Engineering Commons^™

Design And Optimization Of A Modular Dc-Dc Power Converter For Medium Voltage Shipboard Applications, Seyed Rasoul Hosseini

Theses and Dissertations

Power electronic converters rated for medium voltage direct current (MVDC) are promising for electrification of future ships. In shipboard electrification, due to limitation of space, energy and technical maintenance, the high-power density, high efficiency and modularity of the power electronic converters are desired. Utilizing power modules made from wide band gap (WBG) semiconductors like silicon carbide (SiC) and high frequency power transformer (HFPT) can be beneficial for obtaining the high-power density, high efficiency and isolation that is required for the power electronic converters. To provide power for the low voltage (LV) DC loads, a conversion of the power from MVDC …

Scaling And Entropic Approaches To Clusters In Materials Science And In Network, Prosun Roy

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis we have studied, is about scaling and entropic content in various networks related to the material science, colloids and biological systems. The thesis is based on two papers:⦁ Nosonovsky M.; Roy P. Allometric scaling law and ergodicity breaking in the vascular system. Microfluidics and Nanofluidic-Springer. 2020 [Chapter 2 and 3] ⦁ Nosonovsky M.; Roy P. Scaling and Entropy in colloidal and neural networks. Entropy-MPDI. 2020 [Chapter 5 to 7] In chapter 2, we investigate scaling properties of vascular networks with fractal topology. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation of blood flow through one bifurcating vessel has been illustrated to …

Numerical And Experimental Investigation Of Aeration Self Mixing By Using Pulsating And Continuous Air Flow, Ahmed Ali Alkhafaji

Theses and Dissertations

Wastewater treatment is considered one of the most common forms of pollution control in the united states. Considered as an integral part of the wastewater treatment, the aeration process is the most energy-consuming process among all the processes that take place in any wastewater treatment plant. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a wastewater treatment plant is expected to remove at least 85% of the suspended solids and dissolved organic compounds from the wastewater before discharging it to a river or a lake. The normal operation of the aeration process is by compressing air continuously to basin …

Developing Highly Reversible Li Metal Anode With Mossy/Dendritic Li Suppression In High Energy Density Batteries, Xi Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Lithium-ion battery technology has wide impact on our daily life. However, most of the commercial batteries with limited energy density are unable to meet the growing demand of electrical vehicles, portable electronic devices and other energy storage systems. Therefore, the development of new electrode materials with high energy density and reliable performance has become a critical mission for researchers. Particularly replacing graphite anode with Li metal is one of most viable approaches to break the limitation of energy density in batteries. Metallic lithium is one of the most promising anode materials, which has a high theoretical specific capacity of 3860 …

Math Models And Heuristic Methods For Constructing Fair Political Districts, Roya Ghorashi

Theses and Dissertations

Political parties’ attempts to manipulate district boundaries in order to gain political advantages in the election system lead to huge inefficiency and unfair election results. Previously some studies have developed methods for forming political districts considering various factors such as population equality, compactness, and contiguity; but only a few recent studies have considered political fairness as an objective for redistricting political map.This study attempts to find a solution to draw political districts using political fairness as a factor in addition to integrity, population equality, contiguity, and compactness of the districts in order to prevent gerrymandering. In this research, we introduce …

Sustainability In Construction: Using Lean Management Principles To Reduce Waste, Matthew Waite

Theses and Dissertations

The construction industry is facing many challenges. There are growing consumer demands for sustainable building. The construction industry generates a significant portion of the waste going into landfills. The construction industry has failed to keep pace with productivity in the manufacturing industry. Through adoption of Lean management principles, the construction industry can become more sustainable while increasing productivity. The literature was evaluated for three concepts: Lean management principles interaction with sustainability, the current state of sustainability in the construction industry, and the current state of Lean management principles in the construction industry. Lean management philosophies interactions with sustainability has been …

