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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
281

The Repair of Laterally Damaged Concrete Bridge Girders Using Carbon Fiber Reinforcing Polymers (CFRP)

Graeff, Matthew Kent 01 January 2012 (has links)
In recent years the use of carbon fiber reinforcing polymers (CFRP) to repair damaged structural components has become more accepted and practiced. However, the current reference for designing FRP systems to repair and strengthen reinforced concrete (RC) and prestressed concrete (PSC) girders has limitations. Similarly, very few resources address solutions for the debonding problem associated with CFRP laminates or the use of CFRP laminates to repair structural members with pre-existing damage. The included experimental program consists of testing both RC and PSC girders with simulated lateral damage and CFRP repairs. A total of 34 RC beams were statically tested under a 4-point loading until failure and had cross-section dimensions of 5” x 10” (14cm x 25.4cm), were 8’ long (2.44m), and were reinforced with either #3 or #4 mild steel rebar. 13 PSC girders having cross-section dimensions representing a half-scaled AASHTO type II shape, were 20’ long (6.1m), and were prestressed with five 7/16” (11.1mm) diameter low-lax 7-wire strands. Ten of the PSC girders were statically loaded until failure under a 4-point testing setup, but 3 PSC girders were dynamically tested under fatigue loading using a 3-point arrangement. Different configurations of CFRP laminates, number and spacing of CFRP transverse U-wraps, and amount of longitudinal CFRP layers are studied. The results present the flexural behavior of all specimen including load-deflection characteristics, strain characteristics, and modes of failure. Ultimately, results are used to recommend important considerations, needed criteria, and proper design procedures for a safe and optimized CFRP repair configuration.
282

An Investigation of Invasion: Boater Knowledge Concerning Aquatic Invasive Species and the Influence of the New Zealand Mud Snail on Benthic Food Webs

Cimino, Samuel Anthony 24 May 2016 (has links)
Invasive species are second only to habitat loss as a leading cause of native species displacement and the management of invasive species costs hundreds of billions annually. Invasion is often conceptualized as a series of stages (Transport, Introduction, Establishment, and Spread), which encourages ecologists to isolate factors that might enable a species to pass from one stage to another and therefore guide prevention or impact management. This thesis addresses each stage of invasion and attempts to determine where management might succeed in preventing invasion or minimizing impacts. The transport and introduction of aquatic invasive species (AIS) was analyzed by conducting a three tier human subjects survey at Tenmile Lake, Oregon over a two year period in which a public boat wash station was built and installed. Assessing boater knowledge of AIS and understanding proper boat cleaning procedure is useful in determining the threat of transport and introduction as overland boater movements is a major vector of AIS. The comparison between pre- and post- boat wash surveys indicate that there is a disconnect between what boaters say they will do and how they actually behave. While 75.9% of boaters from the pre-survey claimed they would use a boat wash station at Tenmile Lake, only 38.5% of post-survey boaters were observed using the station. Furthermore, the surveys identified knowledge gaps of boaters' awareness of AIS. More than 20.0% of boaters surveyed could not verbally name any AIS. To better understand the establishment and spread stages of invasion, I examined the influence of a specific AIS, the New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum; NZMS), on benthic food webs throughout three very different aquatic ecosystems (lakes, rivers, and estuaries). Samples of benthic lake, river, and estuarine invertebrates were collected, identified, and counted, and stable isotope analyses (SIA) were conducted on several components of the food web. NZMS densities were found to be dynamic, with population densities fluctuating over time and between locations. A significant negative relationship between NZMS density and community diversity across all ecosystems was found. However, the densities of specific feeding groups had varying positive (omnivores) and negative (herbivores) correlations with NZMS densities. Furthermore, SIA indicated that NZMS don't appear to be competing with native macroinvertebrates for the same food source. NZMS were found to have different influences on each invaded ecosystem, thus management of this particular AIS is difficult once established and spreading. The results of this thesis suggest that prevention of the transport and introduction of NZMS needs to be the focus for future management. Preventative management should include public outreach regarding AIS and proper boat cleaning procedure, and management should also emphasize the need for regional policies and regulations on the transport of AIS rather than site or state specific policies and regulations.
283

