Digital Commons Network^™

Toward A Coordinated Understanding Of Hydro-Biogeochemical Root Functions In Tropical Forests For Application In Vegetation Models, Daniela F. Cusack, Bradley O. Christoffersen, Chris M. Smith-Martin, Kelly M. Andersen, Amanda L. Cordeiro, Katrin Fleischer, S. Joseph Wright, Nathaly R. Guerrero-Ramírez, Laynara F. Lugli, Lindsay A. Mcculloch

School of Integrative Biological and Chemical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Tropical forest root characteristics and resource acquisition strategies are underrepresented in vegetation and global models, hampering the prediction of forest–climate feedbacks for these carbon-rich ecosystems. Lowland tropical forests often have globally unique combinations of high taxonomic and functional biodiversity, rainfall seasonality, and strongly weathered infertile soils, giving rise to distinct patterns in root traits and functions compared with higher latitude ecosystems. We provide a roadmap for integrating recent advances in our understanding of tropical forest belowground function into vegetation models, focusing on water and nutrient acquisition. We offer comparisons of recent advances in empirical and model understanding of root characteristics …

Energy Dissipation Optimization For Circular Culverts, Chi Zhang

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The principal goal of the current research is to develop and improve weir-based energy dissipator designs at the outlets of circular culverts. In the present case, we are interested in full-length weirs and staggered weirs. A review of related literature was completed and reported; a test facility was carefully designed and constructed to collect flow information in a basin downstream of a model broken-back circular culvert; instrumentation was installed to measure discharges, streamwise depths, and velocities. Both full-length and staggered weirs were tested over a range of discharges and tailwaters. The two types of weirs were subjected to two types …

Nfpa Fluid Powered Vehicle Challenge 2023, Joshua A. Romano, Milo T. Klein, Marius Tali, Connor C. Getz, Yael G. Valdez

Mechanical Engineering

This report includes the design process undergone by Team Shifty in designing a vehicle for the NFPA’s Fluid Powered Vehicle challenge. The report covers the background of the competition, research done by the team, engineering specifications for the design, preliminary and final designs, the manufacturing plan and process, project management details, and several recommendations for future teams participating in the challenge.

The National Fluid Power Association, NFPA, is a trade association with the goal of connecting fluid power companies and advancing fluid power. With the goal of advancement in mind, NFPA hosts an annual Fluid Powered Vehicle Challenge (FPVC). Since …

Comparing 1d, 2d, And 3d Hydraulic Models In Urban Flooding Applications, Taylor Kesler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Floods have been a hazard to people since people first started building near rivers. Predicting floods can be very beneficial to save lives and property. Computers have made it possible to solve fluid dynamics equations in a fast and efficient manner. Computer programs have been designed to solve these equations and create digital models of floods.

This study compares three different methods of computer modeling and explores their advantages and disadvantages. One-dimensional models solve fluid equations by setting up a series of cross sections. Two-dimensional models use a grid-like mesh to solve fluid equations from one cell to the next. …

Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge, Bryce Towne, Ethan Andrews, Carter Moore, Andrew Sobel

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge is a competition held by the National Fluid Power Association (NFPA) that challenges students to create a hydraulically powered vehicle to compete in four different races over two days. The vehicle has to be fully powered by hydraulics, with human power (such as pedaling) being used to move the hydraulic fluid. Electronics and pneumatics can be used to control the flow of the hydraulic oil. Vehicles also must have an energy storage device to take advantage of regenerative braking. The final competition was at the Norgren facility in Colorado from April 12th to April 14th. …

Bed Load Computation For Gravel Particles In Gravel-Silt Mixture, U. K. Singh, S. Kumar, Z. Ahmad

International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures

Fluvial hydraulics deals with the process of erosion, transportation, and deposition of sediment in channels by the action of flowing water. This paper presents experimental results on bed load transport rate of gravel particles transported from mobile channel bed made of gravel-silt mixture. Gravel and sand particles were observed transported as bed load due to their coarser size while silt transported as suspended load. Bed load was collected at regular time interval of like 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, etc. Bed surface profile and water surface profile were measured spatially at an interval of 50 cm at the center …

