Engineering Commons^™

Comparative Analysis Of Feature Selection Methods To Identify Biomarkers In A Stroke-Related Dataset, Thomas Clifford, Justin Bruce, Tayo Obafemi-Ajayi, John Matta

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper applies machine learning feature selection techniques to the REGARDS stroke-related dataset to identify health-related biomarkers. A data-driven methodological framework is presented to evaluate multiple feature selection methods. In applying the framework, three classifiers are chosen in conjunction with two wrappers, and their performance with diverse classification targets such as Current Smoker, Current Alcohol Use, and Deceased is evaluated. The performance across logistic regression, random forest and naïve Bayes classifier methods, as quantified by the ROC Area Under Curve metric and selected features, was similar. However, significant differences were observed in running time. Performance of the selected features was …

High Octane Number Gasoline-Ether Blend, Tarek M. Aboul-Fotouh, Sherif K. Ibrahim, M. A. Sadek, Hany A. Elazab

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Gasoline produced in Egypt is a low-grade gasoline that contains high concentration of harmful components that are having a toll on our environment. In addition, those pollutants cause countless diseases and deaths annually to the Egyptian population. This paper targets two main sectors in the production of commercial gasoline. The improvement engine efficiency through the upgrading of octane number is first experimented by using a blend stock that ranges from gasoline fractions and Isomerates. An optimum was then chosen depending on the results obtained from different tests. Through those experiments, it was determined which samples obeyed the EU regulation for …

Laboratory Manual For Engineering Electronics, Sandip Das, Walter Thain, Sheila Hill

Engineering Open Textbooks

The primary objective of this project was to improve the laboratory manuals and associated ancillary learning resources for the junior-level course, Engineering Electronics (EE3401), which is a required course for students in three different degree programs at Kennesaw State University – Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, and Computer Engineering.

In this project, we have developed and transformed the previous lab manuals, as well as added new learning materials. We have included detailed technical instructions within the lab manuals, revised the contents for improved readability, implemented coherent formatting across all manuals, introduced interactive links as necessary, developed and integrated pre-lab exercises, created …

A Computationally Efficient U-Net Architecture For Lung Segmentation In Chest Radiographs, Barath Narayanan, Russell C. Hardie

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Lung segmentation plays a crucial role in computer-aided diagnosis using Chest Radiographs (CRs). We implement a U-Net architecture for lung segmentation in CRs across multiple publicly available datasets. We utilize a private dataset with 160 CRs provided by the Riverain Medical Group for training purposes. A publicly available dataset provided by the Japanese Radiological Scientific Technology (JRST) is used for testing. The active shape model-based results would serve as the ground truth for both these datasets. In addition, we also study the performance of our algorithm on a publicly available Shenzhen dataset which contains 566 CRs with manually segmented lungs …

Integrated Aeration For Enhanced Nitrogen Conversion And Removal And The Effect Of Sampling Frequency On Productivity Estimates In Algae-Based Wastewater Treatment Systems, Lauren Parker

Master's Theses

Raceway ponds can be used to cultivate microalgae for purposes such as wastewater treatment and feedstock for animal feeds and biofuels. Besides nitrogen assimilation in biomass, nitrification can be a wastewater treatment mechanism but one that is hindered by the low nighttime dissolved oxygen concentrations (DO) common in wastewater treatment raceways. The large diel difference in pond conditions and changing influent wastewater quality also raises the question of the optimal frequency and timing of grab sample collection, to obtain representative water quality data. Three sets of triplicate pilot raceways (1,000-L, 0.30-m deep, fed primary clarifier effluent) were operated at an …

Implementation Of A Scale Semi-Autonomous Platoon To Test Control Theory Attacks, Erik Miller

Master's Theses

With all the advancements in autonomous and connected cars, there is a developing body of research around the security and robustness of driving automation systems. Attacks and mitigations for said attacks have been explored, but almost always solely in software simulations.

