Engineering Commons^™

2019 Safety Belt Usage Survey In Kentucky, Erin Lammers-Staats, Kenneth R. Agent, Eric R. Green

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objective of the survey summarized in this report was to establish a statewide safety belt usage rate in Kentucky for 2019. This rate can be compared to those determined from previous surveys. The 2019 statewide survey documents the continued effect associated with law enforcement, related education, and general public attitude.

Investigation Of The Accuracy Of Alcohol And Drug Involvement Reporting, William Nicholas Staats

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Executive Summary

Researchers compared the 2013 to 2017 fatal crash data from the KSP database to the crash data from the FARS database to check the consistency and accuracy of alcohol and drug involvement reporting for drivers in the KSP database. The indications of alcohol and drug involvement in the FARS database were used as the ground truth due to the inclusion of laboratory test results confirming the presence of alcohol and/or drugs in a driver’s system. For the five-year study period, the indications for alcohol involvement were 85.8% consistent and the indications of drug involvement were 66.2% consistent between …

A Low-Cost Soft Robotic Hand Exoskeleton For Use In Therapy Of Limited Hand–Motor Function, Grant Rudd, Liam Daly, Vukica Jovanovic, Filip Cukov

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

We present the design and validation of a low-cost, customizable and 3D-printed anthropomorphic soft robotic hand exoskeleton for rehabilitation of hand injuries using remotely administered physical therapy regimens. The design builds upon previous work done on cable actuated exoskeleton designs by implementing the same kinematic functionality, but with the focus shifted to ease of assembly and cost effectiveness as to allow patients and physicians to manufacture and assemble the hardware necessary to implement treatment. The exoskeleton was constructed solely from 3D-printed and widely available of-the-shelf components. Control of the actuators was realized using an Arduino microcontroller, with a custom-designed shield …

Evaluation Of A 38 L Explosive Chamber For Testing Coal Dust Explosibility, Robert Eades, Kyle A. Perry

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Coal dust explosions are the deadliest disasters facing the coal mining industry. Research has been conducted globally on this topic for decades. The first explosibility tests in the United States were performed by the Bureau of Mines using a 20 L chamber. This serves as the basis for all standardized tests used for combustible dusts. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of a new 38 L chamber for testing coal dust explosions. The 38 L chamber features design modifications to model the unique conditions present in an underground coal mine when compared to other industries where …

Strong Circular Dichroism In Chiral Plasmonic Metasurfaces Optimized By Micro-Genetic Algorithm, Zhigang Li, Daniel Rosenmann, David A. Czaplewski, Xiaodong Yang, Jie Gao

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Strong circular dichroism in absorption in the near-infrared wavelength range is realized by designing binary-pattern chiral plasmonic metasurfaces via the micro-genetic algorithm optimization method. The influence of geometric parameter modifications in the binary-pattern nanostructures on the circular dichroism performance is studied. The strong circular dichroism in absorption is attributed to the simultaneous excitation and field interference of the resonant modes with relative phase delay under linearly polarized incident light. This work provides a universal design method toward the on-demand properties of chiral metasurfaces, which paves the way for future applications in chemical and biological sensing, chiral imaging and spectroscopy.

Analysis Of Traffic Crash Data In Kentucky (2014-2018), Eric R. Green, Kenneth R. Agent, Paul A. Ross

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Executive Summary

This report documents an analysis of traffic crash data in Kentucky for the years of 2014-2018. A primary objective of this study was to determine average crash statistics for Kentucky highways. Rates were calculated for various types of highways and for counties and cities. Difference criteria were used for exposure.

