Engineering Commons^™

Assessment Of Groundwater Resources In Siwa Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt, Noha H. Moghazy, Jagath J. Kaluarachchi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

One of the major challenges facing Egypt is limited water resources associated with rapid increase in population. In 1960s, Egyptian government started to use groundwater from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) in the Western Desert to expand agricultural sector. Siwa Oasis is the focus of this study to assess the efficiency of groundwater use and corresponding impacts from 1980 to 2012. Results show that from 1980 to 1998, withdrawal from poorly designed wells increased rapidly causing an increase in excess water about 336%. The increase of excess water with the usage of poor drainage produced lakes. Remote Sensing showed …

Incorporation Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Uav) Point Cloud Products Into Remote Sensing Evapotranspiration Models, Mahyar Aboutalebi, Alfonso F. Torres-Rua, Mac Mckee, William P. Kustas, Héctor Nieto, Maria Mar Alsina, Alex White, John H. Prueger, Lynn Mckee, Joseph Alfieri, Lawrence E. Hipps, Calvin Coopmans, Nick Dokoozlian

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

In recent years, the deployment of satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has led to production of enormous amounts of data and to novel data processing and analysis techniques for monitoring crop conditions. One overlooked data source amid these efforts, however, is incorporation of 3D information derived from multi-spectral imagery and photogrammetry algorithms into crop monitoring algorithms. Few studies and algorithms have taken advantage of 3D UAV information in monitoring and assessment of plant conditions. In this study, different aspects of UAV point cloud information for enhancing remote sensing evapotranspiration (ET) models, particularly the Two-Source Energy Balance Model (TSEB), over …

Wintertime Spatial Distribution Of Ammonia And Its Emission Sources In The Great Salt Lake Region, Alexander Moravek, Jennifer G. Murphy, Amy Hrdina, John C. Lin, Christopher Pennell, Alessandro Franchin, Ann M. Middlebrook, Dorothy L. Fibiger, Caroline C. Womack, Erin E. Mcduffie, Randy S. Martin, Kori D. Moore, Munkhbayar Baasandorj, Steven S. Brown

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Ammonium-containing aerosols are a major component of wintertime air pollution in many densely populated regions around the world. Especially in mountain basins, the formation of persistent cold-air pools (PCAPs) can enhance particulate matter with diameters less than 2.5 µm (PM_2.5) to levels above air quality standards. Under these conditions, PM_2.5 in the Great Salt Lake region of northern Utah has been shown to be primarily composed of ammonium nitrate; however, its formation processes and sources of its precursors are not fully understood. Hence, it is key to understanding the emission sources of its gas phase precursor, ammonia …

Third-Eye, Aaron Fassler

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The Third-Eye Device is a peripheral device compatible with any firearm equipped with the Picatinny rail system. Its system of a camera attached to the weapon which connects to an eyepiece allows the user to aim the weapon without aiming down the sights. This device is potentially crucial to those who regularly engage in close-quarters combat such as police and military specialists, whose ability to quickly and accurately clear rooms during operations is critical to their safety and the safety of others. The student team was tasked with improving the device, primarily in its survivability in dusty and wet environments, …

Variable Camber Wings Using Compliant Mechanisms, Benjamin Moulton

Fall Student Research Symposium 2019

Wing morphing is the manipulation of a wing shape to influence aerodynamics. Wing morphing has significant aerodynamic advantages over traditional flaps, including increased efficiency and control. The USU Aerolab specializes in morphing aircraft and is currently working with the Air Force Research Lab on morphing straight wings [1-4].

The purpose of this project is to identify methods for applying morphing technologies to swept-wing aircraft. These methods are then used to create a morphing wing aircraft to demonstrate the efficiency and control of morphing flight with a swept wing.

