Engineering Commons^™

An Investigation Of Motor Vehicle Driver Inattention And Its Effects At Highway–Rail Grade Crossings, Shanshan Zhao

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The relationship between accident injury severity and drivers’ inattentive behavior requires an in-depth investigation – this is especially needed in the case of motor vehicle drivers at highway-rail grade crossings (HRGCs). The relationship between drivers’ personality/ socioeconomic characteristics and inattentive behavior at HRGCs is another topic requiring research. Past educational programs about safe driving at HRGCs have often not been designed to target people who may be in urgent need of such information, which may limit the effectiveness of those programs.

This dissertation thus focuses on the following four objectives: to investigate the association between motor vehicle inattentive driving and …

Efficient Employment Of Large Format Sensor Data Transfer Architectures, Jeffrey R. Oltmanns

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the increasing quantity of data collected by Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets and the focus on timely access to the data collected by these systems, operational data transfer network architectures have become a critical component of their employment in the intelligence production process. Efficient utilization of the provided long-haul communications component of the ISR system improves the value of the single asset to the warfighter and enables connectivity of additional assets via the data transfer network architecture. This research effort focused on the creation and implementation of a structured test design methodology based on the …

An Investigation In Construction Cost Estimation Using A Monte Carlo Simulation, Jeffrey D. Buchholtz

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force estimates military construction (MILCON) costs early in a project’s development as a part of the funding approval process. However, many of the initial cost estimates deviate significantly more than expected from the actual project costs, hindering funding allocation efforts. There is a need for improved estimation techniques. This research examines a cost estimation model for the initial programming stages of a project when only general scope information is available.

This study develops a Monte Carlo simulation based on historical construction cost data to predict project costs base on facility type. For a given facility type, the research …

Preprocessing Techniques To Support Event Detection Data Fusion On Social Media Data, Brandon T. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on collection and preprocessing of streaming social media feeds for metadata as well as the visual and textual information. Today, news media has been the main source of immediate news events, large and small. However, the information conveyed on these news sources is delayed due to the lack of proximity and general knowledge of the event. Such news have started relying on social media sources for initial knowledge of these events. Previous works focused on captured textual data from social media as a data source to detect events. This preprocessing framework postures to facilitate the data fusion …

Using Approximate Dynamic Programming To Solve The Stochastic Demand Military Inventory Routing Problem With Direct Delivery, Ethan L. Salgado

Theses and Dissertations

A brigade combat team must resupply forward operating bases (FOBs) within its area of operations from a central location, mainly via ground convoy operations, in a way that closely resembles vendor managed inventory practices. Military logisticians routinely decide when and how much inventory to distribute to each FOB. Technology currently exists that makes utilizing cargo unmanned aerial vehicles (CUAVs) for resupply an attractive alternative due to the dangers of utilizing convoy operations. However, enemy actions, austere conditions, and inclement weather pose a significant risk to a CUAV's ability to safely deliver supplies to a FOB. We develop a Markov decision …

Microfacet Wavelength Scaling Of The Brdf, Samuel E. Freda

Theses and Dissertations

The bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) describes realistic scattering of light off materials by relating incident irradiance to outbound radiance. One popular class of BRDF models assumes a surface is comprised of tiny microfacets. The drawback of microfacet BRDFs is that they often no not contain specific material parameters and neglect wavelength effects. Wave optics BRDF expressions, however, can describe wavelength effects at the expense of being more computationally cumbersome. Previous work of following a Beckmann-Kirchhoff derivation of BRDF, then relating wave optics BRDF coordinates to microfacet coordinates led to a complicated, but versatile, BRDF. In this work, the infinite …

The Effects Of Ionizing Radiation And Oxidizing Species On Strains Of Deinococcus Radiodurans Lacking Endogenous Oxidative Protection Methods, Dylan L. Klawuhn

Theses and Dissertations

Multiple strains of Deinococcus radiodurans were transformed, creating knockout mutations in genes responsible for manganese ion transport, manganese and copper/zinc super-oxide dismutase, and bacillithiol synthesis. These mutated strains were then irradiated with ~20,000 Gys. The results showed that the mutated strains had a higher sensitivity to ionizing radiation, those responsible for bacillithiol synthesis having an increase in sensitivity 3000 times more than wild type Deinococcus radiodurans. In addition to radiation the mutated strains were also exposed to paraquat, an oxidizing herbicide. Strains missing manganese super-oxide dismutase showed increased sensitivity.

