning © technology to apply the CLCs into a polymer matrix; these were, In-Solution, Dip Coating, Coaxial Spinning, and Emulsion. The best results were given by Dip Coating, but the method with the best viable solution was Coaxial …

Cyberspace Odyssey: A Competitive Team-Oriented Serious Game In Computer Networking, Kendra Graham, James Anderson, Conrad Rife, Bryce Heitmeyer, Pranav R. Patel, Scott L. Nykl, Alan C. Lin, Laurence D. Merkle

Faculty Publications

Cyber Space Odyssey (CSO) is a novel serious game supporting computer networking education by engaging students in a race to successfully perform various cybersecurity tasks in order to collect clues and solve a puzzle in virtual near-Earth 3D space. Each team interacts with the game server through a dedicated client presenting a multimodal interface, using a game controller for navigation and various desktop computer networking tools of the trade for cybersecurity tasks on the game's physical network. Specifically, teams connect to wireless access points, use packet monitors to intercept network traffic, decrypt and reverse engineer that traffic, craft well-formed and …

Precipitate Characterization In Model Al-Zn-Mg-(Cu) Alloys Using Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering, Daniel Freiberg, Wenhui Zhu, Jun Sang Park, Jonathan D. Almer, Paul Sanders

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Model 7000 series alloys with and without copper were fabricated into sheets to study precipitation hardening behavior under isothermal aging conditions. Samples of each alloy were subjected to 3 h annealing treatments at various temperatures to produce a range of precipitate size distributions. Hardness, electrical conductivity, and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) were used to characterize the aging behavior of the two alloys. Precipitate size distributions were modeled from the scattering curves for each annealing condition using a maximum entropy method (MEM) and compared to select transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results. The measured average precipitate diameters from TEM were in good …

Upgrading The Quality Of Recycled Aggregates From Construction And Demolitionwaste By Using A Novel Brick Separation And Surface Treatment Method, Kui Hu, Yujing Chen, Caihua Yu, Dong Xu, Shihao Cao, Rui Pang

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Mixed recycled aggregates (MRA) from construction and demolition waste (CDW) with high-purity and environmental performance are required for highway construction application in base layer and precast concrete curbs. The main problematic constituents that reduce the quality level of the recycled aggregates applications are brick components, flaky particles, and attached mortar, which make up a large proportion of CDW in some countries. This paper studies the potential of brick separation technology based on shape characteristics in order to increase the recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) purity for MRA quality improvement. MRA after purification was also processed with surface treatment experiment by rotating …

Leveraging Smart Contracts For Asynchronous Group Key Agreement In Internet Of Things, Victor Youdom Kemmoe, Junggab Son

Master of Science in Computer Science Theses

Group Key Agreement (GKA) mechanism plays a crucial role in the realization of various secure applications in various networks such as, but not limited to, sensor networks, Internet of Things (IoT), vehicular networks, social networks, and so on. To be suitable for IoT, GKA must satisfy several critical requirements. First, a GKA mechanism must be robust against a compromised device attack and satisfy essential secrecy definitions without the existence of a Trusted Third Party (TTP). TTP is often used by IoT devices in the establishment of ad hoc networks and usually, these devices are resource-constrained. Second, the GKA mechanism must …

Rethinking The Weakness Of Stream Ciphers And Its Application To Encrypted Malware Detection, William T. Stone, Junggab Son

Master of Science in Computer Science Theses

Encryption key use is a critical component to the security of a stream cipher: because many implementations simply consist of a key scheduling algorithm and logical exclusive or (XOR), an attacker can completely break the cipher by XORing two ciphertexts encrypted under the same key, revealing the original plaintexts and the key itself. The research presented in this paper reinterprets this phenomenon, using repeated-key cryptanalysis for stream cipher identification. It has been found that a stream cipher executed under a fixed key generates patterns in each character of the ciphertexts it produces and that these patterns can be used to …

Past, Present And Future Of Irrigation On The U.S. Great Plains, Steve R. Evett, Paul D. Colaizzi, Freddie R. Lamm, Susan A. O'Shaughnessy, Derek M. Heeren, Thomas J. Trout, William L. Kranz, Xiaomao Lin

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Motivated by the need for sustainable water management and technology for next-generation crop production, the future of irrigation on the U.S. Great Plains was examined through the lenses of past changes in water supply, historical changes in irrigated area, and innovations in irrigation technology, management, and agronomy. We analyzed the history of irrigated agriculture through the 1900s to the present day. We focused particularly on the efficiency and water productivity of irrigation systems (application efficiency, crop water productivity, and irrigation water use productivity) as a connection between water resource management and agricultural production. Technology innovations have greatly increased the efficiency …

Online Survey Of Driver Comprehension Of The Flashing Yellow Arrow For Right-Turn Signal Indications, Sirisha Kothuri, Christopher Monsere, Hisham Jashami, David Hurwitz

