Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Mechanical Engineering
Decadal Evolution of Supraglacial Hydrology on the Nivlisen Ice Shelf: From Localized Ponding to Spatially Synchronized Hydrofracture Forcing (2015-2026)
Published: 2026-03-27
Subjects: Computational Engineering, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics
Understanding the mechanical response of Antarctic ice shelves to surface meltwater is critical for evaluating their structural stability. This study presents 11 austral summer seasons (AS 2015-2016 to AS 2025-2026) assessment of supraglacial melt pond dynamics and their mechanical implications for the Nivlisen Ice Shelf grounding zone using Landsat-8/9 imagery combined with in-situ validation [...]
Seasonal Anomaly Detection in the Halda River Using a Multivariate Deep Learning Framework
Published: 2026-03-27
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Monitoring river water quality is essential to preserving ecological integrity, especially in ecologically significant rivers like the Halda, which is renowned for its natural freshwater carp spawning. This study presents a deep learning-based approach using a deep autoencoder neural network for unsupervised anomaly detection in water quality data. Two-year time-series data including daily [...]
Cropland expansion in a nuclear winter with loss of industry
Published: 2025-10-22
Subjects: Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
A nuclear war has the potential to cause an abrupt-sunlight-reduction scenario and the collapse of electricity/industry, disrupting food production and distribution worldwide and creating widespread food insecurity. In this work, we explore the potential of using animal draught as a power source to cultivate current cropland and expand cropland area during a nuclear winter with loss of industry. [...]
Minkowski Functionals as Analytical Predictors of Permeability in Porous Microstructures
Published: 2025-09-19
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Understanding the relationship between microstructure and macroscopic properties in porous media remains crucial for numerous applications in geoscience and engineering. For example, accurate predictability of permeability is essential for optimizing fluid flow processes in applications such as hydrocarbon recovery, groundwater management, and carbon or energy storage. The Kozeny-Carman equation [...]
Experiments to Systematically Evaluate the Role of Cohesion in River Morphodynamics
Published: 2025-07-30
Subjects: Earth Sciences, Engineering, Engineering Science and Materials, Environmental Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Other Engineering, Social and Behavioral Sciences
While cohesion is thought to be an important control on sediment transport, few studies have systematically examined the role of cohesion in river morphodynamics. In this study we use simplified, small-scale laboratory experiments to investigate how increasing sediment cohesion affects the morphometrics of fluvial channels. Experiments were conducted in a laminar flume with a mixture of [...]
Protection of subterranean water infrastructure in an abrupt sunlight reduction scenario
Published: 2025-04-30
Subjects: Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
An abrupt sunlight reduction scenario (ASRS) could result from a nuclear war, supervolcanic eruption, or asteroid/comet impact, reducing global temperatures for over a decade and leaving subterranean water pipes vulnerable to freezing. This paper builds on previous work assessing the extent of vulnerable water pipes in a severe ASRS, and assesses the feasibility of two methods of pipe protection: [...]
Nanogeios Nanoliquid CO₂ – Performance Evaluation of Hybrid Nanofluid-Enhanced Liquid CO₂ for Advanced District and Data Center Cooling Applications
Published: 2025-03-23
Subjects: Chemical Engineering, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Engineering, Engineering Science and Materials, Mechanical Engineering, Neuroscience and Neurobiology, Other Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics
This study presents a comprehensive evaluation of a novel hybrid nanofluid-enhanced liquid CO₂, engineered to address cooling challenges in water-scarce environments. Developed by NanoGEIOS, the fluid combines graphene oxide (GO) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in a 1:1 ratio (2 vol%) and is optimized using AI-powered NanoFusion dispersion technology. The nanofluid exhibits a 77% increase in thermal [...]
