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Correlating In-Situ Monitoring Data With Internal Defects In Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing, Andrew J. Harvey Jan 2020

Correlating In-Situ Monitoring Data With Internal Defects In Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing, Andrew J. Harvey

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The presence of defects within laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) parts can lead to reduced mechanical properties and life of components. Because of this, the ability to detect these defects within the parts is critical before the part is subject to its intended loading. Normally the parts are subjected to a quality analysis once they are completed however, this process is typically expensive and time consuming. A solution for these problems is to sense the creation of defects and pores in the parts in-situ, while the part is being fabricated. One proposed method of in-situ monitoring is visible spectroscopy to …


Small-Signal Analysis Of Non-Isolated Ćuk Dc-Dc Converter, Lokesh Kathi Jan 2020

Small-Signal Analysis Of Non-Isolated Ćuk Dc-Dc Converter, Lokesh Kathi

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In the future, renewable energy sources will be the primary energy sources due to non-renewable energy resources depletion. Having a sustainable energy source as an input voltage source for the electrical system is essential. Its applications can be widely used in hybrid solar-wind energy systems, electric vehicles, etc. This converter is invented and named after by Slobodan Cuk. An analysis describing a detailed steady-state operation of the non-isolated Cuk converter operating in continuous-conduction mode (CCM) is provided. The expected steady-state current and voltage waveforms across different components of the converter are analytically derived. Design equations for the converter are provided. …


Design And Simulation Of Boost Dc - Dc Pulse Width Modulator (Pwm) Feed-Forward Control Converter, Calenia L. Franklin Jan 2020

Design And Simulation Of Boost Dc - Dc Pulse Width Modulator (Pwm) Feed-Forward Control Converter, Calenia L. Franklin

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Military aircraft systems’ power losses are occurring during the loading operations; loading and unloading causes the aircraft systems to lose power. The primary aircraft power source is provided by a 400Hz Ground Power Units (GPU). This GPU provides power to interior lighting, the aircraft cargo compartment, and other electrical systems (i.e. bus). The issues are during loading and unloading on the aircraft, which causes dropout of aircraft power supplied by the external 400Hz GPU. The majority of the military aircraft require a high voltage and a high current with a 270V power output. This thesis analyzes using Feed-Forward PWM Boost …


Single-Pixel Camera Based Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging For Non-Contact Tissue Characterization, Alec M. Petrack Jan 2020

Single-Pixel Camera Based Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging For Non-Contact Tissue Characterization, Alec M. Petrack

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Optical imaging has demonstrated potential as a medical imaging modality for measuring tissue functionality. Recently, interest in fluorescence guided surgery has emerged from improvements in optical imaging that have allowed real-time feedback. Of the optical imaging modalities, spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI) has gained a lot of interest. Unlike spectroscopic techniques, such as functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and frequency domain spectroscopy that measure bulk tissue properties, SFDI quantifies tissue functionality locally and wide field making it practical for clinical applications. Unfortunately, traditional SFDI systems use multi-pixel detectors, which may not exhibit ideal spectral characteristics, have limited sensitivity, be expensive, …


Identifying Knowledge Gaps Using A Graph-Based Knowledge Representation, Daniel P. Schmidt Jan 2020

Identifying Knowledge Gaps Using A Graph-Based Knowledge Representation, Daniel P. Schmidt

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Knowledge integration and knowledge bases are becoming more and more prevalent in the systems we use every day. When developing these knowledge bases, it is important to ensure the correctness of the information upon entry, as well as allow queries of all sorts; for this, understanding where the gaps in knowledge can arise is critical. This thesis proposes a descriptive taxonomy of knowledge gaps, along with a framework for automated detection and resolution of some of those gaps. Additionally, the effectiveness of this framework is evaluated in terms of successful responses to queries on a knowledge base constructed from a …


Improving Pain Management In Patients With Sickle Cell Disease Using Machine Learning Techniques, Fan Yang Jan 2020

Improving Pain Management In Patients With Sickle Cell Disease Using Machine Learning Techniques, Fan Yang

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Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited red blood cell disorder that can cause a multitude of complications throughout a patient's life. Pain is the most common complication and a significant cause of morbidity. Since pain is a highly subjective experience, both medical providers and patients express difficulty in determining ideal treatment and management strategies for pain. Therefore, the development of objective pain assessment and pain forecasting methods is critical to pain management in SCD. On the other hand, the rapidly increasing use of mobile health (mHealth) technology and wearable devices gives the ability to build a remote health intervention …


