Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

An Improved Earned Value Management Method Integrating Quality And Safety, Brian Briggs

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The construction industry invests significant time and money to improve quality and safety while reducing cost and schedule impacts. The industry has a sincere desire to improve construction project management methods to improve efficiency. Historically, quality and safety underperformances result from undermanaged quality control and safety activities. The cost and schedule impacts associated with poor quality work have always had an impact on construction operations. The unprecedented challenges and uncertainties of COVID-19 highlighted the need to improve the Earned Value Management (EVM) method within construction to reflect these quality and safety activities. The central goal of this dissertation is to …

Study Of Friction And Wear Effects In Aluminum Parts Manufactured Via Single Point Incremental Forming Process Using Petroleum And Vegetable Oil-Based Lubricants, Jose M. Diabb Zavala, Oscar Martinez-Romero, Alex Elias-Zuniga, Hector Manuel Leija Gutierrez, Alejandro Estrada-De La Vega, Jaime Taha-Tijerina

Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper focuses on studying how mineral oil, sunflower, soybean, and corn lubricants influence friction and wear effects during the manufacturing of aluminum parts via the single point incremental forming (SPIF) process. To identify how friction, surface roughness, and wear change during the SPIF of aluminum parts, Stribeck curves were plotted as a function of the SPIF process parameters such as vertical step size, wall angle, and tool tip semi-spherical diameter. Furthermore, lubricant effects on the surface of the formed parts are examined by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images, the Alicona optical 3D measurement system, …

Mitigating Insider Threat Risks In Cyber-Physical Manufacturing Systems, Jinwoo Song

Dissertations - ALL

Cyber-Physical Manufacturing System (CPMS)—a next generation manufacturing system—seamlessly integrates digital and physical domains via the internet or computer networks. It will enable drastic improvements in production flexibility, capacity, and cost-efficiency. However, enlarged connectivity and accessibility from the integration can yield unintended security concerns. The major concern arises from cyber-physical attacks, which can cause damages to the physical domain while attacks originate in the digital domain. Especially, such attacks can be performed by insiders easily but in a more critical manner: Insider Threats.

Insiders can be defined as anyone who is or has been affiliated with a system. Insiders have knowledge …

Thermal And Mechanical Analysis Of Bombyx Mori Silk Nanofibers, Justin Busnot

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis presents a study on the thermomechanical properties of Bombyx Mori silk nanofibers. These nanofibers were obtained from silkworm cocoons which were degummed to separate the fibroin and the sericin, the two proteins that make up silk. The fibroin was then centrifuged to remove insoluble particles and stored and 4°C before the electrospinning process. A parametric study of the electrospinning process was carried out in order to identify the factors allowing to obtain optimal mechanical properties. The current as well as the flow rate applied, the diameter of the syringe, the distance separating the syringe from collector or even …

An Economical Method For Securely Disintegrating Solid-State Drives Using Blenders, Brandon J. Hopkins Phd, Kevin A. Riggle

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Pulverizing solid-state drives (SSDs) down to particles no larger than 2 mm is required by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) to ensure the highest level of data security, but commercial disintegrators that achieve this standard are large, heavy, costly, and often difficult to access globally. Here, we present a portable, inexpensive, and accessible method of pulverizing SSDs using a household blender and other readily available materials. We verify this approach by pulverizing SSDs with a variety of household blenders for fixed periods of time and sieve the resulting powder to ensure appropriate particle size. Among the 6 household …

Early-Stage Gas Identification Using Convolutional Long Short-Term Neural Network With Sensor Array Time Series Data, Kai Zhou, Yixin Liu

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Gas identification/classification through pattern recognition techniques based on gas sensor arrays often requires the equilibrium responses or the full traces of time-series data of the sensor array. Leveraging upon the diverse gas sensing kinetics behaviors measured via the sensor array, a computational intelligence-based meta-model is proposed to automatically conduct the feature extraction and subsequent gas identification using time-series data during the transitional phase before reaching equilibrium. The time-series data contains implicit temporal dependency/correlation that is worth being characterized to enhance the gas identification performance and reliability. In this context, a tailored approach so-called convolutional long short-term memory (CLSTM) neural network …

