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Evaluation Of Sterling Silver As A Contacting Material For The Cathode Chamber Of The Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell, John Sakacsi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In recent years the operating temperature of the SOFC has been reduced to ~800C, making it possible to use silver in the fabrication of the cell stack. Silver is attractive due to its high conductivity, ductility and the fact that it does not form non-conductive scales that could reduce the performance of the fuel cell stack. This research focuses on the development and testing of candidate materials, utilizing silver, in a simulated cathode environment using a simple tube furnace and air supply. Test specimens were fabricated using simple powder metallurgy techniques or by the oxidation of specific alloys to create …

Design Of Iteration On Hash Functions And Its Cryptanalysis., Mridul Nandi Dr.

Doctoral Theses

No abstract provided.

Studies On Pairing-Based And Constant Round Dynamic Group Key Agreement., Ratna Dutta Dr.

Doctoral Theses

This thesis describes research that I conducted during the course of my Ph.D. study at Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata. I hope that this work is of use and will be carried on.I would like to begin by thanking my supervisor, Prof. Rana Barua for his support and endless patience. He has provided me background in Cryptography, Combinatorics and Theory of Automata during the period 2000-2002 of my course work of M.Tech in Computer Science at Indian Statistical Institute. I really appreciate his extraordinary patience in reading my numerous inferior drafts, for listening and analyzing all my ideas, forcing me …

An Experimental Study On The Buoyancy-Driven Motion Of Air Bubbles In Square Channels, Vinod Bulusu

Master's Theses and Capstones

The motion of drops and bubbles in confined domains is encountered in several applications such as oil recovery, solvent extraction, paper-making, and microfluidics, among others. In this thesis, the motion of air bubbles in square capillaries moving under the influence of gravity is studied at finite Reynolds numbers. The steady shapes, deformations, film thickness, and velocities of the bubbles as a function of the bubble size are determined experimentally. The bulk fluid phase is either Newtonian, viscoelastic, or a surfactant solution. Bubbles rising in a Newtonian fluid are nearly spherical at lower bubble volumes and become prolate losing their fore …

Optimization Of Pcb Dechlorination With Palladized Magnesium In Marine And Freshwater Sediments, Irina Calante

Master's Theses and Capstones

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are one of the most persistent and toxic pollutants in our environment today. Many rivers and lakes were heavily polluted with PCBs during the 1970s when their use and production was at their highest demand. Today, more than 30 years after they have been banned from production they continue to be one of the top priority contaminants. Their characteristic stability has made them very recalcitrant to physical, chemical and biological degradation. Remediation in soils and sediments are particularly more difficult due to the variability in the soil and sediment characteristics that affect how strongly PCBs are sorbed. …

Design And Implementation Of A 10 Gigabit Ethernet Xaui Test Systems, Meghana Reddy Kundoor

Master's Theses and Capstones

10 Gigabit Ethernet has been standardized (IEEE 802.3ae), and products based on this standard are being deployed to interconnect MANs, WANs, Storage Area Networks, and very high speed LANs. The XAUI portion of the standard is primarily concerned with short range (up to 50 cm) chip-to-chip communication across printed circuit board traces. The UNH-IOL 10 Gigabit Ethernet Consortium, an industry-supported organization, performs PHY layer testing on products using a test system that has been partially implemented on a Xilinx ML321 evaluation board using the Virtex II-Pro FPGA.

A new implementation of the 10 Gigabit Ethernet XAUI test system on the …

Degradation Of Methyl Tert Butyl Ether, Priya Saripalli

Master's Theses and Capstones

Methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) is the most common oxygenated fuel additive used in gasoline to improve combustion and reduce air emissions. MTBE is commonly found in natural water as contaminate from gasoline spills. Remediation of the contaminated water is difficult by traditional treatments. In this thesis, degradation of MTBE using Fenton's reaction was studied. The effect of pH, concentration of ferric ammonium sulfate and hydrogen peroxide on the removal efficiency of MTBE was studied and optimum conditions were determined experimentally. A maximum conversion of 90% was achieved when 0.14 M MTBE was reacted with 1.1 g/L ferric ammonium sulfate …

Analyte Rebinding Of Optimized Molecularly Imprinted Polymers In Water, Sayantan Roy

Master's Theses and Capstones

A series of non-covalent Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) were prepared using caffeine and guanosine separately as template molecules. A wide variety of MIPs were prepared by varying a number of formulation parameters, including the template, recognition monomer, crosslinking agent and porogen types and concentrations. The specificity and selectivity of the MIPs were determined by rebinding studies in an aqueous medium using HPLC detection and the results were supported by gas adsorption experiments. Rebinding conditions, such as the pH and MIP concentration were also varied to determine the best conditions for analyte recognition. By using variety of polymerization conditions the particle …

Trigraph Latency As A Method To Infer Fatigue During Typing, Bhagirathi Nagaraju

Master's Theses and Capstones

Due to the use of computers for long durations and prolonged typing on keyboards many computer users are suffering from Repetitive Strain Injuries. In this thesis keystroke dynamics, specifically the changes in the trigraph latencies of some words are analyzed to infer fatigue during typing. These dynamics are collected using a software application and are represented as bar-graphs for data analysis. The technology developed is completely seamless and does not require any hardware modifications. The investigation here is one aspect of the integrated effort to infer fatigue from typing dynamics.

