A Computer Program for Optimal Control of Water Supply Pump Stations: Development and Testing

This report presents an optimal control methodology designed to reduce the electrical consumption and operating costs at Army water supply pumping stations. The methodology, contained in a computer program called Optimal Control of Pumping Stations (OCOPS), enables water utility managers and operators to reduce the electrical consumption at pumping stations while maintaining adequate storage and system pressures for fire protection. OCOPS can be applied to any water distribution system and is not limited to any number of pumps, pump stations, or storage tanks within the system. The optimal control strategy developed is based on electricity unit charges, but can be modified to include electrical demand charges. OCOPS was applied to the Fort Hood, TX water distribution system to demonstrate the effectiveness and capabilities of the model. OCOPS calculated optimal pumping costs nearly identical to actual costs (within 3 percent), indicating that Fort Hood is already operating at the optimal level

Automatic Target Recognition for Hyperspectral Imagery

Automatic target detection and recognition in hyperspectral imagery offer passive means to detect and identify anomalies based on their material composition. In many combat identification approaches through pattern recognition, a minimum level of confidence is expected with costs associated with labeling anomalies as targets, non-targets or out-of-library. This research approaches the problem by developing a baseline, autonomous four step automatic target recognition (ATR) process: 1) anomaly detection, 2) spectral matching, 3) out-of-library decision, and 4) non-declaration decision. Atmospheric compensation techniques are employed in the initial steps to compare truth library signatures and sensor processed signatures. ATR performance is assessed and additionally contrasted to two modified ATRs to study the effects of including steps three and four. Also explored is the impact on the ATR with two different anomaly detection methods

Ballistic Flash Characterization: Penetration and Back-face Flash

The Air Force is extremely concerned with the safety of its people, especially those who are flying aircraft. Aircrew members flying combat missions are concerned with the chance that a fragment from an exploding threat device may penetrate into the airframe to possibly ignite a fire onboard the aircraft. One concern for vulnerability revolves around a flash that may occur when a projectile strikes and penetrates an aircraft\u27s fuselage. When certain fired rounds strike the airframe, they break into fragments called spall. Spall and other fragmentation from an impact often gain enough thermal energy to oxidize the materials involved. This oxidation causes a flash. To help negate these incidents, analysts must be able to predict the flash that can occur when a projectile strikes an aircraft. This research directly continues AFIT work for the 46th Test Group, Survivability Analysis Flight, by examining models to predict the likelihood of penetration of a fragment fired at a target. Empirical live-fire fragment test data are used to create an empirical model of a flash event. The resulting model provides an initial back-face flash modeling capability that can be implemented in joint survivability analysis models

The Array Automated Assembly Task for the Low Cost Solar Array Project, Phase 2

During the program a process sequence was proposed and tested for the fabrication of dendritic welb silicon into solar modules. This sequence was analyzed as to yield and cost and these data suggest that the price goals of 1986 are attainable. Specifically, it was shown that a low cost POCL3 is a suitable replacement for the semiconductor grade, and that a suitable CVD oxide can be deposited from a silane/air mixture using a Silox reactor. A dip coating method was developed for depositing an antireflection coating from a metalorganic precursor. Application of photoresist to define contact grids was made cost effective through use of a dip coating technique. Electroplating of both Ag and Cu was shown feasible and cost effective for producing the conductive metal grids on the solar cells. Laser scribing was used to separate the cells from the dendrites without degradation. Ultrasonic welding methods were shown to be feasible for interconnecting the cells. A study of suitable low cost materials for encapsulation suggest that soda lime glass and phenolic filled board are preferred

Additive manufacturing: Part design, optimization and manufacturing processes selection Implementation of a project-based learning education for AM using the case study of a pressure air engine.

Additive manufacturing (AM), due to significant advancement from traditional manufacturing and new potentials has attracted significant interest in a diverse set of industries. Considerable advances have been made in the expansion of new and innovative AM processes. However, less attention has been paid to the teaching of these new processes in educational institutions. While there has been comprehensive research into traditional manufacturing processes and its teaching practices are well established, few adequate additive manufacturing training programs exist to educate students in the field of engineering. To fill this gap in education, this thesis aims to design an AM training course specifically for mechanical engineers using state-of-the-art pedagogical methods. Since traditional educational methods involved less student participation in the process of learning, one goal of this thesis is to encourage active student participation during the training course. The most critical stages of AM product development will be covered in a case study that students will carry out as part of the course. This thesis proposes a comprehensive course for AM. A case study forms the prime core of the course content, and a combination of pedagogical methods are employed to enhance the quality of learning

Haptics Rendering and Applications

There has been significant progress in haptic technologies but the incorporation of haptics into virtual environments is still in its infancy. A wide range of the new society's human activities including communication, education, art, entertainment, commerce and science would forever change if we learned how to capture, manipulate and reproduce haptic sensory stimuli that are nearly indistinguishable from reality. For the field to move forward, many commercial and technological barriers need to be overcome. By rendering how objects feel through haptic technology, we communicate information that might reflect a desire to speak a physically- based language that has never been explored before. Due to constant improvement in haptics technology and increasing levels of research into and development of haptics-related algorithms, protocols and devices, there is a belief that haptics technology has a promising future

Becoming Legitimate: How PMSCs are Seeking Legitimacy in the International System