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper presents the results of an online survey of licensed driver comprehension of the right-turn signal displays with a focus on the flashing yellow arrow (FYA) and also including the circular green and red and red arrow. Recruitment postcards were mailed to a random sample of 9,872 residents in Oregon. The online survey yielded 399 responses. The open-ended responses were coded for comprehension and analyzed. The results suggest that FYA for right turns is well understood by Oregon drivers despite its current novelty (only two locations at the time of the research). Importantly, survey respondents were more likely to …

Room Temperature Semiconductor Radiation Detectors Based On Cdznte And Cdzntese, Mohsin Sajjad

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, there have been considerable interests in nuclear radiation detectors for national security and nuclear safeguard including monitoring special nuclear materials and nuclear waste characterization, for medical imaging devices using nuclear medicine such as positron emission tomography (PET), and for NASA space astronomy. One of the most promising semiconductors being considered for the field-deployable nuclear detector is cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe or CZT). CZT is a ternary semiconductor that can efficiently stop and detect high-energy gamma-rays at room temperature. CZT has desirable properties for efficient nuclear radiation detection and imaging due to high atomic number (Z ~ 50, …

17 Β-Estradiol And Phytoestrogens Attenuate Apoptotic Cell Death In Hiv-1 Tat Exposed Primary Cortical Cultures, Sheila Marie Adams

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), neurological disorders develop in most people infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The poor CNS delivery of anti-retrovirals allows continued virus production and renders neurons susceptible to the toxic effects of released viral proteins. The neurotoxic potential of HIV-1 viral protein Tat has been shown to include excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction leading to subsequent cell death. Thus, Tat is thought to have a key role in the pathogenesis of HIV-associated neurodegeneration. Estrogens are universally considered to be neuroprotective, as such; estrogens have positive implications in the treatment …

Solid Materials Discovery For Thin Films, Oxide Catalysts, And Polymer Sealants, Benjamin Ruiz-Yi

Theses and Dissertations

Solid materials are made up of multiple classes, including metals, ceramics, and polymers. While each class can be developed for general purpose applications or highly specialized, discovery of new materials in order to improve upon desired properties is a non-trivial task for any type of material. A wide variety of materials encompass expansive design spaces, consisting of parameters such as chemical compositions, synthesis conditions, and post-processing. Due to this, narrowing down the design space to fit within a given figure-of-merit and economic viability becomes time consuming at best and infeasible at worst. High-throughput experimentation

High-throughput experimentation (HTE) is a methodology …

On The Robustness Of Bayesian Network Learning Algorithms Against Malicious Attacks, Noah Joseph Geveke

Theses and Dissertations

Bayesian networks are effective tools for discovering relationships between variables in a data set. Algorithms that learn Bayesian networks from data fall into three categories: constraint-based, score-based, and hybrid. Hybrid algorithms contain a constraint testing sub-procedure as well as a score function to create the network. Malicious changes to the training set can cause invalid networks that do not model the true data. The effects of these changes have been demonstrated using the PC algorithm, a constraint-based algorithm. In this thesis a method was developed to measure the robustness of various algorithms to determine potential malicious changes. The robustness analysis …

Expansion Microscopy: A New Approach To Microscopic Evaluation, Ashley Ferri

Theses and Dissertations

Optical microscopy resolution is limited by the wavelengths of light and the series of microscope lenses and other optical components used to create a magnified image of cell structures in a sample. Often the cell structures are smaller or closer together than the resolution limits of a light microscope. In 2015 the Boyden group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created a sample preparation technique, expansion microscopy which involves embedding biological samples in a crosslinked, swellable, hydrogel polymer that allows for uniform physical separation of cell components so that they can subsequently be resolved by light microscopy. Using the …

Investigation Of Oxidized Carbon Supported Au Catalysts Synthesized Via Strong Electrostatic Adsorption Of Au(En)2Cl3 For The Hydrochlorination Of Acetylene To Vinyl Chloride Monomer, Sean Reginald Noble

Theses and Dissertations

Over 20 million tons of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) is produced every year using acetylene hydrochlorination using a supported mercuric chloride catalyst. During this process mercury is reduced and sublimes into the environment harming all living animals and humans, so carbon-supported Au catalysts have been developed in attempts to replace it. Various techniques have been used to make these catalysts including several variations of dry impregnation. In this study we investigate the ability of Strong Electrostatic Adsorption (SEA) of Au(en)₂Cl₃ onto various supports to demonstrate the ability to rationally and consistently synthesize gold catalysts with ultra-small particle …

Evaluation Of Temporal Damage Progression In Concrete Structures Affected By Asr Using Data-Driven Methods, Vafa Soltangharaei

Theses and Dissertations

Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is a chemical reaction, which causes damage in concrete structures such as bridges, dams, and nuclear containments and powerplant structures. The ASR-induced damage may endanger the integrity and serviceability of structures. Several methods such as visual inspection, petrographic analysis, demountable mechanical strain gauges, and cracking index have been utilized for study the effect of ASR on structures, which are not always efficient in early damage detection and some are destructive and prohibited in nuclear structures. Nondestructive methods and structural health monitoring techniques can be alternatives for the condition assessment of structures. Among the nondestructive methods, acoustic emission …