Global Joint Registry: Analysis Of Revision Hip Arthroplasty Data, Alicia M. Runser Jan 2020

Global Joint Registry: Analysis Of Revision Hip Arthroplasty Data, Alicia M. Runser

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Total hip arthroplasty (THA) has become well-known as being one of the most successful procedures with much long-term positive clinical results. However, revision surgeries are still required. The four most common failure modes for THAs, “reasons for revision”, are loosening, dislocation or instability, fracture, and infection. The goal of a hip arthroplasty register is to gather information on patients that undergo a total hip arthroplasty and factors pertaining to their surgery which may affect their outcome for future years such as the reason for revision. Analysis of this data can help with the allocation of healthcare funds and the efficacy …


Observing P300 Amplitudes In Multiple Sensory Channels Using Cognitive Probing, Cody Lee Wintermute Jan 2020

Observing P300 Amplitudes In Multiple Sensory Channels Using Cognitive Probing, Cody Lee Wintermute

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High cognitive workload occurs when excessive working memory resources have been deployed to resolve sensory and cognitive processing, resulting in decremented task performance. The P300 event-related potential (ERP) component has shown sensitivity to cognitive load, and it was hypothesized that an attenuated P300 amplitude could be indicative of high cognitive load. We tested this hypothesis by having eight participants complete two continual performance tasks at increasing workload levels while simultaneously performing an oddball task, evoking P300 ERPs in either the auditory or tactile sensory channel. In our experiment, electroencephalographic recordings were collected over the parietal region to observe the P300 …


Mitigating Atmospheric Phase Errors In Sal Data, Randy S. Depoy Jr. Jan 2020

Mitigating Atmospheric Phase Errors In Sal Data, Randy S. Depoy Jr.

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Synthetic aperture ladar (SAL) is an emerging remote sensing technology capable of providing high-resolution, interpretable, and timely imagery. SAL and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) are similar in that they provide high-resolution imagery suitable for a wide-variety of applications beyond the diffraction limit of the real aperture. Several advantages of SAL are; realistic imagery resulting from diffuse scattering of optically-rough objects, fine directionality of laser beam making the technology inherently low probability-of-detect, and shorter synthetic aperture collection times, all of which result from operating at optical as opposed to RF wavelengths. With the dramatic decrease in wavelength, SAL systems become more …


Kv2.1 Channel Clustering In The Sod1-G93a Mouse Model Of Als, Joshua Christopher Harris Jan 2020

Kv2.1 Channel Clustering In The Sod1-G93a Mouse Model Of Als, Joshua Christopher Harris

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Kv2.1 channels mediate slow-activating K+ rectifier current within the membrane of spinal motoneurons (MNs), and they are known to co-localize with other synapses and ion channels. Although Kv2.1 channels are suggested to regulate MN excitability, little research has gone into investigating its potential contribution to MN-altered excitability in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Using the male SOD1-G93A mouse model of ALS, we examined Kv2.1 cluster area and density in lumbar MNs at four key stages of disease progression. In our experiments, MNs were separated by type via SK3 immunoreactivity in order to isolate and compare the responses of disease-resistant (slow; SK3+) …


Extracting Information From Subroutines Using Static Analysis Semantics, Luke A. Burnett Jan 2020

Extracting Information From Subroutines Using Static Analysis Semantics, Luke A. Burnett

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Understanding how a system component can interact with other services can take an immeasurable amount of time. Reverse engineering embedded and large systems can rely on understanding how components interact with one another. This process is time consuming and can sometimes be generalized through certain behavior.We will be explaining two such complicated systems and highlighting similarities between them. We will show that through static analysis you can capture compiler behavior and apply it to the understanding of a function, reducing the total time required to understand a component of whichever system you are learning.


Primary Processing Parameters And Their Influence On Porosity And Fatigue Life Of Additively Manufactured Alloy 718, Luke C. Sheridan Jan 2020

Primary Processing Parameters And Their Influence On Porosity And Fatigue Life Of Additively Manufactured Alloy 718, Luke C. Sheridan

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In many structural applications void-like defects cause significant performance debits which call for component redesign or post-processing to account for or remove the defects. For laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) processes, it has been shown that many of these features and their size and shape characteristics are controllable through LPBF process parameter manipulation. For design efforts, however, it is necessary to understand the direct influences of processing on the formation of porosity and the role that individual pores and porosity distributions have on the properties and performance of AM components. Additionally, design criteria must be established to facilitate implementation of …


Finding Data Races In Software Binaries With Symbolic Execution, Nathan D. Jackson Jan 2020

