Engineering Commons^™

Optimal Bidding Strategy For A Strategic Power Producer Using Mixed Integer Programming, Sayed Abdullah Sadat

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The thesis focuses on a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation for a bi-level mathematical program with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) considering chance constraints. The particular MPEC problem relates to a power producer’s bidding strategy: maximize its total benefit through determining bidding price and bidding power output while considering an electricity pool’s operation and guessing the rival producer’s bidding price. The entire decision-making process can be described by a bi-level optimization problem. The contribution of our thesis is the MILP formulation of this problem considering the use of chance constrained mathematical program for handling the uncertainties.

First, the lower-level poor operation …

A Comparison Of Malfunction-Related Accidents For General Aviation Aircraft Manufactured In 1970–1984 And 2000–2014, Douglas Boyd, Jochen Hinkelbein

Publications

The United States general aviation fleet is aging with aircraft manufactured 35–39 years ago representing the most prevalent group. Since older aircraft are more prone to airframe corrosion, fatigue, and brittle electrical wiring, the present study was undertaken to determine whether malfunction-related accidents for general aviation aircraft manufactured between 1970 and 1984 were elevated relative to airplanes produced more recently (2000–2014).

The NTSB aviation accident database was used to identify piston-powered airplane accidents occurring over the 2005–2014 period. Aircraft manufacture year and fleet activity data were from the FAA. Statistical analyses employed contingency tables and Poisson distributions.

The proportion of …

Measurement And Analysis Of Transport Vibration For Ltl Freight Utilizing Stowage Optimization Equipment, Jay Singh, Koushik Saha, David Leinberger, John Antle

Industrial Technology and Packaging

The random vibration spectra typically used in lab based simulations towards developing and validating optimized packages for distribution have been developed through past research that have studied global transport vibration environments. Approximately 67% of all the freight tonnage moved in the U.S. utilizes heavy duty Class 8 trucks. While the floor (suspension) based vibration simulation profiles for these types of trucks are available towards lab based simulation, there have been no studies investigating the impact of shelving and stacking systems typically used for optimization of freight stowage in truck trailers by many freight companies. It is important to quantify how …

Special Section On Electrical Contacts, Ronald A. Coutu Jr., Ravi Mahajan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Welcome to the Special Topics Section dedicated to the 2015 Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts. This Special Section contains six high-quality papers that comprehensively describe the state of the art and potential future directions for topics of great interest to our readers. The Editor-in-Chief (EIC), in consultation with the other EICs, Associate Editors (AEs), and domain experts, selects the topics for the Special Sections, and a Guest Editor or AE (GE/AE) who is a leading expert in the technical area then directs the solicitation and peer review of the papers. In cases where the GE/AE is also an author, the …

Engineered Nanocomposite Materials For Microwave/Millimeter-Wave Applications Of Fused Deposition Modeling, Juan De Dios Castro

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A variety of high-permittivity (high-k) and low-loss ceramic-thermoplastic composite materials as fused deposition modeling (FDM) feedstock, based on cyclo-olefin polymer (COP) embedded with sintered ceramic fillers, have been developed and investigated for direct digital manufacturing (DDM) of microwave components. The composites presented in this dissertation use a high-temperature sintering process up to 1500°C to further enhance the dielectric properties of the ceramic fillers. The electromagnetic (EM) properties of these newly developed FDM composites were characterized up to the Ku-band by using the cavity perturbation technique. Several models for prediction of the effective relative dielectric permittivity of composites based …

Thz Metamaterial Characterization Using Thz-Tds, Christopher H. Kodama, Ronald A. Coutu Jr.

