Integrated Educational Project of Theoretical, Experimental, and Computational Analyses

This research demonstrates how to design an integrated capstone project by including theoretical, experimental and computational analyses of a truss bridge. The project mainly focused on leading students to approach engineering problems with various methods and to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each method. The students applied three methods to acquire the values of stresses and deflections of members in the given truss bridge. First, they calculated the stresses and deformations theoretically. Second, they actually conducted an experiment of the truss bridge with electronic measuring equipment. Lastly, they built two simulation models with Autodesk Inventor and Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks. From the comparisons of above three methods, students were guided to the validation of assumptions of theories.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Interannual variability of heat waves in South Korea and their connection with large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns

This study investigates the interannual variation of heat wave frequency (HWF) in South Korea during the past 42 years (1973-2014) and examines its connection with large-scale atmospheric circulation changes. Korean heat waves tend to develop most frequently in late summer during July and August. The leading Empirical Orthogonal Function accounting for 50% of the total variance shows a mono-signed pattern over South Korea, suggesting that the dominant mechanisms responsible for the heat wave are linked in a spatial scale much larger than the nation. It also exhibits a regional variation with more occurrences in the southeastern inland area. The regression of the leading principal component (PC) time series of HWF with large-scale atmospheric circulation identifies a north-south dipole pattern between the South China Sea and Northeast Asia. When this large-scale circulation mode facilitates deep convection in South China Sea, it tends to weaken moisture transport from the South China Sea to Northeast Asia. Enhanced deep convection in the South China Sea triggers a source of Rossby wave train along southerly wind that generates positive geopotential height anomalies around Korea. The anomalous high pressure pattern is accompanied by large-scale subsidence in Korea, thereby providing a favourable condition for extreme hot and dry days in Korea. This study highlights that there is a decadal change of the relationship between Korean heat waves and large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns. The tropical forcing tends to be weakened in the recent decade, with more influences from the Arctic variability from the mid-1990s.ope

Synthesis and Characteristics of Carbon Nanofibers/Silicon Composites and Application to Anode Materials of Li Secondary Batteries

Among the various synthesizing technologies of carbon nanofibers (CNFs), chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technology, which uses hydrocarbon gas or carbon monoxide as a carbon source gas and pyrolyzes it to grow CNFs on transition metal catalysts, such as Ni, Fe, and Co, has been regarded as the most inexpensive and convenient method to produce CNFs for industrial use. Experimental variables for CVD are source gas, catalyst layers, temperature, and reaction time. Since the particle size of metal catalysts has an influence on the diameter of CNFs, it is possible to control the diameter of CNFs by varying particle sizes of the metal. As such, it is possible to synthesize CNFs selectively through the selective deposition of catalyst metals. In this study, CNFs were grown by CVD on C-fiber textiles, which had catalysts deposited via electrophoretic deposition. The CNFs were coated with a silica layer via hydrolysis of TEOS (tetraethyl orthosilicate), and the CNFs were oxidized by nitric acid. Due to oxidation, a hydroxyl group was created on the CNFs, which was then able to be used as an activation site for the SiO2. CNFs and the CNFs/SiO2 composite can be used in various applications, such as a composite material, electromagnetic wave shielding material, ultrathin display devices, carbon semiconductors, and anode materials of Li secondary batteries. In particular, there is an increasing demand for lightweight, small-scale, and high-capacity batteries for portable electronic devices, such as laptop computers or smart phones, along with the escalating concern of fossil energy depletion. Accordingly, CNFs and CNFs/SiO2 composites are receiving attention for their use as anode materials of Li secondary batteries, which are eco-friendly, lightweight, and high capacity. Therefore, the physicochemical properties and electrochemical performance data of synthesized CNFs and CNFs/SiO2 composite are described in this chapter

Data Mining Criteria for Tree-Based Regression and Classification

This paper is concerned with the construction of regression and classification trees that are more adapted to data mining applications than conventional trees. To this end, we propose new splitting criteria for growing trees. Conventional splitting criteria attempt to perform well on both sides of a split by attempting a compromise in the quality of fit between the left and the right side. By contrast, we adopt a data mining point of view by proposing criteria that search for interesting subsets of the data, as opposed to modeling all of the data equally well. The new criteria do not split based on a compromise between the left and the right bucket; they effectively pick the more interesting bucket and ignore the other.As expected, the result is often a simpler characterization of interesting subsets of the data. Less expected is that the new criteria often yield whole trees that provide more interpretable data descriptions. Surprisingly, it is a flaw that works to their advantage: The new criteria have an increased tendency to accept splits near the boundaries of the predictor ranges. This so-called end-cut problem leads to the repeated peeling of small layers of data and results in very unbalanced but highly expressive and interpretable trees

Preparation and Characterization of Carbon Nanofibers and its Composites by Chemical Vapor Deposition

Hydrocarbon gas or carbon monoxide was pyrolyzed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and carbon nanofiber (CNF) synthesis was performed using transition metals such as Ni, Fe, and Co as catalysts. When synthesizing carbon nanofibers using the CVD method, experimental variables are temperature, catalysts, source gas, etc. Especially, the particle size of the catalyst is the most important factor in determining the diameter of carbon nanofibers. Hydrocarbon gases, such as CH4, C2H4, benzene, and toluene are used as the carbon source, and in addition to these reaction gases, nonreactive gases such as H2, Ar, and N2 gases are used for transportation. Synthesis occurs at a synthesis temperature of 600–900°C, and catalyst metals such as Ni, Co, and Fe are definitely required when synthesizing CNFs. Therefore, it is possible to synthesize CNFs in selective areas through selective deposition of such catalyst metals. In this study, CNFs were synthesized by CVD. Ethylene gas was employed as the carbon source for synthesis of CNFs with H2 as the promoting gas and N2 as the balancing gas. Synthesized CNFs can be used in various applications, such as composite materials, electromagnetic wave shielding materials, ultrathin display devices, carbon semiconductors, and anode materials of Li secondary batteries. In particular, there is an increasing demand for light-weight, small-scale, and high-capacity batteries for portable electronic devices, such as notebook computers or smartphones along with the recent issue of fossil energy depletion. Accordingly, CNFs and their silicon-series composites are receiving attention for use as anode materials for lithium secondary batteries that are eco-friendly, light weight, and high capacity

Fabrication and Characterization of Metal-Loaded Mixed Metal Oxides Gas Sensors for the Detection of Hazardous Gases

This study concerns gas sensors that may protect individuals by detecting hazardous gases that may be generated in hot spaces (≥50°C) with residues of organic waste. We investigated the responses and selectivities of the sensors to different kinds of hazardous gases such as acetaldehyde, toluene and hydrogen sulfide. We also investigated operating temperatures and catalysts for the sensors. The thick film semiconductor sensors that detected some hazardous gases were prepared using nano-sized sensing material powders (SnO2, WO3, ZnO) that were prepared through sol-gel and precipitation methods. The nano-sized sensing materials were blended with various amounts of metal oxides (SnO2, ZnO, WO3) and coated with transition metals (Pt, Pd, Ru, Au, Ag, Cu and In). The metal oxide thick films were fabricated on an Al2O3 plate with a Ni-Cr heater and a Pt electrode through a screen-printing method. Morphologies, compositions, phases, surface areas and particle sizes of sensor compounds were examined by SEM, EDS, XRD and BET analysis. The investigated response to the various hazardous vapors was expressed as the value of Ra/Rg, where Ra and Rg are the resistance of the sensor material in the air and in hazardous gas, respectively