Denna studie gick ut på att jämföra tre olika algoritmer som har använts för bred kollisionsdetektering, dessa algoritmer var Kd-tree, Octree och Sweep and prune. Kd-tree och Octree är spatiala datastrukturer, d.v.s. att de hanterar objekt inom specifika volymer. Sweep and prune använder istället listor för att ta reda på om objekt kolliderar. Fokus låg på att se hur stor skillnad algoritmernas exekveringstid hade jämfört med ’brute force’-implementationen och jämfört med varandra. Det utfördes ett antal olika experiment på algoritmerna med ett antal olika inställningar för att kunna utvärdera hur de presterar i olika situationer. Dessa inställningar var t.ex. antalet boids, deras hastighet och hur långt de kunde se. Resultatet visade att Sweep and prune presterade bäst med en liten mängd boids medans de andra algoritmerna kom ikapp och presterade bättre när antalet objekt ökade, då Kd-tree presterade bäst överlag. Studien kan vara till hjälp med att välja vilken bred kollisionsdetekteringsalgoritm som kan tänkas implementeras för en applikation.

All structures have modal properties such as natural frequencies and damping. In engineeringit is often of interest to estimate these modal properties for certain structures, to be used whenmodelling for example fatigue. This is done by computing them from finite element models, by using experimental measurements or both. In the case of doing both, a finite elementmodel is usually established first and adjusted to fit measurements from experiments. Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB is the company where this thesis has been performed and the subject is experimental procedures related to estimating modal properties of the so calledpower pack, which essentially is a modularised engine and hydraulic power source of an Atlas Copco drill rig. Their current method for estimating these properties is a classical procedure which makes use of an impact hammer that an operator strikes the power pack with to induce excitation. Due to concealment of behind other parts the power pack when mounted inside the drill rig, the number of places where the operator is able to strike the power pack in is limited. Another problem with the current procedure is that it can be difficult to strike the power pack with a strong enough impulse to generate reliable results. In this thesis a new experimental procedure for Atlas Copco to use is suggested. It is based on operational modal analysis (OMA), which uses the machinery's excitation from its operational conditions to compute modal estimates. A comparison between different experimental procedures have been done and the suggested procedure is the following: excitation by engine sweep; modal identifcation by the PolyMAX method and mode shape scaling by the harmonic scaling method. An experiment was performed to compare two OMA procedures.The suggested procedure is the one that generated the better results of the two.

No description available.

Chip seals are a commonly used surface treatment used to decrease the deterioration rate of pavement surfaces. Chip seals typically consist of an application of emulsion and cover aggregate. Failure can be driven by improper strength development and inadequate bonding over time. Additionally, chip seal service life varies and long term performance prediction models are not well established. This study has two primary goals. The first goal is to investigate aggregate retention characteristics of chip seal specimens, while investigating material compatibility by means of the Sweep-M test. The second goal is to begin developing a long term performance (LTP) test to represent cores obtained from full-scale chip seal projects. Conditioning and testing protocols for LTP specimens are evaluated for representative chip seal behavior over long periods. Results confirm material interaction and favor the incorporation of sweep testing for optimum performance. Future testing is recommended for in-depth, LTP test protocol evaluation.

Every year there are numerous cases of individuals becoming lost in remote wilderness environments. Principles of search theory have become a foundation for developing more efficient and successful search and rescue methods. Measurements can be taken that describe how easily a search object is to detect. These estimates allow the calculation of the probability of detection—the probability that an object would have been detected if in the area. This value only provides information about the search area as a whole; it does not provide details about which portions were searched more thoroughly than others. Ground searchers often carry portable GPS devices and their resulting GPS track logs have recently been used to fill in part of this knowledge gap. We created a system that provides a detection likelihood map that estimates the probability that each point in a search area was seen well enough to detect the search object if it was there. This map will be used to aid ground searchers as they search an assigned area, providing real time feedback of what has been "seen." The maps will also assist incident commanders as they assess previous searches and plan future ones by providing more detail than is available by viewing GPS track logs.