Cal Poly Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge 2022, Sangmin Sung, Eddy Rodriguez, Travis Welch, Jeremy Baechler, Kevin Pauls

Mechanical Engineering

In this report, the Featherweight Cycles design team puts forth the scope and overview of their design project, discusses background research and competitor analysis, and presents the project’s final design and manufacturing plans. The overall goal of this project is to fabricate and compete in the Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge, hosted by the National Fluid Power Association. To better define the design process, the team researched previous year’s designs from Cal Poly, as well as winning designs from the last two years to form a baseline of knowledge about competing schools’ designs. After researching multiple design paths, Featherweight Cycles chose …

Exploring The Effects Of Upstream Disturbances On Elbow Meter Performance With Numerical Modeling Applications, Riley D. Manwaring

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Physical data was collected for a 6-in. long-radius elbow meter in order to determine the effects of certain upstream disturbances on its metering performance. Discharge coefficients are calculated for each of the three tested configurations at various installation distances between the upstream disturbance and the elbow meter. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software was used to determine which turbulence models most accurately modeled the observed physical results in order to provide a base from which to model the effects of additional upstream disturbances not modeled in this study.

A Physical Model Of Deadmans Run, Quinn Brandt

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A physical model of Deadmans Run and a pair of railroad bridges was constructed to assess the impacts of the bridges on flood flows. Lower Platte South Natural Resources District is planning a series of improvements to Deadmans Run to improve flood conveyance capacity and remove approximately 500 homes and businesses from the floodplain. The rail bridges are located less than a mile from the confluence of Deadmans Run and Salt Creek, meaning the bridges present a significant bottleneck to the planned improvements. The physical model was used to characterize the drag effects caused by the bridges, which was used …

Characterization Of Hydraulic Flow Noise Induced By Spool Valves, Carter A. Paprocki

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The purpose of the hydraulic flow noise research was to investigate the relationship between operational valve parameters and flow noise generation. The primary consideration was correlating the flow noise generated by the valve with the distinct valve open positions. This data would allow future valve designs to account for features that cause increased flow noise and move those features away from high flow valve displacements. By implementing this, companies would be able to design quieter hydraulic systems that will not expose operators to the current levels of sound found on machines. The experiments were conducted using two valves with different …

Identification And Evaluation Of Critical Transportation Infrastructure Resilience After Hydro-Meteorological Event, Herman Serrato

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Modern civilization is dependent on essential infrastructure assets that allow society to function in today’s standards. Critical interdependent infrastructure such as transportation, communication, security, and public health are marvels of human innovation and an important aspect of civilization's evolution. Recent world events such as climate change have underlined the necessity to develop strategic plans to enhance the resilience of infrastructure. This study aimed to identify and evaluate the flooding potential of critical transportation infrastructure that will influence traffic flow and impact the economy. The technical workflow is based on observations, predictions, experiments, testing, and analysis to derive a resilience score …

Winners And Losers In Reforestation Efforts In The Lower Rio Grande Valley Of Texas, And The Predictive Power Of Xylem Anatomy On Long-Term Growth And Survival, Clifton F. Albrecht

Theses and Dissertations

Reforestation has been ongoing in the Lower Rio Grande Valley annually since the 1980s, and to date over 6400 ha of land has been reforested in this area. However, there has been little subsequent study of the change and development of those forests as they mature. This thesis consists of two, interrelated, studies: (1) surveys of a five-site chronosequence of restored forests and (2) quantification of xylem anatomical traits of a subset of species present at the reforestation sites. Surveys showed a consistent reduction in species diversity and stem number density on the landscape, and identified a suite of species …

Fluid Powered Vehicle Challenge: Team Soulenoid Cycle, Kellen Muir Giuliani, Jordan David Kochavi, Cayla Renee Quinn, Martin Reyes

Mechanical Engineering

The National Fluid Power Association is a trade association that unifies customers and manufacturers within the hydraulics industry. Extending their partnership to universities, the annual Fluid Powered Vehicle Competition challenges college teams to design, build, and test a fluid-powered vehicle with the goal of educating students about the hydraulics industry and building career connections. Soulenoid Cycle produced the next iteration of Cal Poly’s fluid powered vehicle for the 2021 competition.