A Multi-Scale Approach To Study Biochemical And Biophysical Aspects Of Resveratrol On Diesel Exhaust Particle-Human Primary Lung Cell Interaction, Wei Zhang, Qifei Li, Mingjie Tang, Han Zhang, Xiaoping Sun, Sige Zou, Judy L. Jensen, Theodore G. Liou, Anhong Zhou

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) are major air pollutants that lead to numerous human disorders, especially pulmonary diseases, partly through the induction of oxidative stress. Resveratrol is a polyphenol that ameliorates the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and delays aging-related processes. Herein we studied the cytoprotective effect of resveratrol on DEP-exposed human lung cells in a factorial experimental design. This work investigates biophysical features including cellular compositions and biomechanical properties, which were measured at the single-cell level using confocal Raman microspectroscopy (RM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and partial least square …

Reducing Thermal Bridging And Understanding Second-Order Effects In Concrete Sandwich Wall Panels, Taylor J. Sorensen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Structural engineers have traditionally detailed structures with structural and fabrication efficiency in mind, but often based on a limited understanding of thermal efficiency. Some connection designs can create significant thermal bridging, leading to unnecessary heat transfer and even premature degradation through condensation. Thermal bridging occurs when heat transfer is given a path through a more conductive material like concrete or steel rather than insulation. Concrete sandwich wall panels (SWP) tend to be highly efficient at preventing heat transfer in the middle of panels, with greatest heat transfer occurring at connections. This project identified thermally efficient details for future SWP construction …

Rapid Prediction Of Low-Boom And Aerodynamic Performance Of Supersonic Transport Aircraft Using Panel Methods, Ted N. Giblette

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Utah State University Aerolab developed and tested a set of tools for rapid prediction of the loudness of a sonic boom generated by supersonic transport aircraft. This work supported a larger effort led by Texas A&M to investigate the use of adaptive aerostructures in lowering sonic boom loudness at off design conditions. Successful completion of this effort will improve the feasibility of supersonic commercial transport over land.

Funding was provided by a NASA University Leadership Initiative grant to several universities, including Utah State University, as well as industry partners to complete this work over a five year period. The …

The Influences Of Calculus I On Engineering Student Persistence, Amie Baisley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

About half of the students that are declared engineering majors end up leaving engineering within their first two years at the university. This happens following the required math and science courses that these students must take before getting into the technical engineering coursework. There are two systems that students must be a part of at the university to feel comfortable and have the desire to continue on in their degree. These include the academic system and the social system. The experiences engineering students have during their first required math course, Calculus I, is likely not promoting integration into these two …

Built-In Return-Oriented Programs In Embedded Systems And Deep Learning For Hardware Trojan Detection, Nathanael R. Weidler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Microcontrollers and integrated circuits in general have become ubiquitous in the world today. All aspects of our lives depend on them from driving to work, to calling our friends, to checking our bank account balance. People who would do harm to individuals, corporations and nation states are aware of this and for that reason they seek to find or create and exploit vulnerabilities in integrated circuits. This dissertation contains three papers dealing with these types of vulnerabilities. The first paper talks about a vulnerability that was found on a microcontroller, which is a type of integrated circuit. The final two …

Advancing Cyberinfrastructure For Collaborative Data Sharing And Modeling In Hydrology, Tian Gan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Hydrologic research is increasingly data and computationally intensive, and often involves hydrologic model simulation and collaboration among researchers. With the development of cyberinfrastructure, researchers are able to improve the efficiency, impact, and effectiveness of their research by utilizing online data sharing and hydrologic modeling functionality. However, further efforts are still in need to improve the capability of cyberinfrastructure to serve the hydrologic science community. This dissertation first presents the evaluation of a physically based snowmelt model as an alternative to a temperature index model to improve operational water supply forecasts in the Colorado River Basin. Then it presents the design …

Development And Testing Of A Hydrogen Peroxide Injected Thrust Augmenting Nozzle For A Hybrid Rocket, Mark C. Heiner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