Wind induced torsional fatigue behavior of truss bridge verticals

Keller, Philipp 13 June 2012 (has links)
The Astoria-Megler Bridge is a 6.6 kilometer (4.1 mile) long bridge, connecting Oregon and Washington on US 101, with a continuous steel truss main span of 376 m (1232 ft). It is the second longest main span bridge of this type in the world. Due to vortex shedding, some of the long truss verticals exhibit wind-induced torsional vibrations. These vibrations can create large numbers of repeated stress cycles in the truss verticals and the gusset plate assemblies. The members and connections were not designed for such conditions and the impact of this behavior on the service life of the bridge is uncertain. A full-scale representation of one of the truss verticals observed to exhibit such wind induced torsional response was fabricated and tested in the Structural Engineering Research Laboratory at Oregon State University. Experimental data of the rotational behavior and the stress distribution along the vertical were collected using inclinometers, an angular rate sensor, and uniaxial and rosette strain gages. The data collected were compared with existing analytical methods and predictions from finite element models. The observed experimental results including twist angle, stress distribution, and stress magnitude were well captured by both the finite element model and the analytical equations. Using analytical expressions, the fatigue lives of the existing bridge verticals were predicted based on assumed storm duration and recurrence. / Graduation date: 2013
284

Knowledge-Based Architecture for Integrated Condition Based Maintenance of Engineering Systems

Saxena, Abhinav 06 July 2007 (has links)
A paradigm shift is emerging in system reliability and maintainability. The military and industrial sectors are moving away from the traditional breakdown and scheduled maintenance to adopt concepts referred to as Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) and Prognostic Health Management (PHM). In addition to signal processing and subsequent diagnostic and prognostic algorithms these new technologies involve storage of large volumes of both quantitative and qualitative information to carry out maintenance tasks effectively. This not only requires research and development in advanced technologies but also the means to store, organize and access this knowledge in a timely and efficient fashion. Knowledge-based expert systems have been shown to possess capabilities to manage vast amounts of knowledge, but an intelligent systems approach calls for attributes like learning and adaptation in building autonomous decision support systems. This research presents an integrated knowledge-based approach to diagnostic reasoning for CBM of engineering systems. A two level diagnosis scheme has been conceptualized in which first a fault is hypothesized using the observational symptoms from the system and then a more specific diagnostic test is carried out using only the relevant sensor measurements to confirm the hypothesis. Utilizing the qualitative (textual) information obtained from these systems in combination with quantitative (sensory) information reduces the computational burden by carrying out a more informed testing. An Industrial Language Processing (ILP) technique has been developed for processing textual information from industrial systems. Compared to other automated methods that are computationally expensive, this technique manipulates standardized language messages by taking advantage of their semi-structured nature and domain limited vocabulary in a tractable manner. A Dynamic Case-based reasoning (DCBR) framework provides a hybrid platform for diagnostic reasoning and an integration mechanism for the operational infrastructure of an autonomous Decision Support System (DSS) for CBM. This integration involves data gathering, information extraction procedures, and real-time reasoning frameworks to facilitate the strategies and maintenance of critical systems. As a step further towards autonomy, DCBR builds on a self-evolving knowledgebase that learns from its performance feedback and reorganizes itself to deal with non-stationary environments. A unique Human-in-the-Loop Learning (HITLL) approach has been adopted to incorporate human feedback in the traditional Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithm.
285

