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Enhanced Biofouling Properties Of Polyethersulfone Membranes Using Multi-Functional Thermo-Responsive Polymers For Ultra-Filtration Applications, Homa Ghasemi

Theses and Dissertations

The accumulation and growth of microorganisms on a membrane surface, known as membrane biofouling, has been a significant issue in the effective use of membrane technology for water and wastewater treatment. To overcome these challenges, this study aimed to modify the surface of a polyethersulfone (PES) membrane through the use of a multi-functionalized thermo-responsive polymer. The primary objectives of chemical treatment on membrane surfaces are to enhance surface hydrophilicity and provide anti-bacterial/biocidal properties.To evaluate the effectiveness of these modifications, the performance of the modified membranes was tested for their ability to resist biofouling through filtration of bovine serum albumin (BSA), …

Multi-Order Modeling Of Linear Magnetic Motor System, Ming-Jen Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Numerical simulations have been proven to be a powerful tool for predicting, testing, and validating the capabilities of new designs. However, given the high demand for simulating extremely complicated geometries and nonlinear physical phenomena, simulations can often be significantly time consuming. Consequently, the development of high-precision reduced-order models becomes indispensable to reduce computational time. In this study, we simplified and characterized an industrial motion system based on linear magnetic motor technology using accurate full 3-D numerical model. The system behavior was explored through various scenarios, including extreme conditions, to gain a deeper understanding of its thermal behavior during operation. The …

Dendrite Growth Suppression And In-Situ Surface Observation Of Lithium Battery Under An Optical Microscope, Tianyao Ding

Theses and Dissertations

Dendrite growth is a major obstacle to the commercialization of Li metal batteries. A dendrite formed on a Li anode can cause thermal run-aways and permanent capacity loss. An in-situ optical techniques is considered as one of the major methods to study the dendrites growth behaviors and morphologies real-time. A home-designed in-situ optical cell with a digital optical microscope was used to investigate the behavior of Li deposition on a metallic Li electrode under different electrochemical operation conditions. The impacts of electrolytes, additives and cycling conditions on the dendrite formation were investigated. Guiding by the in-situ optical observation results, polycyclic …

Methodology For Designing Assistive Robots For Activities Of Daily Living Assistance, Javier Dario Sanjuan De Caro

Theses and Dissertations

The growing prevalence of Upper or Lower Extremities Dysfunctions (ULED), often linked to central nervous disorders such as stroke, Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), and Multiple Sclerosis (MS), underscores the urgent need for innovative support solutions. Over 5.35 million Americans currently live with ULED, a situation that places a significant socioeconomic burden on families and society. Despite invaluable support from caregivers and family members, the need for more scalable, practical solutions persists.

Wheelchair-mounted assistive robots emerge as a promising alternative in this context. These devices, offering continuous and reliable assistance, significantly alleviate caregiver fatigue and enhance the independence and quality of …

Study Of The Various Charactertics Of A Helical Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Compared To A Straight Bladed Darrieus Design, Patrick Quinlan

Theses and Dissertations

As the wind energy market continues to expand, the need for a more diverse range of wind turbine technologies becomes increasingly apparent. Horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) have become the standard design for wind turbines over the past few decades and have been the go-to design used in wind farms both on land and off-shore. However, in residential and urban environments other types of turbine designs can help expand the reach of wind energy. Specifically, vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) have shown potential for new applications of wind turbines in areas that are less suitable for typical HAWTs. The most …

Design, Development, And Control Of A Robotic Gripper For Activities Of Daily Living (Adl) Assistance., Jaime Rafael Hernandez

Theses and Dissertations

This research contributes to developing a robotic gripper designed to improve the performance of assistive robots to help people with upper limb impairment due to stroke, injury, and other trauma. As developed in this research, the gripper for assistive robots (GAR) can be an alternative solution to the existing robotic grippers increasing the benefits in different ways, including the cost/benefits ratio and the range of graspable objects.