During a rocket launch, the point at which the most thrust is needed is at lift-off where the rocket is the heaviest since it is full of propellant. Unfortunately, this is also the point at which rocket engines perform the most poorly due to the relatively high atmospheric pressure at sea level. The Thrust Augmenting Nozzle (TAN) investigated in this paper provides a solution to this dilemma. By injecting extra propellant into the nozzle but downstream of the throat, the internal nozzle pressure is raised and the thrust is increased, and the nozzle efficiency, or specific impulse is potentially improved …

Gpu-Accelerated Demodulation For A Satellite Ground Station, Emily Clark Young

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

One consequence of the increasing number of small satellite missions is an increasing demand for high data rate downlinks. As the satellites transmit at high data rates, ground-side receivers need to demodulate the transmitted data as quickly as possible. While application specific hardware can be designed, software defined radio solutions for ground stations are attractive for their flexibility, adaptability, and portability.

Another industry trend is the increasing use of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) in general-purpose processing. By performing many operations simultaneously, GPUs are capable of accelerating processing when given a problem that can be implemented in a parallel manner. Furthermore, …

Career Prospects And Resources Of Domestic Engineering Doctoral Students, Laura A. Gelles

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Career prospects are a motivating factor for entry and retention of doctoral students, especially in the discipline of engineering. While doctoral student training provides them with highly specialized skills to be an independent researcher, they may not have the requisite skills or guidance to secure the job position of their choice. Therefore, it is important to provide doctoral students with opportunities, training, and information (i.e., resources) about different types of careers to not only ensure they are productive contributors of teaching and research, but also equip them for future career prospects. Research techniques based upon in-depth narrative interviews and combining …

Revolution In Autonomous Orbital Navigation (Raon), Rachit Bhatia

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Spacecraft navigation is a critical component of any space mission. Space navigation uses on-board sensors and other techniques to determine the spacecraft’s current position and velocity, with permissible accuracy. It also provides requisite information to navigate to a desired position, while following the desired trajectory. Developments in technology have resulted in new techniques of space navigation. However, inertial navigation systems have consistently been the bedrock for space navigation.

Recently, the successful space mission GOCE used on-board gravity gradiometer for mapping Earth’s gravitational field. This has motivated the development of new techniques like cold atom accelerometers, to create ultra-sensitive gravity gradiometers, …

Expression Systems For Synthetic Spider Silk Protein Production, Michaela R. Hugie

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Spider silk is a biodegradable and biocompatible natural material that is stronger than steel and more elastic than nylon. These properties make spider silk a desirable material for many commercial products, ranging from textiles to biomedical materials. Due to spiders’ cannibalistic and territorial nature it is impossible to farm them to produce spider silk at a high enough yield to meet product demands. Therefore, a bioengineered synthetic process is necessary to produce spider silk. Synthetic spider silk has been produced in bacteria, goats, yeast, plants, mammalian cells and silkworms, but none of these processes provided a commercially viable yield or …

A New Approach For Evaluating The Ductility, Volumetric Stiffness, And Permeability Of Cutoff Wall Backfill Materials, Jennifer Ostrowsky

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The use of plastic concrete for cutoff walls in dams for remediation of seepage issues has become more widely used in the past 25 years, however, the in-situ material properties are still not well understood. The research presents a new testing procedure that combines two existing testing methods, triaxial shear and permeability testing. By developing this laboratory testing method, material properties of the cutoff wall backfill material can be more accurately examined and explained using changes in the permeability of the material to discern the ductility and stiffness.

Hydro-Climatic Changes And Corresponding Impacts On Agricultural Water Demand In The Ganges Delta Of Bangladesh, Sonia Binte Murshed

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Ganges Delta in Bangladesh, a transboundary rural river basin, is an example of water-related calamities due to natural and human-induced stresses. It is an agriculture-dominated area with the presence of Sundarbans mangrove forest. Recently this area is facing unfavorable conditions due to limitations in quantity, quality, and timing of available freshwater. As a result, floods, droughts, water scarcity, stream depletion, salinity intrusion, excessive sedimentation are becoming common phenomena. These calamities are making this area unsuitable for agriculture and vulnerable to the Sundarbans’ ecosystem. This study aims to provide technical insight into issues related to water scarcity and projected agricultural …