Finding Data Races In Software Binaries With Symbolic Execution, Nathan D. Jackson

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Modern software applications frequently make use of multithreading to utilize hardware resources better and promote application responsiveness. In these applications, threads share the program state, and synchronization mechanisms ensure proper ordering of accesses to the program state. When a developer fails to implement synchronization mechanisms, data races may occur. Finding data races in an automated way is an already challenging problem, but often impractical without source code or understanding how to execute the program under analysis. In this thesis, we propose a solution for finding data races on software binaries and present our prototype implementation BINRELAY. Our solution makes use …


Hierarchical Anomaly Detection For Time Series Data, Ryan E. Sperl Jan 2020

Hierarchical Anomaly Detection For Time Series Data, Ryan E. Sperl

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With the rise of Big Data and the Internet of Things, there is an increasing availability of large volumes of real-time streaming data. Unusual occurrences in the underlying system will be reflected in these streams, but any human analysis will quickly become out of date. There is a need for automatic analysis of streaming data capable of identifying these anomalous behaviors as they occur, to give ample time to react. In order to handle many high-velocity data streams, detectors must minimize the processing requirements per value. In this thesis, we have developed a novel anomaly detection method which makes use …


Design And Implementation Of Simplified Sliding-Mode Control Of Pwm Dc-Dc Converters For Ccm, Humam A. Al-Baidhani Jan 2020

Design And Implementation Of Simplified Sliding-Mode Control Of Pwm Dc-Dc Converters For Ccm, Humam A. Al-Baidhani

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The pulse-width modulated (PWM) dc-dc converters play a vital role in several industrial applications that include motor drives, electric vehicles, dc distribution systems, and consumer electronics. The switched-mode power converters step the input voltage up or down based on their typology and provide a regulated output voltage. The stability and regulation performance of a power converter can tremendously be improved via a suitable control design. However, due to the nonlinearity of the power converters and the presence of the line and load disturbances, the design of a robust and low-cost control circuit becomes a challenging task. The sliding-mode control of …


Predicting Subjective Sleep Quality Using Objective Measurements In Older Adults, Reza Sadeghi Jan 2020

Predicting Subjective Sleep Quality Using Objective Measurements In Older Adults, Reza Sadeghi

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Humans spend almost a third of their lives asleep. Sleep has a pivotal effect on job performance, memory, fatigue recovery, and both mental and physical health. Sleep quality (SQ) is a subjective experience and reported via patients’ self-reports. Predicting subjective SQ based on objective measurements can enhance diagnosis and treatment of SQ defects, especially in older adults who are subject to poor SQ. In this dissertation, we assessed enhancement of subjective SQ prediction using an easy-to-use E4 wearable device, machine learning techniques and identifying disease-specific risk factors of abnormal SQ in older adults. First, we designed a clinical decision support …


Eye-Tracking To Evaluate Trust In Human-Atr Interaction, Samuel Francis Adelman Jan 2020

Eye-Tracking To Evaluate Trust In Human-Atr Interaction, Samuel Francis Adelman

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Human collaboration with targeting aids have allowed analysts to achieve a greater level of coordination and productivity in a variety of fields. This project investigates the impact that an Assisted Target Recognition (ATR) algorithm’s false alarm rate and the task Target of Interest (TOI) level has on user-system trust and use in a targeting decision task. Previous studies suggest that an increased number of false alarms in an ATR task negatively impacts analyst trust in the system. This study will further contribute to this research, aiming to provide a better framework for appropriate tolerance levels within ATR algorithms, utilizing pre-truthed …


Metal Coupon Testing In An Axial Rotating Detonation Engine For Wear Characterization, Gary S. North Jan 2020

Metal Coupon Testing In An Axial Rotating Detonation Engine For Wear Characterization, Gary S. North

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Rotating Detonation Engines (RDE) are being explored as a possible way to get better fuel efficiency for turbine engines than is otherwise possible. The walls of the RDE are subjected to cyclic thermal and mechanical shock loading at rates of approximately 3 KHz, with gas temperatures as high as 2976 K. This project performed testing with Inconel 625 and 304 stainless steel coupons in an RDE outer body to attempt to measure material ablation rates. Significant microstructural changes were observed to include grain growth in both alloys, carbide formation and grain boundary melting in Inconel, and formation of delta ferrite …


An Approach To Cluster And Benchmark Regional Emergency Medical Service Agencies, Swetha Kondapalli Jan 2020

An Approach To Cluster And Benchmark Regional Emergency Medical Service Agencies, Swetha Kondapalli

