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This dissertation describes development of a procedure for obtaining high quality, optical grade sand coupons from frozen sand specimens of Ottawa 20/30 sand for image processing and analysis to quantify soil structure along with a methodology for quantifying the microstructure from the images. A technique for thawing and stabilizing frozen core samples was developed using optical grade Buehler® Epo-Tek® epoxy resin, a modified triaxial cell, a vacuum/reservoir chamber, a desiccator, and a moisture gauge. The uniform epoxy resin impregnation required proper drying of the soil specimen, application of appropriate confining pressure and vacuum levels, and epoxy mixing, de-airing and curing. The resulting stabilized sand specimen was sectioned into 10 mm thick coupons that were planed, ground, and polished with progressively finer diamond abrasive grit levels using the modified Allied HTP Inc. polishing method so that the soil structure could be accurately quantified using images obtained with the use of an optical microscopy technique. Illumination via Bright Field Microscopy was used to capture the images for subsequent image processing and sand microstructure analysis. The quality of resulting images and the validity of the subsequent image morphology analysis hinged largely on employment of a polishing and grinding technique that resulted in a flat, scratch free, reflective coupon surface characterized by minimal microstructure relief and good contrast between the sand particles and the surrounding epoxy resin. Subsequent image processing involved conversion of the color images first to gray scale images and then to binary images with the use of contrast and image adjustments, removal of noise and image artifacts, image filtering, and image segmentation. Mathematical morphology algorithms were used on the resulting binary images to further enhance image quality. The binary images were then used to calculate soil structure parameters that included particle roundness and sphericity, particle orientation variability represented by rose diagrams, statistics on the local void ratio variability as a function of the sample size, and the local void ratio distribution histograms using Oda's method and Voronoi tessellation method, including the skewness, kurtosis, and entropy of a gamma cumulative probability distribution fit to the local void ratio distribution.
ContributorsCzupak, Zbigniew David (Author) / Kavazanjian, Edward (Thesis advisor) / Zapata, Claudia (Committee member) / Houston, Sandra (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
It is estimated that wind induced soil transports more than 500 x 106 metric tons of fugitive dust annually. Soil erosion has negative effects on human health, the productivity of farms, and the quality of surface waters. A variety of different polymer stabilizers are available on the market for fugitive dust control. Most of these polymer stabilizers are expensive synthetic polymer products. Their adverse effects and expense usually limits their use. Biopolymers provide a potential alternative to synthetic polymers. They can provide dust abatement by encapsulating soil particles and creating a binding network throughout the treated area. This research into the effectiveness of biopolymers for fugitive dust control involved three phases. Phase I included proof of concept tests. Phase II included carrying out the tests in a wind tunnel. Phase III consisted of conducting the experiments in the field. Proof of concept tests showed that biopolymers have the potential to reduce soil erosion and fugitive dust transport. Wind tunnel tests on two candidate biopolymers, xanthan and chitosan, showed that there is a proportional relationship between biopolymer application rates and threshold wind velocities. The wind tunnel tests also showed that xanthan gum is more successful in the field than chitosan. The field tests showed that xanthan gum was effective at controlling soil erosion. However, the chitosan field data was inconsistent with the xanthan data and field data on bare soil.
ContributorsAlsanad, Abdullah (Author) / Kavazanjian, Edward (Thesis advisor) / Edwards, David (Committee member) / Zapata, Claudia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description本文采用2010年1月1日至2017年12月31日在香港主板IPO上市的共574家公司作为研究样本，系统采集包括与发行人、承销商、投资人、发行热度、市场每日交易数据等相关的数据近100项，对超额配售选择权在香港IPO中的实际效用进行实证研究，研究发现：1）超额配售选择的确可以起到提高发行价格，降低IPO抑价率的作用，但是同时也是破发的主要原因。2）由超额配售选择权赋予承销商稳价行为中，市场买入量越大，最大回撤越大，市场下跌风险越大同时超额配售选择权还导致了最大回撤日的推后，增大了稳价结束后的市场风险，而这很有可能是由于承销商追求更高利益造成的。3）没有证据显示，超额配售选择权会降低承销商的佣金比例，但是，超额配售选择权却为承销商带来非常高的额外收益，而这个收益与市场下跌幅度和承销商从市场购买股份的比例直接相关。
其中，本文首次对最大回撤率、最大回撤日与承销商市场买入量之间的关系进行实证研究，揭示了承销商市场买入量与承销商收益正相关，与最大回撤率负相关，与最大回撤日正相关的关系，可能是增加市场下跌风险的因素。这与现有理论中及监管机构的预期中，“超额配售选择权具有向上稳定价格的作用”是有一定偏差的。
根据研究结果，本文首先建议发行人要客观对待超额配售选择权提升发行价格的作用，以免引起破发。其次建议市场投资人要客观认识超额配售选择权的作用，不要由于超额配售选择权的存在给与发行过高的认同价格。再次建议发行人要能够认识到超额配售选择权是承销商零成本获得的一个有固定收益保障的看空期权，是承销商在承销IPO时的收益之一，而股价下跌幅度与承销商的收益正相关。因此要对承销商的稳价行为进行一定管控，同时可以因为超额配售选择权的存在而要求更低的承销佣金比例。最后建议承销商要维护市场公平，爱护自己的声誉，尽可能避免因超额配售选择权的使用对市场造成不应有的干扰。
其中，本文首次对最大回撤率、最大回撤日与承销商市场买入量之间的关系进行实证研究，揭示了承销商市场买入量与承销商收益正相关，与最大回撤率负相关，与最大回撤日正相关的关系，可能是增加市场下跌风险的因素。这与现有理论中及监管机构的预期中，“超额配售选择权具有向上稳定价格的作用”是有一定偏差的。