Experimental Investigation Of N2o/O2 Mixtures As Volumetrically Efficient Oxidizers For Small Spacecraft Hybrid Propulsion Systems, Rob L. Stoddard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A hybrid thruster system utilizes propellants in two different stages, traditionally a solid fuel and a gaseous or liquid oxidizer. Recently hybrid thrusters have become a popular topic of research due to the high demand of a ”green” replacement for hydrazine. Not only are hybrid thruster systems typically much safer than hydrazine, but they are also a low-cost system with a high reliability in performance. The Propulsion Research Laboratory (PRL) at Utah State University (USU) has developed a hybrid thruster system using 3-D printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) as the fuel and gaseous oxygen (GOX) as the oxidizer. This system …

Energy Management Of Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer Systems For Electric Vehicle Applications, Ahmed N. Azad

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Wireless power transfer is a method of transferring electric power from a transmitter to a receiver without requiring any physical connection between the two. Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer (DWPT) entails having the transmitters buried under the roadway and the receiver unit being installed on the Electric Vehicle (EV). In this method, EVs are charged while driving over the transmitters as they receive bursts of electric energy at the time of significant alignment between transmitters and receivers. Compared to the stationary charging method which involves parking the EV for long hours for a full charge, the dynamic charging method (i.e., DWPT) …

Foreground Removal In A Multi-Camera System, Daniel T. Mortensen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Traditionally, whiteboards have been used to brainstorm, teach, and convey ideas with others. However distributing whiteboard content remotely can be challenging. To solve this problem, A multi-camera system was developed which can be scaled to broadcast an arbitrarily large writing surface while removing objects not related to the whiteboard content. Related research has been performed previously to combine multiple images together, identify and remove unrelated objects, also referred to as foreground, in a single image and correct for warping differences in camera frames. However, this is the first time anyone has attempted to solve this problem using a multi-camera system. …

Reservoir Applications Of Arced Labyrinth Weirs, Seth D. Thompson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In recent years, magnitudes of flood estimates used in hydraulic design have increased for many reservoirs. Consequently, many existing spillways are now deficient as they do not meet current discharge capacity requirements. To rehabilitate existing, fixed-width spillways, labyrinth weirs are often viable solutions. For reservoir applications, arcing labyrinth weirs into the reservoir increases hydraulic efficiency. This results from better cycle orientation to the approaching flow field.

This study supplements available arced labyrinth weir hydraulic data by observing flow characteristics of three laboratory-scale physical models and two numerical (CFD) models. Physical model results provide head (energy)-discharge data and empirical coefficients for …

Experimental Characterization Of Thermal-Hydraulic Performance Of A Microchannel Heat Exchanger For Waste Heat Recovery, James Yih, Hailei Wang

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Given size and performance advantages, microchannel heat exchangers are becoming increasingly important for various energy recovery and conversion processes. In this study, detailed experimental measurements were conducted to characterize flow and heat transfer performance of a microchannel heat recovery unit (HRU) manufactured using standard photochemical etching and diffusion bonding processes. According to the global flow and temperature measurement, the HRU has delivered the predicted thermal performance under various oil and air flow rates. As expected, the heat transfer effectiveness varies between 88% and 98% for a given air and oil flow rates while it increases with air inlet temperature due …

A Practitioner’S Guide To Small Unmanned Aerial Systems For Bridge Inspection, Sattar Dorafshan, Robert J. Thomas, Calvin Coopmans, Marc Maguire

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Small unmanned aerial system(s) (sUAS) are rapidly emerging as a practical means of performing bridge inspections. Under the right condition, sUAS assisted inspections can be safer, faster, and less costly than manned inspections. Many Departments of Transportation in the United States are in the early stages of adopting this emerging technology. However, definitive guidelines for the selection of equipment for various types of bridge inspections or for the possible challenges during sUAS assisted inspections are absent. Given the large investments of time and capital associated with deploying a sUAS assisted bridge inspection program, a synthesis of authors experiences will be …

