Figure spanning full width of page in two-column article

For starters I might try to put the figure* block further up in the document, just to check that LaTeX isn't placing it there for a logical reason.

If that doesn't work, I would remove all extraneous commands in the figure* block to be sure they aren't causing problems.

Finally I might try using a figure that doesn't need resizing, or use [width=0.9\linewidth] just to check; sometimes figures that are "too big" can get bumped to the end of the document.

Edit: You may also try using (temporarily) a different template. For example I know that revtex4-1 has a figure* environment that behaves the way to want, to check if ieeetran is the problem or perhaps if that is part of their style.

the problem is the [h]. get rid of that, it'll work.