Engineering Commons^™

Three-Dimensional Display Utilizing A Diffractive Optical Element And An Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display, Gregory P. Nordin, M. W. Jones, S. T. Kowel, J. H. Kulick, R. G. Lindquist

Faculty Publications

We describe the design, construction, and performance of the first real-time autostereoscopic three-dimensional (3-D) display based on the partial pixel 3-D display architecture. The primary optical components of the 3-D display are an active-matrix liquid crystal display and a diffractive optical element (DOE). The display operates at video frame rates and is driven with a conventional VGA signal. Three-dimensional animations with horizontal motion parallax are readily viewable as sets of stereo images. Formation of the virtual viewing slits by diffraction from the partial pixel apertures is experimentally verified. The measured contrast and perceived brightness of the display are excellent, but …

High-Pressure Oxidation Rates For Large Coal And Char Particles, James A. Mathias

Theses and Dissertations

The main objective of this study was to investigate the factors that influence the oxidation rate of large (five to eight millimeters in diameter) coal and char particles. To accomplish this, experiments were performed in which the gas temperature, gas velocity, particle size, partial pressure of oxygen, and total pressure were varied. The experiments were performed with the cantilever balance attachment and the high pressure controlled profile reactor.

Approximately 90 combustion experiments were performed with Pittsburgh, Utah Blind Canyon, and Wyodak-Anderson coal. These experiments were performed at atmospheric pressure with air and varied gas temperature, gas velocity, and particle size. …

A Comprehensive Modeling Environment For The Simulation Of Groundwater Flow And Transport, S. J. Owen, Norman L. Jones, J. P. Holland

Faculty Publications

A comprehensive graphical modeling environment has been developed to address the needs of the computer simulation of groundwater flow and transport. The Department of Defense Groundwater Modeling Systems (GMS), developed at the Engineering Computer Graphics Laboratory at Brigham Young University, is part of a multi-year project funded through the Department of Defense, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency. GMS is a graphically based software tool providing facility through all aspects of the groundwater flow and transport modeling process. Facilities include geometric modeling of hydrostratigraphy, two- and three-dimensional mesh generation, graphically based model input for specific flow and transport codes, …

Bounding Elastic Constants Of An Orthotropic Polycrystal Using Measurements Of The Microstructure, Brent L. Adams, M. J. Beran, T. A. Mason, Ted Olsen

Faculty Publications

We show how information about the elastic stiffness and compliance of an orthotropic polycrystal may be obtained from measurements of the statistical properties of the microstructure. We begin by discussing the statistical properties of the governing equations and the hierarchy that results when the equations are averaged. Perturbation solutions are obtained in terms of low-order statistical information. Using methods previously developed, we derive bounds for the elastic stiffnesses and compliances. A heirarchy of bounds is derived using the statistical information obtained from measurements of the microstructure. We discuss the methods used to obtain the correlation functions of the microstructure and …

The Development And Evaluation Of The Knife Finite Element, Brett W. Clark

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the development and evaluation of the knife finite element which is a degenerate case of a hexahedral element. The knife connectivity is an artifact of automatic all-hexahedral mesh generators. Currently, knives are propagated to the surface of the mesh for removal. However since this disturbs the surface mesh, other alternatives are needed. This thesis investigates the option of leaving the knife connectivity in the mesh and treating it as a valid finite element. The shape functions and stiffness matrix for the knife element are derived and evaluated using theoretical and practical evaluations. It is concluded that the …

Dependence Of The Normalized Radar Cross Section Of Water Waves On Bragg Wavelength-Wind Speed Sensitivity, David G. Long, R. Scott Collyer, David V. Arnold

Faculty Publications

Measurements of the normalized radar cross section (O) made by the YSCAT ultrawideband scatterometer during an extended deployment on the Canada Centre for Inland Waters (CCIW) Research Tower located at Lake Ontario are analyzed and compared with anemometer wind measurements to study the sensitivity of O to the wind speed as a function of the Bragg wavelength. This paper concentrates on upwind and downwind azimuth angles in the wind speed range of 4.5-12 m/s. While YSCAT collected measurements of O at a variety of frequencies and incidence angles, this paper focuses on frequencies of 2.0, 3.05, 5.30, 10.02, and 14.0 …

Grain-Boundary Structure Effects On Intergranular Stress Corrosion Cracking Of Alloy X-750, Brent L. Adams, Ted Olsen, N. Panayotou, Y. Pan

Faculty Publications

This work was supported by the Department of Energy under Grant No. DE-FG02-88ER 45355. TO was supported by the National Science Foundation during her 1993-94 stay at the Institute for Advanced Studies (Princeton) under grant DMS-9304580. The authors wish to acknowledge helpful discussion with Carol Nichols, John Hack, Gino Palumbo, Karl Aust, and Gary Was. It is well known that the properties and behavior of grain boundaries are strongly affected by local chemistry and atomic structure. This paper focuses on the mesoscale description of grain boundary structure (i.e. the five crystallographic degrees of freedom) and correlations with intergranular stress corrosion …

Calibration Of Spaceborne Scatterometers Using Tropical Rain Forests, David G. Long, Gary B. Skouson

Faculty Publications

Wind scatterometers are radar systems designed specifically to measure the normalized radar backscatter coefficient (O) of the ocean's surface in order to determine the near-surface wind vector. Postlaunch calibration of a wind scatterometer can be performed with an extended-area natural target such as the Amazon tropical rain forest. Rain forests exhibit a remarkably high degree of homogeneity in their radar response over a very large area though some spatial and temporal variability exist. The authors present a simple technique for calibrating scatterometer data using tropical rain forests, Using a polynomial model for the rolloff of O with incidence angle, the …