Use Of Machine Learning For Automated Convergence Of Numerical Iterative Schemes, Leonardo A. Bueno-Benitez

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Convergence of a numerical solution scheme occurs when a sequence of increasingly refined iterative solutions approaches a value consistent with the modeled phenomenon. Approximations using iterative schemes need to satisfy convergence criteria, such as reaching a specific error tolerance or number of iterations. The schemes often bypass the criteria or prematurely converge because of oscillations that may be inherent to the solution. Using a Support Vector Machines (SVM) machine learning approach, an algorithm is designed to use the source data to train a model to predict convergence in the solution process and stop unnecessary iterations. The discretization of the Navier …

Fixed Bottom Wind Turbine Wave-Wake Interaction, Ondrej Fercak

Dissertations and Theses

The interest and benefits of offshore wind energy has also brought along legitimate design challenges for engineers. Most notably, the complex interaction between wind and turbine is further complicated by the addition of dynamic ocean waves. This dynamic coupling between wind, wave, and turbine is not fully understood. Even small improvements in wind turbine performance are welcome, so characterizing a fundamental dynamic in offshore energy is necessary to optimize design. Experimentation and simulation have been used to characterize inflow and turbine wakes and separately, wind-wave interactions. But only simulations have just begun to look at the wind, wave, and turbine …

In-Vitro And In-Silico Investigations Of Alternative Surgical Techniques For Single Ventricular Disease, Arka Das

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Single ventricle (SV) anomalies account for one-fourth of all cases of congenital Heart disease. The conventional second and third stage i.e. Comprehensive stage II and Fontan procedure of the existing three-staged surgical approach serving as a palliative treatment for this anomaly, entails multiple complications and achieves a survival rate of 50%. Hence, to reduce the morbidity and mortality rate associated with the second and third stages of the existing palliative procedure, the novel alternative techniques called “Hybrid Comprehensive Stage II” (HCSII), and a “Self-powered Fontan circulation” have been proposed. The goal of this research is to conduct in-vitro investigations to …

Dynamic Hvac Energy Management Using Commercial Building Occupancy Metrics & Neural Networks, Krishna Chaitanya Jagadeesh Simma

Civil Engineering ETDs

With the rise of technology use in buildings, it is now possible to collect data that can be used to improve building energy consumption. One factor that has significant impact on building energy consumption is occupancy. Recent studies have shown promising results in obtaining occupancy information from existing infrastructure such as WiFi router networks. However, these existing frameworks require additional investments through software upgrades, added infrastructure, computational resources, and may raise occupant privacy concerns. Additionally, with occupant thermal comfort statistics being lower than ASHAREA specified standards, a novel approach for indoor climate control is needed. To address the limitations in …

Liner Sailing Speed Optimization Considering Wind And Waves, Zhaokun Wei, Xinlian Xie, Tiantian Bao

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper proposes a new sailing speed optimization problem considering sea conditions such as wind and waves for a container shipping company. Since wind and waves, as exterior factors, can reduce speed, more power is employed as compensation to maintain regular service frequency and avoid delay, resulting in additional bunker consumption and higher cost. Hence, it is necessary to optimize the sailing speed according to the wind and waves. A power model was built to determine the reduced speed caused by the wind and waves for quantifying the speed reduction. On the basis of the proposed model, we developed a …

A Bilevel Mathematical Approach For The Empty Container Repositioning Proble With A Sharing And Exchanging Strategy In Liner Shipping, Dung-Ying Lin, Chieh-Ju Juan

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In the maritime industry, the management of empty containers is a significant issue whose costs account for a large proportion of the total world fleet running costs. To reduce repositioning activities and increase cost effectiveness, this paper proposes a solution framework considering empty container sharing and exchanging strategies to coordinate the shipping lines in a maritime transportation network. The proposed solution framework considers an empty container matching platform company and a group of shipping lines in a given shipping network. Because of the interactive relationship between the two parties, the proposed problem is formulated as a bilevel programming problem, and …