The GAR has been designed with simplicity in mind with a minimum viability approach. The design, construction, control, and operation of this robotic hand have been simplified with a minimal number of custom-made …

Wheelchair-Mounted Assistive Robot For Activities Of Daily Living: Design, And Validation, Elias Jose Munoz Montenegro

Theses and Dissertations

In the last decades, the number of wheelchair users has been increasing at an alarmingrate. Part of these individuals has an upper or lower dysfunction (ULED) resulting from a stroke, spinal cord injury, trauma, accident, or workplace injuries. Due to this, these patients need assistance to conduct their activities of daily living (ADLs). Hence, Wheelchair-Mounted Assistive Robots (WMAR) have a crucial role in Individuals with ULED. This research focuses on the design optimization, development, and validation of WMARs for essential ADLs. The design aims to obtain the link lengths with the most workspace coverage. Moreover, the analysis includes singularity avoidance …

Mechanical Erosion Investigation Through The Solid Rocket Motor’S Nozzle, Mohamed Ahmed Abdelazim Abousabae

Theses and Dissertations

The solid rocket motor (SRM) is considered one of the essential engines that facilitatesaerospace research; thus, investigating the propellant burning process is vital. One of the challenges facing its growth is the oxidization of the aluminum into aluminum oxide at the exhaust’s high pressures and temperatures. The oxidized aluminum forms agglomerates, impinge on the exit nozzle walls, causing severe damage (erosion) to the nozzle material. Thus, the present work attempts to investigate and reduce this erosion. Two different approaches are followed in the current work, the first one aims to better understand the aluminum oxide agglomerates break-up mechanism and the …

Study Of The Various Charactertics Of A Helical Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Compared To A Straight Bladed Darrieus Design, Patrick Quinlan

Theses and Dissertations

As the wind energy market continues to expand, the need for a more diverse range of wind turbine technologies becomes increasingly apparent. Horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) have become the standard design for wind turbines over the past few decades and have been the go-to design used in wind farms both on land and off-shore. However, in residential and urban environments other types of turbine designs can help expand the reach of wind energy. Specifically, vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) have shown potential for new applications of wind turbines in areas that are less suitable for typical HAWTs. The most …

Development Of An Upper Limb Telerehabilitation System, Md Mahafuzur Rahaman Khan

Theses and Dissertations

Upper limb dysfunction (ULD) is common following a stroke, spinal cord injury, trauma, and occupational accidents. Post-stroke patients with ULD need long-term assistance from therapists for their rehabilitation, which generally occurs at the hospital or outpatient clinic. Travel and transportation are significant factors that prevent patients from receiving adequate therapy, often leading to long-term disability. A home-based rehabilitation device providing essential arm movement therapies can significantly ease this rehabilitation program. In this research, we developed an end-effector type Desktop-Mounted Rehabilitation Robot (DMRbot) with a minimum viable design to cover the full range of human upper limb (UL) workspace to provide …

Enhancement Of Energy Efficiency For Thermal Energy And Biomass Driven Applications, Osama Mansour Selim Elsayed

Theses and Dissertations

The importance of gas turbine blades is to convert the thermal energy into shaft work output, which makes the turbine blades are one of the critical components of the gas turbines. Besides the mechanical stresses caused by the centrifugal force and the fluid forces, the thermal stresses arise because of the temperature gradient within the blade materials. This paper aims to have a uniform circumferential temperature field at the combustor exit, consequently reducing the thermal stresses caused by the non-uniform temperature distribution along the turbine blade. The validation of the simulation results with the experiments showed an acceptable agreement with …

Experimental And Numerical Investigation Of The Effect Of Newly Tested Blades On The Aerodynamic Performance And Power Output Of A Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine, Alaa Sayed Mahmoud Hasan

Theses and Dissertations

There is no doubt that the effects of global warming are obvious for every human being on the Earth now. Therefore, the need to develop carbon dioxide-free sources of electricity is urgent. Wind Turbines are one of these most essential recently developed sources. For that reason, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee founded the wind tunnel lab., equipped with the state-of-the-art research tools, to take part in this procession.In chapter (3) of this thesis it is desired to investigate in detail the scenario that takes place behind a single wind turbine unit by focusing on three parameters; average axial wind velocity component, …

Developing And Investigating A Fast And Controllable Prelithiation Method For Lithium-Ion Batteries, Huainan Qu

