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The process of laser cladding consists of depositing successive layers of molten metallic powder to create a near-net shape. A high-power laser is used to melt incoming metallic powder, which forms a melt pool on the surface. As the latter moves beneath the laser, this newly created melt pool solidifies. By properly controlling the trajectory of deposition tracks, one can create a diverse range of shapes with varying complexities. However, the process is very sensitive to parameters, requiring constant attention from technicians. This lends itself perfectly to the addition of automatic controllers whereby supervision is minimal. <br /><br /> In this thesis, an optical sensor is developed to monitor the process zone. The sensor will output a measurement of the height of solidified clad, which in turn can be used by a controller to adjust this geometrical feature. The thesis is divided into three main parts, each contributing to the final algorithm. <br /><br /> First, in Chapter 3 an analysis is performed on the light irradiating from the interaction zone (or melt pool). It is stated that the dominating source of light is governed by blackbody radiation from this molten metal. This is confirmed by analyzing a series of images captured through a digital camera, where various narrow bandpass filters were utilized to selectively view a portion of the CCD-sensor's spectrum. This investigation also leads to the selection of bandpass filter such that a stable, relatively intense melt pool is captured through the digital camera's CCD-sensor. <br /><br /> Second, in Chapter 4 the captured images are taken through a pair of image processing techniques, outputting a series of coordinates representating the melt pool's boundary. The image is first analyzed to calculate an optimal threshold level based on the minimization of fuzzy entropy. With this threshold selected, the grayscale image is converted into black-and-white, where the white pixels represent the melt pool. After this step, the melt pool's boundary is extracted through an 8-connectivity border tracing algorithm. This technique outputs a series of coordinates (in pixels) as though one were traveling along the melt pool in a clockwise rotation. <br /><br /> Last, Chapter 5 analyzes these pixel coordinates to extract the melt pool's height. The coordinates are first transformed into real-world coordinates, by use of a perspective transformation. This transformation essentially yields the melt pool's shadow, as created by a light-source coincident with the camera. As a result, the melt pool's height is estimated based upon a right-angle triangle, where the camera's angle is known, and the projected coordinates represent the shadow length (triangle's base). <br /><br /> The result of applying this series of steps to the estimation of clad heights is found at the end of Chapter 5. Results varied dramatically, from 4% error to 393%. Although the errors are large at times, they are mainly caused by a bias in the estimate. That is, the dynamics of the true clad formation are very well predicted by the algorithm, however, shifting by a certain amount. This amount varies both with substrate velocity, and the clad's direction of travel, relative to the camera. A partial explanation is given such that the clad's height is offset from the laser center-point, which is a function of both these parameters. However, the specific relationship requires further experimentation.

An indirect tire pressure monitoring system uses the wheel rolling radius as an indicator of low tire pressure. When extra load is put in the trunk of a car, the load distribution in the car will change. This will affect the rolling radius which in its turn will be confused with a change in the tire pressure. To avoid this phenomenon, the load distribution has to be estimated. In this thesis methods for estimating the pitch angle of a car and an offset in the pitch angle caused by changed load distribution are presented and when an estimate is derived, a load distribution can be derived. Alot of available signals are used but the most important are the longitudinal accelerometer signal and the acceleration at the wheels derived from the velocity of the car. A few ways to detect or compensate for a non-zero road grade are also presented. Based on the estimated offset, a difference between the front and rear axle heights in the vehicle can be estimated and compensating for the changed load distribution in an indirect tire pressure monitoring system will be possible.

The process of laser cladding consists of depositing successive layers of molten metallic powder to create a near-net shape. A high-power laser is used to melt incoming metallic powder, which forms a melt pool on the surface. As the latter moves beneath the laser, this newly created melt pool solidifies. By properly controlling the trajectory of deposition tracks, one can create a diverse range of shapes with varying complexities. However, the process is very sensitive to parameters, requiring constant attention from technicians. This lends itself perfectly to the addition of automatic controllers whereby supervision is minimal. <br /><br /> In this thesis, an optical sensor is developed to monitor the process zone. The sensor will output a measurement of the height of solidified clad, which in turn can be used by a controller to adjust this geometrical feature. The thesis is divided into three main parts, each contributing to the final algorithm. <br /><br /> First, in Chapter 3 an analysis is performed on the light irradiating from the interaction zone (or melt pool). It is stated that the dominating source of light is governed by blackbody radiation from this molten metal. This is confirmed by analyzing a series of images captured through a digital camera, where various narrow bandpass filters were utilized to selectively view a portion of the CCD-sensor's spectrum. This investigation also leads to the selection of bandpass filter such that a stable, relatively intense melt pool is captured through the digital camera's CCD-sensor. <br /><br /> Second, in Chapter 4 the captured images are taken through a pair of image processing techniques, outputting a series of coordinates representating the melt pool's boundary. The image is first analyzed to calculate an optimal threshold level based on the minimization of fuzzy entropy. With this threshold selected, the grayscale image is converted into black-and-white, where the white pixels represent the melt pool. After this step, the melt pool's boundary is extracted through an 8-connectivity border tracing algorithm. This technique outputs a series of coordinates (in pixels) as though one were traveling along the melt pool in a clockwise rotation. <br /><br /> Last, Chapter 5 analyzes these pixel coordinates to extract the melt pool's height. The coordinates are first transformed into real-world coordinates, by use of a perspective transformation. This transformation essentially yields the melt pool's shadow, as created by a light-source coincident with the camera. As a result, the melt pool's height is estimated based upon a right-angle triangle, where the camera's angle is known, and the projected coordinates represent the shadow length (triangle's base). <br /><br /> The result of applying this series of steps to the estimation of clad heights is found at the end of Chapter 5. Results varied dramatically, from 4% error to 393%. Although the errors are large at times, they are mainly caused by a bias in the estimate. That is, the dynamics of the true clad formation are very well predicted by the algorithm, however, shifting by a certain amount. This amount varies both with substrate velocity, and the clad's direction of travel, relative to the camera. A partial explanation is given such that the clad's height is offset from the laser center-point, which is a function of both these parameters. However, the specific relationship requires further experimentation.