Average and critical numbers and rates of crashes were calculated for various types of highways in rural and urban areas. These rates used crashes identified on highways where traffic volumes were available. Improved methods of identifying crash locations have resulted in higher rates for the last couple of …

A Harmless Wireless Quantum Alternative To Cell Phones Based On Quantum Noise, Florentin Smarandache, Robert Neil Boyd, Victor Christianto

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In the meantime we know that 4G and 5G technologies cause many harms to human health. Therefore, here we submit a harmless wireless quantum alternative to cell phones. It is our hope that this alternative

The Influence Of Temperature On Dispersion Of Particles On Liquid Surfaces, Sathish Kumar Gurupatham, Valmiki Sooklal, A. Hensen, M. Conner

Faculty Articles

It was shown recently that small particles and powders spontaneously disperse on liquid surfaces when they come in contact with the interface for the first time (Figure 2). This happens due to the combined effect of the capillary force, buoyant weight of the particle and the viscous drag that the particles experience when they encounter the liquid surface. The particles undergo oscillations normal to the interface before they come to the equilibrium position on the interface. These oscillations, in turn, induce a flow on the interface which disperses the particles radially outward. This phenomenon has a significant role in the …

Recycling Of The Mixture Resulted From Sanitary Ware Waste, Roller Kiln Waste And Ceramic Tiles Sludge Waste In The Manufacturing Of Ceramic Floor Tiles, Mai H. Roushdy

Chemical Engineering

Ceramic tiles industry is a big source for wastes that have a bad effect on the environment. The first source of waste is associated with roller kilns as it needs a periodic surface grinding to its rollers which results in a waste powder. The second type of waste is ceramic tiles sludge which produced from a water treatment plant. The third waste is sanitary ware waste which coming out from sanitary ware industry. The main aim of this paper is to investigate the ability of substituting part of the main body mixture of floor tiles by these three types of …

Hybrid Structural Composites With Energy Harvesting Capabilities, Simon Furnes

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Hybrid materials have received significant interest due to the potential enhancements they provide over traditional materials such as sensing, actuating, energy scavenging, thermal management, and vibration damping. While traditional materials can be utilized for either one of these functions or loadbearing, the hybrid materials are superior as they allow combination of a wide array of functionalities whilst being suitable for load-bearing purposes.

The goal of this thesis is to elucidate the synergistic effects of hybridization of two piezoelectric materials; zinc oxide nanowires (ZnO NWs) and thin film of lead zirconium titanate (PZT) on the mechanical and energy harvesting of beams …

Multimode Nonlinear Vibration Analysis Of Stiffened Functionally Graded Double Curved Shells In A Thermal Environment, Boutros Azizi

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The motivation of the current work is to develop a multi-modal analysis of the nonlinear response of stiffened double curved shells made of functionally graded materials under thermal loads. The formulation is based on the first order shear deformation shell theory in conjunction with the von Kármán geometrical nonlinear strain-displacement relationships. The nonlinear equations of motion of stiffened double curved shell based on the extended Sanders’s theory were derived using Galerkin’s method. The resulting system of infinite nonlinear ordinary differential equations, that includes both cubic and quadratic nonlinear terms, was solved using a nonlinear dynamic software XPPAUT to obtain the …

Thermal Bending, Buckling And Post-Buckling Analysis Of Unsymmetrically Laminated Composite Beams With The Effects Of Moisture And Geometric Imperfections, Claudia Barreno

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

This thesis is concerned with the analytical study of the thermal bending, buckling, and post-buckling of unsymmetrically laminated composite beams with imperfection under hygrothermal effects. Three different boundary conditions will be considered on this study. The non-linear governing partial differential equations are derived by taking into account the von-Karman geometrical nonlinearity for an imperfect unsymmetrical laminated composite beam. Classical beam theory (CBT) as well as first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) will be used. The effects of temperature, angle of orientation, moisture variations, imperfection, and geometrical parameters, will be evaluated and discussed. Two different laminated composite laminates will be considered: …

Accounting For Temperature Effects On The Performance Of Soil Moisture Sensors In Sandy Soils, Michelle Schwartz, Zhen Li, Toshihiro Sakaki, Ali Moradi, Kathleen Smits

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications - Archive

Capacitance sensors are widely used to monitor volumetric water content in both field and lab settings due to their low cost, ease of use, and capability of providing continuous measurements. However, these sensors are sensitive to temperature variations. Previous attempts to develop calibration equations that negate thermal effects incorporate many empirical constants that vary based on soil and sensor type. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of temperature on sensor performance and develop an improved calibration equation for a widely used capacitance soil moisture/temperature sensor, the ECH2O 5TM. Small cell experiments were conducted with silica sands …

On The Potential, Feasibility, And Effectiveness Of Chat Bots In Public Health Research Going Forward, Stanley Mierzwa, Samir Souidi, Tammy Allen