Methodologies for low-cost testing and self-healing of rf systems

Goyal, Abhilash 21 April 2011 (has links)
This thesis proposes a multifaceted production test and post-manufacture yield enhancement framework for RF systems. This framework uses low-cost test and post-manufacture calibration/tuning techniques. Since the test cost and the yield of the RF circuits/sub-system directly contribute to the manufacturing cost of RF systems, the proposed framework minimizes overall RF systems' manufacturing cost by taking two approaches. In the first approach, low-cost testing methodologies are proposed for RF amplifiers and integrated RF substrates with an embedded RF passive filter and interconnect. Techniques are developed to test RF circuits by the analysis of low-frequency signal of the order of few MHz and without using any external RF test-stimulus. Oscillation principles are used to enable testing of RF circuits without any external test-stimulus. In the second approach, to increase the yield of the RF circuits for parametric defects, RF circuits are tuned to compensate for a performance loss during production test using on-board or on-chip resources. This approach includes a diagnosis algorithm to identify faulty circuits within the system, and performs a compensation process that adjusts tunable components to enhance the performance of the RF circuits. In the proposed yield improvement methodologies, the external test stimulus is not required because the stimulus is generated by the RF circuit itself with the help of additional circuitry and faulty circuits are detected using low-cost test methods developed in this research. As a result, the proposed research enables low-cost testing and self-healing of RF systems.
286

Optimal cooperative and non-cooperative peer-to-peer maneuvers for refueling satellites in circular constellations

Dutta, Atri 06 April 2009 (has links)
On-orbit servicing (OOS) of space systems provides immense benefits by extending their lifetime, by reducing overall cost of space operations, and by adding flexibility to space missions. Refueling is an important aspect of OOS operations. The problem of determining the optimal strategy of refueling multiple satellites in a constellation, by expending minimum fuel during the orbital transfers, is challenging, and requires the solution of a large-scale optimization problem. The conventional notion about a refueling mission is to have a service vehicle visit all fuel-deficient satellites one by one and deliver fuel to them. A recently emerged concept, known as the peer-to-peer (P2P) strategy, is a distributed method of replenishing satellites with fuel. P2P strategy is an integral part of a mixed refueling strategy, in which a service vehicle delivers fuel to part (perhaps half) of the satellites in the constellation, and these satellites, in turn, engage in P2P maneuvers with the remaining satellites. During a P2P maneuver between a fuel-sufficient and a fuel-deficient satellite, one of them performs an orbital transfer to rendezvous with the other, exchanges fuel, and then returns back to its original orbital position. In terms of fuel expended during the refueling process, the mixed strategy outperforms the single service vehicle strategy, particularly with increasing number of satellites in the constellation. This dissertation looks at the problem of P2P refueling problem and proposes new extensions like the Cooperative P2P and Egalitarian P2P strategies. It presents an overview of the methodologies developed to determine the optimal set of orbital transfers required for cooperative and non-cooperative P2P refueling strategies. Results demonstrate that the proposed strategies help in reducing fuel expenditure during the refueling process.
287

Tactical and operational planning for per-seat, on-demand air transportation

Keysan, Gizem 29 May 2009 (has links)
This thesis addresses two planning problems motivated by the operations of PSOD air transportation: scheduled maintenance planning, and base location and fleet allocation. In the first part of the thesis, we study tactical planning for scheduled maintenance which determines the daily maintenance capacities for two operating conditions: a growth phase and the steady state. We model tactical maintenance capacity planning during the growth phase as an integer program and develop an optimization-based local search to solve the problem. Tactical planning of steady state maintenance capacity concerns a special case for which we determine the optimal and the long run capacities with a pseudo-polynomial time algorithm. In the second part of the thesis, we address operational planning for scheduled maintenance which is concerned with assigning itineraries to jets and determining the specific jets to be scheduled for maintenance on a daily basis given a certain maintenance capacity. We present a solution methodology that employs a look-ahead approach to consider the impact of our current decisions on the future and decomposes the problem exploiting the differences between jets with respect to the proximity to their next maintenance. We further develop an integrated framework in order to capture the interaction between operational level maintenance decisions and flight scheduling. In the third and final part of the thesis, we present the tactical level base location and fleet allocation problem. As PSOD air transportation experiences changes in travel demand and fleet size, decisions regarding where to open new bases and how to allocate the number of jets among the bases are made. We first present a solution approach in which high level information about flight scheduling is used in a traditional facility location problem. We next develop a model that works directly with transportation requests and integrates a simplified version of flight scheduling with the base location and fleet allocation decisions in order to capture more detail.
288

