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Air Force Institute of Technology

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Articles 1 - 16 of 16

Full-Text Articles in Other Civil and Environmental Engineering

Human Microbiome Transfer In The Built Environment Differs Based On Occupants, Objects, And Buildings, Andrew J. Hoisington, Christopher E. Stamper, Katherine L. Bates, Maggie A. Stanislawski, Michael C. Flux, Teodor T. Postolache, Christopher A. Lowry, Lisa A. Brenner Apr 2023

Human Microbiome Transfer In The Built Environment Differs Based On Occupants, Objects, And Buildings, Andrew J. Hoisington, Christopher E. Stamper, Katherine L. Bates, Maggie A. Stanislawski, Michael C. Flux, Teodor T. Postolache, Christopher A. Lowry, Lisa A. Brenner

Faculty Publications

Compared to microbiomes on other skin sites, the bacterial microbiome of the human hand has been found to have greater variability across time. To increase understanding regarding the longitudinal transfer of the hand microbiome to objects in the built environment, and vice versa, 22 participants provided skin microbiome samples from their dominant hands, as well as from frequently and infrequently touched objects in their office environments. Additional longitudinal samples from home environments were obtained from a subset of 11 participants. We observed stability of the microbiomes of both the hand and built environments within the office and home settings; however, …

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Project Selection In Facility And Infrastructure Maintenance Organizations, Bayram M. Kurbanov Dec 2022

Project Selection In Facility And Infrastructure Maintenance Organizations, Bayram M. Kurbanov

Theses and Dissertations

The current Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC) built infrastructure Facility Sustainment Restoration and Modernization (FSRM) portfolio management methodology results in an unbalanced project portfolio. The consequence of this unbalance is that majority of the funding goes towards buildings on the flightline and Facility Support Services activities do not get adequate funding which leads to further deterioration of those facilities. This research investigates whether decision support framework based on Value-Focused Thinking (VFT) process yields better project selection outcomes for facility and infrastructure maintenance organizations. To accomplish that, the investigation focuses on understanding current AFCEC decision support methodology, building an alternative …

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The Application Of Virtual Reality In Firefighting Training, Dylan A. Gagnon Mar 2022

The Application Of Virtual Reality In Firefighting Training, Dylan A. Gagnon

Theses and Dissertations

Immersive simulations such as virtual reality is becoming more prevalent for use in training environments for many professions. United States Air Force firefighters may benefit from incorporating VR technology into their training program to increase organizational commitment, job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and job performance. With implementing a new training platform, it is also important to understand the relationship between these variables and the perceived benefits and efficacy of the VR training, which has not yet been studied in previous research. This study addresses this issue by gathering data from fire departments currently fielding a VR fire training platform.

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A Thematic And Reference Analysis Of Touchless Technologies, Eric R. Curia Mar 2022

A Thematic And Reference Analysis Of Touchless Technologies, Eric R. Curia

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to explore the utility and current state of touchless technologies. Five categories of technologies are identified as a result of collecting and reviewing literature: facial/biometric recognition, gesture recognition, touchless sensing, personal devices, and voice recognition. A thematic analysis was conducted to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the five categories. A reference analysis was also conducted to determine the similarities between articles in each category. Touchless sensing showed to have the most advantages and least similar references. Gesture recognition was the opposite. Comparing analyses shows more reliable technology types are more beneficial and diverse.

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Using Wind And Hydro Power To Sustain The Off-Grid Power Supply For A 50' Cruising Sailboat, Keisha Meyer, Torrey J. Wagner, Jada Williams May 2019

Using Wind And Hydro Power To Sustain The Off-Grid Power Supply For A 50' Cruising Sailboat, Keisha Meyer, Torrey J. Wagner, Jada Williams

Faculty Publications

Cruising sailboats operate with a power requirement modest enough to operate mostly or completely on renewable energy technology sources. Cruisers without renewable energy systems use the vessel’s diesel engine to charge the boat’s batteries; if the systems are operated at anchor, this dramatically decreases the time before the engine needs major overhaul. System users estimate a diesel engine can run approximately 8,000 hours underway before needing major overhaul, whereas operating 500 hours at anchor produces similar wear and tear on engine pistons. Although renewable energy systems have a high initial capital cost, these systems can provide the vessel’s electrical system …