Test And Verification Of A Cubesat Attitude Determination And Control System In Variable Magnetic Fields, Eric A. Bassett

Theses and Dissertations

The Center for Space Research and Assurance (CSRA) at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) continues to explore CubeSat initiatives for solving many current space security issues. Regardless of the mission requirements, the success of the Cube- Sat on orbit frequently depends on the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) functioning correctly. Previous research at AFIT has demonstrated single axis control on a spherical air bearing test bed incorporated within a Helmholtz cage utilizing artificially strong magnetic fields for better signal to noise ratios which are not experienced on orbit. This research explores the process of redesigning, testing, and …

Meeting The Dod’S Tactical Weather Needs Using Cubesats, Shayna K. Mckenney

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates a CubeSat design that uses Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components to capture, store, process, and downlink collected terrestrial weather data at resolutions near stat-of-the-art. The weather phenomena to be detected and transmitted in a timely manner are cloud formations, wind profiles, ocean currents, sea state, lightning, temperature profiles, and precipitation. It is hypothesized and shown that the proposed design will provide an improvement on the current U.S. tactical weather collection satellites because of the anticipated increased reliability and lowered cost to build and maintain the proposed CubeSat constellation. The methodology employed a multi-phase approach through the collective research of …

Design, Manufacturing, And Testing Of A Small Through-Flow Wave For Use Within The Brayton Cycle, Micahel J. Mcclearn

Theses and Dissertations

With the ever growing popularity of drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles for military, commercial, and private usage, there is a desire to improve performance in terms of range, altitude, and flight speed. Current technology uses either electric motors or internal combustion engines: both piston and jet engine types. These sorts of engines undergo significant efficiency degradation as their size decreases. While some efficiency may be recovered via intensive design studies, the cycles are approaching the limit to their operating physics. A possible solution to this is to change the operating physics to something more immune to scaling losses; a …

Design And Experimentation Of A Premixed Rotating Detonation Engine, Ionio Q. Andrus

Theses and Dissertations

Desire for a more efficient air breathing engine has shifted research attention to the Rotating Detonation Engine (RDE). Detonation is a more efficient combustion process than deflagration and provides a pressure gain. The RDE detonation cycle occurs in a compact volume to produce a high specific impulse engine. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) models have predicted higher specific impulse and detonation wave speeds than has been seen in experimental RDE. The CFD models frequently assume premixed reactants and ignore inlet geometries to facilitate rapid computation. An experimental premixed RDE was sought to test if the premixed assumption in CFD was the …

Hydrothermally Processed 1d Hydroxyapatite: Mechanism Of Formation And Biocompatibility Studies, Zoran Stojanović, Nenad Ignjatović, Victoria M. Wu, Vojca Žunič, Ljiljana Veselinović, Srečo D. Škapin, Miroslav Miljković, Vuk Uskoković, Dragab Uskoković

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Recent developments in bone tissue engineering have led to an increased interest in one-dimensional (1D) hydroxyapatite (HA) nano- and micro-structures such as wires, ribbons and tubes. They have been proposed for use as cell substrates, reinforcing phases in composites and carriers for biologically active substances. Here we demonstrate the synthesis of 1D HA structures using an optimized, urea-assisted, high-yield hydrothermal batch process. The one-pot process, yielding HA structures composed of bundles of ribbons and wires, was typified by the simultaneous occurrence of a multitude of intermediate reactions, failing to meet the uniformity criteria over particle morphology and size. To overcome …