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Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers are the first responders for an injured patient on the field. Their assessment of patient injuries and determination of an appropriate hospital play a critical role in patient outcomes. A majority of states in the US have established a state-level governing body (e.g., EMS Division) that is responsible for developing and maintaining a robust EMS system throughout the state. Such divisions develop standards, accredit EMS agencies, oversee the trauma system, and support new initiatives through grants and training. But to do so, these divisions require data to enable them to first understand the similarities between …


Design Of A Novel Wearable Ultrasound Vest For Autonomous Monitoring Of The Heart Using Machine Learning, Garrett G. Goodman Jan 2020

Design Of A Novel Wearable Ultrasound Vest For Autonomous Monitoring Of The Heart Using Machine Learning, Garrett G. Goodman

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As the population of older individuals increases worldwide, the number of people with cardiovascular issues and diseases is also increasing. The rate at which individuals in the United States of America and worldwide that succumb to Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is rising as well. Approximately 2,303 Americans die to some form of CVD per day according to the American Heart Association. Furthermore, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that 647,000 Americans die yearly due to some form of CVD, which equates to one person every 37 seconds. Finally, the World Health Organization reports that the number one cause of …


Comparing Rf Fingerprinting Performance Of Hobbyist And Commercial-Grade Sdrs, Travis R. Smith Jan 2020

Comparing Rf Fingerprinting Performance Of Hobbyist And Commercial-Grade Sdrs, Travis R. Smith

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Radio Frequency Fingerprinting (RFF) research typically uses expensive, laboratory grade receivers which have high dynamic range, very stable oscillators, large instantaneous bandwidth, multi-rate sampling, etc. In this study, the RFF effectiveness of lower grade receivers is considered. Using software-defined radios (SDRs) of different cost and performance, a linear regression model is developed to predict RFF performance. Unlike two previous studies of SDR effectiveness that used commercial and lab-grade SDRs, the experiment here focused on hobbyist and commercial-grade SDRs (RTL-SDR, B200-mini, N210). A regression model is proposed for a generic SDR. Using a full-factorial experiment matrix, the gain, sample rate, and …


Hierarchical Structure, Properties And Bone Mechanics At Macro, Micro, And Nano Levels, Farah Mohammed Ridha Abdulateef Hamandi Jan 2020

Hierarchical Structure, Properties And Bone Mechanics At Macro, Micro, And Nano Levels, Farah Mohammed Ridha Abdulateef Hamandi

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This research focuses on the hierarchical structure of bone and associated mechanical properties at different scales to assess damage accumulation leading to premature failure, with or without instrumentation. In this work, an attempt was made to develop a framework of macro, micro, and nano damage accumulation models and implementing them to derive mechanical behavior of the bone. At macrolevel, retrospective evaluation of 313 subjects was conducted, and the damage of bone tissue was investigated with respect to subject demography including age, gender, race, body mass index (BMI), height and weight, and their role in initiating fracture. Experimental data utilized 28 …


The Thermal And Mechanical Characteristics Of Lithiated Peo Lagp Composite Electrolytes, Jacob Michael Denney Jan 2020

The Thermal And Mechanical Characteristics Of Lithiated Peo Lagp Composite Electrolytes, Jacob Michael Denney

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Lithium-ion batteries are part of a multibillion-dollar industry that strives to meet the demands for an increasingly advanced technological future. Flexible batteries can be easily adapted from emerging novel wearable electronics to electrical vehicles and advanced solar panels. Solid-state batteries can greatly reduce the risk of fire or leaking hazardous materials due to puncture. For the development of solid-state flexible lithium based batteries polymer-ceramic composites are attractive electrolyte candidates because of their combined properties, such as electrical, thermal and mechanical properties, that not only overcome limitations from the base materials but may also render some enhanced performances resulting from the …


Renca Macrobeads Inhibit Tumor Cell Growth Via Egfr Activation And Regulation Of Mef2 Isoform Expression, Prithy Caroline Martis Jan 2020

Renca Macrobeads Inhibit Tumor Cell Growth Via Egfr Activation And Regulation Of Mef2 Isoform Expression, Prithy Caroline Martis

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Tumors are heterogeneous systems, whose growth is influenced by intrinsic properties of malignant cells, external systemic factors (i.e. immune, neural, endocrine, etc.), and the dynamic interactions between tumor cells and their microenvironment. Given the inherent complexity of cancers, combined with the continual evolution of tumors and the development of treatment resistance, a precision medicine approach may not provide an optimal clinical response. Exploring a new paradigm that focuses on regulating cancer as a system may not only control tumor progression but also address the extraordinary challenges of tumor heterogeneity and disease recurrence in order to improve clinical outcomes. As a …


