Engineering Commons^™

Investigation Of Skid Resistance On Asphalt Pavements In Utah, Aaron B. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Friction is one of the essential aspects of pavement performance and safety. Unfortunately, the rate at which the friction data are being collected exceeds the rate at which the data can be proficiently analyzed. Furthermore, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) lacks long-term trend analysis for the many years of locked-wheel skid trailer (LWST) data collected in Utah. In addition, UDOT is missing a statistically adequate correlation equation between friction-testing devices. Likewise, only one method is used in Utah to prequalify aggregates for use in pavements. Finally, there has not been an investigation of the potential use of lithium silicate ...

Performance Of Resin Injection Ground Improvement In Silty Sand Based On Blast-Induced Liquefaction Testing In Christchurch, New Zealand, David Harold Blake

Theses and Dissertations

Polyurethane resin injection is a treatment being considered as a replacement for traditional methods of ground improvement. It has been used to re-level foundations and concrete slabs that have settled over time. Additional claimed benefits of the treatment have been noted recently, including improved factors of safety against soil liquefaction and reduced earthquake-induced settlements. To investigate the capability of the polyurethane resin injection treatment to mitigate liquefaction, two full-scale blast liquefaction tests were performed; one test was conducted in an improved panel (IP), an 8 m circular area treated with the polyurethane resin in a 1.2 m triangular grid ...

Improving Predictions Of Vapor Pressure, Liquid Heat Capacity, And Heat Of Vaporization In Associating Fluids, Joseph C. Bloxham

Theses and Dissertations

Vapor pressure, heat of vaporization, and liquid heat capacity are linked through fundamental thermodynamic relationships. These related properties are essential for the safe design of many industrial processes, and measurement and prediction of these properties remains an essential part of modern thermodynamics research. DIPPR uses the fundamental relationships connecting these properties as a prediction method for all three, referred to as "the derivative method." DIPPR regards values predicted using the derivative method as highly accurate, even when compared to more traditional predictions. Despite the widespread interest in improving understanding of these properties, many questions remain regarding their prediction. Foremost among ...

Assessing Augmented Reality Instruction In Manufacturing Engineering Education, Janine Draper Price

Theses and Dissertations

Augmented Reality (AR) is fast-growing technology that has proved itself in many applications, including manufacturing environments. Manufacturing engineers benefit in an industrial environment by harnessing this technology in the workplace to guide workers through a variety of tasks. It is no longer a question on whether it is useful, but what are the best ways of applying the technology. Currently there are no published studies on ways to use augmented reality in a Manufacturing Engineering Educational Environment (MEEE). This study examines various ways that AR can be used in an MEEE setting and assesses the value of such applications. This ...

Evaluating Ramp Meter Wait Time In Utah, Tanner Jeffrey Daines

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop an algorithm that could predict ramp meter wait time at metered freeway on-ramps throughout the state of Utah using existing loop detector systems on the ramps. The loop detectors provided data in 60-second increments that include volume, occupancy, and the metering rate. Using these data sources, several ramp meter queue length algorithms were applied; these predicted queue lengths were then converted into wait times by using the metering rate provided by the detector data. A conservation model and several variations of a Kalman filter model generated predicted queue lengths and wait times ...

Prediction Of Springback In Aa6016-T4 Sheets Using Isotropic Finite Element And Epsc Modeling Approaches, Dane Roger Sargeant

Theses and Dissertations

Strain path changes are common in complex automotive stampings, where sheet materials undergo a combination of drawing, stretching, and bending to achieve a desired part shape. Aluminum sheet alloys are increasingly used in vehicle structure light-weighting efforts, but limited formability and high levels of springback present challenges to the manufacturing and assembly processes. The current work explores springback levels in AA6016-T4 sheet after various pure bending operations, where sheets were first pre-strained in uniaxial, plane-strain, and biaxial tension. Finite element modeling of the pre-straining and subsequent bending operations will be performed using both isotropic and elasto-plastic self-consistent (EPSC) crystal plasticity ...

Efficacy Of Social Media Analysis As A Service (Smas) For Crisis Events, Rohit Kumar Khattar

Theses and Dissertations

Social media data can be collected and analyzed during and after crisis events to aid in disaster relief efforts. Setting up a system to perform this analysis is associated with various technical challenges. This thesis presents the design and implementation of a social media analysis as a service system. This system is hosted on cloud infrastructure and allows for on demand collection, processing, and delivery of social media data via an intuitive web interface. The service model and cloud infrastructure allow the system to be highly scalable and produce near real time analysis data. A cost evaluation of the system ...

