Engineering Commons^™

Fully Magnetic Printing By Generation Of Magnetic Droplets On Demand With A Coilgun, Vladislav Vekselman, Luke Sande, Konstantin G. Kornev

Publications

In this paper, we exhibit a coilgun-based approach to drop-on-demand printing of liquids laden with magnetic particles. In contrast to other drop-on-demand technologies designed to print droplets only in gaseous environments, this methodology allows one to print magnetic droplets inside any gaseous or liquid media using the same coilgun. Furthermore, we demonstrate the basic principles of magnetic drop-on-demand generation and show the physico-chemical parameters controlling the process.

Understanding The Automotive Pedal Usage And Foot Movement Characteristics Of Older Drivers, Yubin Xi

All Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the pedal usage characteristics of older drivers in various driving tasks using an instrumented vehicle. This study stemmed from the prevalence of the pedal application errors (PAEs) and the older drivers’overrepresentation in crashes caused by PAEs.

With the population increasing and becoming older, it is estimated that in 2020 there will be 40 million drivers over the age of 65 in the United States. Compared with their younger counterparts, older drivers are facing declining cognitive and physical abilities, such as impaired vision, slower reaction time and diminishing range of limb motion. Because …

In Vitro Multi-Scale Patient-Specific Modeling Of Hemodynamics In Stage 1 Norwood Palliation For The Treatment Of Single Ventricle Heart Disease, Tianqi Hang

All Dissertations

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is a congenital heart defect in which the left ventricle is severely underdeveloped. The Norwood procedure is the first stage procedure to make an unrestrictive systemic blood flow and at the same time balance it with the pulmonary flow. This is done by constructing a neo-aorta using the pulmonary artery root and the autologous aorta, and then installing a shunt to the pulmonary artery. Variations of the Norwood surgery include the modified Blalock-Taussig (mBT) shunt, which diverts blood from the innominate artery to the pulmonary artery (PA), and the Right Ventricle Shunt (RVS), which diverts …

Nursing Interruption Dynamics: The Impact Of Work System Factors, Yushi Yang

All Dissertations

Interruptions occur frequently in healthcare work systems. Hands-free Communication Devices (HCDs) were implemented in healthcare work systems to support the interruption process. However, from a sociotechnical systems perspective, HCDs may introduce new complications and unintended consequences to the work system. Research gaps exist in investigating the complexity of HCD interruptions in the real-world context. This dissertation aims to understand HCD interruption dynamics in the nursing work systems, using qualitative research methods. The first study examined the major differences between face-to-face and HCD-mediated interruptions, based on 30 hours of field observations in the acute care setting. Three major differences included: (1) …

Electromechanical Modeling Of A Honeycomb Core Integrated Vibration Energy Converter With Increased Specific Power For Energy Harvesting Applications, Nataraj Chandrasekharan

All Dissertations

Innovation in integrated circuit technology along with improved manufacturing processes has resulted in considerable reduction in power consumption of electromechanical devices. Majority of these devices are currently powered by batteries. However, the issues posed by batteries, including the need for frequent battery recharge/replacement has resulted in a compelling need for alternate energy to achieve self-sufficient device operation or to supplement battery power. Vibration based energy harvesting methods through piezoelectric transduction provides with a promising potential towards replacing or supplementing battery power source. However, current piezoelectric energy harvesters generate low specific power (power-to-weight ratio) when compared to batteries that the harvesters …

A Study On General Assembly Line Balancing Modeling Methods And Techniques, Bryan Pearce

All Dissertations

The borders of the assembly line balancing problem, as classically drawn, are as clear as any other operations research topic in production planning, with well-defined sets of assumptions, parameters, and objective functions. In application, however, these borders are frequently transgressed. Many of these deviations are internal to the assembly line balancing problem itself, arising from any of a wide array of physical or technological features in modern assembly lines. Other issues are founded in the tight coupling of assembly line balancing with external production planning and management problems, as assembly lines are at the intersection of multiple related problems in …

