Ferromagnetic shape memory alloys FSMAs have diverse application, especially in the aerospace and bio-medical industries. They are a class of active and smart materials exhibiting strains under the influence of an applied magnetic field. These magnetic properties are mainly attributed to the martensitic structural phase trans- formation these material experience in response to temperature variation. Co-Ni-Al based alloys are one of the most promising ferromagnetic shape memory alloy FSMA that has been put recently under extensive study by researchers. They have shown extensive and promising features specifically those related to self-actuation. The effect of valence electron concentration and magnetic properties of Co-Ni-Al based ferromagnetic shape memory alloys on the martensitic transformations were analyzed utilizing Ab-initio first principle calculations. The variations of martensite start temperatures (Ms) and magnetic properties of a number of stoichiometric and mnon-stoichiometric Co-Ni-Al ferromagnetic shape memory alloys (FSMA’s) with B2 austenite structure were studied and analyzed as a function of composition and lattice site ordering and site preference. A major conclusion of this thesis suggests that the magnetic valence number (Zm) should be considered in conjunction to the e/a ratio if the composition profile of the Ms is to be determined. Both Monte-Carlo and Ab-initio simulations were implemented to obtain the magnetic Heisenberg’s exchange coupling parameters (J m) and model the magnetic transformations in stoichiometric Co2NiAl FSMAs. Two different cubic structures, ordered and disordered were compared to their tetragonal distortions martensitic phases and their Curie temperature (TC ) were obtained from the Monte-Carlo magnetic susceptibility temperature profile.

The main objective of this study is to determine main activity locations and correlation between different artifact types in an archaeological site with geographical information systems (GIS) and spatial data analyses. Knidian amphora workshops in Dat&ccedil / a peninsula are studied in order to apply GIS and spatial statistical techniques. GIS capabilities are coupled with some spatial statistical software and spatial data analysis steps are followed. Both point and area datasets are examined for the effective analysis of the same set of spatial phenomena. Visualizing the artifact distribution with the help of GIS tools enables proposing hypotheses about the study area. In exploration part of the study, those assumptions are tested and developed with the help of explorative methods and GIS. The results are discussed and assessed in terms of archaeological framework. Finally the results are compared with the archeo-geophysical anomalies and excavation results.

Network analysis in GIS is often related to finding solutions to transportation problems. In a GIS the real world is represented by either one of two spatial models, vector-based, or raster-based. Prefering raster or vector GIS is more a question of choice than of accuracy. A raster-based GIS model shows a better fit, when the problem is concerned with finding a path across terrain which does not have predefined paths. The approach of this study is to translate the scenario into a &lsquo / least-cost path&rsquo / graph with an associated cost function on the raster-based GIS layer. Sometimes, computation of shortest paths between different locations on a raster-based GIS has to be done in real-time. Therefore, knowing which shortest path algorithm runs fastest on real networks is needed. In order to meet this requirement, Dijsktra&rsquo / s algorithm with priority queue implementation is selected, because it reduces the time complexity of Dijsktra&rsquo / s algorithm from O(V2 log V) to O(E log V ). The run-time results of Dijsktra&rsquo / s algorithm, Dijsktra&rsquo / s algorithm with priority queue implementation and ArcMap Spatial Analyst Tool are compared for a number of raster GIS layers which have different number of nodes. Dijsktra&rsquo / s algorithm with priority queue implementation and Spatial Analyst tool of ArcMap show a linear relationship between node numbers and time, whereas Dijsktra&rsquo / s algorithm represents a quadratic relationship. Hence, when the number of nodes and edges in graph is increased, the run-time performance of the Dijsktra&rsquo / s algorithm decreases rapidly.