Theses and Dissertations

Prelithiation is to pre-load Li ions in a Li-ion electrode prior to a formation cycle. A chemical, roll-to-roll prelithiation method was developed in this thesis research. The method can be applied to different anode materials. The prelithiation compensated the initial loss of lithium during the formation cycles of a lithium-ion battery (LIB). Eventually, the initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) was significantly increased. In addition, the cyclability of a prelithiated battery was highly related to the quality of the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) on the anode surface. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was a major technique to evaluate the difference of the SEI …

Triboinformatic Approaches For Surface Characterization: Tribological And Wetting Properties, Md Syam Hasan

Theses and Dissertations

Tribology is the study of surface roughness, adhesion, friction, wear, and lubrication of interacting solid surfaces in relative motion. In addition, wetting properties are very important for surface characterization. The combination of Tribology with Machine Learning (ML) and other data-centric methods is often called Triboinformatics. In this dissertation, triboinformatic methods are applied to the study of Aluminum (Al) composites, antimicrobial, and water-repellent metallic surfaces, and organic coatings.Al and its alloys are often preferred materials for aerospace and automotive applications due to their lightweight, high strength, corrosion resistance, and other desired material properties. However, Al exhibits high friction and wear rates …

Development Of A Novel Telemanipulation Framework For Human-Robot Collaboration Using Ptc Thingworx And Vuforia Studio, Preet Parag Modi

Theses and Dissertations

Significant advancements in contemporary telehealth care applications are enforcing the demand for effective and intuitive telerehabilitation tools. The current techniques for observing live process parameters of robots frequently require complex and inefficient methods, which fundamentally limits the human administrator's ability to settle on the most educated decisions possible. Telemanipulation can minimize the distance and costs in varieties of robot applications, including industry for object manipulation and robot-aided rehabilitation. This research aims to develop a novel telemanipulation framework to deliver robot-assisted rehabilitation using PTC ThingWorx’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and Vuforia Studio’s Augmented Reality (AR) platforms. This communication architecture is …

Optimization Of The Microfluidic Dielectrophoresis Trap Configuration For Nanoparticle Manipulation, Mohammad Rizwen Ur Rahman

Theses and Dissertations

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is an electrokinetic phenomenon in which neutral but polarizable particles suspended in a liquid medium experience a net movement due to a force generated from the permittivity difference between the liquid medium and the particles when subjected to a non-uniform electric field. We have developed a microfluidic particle trapping system using alternating current (AC) based DEP force for trapping spherical polymeric beads and biological particles. The DEP microfluidic device was constructed using orthogonal electrode configuration and fitted with three different basic geometric shapes, i.e., triangular, square, and circular. Effect of trap shape on particle trapping dynamics was quantitatively …

Theoretical And Computational Modeling Of Contaminant Removal In Porous Water Filters, Aman Raizada

Theses and Dissertations

Contaminant transport in porous media is a well-researched problem across many scientific and engineering disciplines, including soil sciences, groundwater hydrology, chemical engineering, and environmental engineering. In this thesis, we attempt to tackle this multiscale transport problem using the upscaling approach, which leads to the development of macroscale models while considering a porous medium as an averaged continuum system.

First, we describe a volume averaging-based method for estimating flow permeability in porous media. This numerical method overcomes several challenges faced during the application of traditional permeability estimation techniques, and is able to accurately provide the complete permeability tensor of a porous …

Development Of A 7 Dof Exoskeleton Robot For Rehabilitation Of Lower Extremity, Sk Hasan

Theses and Dissertations

The World Health Organization reports that worldwide about 1 billion people have some form ofdisability. Of these, 110-190 million people have significant difficulties in functioning (mainly upper and lower extremity disability) independently. The major causes of human lower extremity disability include stroke, trauma, spinal cord injuries, and muscular dystrophy. Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a stroke. A statistic shows that approximately 65% of post-stroke patients suffer lower extremity impairment. Rehabilitation programs are the main method to promote functional recovery in disabled individuals. The conventional therapeutic approach requires a long commitment from a therapist or a clinician. …

Bonding Evaluation Of Graphene-Oxide Layers On Flexible Substrates, Maysam Rezaee