This report summarizes research, ideation, component selection, initial and final design, manufacturing, and competition results conducted by Soulenoid Cycle. Relevant research includes successful current and past vehicles, the operation of …

Hydraulic Assessment Of Traditional And Fish-Friendly Tide Gates In Humboldt Bay, California, Marcela Anne Jimenez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Tide gates are common hydraulic structures located throughout coastal and estuarine areas that prevent tidal waves from flooding previously converted tidally influenced areas. As restoration efforts increase, more “fish-friendly” tide gates that allow for larger openings and longer opening periods are being installed to improve habitat for threatened or endangered species. The purpose of this thesis was to determine discharge and head loss coefficients for traditional and side-hinged tide gates that could be inputs for hydraulic models and improve tide gate sizing and design. The study sites included Gannon Slough and US 101 Slough in Humboldt, California that represented a …

Hydraulic Vehicle Challenge, Jacob Steiner, David Kotovets, Evan Blitz, Luke Fetherston, Alex Colucy

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The target goal of this project is for a team of students to design a vehicle which is based on human power as the primary mover of the system and achieves vehicle propulsion through the required use of hydraulics and pneumatics. In summary, the rider will power a pump that will generate pressure in order to move the fluid that drives the motor. This will result in the powered rotation of the wheels. As there are many possible designs, naturally, this means that the final design for the vehicle will have specific limitations such as weight and the required use …

4040c Universal Tester Backup, Devan Keeling, John Bowen, Cameron Bosner, Jacob Lenart

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The 40 Series valve is one of Swagelok's highest volume part families of which 60,000 parts per year shipped are multi-ported. The multiport configuration requires a unique tester to ensure proper assembly and quality of upstream processes.

Due to the multiport configuration of these valves no alternate testing option exists, resulting in a high rate of customer disappointments per day should the equipment fail.

In addition to the tester's criticality, it has also been ranked as one of Swagelok's most unhealthy assets and is probable to experience extended downtime in the future.

This project proposes to design and build a …

Variable Flow Rate Flow Along A Path In A Closed Inclined Pipeline, B X. Abdullayev, S I. Xudayqulov, S M. Sattorov

Scientific-technical journal

This article discusses a variable flow rate flow along a path in a closed horizontal pipeline taking into account slope and hydraulic resistance. Formulas are given that take into account the associated water inflow to the drainage pipes, as well as the amount of suspended particles that penetrate together with water through the slots of the drainage pipes.

Variable Flow Rate Flow Along A Path In A Closed Inclined Pipeline, B. X. Abdullayev, S. I. Xudayqulov, S. M. Sattorov

Scientific-technical journal

This article discusses a variable flow rate flow along a path in a closed horizontal pipeline taking into account slope and hydraulic resistance. Formulas are given that take into account the associated water inflow to the drainage pipes, as well as the amount of suspended particles that penetrate together with water through the slots of the drainage pipes.

