Engineering Commons^™

Development Of The Telemetrical Intraoperative Soft Tissue Tension Monitoring System In Total Knee Replacement With Mems And Asic Technologies, Gary To

Masters Theses

The alignment of the femoral and tibial components of the Total Knee Arthoplasty (TKA) is one of the most important factors to implant survivorship. Hence, numerous ligament balancing techniques and devices have been developed in order to accurately balance the knee intra-operatively. Spacer block, tensioner and tram adapter are instruments that allow surgeons to qualitatively balance the flexion and extension gaps during TKA. However, even with these instruments, the surgical procedure still relies on the skill and experience of the surgeon. The objective of this thesis is to develop a computerized surgical instrument that can acquire intra-operative data telemetrically for …

Impedance Matching And PspiceR Simulation Of One Atmosphere Uniform Glow Discharge Plasma (Oaugdp™) Reactor/Actuator Systems, Zhiyu Chen

Masters Theses

This thesis addresses two important issues relevant to One Atmosphere Uniform Glow Discharge Plasma (OAUGDP™) reactors and actuators ¾ impedance matching and PSpice^R simulation.

An OAUGDP™ reactor/actuator with the plasma energized can be modeled as a capacitor in parallel with a resistor. In addition, the non-ideality of the transformer between the RF power supply and the plasma reactor/actuator introduces an imaginary component in its impedance. Thus, the load of the RF power supply, as seen by its output terminals, is highly reactive. An impedance mismatch resulting from the absence of a matching network will cause a large reflected power …

Applied Fourier Transform Near-Infrared Techniques For Biomass Compositional Analysis, Lu Liu

Masters Theses

A new method for rapid chemical analysis of lignocellulosic biomass was developed using Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopic techniques. The new method is less time-consuming and expensive than traditional wet chemistry. A mathematical model correlated FT-NIR spectra with concentrations determined by wet chemistry. Chemical compositions of corn stover and switchgrass were evaluated in terms of glucose, xylose, galactose, arabinose, mannose, lignin, and ash. Model development evaluated multivariate regressions, spectral transform algorithms, and spectral pretreatments and selected partial least squares regression, log(1/R), and extended multiplicative signal correction, respectively. Chemical composition results indicated greater variability in corn stover than switchgrass, especially among …

Fpga-Based Image Analysis System For Cotton Classing, Muhammad Imran Sharafat

Masters Theses

The design and implementation of an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) based image analysis system was undertaken to replace an older system whose components have become obsolete. Video from an analog camera is digitized by a video decoder. The data from the video decoder is stored in memory and then processed using an FPGA. The results are then transmitted over a universal serial bus (USB) to a host personal computer for additional processing. The system also controls the timing of a flash to correctly capture the images; it measures color and reflectance and is used to classify the quality of raw …

A Study Of The Beginning Boundary Layer Influence On The Flow Field About A Two-Dimensional Automotive Model, Jonathan Gabriel Ford

Masters Theses

An experimental investigation was performed to analyze the beginning boundary layer produced on the floor of a subsonic wind tunnel and its influence on the flow field about a two-dimensional automotive model. Hot film anemometer measurements were taken in the test section of the wind tunnel operating under various inlet configurations. The use of a splitter plate and modifications to the contour of the inlet to the wind tunnel were then studied to find their affects on the height of the boundary layer in the wind tunnel test section. Finally, a 2-D automotive model was constructed with pressure taps along …

A Longest-Queue-First Signal Scheduling Algorithm With Quality Of Service Provisioning For An Isolated Intersection, Richard James Wunderlich

Masters Theses

In today's fast-paced society, the need to travel using automobiles is increasingly important. Aside from the road itself, the intersection is the most basic unit of a traffic system. As such, controlling the flow of traffic through intersections in an efficient manner has become a task of the utmost importance. The signal-scheduling algorithm described in this thesis is designed for just such a task. Concepts are drawn from the field of packet switching in computer networks and are applied to the traffic control problem. The method proposed utilizes a maximal weight matching algorithm to minimize the queue sizes at each …

The Impact Of Organizational Attributes On Project Performance As Measured By On-Time Delivery And Budget, Zeid El-Akkad

Masters Theses

Before we determine what lean tools are suitable for an office environment and how to modify those tools to make them more suitable and in order to develop a lean office, it is important to understand the different processes and aspects within an office. For this reason, better understanding of office processes and aspects helps facilitate the deployment and implementation and modification of different lean techniques to better suit the office environment. The purpose of this paper is to identify seven different factors to compare against one another and against project performance in terms of on-time delivery and budget. The …

Analysis, Modeling And Testing Of A Multi-Receiver Wireless System For Telemetry Applications, Thomas Ebel