The aerodynamics of wings with moderately swept wings continues to be a challenging and important problem due to the current and future use in military aircraft. And yet, there is very little work devoted to the understanding of the aerodynamics of such wings. The problem is that such wings may be able to sustain attached flow next to broken-down delta-wing vortices, or stall like two-dimensional wings, while shedding vortices with generators parallel to their leading edge. To address this situation we studied the flow field over diamond-shaped planforms and sharp-edged finite wings. Possible mechanisms for flow control were identified and tested. We explored the aerodynamics of swept leading edges with no control. We presented velocity and vorticity distributions along planes normal and parallel to the free stream for wings with diamond shaped planform and sharp leading edges. We also presented pressure distributions over the suction side of the wing. Results indicated that in the inboard part of the wing, an attached vortex can be sustained, reminiscent of delta-wing type of a tip vortex, but further in the outboard region 2-D stall dominated even at 13° AOA and total stall at 21° AOA. To explore the unsteady flow field and the effectiveness of leading-edge control of the flow over a diamond-planform wing at 13° AOA, we employed Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) at a Reynolds number of 43,000 in a water tunnel. Our results indicated that two-D-like vortices were periodically generated and shed. At the same time, an underline feature of the flow, a leading edge vortex was periodically activated, penetrating the separated flow, eventually emerging downstream of the trailing edge of the wing. To study the motion and its control at higher Reynolds numbers, namely 1.3 x 106 we conducted experiments in a wind tunnel. Three control mechanisms were employed, an oscillating mini-flap, a pulsed jet and spanwise continuous blowing. A finite wing with parallel leading and trailing edges and a rectangular tip was swept by 0°, 20°, and 40° and the pulsed jet employed as is control mechanism. A wing with a diamond-shaped-planform, with a leading edge sweep of 42°, was tested with the mini-flap. Surface pressure distributions were obtained and the control flow results were contrasted with the no-control cases. Our results indicated flow control was very effective at 20° sweep, but less so at 40° or 42°. It was found that steady spanwise blowing is much more effective at the higher sweep angle. / Ph. D.

Vehicle Routing Problems are optimization problems centered around determining optimal travel routes for a fleet of vehicles to visit a set of nodes. Optimality is evaluated with regard to some desired quality of the solution, such as time-minimizing or cost-minimizing. There are many established solution methods which makes it meaningful to compare their performance. This thesis aims to investigate how the performances of various solution methods is affected by varying certain problem parameters. Problem characteristics such as the number of customers, vehicle capacity, and customer demand are investigated. The aim was approached by dividing the problem into two subproblems: distributing the nodes into suitable clusters, and finding the shortest route within each cluster. Results were produced by solving simulated sets of customers for different parameter values with different clustering methods, namely sweep, k-means and hierarchical clustering. Although the model required simplifications to facilitate the implementation, theresults provided some significant findings. The thesis concludes that for large vehicle capacity in relation to demand, sweep clustering is the preferred method. Whereas for smaller vehicles, the other two methods perform better.