Playable Case Study Content Management System, Mitchell Stevenson Cross

Theses and Dissertations

Educational simulations can help mitigate the natural gap between traditional education styles and the current professional world. Researchers at BYU have developed an educational simulation solution called Playable Case Studies (PCSs). PCSs are simulations that expose the user to real world scenarios and problems within a pre-built environment. With rising demand and use of these educational simulations, there is a need for easy and inexpensive ways to develop these simulations or Playable Case Studies (PCSs). We propose a content management system (CMS) that is tied to a system that utilizes dynamic modules that make up these simulations. We present a ...

Defining And Evaluating Design Patterns To Increase "This Is Not A Game" (Tinag), Lucia A. Mata

Theses and Dissertations

TINAG, which stands for This is Not a Game, can be defined as "the concept that there are pervasive games, often ARGs, that are designed to immerse players in such a way that they suspend their disbelief in a fictional narrative and act like the world they have entered is real during their play time" (Pohjola 2004). Many designers and educators want to create games that appear real, but they are unsure of how to accomplish this. Increasing TINAG allows designers to create more realistic games while taking advantage of the many benefits that TINAG experiences offer. The purpose of ...

A New Approach For 3d Printed Microfluidic Device Design Based On Pre-Defined Components, Cassandra Ester Slaugh

Theses and Dissertations

3D printing for microfluidic device fabrication has received considerable interest in recent years, in part driven by the potential to dramatically speed up device development by reducing device fabrication time to the minutes timescale. Moreover, in contrast to traditional cleanroom-based fabrication processes that require manual production and stacking of a limited number of layers, 3D printing allows full use of the 3D fabrication volume to lay out microfluidic elements with complex yet compact 3D geometries. The Nordin group has successfully developed multiple generations of high resolution printers and materials for microfluidic devices that achieve this vision. However, because of the ...

The Effects Of Various Inlet Distortion Profiles On Transonic Fan Performance, Andrew Michael Bedke

Theses and Dissertations

An increased understanding of how inlet flow distortion affects transonic fans enables improved fan design and performance prediction. Inlet distortion refers to non-uniformities in the incoming flow properties. Complex inlet ducts in high performance aircraft result in distorted flow at the fan inlet. In this thesis, two studies were performed using Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (URANS) simulations. The first study focused on understanding how the transition abruptness between the clean and distorted sector in the inlet Pt profile as well as the circumferential extent of the distorted sector affect distortion transfer and generation through a transonic fan. Simulations on two ...

Systems Engineering Of The Global L-Band Observatory For Water Cycle Studies, James Nathan Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The Global L-band Observatory for Water Cycle Studies (GLOWS) is designed as a follow-on to the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory launched in 2015. While GLOWS is essentially copying many aspects of the SMAP mission, a key change has been made in the antenna technology. SMAP uses a reflector antenna and to reduce mission costs GLOWS uses a metamaterial lens antenna. This type of antenna is less efficient, so it must be proven that GLOWS can achieve the same uncertainty levels in soil moisture measurements as SMAP. In this work, a unified framework for modeling and analyzing GLOWS' ability ...

Development Of Compact Phased Array Receivers On Rfsoc Prototyping Platforms, Jacob Bartschi

Theses and Dissertations

The continual increase of wireless technologies in the world has motivated the use of phased arrays to mitigate radio frequency interference (RFI). There are many methods of performing beamforming for RFI rejection, but they are traditionally physically large and complicated solutions. Phased arrays need to be shrunk and made cheaper for them to see widespread use. This work presents several compact phased array receivers for different applications. The first part of this thesis presents a software GPS processor for a digital beamforming GPS receiver. The receiver is small enough to be flown on drones and enables GPS signals to be ...

Effects Of Optical Configuration And Sampling Efficiency On The Response Of Low-Cost Optical Particle Counters, Brady Scott Hales

Theses and Dissertations

Hazards associated with air pollution motivate the search for technologies capable of monitoring individual exposure to gaseous pollutants and particulate matter (PM). A Low-cost Optical Particle Counter (OPC), costing less than 50 USD, is an example of such technologies. Currently, OPCs are widely used to measure the concentration of particle matter in ambient air. While these low-cost air quality sensors are widely available, the accuracy and precision of these devices is highly uncertain. Consequently, the purpose of this thesis is to present an analytical model of two generic, low-cost OPCs based on the Laws of Conservation of Mass, Momentum, and ...

