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University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Masters Theses

Theses/Dissertations

2022

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Articles 31 - 40 of 40

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Validation Of Relap5-3d For Transient Simulation Of Lead-Lithium Systems For Fusion Applications, Nicholas Akira Meehan May 2022

Validation Of Relap5-3d For Transient Simulation Of Lead-Lithium Systems For Fusion Applications, Nicholas Akira Meehan

Masters Theses

With increasing development in fusion technology including the construction and subsequently planned experimental campaign of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), validation must be performed for simulation tools used in the design, development, and licensing of future commercial fusion systems. This thesis contains several validation studies for transient simulation of lead-lithium eutectic (PbLi) systems using the RELAP5-3D code. This validation analysis is performed initially using models of systems without the influence of a magnetic field to inspect heat transfer and pressure drop phenomena. The validation study then uses models of systems under the influence of a magnetic field to inspect …


Development Of Arduino-Based Portable Systems For Electroanalytical Detection, Jiamei Huang May 2022

Development Of Arduino-Based Portable Systems For Electroanalytical Detection, Jiamei Huang

Masters Theses

This work presents the development of a multi-mode electroanalytical detection system based on Arduino microcontroller board. First, a multichannel impedance readout system is designed for alternating current electrokinetics (ACEK) based capacitive sensing. ACEK phenomena on 100μm interdigitated electrodes are observed via fluorescent particles as well as bioparticles, which illustrate the mechanisms of ACEK target enrichment for the capacitive sensing method. I2C multiplexer is applied to allow multiple impedance converters to work together providing continuous AC signals for ACEK capacitive sensing. Second, an electronic nose composed of three modules including a gas sensor array, a circuit for signal acquisition integrated with …


Meta-Heuristic Optimization Techniques For The Production Of Medical Isotopes Through Special Target Design, Cameron Ian Salyer May 2022

Meta-Heuristic Optimization Techniques For The Production Of Medical Isotopes Through Special Target Design, Cameron Ian Salyer

Masters Theses

Medical isotopes are used for a variety of different diagnostic and therapeutic purposes Ruth (2008). Due to recent newly discovered applications, their production has become rapidly more scarce than ever before Charlton (2019). Therefore, more efficient and less time consuming methods are of interest for not only the industry’s demand, but for the individuals who require radio-isotope procedures. Currently, the primary source of most medical isotopes used today are provided by reactor and cyclotron irradiation techniques, followed by supplemental radio-chemical separations Ruth (2008). Up until this point, target designs have been optimized by experience, back of the envelope calculations, and …


A Numerical Optimization Study Of A Novel Electrospray Emitter Design, Joshua H. Howell May 2022

A Numerical Optimization Study Of A Novel Electrospray Emitter Design, Joshua H. Howell

Masters Theses

The low thrust and high specific impulse of electric propulsion has been brought to the forefront for CubeSat and small spacecraft applications. Electrospray thrusters, which operate via electrostatic principles, have seen much research, development, and application in recent years. The small sizes of the spacecraft that utilize electrospray thrusters has focused development into the miniaturization of this technology to the micro-scale. Miniaturization introduces design challenges that must be addressed, including power supply mass and footprint requirements. This consequence requires investigation into the effects of design choices on the thruster onset voltage, defined as the voltage at which ion emission begins. …


Path Planning And Flight Control Of Drones For Autonomous Pollination, Chapel R. Rice May 2022

Path Planning And Flight Control Of Drones For Autonomous Pollination, Chapel R. Rice

Masters Theses

The decline of natural pollinators necessitates the development of novel pollination technologies. In this thesis, a drone-enabled autonomous pollination system (APS) that consists of five primary modules: environment sensing, flower perception, path planning, flight control, and pollination mechanisms is proposed. These modules are highly dependent upon each other, with each module relying on inputs from the other modules. This thesis focuses on approaches to the path planning and flight control modules. Flower perception is briefly demonstrated developing a map of flowers using results from previous work. With that map of flowers, APS path planning is defined as a variant of …