Deep Learning Assisted Fourier Transform Imaging Spectroscopy, Cory Juntunen

Theses and Dissertations

Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTS) has been combined with fluorescence microscopy to allow for high-throughput screening using multi-color probes. In principle, FTS is built on an interferometer, and the intensities of interferograms recorded for varying optical path differences (OPD) provide the emission spectrum of the fluorophores. Here we use deep learning to reduce the sampling number, and thus to increase the data acquisition speed of FTS-based fluorescence microscopy. Even though compressed sensing has been demonstrated to reduce the sampling number, the deep-learning-based approach is able to classify the types of fluorescent dyes without reconstructing the emission spectrum; thereby, it can further …

Intelligent Therapeutic Robot: Design, Development, And Control, Asif Al Zubayer Swapnil

Theses and Dissertations

This research contributes to developing an Intelligent Therapeutic Robot (iTbot) designed to provide therapy to patients with upper limb impairment due to stroke, injury, and other trauma. This robot aims to implement robotic rehabilitation based on principles of motor rehabilitation and Neuroplasticity. The iTbot, as developed in this research, can provide end-effector type rehabilitation exercises in various configurations, including motion in the vertical and horizontal plane. It can provide passive, active, and active-assisted rehabilitation therapies to patients with limited upper limb mobility.

The iTbot has been designed with simplicity in mind with a minimum viability approach. With a minimum amount …

A Mathematical Approach To Paint Production Process Optimization, Ching-Ya Chuang

Theses and Dissertations

As the global paint market steadily grows, finding the most effective processing model to increase production capacity will be the best way to enhance competitiveness. Therefore, this study proposes two production environments commonly used in the paint industry: build-to-order (BTO) and the variation of a configuration-to-order (CTO), called group production, to schedule paint production. Mixed-Integer Linear Program (MILP) was solved using genetic algorithms (GA) to analyze two production environments with various products, different set-up times, and different average demand for each product. The models determine the number of batches, the size and product of each batch, and the batch sequence …

Characterization Of Fiber Bragg Grating Based, Geometry-Dependent, Magnetostrictive Composite Sensors, Edward Lynch

Theses and Dissertations

Optical sensors based on geometry dependent magnetostrictive composite, having potential applications in current sensing and magnetic field sensing are modeled and evaluated experimentally with an emphasis on their thermal immunity from thermal disturbances. Two sensor geometries composed of a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) embedded in a shaped Terfenol-D/epoxy composite material, which were previously prototyped and tested for magnetic field response, were investigated. When sensing magnetic fields or currents, the primary function of the magnetostrictive composite geometry is to modulate the magnetic flux such that a magnetostrictive strain gradient is induced on the embedded FBG. Simulations and thermal experiments reveal the …

The Instability Of Verge-Foliot Clocks In Contrast With The Isochronicity Of Pendulum Clocks: A Study Of Verge-Foliot Kinematics, Aaron Seth Blumenthal

Theses and Dissertations

The tower clocks of Europe starting in the 13th century CE employed a verge-foliot mechanism, which was low in both precision and accuracy due to the sensitivity of frictional losses in the system. The pendulum and Huygens’ introduction of the Theory of Involutes is shown to be a mechanism with a linear relationship to frictional losses in the system, instead of the non-linear relationship between frictional losses in verge-foliot mechanisms. The isochrone nature of vibrations of the pendulum are discussed in contrast to the variance in oscillation seen in verge-foliots. The introduction of the pendulum resulted in an improvement of …

Bullwhip Effect Of A Closed Leep Supply Chain With And Without Information Sharing Of Customer Demand, Jui-Hsin Hsu

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, companies have become interested in a closed-loop supply chain that is concerned with the recovery pipeline. The expenses of a company can be influenced by large inventories and backlogs due to the bullwhip effect in the supply chain. Previous literature has shown that the bullwhip effect can be decreased by a reverse supply chain. This paper develops a closed-loop supply chain including seven echelons for recovery of end-of-life products. The model considers the order-up-to inventory policy and the exponential smoothing forecasting with a trend method in the system to assist in determining the ordering quantities. The best …