Center for Cybersecurity

This paper will discuss whether bots, particularly chat bots, can be useful in public health research and health or pharmacy systems operations. Bots have been discussed for many years; particularly when coupled with artificial intelligence, they offer the opportunity of automating mundane or error-ridden processes and tasks by replacing human involvement. This paper will discuss areas where there are greater advances in the use of bots, as well as areas that may benefit from the use of bots, and will offer practical ways to get started with bot technology. Several popular bot applications and bot development tools along with practical …

Investigation Of The Under-Body Flow Field Of A Prototype Long-Range Electric Vehicle, Matthew P. Nguyen

Master's Theses

This thesis presents changes to the design of the Prototype Vehicles Laboratory (PROVE Lab) Endurance Car, an electric car intended to break the Guinness World Record for the single-charge range of an electric vehicle. The design range is 1609.34 km, however at the design velocity of 104.6 kph, the drag is 196 N; which requires more battery capacity than the 100 kWh maximum of the baseline model. With a fixed frontal area, drag reduction can come from lowered velocity or reduced CD. CD reduction is attempted in four ways: side skirts between the fenders, a raised ride height, an elongated …

Fkrr-Mvsf: A Fuzzy Kernel Ridge Regression Model For Identifying Dna-Binding Proteins By Multi-View Sequence Features Via Chou's Five-Step Rule, Yi Zou, Yije Ding, Jijun Tang, Fei Guo, Li Peng

Faculty Publications

DNA-binding proteins play an important role in cell metabolism. In biological laboratories, the detection methods of DNA-binding proteins includes yeast one-hybrid methods, bacterial singles and X-ray crystallography methods and others, but these methods involve a lot of labor, material and time. In recent years, many computation-based approachs have been proposed to detect DNA-binding proteins. In this paper, a machine learning-based method, which is called the Fuzzy Kernel Ridge Regression model based on Multi-View Sequence Features (FKRR-MVSF), is proposed to identifying DNA-binding proteins. First of all, multi-view sequence features are extracted from protein sequences. Next, a Multiple Kernel Learning (MKL) algorithm …

Experimental Investigation Into Utilizing Synthetic Jet Actuators To Suppress Bi-Modal Wake Behavior Behind An Ahmed Body, Daniel Jacob Baratta

Master's Theses

Testing done on the flat-back Ahmed Body and other bluff bodies has shown the existence of a bi-stable reflectional symmetry-breaking wake at Reynolds numbers ranging from 340 to 2.41 x 10⁶. Several methods of flow control, both active and passive, have been used to improve the efficiency of the Ahmed body but their effect on the bi-stable nature of the wake has not been investigated. This work details the experimental investigation done to determine if piezoelectrically driven synthetic jet actuators are capable of suppressing the bi-stable wake effects observed behind the Ahmed Body. The synthetic jets were designed …

Sequential Electrocoagulation-Electrooxidation For Virus Mitigation In Drinking Water, Joe Heffron, Donald R. Ryan, Brooke K. Mayer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Electrochemical water treatment is a promising alternative for small-scale and remote water systems that lack operational capacity or convenient access to reagents for chemical coagulation and disinfection. In this study, the mitigation of viruses was investigated using electrocoagulation as a pretreatment prior to electrooxidation treatment using boron-doped diamond electrodes. This research is the first to investigate a sequential electrocoagulation-electrooxidation treatment system for virus removal. Bench-scale, batch reactors were used to evaluate mitigation of viruses in variable water quality via: a) electrooxidation, and b) a sequential electrocoagulation-electrooxidation treatment train. Electrooxidation of two bacteriophages, MS2 and ΦX174, was inhibited by natural organic …

Communication Of Recommendations For The Disposal Of Unused Prescription Opioid Medications By Stakeholders In The News Media, Megan Lynn Petrik, Patrick J. Mcnamara, Susan M. Moeschler, Benjamin D. Blair

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Objective

The opioid epidemic is a national public health emergency that requires a comprehensive approach to reduce opioid-related deaths. Proper and timely disposal of unused prescription opioids is one method to deter improper use of these medications and prevent overdose. The objective of this study was to understand how recommendations for disposing of unused prescription opioids, including both take-back programs and toilet disposal, are communicated to the public.

