This work presents a control algorithm developed from the mammalian emotional processing network. Emotions are processed by the limbic system in the mammalian brain. This system consists of several components that carry out different tasks. The system level understanding of the limbic system has been previously captured in a discrete event computational model. This computational model was modified suitably to be used as a feedback mechanism to regulate the output of a continuous-time first order plant. An extension to a class of nonlinear plants is also discussed. The combined system of the modified model and the linear plant are represented as a set of bilinear differential equations valid in a half space of the 3-dimensional real space. The bounding plane of this half space is the zero level of the square of the plant output. This system of equations possesses a continuous set of equilibrium points which lies on the bounding plane of the half space. The occurrence of a connected equilibrium set is uncommon in control engineering, and to prove stability for such cases one needs an extended Lyapunov-like theorem, namely LaSalle's Invariance Principle. In the process of using this Principle, it is shown that this set of equations possesses a first integral as well. A first integral is identified using the compatibility method, and this first integral is utilized to prove asymptotic stability for a region of the connect equilibrium set.

Sensorless control of the synchronous reluctance motor has been a topic of research for more than a decade, producing several successful methods to accomplish this goal. However, a technique that has been overlooked is the full-order nonlinear observer, which is essentially a software model of the motor driven by measurements from the actual motor. Presented in this thesis is the design, implementation, and experimental testing of a full-order observer-based sensorless control technique which requires only the phase current and voltage measurements that are typically available in standard three-phase inverters. A technique is also presented for calculating a table of observer feedback gains parameterized only by the steady-state motor speed. This allows a gain-scheduling observer to be implemented which, as shown using experiments, improves the transient response of the observer over a wide speed range. The sensorless controller consists of a full-order nonlinear observer coupled with an input-output linearization speed controller. The resulting controller was implemented in Simulink and executed on a dSPACE DS1103 real-time DSP board using the Real-Time Workshop extension to Simulink. A custom built three-phase IGBT inverter was used to interface the DSP to a 100 watt synchronous reluctance motor for laboratory testing. The resulting sensorless controller was able to successfully track a varying speed reference from 150 rpm to 1800 rpm with a tracking error under 5% for most of the speed range. At the lowest speeds, the tracking error begins to increase but the observer remains stable down to 150 rpm.

This research studies higher harmonics of Rayleigh surface waves propagating in nickel base superalloys. Rayleigh waves are used because they carry most of the energy and travel along the surface of a specimen where fatigue damage is typically initiated. The energy concentration near the free surface leads to stronger nonlinear effects compared to bulk waves. An ultrasonic piezoelectric transducer together with a plastic wedge is used for the experimental generation of the Rayleigh wave. The detection system consists of a laser heterodyne interferometer. Measurements are performed to detect the fundamental wave as well as the second harmonic. The amplitude ratio is related to the nonlinearity parameter beta which is typically used to describe changes in microstructure and investigate fatigue damage.

This study presents experimental works and finite element (FE) analyses for understanding nonlinear thermo-viscoelastic behaviors of multilayered (pultruded) composites under tension. Uniaxial isothermal creep tests in tension are conducted on Eglass/ Polyester pultruded composites of 0o, 45o and 90o off-axis fiber orientations subject to combined temperatures and stresses. The temperatures range from 0°F to 125°F, and stress levels range from 20% to 60% of the ultimate tensile strength of the composite specimen. The creep responses seem to accelerate with temperature for higher temperatures (75oF to 125oF) and do not behave in any particular manner for lower temperatures (0oF to 50oF). Isochronous curves of time-dependent material responses show that the nonlinearity increases with time and also temperature for higher temperatures while there is no particular trend seen at lower temperatures. Also, the creep responses of the axial specimens show negligible nonlinearity when compared to that of the transverse and 45o off-axis specimens. The Poisson’s effect is studied and orthotropic material symmetry conditions are satisfied. A nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive model, based on convolution integral equation, is presented for orthotropic materials. The nonlinear stress-temperature-dependent material parameters are coupled in the product form and are calibrated using the experimental data. Overall good predictions are shown but for a slight mismatch in the prediction of the responses at temperatures below 50 o F owing to the random behavior of the creep responses at lower temperatures. The numerical integration algorithm for the nonlinear viscoelastic model of orthotropic composite materials developed by Sawant and Muliana (2008) was used to integrate the constitutive material model to FE structural analyses. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to check for error in experiments by numerically simulating the testing procedure. A practical structural analysis is carried out on composite slabs using ABAQUS and our model is used to predict the responses of slabs under combined stress and temperature loading.