Theses and Dissertations

Flexible electronics are getting interest in development of field effects transducers such as biomedical health screening tools, structural health monitoring in infrastructures, aerospace, vehicular industries and cell phones. As a promising candidate for flexible electronics, graphene-based devices have been developed through exceptional electrochemical and thermomechanical properties of graphene. Reducing the graphene oxide enables creation of large scale devices through its high manufacturability. Same as other types of electronics, the bonding of sensing units to the substrate is significantly dependent to the deposition method used for the fabrication of device. In this study, the mechanical strength of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) …

Understanding Heterostructure Chemiresistive Gas Sensing At Room Temperature, Yale Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Chemiresistive sensors are the most widely investigated gas sensors due to their ease in fabrication, cost-effectiveness, simplicity of operation, and offer advances in miniaturization. Up to date, typical and well-researched resistive-type sensing materials include semiconductor metal oxides, noble metals, carbon-based nanomaterials (e.g., graphene and carbon nanotubes), and conducting polymers. Gas sensors based on a single material were found difficult to meet the practical requirements for multi-sensing properties, including sensitivity, selectivity, speed of response/recovery, stability, limit of detection, and room temperature operation. Rational design through a combination of chemically or electronically dissimilar nanomaterials is an effective route to enhancing gas sensing …

Improvements Of Renewable Energy: Cavitation Treatment And Optimization Of Hybrid System For Remote Areas, Mohammad Qandil

Theses and Dissertations

The optimization of turbines hydrofoils is to improve the efficiency and lifetime of the hydro turbines. Air treatment is one of the methods to reduce the cavitation effect and improve hydro turbines performance. It is necessary to utilize Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis and to generate cavitation at different Angle of Attack (AoA) for the hydrofoil and test a variety of designs of air injection slots through the hydrofoil to optimize the best design. StarCCM+ software is used for CFD simulations. The hydrofoil is tested in a square water tunnel with water entering the tunnel at different velocities for each …

Characterization And Optimization Of The Electrochemical Phosphate Sensor, Rakesh Sen

Theses and Dissertations

This research implies making a noble low cost-effective electrochemical sensor based on the fabrication of AM (Ammonium Molybdate) and Py (Pyrrole) nanocomposite to detect phosphate in water. The developed sensor was tested with various concentrations of phosphate solutions in a wide range of pH (pH 6-pH 7.5) to determine the sensitivity and lower detection limit. With the lowest detection limit of 10-11 mol/L, an Ammonium Molybdate and Pyrrole (AM-Py as a layer) nanocomposite modified screen-printed electrode (SPE) produced the best signal using the open-circuit voltammetry (OCV) method. To observe the pH effect on the proposed sensor, it was tested with …

Development Of Novel Compound Controllers To Reduce Chattering Of Sliding Mode Control, Mehran Rahmani

Theses and Dissertations

The robotics and dynamic systems constantly encountered with disturbances such as micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) gyroscope under disturbances result in mechanical coupling terms between two axes, friction forces in exoskeleton robot joints, and unmodelled dynamics of robot manipulator. Sliding mode control (SMC) is a robust controller. The main drawback of the sliding mode controller is that it produces high-frequency control signals, which leads to chattering. The research objective is to reduce chattering, improve robustness, and increase trajectory tracking of SMC. In this research, we developed controllers for three different dynamic systems: (i) MEMS, (ii) an Exoskeleton type robot, and …

Scaling And Entropic Approaches To Clusters In Materials Science And In Network, Prosun Roy

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis we have studied, is about scaling and entropic content in various networks related to the material science, colloids and biological systems. The thesis is based on two papers:⦁ Nosonovsky M.; Roy P. Allometric scaling law and ergodicity breaking in the vascular system. Microfluidics and Nanofluidic-Springer. 2020 [Chapter 2 and 3] ⦁ Nosonovsky M.; Roy P. Scaling and Entropy in colloidal and neural networks. Entropy-MPDI. 2020 [Chapter 5 to 7] In chapter 2, we investigate scaling properties of vascular networks with fractal topology. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation of blood flow through one bifurcating vessel has been illustrated to …

