Engineering Commons^™

Trade Study Analysis Of The Janus Moon Lander Vehicle, Omar Vazquez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Liquid Oxygen (LOX) and Liquid Methane (LCH4) has become a propellant combination of interest in the recent years, especially for leading aerospace companies with the sight set on mars such as SpaceX and Blue Origin in their heavy thrust engines (the Raptor and BE-4 respectively) since methane can be more stable than hydrogen, can be stored at more manageable temperatures and can be produced locally, at mars, using in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) [1].The Center for Space Exploration and Technology Research (cSETR) has developed a 500 lbf throttleable (4:1) thrust chamber (CROME) using the aforementioned propellant combination with the intention of …

Advances In Chemical Vapor Deposition Growth Of Molybdenum Disulfide For Photodetectors And Flexible Electronics, Carlos Francisco De Anda Orea

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The conversion of light into electrical signals is at the basis of technologies that affect our daily lives. Applications, including video imaging, optical communications, biomedical imaging, security, night-vision, gas sensing and motion detection have reached a high level of maturity due to the development of high-performance materials, large-scale production, and integration technologies. Currently conventional photodetectors made of Silicon (Si) or III-V compounds are about to reach their maximum efficiency, and every time it is harder to get a noticeable improvement in performance of sensors based on these materials, not to mention the complicated fabrication methods to achieve just a few …

Redesign Of A Volume Adjustable Transtibial Prosthetic Socket, Samuel Terrazas Quezada

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Recent research and development in prosthetics have aimed at improving socket designs and components to mimic more efficiently the human body. One such innovation is the Aperture Socket, a low-cost volume adjustable prosthetic socket. During the validation stage of its development, the Aperture Socket successfully demonstrated that it could compensate for volume changes, but various improvements on use and comfort were identified. This project develops and tests a redesign of the Aperture Socket previously developed for amputees in developing countries and subsequently patented and licensed to LIMBS International, Inc.

The first phase of this study was the creation of various …

Design And Experimental Investigation Of An Oxy-Fuel Combustion System For Magnetohydrodynamic Power Extraction, Manuel Johannes Hernandez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A general consensus in the scientific and research community is the need to restrict carbon emissions in energy systems. Therefore, extensive research efforts are underway to develop the next generation of energy systems. In the field of power generation, researchers are actively investigating novel methods to produce electricity in a cleaner, efficient form. Recently, Oxy-Combustion for magnetohydrodynamic power extraction has generated significant interest, since the idea was proposed as a method for clean power generation in coal and natural gas power plants. Oxy-combustion technologies have been proposed to provide high enthalpy, electrically conductive flows for direct conversion of electricity. Direct …

Design Of A High Intensity Turbulent Combustion System, Mohammad Arif Hossain

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In order to design next generation gas turbine combustor and rocket engines, a systematic study of flame structure at high intensity turbulent flow is necessary. The fundamental study of turbulent premixed combustion has been a major research concern for decades. The work is focused on the design and development of a high intensity turbulent combustion system which can be operated at compressible (0.3 < M < 0.5), preheated (T0=500K) and premixed conditions in order to investigate the 'Thickened Flame' regime. An air-methane mixture has been used as the fuel for this study. An optically accessible backward-facing step stabilized combustor has been designed for a maximum operating pressure of 6 bar. A grid has been introduced with different blockage ratios (BR = 54%, 61% & 67%) in order to generate turbulence inside the combustor for the experiment. Optical access is provided via quartz windows on three sides of the combustion chamber. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is done in order to verify the structural integrity of the combustor at rated conditions. In order to increase the inlet temperature of the air, a heating section was designed to use commercially available in-line heaters. Separate cooling subsystems have been designed for chamber cooling and exhaust cooling. The LabVIEW software interface has been selected as the control mechanism for the experimental setup. A 10 kHz Time Resolved Particle Image Velocimetry (TR-PIV) system and a 3 kHz Planer Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) system have been integrated with the system in order to diagnose the flow field and the flame respectively. The primary understanding of the flow field inside the combustor was achieved through the use of Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) by using commercially available software package ANSYS FLUENT. Preliminary validation is done by 10 kHz TR-PIV technique. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis have been done for CFD and experiment. Major flow parameters such as average velocity, fluctuation of velocity, kinetic energy, and turbulent intensity have been calculated for two distinct Reynolds number (Re = 815 & 3500). PIV results are compared with CFD results which show significant agreement with each other.

Critical Parts Retrieval And Profit Maximization For Medical Sustainability Using Design For Disassembly And Modularity, Karthik Varma Manikanta Koppella

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

With rising medical expenditure and increase in medical waste, it is highly imperative to look for ways to recycle and reuse medical products. Even though the reprocessing industry has made use of optimum disassembly techniques in order to derive the maximum possible profit from each medical device, it is limited since most of the medical devices can be hard to recycle without a change in the basic design complying with life cycle goals. This study will introduce a framework which will help to combine the optimum disassembly techniques with the modularity concept in order to come up with recommendations for …

Development Of The Control And Ignition Systems On A High Pressure Gas Turbine Combustor, Carlos Alejandro Valdez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The ignition and control systems of a laboratory scale high-pressure gas turbine combustor were developed in the present work. This work provides a detailed description of the design, development and testing of the remote control system developed for a High Pressure Gas Turbine Combustor (HPTC).