Development Of Codoped Cesium Iodide Scintillators For Medical Imaging Applications, Everett M. Cavanaugh May 2022

Development Of Codoped Cesium Iodide Scintillators For Medical Imaging Applications, Everett M. Cavanaugh

Masters Theses

Cesium iodide has a rich history of use as a scintillating material. CsI finds use in a variety of fields, but it is primarily used in radiography, tomography, and geological exploration. Of the three common variants of CsI, thallium doped CsI is by far the most widely used among these applications. It possesses favorable physical characteristics like a high density and high effective Z and exhibits high light output at room temperature. Despite how great CsI scintillators may be on paper, they have an Achilles heel: afterglow. CsI:Tl has significant afterglow which leads to imaging artifacts that can be difficult …


Combinatorial Cuni Alloy Thin Film Catalysts For Layer Number Regulation In Cvd Grown Graphene, Sumeer Khanna May 2022

Combinatorial Cuni Alloy Thin Film Catalysts For Layer Number Regulation In Cvd Grown Graphene, Sumeer Khanna

Masters Theses

In this work, synthesis of combinatorial library of CuxNi1-x (copper nickel) alloy thin films via co-sputtering from Cu (copper) and Ni (nickel) targets as catalysts for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth of graphene is reported. The gradient alloy morphology, composition and microstructure were characterized via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and x-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. Subsequently, the CuxNi1-x alloy thin films were used to grow graphene in a CH4-Ar-H2 (methane-argon-hydrogen) ambient in thermal CVD tube furnace. The underlying rationale is to adjust the CuxNi1-x …


Design And Evaluation Of A Unique Weighted-Sum-Based Anger Camera, Matthew W. Seals May 2022

Design And Evaluation Of A Unique Weighted-Sum-Based Anger Camera, Matthew W. Seals

Masters Theses

Anger camera imaging technology has become widely popular for neutron diffraction imaging due to recent shortages in Helium-3 (He-3). Research into neutron diffraction optimized Anger camera by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) detectors group has provided an alternative to He-3 Tube-based detectors with a high-resolution Anger camera. However, the cost of these high-resolution Anger camera technology can make it less attractive than He-3 tubes when a large Field of View (FOV) is desired. Currently, there is a need for a lower-cost alternative to this high-resolution anger camera. Further applications for Anger camera have become of interest with the advent …


Redundant Kinematics Solution For A Combined 6dof Robotic Manipulator And 2dof Part Positioner In A Waam Application, Ethan C. Vals May 2022

Redundant Kinematics Solution For A Combined 6dof Robotic Manipulator And 2dof Part Positioner In A Waam Application, Ethan C. Vals

Masters Theses

A typical wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) robot cell consists of a 6 DOF robot manipulator and a 2 DOF part positioner. Since the WAAM process requires a minimum of 5 DOFs, there are three redundant DOFs in the system that can be utilized to improve the robot manipulator positioning during part printing. In this thesis, the redundant kinematics of a manipulator and part positioner robot system are solved and then implemented on an actual robot system. The inverse kinematics of the manipulator and part positioner are solved as a kinematic chain using the pseudo-inverse Jacobian method. The two DOFs …


Design, Fabrication, And Validation Of A Three-Zone Cell For Absorption Spectroscopy, Derek W. Burkhart May 2022

Design, Fabrication, And Validation Of A Three-Zone Cell For Absorption Spectroscopy, Derek W. Burkhart

Masters Theses

Spectroscopic databases such as HITRAN and HITEMP are required to characterize the spectral parameters of chemical species to ensure accurate calculations of gas concentrations and temperatures from laser absorption spectroscopy. These databases are populated by performing spectroscopic experiments at controlled conditions. Databases lack spectral parameters for combustion species such as CO, CO2, and H2O at temperatures combustion temperatures in the mid-IR wavelength range due to difficulties in creating an experimental absorption cell capable of surviving combustion temperatures. A high temperature absorption cell was previously used at the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI) for high temperature spectroscopic experiments with combustion …