For this thesis, I led a team to build the foundation for an open source platoon of scale semi-autonomous vehicles. This work will enable future research into implementing theoretical attacks and mitigations. Our 1/10 scale car leverages an Nvidia Jetson, embedded microcontroller, and sensors. The Jetson manages the computer vision, networking, control logic, and overall system control; the embedded …

The Effects Of Atomic Oxygen On Patch Antenna Performance And Lifetime, Max J. Barta

Master's Theses

The space environment is a volatile and challenging place for satellites to survive in. For Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites, atomic oxygen (AO) is a constant corrosive effect that degrades the outer surface of satellites over long durations. Atomic oxygen exists in the atmosphere between 180 and 675 km and has a relatively high energy at 4.5 eV, which allows AO to break molecular bonds in materials on the surfaces of spacecraft. As the number and complexity of CubeSat missions increase, there is an increased risk that AO degradation on commercial off the shelf parts (COTS), such as antenna, could …

Investigation Of Fundamental Principles Of Rigid Body Impact Mechanics, Khalid Alluhydan

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

In impact mechanics, the collision between two or more bodies is a common, yet a very challenging problem. Producing analytical solutions that can predict the post-collision motion of the colliding bodies require consistent modeling of the dynamics of the colliding bodies. This dissertation presents a new method for solving the two and multibody impact problems that can be used to predict the post-collision motion of the colliding bodies. Also, we solve the rigid body collision problem of planar kinematic chains with multiple contacts with external surfaces.

In the first part of this dissertation, we study planar collisions of Balls and …

Impedance-Based Microfluidic Platform For Quantitative Biology, Amin Mansoorifar

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

Dielectric properties of biological cells are functions of cellular structure, content, state, and phenotype. Dielectric spectroscopy (DS) is a nondestructive method to characterize dielectric properties by measuring impedance data over a frequency range. This method has been widely used for various applications such as counting, sizing, and monitoring biological cells and particles. Recently, this method has been suggested to be utilized in various stages of the drug discovery process due to its low sample consumption and fast analysis time.

In this thesis, we have developed a lab-on-a-chip device that uses an electro-activated microwells array for capturing, making DS measurements on, …

Cost-Effective Methods To Retrofit Metal Culverts Using Composites, Mahmoud Reda Taha, Susan Bogus Halter

Data

One of the current pressing problems for all DOTs is the corrosion-oriented deterioration of existing metal culverts. These metal culverts typically are designed for a life of 50 years. However, corrosion is making them last no longer than 30 years. A Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymers (GFRP) pipe section has been evaluated as a fit-in GFRP profile liner for complete repair and rehabilitation of the corroded metal culvert with an expected life of 75 years. This is mainly because of the corrosion free nature of the GFRP material. A comprehensive rehabilitation methodology and laboratory scale three-point bending test was conducted to …

Tuned Photomechanical Switching Of Laterally Constrained Arches, Matthew L. Smith, J Gao, A A. Skandani, N Deering, D H. Wang, A A. Sicard, M Plaver, L-S Tan, T J. White, M R. Shankar

Faculty Publications

Laterally constrained arches driven between stable states by light, represent a unique space for compliant mechanism design. Exploiting mechanical multistability can overcome limitations of functional photomechanical actuators, which include limited repeatability, actuation speed, and positioning characteristics. Here, the addition of lateral constraints to an elastic bistable arch system is proposed as a method for toggling between bifurcated states by controlling the location of actinic irradiation. This approach expands the design space for photomechanical, mutistable structures and actuators. Arch behavior as a function of system parameters is simulated, including conditions leading to multistability. An experimental demonstration and exploration of a constrained …

Issues Pertaining To Rebuilt Vehicle Titles, Valerie J. Keathley, Andrew Martin, Jeeyen Koo, Jennifer R. Walton

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

In Kentucky, salvage titles are issued when a vehicle has been wrecked, destroyed, or damaged and the cost of repairs exceeds 75 percent of the vehicle’s fair market value. Once a vehicle is repaired to roadworthy condition it is issued a rebuilt title. Kentucky issued 110,000 rebuilt and salvage titles in 2018. Over the 2014 to 2018 period, the number of rebuilt and salvage titles issued climbed 31 percent. The economic impact of rebuilt and salvage titles in Kentucky is considerable — approximately $331 million in 2018, based on data for the taxable values or sales prices of vehicles.