Methods

Two hundred sixty-three US newspaper articles published between January 1, 2014, and June 30, 2017, containing information on opioids and take-back programs were found using LexisNexis. Using content analysis, articles were …

Methane Yield And Lag Correlate With Bacterial Community Shift Following Bioplastic Anaerobic Co-Digestion, Kaushik Venkiteshwaran, Nicholas Benn, Saba Seyedi, Daniel Zitomer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Past plastic management practices have resulted in pollution. An improved management scenario may involve adding used bioplastic to anaerobic digesters to increase methane for renewable energy. In this work, effects of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) bioplastic anaerobic co-digestion with synthetic primary sludge on operation and microbial communities were investigated. Co-digesters treating sludge were co-fed 20% untreated or pretreated (55 °C, pH 12) PHB. Pretreatment resulted in shorter lag (5 d shorter) before methane production increased after co-digestion. At steady-state, co-digesters converted 86% and 91% of untreated and pretreated PHB to methane, respectively. Bacterial communities were different before and after bioplastic co-digestion, whereas …

Renal Specific Rnai Delivery By Fibrillar Nanoparticle Excipients, Sam Wong

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful tool to manipulate the phenotype of an organism by silencing the expression of specific genes and is viewed as a highly promising platform for treating undruggable targets and disorders where small molecule drugs and antibodies would fail. However, development of RNAi based therapies has faced major barriers including cellular and tissue-specific uptake of the Small Interfering RNA (siRNA). Utilizing different nanoparticles as RNAi excipients, cellular uptake and gene silencing potency can be greatly improved. The research in Dr. McDevitt groups has fibrillar carbon nanotubes (CNT) as carriers for siRNA for gene silencing in vitro …

Investigating Inducer Performance Over A Wide Range Of Operating Conditions, David Tate Fanning

Theses and Dissertations

Inducer performance is investigated for a variety of inducer geometries operating at multiple flow conditions using computational fluid dynamics. Inducers are used as a first stage in turbopumps to minimize cavitation and allow the pump to operate at lower inlet head conditions. The formation of inlet flow recirculation or backflow in the inducer occurs at low flow conditions and can lead to instabilities and cavitation-induced head breakdown. Backflow formation is often attributed to tip leakage flow. The performance of an inducer with and without tip clearance is examined. Removing the tip clearance eliminates tip leakage flow; however, backflow is still …

A Comparison Of Lithium-Ion Cathode Vertical Homogeneity As Influenced By Drying Rate And Drying Method, Alexander Jay Smart

Theses and Dissertations

During lithium-ion battery electrode fabrication, slurry drying conditions influence the resulting microstructure of electrodes. It has been found that the drying conditions can result in non-uniform cathode microstructures and material distributions. Accelerated drying, for example, is widely assumed to cause the binder in an electrode to migrate within the slurry, which can contribute to adhesion failure, and ultimately capacity fade and reduced battery life. While there are some conflicting studies regarding the aspects of accelerated drying that cause binder migration, there is not a widely used standard metric for measuring the gradient of binder across the thickness of an electrode. …

Effects Of Infiltration Temperature, Time, And Gas Flow Rate On Material Properties Of Carbon Infiltration Carbon Nanotubes, Shane Dirk Sypherd

Theses and Dissertations

This work characterizes the material properties of carbon infiltrated carbon nanotube (CI- CNT) structures. The impacts of temperature, time, and hydrogen flow rates on the material prop- erties of modulus of elasticity and strength are examined and compared. Carbon infiltration levels are assessed through the use of SEM images to determine which parameters give the highest level of infiltration. Through the use of SEM, carbon capping is observed on samples infiltrated for longer times at 900 and 950◦ C, suggesting that the samples are not being infiltrated during the entire desired infiltration period at these temperatures. The highest material properties …

Sensor Development To Utilize Underwater Electric Potential (Uep) Fields To Navigate The Underwater Areas Of Ship Hulls, Caglar Erdogan