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates the potential value of multiple co-located receiver units for telemetry applications. In this thesis, a test board based on the NRF24L01 RF chip produced by Nordic Semiconductor was tested. Testing consisted of sending pseudo-random test data over a link between two test boards at progressive distances. Packet loss rate was identified as the dominant failure mode of the chip, and was used to determine performance increase. A parametric model of the chip performance was developed based on coherent and noncoherent FSK detectors and curve fit to the experimental data to model the performance of a single GFSK …

Hardware Accelerated Scalable Parallel Random Number Generation, Junkyu Lee

Masters Theses

The Scalable Parallel Random Number Generators library (SPRNG) is widely used due to its speed, quality, and scalability. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations often employ SPRNG to generate large quantities of random numbers. Thanks to fast Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology development, this thesis presents Hardware Accelerated SPRNG (HASPRNG) for the Virtex-II Pro XC2VP30 FPGAs. HASPRNG includes the full set of SPRNG generators and provides programming interfaces which hide detailed internal behavior from users. HASPRNG produces identical results with SPRNG, and it is verified with over 1 million consecutive random numbers for each type of generator. The programming interface allows a …

Active Vibration Control Using Optimized Piezoelectric Topologies, Matthew James Parsons

Masters Theses

This work investigates the optimal topology of an actively controlled piezoelectric actuator bonded to an elastic cantilever beam under steady-state harmonic loading near the first natural frequency of the beam. The actuator is discretized using finite elements, and control is applied to the actuator based on the sensor’s degrees of freedom using proportional control. This study investigates the optimal distribution of actuator material for one and five layers of finite elements. The optimized actuator topology shows substantial improvement over initial piezoelectric topologies and over traditional actuator placement. This study has two main topics, material homogenization and topology optimization. The piezoelectric …

Evaluation, Comparison, And Design Of Two Experimental Bridges In Tennessee, Kyle Parker Scoble

Masters Theses

This thesis describes the design and evaluates the adequacy of the moment connection of an experimental two-span highway bridge designed by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. The Massman Drive bridge is an experimental design that unifies the construction economy of simple span bridges and the structural economy of continuous span bridges. The experimental connection, consisting of cover plates and kicker wedge plates, is used to connect the two adjoining girders over the center pier. As a result, the bridge is designed to function as a continuous bridge during the deck pour and behave compositely with the reinforced concrete deck under …

Fabrication Of Nano-Injection Needles For Neural Pathway Study In Mice, Sangeetha Swaminathan

Masters Theses

The potential of micro-needles to provide an interconnection between the microscopic and the macroscopic worlds makes it one of the most revolutionary fields in health care, allowing for precise transdermal drug delivery of highly targeted small doses of the active compound. Current micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) technologies, originally designed for the micro-electronics industry, have been utilized in the fabrication of different micro-needle designs and their integration with various micro-fabricated micro-fluidics devices. The target of this thesis is to achieve a micro-needle injection system to deliver several strains of pico-liter volumes of a fluid combination of transgenic virus and luminescent …

The Synthesis And Characterization Of A Novel Polysaccharide Hydrogel For Biomedical Applications Including The Treatment Of Malignant Tumors And The Prevention Of Metastatic Disease, Elizabeth Diana Barker

Masters Theses

Amygel® is an injectable biodegradable controlled release drug delivery system with adjustable release kinetics determined by varying the concentrations of the polymeric components of the material. Amygel® is a starch based biodegradable hydrogel consisting of an interpenetrating network of physically entangled amylose and amylopectin polymer chains crosslinked with d-glucaric acid. Amylose and amylopectin are the two components of naturally occurring starch. The immiscibility of the amylose and amylopectin due to differences in solubility parameter and chain size induces phase separation within the network but because the chains entangled during hydrolysis an interpenetrating network is formed. The chemically reactive carboxyl groups …

Study Of Interaction Between Mexican Free-Tailed Bats (Tadarida Brasiliensis) And Moths And Counting Moths In A Real Time Video, Haritha Kolli

Masters Theses

Brazilian free tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) are among the most abundant and widely distributed species in the southwestern United States in the summer. Because of their high metabolic needs and diverse diets, bats can impact the communities in which they live in a variety of important ways. The role of bats in pollination, seed dispersal and insect control has been proven to be extremely significant. Due to human ignorance, habitat destruction, fear and low reproductive rates of bats, there is a decline in bat populations. T.brasiliensis eats large quantities of insects but is not always successful in prey …

Model Reduction Techniques For Fluid Dynamical Flow Based Pde Control Problems, Jason Harold Foster