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The purpose of this chapter is to familiarize the reader with metamaterials and describe terahertz (THz) spectroscopy within metamaterials research. The introduction provides key background information on metamaterials, describes their history and their unique properties. These properties include negative refraction, backwards phase propagation, and the reversed Doppler Effect. The history and theory of metamaterials are discussed, starting with Veselago’s negative index materials work and Pendry’s publications on physical realization of metamaterials. The next sections cover measurement and analyses of THz metamaterials. THz Time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) will be the key measurement tool used to describe the THz metamaterial measurement process. Sample …

Temperature Effects On The Swelling And Bentonite Extrusion Characteristics Of Gcls, James L. Hanson, Nazli Yesiller, Everett P. Allen

Civil and Environmental Engineering

This investigation was conducted to evaluate effects of temperature on swelling and bentonite extrusion properties of GCLs. The swelling characteristics were determined using standardized test procedures and extrusion characteristics were determined using a new test method developed by the authors. Tests were conducted on a conventional medium-weight woven/nonwoven GCL. The range of test temperatures was 2 to 98°C (swelling tests) and -5 to 100°C (extrusion tests). The extrusion tests were conducted under stresses between 100 and 400 kPa and moisture contents between 50 and 150%. Temperature had significant effects on both swell and extrusion. The swell index ranged from 21 …

Synthesis And Catalytic Applications Of Non-Metal Doped Mesoporous Titania, Syed Z. Islam, Suraj R. Nagpure, Doo Young Kim, Stephen E. Rankin

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Mesoporous titania (mp-TiO₂) has drawn tremendous attention for a diverse set of applications due to its high surface area, interfacial structure, and tunable combination of pore size, pore orientation, wall thickness, and pore connectivity. Its pore structure facilitates rapid diffusion of reactants and charge carriers to the photocatalytically active interface of TiO₂. However, because the large band gap of TiO₂ limits its ability to utilize visible light, non-metal doping has been extensively studied to tune the energy levels of TiO₂. While first-principles calculations support the efficacy of this approach, it is challenging to …

P26. Global Exponential Stabilization On So(3), Soulaimane Berkane

Western Research Forum

Global Exponential Stabilization on SO(3)

A Novel Hybrid Imaging System To Aid In Surgical Decision Making, Lawrence Yip, Madeleine Van De Kleut, Ivan Kosik, Astrid Chamson-Reig, Jeffrey Jl Carson

Western Research Forum

Background:

Breast cancer accounts for 25% of all cancer cases among women. In breast-conserving surgery, a common treatment, the tumour is excised with a healthy tissue margin. However, detection of the margin can be difficult. Current techniques to guide excision are often insufficient, and re-excision can occur up to 25% of the time.

Methods:

Photoacoustic imaging is a hybrid imaging modality that combines the advantages of optical imaging and ultrasound while using safe non-ionizing light. This project involves the development of a novel imaging system with a new scanner design to overcome common limitations and provide images to aid in …

Civil Engineering Professor Named Educator Of The Year | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Utah State University professor of civil engineering Dr. Paul J. Barr has been named the 2017 Educator of the Year by the Utah Engineers Council.

Recombinant Elastin Based Nanoparticles For Targeted Gene Therapy, Dagmara Anne Monfort

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gene therapy is a technique used to inactivate, replace or insert a corrective copy of a defective gene in order to help diseased tissues to function properly. Gene therapy is a promising treatment for many diseases cancer, cystic fibrosis, and Parkinson’s. There are different methods to introduce a gene to the cell; one of them is the use of viruses. Among viruses, lentiviruses have been popular vectors for gene delivery due to their efficient mode of gene delivery. However, the non-specific delivery of genes associated with viruses may result in undesirable side effects. Here, we propose a heterogeneous nanoparticle delivery …

Analysis Of Aggregate Mineralogy Using Libs, Bless Ann Varghese

Theses and Dissertations

The New Jersey Department of Transport (NJDOT) has a vested interest in the determination of the chemical composition and thereby the mineralogy of aggregates. Depending on the mineralogy of an aggregate sample, it may be inappropriate to use for construction and roadwork purposes. Current methods of determining the mineralogy of aggregates are costly in terms of time, money and convenience. As such, there is a desire for the development of an alternative and efficient method for aggregate mineralogical determination in the field.

The focus of this study is to develop a portable system for aggregate analysis in the field and …

Addressing Data Challenges For Bicycle Crash Analysis, Eleni Christofa

PSU Transportation Seminars

Although an increasing number of separated bicycle facilities have been appearing across the US over the last few years, the majority of bicyclists are still traveling on roadways shared with motorized vehicles.