Development, Manufacturing, And Supply Of Msd’S Ebola Vaccine, Jeffrey T. Blue

Vaccine Technology VI

Ebola was first discovered in 1976 and is a member of the filoviridae family of viruses. There are multiple strains of Ebola and infection can lead to hemorrhagic fever and death. In March 2014, a historic Ebola outbreak occurred in three Western African countries, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Over 28,000 cases were reported and led to more than 11,000 deaths, more than ten times the amount of cases compared to all past outbreaks combined. On August 8^th 2014, the World Health Organization declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) partnering with …

Improving Global Human Health Through Norovirus Virus-Like Particle Manufacturing, Scot Shepard

Vaccine Technology VI

Norovirus infection is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in the U.S., estimated to afflict 21 million people per year. For scale-up manufacturing of a norovirus vaccine candidate, the baculovirus expression system has been used in 1000 L working volume stirred-tank bioreactors for production of two distinct norovirus virus-like particles (VLP). Downstream processing using methods for enveloped virus inactivation and a series of orthogonal chromatography steps results in norovirus VLP that contain low residual levels of host-cell protein, host cell and baculovirus DNA, and are free of replicating baculovirus. Emphasis has been placed on employing single-use technologies including disposable …

Session V: Getting Vaccines To The Market: Case Studies, Rebecca Sheets, Grimalkin Partners, Danilo Casimiro

Vaccine Technology VI

This is a presentation of Session V.

(No Abstract)

Determining Whether Adsorption State Is A Critical Attribute In Aluminum Adjuvanted Vaccines, Garry Morefield

Vaccine Technology VI

Aluminum based adjuvants have a long history of safe and effective use in vaccine products. When developing vaccine formulations incorporating aluminum adjuvants it is important to understand whether adsorption state is a critical attribute of the vaccine. Investigations initiate with obtaining an understanding of how the antigen of interest interacts with aluminum adjuvant surfaces. The balance of attractive versus repulsive interaction forces (including electrostatic, ligand exchange, and hydrophobic interactions) determines the resulting adsorption state of the antigen. Once the interaction of aluminum adjuvant and antigen is understood, formulations can be prepared along the spectrum of aluminum adjuvant surfaces to obtain …

Seismic Response Of An Arch-Beam Interacting With Sequential Moving Train Loads, Jong-Dar Yau, Ladislav Frýba, Shota Urushadze

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Considering the axial-flexural coupling nature of an arch bridge subjected to seismic wave, this paper is aimed at investigation of dynamic response for a train moving over a railway arch-bridge shaken by horizontal ground motions. For analytical formulation, the arch bridge is idealized as a flat-rise parabolic arch with constant sectional properties uniformly distributed along the horizontal span and the train moving over it as a sequence of identical sprung mass units with constant intervals. To perform dynamic analysis of vehicle-bridge system shaken by horizontal earthquakes, an incremental-iterative procedure is proposed in this study. From numerical results, the multiple support …

Influence Of Shot-Peening-Induced Residual Stresses On Post-Necking Behavior Of Tempered Ultrahigh-Strength Low Alloy 300m Steel, Shing-Hoa Wang, Yi-Ming Jen, Yu-Cyuan Lin, Bee-Fong Wu, Hsiu-Chuan Hsu, Ji-Jung Yeh

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The effect of the tempering temperature and shot peening time on the uniaxial post-necking behavior of 300M steel (silicon-modified AISI 4340 steel) was experimentally investigated in this study. Normalized specimens were divided into two groups: one tempered at 280C and the other tempered at 302C. The specimens were shot-peened for various durations to study the effect of the shot peening time on their mechanical properties. Experimental results showed that the shot-peeninginduced compressive residual stress in the specimens tempered at 302C was greater than that in the specimens tempered at 280C, and the optimum compressive residual stress was obtained by shot …

Effect Of Lorentz Force On Hydrogen Production In Water Electrolysis Employing Multielectrodes, Ming-Yuan Lin, Wen-Nong Hsu, Lih-Wu Hourng, Teng-Shih Shih, Chien-Ming Hung

