Browsing by Author "Porfiri, Maurizio"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Analysis by Meshless Local Petrov-Galerkin Method of Material Discontinuities, Pull-in Instability in MEMS, Vibrations of Cracked Beams, and Finite Deformations of Rubberlike Materials
    Porfiri, Maurizio (Virginia Tech, 2006-04-27)
    The Meshless Local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) method has been employed to analyze the following linear and nonlinear solid mechanics problems: free and forced vibrations of a segmented bar and a cracked beam, pull-in instability of an electrostatically actuated microbeam, and plane strain deformations of incompressible hyperelastic materials. The Moving Least Squares (MLS) approximation is used to generate basis functions for the trial solution, and for the test functions. Local symmetric weak formulations are derived, and the displacement boundary conditions are enforced by the method of Lagrange multipliers. Three different techniques are employed to enforce continuity conditions at the material interfaces: Lagrange multipliers, jump functions, and MLS basis functions with discontinuous derivatives. For the electromechanical problem, the pull-in voltage and the corresponding deflection are extracted by combining the MLPG method with the displacement iteration pull-in extraction algorithm. The analysis of large deformations of incompressible hyperelastic materials is performed by using a mixed pressure-displacement formulation. For every problem studied, computed results are found to compare well with those obtained either analytically or by the Finite Element Method (FEM). For the same accuracy, the MLPG method requires fewer nodes but more CPU time than the FEM.
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    The Effect of Geography and Citizen Behavior on Motor Vehicle Deaths in the United States
    Abaid, Nicole; Macinko, James; Silver, Diana; Porfiri, Maurizio (PLOS, 2015-04-07)
    Death due to motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) remains a leading cause of death in the US and alcohol plays a prominent role in a large proportion of these fatalities nationwide. Rates for these incidents vary widely among states and over time. Here, we explore the extent to which driving volume, alcohol consumption, legislation, political ideology, and geographical factors influence MVC deaths across states and time. We specify structural equation models for extracting associations between the factors and outcomes for MVC deaths and compute correlation functions of states’ relative geographic and political positions to elucidate the relative contribution of these factors. We find evidence that state-level variation in MVC deaths is associated with time-varying driving volume, alcohol consumption, and legislation. These relationships are modulated by state spatial proximity, whereby neighboring states are found to share similar MVC death rates over the thirty-year observation period. These results support the hypothesis that neighboring states exhibit similar risk and protective characteristics, despite differences in political ideology.
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    Gait Detection in Children with and without Hemiplegia Using Single-Axis Wearable Gyroscopes
    Abaid, Nicole; Cappa, Paolo; Palermo, Eduardo; Petrarca, Maurizio; Porfiri, Maurizio (PLOS, 2013-09-04)
    In this work, we develop a novel gait phase detection algorithm based on a hidden Markov model, which uses data from foot-mounted single-axis gyroscopes as input. We explore whether the proposed gait detection algorithm can generate equivalent results as a reference signal provided by force sensitive resistors (FSRs) for typically developing children (TD) and children with hemiplegia (HC). We find that the algorithm faithfully reproduces reference results in terms of high values of sensitivity and specificity with respect to FSR signals. In addition, the algorithm distinguishes between TD and HC and is able to assess the level of gait ability in patients. Finally, we show that the algorithm can be adapted to enable real-time processing with high accuracy. Due to the small, inexpensive nature of gyroscopes utilized in this study and the ease of implementation of the developed algorithm, this work finds application in the on-going development of active orthoses designed for therapy and locomotion in children with gait pathologies.
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    Reverse social contagion as a mechanism for regulating mass behaviors in highly integrated social systems
    Porfiri, Maurizio; De Lellis, Pietro; Aung, Eighdi; Meneses, Santiago; Abaid, Nicole; Waters, Jane S.; Garnier, Simon (Oxford University Press, 2024-06-26)
    Mass behavior is the rapid adoption of similar conduct by all group members, with potentially catastrophic outcomes such as mass panic. Yet, these negative consequences are rare in integrated social systems such as social insect colonies, thanks to mechanisms of social regulation. Here, we test the hypothesis that behavioral deactivation between active individuals is a powerful social regulator that reduces energetic spending in groups. Borrowing from scaling theories for human settlements and using behavioral data on harvester ants, we derive ties between the hypermetric scaling of the interaction network and the hypometric scaling of activity levels, both relative to the colony size. We use elements of economics theory and metabolic measurements collected with the behavioral data to link activity and metabolic scalings with group size. Our results support the idea that metabolic scaling across social systems is the product of different balances between their social regulation mechanisms.
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    Synthesis of electric networks interconnecting PZT actuators to efficiently damp mechanical vibrations
    Porfiri, Maurizio (Virginia Tech, 2000-12-12)
    The aim of this thesis is to show that it is possible to damp mechanical vibrations in a given frame, constituted by Euler beam governed by the equations of an elastica, by means of piezoelectric actuators glued on every beam and interconnected each other via electrical networks.Since we believe that the most efficient way to damp mechanical vibrations by means of electrical networks, is to realize a strong modal coupling between the electrical and the mechanical motion, we will synthesize a distributed circuit analog to the Euler beam.We will approach this synthesis problem following the black box approach to mechanical systems, studied by many engineers and scientists during the 1940's in an attempt to design analog computers.It will be shown that it is possible to obtain a quick energy exchange between its mechanical and electrical forms, using available piezoelectric actuators.Finally we will study a numerical simulation for the damping of transverse vibrations of a beam clamped at both ends.