A. James Clark School of Engineering

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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.

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    Estimating snow mass in North America through assimilation of AMSR-E brightness temperature observations using the Catchment land surface model and support vector machines
    (2018-04-16) Xue, Yuan; Forman, Barton; Reichle, Rolf; Forman, Barton
    To estimate snow mass across North America, multi-frequency brightness temperature (Tb) observations collected by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) from 2002 to 2011 were assimilated into the Catchment land surface model using a support vector machine (SVM) as the observation operator as part of a one-dimensional ensemble Kalman filter. The performance of the assimilation system is evaluated through comparisons against ground-based measurements and publicly-available reference SWE and snow depth products. Assimilation estimates agree better with ground-based snow depth measurements than model-only (“open loop”, or OL) estimates in approximately 82% (56 out of 62) of pixels that are colocated with at least two ground-based stations. In addition, assimilation estimates tend to agree better with all snow products over tundra snow, alpine snow, maritime snow, as well as sparsely-vegetated snow-covered pixels. Improvements in snow mass via assimilation translate into improvements in cumulative runoff estimates when compared against discharge measurements in 11 out of 13 major snow-dominated basins in Alaska. These results prove that a SVM can serve as an efficient and effective observation operator for snow mass estimation within a radiance assimilation system.
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    Model Development for Gadolinia-doped Ceria-based Anodes in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
    (2014) Wang, Lei; Jackson, Greg S; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Intermediate temperature (500 &ndash 700 °C) solid oxide fuel cells (IT&ndashSOFCs) with gadolinia&ndashdoped ceria (GDC) electrolytes have significant commercial potential due to reduced materials costs for seals and interconnect and improved performance with high oxide&ndashion conductivity at these temperatures. As an SOFC anode component in the reducing anode environments, GDC offers enhanced catalytic activity and tends to suppress carbon deposition in composite Ni/GDC anodes. The current study investigates relevant kinetics on GDC anodes for IT&ndashSOFC applications. Simultaneous electrochemical characterization and X&ndashray photoelectron spectroscopy of thin&ndashfilm Ni/GDC and Au/GDC electrochemical cells provide a basis for understanding pathways for H2 and CO electrochemical oxidation as well as H2O splitting on GDC and GDC composite electrodes. Differences in electrochemical performance of Ni/GDC and Au/GDC electrodes at temperatures below 650 °C reveal limitations of GDC surfaces in promoting electrooxidation under conditions of low polaron (electron) mobility. These results also suggest the role of the metal in promoting hydrogen spillover to facilitate change transfer reactions at the Ni/GDC interface. Variation in OH- concentration at the metal/GDC interface with operating temperature, effective oxygen partial pressure, and electric bias provides valuable insight into the nature of electrochemical and other heterogeneous reactions in IT&ndashSOFC anodes. A detailed kinetic model for the GDC surface reactions and Ni/GDC charge&ndashtransfer reactions of H2 oxidation and H2O electrolysis is developed based on electrochemical characterization and spectroscopic analysis of GDC surface electrochemistry. The thermodynamically consistent kinetic model is able to capture the observed chemical and electrochemical processes on the thin&ndashfilm Ni/GDC electrode. A full three&ndashdimensional IT&ndashSOFC stack model is developed with simplified kinetics to evaluate GDC&ndashbased anode performance with H2 and methane&ndashderived fuels. The stack model explores the effects of operating condition on performance of stacks with GDC electrolytes and Ni/GDC anodes. The parametric study results of stack model provide essential information for optimizing performance of IT&ndashSOFCs stack and guiding IT&ndashSOFC design. Temperature distribution in non&ndashisothermal model result suggests that internal CH4 reforming can be used as an effective thermal management strategy to maintain high current densities and cell voltages and to lower risk to thermo&ndashmechanical degradation.