Implementation Of An Api For And The Folding Of Fpga Routing Resource Graphs In Vtr, Ethan Steiner Rogers

Theses and Dissertations

FPGAs provide parallel computing that is fit for speeding up the computation of a large range of problems. Programming an FPGA involves a complex tool flow for which several CAD tools have been developed. These tools compute solutions to many problems such as packing, placement, and routing, which map a circuit design onto an FPGA. These computations require a great deal of memory, of which the Routing Resource Graph contributes the most of any individual data structure. If the RRGraph could be represented in a more compact manner, performance of the tool flow algorithms may be improved due to an ...

Parametric Models Of Maize Stalk Morphology, Michael Alan Ottesen

Theses and Dissertations

As the most produced grain crop world-wide, 5% of corn is lost due to stalk lodging (above-ground structural failure of the stalk near the roots). Current modeling methods lack the ability to manipulate the stalk architecture. In contrast, parameterized models enable advanced analyses such as sensitivity and optimization studies. This thesis advances previous work on a parameterized cross-sectional model of maize stalk morphology and investigates the validity of a parameterized three-dimensional model. The parameterized cross-sectional model is based upon previous work that approximated the cross-section of maize stalks using an ellipse plus principal components. Validation of the cross-sectional model was ...

Sub-Grain Characterization Of Slip Activity In Bcc Tantalum, Tristan Kirby Russell

Theses and Dissertations

BCC metals are commonly used throughout the world and understanding their deformation behavior, especially at the sub-grain level, is essential for their continued use in technological advancements. Correctly and confidently characterizing the active slip systems in BCC materials has been a difficult task throughout past research. The research described in this thesis utilizes high resolution digital image correlation (HRDIC) and relative displacement ratio (RDR) analysis to accurately characterize active slip systems in large grained BCC tantalum and provides new insights into dislocation nucleation sites, relative CRSS values for {110} and {112} slip systems, the correlation between GB transmission factors and ...

On The Development And Use Of A Micro-Surface Probe For Measurement Of Li-Ion Battery Electrical Properties, John Eric Vogel

Theses and Dissertations

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are a staple of modern society, providing power to a significant portion of the world's electronics and rapidly replacing older power sources. The advent of widely available electric cars with batteries of up to 200 kWh, with an increasing emphasis on fast charging, has only increased their importance. Lithium-ion battery electronic and ionic properties are largely determined by the microstructure of the battery electrode film and can be heavily influenced by relatively small variations in film makeup, including the formation of voids or distribution of carbon and binder. Prior to this research, electrical properties, which are ...

Motion Analysis Of Physical Human-Human Collaboration With Varying Modus, Seth Michael Freeman

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the existence of robots that are capable of lifting heavy loads, robotic assistants that can help people move objects as part of a team are not available. This is because of a lack of critical intelligence that results in inefficient and ineffective performance of these robots. This work makes progress towards improved intelligence of robotic lifting assistants by studying human-human teams in order to understand basic principles of co-manipulation teamwork. The effect of modus, or the manner in which a team moves an object together, is the primary study of this work. Data was collected from over 30 human-human ...

Spydrnet - An Open-Source Python Netlist Representation For Analysis And Transformation, Dallin Mark Skouson

Theses and Dissertations

SpyDrNet is an open-source structural netlist representation framework written in Python that allows users to create, analyze, and manipulate structural netlists. The internal format was designed to hold generic source structural netlists. Verilog and EDIF netlists generated by Vivado were read and written by SpyDrNet. Additional API functionality was built around the netlist representation. An application applying triple modular redundancy and duplication with compare was created and successfully used.

U-Splines: Splines Over Unstructured Meshes, Steven K. Schmidt

Theses and Dissertations

U-splines are a novel approach to the construction of a spline basis for representing smooth objects in Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE). A spline is a piecewise-defined function that satisfies continuity constraints between adjacent cells in a mesh. U-splines differ from existing spline constructions, such as Non-Uniform Rational B-splines (NURBS), subdivision surfaces, T-splines, and hierarchical B-splines, in that they can accommodate local variation in cell size, polynomial degree, and smoothness simultaneously over more varied mesh configurations. Mixed cell types (e.g., triangle and tetrahedron and quadrilateral and hexahedral cells in the same mesh) and T-junctions are also supported ...

Towards Trojan Detection From A Raw Bitstream, Corey Ryan Simpson

Theses and Dissertations

Many avenues exist to insert malicious circuitry into an FPGA designs, including compromised CAD tools, overwriting bitstream files, and post-deployment attacks. The proprietary nature of the Xilinx bitstreams precludes the ability to validate an implemented design. This thesis introduces the BitRec and IPRec projects in an effort to support trojan detection tools. BitRec provides a novel approach to mapping of the Xilinx bitstream format into FPGA features in order to recreate the original design's netlist. BitRec supports the 7 Series, UltraScale and UltraScale+ architectures. IPRec then provides a novel approach to recognizing parameterizable IP within a flattened netlist in ...