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Austere Location Wind Turbine Energy System Analysis, Lukas Cowen, Douglas S. Dudis, Torrey J. Wagner Apr 2019

Austere Location Wind Turbine Energy System Analysis, Lukas Cowen, Douglas S. Dudis, Torrey J. Wagner

Faculty Publications

One promising technology to combat an energy shortage in austere locations is wind energy. In combination with battery storage and generator backup, we explore the feasibility of using a hybrid energy system to reduce the volume of diesel fuel required. Modeling the energy demands in austere locations will enable missions in remote settings to optimize their energy costs, increased their energy resiliency and assure their supply. For a modeled time-series energy requirement that varied between 2.4 MW and 5.1 MW, the optimal wind system size was 9.9 MW of installed wind power paired with a 741 kWh battery. Assuming an …

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Quantifying Resiliency Risk Metrics Through Facility Dispersion, Branden D. Delong Mar 2019

Quantifying Resiliency Risk Metrics Through Facility Dispersion, Branden D. Delong

Theses and Dissertations

During the last century, airbases were attacked at least 26 times in an effort to destroy the enemy at its base. Attacks on military airbases impose prohibitive losses to critical infrastructure, which in turn impacts the maintenance of air power projection. The primary enemy threat facing critical infrastructure today is the use of ballistic and land-attack cruise missiles to disrupt an airbase’s ability to launch and recover aircraft. Over the last decade, ballistic and cruise missile technology has grown to allow the world’s most powerful countries to achieve a nascent threat to forward operating bases used in theater security campaigns …

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Quantifying Permafrost Extent, Condition, And Degradation Rates At Department Of Defense Installations In The Arctic, Christopher A.J. Edlund Mar 2018

Quantifying Permafrost Extent, Condition, And Degradation Rates At Department Of Defense Installations In The Arctic, Christopher A.J. Edlund

Theses and Dissertations

The DoD is planning over $500M in military construction on Eielson Air Force Base (AFB) within the next three years. This construction program will expand the footprint of facilities and change parts of the storm water management scheme, which may have second order effects on the underlying permafrost layer. These changes in permafrost will drive engineering decision making at local and regional levels, and help shape the overall strategy for military readiness in the Arctic. Little site-specific knowledge exists on the human caused effects to permafrost at this location. In 2016, the permafrost degradation rates at Eielson AFB were modeled …

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Land Cover Influences On Airborne Noise Propagation At Usaf Installations, Ariel L. Waiters Mar 2018

Land Cover Influences On Airborne Noise Propagation At Usaf Installations, Ariel L. Waiters

Theses and Dissertations

Mitigation of aircraft noise and encroachment by residential areas at various U.S. military installations remains a challenge and hampers effective military operations. The Air Force has established standard practices that utilize computational noise models to generate and display noise propagation from military installations. Despite great advances in models and mitigation action plans, the current USAF Noisemap modeling tool and methods do not consider the effects of variation in land cover. Moreover, such limitations could greatly affect the accuracy of predicting aircraft noise pollution. The standard modeling method assumes a ground cover impedance of 225 Kpa*s/m2, which …

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Enhancing Virtual Team Dynamics, Freddie L. Stephens Ii Mar 2016

Enhancing Virtual Team Dynamics, Freddie L. Stephens Ii

Theses and Dissertations

With the activation of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center in 2012, the United States Air Force initiated an effort to centralize installation and mission support management throughout the Air Force, while decentralizing the execution at the base level. The measurement of success for such a decision extends beyond the reduction of overhead costs. The goal was to build a responsive, mission-focused organization. This research evaluated specific factors associated with the characteristics of virtual team dynamics to improve the perceived responsiveness of a centralized organization. Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory is a relationship-based approach to leadership that focuses on the quality …

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Modeling Napl Dissolution From Pendular Rings In Idealized Porous Media, Junqi Huang, John A. Christ, Mark N. Goltz, Avery H. Demond Oct 2015

Modeling Napl Dissolution From Pendular Rings In Idealized Porous Media, Junqi Huang, John A. Christ, Mark N. Goltz, Avery H. Demond