Design And Development Of A 7 Dof Robot With Ergonomic Shoulder For Upper Limb Rehabilitation, Md Rasedul Islam

Theses and Dissertations

With the increase of stroke patients, the number of upper limb dysfunction is increasing day by day. Robotic intervention in upper limb (UL) rehabilitation of post-stroke patients has gained much traction in recent years. Though many research groups have developed exoskeletons, existing exoskeletons have limitations in both hardware design and control approaches. In most cases, rehabilitative robotic devices have not considered the movement of the shoulder joint’s center (center of glenohumeral joint); however, this movement leads to misalignment between human joints and robot joints, which is undesirable in any circumstances. To ensure better human-robot interaction (HRI), allowing mobility of shoulder …

Designing And Investigating A Novel Biodegradable-Nontoxic Mg-Mn-Zn-Na-K Alloying System, Murtatha Mohammed Jamel

Theses and Dissertations

Magnesium has been studied extensively due to the promising potential of using magnesium alloys in different applications, especially for biomedical implantation devices and other medical applications. This growing interest is due to the abundance of magnesium metal in the Earth's crust, as well as the fact that magnesium is 37% less dense than aluminum, has good mechanical properties, and is a nontoxic element with good biocompatibility. However, most Mg-based alloys contain alloying elements that are added to improve the mechanical properties but have toxic characteristics. At the same time a number of these alloys are still used in medical applications. …

Design And Analysis Of Fully-Electronic Magnet-Free Non-Reciprocal Metamaterial, Swadesh Poddar

Theses and Dissertations

Reciprocity is a fundamental and very important characteristics of the vast majority of electronic devices, and requires that signals travel in both forward and reverse directions in the same manner. Similarly, electromagnetic non-reciprocity or one way wave propagation, implies that the field created by a source at an observation point is not the same when source and observation points are interchanged. Non-reciprocal devices such as isolators, circulators, phase shifters, polarizers,

switches, tunable resonators, tunable filters, and gyrators enable new applications from radio frequencies to optical frequencies. However, non-reciprocity has been implemented in the past using ferrites in the presence of …

Novel Approach In Measuring Training Effectiveness, Thomas Samuel

Theses and Dissertations

NOVEL APPROACH IN MEASURING TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS

by

Thomas Samuel

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2020

Under the Supervision of Dr. Naira Campbell-Kyureghyan

Conducting training for employees is a popular method, in industry, to increase awareness and competencies of individuals that helps start the journey towards a change in performance. Globally, fiscal investments in the order of hundreds of billions of dollars annually are made by organizations and governments to train employees in various concepts. Of the various types of training programs, safety related training is specifically important as it increases awareness of the work risks to employees and plays a critical …

Experimental Study On Side Resistance Of Energy Pile In Winter-Mode Operation, Te-An Wang

Theses and Dissertations

In the present work, the side resistance of an energy pile subjected to a significant number of thermal cycles in saturated Kaolin clay was investigated through small-scale pile tests, direct shear tests, and triaxial tests. Before applying compressive load, relative shearing displacement, or deviator stress, up to 36 cooling/heating cycles were performed on the soil-foundation interface and soil. The thermal cycle was below the average ground temperature in temperate zones to simulate the winter-mode operation. In small-scale pile tests, the long-term behavior of the pile was observed in terms of temperature distribution and pore water pressure in soil, and a …

Investigation Of Co-Pyrolysis And Co-Gasification Of Chicken Manure And Rice Husk, Juan Camilo Espindola Canon

Theses and Dissertations

Renewable energy is gaining more attention to supply the increasing energy demand worldwide. Currently, biomass is gaining popularity because this energy source offers several flexibilities in terms of the products that can be obtained out of the biomass (such as petroleum-like fuels, hydrogen, fertilizer, and solid fuels). There are different technologies to obtain the desired products out of the biomass (such as biological, physical, and thermochemical conversions). Among the thermochemical technologies, pyrolysis and gasification have the advantages of being faster, cleaner and produce more valuable fuels than the other technologies. However, gasification and pyrolysis technologies are expensive and very sensitive …