Vertical mixing is an important process that relates surface fluxes to concentrations of pollutants and other chemical species in the atmosphere. Errors in vertical mixing have been identified as a major source of uncertainties in various atmospheric modeling efforts including tracer transport, weather forecasting, and regional climate simulation. This thesis aims to quantify uncertainties in model-derived mixed layer heights (zi) over North America through direct comparisons between radiosonde observations and four models at different months of the year 2004 through the bulk Richardson number method. Results of this study suggest that considerable errors in zi exist throughout the region with the spatial and temporal variations of the errors differ significantly among the selected models. Over all, errors in zi were larger in global models than in the limited area mesoscale models, and the magnitude of the random error was two times larger than the bias. Notably, spatial regions of with extremely large positive biases correspond to those with especially large random errors. The biases and random errors, however, were not correlated linearly nor can be easily used to predict each other. Uncertainties in model-derived zi were attributed, through errors in the bulk Richardson number, to temperature and horizontal winds. Errors in both horizontal winds and temperatures were found contributing more or less the same to uncertainties in zi, with relative errors in both variables being the greatest in the lowest part of the troposphere. Lastly, independent observations from the cooperative profiler network suggest that data assimilation did not add qualitative advantages for the comparisons presented in this study. The mixed layer height uncertainties demonstrated in this study may provide a guide for selecting a model to simulate regional scale atmospheric transport and for interpreting flux estimation and inversions studies.

A 3-axis acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) with high sampling rate was used to measure the bed shear stress and turbulence under wave-current interaction conditions in this study. Experimental sites include laboratory tank, Love River in Kaohsiung and Howan coastal waters in Pingtung. Bed shear stress is estimated primarily by the inertial dissipation method, also by the turbulent kinetic energy method and eddy correlation method. Results of the laboratory experiments indicate that the bed shear stress increases as both the flow speed and wave height increase, and the flow speed is a more important factor. Field experiments can be divided into several types. The first type is under slow flows and calm waves. Love River is a typical condition of this type with turbid waters and a low flow speed. During the experimental period the ADV correlations reach 90% or more. Because the river flow is quite small, no significant bed shear stress is produced and u* is mostly less than 1 cm/s. As a result the deposition effect is much larger than erosion, thus a very thick layer of mud is formed on the riverbed. The observations in Howan in April 2010 also reveal the condition of slow flows and small waves, and the bed shear stress is also quite small. Due to the factors of clean coastal waters and weak turbulence in this season, the quality of ADV signals is poor. The second type is under large flows and small waves, as shown from the observations of Howan in April 2011, during which the maximum speed reached 25 cm/s and wave heights less than 20 cm. In this experiment the shear stress is large, the u* are mostly greater than 0.8 cm/s and the value of the drag coefficient is 0.0021; the ADV signals have good quality and the inertial sub-range is well defined. The third type is under weak flows and large waves. The observations of Howan in July 2011 show significant rainfall and maximum wave heights of 90 cm. In this case the u* are mostly centered around 1 cm/s. The acoustic backscatter intensity is positively correlated with the turbidity and wave height. Sizable bed shear stress induced by the orbital velocity of waves contributes a significant part to the total bed shear stress.

The Georgia Department of Transportation has been installing steel pedestals on bridges, ranging in height up to 33½” (0.85m) to increase the vertical clearance of many multi-span simply-supported and multi-span continuous bridges in Georgia. But there is a concern about the performance of these steel pedestals as they are designed without seismic consideration and may perform poorly compared to high-type steel “rocker” bearings, which were found to be unstable supports in previous earthquakes. This research models a candidate bridge using experimental data that captures the force-displacement hysteretic behavior of the steel pedestals. The results show how these steel pedestals behave when subjected to a range of ground motions. Nonlinear time history analysis is conducted using SAP 2000 software on a three-dimensional model of the candidate bridge. In addition, parametric studies of various critical parameters that can affect the seismic performance of the bridge are investigated, such as 1) varying the mass of the structure, 2) varying the stiffness of the deck joint, 3) varying column heights, and 4) seismic retrofitting using cable restrainers. The results show that these pedestals should not be used in regions of high seismicity, and in regions of low seismicity, it is likely that they need to be retrofitted. They can, although, be used safely in regions of low seismicity. In addition, it was shown that the mass of a superstructure and height of the columns significantly affect the behavior of these steel pedestals, and should be given a careful consideration before usage. It was also shown that the stiffness of the expansion joints does not significantly affect the displacement of the steel pedestals and the forces transmitted to them. However, if the expansion joints are too stiff compared to the adjacent bridge components, then the forces transferred during pounding of superstructure is increased significantly.