Faculty Publications

The dissolution rate of nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) often governs the remediation time frame at subsurface hazardous waste sites. Most formulations for estimating this rate are empirical and assume that the NAPL is the nonwetting fluid. However, field evidence suggests that some waste sites might be organic wet. Thus, formulations that assume the NAPL is nonwetting may be inappropriate for estimating the rates of NAPL dissolution. An exact solution to the Young‐Laplace equation, assuming NAPL resides as pendular rings around the contact points of porous media idealized as spherical particles in a hexagonal close packing arrangement, is presented in this …

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Detection And Characterization Of Malathion Adherence To Piping Materials Used In Water Distribution Systems, William D. Flemings Mar 2015

Detection And Characterization Of Malathion Adherence To Piping Materials Used In Water Distribution Systems, William D. Flemings

Theses and Dissertations

Protection of the public water supply is a national security priority, and as such, it is important to better understand the fate of a chemical weapons agent injection into a public water distribution system. This study investigated the adherence of malathion to pipe materials that are used in public water distribution systems, with malathion serving as a chemical representative of the organophosphorus nerve agent VX. Copper and iron specimen were exposed to malathion solutions for periods of 4, 8, and 24 hours and then tested for evidence of chemical adherence to the metal surfaces. Nonlinear desiccation profiles revealed total mass …

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Effect Of Malathion On The Microbial Ecology Of Activated Sludge, Seth K. Martin Mar 2015

Effect Of Malathion On The Microbial Ecology Of Activated Sludge, Seth K. Martin

Theses and Dissertations

Decontamination activities may cause the release of contaminated washwater into the wastewater that eventually flows into a wastewater treatment facility. This raises concerns about the effect of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) on the microbial consortia that are responsible for cleaning the wastewater. This study investigated the impact of malathion on the microbial ecology of laboratory scale activated sludge communities. The Simpson Reciprocal Index decreased for three bioreactors operated in the absence of malathion, which showed that the microbial assemblage became less diverse during the course of the study. The species identified in the bioreactors belonged to well-known groups of heterotrophic …

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Assessment Of Potential Carbon Dioxide-Based Demand Control Ventilation System Performance In Single Zone Systems, Joseph G. Pickenpaugh Mar 2013

Assessment Of Potential Carbon Dioxide-Based Demand Control Ventilation System Performance In Single Zone Systems, Joseph G. Pickenpaugh

Theses and Dissertations

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) use accounts for 43% of commercial energy consumption, with close to 5% used for ventilation purposes. Federal government agencies face both energy consumption reduction mandates and reduced funding. Carbon dioxide (CO2) based demand control ventilation (DCV) is a technology that allows for reduced energy consumption by allowing facility designers to introduce outside air based on facility occupancy, per American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards. This research aims to create a generalized methodology assessing energy and cost reductions from CO2-based DCV and then apply it to a specific facility at …

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Life-Cycle Cost Analysis For Radioactive Waste Remediation Alternatives, Thomas P. White, Ronald J. Toland, Dorian Y. Buitrago Mar 1995

Life-Cycle Cost Analysis For Radioactive Waste Remediation Alternatives, Thomas P. White, Ronald J. Toland, Dorian Y. Buitrago

Theses and Dissertations

This research has two primary objectives. The first is to develop a generic, interactive, spreadsheet-based life-cycle cost model that uses net present value and risk analysis techniques for cost comparison. The second is to apply the model specifically to the vitrification and cementation methods of waste remediation. By using spreadsheet analysis and graphics capabilities, the model will provide direct and objective comparisons of remediation alternatives. Since vitrification is a new technology, the plant design and operations are conceptual. Therefore, computer simulation and engineering judgement are integral to the vitrification LCC estimate.

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Measurement Of Air Force Fire Department Productivity: An Evaluation Of Efficiency/Effectiveness, Timothy A. Byers, Susanne M. Waylette Sep 1984

Measurement Of Air Force Fire Department Productivity: An Evaluation Of Efficiency/Effectiveness, Timothy A. Byers, Susanne M. Waylette

Theses and Dissertations

This research was sponsored to develop a method of evaluating the productivity of Air Force Fire Departments. Using the tasks developed by the Fire Department Workshop, input and output measures were defined and used in a new model of efficiency called Constrained Facet Analysis (CFA). The advantage of this methodology over others considered was that it can simultaneously evaluate multiple inputs and multiple outputs using empirical data with no a priori weighting. The results of the analysis provided an efficiency rating for each fire department and information about marginal rates of substitution and marginal rates of productivity for inefficient units …

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