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The aim of this study was to investigate high-efficiency hydrogen production through water electrolysis by using multiple electrodes; the investigated approach can be applied in industry. In this study, three groups of parallel electrodes were used to conduct experiments and research related to water electrolysis parameters. During electrolysis, we introduced Lorentz forces to an electrolytic cell to determine whether the multielectrode mode is identical to the single-electrode mode regarding increases in hydrogen production. The results showed that a multielectrode group instantly increased gas production. In addition, introducing an external upward magnetic field into an electrolytic cell increased gas production at …

The Development Of New Type Free-Fall Lifeboat Using Fluid Structure Interaction Analysis, Ahmad Fauzan Zakki, Aulia Windyandari, Dong Myung Bae

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Freefall lifeboats provide a safe alternative to conventional lifeboats for emergency evacuation from ships and offshore platforms. The international regulations require that a lifeboat for free-fall launching should be able to give protection against impact accelerations when it is launched with its full occupants and equipment from at least the maximum designed height. Since the height of offshore structure to the water surface is significantly high, during the water entry phase the acceleration response of the free-fall lifeboat might cause an injury to the occupants. The special hull form design should be applied to reduce the acceleration. The aim of …

Passive Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cell (Purefc) For Energy Storage Applications, Sandeep Lele

Mechanical Engineering Master's Theses

Passive Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cell (PUReFC) prototypes were designed, fabricated, and tested as new energy storage devices capable of meeting demands in offgrid applications. Although flooded lead-acid batteries are typically used to provide low cost energy storage, improper disposal infrastructure and lack of education on battery maintenance can lead to serious health concerns. A Passive Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cell can generate energy in a sustainable manner and possesses the ability to run in reverse, providing energy storage capability.

As Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells rely on effective internal water transport to provide stable operation, an energy efficient flood mitigation …

Model For Assessing The Functionality Of Soil And Water Conservation Facilities, Nai-Hsin Pan, Kuei-Yen Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Most soil and water conservation facilities are located in remote areas, posing measurement difficulties for precision instruments. Therefore, visual inspection, which is advantageous because of its high speed, is the primary assessment method for such facilities. However, the degree of infrastructural damage subjectively assessed by various inspectors may vary. Therefore, to overcome the problem induced by inspectors’ subjectivity in assessing facilities, this study adopted the concept of fuzzy set theory to establish a soil and water conservation facility assessment model that can define the membership functions of specific semantic ranges. This study applied semantics to infer current facility conditions, which …

Optimization Of Large-Scale Economic Dispatch With Valve-Point Effects Using A Modified Hybrid Pso-Dsm Approach, Chun-Lung Chen, Yu-Liang Lin, Yen-Chang Feng

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper proposes a modified hybrid particle swarm optimization (PSO) and the direct search method (DSM) for the solution of large-scale non-convex economic dispatch (NED) problem with valve-point effects. A novel diversity based particle swarm optimization (DPSO) with a fewer iterations required is developed to increase the possibility of generating high quality initial solutions for the DSM. The enhanced direct search method (EDSM) incorporates the parallel nature of evaluation programming into the direct search procedure to enhance its search capacity about global exploration and local optimization using the answer from DPSO as starting points. Many inequality and equality constraints can …

Robust Stabilization Of Uncertain Switched Nonlinear Systems With Two Modes, Jian-Qiang Wang, Chee-Fai Yung

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this note, based on a control Lyapunov function approach, an integrated design of switching laws and feedback controllers for uncertain switched nonlinear control systems with two modes is discussed. A sufficient condition for the existence of globally asymptotically stabilizing state feedback laws (switching laws+ controllers) is derived. Moreover, an explicit rule for constructing switching laws and an explicit formula for synthesizing feedback controllers are presented. An illustrative example is given for verifying the benefit of our approach.