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    UNDERSTANDING DIRECT BOROHYDRIDE - HYDROGEN PEROXIDE FUEL CELL PERFORMANCE
    (2013) Stroman, Richard O'Neil; Jackson, Gregory S; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Direct borohydride fuel cells (DBFCs) generate electrical power by oxidizing aqueous BH4- at the anode and reducing an oxidizer, like aqueous H2O2 for an all-liquid fuel cell, at the cathode. Interest in DBFCs has grown due to high theoretical energy densities of the reactants, yet DBFC technology faces challenges such as side reactions and other processes that reduce cell efficiency and power generation. Relationships linking performance to cell design and operation will benefit from detailed and calibrated cell design models, and this study presents the development and calibration of a 2D, single-cell DBFC model that includes transport in reactant channels and complex charge transfer reactions at each electrode. Initial modeling was performed assuming ideal reactions without undesirable side reactions. Results were valuable for showing how design parameters impact ideal performance limits and DBFC cell voltage (efficiency). Model results showed that concentration boundary layers in the reactant flow channels limit power density and single-pass reactant utilization. Shallower channels and recirculation improve utilization, but at the expense of lower cell voltage and power per unit membrane area. Reactant coulombic efficiency grows with decreasing inlet reactant concentration, reactant flow rate and cell potential, as the relative reaction rates at each electrode shift to favor charge transfer reactions. To incorporate more realistic reaction mechanisms into the model, experiments in a single cell DBFC were performed to guide reaction mechanism selection by showing which processes were important to capture. Kinetic parameters for both electrochemical and critical heterogeneous reactions at each electrode were subsequently fitted to the measurements. Single-cell experiments showed that undesirable side reactions identified by gas production were reduced with lower reactant concentration and higher supporting electrolyte concentration and these results provided the basis for calibrating multi-step kinetic mechanism. Model results with the resulting calibrated mechanism showed that cell thermodynamic efficiency falls with cell voltage while coulombic utilization rises, yielding a maximum overall efficiency operating point. For this DBFC, maximum overall efficiency coincides with maximum power density, suggesting the existence of preferred operating point for a given geometry and operating conditions.
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    Rotorcraft Brownout Mitigation Through Flight path Optimization Using a High Fidelity Rotorcraft Simulation Model
    (2012) Alfred, Jillian; Celi, Roberto; Aerospace Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Brownout conditions often occur during approach, landing, and take off in a desert environment and involve the entrainment and mobilization of loose sediment and dust into the rotor flow field. For this research, a high fidelity flight dynamics model is used to perform a study on brownout mitigation through operational means of flight path. In order for the high fidelity simulation to model an approach profile, a method for following specific profiles was developed. An optimization study was then performed using this flight dynamics model in a comprehensive brownout simulation. The optimization found a local shallow optimum approach and a global steep optimum approach minimized the intensity of the resulting brownout clouds. These results were consistent previous mitigation studies and operational methods. The results also demonstrated that the addition of a full rotorcraft model into the brownout simulation changed the characteristics of the velocity flow field, and hence changing the character of the brownout cloud that was produced.
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    Agent-Based Models of Highway Investment Processes: Forecasting Future Networks under Public and Private Ownership Regimes
    (2012) Yusufzyanova, Dilya; Zhang, Lei; Civil Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The present highway funding system, especially fuel taxes, may become a less reliable revenue source in the future, while the transportation public agencies do not have sufficient financial resources needed to meet the increasing traffic demand. In the last two decades there has been increasing interest in utilizing private sector to develop, finance and operate new and existing roadways in the United States. While transportation privatization projects have shown signs of success, it is not always clear how to measure the true benefits associated with these projects for all stakeholders, including the public sector, the private sector and the public. "Win-win" privatization agreements are tricky to make due to conflicting nature of the various stakeholders involved. Therefore, there is a huge need to study the welfare impacts of various road privatization arrangements for the society as a whole, and the financial implications for private investors and public road authorities. In order to address these needs, first, an empirical analysis is performed to study the investment decision processes of public transportation agencies. Second, the agent-based decision-making model is developed to consider transportation investment processes at different levels of government which forecasts future transportation networks and their performance under both existing and alternative transportation planning processes. Third, various highway privatization schemes currently practiced in the U.S. are identified and an agent-based model for analyzing regulatory policies on private-sector transportation investments is developed. Fourth, the above mentioned models are demonstrated on the networks with grid and beltway topologies to study the impacts of topology configuration on the privatization arrangements. Based on the simulation results of developed models, a number of insights are provided about impacts of ownership structures on the socio-economic performance in transportation systems and transportation network changes over time. The proposed models and the approach can be used in long-run prediction of economic performance intended for describing a general methodology for transportation planning on large networks. Therefore, this research is expected to contribute significantly to the understanding and selecting proper road privatization programs on public networks.