The thesis is divided into three phases. In the first …

Multi-Axial Anisotropic Material Behavior Using A Collection Of Yield Surfaces To Model The Stress-Space Coupling Phenomena, Mirjana Marusic

Master's Theses and Capstones

In the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco-Bay area and also the 1994 Northridge earthquake in Southern California, several buildings experienced significant damage because of inadequate member design. The existing codes of practice used for the structural design approximate the effects of nonlinear material behavior. This work formulates a nonlinear anisotropic material model for systems subjected to biaxial loading conditions such that the true nature of material degradation can be identified. This would aide structural designers in being able to predict accurate cyclic deformations under large earthquake events. The proposed model investigates anisotropic material behavior under bi-axial loading …

Quantitative Assessment Of In-Vehicle-Generated Emi In A Real-World Environment, Maxim Khankin

Master's Theses and Capstones

Interference generated by electronic equipment inside a vehicle can interfere with radio reception even though that equipment is in compliance with FCC standards. The result of that interference is an undesired reduction in radio coverage at frequencies where the interference exists.

The contribution of this work is a method for measuring electromagnetic interference (EMI) generated by in-vehicle electronic equipment when external radiation is present. The approach is to identify regions in the spectrum where externally generated signals exist and then to bypass those regions when measuring interference from in-vehicle-equipment. Using the FCC database of licensed radiation sources to identify those …

Treatment Of Dioxin/Furan And Pcn Contaminated Sediments With Palladized Magnesium, Linda M. Rauch

Master's Theses and Capstones

Sediments contaminated with dioxins/furans and polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) have been the subject of little study although they are equal, if not more significant, contributors than PCBs to toxicity at selected sites. The reaction of a bimetal catalyst, palladized magnesium (Mg/Pd, 0.01% by weight Pd) with these contaminants was studied in solvents and sediments.

The reaction for single congeners in solvent resulted in 69-95% removal in 30 minutes. The detection of dibenzo-p-dioxin for the dioxin reaction and naphthalene/tetralin for the PCN reaction demonstrated dechlorination. A 24 hour sediment reaction with Mg/Pd resulted in 48% and 71% reduction for spiked sediments (500 …

Modeling Of A Soft Sensitive Marine Silty Clay Deposit For A Landfill Expansion Study, John Roche

Master's Theses and Capstones

An in situ testing program and finite element modeling of Presumpscot Formation glaciomarine clays in South Portland, Maine was undertaken as part of a landfill expansion feasibility study. The very soft sensitive silty clay foundation soils have been monitored during the 20 year lifespan of the landfill facility by an array of settlement platforms, inclinometers, piezometer clusters and periodic field shear vane tests. During this time large horizontal displacements have been observed at a discrete elevation corresponding to a zone of reduced undrained shear strength. Proposals call for a vertical expansion at the site above existing landfill cells. While this …

Modeling Of Diffusional Creep And Stress Relaxation In Copper Grains During Manufacturing Of Microelectronic Integrated Circuits, Vasyl M. Grychanyuk

Doctoral Dissertations

The finite element technique was developed to study diffusional creep and stress relaxation in Cu grains with several atomic monolayers thick grain boundary region of enhanced diffusivity. The model was motivated by the need to study nanoscale back-end interconnect structures of microelectronic circuits. These structures have the length scale that does not conform to the assumptions of classical dimensional theories of diffusional creep.

Both diffusion and elasticity governing equations are considered in the coupled formulation of mass flow and stress analysis. Vacancy concentration field in the grains subjected to external load is coupled to stress field through diffusional creep strains. …

Converting Ccsd Prototype Elementary School Into Leed(Tm) Rated Building, Jagandeep Singh

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The study focuses on researching whether CCSD Prototype Elementary School can be turned into a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building without major design modifications, to the materials and orientation of the builDing The study discusses the need for a prototype building, which might not be suitable for the site. The study discusses the need of green building, the major green building rating systems in use today and the reasons for choosing LEED. LEED rating system was studied in detail and the prototype elementary school building was evaluated over the LEED criteria. Then the school building was recommended …