Soft Computing Technologies In Design Of Fuzzy Controller For Active Vibration Isolation Systems, Inn-Tong Chiu, Chih-Chung Fang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In the paper, we develop a two-phase design approach for a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) of an active vibration isolation system, which adopts two components of soft computing techniques, namely fuzzy logic control theory and neural networks. First, we design a fuzzy logic controller for an active vibration isolation system using fuzzy logic control theory. We conduct numerical simulations of an active vibration isolation system with three kinds of exciting loads. The results indicate that the performance of the fuzzy logic controller is very good, but its control rule surface does not measure up in practical terms. Secondly in the …

The Composite Design Of H?^?-Erl Sliding-Mode Controller, Shun-Min Wang, Zhi-Hao Chen, Cheng-Neng Hwang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In a multi-input multi-output nonlinear system, because the system is subjected to the impacts of external disturbances and parametric uncertainties, its output response may not be able to satisfy the desired specification or even may make the system unstable. The H-ERL sliding mode controller proposed in this paper is motivated to solve these problems. This controller utilizes the concept of sliding mode controller with ERL (Exponential Reaching Law) as its major framework, and then uses Lyapunov stability theorem to ensure the closedloop stability when the system encounters prescribed external disturbances and parametric uncertainties. For the optimal selection of the adjustable …

Applications Of Datum Marker Buoy Data To Search And Rescue Of Persons In Water, Chou-Tien Yao, Chen-Han Tsai, Hsiang-Hang Hsu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The seas around Taiwan have been ranked as posing a moderate risk to ocean-going activities because of heavy ocean traffic and severe weather conditions such as typhoons and monsoons. Taiwan’s Coast Guard responds to approximately 500 calls each year, and over 50% of its search and rescue missions involve persons in water (PIW). The drift of PIW at sea without propulsion is affected by ocean currents, wind, and wave actions. Therefore, having timely, reliable, and accurate environmental information, particularly regarding surface currents, is important to locate a drifting target. We examined the surface current data collected by Taiwan Coast Guard’s …

Investigating Microstructures And High Temperature Superplasticity Behavior Of Mg-5(Mass%) Sn Alloy By Using Equal Channel Angular Extrusion, Hao-Jan Tsai, Chin-Guo Kuo, Chuen-Guang Chao, Tzeng-Feng Liu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this study, we investigated the microstructures and high temperature plasticity behaviour of an Mg-5(mass%) Sn alloy after equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE). These results show that the grain boundary of the as-cast Mg-5(mass%) Sn alloy contained continuous eutectic ɑ-Mg+Mg2Sn precipitates. After an ECAE process, the average grain size decreased from 147 μm to about 10 μm and the continuous eutectic ɑ-Mg+ Mg2Sn particles were broken down, and those particles distributed uniformly. The maximum elongation was 550 % at high temperature 350C with strain rate of 1x10-3 s-1.

Slope Stability Analysis Of Transient Seepage Under Extreme Climates: Case Study Of Typhoon Nari In 2001, Chia-Feng Hsu, Lien-Kwei Chien

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The effects of climate change, the inherent fragility of geological structures in Taiwan, and questionable developmental practices have led to the occurrence of numerous slope disasters, most of which were triggered by the extreme rainfall associated with typhoons. Therefore, this study collected rainfall data associated with typhoons striking northern Taiwan over the last 17 years, as a follow up to estimating database of extreme rainfall events. Most previous investigations regarding the impact of storms on slope stability focused on solutions with conditions, such as static groundwater levels or steady pore pressure. Previous studies have used software STABL to analyze slope …

Labview-Based Remote Real-Time Evaluation System For Motor Winding Machines, Jia-Sheng Hu, Chien-Chu Yeh, Ke-Han Su, Chao-Jen Chen, Ming-Yang Cheng

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper proposes the design and evaluation methodologies for a remote human-machine interface (HMI) system for motor winding machines. An electric motor with an interior rotor evaluates the system performance. The motor winding machine has a 3 degree-of-freedom motion space controlled by a motion control kernel: IMP-2. Real-time data of the motor winding status is crucial for ensuring quality and reliability and detecting malfunction, which facilitates the development and control of mass production of electric motors. Hence, a realtime monitoring interface is essential. This paper presents a LabVIEW-based HMI, which transfers the winding statuses of a winding machine to remote …