Modélisation et optimisation de la maintenance et de la surveillance des systèmes multi-composants - Applications à la maintenance et à la conception de véhicules industriels / Modeling and optimization of multicomponent systems maintenance and monitoring - Application to commercial vehicles maintenance and re-design

Lesobre, Romain 26 March 2015 (has links)
Ces travaux de thèse traitent des problèmes de maintenance associés aux véhicules industriels. Ils se concentrent sur la planification des opérations de maintenance et sur le développement d'une méthodologie de conception pour la maintenance. Le but est de proposer une offre de maintenance personnalisée en fonction de chaque véhicule et capable de s'adapter aux contraintes des utilisateurs. Dans l'industrie du transport, ces contraintes se caractérisent par un nombre d'opportunités de maintenance limité et des immobilisations à fortes conséquences financières. Cette offre a vocation à garantir un niveau de disponibilité élevé tout en réduisant l'impact de la maintenance sur les coûts globaux d'exploitation. Dans ce cadre, la politique de maintenance développée vise à assurer, moyennant un certain risque, l'autonomie d'un système multi-composant sur des périodes d'opérations données. Pendant ces périodes, aucune opération de maintenance et aucune défaillance du système ne doivent venir perturber la réalisation des missions. A la fin de chaque période, la politique considérée évalue la nécessité d'une intervention de maintenance pour assurer la prochaine période avec un niveau de confiance spécifié. Lorsque la maintenance est jugée indispensable, des critères intégrant les coûts et l'efficacité de la maintenance sont introduits pour sélectionner les opérations à réaliser. Cette forme originale de regroupement dynamique s'appuie à la fois sur les modèles de fiabilité des composants, sur la structure fiabiliste du système et sur les informations de surveillance disponibles en ligne. Celles-ci se composent d'informations liées à l'état de santé des composants mais également à leurs conditions d'utilisation. La flexibilité du processus permet d'intégrer, dans la décision, des niveaux d'informations différents suivant les composants. Les paramètres de cette politique, à savoir la longueur de la période et le niveau de confiance, sont optimisés en fonction du coût total de maintenance. Ce coût, évalué sur un horizon fini, intègre les coûts directs associés aux opérations de maintenance et les coûts indirects engendrés par les immobilisations. Pour envisager une réduction significative des coûts d'exploitation du système, l'optimisation de la politique de maintenance seule ne suffit pas. Il est primordial de mener une réflexion plus large associant le système et sa maintenance dès la conception. Pour diriger cette réflexion, la méthodologie de conception proposée hiérarchise, à l'aide d'un facteur d'importance original, l'impact des composants sur les coûts d'exploitation. Différentes options de conceptions sont ensuite évaluées, par simulation, sur les composants jugés prioritaires. Les options retenues conduisent à réduire les coûts globaux d'exploitation. Des résultats de simulation permettent d'illustrer les méthodes développées. Une application sur un sous-système du véhicule industriel est également réalisée. / This thesis research work focuses on the maintenance operations scheduling and the development of a design methodology for maintenance. The aim is to suggest a customized maintenance service offer for each vehicle and able to adapt to user constraints. In the transport industry, these constraints are defined by a limited number of maintenance opportunities and vehicle unplanned stops with significant financial consequences. This service offer should enable both to improve the vehicle uptime and to reduce the maintenance impact on operating costs. In this framework, the developed maintenance policy ensures, with a given risk probability, maintenance free operating periods for a multi-component system. During these periods, the system should be able to carry out all its assigned missions without maintenance actions and system fault. And the end of each period, the considered policy evaluates if a maintenance action is required to ensure maintenance-free and fault-free operation on the next period with a specified confidence level. When a maintenance action is mandatory, decision criteria considering the maintenance costs and the maintenance efficiency are used to select the operations to be performed. This form of dynamic clustering, called time-driven clustering, integrates both the component reliability models, the system structure and the available monitoring information. In our case, the monitoring information refers to the component state information and information on the component operating conditions. The process flexibility makes possible to make a maintenance decision in using different information levels for system components. The policy parameters, namely the period length and the confidence level value, are optimized based on the total maintenance cost. This cost, evaluated on a finite horizon, is composed of directs costs related to maintenance operations and indirect costs generated by system immobilizations. In order to reach a significant operating costs reduction, the maintenance policy optimization alone is not sufficient. It is essential to have a broader approach to involve the system and its maintenance since the conception. In this context, the developed design methodology suggests to prioritize the components impact on the operating costs. This prioritization is performed thanks to a defined importance factor. Then, multiple design options are evaluated by simulation in priority component. The selected options lead to reduce the operating costs. This work contains simulation results that illustrate the methods mentioned above. Moreover, a heavy vehicle sub-system is used as a test-case.
289