To …

Rapid Retrofit And Strengthening Of Bridge Components, Abheetha Peiris, Issam E. Harik

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Rapid repair of damaged or deteriorated concrete bridge components will prevent the entire bridge from suffering irreversible damage in the future due to gradual spalling of concrete or corrosion of exposed steel. CFRP laminates and fabrics have become popular for repairing and strengthening of concrete girders. A series of CFRP materials — branded CatStrong — specifically designed for the repair and retrofit of bridges was developed at the Kentucky Transportation Center and the University of Kentucky. These materials include the CFRP Rod Panels (CatStrong CRPs), Unidirectional and Triaxial Carbon Fabric (CatStrong UCF and TCF), and Triaxial Carbon Wrap (CatStrong TCW). …

Truss Bridge Rehabilitation Prioritization, Abheetha Peiris, Issam E. Harik

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Kentucky’s inventory of historic steel truss bridges is declining rapidly. There are more than 150 historic truss bridges in the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s (KYTC) bridge inventory. Most of these bridges require maintenance to avoid replacement. However, prioritizing the rehabilitation of these bridges based on their historic importance is challenging. While AASHTO’s Guidelines for Historic Bridge Rehabilitation and Replacement contain guidance on selecting bridges for preservation, currently there is no guidance on how to prioritize those historic bridges selected for rehabilitation. Building on a previous study that identified historic truss bridges in Kentucky meriting preservation, the Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) developed …

Effect Of Humic Acid Extracted From Thailand's Leonardite On Rice Growth, B Jomhataikool, K Faungnawakij, S Kuboon, W Kraithong, S Chutipaichit, M Fuji, A Eiad-Ua

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

Humic acid have been successfully extracted from leonardite using base-acid treatment. Humic acid is an essential part of soil. This material, present in good soil, makes available of uptake to the plant and the soil nutrients for improving the physical structure of the soil. To extract humic and fulvic acid, the Leonardite is processed in a strongly basic aqueous solution. To precipitate the humic acid, the solution is adjusted to pH 1 with a mineral acid. Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Aluminium, Silicon and Potassium were extracted from humic acid in humate form (Humic acid reacted with KOH). Rice grower have expressed …

Investigation Of Dissimilar Joining Ferritic Stainless Steel 430 To Austenitic Stainless Steel 304 By Transient Liquid Phase Bonding Process, H Nasri Nasrabadi, M Kasiri Asgarani, K Amini

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

In this study, dissimilar joining of ferritic stainless steel 430 with austenitic stainless steel 304 with BNi-2 Interlayer was investigated by the joint process of the transient liquid phase under inert gas. The joint process was carried out at a constant temperature of 1120°C and at four storage times of 30, 60, 120 and 180 min. To investigate the microscopic structure of the optical microscope, a scanning electron microscope and an X-ray diffraction spectroscopy were used to investigate the mechanical properties of the microhardness and stretching device. At 120 min of storage, due to the proper penetration of the interlayer …

Structural Integrity Assessment Of Tufted Textile Composite And Its Comparison With Laminated Textile Composite, A Saboktakin, A Ghasemi, H Mohammadi

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

Three dimensional composites have been used in aerospace industry to improve interlaminar strength. This paper evaluates the 3D tufted composites from aspect of their mechanical properties. The tufted composite panel was manufactured based on polyester resin as well as an untufted laminated composite for comparison purposes. Experiments show that specimens with transverse tufting suffer slighter reduction in the tensile strength than longitudinal tufting. The tufted composites are found lower tensile strength compared with laminated composite samples accompanied with slight improvement in the compression strength and high strain rate tensile strength. The experimental results presented in this paper should be valuable …

Thermal Correction Judd-Ofelt Analyze Of Eu3+ Ion Doped Calcium Gadolinium Silicoborate Oxyfluoride Glass, N Wantana, Y Ruangtaweep, J Kaewkhao

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

The Calcium Gadolinium Silicoborate Oxyfluoride glass doped with 1.0 mol% of Eu3+ concentration. (CaGdSiBF:Eu3+) was prepared by a melt quenching technique for study in the absorption and emission properties. Glass absorbed photon in ultraviolet, visible light and near infrared regions. The excitation with 275 nm of Gd3+ show the strongest red emission at 613 nm from 5D0→7F2 transition. The Judd-Ofelt (J-O) intensity parameters are derived from the integrated area under absorption and emission, including the refractive index. The thermal correction was used to improve J-O analysis from an uncertainty of Eu3+ population on the ground state. The spectroscopic results were …

Methyl Methacrylate Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Polymer For Gluten Determination, D Limthin, K Chattrairat, P Leepheng, S Wisutthipat, P Gansa, A Klamchuen, D Phromyothin