Robust Model Development For Evaluation Of Existing Structures, Saurabh Prabhu

All Dissertations

In the context of scientific computing, validation aims to determine the worthiness of a model in supporting critical decision making. This determination must occur given the imperfections in the mathematical representation resulting from the unavoidable idealizations of physics phenomena. Uncertainty in parameter values furthers the validation problems due to the inevitable lack of information about material properties, boundary conditions, loads, etc. which must be taken into account in making predictions about structural response. The determination of worthiness then becomes assessing whether an unavoidably imperfect mathematical model, subjected to poorly known input parameters, can predict sufficiently well in its intended purpose. …

Developing Effective Ground And Space-Based Soil Moisture Sensing Techniques For Irrigating Cotton In Coastal Plain Soils, Xin Qiao

All Dissertations

Irrigation scheduling based on soil moisture sensor readings has gained popularity in the past few decades since it can enhance crop yield while saving water. Such method is limited since the representativeness of an individual soil moisture sensor measurement is questionable in a large field with variable soil type and texture. The optimum location of soil moisture sensors needs to be determined within such a production field for effective sensor-based irrigation scheduling. Therefore, the first object of this study was to investigate the optimum sensor location and the number of moisture sensors required for irrigating cotton in coastal plain soils. …

Design And Synthesis Of Polymer, Carbon And Composite Electrodes For High Energy And High Power Supercapacitors, Margarita Arcila-Velez

All Dissertations

Supercapacitors (SCs) are promising energy storage devices because they deliver energy faster than Li-ion batteries and store larger amounts of charge compared to dielectric capacitors. SCs are classified in electrical double layer capacitors (EDLCs) and pseudocapacitors, based on their charge storage mechanism. EDLCs store charge electrostatically, i.e. by physical charge separation. This mechanism limits the storable amount of energy to the available surface area of the electrode, typically made of carbon materials, but grants good cycling stability of the SC device. Pseudocapacitor electrodes, commonly made of conducting polymers or metal oxides, store charge faradaically, i.e. through redox reactions throughout the …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Oleophobic Fluorinated Polyester Films, Tugba Demir

All Dissertations

The study presented in this dissertation is dedicated to the synthesis and characterization of oleophobic fluorinated polyester films. Specifically, the blending of oleophilic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with low surface energy materials such as fluorinated polyesters has been used in order to fabricate oleophobic PET films. First, fluorinated polyesters (P(PF-oate-R)) possessing different end-groups (-COOH, -OH and -CF3) are synthesized via polycondensation reaction of isophthaloyl chloride with perfluoro ether alcohols. Then, they are solvent-blended with PET at various concentrations to obtain oleophobic polyester films of different compositions. In addition, the films are annealed to investigate the effect of annealing on surface properties …

Configuration Management In Manufacturing And Assembly: Case Study And Enabler Development, Keith Phelan

All Dissertations

The overall goal of this research is to improve the product configuration change management process. The increase in the demand for highly customizable products has led to many manufacturers using mass customization to meet the constantly changing demands of a wide consumer base. However, effectively managing the configurations can be difficult, especially in large manufacturers or for complex products with a large number of possible configurations. This is largely due to a combination of the scope of the configuration management system and the difficulty in understanding how changes to one element of a configuration can propagate through the configuration system. …

Effects Of Growth Factor Supplementation And Environmental Conditions On Human Adipose-Derived Stem Cell Differentiation Towards Urothelial Lineage, James Turner

All Dissertations

In recent years, tissue engineering of the bladder has undergone many technological advances. Autologous urothelial cells have been used in animal models and have shown increased performance for ureteral reconstruction compared to unseeded grafts. However, since patients may lack a reliable source of native urothelial cells due to the nature of their specific bladder disease, autologous cells are not an ideal source clinically, and an alternate cell source must be explored. Adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) are an attractive cell source for such regenerative medicine applications as they have been extensively studied for their multipotential differentiation, immunosuppressive properties, ease of …