Fatores relacionados à eficiência do planejamento da manutenção de indústrias de celulose / Factors related to efficiency of planning maintenance industry pulp

Jesus, Anderson Garuzzi de 26 June 2014 (has links)
Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T14:01:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 597170 bytes, checksum: b5393c045719ef7bc2a909daf913b77a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-06-26 / The pursuit of competitiveness in the current scenario of the pulp industries is a major challenge for companies. Join the efficiency in the process of implementation of forests, silviculture, harvesting, wood logisticsand pulp cellulose logistics results in a complex matrix in industries with high production capacity. The combination of large areas of forests, modern and efficient plants, good capacity for movement of raw materials and the production and relentless pursuit of low operating costs are almost always divergent factors. Fit management teams to conduct detailed each process relating them to the specific characteristics of the regions in which they operate, thus defining the best ways to deal with obstacles studies. Accordingly, this study was undertaken, in order to identify concepts aimed at maintenance efficiency in modern industry, always directed to the new reality of the sector, which is the deployment of high capacity, far from large industrial centers factories. Additionally were raised core services applicable to this type of industry and examined the relationship of efficiency with this new reality. Finally we tried to study various processes considered relevant for new pulp and relate factors focused on maintenance of equipment and facilities, such that focal points can be identified with possible action taken facing the pursuit of efficiency. The analysis of these factors was taken by professionals with experience in manufacturing pulp, beyond the requirements of the search for literature review and empirical evidence for processing of proposals relations. The study confirmed the need for an efficient structure maintenance in factories and allowed us to identify the degree of importance of maintenance planning in maintenance efficiency in pulp mills. / A busca da competitividade no atual cenário das indústrias de celulose é um grande desafio para as empresas do setor. Associar a eficiência nos processos de implantação de florestas, silvicultura, colheita, logística de madeira, produção de celulose e logística de celulose resulta em uma matriz complexa no caso de indústrias com alta capacidade de produção. A combinação de grandes áreas de florestas, fábricas modernas e eficientes, boa capacidade para movimentação de matéria prima e da produção e a busca incansável pelo baixo custo operacional são fatores quase sempre divergentes. Cabe às equipes de gestão a realização de estudos detalhados de cada processo relacionando-os com as características específicas das regiões em que atuam, definindo, assim as melhores formas de tratar os obstáculos encontrados. Nesse sentido, foi conduzido este estudo, com objetivo de identificar conceitos voltados à eficiência da manutenção na indústria moderna, sempre direcionados à nova realidade do setor, que é a implantação de fábricas de alta capacidade, longe dos grandes centros industriais. Associado a isto foram levantados os principais serviços aplicáveis a este tipo de indústria e verificada a relação de eficiência com esta nova realidade. Por fim procurou-se estudar diversos processos considerados relevantes para nova indústria de celulose e relacionar fatores voltados à manutenção dos equipamentos e instalações, de tal forma que possam ser identificados pontos focais com possíveis tomadas de ação voltadas a busca de eficiência. A análise destes fatores foi feita por profissionais com experiência no setor industrial de celulose, além da busca por requisitos da revisão de literatura e de evidências empíricas para tratamento das relações propostas. O estudo confirmou a necessidade de uma estrutura eficiente de manutenção nas fábricas e permitiu identificar o grau de importância do planejamento da manutenção na eficiência da manutenção nas fábricas de celulose.
290