Hot mix asphalt (HMA) is a composite material which consists of aggregates, air voids and asphalt materials. The HMA response is typically described to be viscoelastic-viscoplastic, and its response is a function of temperature, stress/strain rate, and stress/strain level. Many researches have shown that the viscoelastic response of asphalt mixtures can be nonlinear once the stress/strain value exceeds a certain threshold level. This study presents a nonlinear viscoelastic-viscoplastic model for describing the behavior of asphalt materials under various conditions. A new method is developed in this study for separating the viscoelastic response from the viscoplastic response. The first part of this study focuses on the implementation of Schapery nonlinear viscoelastic model in finite element (FE) using a user-defined material subroutine (UMAT) within the ABAQUS commercial software. The FE implementation employs the recursive-iterative integration algorithm, which can improve the convergence and save the calculating time. The verification of the nonlinear viscoelastic model is achieved by analyzing (1) the response of asphalt mixtures tested in the Simple Shear Test (SST) at several temperatures and stress levels, (2) the response of unaged and aged asphalt binders tested in the Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR), and (3) the response of asphalt binders in the multiple stress creep recovery test (MSCR). In the second part of this study, the nonlinear viscoelastic-viscoplastic constitutive relationship is implemented using UMAT. The viscoplastic component of the model employs Perzyna’s theory with Extended Drucker-Prager yield surface which is modified to account for the difference in material response under compression and extension stress states. The study includes parametric analysis to illustrate the effect of nonlinear viscoelastic parameters and viscoplastic parameters on the asphalt mix response. The capability of the model in describing the fatigue and permanent deformation distresses of asphalt pavements is illustrated using finite element simulations. The constitutive model developed in this study can describe the behavior of asphalt materials (asphalt binder, asphalt mastic and mixtures) under various testing conditions. This study also achieved the FE implementation of a nonlinear viscoelasticviscoplastic constitutive model that can simulate the fatigue and permanent deformation distresses of asphalt pavement structures.

Abstract Spread spectrum technique modifies the signal spectrum to spread it out and increase its bandwidth. There are two major methods in spread spectrum technique: direct sequence and frequency hopping. The resistance capability of jamming signal for frequency hopping system is better than that for direct sequence system. Two types of frequency hopping techniques can be distinguished. In ¡§fast frequency hopping¡¨ the period of a frequency-hop is smaller than a data symbol-period while in ¡§slow frequency hopping¡¨ the period of a frequency-hop is larger than a data symbol-period. Fast frequency hopping systems have the advantages that the error correction codes are not needed and diversity can be applied. The disadvantage of fast frequency hopping system is that coherent data detection is not possible because of phase discontinuities. Traveling wave tube amplifier is often used in satellite communications. It has nonlinear characteristics which can be classified as nonlinear amplitude and phase distortions toward the output signals. Certain backoff input power makes the amplifier work within the linear region. However, in order to have more output power, the amplifier usually operates in the saturation region and in consequence serious nonlinear signal distortion would be introduced. In this thesis, the effect of nonlinear amplifier on a frequency hopping multiple access (FHMA) system with binary frequency shift keying is discussed. In the simulation, two types of nonlinear amplifiers, traveling wave tube amplifier and solid state power amplifier, are applied to the FHMA system. Tradeoff between power efficiency and performance degradation is determined by the index of total performance degradation, which is obtained from simulation. With known single carrier output power, third-order intermodulation, and same input power, the bit error rate performance is also analyzed.