Effects Of Pyrolysis Heating Rate On Intrinsic Reactivities Of Coal Chars, Thomas K. Gale, Calvin H. Bartholomew, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

The main objective of this work was to determine the effects of pyrolysis heating rate on intrinsic O₂ reactivity of coal chars. Relationships of intrinsic reactivity to other pyrolysis conditions and char physical and chemical structure were also investigated, and empirical correlations were obtained. Two different entrained flow reactors (a flat flame methane/air burner and a drop tube reactor) were used to prepare chars under a variety of different pyrolysis conditions at maximum particle temperatures and heating rates of 840-1627 K and 10⁴ to 2x10⁵ K/s, respectively. Intrinsic reactivities of a lignite and two bituminous coal chars …

Conversion Of Coal Tar To Soot During Coal Pyrolysis In A Post-Flame Environment, Thomas H. Fletcher, Jinliang Ma, Brent W. Webb

Faculty Publications

Coal pyrolysis experiments were performed in the postflame region of a CH4/H2/air flat-flame burner operating under fuel-rich conditions, where the temperature and gas compositions were similar to those in the near-burner region of a large-scale coal-fired furnace. Volatiles released from the coal particles formed a cloud of soot particles at high temperatures in the absence of oxygen. The soot particles in the cloud were collected at different residence times using a water-cooled, nitrogen-quenched suction probe. Test variables included the reaction temperature and coal type. Soot yields in terms of weight percentage of dry ash-free coal were measured based on bulk …

Chemical Structure Of Coal Tar During Devolatilization, Thomas H. Fletcher, Mathew Watt

Faculty Publications

Three coals of different rank were pyrolyzed in a drop-tube reactor at a maximum temperature of 900 K and a residence time of 160 ms. The coal and char were analyzed with solid-state ¹³C NMR. The tar was dissolved in deuterated methylene chloride. It was found that the tar was only partially soluble in CD₂Cl₂. The nonsoluble tar portion was analyzed in the same manner as the coal and char, while the soluble tar portion was analyzed using a recently developed high-resolution 13CNMRtechnique developed for liquid phases. The tar structure was found to be significantly …

Experiments In The Coordinated Control Of An Underwater Arm/Vehicle System, Timothy W. Mclain, Stephen M. Rock, Michael J. Lee

Faculty Publications

The addition of manipulators to small autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) can pose significant control challenges due to hydrodynamic interactions between the arm and the vehicle. Experiments conducted at the monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) using the OTTER vehicle have shown that dynamical interactions between an arm and a vehicle can be very significant. For the experiments reported in this paper, a single-link "arm" was mounted on OTTER. Tests showed that for 90-degree, two-second repetitive slews of the arm, the vehicle would move as much as 18 degrees in roll and 14 degrees in yaw when no vehicle control was …

Combustion Modeling Of Rdx, Hmx And Gap With Detailed Kinetics, Jeffrey E. Davidson

Theses and Dissertations

A one-dimensional, steady-state numerical model of the combustion of homogeneous solid propellant has been developed. The combustion processes is modeled in three regions: solid, two-phase (liquid and gas) and gas. Conservation of energy and mass equations are solved in the two-phase and gas regions and the eigenvalue of the system (the mass burning rate) is converged by matching the heat flux at the interface of these two regions. The chemical reactions of the system are modeled using a global kinetic mechanism in the two-phase region and an elementary kinetic mechanism in the gas region. The model has been applied to …

Nitrogen Release During Coal Combustion, Thomas H. Fletcher, Larry L. Baxter, Reginald E. Mitchell, Robert H. Hurt

Faculty Publications

Experiments in entrained flow reactors at combustion temperatures are performed to resolve the rank dependence of nitrogen release on an elemental basis for a suite of 15 U.S. coals ranging from lignite to low-volatile bituminous. Data were obtained as a function of particle conversion, with overall mass loss up to 99 % on a dry, ash-free basis. Nitrogen release rates are presented relative to both carbon loss and overall mass loss. During devolatilization, fractional nitrogen release from low-rank coals is much slower than fractional mass release and noticeably slower than fractional carbon release. As coal rank increases, fractional nitrogen release …

Chen, W., L. D. Smoot, S. C. Hill, And T. H. Fletcher, “Global Rate Expression For Nitric Oxide Reburning. Part 2,” Energy And Fuels, 10, 1046-1052 (1996)., Wei Chen, L Douglas Smoot, Scott C. Hill, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

An investigation of a global reburning-NO reaction, sum(C_iH_j) + NO => HCN + . . ., which is a reduction pathway of nitric oxide (NO) by reaction with gaseous hydrocarbons, was conducted. The global reburning-NO rate expression was deduced from a combination of elemental reactions. The global rate expression and its rate constants were then determined by correlating predicted species profiles from simple hydrocarbon flames. This global reburning-NO rate constant can be expressed as 2.7x10⁶ exp(-18,800/RT) (gmol/cm³ s). This expression and constants are applicable to atmospheric pressure with an equivalence ratio range of 1.0-2.08 …

A Computational Method For Determining Global Fuel-No Rate Expressions. Part 1, Wei Chen, L Douglas Smoot, Thomas H. Fletcher, Richard D. Boardman

Faculty Publications

Global chemical reaction rates used in the modeling of NO_x formation in comprehensive combustion codes have traditionally been obtained through correlation of experimental data. In this paper, a computational approach for obtaining global rates is presented. Several premixed flames were simulated, and sensitivity analysis of species concentration profiles was used to suggest global pathways in fuel-nitrogen conversion to NO. Based on these analyses, the global reaction rates were formulated. The predicted species concentration profiles and their derivatives were then used in the determination of the global rate constants. The correlation of rate constants for the two fuel-NO global rates …