As a result, bicycles are essentially double exposed to safety risk, due to their interactions with both motorized vehicles and other bicycles. In addition to this double exposure, data challenges–such as a lack of continuous counts and bicycle crash data—complicate the assessment of bicycle safety further.

This research presents a bicycle crash analysis framework for estimating bicycle crash rates accounting for both bicycle and motorized vehicle exposure as …

An Analytical System For Determining Disciplinary Vocabulary For Data-Driven Learning: An Example From Civil Engineering, Philippa Jean Otto

Dissertations and Theses

Data-driven learning (DDL), an inductive teaching approach in which students learn through corpus interaction, has gained recent traction as way to teach specialized vocabulary in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) classes. There is little research, however, that addresses how to choose specialized vocabulary for teaching with DDL.

This study addressed this gap in research by exploring the potential of a three-part analytical, corpus-based system for determining vocabulary to teach with DDL for a specific context of language use. This system included (1) identifying words that were significantly more frequent in a specialized expert corpus than in a corpus of general …

Effect Of Dual Ion Beam Irradiation (Helium And Deuterium) On Tungsten–Tantalum Alloys Under Fusion Relevant Conditions, Sean Gonderman, J K. Tripathi, T J. Novakowski, T Sizyuk, A Hassanein

School of Nuclear Engineering Faculty Publications

The selection of tungsten (W) as a divertor material in ITER is based on its high melting point, low erosion, and strong mechanical properties. However, continued investigation has shown W to undergo severe morphology changes in fusion-like conditions. Recent literature suggests alloying W with other ductile refractory metals, viz. tantalum (Ta) may resolve some of these issues. These results provide further motivation for investigating W–Ta alloys as a plasma-facing component (PFC) for ITER and future DEMO reactors. Specifically, how these alloy materials respond to simultaneous He+ and D+ ion irradiation, and what is the effect on the surface morphology when …

Potential Effects Of Landscape Change On Water Supplies In The Presence Of Reservoir Storage, Andrew John Guswa, Perrine Hamel, P. James Dennedy-Frank

Engineering: Faculty Publications

This work presents a set of methods to evaluate the potential effects of landscape changes on water supplies. Potential impacts are a function of the seasonality of precipitation, losses of water to evapotranspiration and deep recharge, the flow-regulating ability of watersheds, and the availability of reservoir storage. For a given reservoir capacity, simple reservoir simulations with daily precipitation and streamflow enable the determination of the maximum steady supply of water for both the existing watershed and a hypothetical counter-factual that has neither flow-regulating benefits nor any losses. These two supply values, representing land use end-members, create an envelope that defines …

Repository Review: Nasa Pubspace, Laura Pope Robbins

Publications

Laura Pope Robbins is an advisor for The Charleston Advisor, and the review below is included in Scholarly Commons with the permission of the publisher.

PubSpace is a repository of full-text peer-reviewed articles resulting from NASA-funded research going back to 1961. The National Center for Biotechnology Information has integrated PubSpace into PubMed Central, a freely available repository of medical research. Using an established, stable, government-hosted platform for PubSpace seems to make sense. However, the lack of clear branding, an uneven application of phrase searching, and a missing thesaurus of NASA terminology highlights that this integration may not be the best.

Future Of The Mutcd, Steven G. Jewell P.E., Ptoe

Purdue Road School

The current edition of the national MUTCD was published in the Federal Register as a final rule in December 2009, effective on January 10, 2010. Most people probably don’t realize that this major tool of our trade is a living document that is under constant review and revision. The MUTCD is legally produced and maintained by FHWA. It usually gets officially revised and republished about every 6-10 years. There are a lot of legal issues and hoops that FHWA must progress through, including public review and documentation, to republish the Manual. Because of the constant changing and improving technology, FHWA …

Applications Of Ads-B In General Aviation, Chenyu Huang, Mary E. Johnson

Purdue Road School

ADS-B Applications for General Aviation Airports—ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast) Out will soon be required for aircraft operating in most assigned airspace categories. ADS-B data are more accessible for analysis than data from flight data monitoring devices and can potentially be used to improve airport operations. General aviation airports need low-cost, effective solutions. In this session we explore data from ADS-B technologies that support operations counting, landing/takeoff cycle characterization, and landing fee assessment, and that potentially identify areas of operational concern.

