Engineering Commons^™

Flow Structures In An Enclosed Simplified Full Scale Under-Hood Engine Compartment During Steady State Operation, Chin Hoong Leong

Masters Theses

An experimental study of flow structures in an enclosed simplified full scale under-hood engine compartment will be conducted during steady state operation using whole field velocity measuring technique. 2D Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is planned for multiple cross sections in the test volume. Emphasis is given on understanding the flow structures of the 3D under-hood flow using multiple 2D PIV measurements. A recent study conducted on the engine compartment only consists of three 2D PIV measurement cross sections that sufficiently display 2D flow behavior at specific regions. Therefore, a detailed 3D flow mapping in the enclosure on various cross sections …

A Practical Guideline For Establishing Non-Return Valve Specification And Performance Criteria, Eric W. Dawkins

Masters Theses

The non-return valve has been a standard piece of equipment in the injection molding industry since the reciprocating screw was developed. Most molders understand the role of the non-return valve in the molding process. But few understand the functional problems of the non-return valve. Because of this, the non-return valve has been considered a nuisance item for injection molders.

Wear of the non-return valve is another problem that molders are faced with. The factors contributing toward wear are not entirely understood. Material, temperatures, hours and machine size, etc., all effect the life of a valve. Consequently, most worn valves are …

Deconvolution And Segmentation Of Ground Penetrating Radar Images, Vincent Krause

Masters Theses

Ground Penetrating Radar is a valuable tool for infrastructure condition evaluation as well as in archaeology and geology. The image produced by a GPR scan can be difficult to interpret due to the weak reflection amplitude, the overlap of reflections, and due to outside interference. This thesis proposes an algorithm to automate GPR scan interpretation. This will enable maintenance engineers to read GPR scans quickly and accurately.

The proposed algorithm framework uses an optimization-based deconvolution technique followed by a segmentation process. Each column of the image is deconvoluted and thus reducing them to a list of ordered pairs of reflection …

Security Printing: Towards Hologram Printing, Sachin Ravindra Agate

Masters Theses

Today we are facing many situations where the genuineness of the products and documents is questioned. Counterfeiting the original products has become a business of few people, which result in the degradation of quality of products, loss of money and loss of faith of end user. To prevent such malicious act, security features are added in the final product. Security printing is one of those methods that help in preventing counterfeit products and treachery. There are many different security features, which can be added in the security printing. Apart from those features, an embossed hologram is also included in prints …

Health Monitoring Of Concrete Bridges Utilizing Sensor Technology, Ammar Zalt

Masters Theses

Structural health monitoring using sensor technology is a promising way to provide excellent means for protecting important structures such as bridges, dams, and nuclear reactors. These sensors provide real-time information about structural conditions, They work together as a nervous system to provide timely information for emergency and risk mitigation. The information obtained from these sensors can later be analyzed and compared to the design data so that the problem can be detected and fixed before it develops into a serious and costly hazard.

Throughout the course of this thesis the feasibility and performance of two types of sensors will be …

Drying Behavior Of Fractionated Fibers, Hussam E. Alkahasawneh

Dissertations

This dissertation studies water removal from paper produced using fractionated fibers. One of the principal aims of fiber fractionation is to separate long fibers from fines and then to use these long fibers in paper grades that require high bulk and high water absorption. However, during the paper manufacturing process, the bulk of these materials may be reduced by mechanically pressing the paper to remove water. Also the drying rate of the high bulk paper may be lower than conventional paper due to changes in the resistance to heat transfer. The main objective of this dissertation is to further develop …

A Study To Investigate The Relationship Between A User’S Thermal Comfort And Seat Pan Materials, Anil Raghavendra Kumar

Dissertations

Workers performing sedentary tasks in job types such as administrative, technical, customer service and executive could be seated for four or more hours during their normal work shift. Due to the prolonged periods of sitting, a worker could experience dissatisfaction, discomfort, and fatigue, which could lead to reduced performance. Symptoms of discomfort could over time lead to injuries and illnesses such as low back pain, cumulative trauma disorders, disc herniation, and pressure ulcers.

Data Fusion Technique For Measuring Intersection Delay Using Gps-Enabled Probe Vehicles, Byung-Hee Han

Masters Theses

Intersection control delay is considered a primary measure for determining the level of service at signalized intersections. This thesis develops a technique estimating intersection delay using GPS data from GPS-enabled vehicles. First, this study analyzes existing methods that estimate control delays using GPS data and proposes an improved technique in response to the weakness of those methods. The proposed method estimates the control delay well with better accuracy covering the weaknesses. However, the control delay from the GPS data has a sample size problem for determining the level of service at signalized intersections. Therefore, this thesis proposes a data fusion …

Development Of Knowledge Base Of Concrete Bridge Maintenance System, Bahre Karam

Masters Theses

Bridges are the key elements of any transportation system of a country. Bridges are expensive structures and therefore, it's essential to maintain and repair them on regular basis. Almost one third of the bridges in United States are reported to be in some what deteriorated conditions. This Research presents the development of knowledge base for decision support system for concrete bridges.