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

The gluten protein is found in some rice and flour. The allergy of gluten, a little bit of gluten in diet cause long-term damage and dangerous to the body. Even tiny amounts of gluten in diet may bring enormous symptoms. The rapid and simple method for gluten detection is molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) combined with electrochemical analysis. In addition, magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (MMIP) as known as Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles have used in combination with electrochemical measurement as well to improve the sensitivity of detection. In this work, the MMIP was combined with electrochemical technique. The Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles were …

Effects Of Sulfur Vulcanization System On Cure Characteristics, Physical Properties And Thermal Aging Of Epoxidized Natural Rubber, A Larpkasemsek, L Raksaksri, S Chuayjuljit, P Chaiwutthinan, A Boonmahitthisud

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

The epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) with 40 mol% epoxidation (ENR-40) was initially prepared via 'in situ' epoxidation of concentrated natural rubber latex with formic acid (1M to isoprene unit) and hydrogen peroxide (0.75 M to isoprene unit) at 50ºC for 8 h. The as-prepared ENR-40 was then cured with three different sulfur vulcanization/curing systems, including conventional (CV), semi-efficiency (semi-EV) and efficiency (EV) systems using tetrabenzylthiuram disulphide (TBzTD) as a non-carcinogenic accelerator on a compression molding machine. The effects of sulfur to accelerator ratio on the cure characteristics, tensile properties (tensile strength, modulus at 300% strain (M300) and elongation at break), …

Investigation On The Tribological Characteristics Of Lubricated Al2o3-Tic (Altic) Surface, S Jitphayomkun, P Dechadilok, D Tungasmita, S Tungasmita

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

Lapping process is one of the most important processes in modern hard disk drive manufacturing. Using lubricant in the lapping process does not only reduce the friction but also transfers heat and captures debris away from the surface contacts. The effects of tribological parameters on the lubricant characteristics and friction regime were investigated, using tribometer. The tribological behaviors of the lubricated alumine-titanium carbide (AlTiC) surface with different types of lubricants were also investigated. The coefficient of friction values of stainless steel ball sliding on the lubricated surface exhibited much lower than dry surface. The variation of normal force and sliding …

Recovery Of Recycled Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Via Melt Mixing With Poly(Butylene Succinate) And Ultrafine Wollastonite, P Chaiwutthinan, S Chuayjuljit, A Boonmahitthisud, A Larpkasemsuk

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

Recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) (R-PET) flakes obtained from postconsumer bottles were melt mixed with poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) or with PBS plus ultrafine wollastonite (2000 mesh) at various compositions on a twin screw extruder, followed by injection molding. The tensile properties, morphology, thermal stability and limiting oxygen index (LOI) of the resulting blends and composites were evaluated. Among the investigated R-PET/PBS blend compositions (20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 wt% PBS), the 60/40 wt% blend exhibited the highest tensile strength and elongation at break, but a lower tensile modulus and thermal stability compared to those of the neat R-PET. This blend was …

Bioproduction Of Adipic Acid Using Engineered Pseudomonas Putida Kt2440 From Lignin-Derived Aromatics, Howard Willett

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Current industrial synthesis of adipic acid is nonrenewable and depends on a carcinogenic starting material, benzene. Biocatalysis with an engineered microorganism could turn a renewable feedstock into a value-added chemical such as adipic acid. Here we engineered P. putida KT2440 to transform lignin-derived aromatics, coumarate and ferulate, into adipic acid. Lignin is a recalcitrant plant biopolymer burned for thermal energy. Conversion of lignin into a value-added chemical will improve the efficiency of lignocellulose processing plants. The best performing engineered KT2440 strain produces 2.52 mM adipate at a 9.5% (mole/mole) yield. This was achieved by the genetic insertion of non-natural biosynthetic …

Economic Model Predictive Control And Process Equipment: Control-Induced Thermal Stress In A Pipe, Helen Durand

Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Faculty Research Publications

Recent work on economic model predictive control (EMPC) has indicated that some processes may be operated in a more economically-optimal fashion under a time-varying operating policy than under a steady-state operating policy. However, a concern for time-varying operation is how such a change in operating policy might impact the equipment within which the processes being controlled are carried out. While under steady-state operation, the operating conditions to which equipment would regularly be exposed can be estimated, this would be more difficult to assess thoroughly a priori under time-varying operation. It could be explored whether the EMPC could be made aware …