Masters Theses

This thesis deals with the practical and theoretical implications of model reduction for aerodynamical flow based control problems. Various aspects of model reduction are discussed that apply to Partial Differential Equation (PDE) based models in general. Specifically, the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) of a high dimension system is discussed as well as frequency domain identification methods are discussed for initial model creation. Projections on the POD basis give a Galerkin model. Then, the methods of balanced truncation and Hankel optimal norm reduction are applied to the Galerkin model. A state space model is formed by a Galerkin projection of the …

Intrustive Probe Measurements In A High-Temperature Mach Two Flow, Sonya Renee Nelson

Masters Theses

To acquire heat transfer measurements of a high temperature Mach two flow a water-cooled calorimeter was placed in the flow and the water temperature rise was used to calculate the heat transfer rate and the recovery temperature of the gas. In addition, a graphite rod with a stainless steel tube at its core was used to measure the total pressure of the flow. This pressure probe was swept through the flow for two test runs to acquire a stagnation pressure profile of the gas flow. All results were compared to NASA CEA computer simulation code results. The heat transfer and …

Applying Human Factors Principles In Aviation Displays: A Transition From Analog To Digital Cockpit Displays In The Cp140 Aurora Aircraft, Ryan C. Palmer

Masters Theses

A flight test program that evaluated the results of a CP140 Aurora cockpit modernization project was conducted between May 2004 and October 2005. This paper uses the results of that test program to show how basic human factors principles were violated which led to the identification of multiple design deficiencies. This paper proposes that the failure to apply good human factors principles when designing aircraft displays can lead to unacceptable deficiencies. The result can be poor modal awareness, confusion in the cockpit, and often negative training for the pilots. In particular, four major deficiencies were analyzed to determine the specific …

A Full Scale Camera Calibration Technique With Automatic Model Selection – Extension And Validation, Vitaliy Leonidovich Orekhov

Masters Theses

This thesis presents work on the testing and development of a complete camera calibration approach which can be applied to a wide range of cameras equipped with normal, wide-angle, fish-eye, or telephoto lenses. The full scale calibration approach estimates all of the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters. The calibration procedure is simple and does not require prior knowledge of any parameters. The method uses a simple planar calibration pattern. Closed-form estimates for the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters are computed followed by nonlinear optimization. Polynomial functions are used to describe the lens projection instead of the commonly used radial model. Statistical information …

The Reliability Of Signal Strength For Localization Of High-Density Zigbee Wireless Networks, Brandon Jeremy Rogers

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates the reliability of ZigBee signal strength within a high-density wireless network, specifically looking at the Link Quality Indicator (LQI) as provided by the physical layer and accessible at the networking and application layers within the stack protocol. It also investigates methods by which LQI can be used for discovery, identification, and localization of nodes within a ZigBee wireless network. The thesis concentrates on practical approaches specifically as it would pertain to commissioning a high-density network for an application such as lighting control in building automation. There are seven potential algorithms proposed using factors such as minimum distance …

Effect Of Length On The Performance Of Lean NoX Traps, Vitaly Y. Prikhodko

Masters Theses

The effect of monolith length on the NO_x performance of two different Lean NO_x Traps has been investigated using a bench flow reactor (BFR). The washcoat composition of one of the catalysts consists of Pt/K/γ-Al₂O₃; the major components of the other catalyst include Pt, Pd, Rh, barium, ceria and zirconia supported on γ-alumina washcoat. Samples of 2.22-cm in diameter and length of 2.54, 5.08 and 7.62-cm within each LNT were evaluated with long and short-cycle experiments at a fixed gas hourly space velocity, and results were compared between samples of different lengths. No significant …

Factors That Affect The Perception Of Company Success By Assembly Workers In The Boat Industry, Karima Tayeb

Masters Theses

Employee retention is critical to an organization’s competitive position. Employees are resources; and a “good” employee is a valuable asset. From a system’s perspective, employees are critical elements that are needed to ensure the output can be produced effectively and efficiently. Thus, management of this resource is critical for a company’s success. Maintaining a stable workforce in the boat manufacturing industry is a challenge. This is especially true in the assembly area where the average job is unskilled and not considered a career position. The purpose of this study is to identify the individual and organizational factors that contribute to …

Physiological Stress In Native Brook Trout (Salvelinus Fontinalis) During Episodic Acidification Of Streams In The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Keil Jason Neff

Masters Theses

Episodes of stream acidification are suspected to be the primary cause of the extirpation of native southern brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) from six headwater streams in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM). During periods of increased flow from storm events, stream pH can drop below 5.0 (minimum of 4.0) for 2-days or longer. To provide evidence that native brook trout are impacted by stream acidification, in situ bioassay experiments were conducted. Changes in stream water chemistry and brook trout physiology were determined during a 36-hour acidic episode at three remote headwater stream sites in the Middle Prong of the …

Influence Of The Sampling Procedure On Extracted Jet Engine Exhaust Gas Emission Samples, Ashley Dawn Owens