Numerical And Experimental Investigation Of Aeration Self Mixing By Using Pulsating And Continuous Air Flow, Ahmed Ali Alkhafaji

Theses and Dissertations

Wastewater treatment is considered one of the most common forms of pollution control in the united states. Considered as an integral part of the wastewater treatment, the aeration process is the most energy-consuming process among all the processes that take place in any wastewater treatment plant. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a wastewater treatment plant is expected to remove at least 85% of the suspended solids and dissolved organic compounds from the wastewater before discharging it to a river or a lake. The normal operation of the aeration process is by compressing air continuously to basin …

Designing And Investigating A Novel Biodegradable-Nontoxic Mg-Mn-Zn-Na-K Alloying System, Murtatha Mohammed Jamel

Theses and Dissertations

Magnesium has been studied extensively due to the promising potential of using magnesium alloys in different applications, especially for biomedical implantation devices and other medical applications. This growing interest is due to the abundance of magnesium metal in the Earth's crust, as well as the fact that magnesium is 37% less dense than aluminum, has good mechanical properties, and is a nontoxic element with good biocompatibility. However, most Mg-based alloys contain alloying elements that are added to improve the mechanical properties but have toxic characteristics. At the same time a number of these alloys are still used in medical applications. …

Intelligent Therapeutic Robot: Design, Development, And Control, Asif Al Zubayer Swapnil

Theses and Dissertations

This research contributes to developing an Intelligent Therapeutic Robot (iTbot) designed to provide therapy to patients with upper limb impairment due to stroke, injury, and other trauma. This robot aims to implement robotic rehabilitation based on principles of motor rehabilitation and Neuroplasticity. The iTbot, as developed in this research, can provide end-effector type rehabilitation exercises in various configurations, including motion in the vertical and horizontal plane. It can provide passive, active, and active-assisted rehabilitation therapies to patients with limited upper limb mobility.

The iTbot has been designed with simplicity in mind with a minimum viability approach. With a minimum amount …

The Instability Of Verge-Foliot Clocks In Contrast With The Isochronicity Of Pendulum Clocks: A Study Of Verge-Foliot Kinematics, Aaron Seth Blumenthal

Theses and Dissertations

The tower clocks of Europe starting in the 13th century CE employed a verge-foliot mechanism, which was low in both precision and accuracy due to the sensitivity of frictional losses in the system. The pendulum and Huygens’ introduction of the Theory of Involutes is shown to be a mechanism with a linear relationship to frictional losses in the system, instead of the non-linear relationship between frictional losses in verge-foliot mechanisms. The isochrone nature of vibrations of the pendulum are discussed in contrast to the variance in oscillation seen in verge-foliots. The introduction of the pendulum resulted in an improvement of …

Design And Development Of A 7 Dof Robot With Ergonomic Shoulder For Upper Limb Rehabilitation, Md Rasedul Islam

Theses and Dissertations

With the increase of stroke patients, the number of upper limb dysfunction is increasing day by day. Robotic intervention in upper limb (UL) rehabilitation of post-stroke patients has gained much traction in recent years. Though many research groups have developed exoskeletons, existing exoskeletons have limitations in both hardware design and control approaches. In most cases, rehabilitative robotic devices have not considered the movement of the shoulder joint’s center (center of glenohumeral joint); however, this movement leads to misalignment between human joints and robot joints, which is undesirable in any circumstances. To ensure better human-robot interaction (HRI), allowing mobility of shoulder …

Investigation Of Co-Pyrolysis And Co-Gasification Of Chicken Manure And Rice Husk, Juan Camilo Espindola Canon

Theses and Dissertations

Renewable energy is gaining more attention to supply the increasing energy demand worldwide. Currently, biomass is gaining popularity because this energy source offers several flexibilities in terms of the products that can be obtained out of the biomass (such as petroleum-like fuels, hydrogen, fertilizer, and solid fuels). There are different technologies to obtain the desired products out of the biomass (such as biological, physical, and thermochemical conversions). Among the thermochemical technologies, pyrolysis and gasification have the advantages of being faster, cleaner and produce more valuable fuels than the other technologies. However, gasification and pyrolysis technologies are expensive and very sensitive …