The objective of this research is the statistical study of space weather e ects on im- age detectors in Low Earth Orbit. The Hubble Space Telescope is used as a resource for acquiring proton a ected images for statistical analysis. For the purpose of the present work, the space weather environment will consist of cosmic as well as solar proton particles. The proton occurrences evident in images from the Hubble Charge Coupled Device (CCD) have been used to calculate the probability of proton events, which is related to the local space weather particle ux. The proton particles transfer energy to the CCD silicon, which ultimately results in measured signal that is not originating from photon illumination. The signal due to the proton interactions is rst separated from the noise contribution and subsequently used in the determi- nation of a pulse height probability distribution. Separation of the noise from the proton events also leads to the measurement of proton streak lengths and orientations along with the associated probability distributions. The directionality of the space weather environment in Low Earth Orbit is examined using the distribution of proton streak angles. Statistics found from the Hubble are also used as a starting point for simulations that create synthetic proton signal images. The distributions resulting from the Hubble CCD analysis give the probability of the: number of proton events, which is related to the ux of the space weather protons; energy of proton events, which allows estimates of damaging proton interactions; length of proton streaks on the CCD, which shows the relative probability of a long traversing proton event; angle of proton event, which indicates the directionality of the space weather environment.

This study analyzed historical hydrographic data consist of 95 years of NODC data and 18 years of NCOR data. Variations of upper-layer current in Luzon Strait and its neighboring Northern South China Sea are investigated by the method of dynamical topography. On the other hand, higher salinity characteristic of the North Pacific Tropical Water (NPTW) is used to trace the water mass distribution and its seasonal variations in the studied area. The result shows that the maximum of x-component velocity (along 120.25˚E, relative to 400 m ) in the Luzon Strait occurs in the middle of the strait, the flow direction is westward and the speed increases toward the surface. At the north and south ends of the strait flows are eastward and the maximum speed core is at the depth of 0~50 m. Horizontal distribution of flow fields indicates that intrusion of the north Pacific waters into the South China Sea through the Luzon Strait in the whole year. Westward bifurcation of the intrusion flows occurs at 20~21˚N. A cyclonic eddy exists in the South China Sea all year-round, and its core is located at about 18˚N, 118˚E. This eddy strengthens as the monsoon prevails with its speed reached in January and February. Annual mean upper-layer transport (0~ 400 m) of the Luzon Strait is estimated to be about 3.5 Sv (positive value means westward) with a maximum value of about 6.5 Sv in December and a minimum value of 1.1 Sv in June. The Upper-layer current of the SCS is dominated by the monsoon. When the northeast monsoon prevails, the currents are affected by the Ekman effect to form high sea surface height in the north and low sea surface height in the south to produce a westward current. On the other hand, strong two coexistent wind stress curls with reversing signs during the northeast monsoon produce a westward current along the line of zero curl in the middle of the strait. The distribution of the NPTW(£m£c=23.5¡ã25.5 kg/m3,S >34.5 psu) is mostly at a depth of 120¡ã130 m in the South China Sea. NPTW were traced at 125 m depth, and the result indicates that this water mass enters the South China Sea through the Luzon strait all year-round. The intrusion path is along the continental slope of south China. The extent of intrusion reaches the maximum between December and February, and the water mass can spread into the South China Sea basin.

A great interest in 3-D modeling in Geographic Information Technologies (GIS) has emerged in recent years, because many GIS related implementations, ranging from urban area design to environmental analysis require 3-D models. Especially the need for 3-D models is quite urgent in urban areas. However, numerous applications in GIS only represent two-dimensional information. The GIS community has been struggling with solving complex problems dealing with 3-D objects using a 2-D approach. This research focused on finding most accurate method which is used for getting height information that is used in 3D modeling of man made structures in urban areas. The first method is estimating height information from floor numbers of the buildings data from municipal database systems. The second method is deriving heights of buildings from Digital Elevation Model (DEM) that is generated from stereo satellite images. The third method is measuring height values of the buildings from 3D view of stereo IKONOS satellite images by operators. The comparisons between these three methods are done with respect to height data collected from field study, and according to these comparisons, the amount of the error is determined. The error is classified according to floor numbers of buildings, so that, the quantified errors can be applied for similar works in future. Lastly, the third method is utilized by the assistance of 10 people who have different experience level about 3D viewing, in order to see the error amount changes according to different operators. Several results are presented with a discussion of evaluation of the methods applied. It is found that, if there is an updated floor number database, obtaining building height is the most accurate way from this database. The second most accurate method is found to be getting height information by using 3D view of stereo IKONOS images through experienced users.