Graphical Convolution Network Based Semi-Supervised Methods For Detecting Pmu Data Manipulation Attacks, Wenyu Wang

Theses and Dissertations

With the integration of information and communications technologies (ICTs) into the power grid, electricity infrastructures are gradually transformed towards smart grid and power systems become more open to and accessible from outside networks. With ubiquitous sensors, computers and communication networks, modern power systems have become complicated cyber-physical systems. The cyber security issues and the impact of potential attacks on the smart grid have become an important issue. Among these attacks, false data injection attack (FDIA) becomes a growing concern because of its varied types and impacts. Several detection algorithms have been developed in the last few years, which were model-based, …

Comprehensive Safety Analysis Of Vulnerable Road User Involved Motor Vehicle Crashes, Farah Jazi Al-Mahameed

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores, identifies, and evaluates a multitude of factors significantly affecting motor vehicle crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists, commonly defined as vulnerable road users (VRUs). The methodologies are guided by the concept of safe behavior of different parties that are primary responsible for a crash, either a pedestrian, a bicyclist or a driver, pertaining to roadway design, traffic conditions, land use and built environment variables; and the findings are beneficial for recommending targeted and effective safety interventions.

The topic is motivated by the fact that human factors contribute to over ninety percent of the crashes, especially the ones involving …

Deterministic Model Of The Voltage Dependent Anion Channel (Vdac) Kinetics, Viren Shah

Theses and Dissertations

The voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) is a voltage gated channel residing on the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) that facilitates the flow of metabolites between the cytosol and mitochondria. The channel is regulated through conformational changes driven by electrostatic effects along with numerous regulatory mechanisms. The aim of this study is to mechanistically model kinetics of substrate flow through VDAC and incorporate them into existing mechanistic computational models of mitochondrial function. The resulting model is used in two ways: 1) to establish mitochondrial bioenergetics (conductance, permeability, and current/flux) under physiological conditions, and 2) to conduct perturbations simulating the effect of altered …

Detection Of Stealthy False Data Injection Attacks Against State Estimation In Electric Power Grids Using Deep Learning Techniques, Qingyu Ge

Theses and Dissertations

Since communication technologies are being integrated into smart grid, its vulnerability to false data injection is increasing. State estimation is a critical component which is used for monitoring the operation of power grid. However, a tailored attack could circumvent bad data detection of the state estimation, thus disturb the stability of the grid. Such attacks are called stealthy false data injection attacks (FDIAs). This thesis proposed a prediction-based detector using deep learning techniques to detect injected measurements. The proposed detector adopts both Convolutional Neural Networks and Recurrent Neural Networks, making full use of the spatial-temporal correlations in the measurement data. …

Sequencing Multiple-Spreader Crane Operations: Mathematical Formulations And Heuristic Algorithms, Shabnam Lashkari

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

SEQUENCING MULTIPLE-SPREADER CRANE OPERATIONS:

MATHEMATICAL FORMULATIONS AND HEURISTIC ALGORITHMS

by

Shabnam Lashkari

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2020

Under the Supervision of Professor Matthew E.H. Petering

Maritime container shipping is one the oldest industries and plays a key role in transporting freight all around the world. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) reports that more than 90% of international trade across the world is carried by sea. This method of transportation is by far the most cost-efficient among rail, road, air, and water transportation.

Today most overseas shipping of finished consumer goods is done via 20-, 40-, or 45-foot long steel …

Development Of An Advanced Zinc Air Flow Battery System (Phase 2), Jingyu Si

Theses and Dissertations

A zinc-air battery is the promising energy storage technology for large-scale energy storage applications due to its low cost, environmental friendliness, and high energy density. However, the electrically rechargeable zinc−air batteries suffer from poor energy efficiency and cycle life because of critical problems such as passivation, dendrite growth, and hydrogen evolution reaction. The proliferation of zinc−air batteries is limited.