Deployment And Evaluation Of Sinusoidal Rumble Strips, Jijo K. Mathew, Andrew Balmos, Dana Plattner

Purdue Road School

Centerline and edge line rumble strips are effective tools for reducing crashes, but the resulting noise of rumble strip incursions can be disruptive to nearby residents. Sinusoidal rumble strips are emerging as quieter rumble strip construction technology. In this session we will discuss the design, construction, and evaluation of sinusoidal rumble strips on IN 1 in Fort Wayne.

Building A Better Pedestrian And Bicycling Infrastructure, Joyce E. Newland

Purdue Road School

The Federal Highway Administration has a long history of supporting pedestrian and bicycle transportation through funding, policy guidance, program management, and resource development. This Strategic Agenda for Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation builds on this support and sets the stage for our activities in the coming years.

Practical Considerations In Determining Timber Pile Depth Using The Sonic Echo Method, Ali F. Jwary

Civil Engineering ETDs

The Federal Highway Administration indicates that about 85,000 bridges in the United States have no original contract documents with information about the type, depth, geometry and material of their foundations (FHWA, 2010). Furthermore, the National Bridge Inventory (NBI) provides information about 86,133 bridges nationwide that are rated as scour critical because of unknown foundation condition. In New Mexico, there are more than 281 bridges with unknown foundations, which are owned by the New Mexico Department of Transportation; 71 of these are timber bridges. These data indicate a serious problem that needs decisive action to assess the unknown bridge foundation characteristics …

Portable Signals: Indot Design Guidance And Specifications, Joseph Bruno

Purdue Road School

Until recently portable traffic signals, which are mounted on towable trailer supports, were not allowed in Indiana. However, portable signals have many advantages over fixed temporary signals, so the Indiana Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices was revised to allow them, and specifications for their use are now in place. This presentation provides an overview of portable signals, including INDOT’s current design and specification requirements for these devices.

Compliant Curb Ramp Solutions, Katherine Smutzer

Purdue Road School

Public Rights of Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) for Curb Ramps. Answers to frequently asked questions for Curb Ramps and Curb Ramp Designs. Examples of curb ramp designs in restricted conditions and other types of curb ramp examples.

Mash Implementation For Guardrail, Katherine Smutzer

Purdue Road School

A review of the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) Implementation for w-beam guardrail. What will change and what designers need to know when moving to MASH.

Funny Games - A Definition For And Study Of Comic Videogames, Eric Guardara

Discovery Day (formerly Post & Beyond)

In this project, I define the genre of Comic Games and discuss its categorical independence of other genres. Until now, this genre has not been clearly defined in the videogame medium. I have conducted research and compiled games that are generally accepted as being humorous. I then weeded out games that simply contain humor and categorized the remaining works that are at their core Comic Games. Comic Games are those whose primary and prolonged purpose are to evoke laughter from the user. This is different than humorous games that passively include humor. A Comic Game is one that is predominantly …

Vistics, Scott Tongue

Discovery Day (formerly Post & Beyond)

Vistics is a 2.5D platformer game for virtual reality devices such as the Oculus Rift. One of the major software goals in the Vistics design is to reduce the effects of simulation sickness in virtual reality devices. On the technical side, Vistics needs to achieve a low enough rendering time that matches the refresh rate of the device of the Oculus Rift - 90 Hz (also known as 90 frames per seconds). Additionally, the camera in the game must be capable of updating in under 16ms. This means that when the user changes their head position in the real world, …

Construction Specifications And Special Provisions, Scott Trammell, Melissa Russell

Purdue Road School

The purpose of this presentation is to help project managers and designers prepare the necessary information required for their contracts with regard to the Standard Specifications and any necessary special provisions. Attendees will be exposed to examples of the right way to incorporate a Unique Special Provision, as well as things to avoid and questions to ask. It is important to know the proper way to write and present a Unique Special Provision.

Testing And Evaluation Of Modern Lighting Technologies, David Boruff

Purdue Road School

This presentation provides an overview of one of the steps INDOT has taken in order to make the change to solid state lighting technology: the adoption of a testing procedure and approved materials list for luminaires.