The Effect Of Soot Models In Oxy-Coal Combustion Simulations, Kamron Groves Brinkerhoff

Theses and Dissertations

Soot in coal combustion simulations is often ignored due to its computational complexity, despite significant effects on flame temperature and radiation. In this research, a 40 kW oxy-coal combustion system is modeled using Large Eddy Simulations (LES) and a semi-empirical monodisperse coal soot model. Simulation results are compared to experimental measurements of temperature, species concentrations, and soot concentration. Cases where soot is modeled are compared with cases where soot is neglected to determine the accuracy benefits of modeling soot. The simulations were able to replicate experimental results within an acceptable level of error. Including soot in the simulations did not ...

Multipath Mitigation In Frequency Selective Channels With An Emphasis On 5g Cellular Mobile Networks And Aeronautical Mobile Telemetry Applications, Farah Arabian

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the role of polarization, combining, and equalization operating over frequency-selective channels to improve the reliability of wireless communications systems in terms of BER for two applications: 5G mobile networks (operating in the mmWave band and NR FR1), and aeronautical mobile telemetry systems (operating in L band). The equivalent discrete-time models for a variety of spatial combining techniques at 5G mmWave bands were derived to investigate the performance of co-located cross-polarized antenna elements when polarization diversity is used and also when a combination of spatial and cross-polarized antennas is exploited. In both cases, ML combining has the lowest ...

Managing Radio Frequency Interference In Vehicular Multi-Antenna Transceivers, Jakob W. Kunzler

Theses and Dissertations

Radio frequency interference is an ever growing problem in the wireless community. This dissertation presents methods to reduce interference for vehicular multi-antenna devices. This document is organized into two parts: the main chapters and the appendices. The main chapters present research conducted primarily by the author. These deserve the reader's primary attention. The appendices showcase contributions made by the author serving in a supporting role to projects led by others and/or do not fit the vehicular theme. These should receive secondary attention. The main chapter contributions are summarized as follows. A device was created that provides over 105 ...

Low-Cost Prosthetic Feet For Underserved Populations: A Comparison Of Gait Analysis And Mechanical Stiffness, Kaleigh Renninger, Brevin Banks, Dustin A. Bruening

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2022

• Lower limb loss is an ongoing cause of disability throughout the world.
• Despite advancements in prosthetic technologies, there are numerous underserved populations in need of effective low-cost prosthetic foot options.

Modeling Data And Reactor Data Associated With The Design, Modeling, And Testing Of The Pressurized Oxy-Coal (Poc) Reactor, Bradley R. Adams, Andrew R. Fry, Dale R. Tree

ScholarsArchive Data

Data files in the zipped folders below contain research and development information related to the design, modeling, construction and testing of a pressurized, dry feed, oxy-coal reactor at Brigham Young University between 2016 and 2021. The reactor is a once-through system that includes a pressurized dry-coal feed system, a slagging combustion reactor, a spray quench and tube and shell heat exchanger for gas cooling, a cyclone particle collector, and gas depressurization and dilution system. The system is operated with an OPTO22 control system and includes instrumentation to measure gas and wall temperature profiles, radiative heat flux profiles (indicative of flame ...

Flood Warning: A Generalized Approach To Forecast The Impacts Of Flooding Events Using Arcgis Pro, Qgis, And Python, Robert Evan Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Floods are the most common global natural disaster, and 1 billion people live in floodplains worldwide adding to the impactful damage that inundation causes. Disaster managers strive to mitigate damages to their communities but need to know what the impact of a potential flood may be. GEOGloWS ECMWF Streamflow Services estimates forecasted streamflow around the world. These forecasted streamflow's can be used to create predicted flood extent maps using Height Above Nearest Drainage (HAND) or Sedimentation and River Hydraulics - Two Dimension (SRH-2D). Another method to obtain a flood map is using Setinel-1 satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery. Flood ...

Fundamentally Based Investigation And Mathematical Modeling Of The Delay Observed In The Early Stages Of E-Coat Deposition, Fardin Padash

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this work is to enhance the understanding of the delay observed in the early stages of E-coat deposition. E-coat deposition has been widely used by industries such as the automotive industry to form the primary protective coating against corrosion. Currently, models that are used to find the best conditions under which the desired coating coverage for the entire auto body can be achieved do not accurately predict the coating coverage in recessed areas. The accuracy of large-scale models can be improved by enhancing our understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the observed delay. To accomplish this, experiments ...

Kemar Hats Head Orientation Directivity, Samuel D. Bellows, Timothy W. Leishman

Directivity

No abstract provided.