The combustor has the capability to operate at pressures up to 1.5 MPa and temperatures up to 2400 K. It is also designed for a maximum air and fuel flow rates of 81.93 g/s and 35.77 g/s respectively. The fuel used will be CH4 for the early experiments but it is designed to operate using …

Indentifying And Understanding User Preferences In Generic Planning Tools, Grisel Ventura

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Planning is an important cognitive work activity. To support this complex task, the development of planning tools is important to support people during decision-making and problem-solving tasks. Nowadays, a large number of manual and electronic tools support this complex activity; manual and electronic planning tools aid people in creating strategies for effective work performance. However, there is limited information on the design of generic planning tools people use for their activities, and why people choose to use the planning tool they do. Some examples of generic tools for planning are calendars, checklists, agendas, etc.

To answer this question, this research …

What About The Children? Benjamin And Arendt: On Education, Work, And The Political, Jules Simon

Jules Simon

This article is a rough draft of an article that I contributed to an edited volume of articles dealing with progressive education theory. I reflect on articles that Hannah Arendt and Walter Benjamin wrote that deal with educational reform and innovation, both political in nature.

Computer-Aided Detection Of Sleep Apnea And Sleep Stage Classification Using Hrv And Eeg Signals, Edson F. Estrada

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Sleep is a circadian rhythm essential for human life. Many events occur in the body during this state. In the past, significant efforts have been made to provide clinicians with reliable and less intrusive tools to automatically classify the sleep stages and detect apnea events. A few systems are available in the market to accomplish this task. However, sleep specialists may not have full confidence and trust in such systems due to issues related to their accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. The main objective of this work is to explore possible relationships among sleep stages and apneic events and improve on …

Motivation In Spinoza And Rosenzweig Or Transgressing The Boundaries Of A Rationally Constructed Self, Jules Simon

Jules Simon

No abstract provided.

The Ethical Phenomenon Of Gm-Corn: Anger, Anxiety, And Arrogance In Crossing American Borders, Jules Simon

Jules Simon

In terms of phenomenology, I often wonder about the relevance of what I do as a philosopher for the life of those with whom I come into contact. This ‘coming into contact’ happens for me on several levels: as one human among many, as a husband and father and son and brother, as a teacher, as a neighbor, and as country or city dweller. I remember with fondness those times in the late sultry summer months when, as a youth, I would drive with my father to this or that local farm-stand on some remote back road in the hills …

Art In A New Light: Design And Assessment Of Illuminants To Reduce Photochemical Degradation Of Works Of Art, Monica Fabiola Delgado

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to design the best lighting that will minimize long term photochemical degradation of Old Master Drawings and/or other works of art, while maintaining the patron's appreciation of the object's color and detail. The present approach is a technological refinement to the basic underlying earlier work on fluorescent lighting by W. A. Thornton, W.A. at General Electric1. Thin-film dielectric, multi-coating technology is used to create filters that eliminate ultraviolet light, near infrared light and significant unnecessary parts from the visible spectrum, thus maximizing the reduction in photochemical degradation, while maintaining optimal color rendering. Three interference …

Making Ethical Sense Of Useless Suffering With Levinas, Jules Simon

Jules Simon

No abstract provided.

Benjamin In Paris: Weak Messianism And Memories Of The Oppressed, Jules Simon

Jules Simon

No abstract provided.

Interview No. 1655, Newton P. Matthews

Combined Interviews

Newton P. Matthews was born in North Carolina, in January of 1941; grew up in Goldsboro, NC, site of Seymour Johnson Air Base; he graduated college at Wake Forest University in Winston- Salem, NC in 1962; he describes the cold war tension in the early 1960s, he joined the U.S. Air Force to avoid being drafted into the Army; he says he was selected for Officer Training School as a navigator, he wanted to be a pilot but at the time needed 20/20 vision; he mentions being in training during the Cuban Missile Crisis; he recalls navigator bombardier training and …

Dilthey And Simmel: A Reading From/Toward Buber's Philosophy Of History, Jules Simon

Jules Simon

No abstract provided.

Hegels Familienbegriff – Vermittelt Durch Rosenzweig: Darstellung Einer Eigentuemlichen Geschichte, Jules Simon

Jules Simon

No abstract provided.

Interview No. 1656, Robert W. Pitt

Combined Interviews

Robert Pitt was born in Detroit, MI on November 20, 1933; his family relocated a lot, he first remembers living in Portland, OR, later moved to Phoenix, AZ where he remembers the bombing of Pearl Harbor and followed the progress of World War II at home; he recounts moving to Los Angeles, CA for a year, his time as a batboy for the Los Angeles Angels and his love of baseball; he moved again to Chicago, IL to attend Morgan Park Military Academy, his father died when he was fifteen. Mr. Pitt describes time at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL …

Interview No. 1654, Emmet E. Cook Sr.

Combined Interviews

Emmet E. Cook, Sr. was born in Fort Worth, TX, on March 5, 1918; he became interested in aviation following Charles Lindberg’s flight across the Atlantic, he lived near Meacham Air Field; he attended Texas A&M and majored in mechanical engineering; he was failing so a took test for aviation cadet and attended Alan Hancock School of Aeronautics in Santa Maria, CA; he revealed that he was dismissed due to lack of facilities; he mentions he applied for the British Royal Air Force; he says he went back to Fort Worth to fly planes and got his commercial license; Mr. …

Rosenzweig's Messianic Aesthetics, Jules Simon

Jules Simon

No abstract provided.