[pt] Neste trabalho, a fosforimetria em temperatura ambiente em substrato sólido (SSRTP) foi utilizada para o desenvolvimento de método para determinação ultra-traço e seletiva de criseno e de pireno em amostras complexas contendo diversos outros hidrocarbonetos policíclicos aromáticos (HPA). O criseno e o pireno foram selecionados por serem classificados pela Agência Americana de Proteção ao Meio Ambiente (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - EPA) como dois dos dezesseis HPA poluentes prioritários e por serem conhecidos como uma ameaça à saúde pública e à integridade dos ecossistemas marinhos. A capacidade seletiva da SSRTP foi explorada por meio do efeito externo seletivo do átomo pesado e do ajuste de pH da solução carreadora de solução de analito para o substrato de celulose. O efeito da modificação da celulose com o surfactante SDS também foi investigado, assim como o uso da varredura de modo sincronizado para melhoria da resolução espectral. O nitrato de prata em substratos contendo SDS foi identificado como indutor seletivo de fosforescência do criseno em relação ao pireno e demais HPA em estudo (antraceno, benzo[a]pireno, 1-hidroxipireno, fluoranteno, fenantreno, benzo[ghj]perileno e 1,2 benzoantraceno). Já o pireno foi determinado seletivamente com varredura convencional e sincronizada de fosforescência em substratos contendo nitrato de chumbo como indutor seletivo e soluções carreadoras de analito em meio básico (pH 12). Essa seletividade foi em relação aos HPA citados, e ao 1- hidroxipireno, mesmo este tendo uma estrutura molecular muito semelhante a do pireno. O planejamento fatorial foi usado, principalmente visando verificar as interações mútuas entre os efeitos das diferentes variáveis do método desenvolvido, e, conseqüentemente, a escolha da melhor condição experimental. Neste estudo, foram enfatizados: (i) a análise experimental estatística (testou-se a significância dos efeitos dos fatores usando a análise de variância, teste F e teste t), (ii) o uso do método gráfico (gráfico de Pareto) para a interpretação das interações (entre as variáveis) e dos resultados obtidos, assim como o refinamento do modelo, se necessário, excluindo variáveis irrelevantes. As características de desempenho foram obtidas, a fim de se validar o método proposto, obtendo assim a credibilidade técnica das medições. Testes estatísticos (testes de hipótese) com o uso de material de referência certificado (SRM NIST 1647d) e método de referência alternativo (HPLC com detecção por fluorescência) também foram incluídos no processo de validação e os resultados encontrados estão dentro do nível de 95% de confiança. Os limites de detecção do criseno e do pireno em termos de massa efetiva do analito depositada no substrato (limite de detecção absoluto - LDA) encontram-se na ordem do ng. A quantificação das fontes de variação associadas à medição, a incerteza da medição, foi estimada pelo ISO GUM e método de simulação de Monte-Carlo. Testes de seletividade com criseno e pireno na presença de outros HPA também foram realizados e os resultados obtidos permitiram que a técnica fosse utilizada para determinações seletivas. A aplicação do método em diferentes tipos de matrizes (bílis de peixe e aguardente de cana) também foi realizada e os percentuais de recuperação encontrados foram 109 (+ -) 18% (criseno) e 108 (+ -) 20% (pireno). Esses resultados são comparáveis com os obtidos por HPLC-fluorescência: 104 (+ -) 13% (criseno) e 102 (+ -) 15% (pireno). Estudos de caracterização, homogeneidade e estabilidade do criseno em matriz biológica, bílis de peixe da espécie Mugil liza, e a estimativa da incerteza da medição do material analisado também foram realizados. A incerteza da medição encontra-se na ordem do ng (referente à massa efetiva depositada no substrato de celulose). / [en] In this work, solid surface room-temperature phosphorimetry (SSRTP) was used to develop ultra-trace and selective methods for determination of chrysene and pyrene in complex samples containing several other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Both chrysene and pyrene were selected because they are classificated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as two out of the sixteen major pollutants, affecting public health and marine ecosystems. The selective capability of SSRTP was explored through the selective external heavy atom effect and the adjustment of pH of the analyte solution used to carry out the analyte to the cellulose substrate. Cellulose modification with the use of the surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphat (SDS) has also been evaluated as well as the use of synchronous scanning to improve its spectral resolution. Silver nitrate together with SDS was identified as selective phosphorescence inducer for chrysene in the presence of pyrene and other PAHs which are being studied (anthracene, benzo[a] pyrene, 1- hidroxipyrene, fluoranthene, phenanthrene, benzo[ghi] perylene and 1,2 benzoanthracene). On the other hand, pyrene was selectively determined with synchronous and conventional phosphorescence scanning in substrates treated with lead nitrate as a selective inducer and using analyte carrier solution with pH 12. This selectivity towards pyrene was achieved in the presence of all the other tested PAHs, including the 1- hidroxipyrene, even though they have quite similar molecular structures. A factorial design was applied in order to verify mutual interactions among factors of the different variables and to find the best experimental conditions. It has been emphasized in this study: (i) statistical experimental analysis (testing the significance of the factors using the analysis of variation, F-test and t-test), (ii) graphic method (Pareto´s chart) to the interpretation and evaluation of the interactions among all the variables and obtained results, the model was refined whenever necessary so exclude irrelevant variables. After choosing the best experimental condition, the performance characteristics were obtained validating the proposed method. Statistical tests were applied in order to compare results obtained using a standard reference material analysis (NIST SRM 1647d). The proposed method was also compared with a reference analytical technique (HPLC with fluorescence detection) and the results obtained are within 95% confidence level. Chrysene and pyrene absolute detection limits were found in the ng order. The quantification of the variation sources associated to the measurement (the measurement´s uncertainty) was estimated based on ISO GUM and Monte-Carlo simulation method. Selectivity tests for chrysene and pyrene, in presence of the other PAHs were also performed. The methods were applied to different types of samples (fish bilis and spirit drink from sugar cane) and the recoveries were 109 (+ -) 18% (chrysene) and 108 (+ -) 20% (pyrene) by SSRTP. These results are comparable to ones obtained by HPLCFluorescence: 104 (+ -) 13% (chrysene) and 102 (+ -) 15% (pyrene). Characterization, homogeny and stability studies in a biological matrix (fish bilis of the type Mugil liza) and the estimation of uncertainty of the analysed material were also done. The measurement uncertainty was found in ng order (in terms of the effective mass deposit in the cellulose substrate).