Investigation Into Mechanisms And Mitigation Of Alkali-Silica Reaction In Sustainable Portland Cement Concrete Containing Recycled Glass Materials, Kaveh Afshinnia

All Dissertations

A significant portion of recycled glass from municipal waste streams is not found to be suitable for reuse as cullet in the production of new glass containers, and as a result it is disposed in landfills. One of the appropriate ways to reduce the disposal of waste glass in landfills is by using it in portland cement concrete as an aggregate material and/or supplementary cementitious material to replace portion of portland cement. The high silica content of the soda glass (approximately 70%) can potentially behave as a pozzolanic material when finely ground, which may enhance the mechanical and durability properties …

Experimental Investigation Of Heat Leakage And Air Leakage In Domestic Refrigerators, Shervin Shoai Naini

All Theses

The optimization of the energy consumption in household refrigerators should consider the influence of the gasket which determines the heat transfer and air infiltration rate. In this research project, engineering methods are developed to evaluate the heat leakage due to the gasket and air infiltration in domestic refrigerators. In the first study, experimental and numerical approaches are applied to evaluate the gasket heat transfer based on the “Reverse Heat Load Method”. The main objective is to find the effective heat leakage with the dimensions of energy leakage per gasket length per temperature difference (W/m.K). An insulated cubic box with a …

The Performance Of Quaternary Amplitude Modulation With Quaternary Spreading In The Presence Of Interfering Signals, Allison Manhard

All Theses

Multiple-access digital communications is considered with direct-sequence spread-spectrum (DS-SS) quadrature amplitude modulation and quaternary spreading in each transmission. Each transmitted signal undergoes attenuation and a delay at a receiver in the additive white Gaussian noise channel. The receiver uses coherent demodulation with a correlation detector synchronized to the one of the K received signals so that the K - 1 other transmissions act as interference. The average probability of error at the output of the detector is determined using Monte Carlo simulation and compared with an approximation in which the interference component in each detection statistic is approximated by a …

Decellularized Bovine Nucleus Pulposus As A Biomimetic Scaffold For Intervertebral Disc Regeneration, Christopher Fernandez

All Theses

Low back pain (LBP) is a significant burden with a lifetime prevalence of 84% and estimated expenditures of $85.9 billion.[1,2] Although LBP is multifactorial; it has been shown that LBP can originate from degenerating intervertebral discs (IVDs); a process which initiates in the nucleus pulposus (NP); a hydrated tissue primarily composed of type 2 collagen and proteoglycan. Current therapies for IVD degeneration (IDD) are palliative and merely delay surgical management. While these procedures may relieve pain temporarily, they fail to address the underlying cause of degeneration and make no attempt to regenerate the effected tissue. Additional concerns with the use …

Detecting Occlusions Of Automobile Parts Being Inspected By A Camera System During Manufacturing Assembly, Jayadevan Puthumanappilly

All Theses

This thesis considers the problem of detecting occlusions in automobile parts on a moving assembly line in an automotive manufacturing plant. This work builds on the existing ``Visual Inspector'' (VI) system developed as a joint research project between Clemson University and the BMW Spartanburg manufacturing plant. The goal is to develop a method that can successfully detect occlusions in real-time. VI is a detector and classifier system that uses video cameras to determine the correct installation of a part in the assembly line. In the current version of VI, an occluded part is flagged simply as `not OK' - as …

Improving The Implementation Of Pavement Preservation Strategies In South Carolina, Franklin Reed

All Theses

With compounding budget constraints on infrastructure, cost effective solutions to maintain roadways are becoming increasingly important. Pavement preservation provides a cost effective option to keep the roadway network at an acceptable level. However, pavement preservation is a relatively new concept that many states have not fully implemented successfully. This research supports efforts to improve the pavement preservation practices in the state of South Carolina. It analyzes the current pavement preservation practices in South Carolina as well as other states to identify where improvements could be made. The research also outlines a treatment tracking program for the state of South Carolina …