Investigating Model Solution Correctness For Parameter Uncertainty In Both Objective Function And Constraints, Shangyao Yan, Sin-Siang Wang, Chun-Yi Wang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

To resolve engineering management problems encountered in the real world, optimization models are usually formulated with some parameter assumptions. Parameter uncertainty, which may arise due to changes in the environment or human error, may thus be incorporated into the objective function and the constraints. However, to simplify the modeling, the values of these parameters are usually set or projected as deterministic values. It is no wonder that the modelling results based on these inaccurate parameters are neither correct nor reliable. Thus, it is important to examine the correctness of the model results in relation to parameter uncertainty. This study aims …

Modular Design And Implementation Of An Automatic Power Factor Regulator For Energy Savings On Fishing Vessels, Chien-Hsing Lee, Shih-Hsien Hsu, Joe-Air Jiang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study describes the experiences of modular design and implementation of an automatic power factor regulator for improving energy efficiency on Taiwanese longline fishing vessels. The load capacities of such vessels are typically divided into three categories, depending on the gross tonnage or fish carrying capacity: less than 100 kW, from 100 kW to less than 250 kW, and larger than 250 kW. For attaining proper power factor improvement, a compensation unit with a total of 30 kVar, 60 kVar and 90 kVar was sized and assembled with capacitors of 10, 15 and 20 kVar to enable control within 12 …

Key Risk Factors Influencing Harbor Tugboat Operations For Kaohsiung Port, Wen-Jui Tseng, Ji-Feng Ding, Chia-Ming Liu, Liou-Yuan Li

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The harbor tugboat operation is a very important business and process of Kaohsiung port. To ensure the safety of harbor tugboat operations and to reduce the occurrence of accidents, it is an important issue to conduct a risk assessment of tugboat operations for Kaohsiung port. Hence, the main purpose of this paper is employ the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method to evaluate key risk factors influencing the harbor tugboat operations for Kaohsiung port. At first, a total of three evalu-ation dimensions with 14 preliminary risk factors are gener-ated from literature and interviews of tugboat captains. We then applied the steps …

Free Vibration Analysis Of A Free-Free Single-Tapered Beam Carrying Arbitrary Concentrated Elements Using Modified Mode-Superposition Method (Mmsm), Chia-Chin Wu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The literature contains scant information on the free vibration analyses of the loaded single-tapered beams (STBs) (i.e., STBs carrying concentrated elements (CEs)) Furthermore, even when such studies have been performed, they generally only consider the case of constrained (e.g., free-clamped (F-C)) beams. In other words, the problem of unconstrained (e.g., free-free (F-F)) loaded STBs has not yet to be addressed. Thus, the present study employs the modified mode-superposition method (MMSM) to investigate the free vibration characteristics of the F-F loaded STB carrying arbitrary various CEs. The investigation focuses particularly on the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the rigid-body motions …

Optimum Design Of The Underwater Discharge System Based On Surrogate Modeling, Jisang Ha, Myung-Il Roh, Seung-Ho Ham, Sung-Jun Lee

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Underwater vehicles are equipped with a device for discharging projectiles, called the underwater discharge system. Because these vehicles have limited space, many studies have attempted to reduce the volume of the underwater discharge system while improving its performance. However, owing to the characteristics of the system, the occupied volume and performance conflict with each other. Therefore, minimizing the occupied volume while satisfying the required performance criteria is the most significant requirement in the design stage. To address this, an optimization problem for the underwater discharge system was mathematically formulated and solved using multi-objective genetic algorithms. Additionally, we proposed a method …

An Analysis Of Key Influencing Factors On Island Tourism Revisit Intentions – Evidence From The Matsu Islands, Chun-Chieh Wang, Hsiao-Chuan Liu, Hsuan-Shih Lee, Cheng-Chi Chung