Hydraulic Effects Of The Lower Mississippi River Batture, David P. May

LSU Master's Theses

The Lower Mississippi River (LMR), since the creation of the Mississippi River and Tributaries (MR&T) project, has been extensively modified to support navigation and flood risk reduction. The components of the MR&T system, implemented to support the above missions, have performed successfully for many decades, but not without contention. Rising stages in recent years have led to the questioning of the hydraulic impact of navigation dikes and river training methodologies. Multiple studies have been performed (Biedenharn, 2000, May 2017, Mayne, 2018, and Simon, 2019) that indicate these river training structures have minimal impact to stage during flood conditions. It has …

A Comparison Of The Army Corps Of Engineers Hydrologic Modeling System And Autodesk Storm And Sanitary Analysis For Hydraulic And Hydrologic Analysis And Design, Foster Josef Heifetz Campbell

Master's Theses

Hydrological and hydraulic effects of urban development is one of the key issues of study for improved water management. The addition of impervious surfaces to once pervious land and re-routing open channels and flow paths can cause flooding or declining water levels within a watershed. Many studies of these issues have found that there can be multiple factors causing hydrological and hydraulic impacts, and it can be hard to analyze and develop effective solutions without appropriate drainage software packages. However, there are multiple software packages available for use, and determining the correct one to use for a specific challenge can …

Predicting Agricultural Implement Hydraulic Power Demand Using Synchronized Controller Area Network And Ancillary Sensor Data, Gabriel P. Stoll

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations and Theses

As agricultural implement designs have progressed in recent years, there has been an increase in hydraulic power demand from the tractor. Current power estimation standards do not accurately estimate hydraulic power demand for implements designed with higher hydraulic power requirements. Several stakeholders, including agricultural producers, tractor and implement manufacturers, and government agencies would benefit from accurate published data on these power requirements.

While an increasing amount of operational data available on the Controller Area Network (CAN) of tractors has assisted researchers in more easily obtaining machinery performance data, hydraulic control valve flow rate and pressure measurements are not currently publically …

Preventing High-Pressure Injection Injury: A Hazard Of Hydraulics And Pneumatics, Nellie J. Brown

Nellie J. Brown, MS., C.I.H.

[Excerpt] A high-pressure injection injury involves air, fluid, or solids forced into the skin by high pressure. Typically these occur when we feel for leaks with our fingers, such as when air or hot hydraulic fluid is forced into the skin by high pressure from a leak in a high-pressure line. Another example is the painter using a paint gun with so high of a pneumatic pressure that it twisted around in his hand and injected paint and solvents into his abdomen. So many of these injuries happen in the hands and fingers when feeling for leaks, but there have …

Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge - The Incompressibles - Final Design Report, Nicholas Gholdoian, Russell Posin, David Vitt, Alex Knickerbocker, Kyle Franck, Julian Rodkiewicz

Mechanical Engineering

This report provides a comprehensive description of the research, analysis and design work that The Incompressibles have completed thus far in the senior project process. This document includes all the work that The Incompressibles have completed for the team’s Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), the work leading up to the 2019 FPVC competiton and the competition results. This report includes the initial research that the team completed for the fluid power competition, first iterations of designs, final iterations of designs, manufacturing results and processes, and finally testing and results from competition. With a new design for the …

Big Fire, Big Water: An Evaluation Of Fire Service Tactics In High-Rise And Standpipe Equipped Structures, Nicholas J. Brondum

Honors Theses

Fighting fires in high-rise buildings poses numerous distinct challenges to the fire service. Fires are now growing faster and release more heat than ever before. To combat these fires, firefighters have numerous additional tasks created by the challenge of high-rise buildings compared to other structures. Even the simplest tasks such as supplying water and advancing hoses are much more difficult in these buildings. The results of this presentation were obtained through extensive literature review as well as extrapolated data from empirical research obtained through field testing conducted by the presenter and by nationally recognized research facilities such as Underwriters Laboratories …

Modelling Water Fluxes In Plants: From Tissues To Biosphere, Maurizio Mencuccini, Stefano Manzoni, Bradley O. Christoffersen

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Contents Summary 1207 I. Introduction 1207 II. A brief history of modelling plant water fluxes 1208 III. Main components of plant water transport models 1208 IV. Stand-scale water fluxes and coupling to climate and soil 1213 V. Water fluxes in terrestrial biosphere models and feedbacks to community dynamics 1215 VI. Outstanding challenges in modelling water fluxes in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum 1217 Acknowledgements 1218 References 1218 SUMMARY: Models of plant water fluxes have evolved from studies focussed on understanding the detailed structure and functioning of specific components of the soil-plant-atmosphere (SPA) continuum to architectures often incorporated inside eco-hydrological and terrestrial biosphere …