Phasor Measurement Unit Deployment Approach For Maximum Observability Considering Vulnerability Analysis, Jyoti Paudel

All Theses

In recent years, there has been growing interest of synchrophasor measurements like Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) Power systems are now being gradually populated by PMU since they provide significant phasor information for the protection and control of power systems during normal and abnormal situations. There are several applications of PMUs, out of which state estimation is a widely used. To improve the robustness of state estimation, different approaches for placement of PMUs have been studied. This thesis introduces an approach for deployment the PMUs considering its vulnerability. Two different analysis have been considered to solve the problem of locating PMUs …

A Training Assistant Tool For The Automated Visual Inspection System, Mohan Karthik Ramaraj

All Theses

This thesis considers the problem of assisting a human user setting up an automated Visual Inspection (VI) system. The VI system uses a stationary camera on an automobile assembly line to inspect cars as they pass by. The inspection process is intended to identify when parts have been missed or incorrect parts have been assembled. The result is reported to a human working on the assembly line who then can take corrective actions. As originally developed, the system requires a setup phase in which the human user places the camera and records a video of at least 30 minutes length …

Characterization Of A Multi-Laminate Angle-Ply Af Patch For Annulus Fibrosus Repair, Ryan Borem

All Theses

Annually, over 5.7 million Americans are diagnosed with two IVD-associated pathologies: IVD herniation (IVDH- a mechanical disruption of the concentric fibrous layers of the annulus fibrosus (AF))) and degeneration (IVDD- a multifactorial process which initiates within the inner gelatinous core (NP), and results in a biochemical degradation of NP tissue), with over 2.7 million requiring surgical inteventions.1,2 Although both underlying pathologies are different, quite often they both lead to a decrease in IVD height, impaired mechanical function, and increased pain and disability. These pain symptoms affect approximately 80% of the adult population during their lifetime with estimated expenditures exceeding $85.9 …

Parking Lot Monitoring System Using An Autonomous Quadrotor Uav, Venkataraman Ganesh

All Theses

The main goal of this thesis is to develop a drone-based parking lot monitoring system using low-cost hardware and open-source software. Similar to wall-mounted surveillance cameras, a drone-based system can monitor parking lots without affecting the flow of traffic while also offering the mobility of patrol vehicles. The Parrot AR Drone 2.0 is the quadrotor drone used in this work due to its modularity and cost efficiency. Video and navigation data (including GPS) are communicated to a host computer using a Wi-Fi connection. The host computer analyzes navigation data using a custom flight control loop to determine control commands to …

Analysis Of Citrate Content In Bone Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Matthew Konstantin Pysh

All Theses

Approximately 1.5 wt. % of bone is comprised of citrate molecules bound to the surface of apatite crystals. Furthermore, 80 to 90% of physiological citrate is contained within bone. Recently, interest in citrate has increased due to the potential of a citrate based method for estimation of postmortem intervals, time since death, of skeletal remains. The broad objective of this research was to develop and validate a High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method for quantitative and qualitative analysis of citrate in bone. An appropriate HPLC column and operating conditions for the detection of citrate were selected and subsequently used to analyze …

Co-Design Of Dynamic Real-Time Scheduling And Cooperative Control For Human-Agent Collaboration Systems Based On Mutual Trust, Xiaotian Wang

All Theses

Mutual trust is a key factor in human-human collaboration. Inspired by this social interaction, we analyze human-agent mutual trust in the collaboration of one human and (semi)autonomous multi-agent systems. In the thesis, we derive time-series human-agent mutual trust models based on results from human factors engineering. To avoid both over- trust and under-trust, we set up dynamic timing models for the multi-agent scheduling problem and develop necessary and sufficient conditions to test the schedulability of the human multi-agent collaborative task. Furthermore, we extend the collaboration between one human and multiple agents into the collaboration between multi-human network and swarm-based agents …