Im Legierungssytem Ni-Mn-Ga tritt bei Zusammensetzungen nahe der stöchiometrischen Zusammensetzung Ni2MnGa der magnetische Formgedächtniseffekt auf. Darunter versteht man die Dehnung durch Bewegung von Zwillingsgrenzen im Magnetfeld. Einkristalle aus Ni-Mn-Ga mit einer tetragonalen 5M-Martensitstruktur zeigen magnetisch erzeugbare Dehnungen von bis zu 6 %. Diese großen Dehnungen verbunden mit der schnellen Schaltfrequenz von Magnetfeldern machen den Effekt interessant für technische Anwendungen z. B. als Aktoren. Derartige Einkristalle sind schwierig und teuer herzustellen, weshalb für technische Anwendung Polykristalle von Interesse sind. Diese lassen sich im Allgemeinen leichter und preiswerter herstellen. Um den magnetischen Formgedächtniseffekt in Polykristalle einzustellen, werden grobkörnige, texturierte Proben mittels des Verfahrens der gerichteten Erstarrung hergestellt. Die Gefügeuntersuchungen erfolgen mit metallographischen Schliffen und die Kornorientierungen werden mit der EBSD-Technik bestimmt. Um das Gefüge zu vergröbern, werden Glühungen nach einer aufgebrachten Warmverformung untersucht. Zur Verringerung der für die Bewegung der Zwillingsgrenzen notwendigen Spannung (Zwillingsspannung) werden die Proben im Druckversuch mechanisch trainiert. Dabei kann die Zwillingsspannung teilweise unter die magnetisch erzeugbare Spannung auf die Zwillingsgrenzen (Magnetospannung) abgesenkt werden. Eine weitere Absenkung der Zwillingsspannung wird durch eine plattenförmige Probengeometrie mit Dicken im Bereich der Korndurchmesser erreicht. An derartigen Proben wird magnetisch rückstellbare freie Dehnung durch Zwillingsgrenzenbewegung erzielt.

As the container traffic at the Port of Savannah is expected to increase, its impacts need to be evaluated to address major concerns regarding the roadway network surrounding the port and the overall operations of the port. A federation of two disparate simulators was created in order to model the impacts of increased container traffic. The Port of Savannah was modeled using Rockwell Arena© and the surrounding roadway network was modeled using PTV VISSIM©. These two simulators operated concurrently and continually provided feedback with one another. The challenges that arose from this combination were largely due to the time structure of the models. Arena© is a discrete event simulator and VISSIM© is a continuous traffic simulator. A basic model, where these two pieces of software could pass information between one another, was initially created as a test bed for methods required to federate the two models. These basic concepts were then applied to a comprehensive model of the Port of Savannah and the surrounding area. This federated modeling approach for the Port of Savannah allowed the analysis to reflect the interaction of behaviors unique to the port and local roadway network. For instance, the federated model successfully captured how delays at the Port of Savannah increased as a result of increased congestion in the surrounding roadway network. It is anticipated that this prototypal model will be a base for future research into the area of federating disparate transportation simulators, as well as aid in the further exploration of a transportation run-time interface.

This thesis identifies some problems, the genetic algorithm (GA) is facing in the area of vehicle routing and proposes various methods to address those problems. Those problems arise from the unavailability of suitable chromosomal representation and evaluation schemes of GA for the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP). The representation and evaluation schemes already in use have problems of high computational cost, illegal chromosomes (chromosomes not representing a legal tour) and wrong fitness assignment (fitness not truly representing chromosome genetic makeup). These problems are addressed by several proposed new schemes, namely the Self Imposed Constraints Evaluation scheme, the Contour and Reverse Contour Evaluation schemes and the Order Skipping Evaluation scheme, which are specifically tailored for various objectives, problems and situations. Apart from this, a methodology, which has previously being used in other meta-heuristics, is incorporated into GA i.e., the independent application of GA on various sub-localities of the problem. We call this GA, a Localized Genetic Algorithm (LGA). LGA is an iterative procedure between optimization and controlled de-optimization. The procedure of controlled de-optimization is also novel. It brings the solution into a new search space while controlling its cost effectively. LGA is introduced with various search techniques, i.e. intensive, extensive and selective, the use of which depends on the problem size and the availability of computational resources. Furthermore, search reduction techniques (Fitness Approximation Methods) are also introduced into the LGA, which has enabled the LGA to be applied to large scale problems. Due to the implementation of those proposals, LGA is the first GA-driven approach to be applied to very large scale CVRP problems of up to 1200 customers, i.e. datasets presented by Feiyue in 2005 and large scale VRPTW problems of up to 1000 customers, datasets presented by Gehring and Homberger in 1999. Lastly, a standard unit for computational comparison, i.e., Bellman's Evaluation Units BEUs, is also introduced to facilitate computational comparisons for future researchers. LGA has shown promising results on CVRP and VRPTW problems. It is flexible and also has the potential to be extended to not only other vehicle routing problems, but also to other ordering problems.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 259-268).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Erskine Theological Seminary, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves lxi-lxx).

Thesis (M.S.)--Georgia Southern University, 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Feb. 19, 2008). Electronic version approved: December 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-37).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. Wendy H. Venet, committee chair; Stuart Galishoff, Charles G. Steffen, committee members. Electronic text (338 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Feb. 4, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 308-338).