Study On Safety Control Of Composite Roof In Deep Roadway Based On Energy Balance Theory, Zhengzheng Xie, Nong Zhang, Yuxin Yuan, Guang Xu, Qun Wei

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Improving the safety and stability of composite roof in deep roadway is the strong guarantee for safe mining and sustainable development of coal mines. With three roadways of different composite roofs in Hulusu Coal Mine and Menkeqing Coal Mine as the research background, this paper explores the mechanical properties and energy dissipation law of coal-rock structures with different height ratios from the perspective of energy release and dissipation through lab experiments. The results indicate that the key to the stability of coal-rock structures lies in maintaining relatively low dissipation energy. Based on experimental results and the energy balance theory, two …

A Novel Data-Driven Analysis Method For Nonlinear Electromagnetic Radiations Based On Dynamic Mode Decomposition, Yanming Zhang, Lijun Jiang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Nonlinear effects generated in complex electronic systems such as cell phones and computers cause broadband electromagnetic radiations. They are very difficult to model but could be key contributors to the radiated spurious emission (RSE) and radio frequency interference (RFI). In this paper, a novel data-driven characterization method is proposed to analyze the transient responses of the nonlinear circuits and their nonlinear electromagnetic radiations. It employs the dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) to simultaneously extract the temporal patterns and their corresponding dynamic modes. The temporal patterns show high order harmonics generated by the nonlinearity. Then these temporal spatial coherent patterns could provide …

Analysis Of Sea Clutter Using Dynamic Mode Decomposition, Yanming Zhang, Lijun Jiang, Hong Tat Ewe

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, a novel method based on a dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) for sea clutter analysis is proposed. It extracts the temporal patterns and corresponding dynamic modes from the sea clutter simultaneously. Moreover, the temporal patterns display similar properties with traditional analysis using Doppler spectrum. The corresponding dynamic modes represent the cardinal feature within the sea clutter. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, the measured sea clutter data collected by IPIX radar is analyzed. It is shown that DMD spectrum has the same frequency-shift and similar amplitude with the Doppler Spectrum. In addition, the Probability Density Function …

Distributed State Estimation By Using Active-Passive Sensor Networks, Akhilesh Raj, S. Jagannathan, Tansel Yucelen

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper proposes a novel adaptive observer for heterogeneous sensor networks (HSNs) to estimate state vector of an unknown target or process by using the sensed output when the input to the target/process is also not known. In an HSN, nodes are considered either active or passive depending upon their ability to sense the target output. The local information exchange among the nodes is dictated by a connected graph. By using the criterion of collective observability, a novel distributed adaptive estimation is introduced where the nodes are allowed to have different sensor modalities. Stability analysis shows uniform ultimate boundedness of …

Spatially Continuous Strain Monitoring Using Distributed Fiber Optic Sensors Embedded In Carbon Fiber Composites, Sasi Jothibasu, Yang Du, Sudharshan Anandan, Gurjot S. Dhaliwal, Rex E. Gerald Ii, Steve Eugene Watkins, K. Chandrashekhara, Jie Huang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A distributed fiber optic strain sensor based on Rayleigh backscattering, embedded in a fiber-reinforced polymer composite, has been demonstrated. The optical frequency domain reflectometry technique is used to analyze the backscattered signal. The shift in the Rayleigh backscattered spectrum is observed to be linearly related to the change in strain of the composite material. The sensor (standard single-mode fiber) is embedded between the layers of the composite laminate. A series of tensile loads is applied to the laminate using an Instron testing machine, and the corresponding strain distribution of the laminate is measured. The results show a linear response indicating …

Developing 5gl Concepts From User Interactions, David Stuckless Meyer

Masters Theses

In the fulfilling of the contracts generated in Test Driven Development, a developer could be said to act as a constraint solver, similar to those used by a 5th Generation Language(5GL). This thesis presents the hypothesis that 5GL linguistic mechanics, such as facts, rules and goals, will be emergent in the communications of developer pairs performing Test Driven Development, validating that 5GL syntax is congruent with the ways that practitioners communicate. Along the way, nomenclatures and linguistic patterns may be observed that could inform the design of future 5GL languages.