Abstract Tidal wave may be distorted when entering the river of large topography variations. The traditional tidal harmonic may not be applied well to data collected in such a shallow river. Godin (1998) indicated that the hydrodynamics of rivers is dominated by the damping and the distortion induced by quadratic bottom friction. This research try to analyze the distortion of tidal wave in the Tanshui River (northern Taiwan) based on field measurements. Sea levels data are collected at fours stations along the lower river: Pole (4km offshore), Tanshui harbor(on the coast), Kuan-Do Bridge (7km inland) and Yuan-Shan Bridge (18km inland). The total distance of the four stations is 22 km. The synchronizing sampling period is January 10 to February 28 of 2001 (50 days). The analysis is trying to identify the following issues. (1) The transformation of tidal wave from coastal into the river and upper stream. (2) The errors of tidal prediction based on harmonic analysis. Several different conditions are examined including spring-neap tides, influence of fresh water output and peaks of high-low water. The influence of bottom friction of the inner river stations is emphasized. The results show that distortion of tidal wave is more pronounce inside the river. The main reason is explained due to the strength of bottom friction, which is proportional to the flow velocity. (1) During spring tide, a stronger flow contributes a larger bottom friction. (2) A higher water level (h) may have a faster wave speed ( ) that high water occurred before the forecast. The deviation in high water also is more significant than that of low water. (3) River flow increases the water level and cause the deviation of wave propagation inside the river.

Both of dianhydride and diamines are made to synthesize second-order nonlinear optical polyimides containing side-chained benzobisthiazole based chromophores by method of chemical cycle. Then, this study regarded high Tg and high thermal stability of polyimides as main-chain of polymers and this study regarded high dipolemoment of chromophores as side-chain of polymers Finally, combine two parts into two kind of nonlinear optical polyimides. By changing the structure of main-chain and side-chain, chromophore poled can reduce space-hinder and enhance the electrooptical coefficient r33. This study can identify functional group, the larger absorption wavelength and dissocation temperature of structure of nonlinear optical polyimides by instruments of IR, UV, TGA,¡Ketc. In the measurement of nonlinear optics, polymers owning both of larger dipoleminents and -ether group are regularly poled in characterisitc orientation. Therefore, these polymers have a higher electrooptical coefficient r33. In this results, the r33 of NLO-PIB film is 7.70 pm/V and the r33 of NLO-PIB film is 7.64 pm/V at room temperature.

In this study, we extend the rigidity and resonance of benzobisthiazole for the application as second-order nonlinear optics. A novel nonlinear optical polyimide (NLO-PI) containing side-chained benzobisthiazole- based chromophore has been synthesized. A hydroxyl- containing PI (W2) was prepared using direct thermal imidization of 4,4'-diamino-4"- hydroxytriphenylmethane(DHTM) and 4,4¡¦-(hexafluoroisopropylidene) diphthalic anhydride; the benzobisthiazole-based chromophore was then prepared using 2,5-diamino-1,4- benzenedithiol dihydrochloride as the starting monomer. The final NLO-PI was obtained by the Mitsunobu reaction via ether linkage between W2 and the chromophores. This ether linkage is expected to provide chain flexibility for better orientation under electric field during poling. The C=C bonds inside the chromophores also provide more orientation probabilities and conjugation length. Formation of benzobisthiazole-based chromophore and the corresponding NLO-PI was evidenced by FTIR and UV-vis spectra. TGA reveal a thermal decomposition temperature as high as 350oC, respectively. The electrooptic coefficient of the NLO-PI at a wavelength of 830nm was found to be r33=9.75 pm/V.

Based on a series of study to improve the electrooptic coefficient (r33) of nonlinear optical polyimides (NLO-PI) containing benzobisthiazole- based chromophores in our lab, this work concentrated on the modification of the benzobisthiazole-based chromophore VIII (r33 = 6.62 pm/V). At first, a hydroxyl-containing polyimide was first synthesized by using dianhydride and diamine as reactants via thermal imidization and the benzobisthiazole-based chromophores were synthesized by using DABDT as the starting monomer. The NLO precursors were obtained by the Mitsunobu reaction via ether linkage between PI and chromophore; it was then cured at 300¢J to result in the final NLO-PI. The benzobisthiazole-based chromophore of VIII was modified with an insertion of the ethoxy group between the NLO moiety and the main PI backbone to get the NLO-V-1. This method makes the chromophore easier to orient under the electric field during poling; thus a higher r33 (7.4 pm/V) is ensured. NLO-V-2 is another modified sample which had a phenyldiazene group inserted into the chromophore of VIII to increase the conjugated length; this results in a red shifts from 390 nm (VIII) to 484 nm in UV-abs spectrum but the r33 (5.8 pm/V) has only a slight improvement.