Detta arbete undersöker hur exekveringstiden för Sweep and Prune påverkas av parallellism i en dataorienterad programmeringsmiljö. Specifikt analyseras vilka prestandaökningar (eng:speedups) som erhålls vid användning av olika antal exekveringstrådar. Undersökningen motiveras av svårigheten att uppskatta prestandaökningar i praktiska sammanhang på grund av overhead som uppstår av parallelliseringsprocessen. För att besvara frågeställningen implementeras en parallelliserad version av Sweep and Prune med hjälp av Unitys jobbsystem. I en experimentmiljö framtagen i Unity DOTS utvärderas implementationen under exekvering med en, två, fyra, åtta respektive 16 exekveringstrådar. Resultatet visar att algoritmen presterar bättre ju fler exekveringstrådar som används, där den 16-trådade versionen uppvisar en prestandaökning motsvarande faktor 5,61. Vidare observeras att den relativa förbättringsfaktorn sjunker i takt med ökat trådantal, vilket stämmer överens med Amdahls lag. I fortsatta arbeten rekommenderas att studien återskapas i andra utvecklingsmiljöer för att vidare undersöka det underliggande ramverkets påverkan på parallellisering och prestanda.

Cage studies were performed to determine if the current thresholds for stink bugs in soybean (one bug per 0.3 row m) need to be adjusted based on current soybean production practices and species present. Several soybean development stages were infested by two native stink bug species for three weeks using small cages in a field of double crop soybean at sites in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware during 2007-2009. Large field cages were infested by an introduced species for two weeks in 2010-2011. Results showed that Euschistus servus Say and Acrosternum hilare Say adults or nymphs did not cause different levels of injury to soybean seed quality or effects on yield. Both A. hilare and the introduced Halyomorpha halys Stål injured soybean seed in a similar fashion at threshold-level densities. Full flowering R2 stage soybean were least affected by stink bug feeding, and full pod and beginning seed R4-R5 stage soybean were slightly more sensitive to injury than R6 although not at the Maryland 2011 site. Several sites had increased seed injury and decreased yield at threshold density populations. Finally, visual observations of stink bug vertical distribution inside soybean canopies were taken several times per day and compared with ambient and within-canopy temperature and relative humidity. Results indicated that these conditions did not influence the percentage of stink bugs below the top 38 cm sweep net intercept zone. In both years of observations, between 15 and 20% of stink bugs were observed below the 38 cm sweep net zone. / Master of Science in Life Sciences