Post-Yield Nonlinear Behavior Of Structural Steel Beam-Column Elements, Josif Bicja

Master's Theses and Capstones

The presented method of analysis has the unique feature in its exact inclusion of the coupling between axial force, primary and secondary moments and their conjugate axial and bending strains, and, most importantly, the incorporation of the effect of curvature along the length of the member. Degradation of the material, once yielding has occurred at certain locations is accurately modeled, and the structural behavior for in-plane lateral dynamic loading of 2D shear frame beam-columns is predicted with particular reference to material nonlinearity and taking into consideration any geometrically nonlinear effects. Using detailed incremental procedures, the stress-strain relationship is derived for …

Prototype Remote Vehicle Diagnostics For Police Cruisers, Sung Yun Kim

Master's Theses and Capstones

The goal of this thesis was to suggest ways of evaluating the health of police cruisers without bringing these cruisers into a repair facility. The prototype in-car application was developed. The hardware connection was made between the in-car network and the Project54 network. The software was built to collect, process, and send the vehicle information to the server via a telecommunication tool. The prototype in-car application was tested in simulation and on the road. After the development of the prototype in-car application, the radio traffic research gives a few recommended methods for sending the car health information in the New …

A User-Friendly System To Measure Electromyographic Activity Of Dancers, Jianhua Zhou

Master's Theses and Capstones

A data acquisition system aided by virtual instrumentation was developed to measure electromyographic activity of the dancers. The system is composed of three main components: (1) Analog front-end with signal conditioning, (2) USB serial interface based A/D conversion, and (3) virtual instrumentation designed in LabView tools. The proposed system is able to accurately collect the magnitude of jump force and displayed the data using virtual instruments with alarm functions. The signal path is well-conditioned and processed, which makes the device suitable for feasibility studies for future research.

Improving The Policy Making Process In Municipal Solid Waster Management: Learning From Minamata-City, Japan, Rika Ikemoto

Master's Theses and Capstones

Many countries, especially industrialized countries, are facing a crisis in municipal solid waste (MSW) problems due to its ever increasing amount and related problems such as limited dumping space, transboundary waste movement, financial pressures, and dioxin problems. In Japan, one of those industrialized countries, while national MSW policies have not appeared effective, some municipalities have established remarkable policies to reduce MSW Minamata-city, which has a unique experience of environmental pollution, known as Minamta-disease, has reduced waste with the two major MSW policies: a Recycling Program; and the Food-containers Abolition Project of the Women's Committee on Waste Reduction, based on the …

The Role Of The Schmutzdecke In Escherichia Coli Removal In Slow Sand And Riverbank Filtration, Michael C. Unger

Master's Theses and Capstones

A series of studies was conducted on laboratory scale sand columns under varying operational and design conditions with spiked concentrations of E. coli to investigate the role of the schmutzdecke, a biologically active layer that develops at the interface of the water and filter in slow sand filtration (SSF) and riverbank filtration (RBF). Results confirmed that E. coli removals in slow-rate biological filters occur primarily at the interface and are related to schmutzdecke ripening state, empty bed contact time, biological activity, temperature, and protistan abundance. Using a suite of analyses characterizing the biofilm growing on the schmutzdecke, no connection was …

Retinal Tracking System Design For Smart Flashblindness Non Lethal Weapon, Gregory T. Wolff

Master's Theses and Capstones

Development of a non lethal method of providing incapacitation of human subjects is of primary importance in both law enforcement and military fields. The proposed Smart White Light Dazzler is such a device that induces flashblindness in the subject using a flash of white light. It is intended to automatically track the retina of a human subject, and then make adjustments to the power of the flash based on factors that affect the susceptibility of the eye. Temporary blindness is induced in the subject without risking permanent tissue damage.

The primary contribution of this research is the design of a …

Fabrication And Tribological Properties Of Hard Thin Films With Solid Lubricant Microreservoirs, John H. Zimmerman

Master's Theses and Capstones

Hard coatings containing micron-sized reservoirs have been fabricated and investigated to evaluate their tribological properties. These composite coatings have the potential to reduce friction and extend the life of wear surfaces through the use of a structural matrix embedded with microreservoirs containing solid lubricants. In this thesis, methods of using polymer or silica microspheres as templates for reservoirs in wear resistant coatings were examined. Magnetron rf-sputtered TiN and TiCN films and magnetron rf reactively sputtered TiN films were investigated for use as hard films containing these microreservoirs. The reservoir size as a function of microsphere size and film thickness was …