During this research various concrete bridge problems are investigated including COlTosion, delamination, cracks, spalling and scour etc. The inspection tools and techniques are addressed in order to identify these problems both for above and below water surface. The various …

Transceiver Design And Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Evaluation Via Electronic Design Automation, Yu Ming Chen

Masters Theses

This thesis study presents the theory and design methodology of Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) and analyzes a RF frond-end receiver and down-conversion mixers using circuit evaluation tools. The theory of RF is described on both architectures and circuit levels with respect to monolithic implementation in integrated semiconductor technologies. The design methodology provides an efficient and practical way to approach ·the theoretical values by using an Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tool called Cadence Virtuoso custom design platform Based on the libraries provided by the Cadence Virtuoso, a Heterodyne receiver and two Gilbert mixer circuits have . been evaluated through the …

Materials And Processes For Printed Electronics: Evaluation Of Gravure Printing In Electronics Manufacture, Erika Hrehorova

Dissertations

The primary goal of printing electronics is to create structures and devices that are functionally similar to conventional electronics, but at greater speed, lower cost and less production complexity. There are advantages and challenging disadvantages of using printing processes to manufacture electronic devices. Printing has been very well optimized for printing visual images that meet the requirements of human eye. However in the production of functional electronic devices, there are more stringent requirements on resolution, registration and quality of printed features and functional layers.

The main goal of this work is to form a starting point to a bigger picture …

Process Color Profiling: Syncing A Digital Printer With An Offset Press, Kate Blout, Laura Kraft

Honors Theses

PowerPoint presentation discussing color as it applies to ink and printing devices. Part of the project involved creating a color management system to allow the WMU print lab to print color roofs on its digital printer that would match the output of the Shinohara offset press.

Trials Bike Frame Concept, David Boboltz, Rob Harmer, Caleb Vanderveen

Honors Theses

Development of a Concept Trials Frame was a mechanical engineering design project that developed a new bicycle frame that has the strength and durability to be used for trials bike riding. The scope of the project was placed solely on the bicycle's frame. Current frames were analyzed based on their strength, durability, stiffness, weight, and appearance. These factors were ranked for importance and became the performance targets for the new frame. Several designs that utilize elastic strain energy to increase performance were brainstormed. Following SolidWorks modeling, equivalent impact loads were calculated using several analytical methods. These loads were then applied …

Experimental Measurements And Mathematical Modeling Of The Rigid Capillary Dewatering, Vrajesh N. Chokshi

Masters Theses

Rigid Capillary Dewatering (RCD) technology is a process in which water is removed from a wet paper web by capillary dewatering action without excessive mechanical compaction of the fiber furnish. Operating conditions on the Rigid Capillary Pressing (RCP) roll, and properties of paper and pulp determines the dewatering behavior of the RCD technology.

The dewatering behavior of the RCD technology is studied in four sets of experiments performed using different operating conditions, on a paper pilot machine at a Western Michigan University (WMU) facility. The solids content of the paper web before and after the RCP roll in the press …

A Computer Aided Diagnosis System For Breast Cancer Using Independent Component Analysis And Fuzzy Classifier, Fadi Abu-Amara

Masters Theses

Screening mammograms by a radiologist is a repetitive task that causes fatigue and eye strain. For every thousand cases analyzed by a radiologist, only 3 to 4 are cancerous and thus an abnormality may be overlooked. Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) algorithms have been developed to assist radiologists in detecting mammographic lesions. CAD algorithms have improved total radiologists' detection accuracy of cancerous tissues. In this thesis, a computer aided detection and diagnosis (CADD) system for breast cancer is developed. The algorithm framework is based on combining principal component analysis (PCA), independent component analysis (ICA), and fuzzy classifier to identify and label suspicious …

Wimax Software Defined Radio, Assad Saleem

Masters Theses

As processors and configurable devices are getting faster and smaller, they are giving rise to better solutions for various communications systems and standards. In this paper, the implementation of a software defined radio for WiMAX is presented. This paper highlights the system model for simulation to achieve better understanding of the system, which was developed in MATLAB. Also, included in the paper is the discussion of the physical implementation of this communication system. The system is build around National Instruments’ PCI 5640 hardware which features a Xilinx Virtex-II FPGA. Naturally, LabVIEW was the tool used to implement the hardware/software co-design.

Numerical Study Of Flow In Three-Dimensional Fiber Networks And Sedimentation Of Curved Fiber By Lattice Boltzmann Method, Xiaoying Rong

Dissertations

Fiber network is modeled as a three-dimensional random cylindrical fiber network. Nonlinear behavior of fluid flowing through the fiber network is numerically simulated by using the lattice Boltzmann (LB) method. Nonlinear relationship between the friction factor and the modified Reynolds number is simulated and analyzed by using the Fochheimer equation, which includes the quadratic term of velocity. There is a transition from linear to nonlinear region when the Reynolds numbers are sufficiently high, reflecting the inertial effect of the flows. The simulated permeability of such fiber network is compared to the experimental results and the finite element simulations.

Dynamic motions …