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the effects of an intrusive sample extraction process on the thermo-chemistry of extracted gas samples taken from exhaust of a GE-J85-H turbojet engine. The engine testing took place at University of Tennessee Space Institute in Tullahoma, TN, where the J85 was installed in a test bay of a research facility. The results of the analysis validate that testing methods used had a low probability of disturbing the exhaust chemistry. The tools used to analyze the thermal history of the extracted samples were the NASA CEA and LSENS programs. Several different cases of …

Predictive Models Of An Electro-Mechanical Driving System For Failure Testing Of Strain Gauges, Brent Ellis

Masters Theses

Strain gauges are bonded at high stress locations on the surface of critical structural components such as turbine blades to measure fatigue characteristics and detect early warning signs of high cycle fatigue. However, strain gauges do not always report expected measurements. The usual response by maintenance technicians to these failing signals is to investigate the component for weakness, check the placement of the gauges on the component, or examine the instrumentation for failure or damage. However, little research has been conducted to show when the failing signals are the fault of the strain gauge. Such failure modes of strain gauges …

“Parametric Study Of The Effects Of Water To Cementitious Materials Ratio And Cementitious Materials Content On The Durability Properties Of High Performance Concrete, Andrew T. Tinsley

Masters Theses

This study takes a detailed look at the factors that affect the durability of concrete and how they can be applied to the development of a useful performance specification and help to extend the life of bridge decks and other concrete structures exposed to the elements of nature. A series of fifteen mixes (with varying cement contents and water/cement ratios) were performed in order to determine exactly which of these factors have a significant effect on the durability of a concrete mix. Controlling the water/cement ratio is necessary in order to control strength and permeability. Cement content was found to …

Nonlinear Behavior Of Longitudinal Waves In The Oscillations Of Rijke Tube, Nagini Devarakonda

Masters Theses

The Rijke tube device has been employed since its invention in 1859 in the experimental study of many examples of thermo-acoustic phenomena. The device exhibits generation of acoustic oscillations by heat energy supplied to the flow field in the fashion of a selfexcited oscillator. In recent times, the Rijke tube has proved to be a valuable tool in simulation of combustion instability phenomena in rockets and industrial burners. Despite the simplicity of the device, the Rijke tube simulates most important geometrical and physical features that lead to the growth of nonlinear pressure oscillations in combustion chambers. For example it provides …

Experimental Investigation Of Reinforced Concrete Beams With Lapped Reinforcement, Mary Elizabeth Griffey

Masters Theses

One of the great contributions made by President Dwight D. Eisenhower was his influence in the implementation of the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956. The National Highway System serves an important role in American citizen's ground transportation. Now more than a half of a century in age, there is a high priority to repair existing infrastructure as well as the need for expansion. Repair and expansion must be achieved efficiently by reducing construction time and improving the capacity and durability of the structure. Precast, prestressed decked bulb tees (DBTs) serve as an excellent solution to ensure quality …

Feasibility Of The Application Of The Maintenance Error Decision Aid Process To General Aviation Maintenance, Mark Thomas Blanks

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of applying the Maintenance Error Decision Aid (MEDA) that was developed by Boeing to general aviation maintenance shops, either in its current form or with limited modification. The MEDA investigation process has been implemented successfully by several major airlines and it was assumed that general aviation could also benefit from this safety enhancing process. Because of the nature of the MEDA process, this paper only addresses the feasibility of applying the MEDA process to large shops. After consulting aviation professionals and performing extensive research, a questionnaire was created and sent …

Traceable Standard For Sub - 100nm Metrology, Sachin Jayant Deo

Masters Theses

As we approach the 65nm technological node, transistor gates with dimensions of the order of 40nm are being manufactured. As the device performance is directly related to the dimensions of the gate, critical dimension (CD) control becomes an important part of the fabrication process. Characterization of these small feature size, generally referred to as Metrology, is an indispensable ingredient of the semiconductor manufacturing processes. Metrology relies not only on the precision, but also the accuracy of commercially used metrology tools like the CD-SEM. To facilitate the magnification calibration of the CD-SEM, an easy access to standard reference artifact traceable …

Theoretical Techniques For Determining Precise Thermophysical Properties, Mohamad Hadi Kassaee

Masters Theses

Quantum mechanics (QM) calculations, coupled with statistical mechanics (SM), provide a means to obtain thermophysical properties from first principles. Because of the limitations in modern computational resources, many of these properties are obtained for isolated molecules. Despite this limitation, QM is still very useful for thermophysical property generation in an ideal gas reference state where the molecules are isolated.

In this thesis, a combination of quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics calculations is used to generate entropies of aromatic compounds in the ideal gas reference state. This information is necessary for practical calculations such as the determination of the free energy …