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Sightseeing and tourism not only brings economic benefits to the local community but also drive the development of related industries. In 1992, when the Matsu’s battlefield mission was dissolved, tourism became one of the key development strategies to boom the region. Although the number of visitors to Matsu Islands has risen significantly in recent years, how to increase the island’s willingness to revisit the island has been an important issue. Since local tourism has its own characteristics, island tourism marketing strategies should be different. Many previous studies have quantified the relationship between tourism area satisfaction and willingness to revisit, but …

3d Numerical Simulation Of Kuroshio-Induced Wake Near Green Island, Taiwan, Tien-Hung Hou, Jen-Yi Chang, Chia-Cheng Tsai, Tai-Wen Hsu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this research, Kuroshio-induced vortex shedding in the lee of Green Island was numerically studied using the three-dimensional Princeton Ocean Model. The temporal and spatial characteristics of the vortex street were analyzed at different tidal levels, wind fields and water depths. The nu-merical results were validated by comparing with in-situ measurements from the Green Island tidal station, shipboard acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP), conductivi-ty-temperature-depth (CTD) profiler, and moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite image datasets. Also, the three-dimensional results of velocity, temperature, and salinity fields were compared well with observational data. Furthermore, the influence depths of the wind effect and …

Intelligent Fuzzy Control With State-Derivative Feedback For Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Stochastic Singular Systems, Wen-Jer Chang, Kuang-Yow Lian, Cheung-Chieh Ku, Che-Lun Su

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This document deals with the problem of passive fuzzy controller design with the state-derivative feedback approach for the nonlinear stochastic singular systems. Recently, the singular systems have a greater focus on literature because they can keep more physical system characteristics than conventional systems. At first, the Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy stochastic singular models are used to represent the nonlinear stochastic singular systems. Then, the state-derivative feedback approach and parallel distributed compensation method are employed to design the passive fuzzy controllers. In the design process, the Lyapunov stability conditions are developed subject to multiple performance constraints, including the passivity constraint and decay rate …

Sea Ice Warning Visualization And Path Planning For Ice Navigation Based On Radar Image Recognition, Tsung-Hsuan Hsieh, Shengzheng Wang, Huijia Gong, Wei Liu, Ning Xu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Ice navigation is currently one of the important issues in path planning studies. Most studies are using sea ice models or ice charts for large-scale path planning, but the weather and ice conditions in the polar waters usually change quickly and are not easy to predict. Under these conditions, small-scale path planning that can be adjusted in time for sea ice collision avoidance is needed. This study uses marine radar imaging to reconstruct the ice navigation scene, and establishes a visual-ization function of sea ice warning on the radar image. We combine the bidirectional rapidly-exploring random tree (B-RRT) algorithm and …

Enhancing Marine Administrative Management Based On Human Factor Through Safety Criteria, Wen-Cheng Lin, Hsin-Hung Cheng

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study aims to improve maritime safety by enhancing administrative management based on human factors. This study used Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to analyze the risks and threats regarding safety maritime criteria. Establishing administrative reform is given the highest priority. First, the current model for crew training system is explored. Second, the marine surveyor is examined to determine if it is professional enough for inspection work. Third, the investigation system used by maritime safety investigators should be inspected. The suggestions mentioned expect to establish a maritime administrative reform that could pave the way for the application of maritime safety around …

Experimental Study On Treatment Of Ballast Water By Inert Flue Gas Deoxidation, Guozhi Bao, Peng Yang, Rui Da, Junxia Li, Guanghui Zhao, Ning Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this paper, the antimicrobial effect of inert flue gas on indicator microorganisms in ballast water was investigated based on a 265h test. The inert flue gas consists of nitrogen (N2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) the microorganisms include Chlorella and Escherichia coli. Within the scope of the test, the killing effect of the microbes treated by combining N2 and CO2 was higher than that of using only either N2 or CO2. When the dissolved oxygen concentration in the ballast water was 0.5 mg/L and the pH value was 6, the killing effect was the highest. At this time, the mortality …

