Publications

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Image segmentation is one of the most important and difficult tasks in digital image processing. It represents a key stage of automated image analysis and interpretation. Segmentation algorithms for gray-scale images utilize basic properties of intensity values such as discontinuity and similarity. However, it is possible to enhance edge-detection capability by means of using spectral information provided by multispectral (MS) or hyperspectral (HS) imagery. In this paper we consider image segmentation algorithms for multispectral images with particular emphasis on detection of multi-color or multispectral edges. More specifically, we report on an algorithm for joint spatio-spectral (JSS) edge detection. By joint we mean simultaneous utilization of spatial and spectral characteristics of a given MS or HS image. The JSS-based edge-detection approach, termed Spectral Ratio Contrast (SRC) edge-detection algorithm, utilizes the novel concept of matching edge signatures. The edge signature represents a combination of spectral ratios calculated using bands that enhance the spectral contrast between the two materials. In conjunction with a spatial mask, the edge signature give rise to a multispectral operator that can be viewed as a three-dimensional extension of the mask. In the extended mask, the third (spectral) dimension of each hyper-pixel can be chosen independently. The SRC is verified using MS and HS imagery from a quantum-dot in a well infrared (IR) focal plane array, and the Airborne Hyperspectral Imager.

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In ductile metals, sliding contact is often accompanied by severe plastic deformation localized to a small volume of material adjacent to the wear surface. During the initial run-in period, hardness, grain structure and crystallographic texture of the surfaces that come into sliding contact undergo significant changes, culminating in the evolution of subsurface layers with their own characteristic features. Here, a brief overview of our ongoing research on the fundamental phenomena governing the friction-induced recrystallization in single crystal metals, and how these recrystallized structures with nanometer-size grains would in turn influence metallic friction will be presented. We have employed a novel combination of experimental tools (FIB, EBSD and TEM) and an analysis of the critical resolved shear stress (RSS) on the twelve slip systems of the FCC lattice to understand the evolution of these friction-induced structures in single crystal nickel. The later part of the talk deals with the mechanisms of friction in nanocrystalline Ni films. Analyses of friction-induced subsurfaces seem to confirm that the formation of stable ultrafine nanocrystalline layers with 2-10 nm grains changes the deformation mechanism from the traditional dislocation mediated one to that is predominantly controlled by grain boundaries, resulting in significant reductions in the coefficient friction.

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The Wind and Water Power Program supports the development of marine and hydrokinetic devices, which capture energy from waves, tides, ocean currents, the natural flow of water in rivers, and marine thermal gradients, without building new dams or diversions. The program works closely with industry and the Department of Energy's national laboratories to advance the development and testing of marine and hydrokinetic devices. In 2008, the program funded projects to develop and test point absorber, oscillating wave column, and tidal turbine technologies. The program also funds component design, such as techniques for manufacturing and installing coldwater pipes critical for ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) systems. Rigorous device testing is necessary to validate and optimize prototypes before beginning full-scale demonstration and deployment. The program supports device testing by providing technology developers with information on testing facilities. Technology developers require access to facilities capable of simulating open-water conditions in order to refine and validate device operability. The program has identified more than 20 tank testing operators in the United States with capabilities suited to the marine and hydrokinetic technology industry. This information is available to the public in the program's Hydrodynamic Testing Facilities Database. The program also supports the development of open-water, grid-connected testing facilities, as well as resource assessments that will improve simulations done in dry-dock and closed-water testing facilities. The program has established two university-led National Marine Renewable Energy Centers to be used for device testing. These centers are located on coasts and will have open-water testing berths, allowing researchers to investigate marine and estuary conditions. Optimal array design, development, modeling and testing are needed to maximize efficiency and electricity generation at marine and hydrokinetic power plants while mitigating nearby and distant impacts. Activities may include laboratory and computational modeling of mooring design or research on device spacing. The geographies, resources, technologies, and even nomenclature of the U.S. marine and hydrokinetic technology industry have yet to be fully understood or defined. The program characterizes and assesses marine and hydrokinetic devices, and then organizes the collected information into a comprehensive and searchable Web-based database, the Marine and Hydrokinetic Technology Database. The database, which reflects intergovernmental and international collaboration, provides industry with one of the most comprehensive and up-to-date public resources on marine and hydrokinetic devices.

The aerodynamic performance and aeroacoustic noise sources of a rotor employing flatback airfoils have been studied in field test campaign and companion modeling effort. The field test measurements of a sub-scale rotor employing nine meter blades include both performance measurements and acoustic measurements. The acoustic measurements are obtained using a 45 microphone beamforming array, enabling identification of both noise source amplitude and position. Semi-empirical models of flatback airfoil blunt trailing edge noise are developed and calibrated using available aeroacoustic wind tunnel test data. The model results and measurements indicate that flatback airfoil noise is less than drive train noise for the current test turbine. It is also demonstrated that the commonly used Brooks, Pope, and Marcolini model for blunt trailing edge noise may be over-conservative in predicting flatback airfoil noise for wind turbine applications.

Prior work on active aerodynamic load control (AALC) of wind turbine blades has demonstrated that appropriate use of this technology has the potential to yield significant reductions in blade loads, leading to a decrease in wind cost of energy. While the general concept of AALC is usually discussed in the context of multiple sensors and active control devices (such as flaps) distributed over the length of the blade, most work to date has been limited to consideration of a single control device per blade with very basic Proportional Derivative controllers, due to limitations in the aeroservoelastic codes used to perform turbine simulations. This work utilizes a new aeroservoelastic code developed at Delft University of Technology to model the NREL/Upwind 5 MW wind turbine to investigate the relative advantage of utilizing multiple-device AALC. System identification techniques are used to identify the frequencies and shapes of turbine vibration modes, and these are used with modern control techniques to develop both Single-Input Single-Output (SISO) and Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) LQR flap controllers. Comparison of simulation results with these controllers shows that the MIMO controller does yield some improvement over the SISO controller in fatigue load reduction, but additional improvement is possible with further refinement. In addition, a preliminary investigation shows that AALC has the potential to reduce off-axis gearbox loads, leading to reduced gearbox bearing fatigue damage and improved lifetimes.

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