Performance and Stability Analysis of a GEIOS Proprietary Ionic Nanofluid for Medium to High-Temperature Geothermal Applications
Published: 2025-03-03
Subjects: Chemical Engineering, Engineering, Engineering Science and Materials, Environmental Sciences, Mechanical Engineering, Other Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Physics
This study investigates the performance and stability of a proprietary ionic nanofluid developed by GEIOS Technologies for medium to high-temperature geothermal applications. The nanofluid integrates boron nitride nanoparticles, proprietary surface modifiers, and quantum-optimized additives to enhance thermal conductivity, heat transfer efficiency, and operational stability in closed-loop [...]
Wood gasification in catastrophes: Electricity production from light duty vehicles
Published: 2025-01-28
Subjects: Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Following global catastrophic infrastructure loss (GCIL), traditional electricity networks would be unavailable, necessitating alternative solutions to sustain critical services, such as decentralized electricity generation from wood gas. This study explores the feasibility of using modified light duty vehicles to self-sustain electricity generation by producing wood chips for wood gasification. [...]
Be clever or be cold: repurposed ovens for space heating following global catastrophic infrastructure loss
Published: 2024-08-09
Subjects: Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Global catastrophic infrastructure loss (GCIL) would disrupt energy supply networks, prohibiting heating in houses reliant on electricity or piped natural gas. Cold climates would require alternative heating methods, as space heating is critical to survival. This work assesses the viability of converting household appliances to wood-burning stoves, and the scalability of such conversions. A [...]
The Spectrum of Fault Slip in Elastoplastic Fault Zones
Published: 2023-03-31
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Geophysics and Seismology, Mechanical Engineering
Natural faults are typically surrounded by damage zones that exhibit inelastic material response. This study investigates the role of fault zone strength in modulating the spectrum of fault slip across different spatio-temporal scales. We carry out long-term simulations of seismic and aseismic slip for an elastoplastic spring slider model with rate-and-state friction as well as a continuum model [...]
Evidence of Early Supershear Transition in the Feb 6th 2023 Mw 7.8 Kahramanmaraş Turkey Earthquake From Near-Field Records
Published: 2023-02-15
Subjects: Aerospace Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Mw7.8 Kahramanmaraş Earthquake was larger and more destructive than what had been expected for the tectonic setting in Southeastern Turkey. By using near-field records we provide evidence for early supershear transition on the splay fault that hosted the nucleation and early propagation of the first rupture that eventually transitioned into the East Anatolian fault. We also find, for the [...]
Robust Probabilities of Detection and Quantification Uncertainty for Aerial Methane Detection: Examples for Three Airborne Technologies
Published: 2022-06-17
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Climate, Environmental Monitoring, Mechanical Engineering, Oil, Gas, and Energy, Statistical Methodology, Statistical Models
Thorough characterization of probabilities of detection (POD) and quantification uncertainties is fundamentally important to understand the place of aerial measurement technologies in alternative means of emission limitation (AMEL) or alternate fugitive emissions management programs (Alt-FEMP); monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) efforts; and surveys designed to support [...]
Experimental investigation of fire spread across a vegetative fuel bed incorporating the effect of wind velocity
Published: 2022-05-10
Subjects: Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Wind, moisture content, and density of fuel are three environmental factors that affect the rate of fire spread in wildland fires by changing the rate of convection, radiation, and conduction heat transfer from the flames and burned fuels to the unburned fuel. These effects have been experimentally investigated in the current study to further understand the complex phenomena of wildland fire [...]
Spatio-temporal clustering of seismicity enabled by off-fault plasticity
Published: 2021-12-06
Subjects: Applied Mechanics, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Dynamics and Dynamical Systems, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Engineering Mechanics, Engineering Science and Materials, Geophysics and Seismology, Mechanical Engineering, Mechanics of Materials, Other Mechanical Engineering, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Tribology
While significant progress has been made in understanding earthquake source processes in linear elastic domains, the effect of more realistic rheologies including plasticity is poorly understood. Here, we simulate sequence of earthquake and aseismic slip of a 2D antiplane rate-and-state fault embedded in a full-space elastic-plastic bulk. We show that off-fault plasticity may lead to partial [...]