Restoration Of Defaced Serial Numbers Using Lock-In Infrared Thermography (Part I), Ikwulono Unobe, Lisa Lau, John Kalivas, Rene Rodriguez, Andrew D. Sorensen

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Infrared thermal imaging is an evolving approach useful in non-destructive evaluation of materials for industrial and research purposes. This study investigates the use of this method in combination with multivariate data analysis as an alternative to chemical etching; a destructive method currently used to recover defaced serial numbers stamped in metal. This process involves several unique aspects, each of which works to overcome some pertinent challenges associated with the recovery of defaced serial numbers. Infrared thermal imaging of metal surfaces provides thermal images sensitive to local differences in thermal conductivity of regions of plastic strain existing below a stamped number. …

Restoration Of Defaced Serial Numbers Using Lock-In Infrared Thermography (Part Ii), Ikwulono Unobe, Lisa Lau, John Kalivas, Rene Rodriguez, Andrew D. Sorensen

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper details continuing work on the development of a substantive non-destructive method to recover defaced serial numbers stamped or laser engraved into metallic objects based on lock-in infrared thermography. This method relies on the existence of a local zone of plastic strain created from stamping pressures in mechanically stamped pieces and a heat-affected zone in laser engraved samples, both extending to depths below the visible characters. The grain structure within these zones is dislocated due to the external forces applied. These deformed areas are exposed to the surface when the serial numbers are defaced. Infrared thermography utilises the change …

An Initial Exploration Of The Perspectives And Experiences Of Diverse Learners' Acceptance Of Online Educational Engineering Games As Learning Tools In The Classroom, Kimberly Cook-Chennault, Idalis Villanueva

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

This Work-In-Progress falls within the research category of study and, focuses on the experiences and perceptions of first- and second year engineering students when using an online engineering game that was designed to enhance understanding of statics concepts. Technology and online games are increasingly being used in engineering education to help students gain competencies in technical domains in the engineering field. Less is known about the way that these online games are designed and incorporated into the classroom environment and how these factors can ignite inequitable perspectives and experiences among engineering students. Also, little if any work that combines the …

Gelatine Cavity Dynamics Of High-Speed Sphere Impact, Akihito Kiyama, Mohammad M. Mansoor, Nathan B. Spiers, Yoshiyuki Tagawa, Tadd T. Truscott

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

We investigate the impact and penetration of a solid sphere passing through gelatine at various impact speeds up to 143.2 m s^-1 Tests were performed with several concentrations of gelatine. Impacts for low elastic Froude number Fr_e a ratio between inertia and gelatine elasticity, resulted in rebound. Higher Fr_e values resulted in penetration, forming cavities with prominent surface textures. The overall shape of the cavities resembles those observed in water-entry experiments, yet they appear in a different order with respect to increasing inertia: rebound, quasi-seal, deep-seal, shallow-seal and surface-seal. Remarkably, similar to the We – Bo phase …

Wetland Arid Vegetation – Studies Of Vegetated Stormwater Management System Performance In Northern Utah – Field & Lab Experiences, Ryan Dupont, Margie Rycewicz-Borecki, Trixie Rife

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Motivation for the Work We’ve Done – The Why

Summary of the Work We’ve Done - The What & The How

Findings - The How Well

Conclusions & Recommendations – The So What

An Open-Source Data Manager For Network Models, Stephen Knox, James Tomlinson, Julien J. Harou, Philipp Meier, David E. Rosenberg, Jay R. Lund, David E. Rheinheimer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Developing simulation and optimisation models for resource networks like water or energy systems increasingly involves integrating multiple data sources and software. Connecting multiple models and managing data accessed by different groups of analysts is a software challenge. Many resource systems are represented in computer models as networks of nodes and links, driven by a range of objectives and rules. We present a data storage platform, written in Python, which exploits the commonality of network representations to store data for multiple model types within a single deployment. This open-source platform provides a common source of data to multiple models using consistent …