Bayesian Inference Of Hydraulic Properties In And Around A White Fir Using A Process-Based Ecohydrologic Model, Elias C. Massoud, A. J. Purdy, Bradley O. Christoffersen, L. S. Santiago, C. Xu

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present a parameter estimation study of the Soil-Tree-Atmosphere Continuum (STAC) model, a process-based model that simulates water flow through an individual tree and its surrounding root zone. Parameters are estimated to optimize the model fit to observations of sap flux, stem water potential, and soil water storage made for a white fir (Abies concolor) in the Sierra Nevada, California. Bayesian inference is applied with a likelihood function that considers temporal correlation of the model errors. Key vegetation properties are estimated, such as the tree's root distribution, tolerance to drought, and hydraulic conductivity and retention functions. We find …

Lumped Parameter Modeling And Parameter Investigation Of An Electrohydraulic Crimping Hand Tool, Eric Norquist

Master's Theses (2009 -)

A lumped parameter model of a hand-held electrohydraulic tool was developed. The tool modeled was a Milwaukee Tool M18 12 Ton Crimper. First principle approaches were used to develop state-space models for each of the subsystems in the tool. The included subsystems were the tool motor and gear train, pump, return valve, and cylinder. The subsystem models were combined into a comprehensive eleventh-order nonlinear dynamic tool model. The tool model has two inputs and three outputs. The model inputs were the motor voltage and opening the return valve. The outputs were the motor current, application time, and retraction time. Each …

Effect Of Limited Water Supplies On Center Pivot Performance, Derrel Martin, Derek M. Heeren, Steve Melvin, Troy Ingram

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Conference Presentations and White Papers

When appropriately designed and operated, center pivot irrigation systems can efficiently irrigate many crops grown on diverse soil and terrain conditions. However, a significant number of pivots are not supplied with an adequate water to operate as envisioned.

We simulated the hydraulics of a center pivot irrigation system, including the pump curve, flow rate, pipeline hydraulics, pressure regulators, nozzle flow rate, and irrigation application uniformity. This was used to analyse the performance of a center pivot for a sloping field for both adequate and inadequate water flow rate. The performance was simulated for a range of inlet pressures when pressure …

Establishment And Application Of Fractal Capillary Tube Bundle Model Of Porous Media, Zhonghua Liu, Jianing Shen, Qianhua Xiao, Zhongpei Ding, Shunpeng Zeng, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In view of the problem of statistical regression constant in the model of capillary tube bundles in the porous media, a capillary bundle percolation model with fractal geometry was reconstructed. The function expressions of the fractal coefficient and Kozeny constant were deduced. The relationship between the macroscopic fractal properties of porous media and the fractal dimension and the micro pore parameters were obtained. Results show: Fractal coefficient is a function of fractal dimension, maximum pore radius and minimum pore radius; The macroscopic physical properties of porous media are a function of the fractal dimension and the radius of the capillary …

Experimental Investigation On Heat Transfer In A Prismatic Modular Reactor Under Cosine Heat Flux, S. M. Alshehri, I. A. Said, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan, Shoaib Usman

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The current study has investigated natural convection heat during pressurized conduction cooldown (PCC) accident scenario to understand the passive safety features of prismatic modular reactors (PMR) under different intensities of nonuniform center peaking step heat flux distributions (approximating cosine shape) using an advanced fast-response heat transfer technique. A scaled-down PMR module was designed and developed at Missouri S&T by the research team of the Multiphase Reactors Engineering and Applications Laboratory (mReal). The module consists of upper and lower plena connected by heated and cooled channels. Nonuniform heat flux distribution was applied to the heated channel under nonuniform heating center peaking …