The zinc-air flow battery combines the advantages of both a zinc-air battery and a redox flow battery. This combination permits the zinc-air flow battery to compete with the current leading battery technologies in the marketplace. A rechargeable Zn-air flow battery with …

The Effect Of Kinesiology Tape Application Duration On Endurance Of Knee During An Isotonic Fatiguing Flexion/Extension Exercise, En Yi Wu

Theses and Dissertations

Kinesiology Tape (KT) is an elastic athletic tape and is popular among athletes as it was claimed that it can to be worn for several days and is capable of preventing injuries, improving rehabilitation processes, improving muscle oxygenation levels, and enhancing muscle performance. The goal of this study was to determine if there was any potential enhancing effect of KT on joint endurance in healthy subjects, in particular with respect to time to fatigue (TTF), muscle oxygenation, and muscle activity in fatiguing knee flexion/extension exercise across sessions.

Fourteen healthy male subjects with no previous history of knee injury participated in …

Remanufacturing Process Planning Considering Quality Uncertainties, Environmental Taxes And Incentives, Kuanjui Chen

Theses and Dissertations

As environmental issues are gradually being valued by governments and societies, companies have begun to engage in economic sustainable practices such as remanufacturing, reuse and recycling, among other socially responsible practices. The broader impact of these practices enables companies to archive the goal of circular economies. Under normal circumstances, consumers’ used products have often been released into landfills, resulting in environmental pollution. This is especially so for electronic products since most materials used in their production are non-biodegradable. This research addresses the practice of remanufacturing. The remanufacturing value of the products gradually declines with the usage--also referred to as the …

Health Condition Assessment Of Multi-Chip Igbt Module With Magnetic Flux Density, Xueni Ding

Theses and Dissertations

To achieve efficient conversion and flexible control of electronic energy, insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) power modules as the dominant power semiconductor devices are increasingly applied in many areas such as electric drives, hybrid electric vehicles, railways, and renewable energy systems. It is known that IGBTs are the most vulnerable components in power converter systems. To achieve high power density and high current capability, several IGBT chips are connected in parallel as a multi-chip IGBT module, which makes the power modules less reliable due to a more complex structure. The lowered reliability of IGBT modules will not only cause safety …

Modulation And Control Techniques For Performance Improvement Of Micro Grid Tie Inverters, Zeljko Jankovic

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of microgrids is a new building block of smart grid that acts as a single controllable entity which allows reliable interconnection of distributed energy resources and loads and provides alternative way of their integration into power system. Due to its specifics, microgrids require different control strategies and dynamics of regulation as compared to ones used in conventional utility grids. All types of power converters used in microgrid share commonalities which potentially affect high frequency modes of microgrid in same manner. There are numerous unique design requirements imposed on microgrid tie inverters, which are dictated by the nature of …

Reevaluating Order Fulfillment Decisions For E-Tailers Under True Simulated Operating Conditions, Amir H. Kalantari

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation makes both a methodological and an applied contribution. From a methodological standpoint, this is among the very first works in the literature to explore the concepts of true simulated operating conditions and fully embedded decision-making algorithms. We illustrate the effectiveness of these concepts by applying them to an online retailer (i.e. e-tailer) order fulfillment decision making process.

Online shopping has completely transformed retail markets in recent years. For customers, it provides convenience, visibility and choice, and for retailers it provides market expansion opportunities, operational cost reduction, and many other advantages. There are fundamental differences between the supply chain …

Novel Adhesive Anchoring System Through Engineered Interface, Hua Liu

Theses and Dissertations

An adhesive anchoring system usually consists of a threaded rod inserted into a drilled hole in concrete with adhesives such as epoxy acting as the bonding agent. The behavior of traditional adhesive anchors can be inconsistent because the bond on adhesive-concrete interface can be affected by many factors. It is known through laboratory tests and field studies that the bond strength of adhesive anchors can be adversely impacted by installation conditions, service conditions, and factors related to the adhesive material. While some factors are considered in the capacity equations in building codes and design guidelines, many other factors, especially those …