The use of private military and security companies (PMSC) by state governments has raised many questions regarding the role of the private security industry (PSI) in conflict. This use of PMSCs by states has resulted in much debate in the public and academic spheres (Avant 2005, Dunigan 2011, Kinsey 2006, Leander 2005, Singer 2008). The PSI and PMSCs are altering the international system of norms and redefining what it means to be secure and make war. States are no longer the only entity in the international system with security needs. Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and multinational corporations (MNCs) also purchase security services provided by PMSCs. With the ever-growing presence of PMSCs in conflicts, peacekeeping, and humanitarianism, the legitimization of PMSCs is vital for their missions to succeed. Furthermore, companies that operate at the international level as well as their clients have vested interests in changing their image from ‘mercenaries’ and ‘dogs of war’ to ‘private warriors’ and ‘legitimate soldiers’. This dissertation addresses why and how PMSCs seek legitimacy in the international system. I argue that PMSCs desire and need legitimacy to justify their existence and support the claim that their actions are desirable, proper, lawful, and just because they follow a socially constructed system of norms. My dissertation builds on private security literature by drawing on constructivist approaches to norms and legitimacy and employing discourse analysis. Through my analysis, I identify rebranding and self-regulation as measures taken by PMSCs and the PSI to build and solidify the perception of legitimate security providers. PMSCs and the PSI developed their own discourse through the creation and implementation of the Montreux Document, International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICoC), and the ICoC Association to counter the negative perceptions created by media coverage and controversial incidents involving PMSC personnel. The rebranding and self-regulation efforts of PMSCs and the PSI supports the argument that they need and desire legitimacy. Without legitimacy and a shift in perception, the actions of PMSCs and their contractors will always be questioned and full integration into the state and international security apparatus will remain out of reach

Gas Chromatographic Microsystems for Airborne and Aqueous Volatile Organic Compound Determinations

New technologies offering sensitive, selective, and near-real-time identification and quantification of the individual components of complex mixtures of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (S/VOCs) are greatly needed in applications such as personal (worker) exposure assessment, air and water pollution monitoring, disease diagnosis, and homeland security. This dissertation describes the characterization of two prototype instruments containing core gas chromatographic microsystems (µGCs); the development and characterization of a microscale vapor extractor (µVE), and its integration with a µGC; and the development of adsorbent materials providing selective preconcentration of polar S/VOCs for use in certain µGC applications. Following a review of the background and significance of the research (Chapter 1), this dissertation then describes the design, modeling, and preliminary characterization of the µVE, which is a passive device containing microchannels and a polymer membrane that transfers dissolved VOCs from aqueous samples passed through the device to the gas phase for analysis by a downstream µGC (Chapter 2). In a proof-of-concept experiment, a hybrid µVE-µGC microsystem extracted four VOCs from a 700 µL sample of synthetic urine in 3.5 min, and then separated, identified, and quantified each VOC in ~80 sec with a projected detection limit as low as 660 parts-per-billion. The hybrid μVE-μGC microsystem may eventually permit rapid field/clinical analyses of water contaminants and urinary biomarkers of exposure and disease. Chapters 3 and 4 describe prototype µGC instruments that are referred to as Personal Exposure Monitoring Microsystems (PEMM-1 and PEMM-2, respectively). PEMM-1 is a laptop-controlled, AC-powered, compact, bench-top unit and PEMM-2 is a battery-powered, belt-mounted unit with embedded controll. Both contain analytical microsystems made from Si-microfabricated components: a dual-adsorbent µpreconcentrator-focuser, a single- or dual-μcolumn separation module, and a μsensor-array detector. The μsensor-array consists of 4-5 chemiresistors (CR) coated with various monolayer-protected Au nanoparticles (MPN), which collectively yield partially selective response patterns that can enhance the recognition/discrimination of VOCs. Other key components include a pre-trap for low-volatility interferences, a split-flow injection valve, and an onboard He carrier-gas canister. In laboratory tests, PEMM-1 demonstrated the determination of 17 VOCs in the presence of 7 background interferences in 8 min. Detection limits were below the corresponding Threshold Limit Values (TLV) of the VOCs. PEMM-2 demonstrated the direct, autonomous determination of 21 VOCs in 6 min, with detection limits ranging from 16−600 ppb, well below TLV levels. A chemometric strategy involving retention time windows was implemented that greatly facilitated vapor recognition and discrimination via the µsensor-array response patterns. Results from a “mock” field test, in which personal exposures to time-varying concentrations of a mixture of five VOCs were measured autonomously, agreed closely with those from a reference GC. Chapter 5 describes the use of a trigonal-tripyramidal room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) as a surface modifier for the graphitized carbons, Carbopack B (C-B) and Carbopack X (C-X), used as µpreconcentrator adsorbents. The goal was to impart selectivity for polar compounds, particularly organophosphates and their precursors. Results showed that the capacities for five organophosphorus vapors were consistently enhanced ~2.5-fold with the RTIL-treated adsorbents relative to the untreated adsorbents. Furthermore, the capacities for several non-polar reference vapors were reduced 11 to 26-fold with the modified adsorbents. Implementation in next-generation µpreconcentrator devices is planned.PHDChemistryUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151661/1/wjunqi_1.pd