A Robust Data Exchange Framework For Connected Vehicle Technology Supported Dynamic Transit Operations, Yucheng An

All Theses

Transit systems are an integral part of surface transportation systems. A connected vehicle technology (CVT) supported transit system will assist the users to manage trips both dynamically and efficiently. The primary focus of this research is to develop and evaluate the performance of a secure, scalable, and resilient data exchange framework. In the developed data exchange framework, a new data analytics layer, named Transit Cloud, is used to receive data from different sources, and send it to different users for a Dynamic Transit Operations (DTO) application. The DTO application allows the transit users to request trip information and obtain itineraries, …

Structural Optimization Using Parametric Programming Method, Krupakaran Ravichandraan

All Theses

The Parametric Programming method is investigated to consider its applicability to structural optimization problems. It is used to solve optimization problems that have design variables as implicit functions of some independent input parameter(s). It provides optimal solutions as a parametric function of the input parameter(s) for the entire parameter space of interest. It does not require the detailed discrete optimizations needed at a large number of parameter values as in traditional non-parametric optimization. Parametric programming is widely used in optimal controls, model predictive control, scheduling, process synthesis and material design under uncertainty due to the above mentioned benefits. Its benefits …

Detection And Recovery From Camera Bump During Automated Inspection Of Automobiles On An Assembly Line, Shawn Mathew

All Theses

This thesis details the steps taken to detect and compensate for camera bumps while per- forming part identification using VI at the BMW manufacturing plant and on the simulation testbed. For the system presented here to work, the user is required to record a video from the camera before the camera is bumped and one after the camera has been bumped. The premise behind the method suggested here is that the transformation between the background in the pre- and post-bump video will be equal to the transformation in the foreground. A Background extraction program is used to generate a background …

A Novel Approach To Evaluating Compact Finite Differences And Similar Tridiagonal Schemes On Gpu-Accelerated Clusters, Ashwin Trikuta Srinath

All Theses

Compact finite difference schemes are widely used in the direct numerical simulation of fluid flows for their ability to better resolve the small scales of turbulence. However, they can be expensive to evaluate and difficult to parallelize. In this work, we present an approach for the computation of compact finite differences and similar tridiagonal schemes on graphics processing units (GPUs). We present a variant of the cyclic reduction algorithm for solving the tridiagonal linear systems that arise in such numerical schemes. We study the impact of the matrix structure on the cyclic reduction algorithm and show that precomputing forward reduction …

Condition Assessment Of Clemson University's Parking Network And Development Of A Framework To Support Pavement Management, Yazurved Sai Vishwaksen Aravalli

All Theses

The concept of pavement management system for Clemson University parking network provides a rehabilitation programming strategy for parking and transportation services department at Clemson University. The department invests funds to keep parking lots in good condition which pays large rewards in terms of savings for both Clemson University and parking lot users. Clemson University Pavement Management System (CU-PMS) will provide quality information for better decisions to ensure the funds invested gets the best value. This project consists of developing a useful and efficient network-level PMS for Clemson University parking lot network. The study area includes all the parking lots in …

Characterizing The Effective Bandwidth Of Nonlinear Vibratory Energy Harvesters Possessing Multiple Stable Equilibria, Meghashyam Panyam Mohan Ram

All Dissertations

In the last few years, advances in micro-fabrication technologies have lead to the development of low-power electronic devices spanning critical fields related to sensing, data transmission, and medical implants. Unfortunately, effective utilization of these devices is currently hindered by their reliance on batteries. In many of these applications, batteries may not be a viable choice as they have a fixed storage capacity and need to be constantly replaced or recharged. In light of such challenges, several novel concepts for micro-power generation have been recently introduced to harness, otherwise, wasted ambient energy from the environment and maintain these low-power devices. Vibratory …