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    A Probabilistic-Mechanistic Approach to Modeling Stress Corrosion Cracking Propagation in Alloy 600 Components with Applications
    (2011) Wu, Gary; Modarres, Mohammad; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is a major degradation mechanism of Alloy 600 steam generator (SG) tubes composed of three main stages: crack incubation, crack initiation and crack propagation. Since SG tubes act as a barrier between the radioactive material and the atmosphere, SCC becomes a critical failure mechanism that jeopardizes safety and integrity. As such, this research proposes a probabilistic-mechanistic approach focused on modeling SCC propagation of Alloy 600 SG tubes with uncertainty. The approach is presented in two parts; the first is an empirical model and the second is a simulation process. To provide a background, this research provides an overview of SCC fundamentals, nuclear power generation and SGs, as well as specifics regarding SG tube degradation. Simulation of SCC on Alloy 600 SG tubes in primary water provided logical results. Future work in this research is also discussed at the end of this paper.
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    LEAD-FREE ELECTRONICS USE AND REPAIR DYNAMIC SIMULATION
    (2009) Chaloupka, Andrew Charles; Sandborn, Peter A; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The conversion from tin-lead to lead-free electronics has increased concern amongst engineers about the reliability of electronic assemblies. In order to communicate the impact of the conversion in terms of cost and availability, a simulation of electronic systems at the LRU level to and through a repair facility was created. The model includes the effects of repair prioritization, multiple possible failure mechanisms, no-fault-founds, and un-repairable units. Example analyses were performed on electronic assemblies that use SAC and SnPb solder using a repair process modeled after a NSWC Crane Aviation Repair Process. The case studies revealed that LRUs exposed to usage profiles characteristic of aerospace and high performance applications, high thermal cycling temperatures with short dwell times, SAC exhibited significantly increased repair costs when compared to tin-lead. Prioritizing LRUs and increasing the rate of deployment had no significant impact on the cost or availability metrics for the cases considered.
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    RELIABILITY MODEL AND ASSESSMENT OF REDUNDANT ARRAYS OF INEXPENSIVE DISKS (RAID) INCORPORATING LATENT DEFECTS AND NON-HOMOGENEOUS POISSON PROCESS EVENTS.
    (2007-04-10) Elerath, Jon; Pecht, Michael; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Today's most reliable data storage systems are made of redundant arrays of inexpensive disks (RAID). The quantification of RAID system reliability is often based on models that omit critical hard disk drive failure modes, assume all failure and restoration rates are constant (exponential distributions), and assume the RAID group times to failure follow a homogeneous Poisson process (HPP). This paper presents a comprehensive reliability model that accounts for numerous failure causes for today's hard disk drives, allows proper representation of repair and restoration, and does not rely on the assumption of a HPP for the RAID group. The model does not assume hard disk drives have constant transition rates, but allows each hard disk drive "slot" in the RAID group to have its own set of distributions, closed form or user defined. Hard disk drive (HDD) failure distributions derived from field usage are presented, showing that failure distributions are commonly non-homogeneous, frequently having increasing hazard rates from time zero. Hard disks drive failure modes and causes are presented and used to develop a model that reflects not only complete failure, but also degraded conditions due to undetected, but corrupted data (latent defects). The model can represent user defined distributions for completion of "background scrubbing" to correct (remove) corrupted data. Sequential Monte Carlo simulation is used to determine the number of double disk failures expected as a function of time. RAID group can be any size up to 25. The results are presented as mean cumulative failure distributions for the RAID group. Results estimate the number of double disk failures can be as much as 5000 times greater than that predicted over 10 years when using the mean time to data loss method or Markov models when the characteristic lives of the input distributions is the same. Model results are compared to actual field data for two HDD families and two different RAID group sizes and show good correlation. Results show the rate of occurrence of failure for the RAID group may be increasing, decreasing or constant depending on the parameters used for the four input distributions.