Seleção de planos de ação de manutenção com o auxílio do QFD / Maintenance action selection plans with QFD assistance

Santos, Marcelo Lima dos 18 August 2018 (has links)
Orientador: Luís Gonzaga Trabasso / Dissertação (mestrado profissional) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-18T21:10:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Santos_MarceloLimados_M.pdf: 2796450 bytes, checksum: 2b445c1dbad9c9f8fa26491057009ad6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: Esse trabalho apresenta a aplicação do método QFD (Quality Function Deployment - Desdobramento da Função Qualidade) para a seleção de planos de ação para a melhoria do desempenho de serviços de manutenção industrial de uma empresa do setor automotivo. O método é aplicado na área de produção como ferramenta de mapeamento para selecionar as ações de melhoria do desempenho dos serviços de manutenção industrial. A dissertação aborda em sua fundamentação teórica três conteúdos necessários para que seja compreendida e acompanhada a proposta de aplicação do método. O primeiro tema apresenta conceitos sobre qualidade em serviços, as dimensões da qualidade em serviços e como a qualidade é percebida pelos clientes. O segundo conteúdo aborda conceitos relacionados à área de manutenção industrial apresentando uma visão geral da área de manutenção dentro da indústria. O terceiro assunto aborda o conceito de QFD e a aplicação do método na área de serviços. Abordados esses três conteúdos, é apresentada a aplicação do método na área de produção com o objetivo de selecionar planos de ação de manutenção de forma criteriosa e sistemática de acordo com a visão e as necessidades do cliente interno. Com a aplicação do método foi possível, dentre as várias dimensões de qualidade em serviços, definir doze dimensões adequadas à área de manutenção industrial e as três dimensões mais importantes na visão do cliente, que são segurança do trabalho, competência e confiabilidade. A aplicação do método QFD proporcionou determinar as necessidades do cliente inseridas nessas dimensões e selecionar os planos de ação prioritários para a melhoria dos serviços de manutenção industrial, dentre outros benefícios / Abstract: This work presents the QFD application (Quality Function Deployment) for the action plans selection for improving the industrial maintenance services performance of a company in the automotive sector. The method is applied in the production area as a mapping tool to select actions to improve the performance of industrial maintenance services. The paper discusses three theoretical in its content needed to be understood and supported the proposed application of the method. The first topic presents concepts of service quality, the dimensions of service quality and how quality is perceived by customers. The second deals with concepts related to content area of industrial maintenance presenting an overview of the maintenance area within the industry. The third issue addresses the concept and application of QFD method in the service area. Addressed these three content is presented the method in the production area in order to select carefully and systematically maintenance actions plans in accordance with the vision and the needs of the internal customer. With the method it was possible, among the various dimension of service quality, set twelve dimensions appropriate to the area of industrial maintenance and the three most important dimensions of the customer view, which are labor safety, competence and reliability. The QFD application method provided to determine the client's needs included in these dimensions and select the priority action plans for the improvement of industrial maintenance services, among other benefits / Mestrado / Projetos / Mestre em Engenharia Automobilistica

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