Mechanical Properties And Microstructure Characteristics Of Alloy Parts Produced By Laser Powder Bed Fusion (Lpbf) Method, Hong Yao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a rapid prototyping technology to produce fully functional and complex designing objects. As one of the AM methods, Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) has gained the most attention from both academic researchers and industrial companies. During the LPBF process, metal powders are applied layer by layer, which can be 20 microns to 50 microns in thickness. After a layer is prepared, a high-power laser, which is commonly controlled by a scanning head, is used to selectively melt the interested area of a 2D geometry which is designed in a computer aided designing software. LPBF method can …

Performance Evaluation Of Gas Lift Valves Using Numerical Simulation, Felipe Simoes Maciel

LSU Master's Theses

This work aimed to assess the performance of two numerical simulation methods to replicate flow capacity test (FCT) results and predict the flow coefficient (Cv) and critical pressure ratio (Rcp) of gas lift valves (GLVs). FCT's use a modified GLV with an adjustable stem positioning system to obtain pressure as a function of flow rate for different stem positions to calculate Cv and Rcp. Therefore, this study used both a one-dimensional (1D) mechanistic model and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to predict the same variable from the FCT without tests using modified GLVs. This methodology demonstrates accurate results, which were compared …

Mathematical Model Of Power Flow In A Single-Phase Network Using Facts Devices Containing Static Power Flow Compensator Svc, Sh V. Khamidov, Bahrom Normuratov

Scientific-technical journal

The use of FACTS technology makes it possible to reduce the gap between controlled and uncontrolled modes of EPS operation, providing dispatching personnel with additional degrees of freedom in controlling power flows and voltages in excess and deficient areas of the electrical network. The unified approach used as an alternative combines the state variables of the EPS without controlled power equipment and the state variables describing the given controlled power equipment - the FACTS device - into a single set of states. In this case, the electrical network is described in a single coordinate system for the combined iterative solutions …

Optimization Of Load-Bearing And Impact Energy Absorption Capacities Of Honeycomb Structures By Density Gradation, Oyindamola Khadijat Rahman

Theses and Dissertations

Density gradation has been analytically and experimentally proven to enhance the load-bearing and energy absorption efficiency of cellular solids. This research focuses on the analytical optimization (by virtual experiments) of polymeric honeycomb structures made from flexible thermoplastics to achieve density-graded structures with desired mechanical properties. The global stress-strain curves of single-density honeycomb structures are used as input to an analytical model that enables the characterization of the constitutive response of density-graded hexagonal honeycombs with discrete and continuous gradations and for various gradients. The stress-strain outputs are used to calculate the specific energy absorption, efficiency, and ideality metrics for all density-graded …

A Simple Gas-Kinetic Model For Dilute And Weakly Charged Plasma Micro-Jet Flows, Shiying Cai, Chunpei Cai

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

This paper presents a simple model for slightly charged gas expanding into a vacuum from a planar exit. The number density, bulk velocity, temperature, and potential at the exit are given. The electric field force is assumed weaker than the convection term and is neglected in the analysis. As such, the quasi-neutral condition is naturally adopted and the potential field is computed with the Boltzmann relation. At far field, the exit degenerates as a point source, and simplified analytical formulas for flow and electric fields are obtained. The results are generic and offer insights on many existing models in the …

Robotic Surgical Devices , Systems , And Related Methods, Shane Farritor, Erik Mumm, Philip Chu, Nishant Kumar, Jason Dumpert, Yutaka Tsutano

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The embodiments disclosed herein relate to various medical device components, including components that can be incorporated into robotic and / or in vivo medical devices. Certain embodiments include various modular medical devices for in vivo medical procedures.

Airborne Counter-Uncrewed Systems With Runtime Assurance Control, Isaac J. Seslar

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

This thesis develops a response to the increase in the availability of the commercially available uncrewed aerial systems and is dedicated to the detection, classification, and tracking required to successfully neutralize when determined malicious. A requirement of actively avoiding obstacles using runtime assurance is addressed and designed to keep the hardware safe in potentially dangerous situations. This work will elaborate on the several components the test bed is comprised of, specifically the hardware and software portions that successfully solve the problem. The software encompasses the simulation, the multiple algorithms required for the tracking, and the machine learning required for detection …