根据研究结果，本文首先建议发行人要客观对待超额配售选择权提升发行价格的作用，以免引起破发。其次建议市场投资人要客观认识超额配售选择权的作用，不要由于超额配售选择权的存在给与发行过高的认同价格。再次建议发行人要能够认识到超额配售选择权是承销商零成本获得的一个有固定收益保障的看空期权，是承销商在承销IPO时的收益之一，而股价下跌幅度与承销商的收益正相关。因此要对承销商的稳价行为进行一定管控，同时可以因为超额配售选择权的存在而要求更低的承销佣金比例。最后建议承销商要维护市场公平，爱护自己的声誉，尽可能避免因超额配售选择权的使用对市场造成不应有的干扰。
ContributorsXie, Hui (Author) / Gu, Bin (Thesis advisor) / Yan, Hong (Thesis advisor) / Jiang, Zhan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Bicycle stabilization has become a popular topic because of its complex dynamic behavior and the large body of bicycle modeling research. Riding a bicycle requires accurately performing several tasks, such as balancing and navigation which may be difficult for disabled people. Their problems could be partially reduced by providing steering assistance. For stabilization of these highly maneuverable and efficient machines, many control techniques have been applied – achieving interesting results, but with some limitations which includes strict environmental requirements. This thesis expands on the work of Randlov and Alstrom, using reinforcement learning for bicycle self-stabilization with robotic steering. This thesis applies the deep deterministic policy gradient algorithm, which can handle continuous action spaces which is not possible for Q-learning technique. The research involved algorithm training on virtual environments followed by simulations to assess its results. Furthermore, hardware testing was also conducted on Arizona State University’s RISE lab Smart bicycle platform for testing its self-balancing performance. Detailed analysis of the bicycle trial runs are presented. Validation of testing was done by plotting the real-time states and actions collected during the outdoor testing which included the roll angle of bicycle. Further improvements in regard to model training and hardware testing are also presented.
ContributorsTurakhia, Shubham (Author) / Zhang, Wenlong (Thesis advisor) / Yong, Sze Zheng (Committee member) / Ren, Yi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Bicycles and motorcycles offer maneuverability, energy efficiency and acceleration that four wheeled vehicles cannot offer given similar budget for. Two wheeled vehicles have drastically different dynamics from four wheeled vehicles due to their instability and gyroscopic effect from their wheels.
This thesis focuses on self-stabilization of a motorcycle using an active control momentum gyroscope (CMG) and validation of this multi-degree-of-freedom system’s mathematical model. Physical platform was created to mimic the simulation as accurately as possible and all components used were justified. This process involves derivation of a 3 Degree-of-Freedom (DOF) system’s forward kinematics and its Jacobian matrix, simulation analysis of different controller algorithms, setting the system and subsystem specifications, and real system experimentation and data analysis.
A Jacobian matrix was used to calculate accurately decomposed resultant angular velocities which are used to create the dynamics model of the system torque using the Euler-Lagrange method. This produces a nonlinear second order differential equation that is modeled using MATLAB/Simulink. PID, and cascaded feedback loop are tested in this Simulink model. Cascaded feedback loop shows most promises in the simulation analysis. Therefore, system specifications are calculated according to the data produced by this controller method. The model validation is executed using the Vicon motion capture system which captured the roll angle of the motorcycle. This work contributes to creating a set of procedures for creating a validated dynamic model for a CMG stabilized motorcycle which can be used to create variants of other self-stabilizing motorcycle system.
This thesis focuses on self-stabilization of a motorcycle using an active control momentum gyroscope (CMG) and validation of this multi-degree-of-freedom system’s mathematical model. Physical platform was created to mimic the simulation as accurately as possible and all components used were justified. This process involves derivation of a 3 Degree-of-Freedom (DOF) system’s forward kinematics and its Jacobian matrix, simulation analysis of different controller algorithms, setting the system and subsystem specifications, and real system experimentation and data analysis.
A Jacobian matrix was used to calculate accurately decomposed resultant angular velocities which are used to create the dynamics model of the system torque using the Euler-Lagrange method. This produces a nonlinear second order differential equation that is modeled using MATLAB/Simulink. PID, and cascaded feedback loop are tested in this Simulink model. Cascaded feedback loop shows most promises in the simulation analysis. Therefore, system specifications are calculated according to the data produced by this controller method. The model validation is executed using the Vicon motion capture system which captured the roll angle of the motorcycle. This work contributes to creating a set of procedures for creating a validated dynamic model for a CMG stabilized motorcycle which can be used to create variants of other self-stabilizing motorcycle system.
ContributorsMoon, Hansol (Author) / Zhang, Wenlong (Thesis advisor) / Frank, Daniel (Committee member) / Delp, Deana (Committee member) / Sugar, Thomas (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020