Conformance Testing Of Epon Devices, Eric Lynskey

Master's Theses and Capstones

In June of 2004, the IEEE Standards Association approved IEEE 802.3ah-2004, which defined Ethernet for subscriber access networks, or Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM). Part of this standard contained a new type of Ethernet technology, that of Ethernet Passive Optical Networks (EPON). EPON devices have introduced new and challenging requirements for both conformance and interoperability testing. This thesis lays the foundation, to be used by the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), for comprehensive conformance testing of EPON devices. A series of recommendations are put forth that allow for the creation and implementation of EPON test suites and …

Augmented Reality Device For First Response Scenarios, Robert Andrzej Bogucki

Master's Theses and Capstones

A prototype of a wearable computer system is proposed and implemented using commercial off-shelf components. The system is designed to allow the user to access location-specific information about an environment, and to provide capability for user tracking. Areas of applicability include primarily first response scenarios, with possible applications in maintenance or construction of buildings and other structures. Necessary preparation of the target environment prior to system's deployment is limited to noninvasive labeling using optical fiducial markers. The system relies on computational vision methods for registration of labels and user position. With the system the user has access to on-demand information …

Blind Adaptive Equalization For Qam Signals: New Algorithms And Fpga Implementation., Kevin Banovic

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adaptive equalizers remove signal distortion attributed to intersymbol interference in band-limited channels. The tap coefficients of adaptive equalizers are time-varying and can be adapted using several methods. When these do not include the transmission of a training sequence, it is referred to as blind equalization. The radius-adjusted approach is a method to achieve blind equalizer tap adaptation based on the equalizer output radius for quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals. Static circular contours are defined around an estimated symbol in a QAM constellation, which create regions that correspond to fixed step sizes and weighting factors. The equalizer tap adjustment consists of …

New Mathematical Model For Assessment Of Concurrent Engineering., Guoli Jian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recently, global competition has led to shorter product life cycles and increased technological sophistication. Products are becoming more complex due to rapid technological developments and increasing consumer demands for lower costs, greater variety, and greater performance. At the same time the proliferation of new technologies is rendering products obsolete at an increasingly rapid pace. These market and technology trends lead to the emerging of concurrent engineering. This thesis firstly will give a definition and briefly introduction of concurrent engineering, including its fundamentals, and the benefits of concurrent engineering, its difficulties and caveats. After that this thesis will introduce an implementation …

Non-Linear Analysis Of Concrete Beams Prestressed And Post-Tensioned With Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (Cfrp) Bars., Mohamad Fathy Abd El Aziz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The deterioration of concrete bridges has been a major concern for structural engineers especially with regard to deterioration caused by the corrosion of steel reinforcement. One of the promising avenues to overcome this problem is to take advantage of the non corrosive characteristic of the Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) bars in reinforcing and/or prestressing concrete bridges. In addition FRP bars have high specific strength, i.e., strength to weight ratio, when compared to conventional steel. Using FRP bars in a combined system of internal prestressing and external post-tensioning provides a potential solution to increase the service life of concrete bridges. However, …

A Comparative Analysis Of Neural And Statistical Classifiers For Dimensionality Reduction-Based Face Recognition Systems., Xiaoyin Xu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human face recognition has received a wide range of attention since 1990s. Recent approaches focus on a combination of dimensionality reduction-based feature extraction algorithms and various types of classifiers. This thesis provides an in depth comparative analysis of neural and statistical classifiers by combining them with existing dimensionality reduction-based algorithms. A set of unified face recognition systems were established for evaluating alternate combinations in terms of recognition performance, processing time, and conditions to achieve certain performance levels. A preprocessing system and four dimensionality reduction-based methods based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Two-dimensional PCA, Fisher's Linear Discriminant and Laplacianfaces were utilized …

Close Range Three-Dimensional Position Sensing Using Stereo Matching With Hopfield Neural Networks., Houman Rastgar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years Vision Systems have found their ways into many real-world applications. This includes such fields as surveillance and tracking, computer graphics and various factory settings such as assembly line inspection and object manipulation. The application of Computer Vision techniques to factory automation, Machine Vision, is a growing field. However in most Machine Vision systems an algorithm is needed to infer 3D information regarding the objects in the field of view. Such a task can be accomplished using a Stereo Vision algorithm. In this thesis a new Machine Vision Algorithm for Close-Range Position Sensing is presented where a Hopfield …

Optimizing Power, Delay And Reliability For Digital Logic Circuits With Cmos And Single-Electron Technologies., Jialin Mi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we present two low power approaches with consideration of delay and/or reliability. The first approach is based on CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) technology. Given a gate level topology of digital circuits and a target library, we propose a greedy algorithm for delay budgeting in order to optimize power dissipation. The algorithm is implemented with JAVA SDK. The developed software tool estimates how much power dissipation (percentage) can be saved without increasing the circuit delay, and the potential of power savings by relaxing the circuit's timing constraints. The second low power approach is proposed with SET (Single Electron …