Link Foundation Ocean Engineering and Instrumentation Fellowship Reports

Underwater electric potential fields occur due to natural reasons, such as changes in atmosphere, ionosphere, magnetosphere, and movements of water bodies in the ocean, or artificial reasons, such as stray and controlled electric currents, or both. Electric potential fields around ship hulls are mainly generated due to corrosion protection systems and dissimilar materials. The electric field intensity over an impressed current anode of a large cruise ship operating in with seawater with a resistance of 20 0-cm is around 90 mV/cm, whereas it is between 0.4 and 1 mV/cm on a propeller for the same ship. The theoretical field intensities …

Analysis Of An Updated Paleointensity Database (Qpi‐Pint) For 65–200 Ma: Implications For The Long‐Term History Of Dipole Moment Through The Mesozoic, E. V. Kulakov, C. J. Sprain, P. V. Doubrovine, A. V. Smirnov, G. A. Paterson, L. Hawkins, L. Fairchild, E. J. Piispa, A. J. Biggin

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The global paleointensity database for 65–200 Ma was analyzed using a modified suite of paleointensity quality criteria (Q_PI) such that the likely reliability of measurements is assessed objectively and as consistently as possible across the diverse data set. This interval was chosen because of dramatic extremes of geomagnetic polarity reversal frequency ranging from greater than 10 reversals per million years in the Jurassic hyperactivity period (155–171 Ma) to effectively zero during the Cretaceous Normal Superchron (CNS; 84–126 Ma). Various attempts to establish a relationship between the strength of Earth's magnetic field and the reversal frequency have been made …

Minimalistic Peptide-Based Supramolecular Systems Relevant To The Chemical Origin Of Life, Daniela Kroiss

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

All forms of life are based on biopolymers, which are made up of a selection of simple building blocks, such as amino acids, nucleotides, fatty acids and sugars. Their individual properties govern their interactions, giving rise to complex supramolecular structures with highly specialized functionality, including ligand recognition, catalysis and compartmentalization. In this thesis, we aim to answer the question whether short peptides could have acted as precursors of modern proteins during prebiotic evolution. Using a combination of experimental and computational techniques, we screened a large molecular search space for peptide sequences that are capable of forming supramolecular complexes with adenosine …

Variable Rate Irrigation Of Maize And Soybean In West-Central Nebraska Under Full And Deficit Irrigation, J Burdette Barker, Sandeep Bhatti, Derek M. Heeren, Christopher M.U. Neale, Daran Rudnick

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Variable rate irrigation (VRI) may improve center pivot irrigation management, including deficit irrigation. A remote-sensing-based evapotranspiration model was implemented with Landsat imagery to manage irrigations for a VRI equipped center pivot irrigated field located in West-Central Nebraska planted to maize in 2017 and soybean in 2018. In 2017, the study included VRI using the model, and uniform irrigation using neutron attenuation for full irrigation with no intended water stress (VRI-Full and Uniform-Full treatments, respectively). In 2018, two deficit irrigation treatments were added (VRI-Deficit and Uniform-Deficit, respectively) and the model was modified in an attempt to reduce water balance drift; model …

Preference Learning And Similarity Learning Perspectives On Personalized Recommendation, Duy Dung Le

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Personalized recommendation, whose objective is to generate a limited list of items (e.g., products on Amazon, movies on Netflix, or pins on Pinterest, etc.) for each user, has gained extensive attention from both researchers and practitioners in the last decade. The necessity of personalized recommendation is driven by the explosion of available options online, which makes it difficult, if not downright impossible, for each user to investigate every option. Product and service providers rely on recommendation algorithms to identify manageable number of the most likely or preferred options to be presented to each user. Also, due to the limited screen …

Mitigating Reflective Cracking Through The Use Of A Ductile Concrete Interlayer, Qian Zhang, Mohammad Khattak, Adway Das

Publications

Reflective cracking is considered one of the most important issues that causes premature deterioration of composite pavements. Many types of mitigation methods have been studied in the past. However, they are either not effective in delaying the reflective cracking, or they only extend the service life by a few years. To address this critical issue and significantly extend the service life of the composite pavement, in this research, a ductile interlayer made of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) was proposed. It was hypothesized that by adding a thin layer of highly ductile ECC material between the existing pavement and overlay, reflective …