Global Identification Of Human Modifier Genes Of Alpha-Synuclein Toxicity, Ishita Haider Jan 2020

Global Identification Of Human Modifier Genes Of Alpha-Synuclein Toxicity, Ishita Haider

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Alpha-synuclein is a small lipid binding protein abundantly expressed in the brain. Lewy body or Lewy-like pathology, primarily composed of misfolded alpha-synuclein, is a pathological feature shared by several neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's disease (PD). Both missense mutations and increased copy numbers of the SNCA gene, encoding the alpha-synuclein protein, have been genetically linked to autosome dominant PD. Other genetic variations affecting the expression of the SNCA gene have been associated with sporadic PD. Although the physiological function of alpha-synuclein is not well understood, its localization to plasma and vesicular membranes at the presynaptic terminals suggests a role in neurotransmission. …


The Steady-State Analysis Of The Non-Isolated And Isolated Type Sepic Pwm Dc-Dc Converters For Ccm, Anuroop Reddy Dasari Jan 2020

The Steady-State Analysis Of The Non-Isolated And Isolated Type Sepic Pwm Dc-Dc Converters For Ccm, Anuroop Reddy Dasari

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The purpose of this thesis is to develop the theory for analysing and designing the non-isolated and isolated type of SEPIC converters for continuous conduction mode (CCM). The non-isolated converter has single output. The isolated converter considered has two cases: single output and multi-output. The principle of operation of each circuit is explained during different time intervals of the switching cycle. The analytical expressions for various characteristics of the circuits are derived, such as: MV DC and MIDC of the lossless and lossy converter; average and peak-to-peak currents through the inductors, primary and secondary windings of the transformer; average and …


Logistic Function Based Nonlinear Modeling And Circuit Analysis Of The Bipolar Vacancy Migration Memristor, Isaac P. Abraham Jan 2020

Logistic Function Based Nonlinear Modeling And Circuit Analysis Of The Bipolar Vacancy Migration Memristor, Isaac P. Abraham

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Memristor is an acronym for memory resistor. Memristors promise to be building blocks for high density memory and analog computation. Hewlett Packard’s announcement in 2008 of having fabricated a memristor on an integrated circuit scale has created a tangible excitement in this field. Understanding and exploiting the full potential of these devices requires good compact models. Symbolic modeling provides a balance between achieving accurate empirical fit and generating closed form expressions. This dissertation simplifies the transport equation into a variable coefficient advection equation, very similar to a Burgers’ equation traditionally used in fluid dynamics. The Burgers’-like model reveals the dual …


Thermal Modeling Of Coordinated Multi-Beam Additive Manufacturing, Rachel Elizabeth Evans Jan 2020

Thermal Modeling Of Coordinated Multi-Beam Additive Manufacturing, Rachel Elizabeth Evans

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In additive manufacturing (AM), it is necessary to know the influence of processing parameters in order to have better control over the microstructure and mechanical performance of the part. Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is a metal AM process in which thin layers of powdered material are selectively melted to create a three-dimensional structure. This manufacturing process is beneficial for many reasons; however, it is limited by the thermal solidification conditions achievable in the available processing parameter ranges for single-beam processing methods. Therefore, this work investigates the effect of multiple, coordinated heat sources, which are used to strategically modify the …


Defect Modeling And Vibration-Based Bending Fatigue Of Additively Manufactured Inconel 718, Wesley Earl Eldt Jan 2020

Defect Modeling And Vibration-Based Bending Fatigue Of Additively Manufactured Inconel 718, Wesley Earl Eldt

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Additive manufacturing (AM) is convenient for building components with complex features. However, the long-term integrity of these components is uncertain, since AM parts have defects such as pores and rough surfaces. In this work, an analytical model was developed to determine the impact of defects, and a novel bending fatigue test was used to determine the fatigue life of channeled specimens. The analytical model, based off the theory of critical distances, investigates coupled pores and predicts their potential for fatigue failure. This resulted in a maximum allowable pore size and spacing recommendation for coupled defects. Additionally, specimens with through channels …


Hierarchical Hybrid Materials From Flexible Fabric Substrates, Wenhu Wang Jan 2020

Hierarchical Hybrid Materials From Flexible Fabric Substrates, Wenhu Wang

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The goal of this project is to investigate fabrication approaches and structure-property relationships of porous and flexible hierarchical hybrid solids suitable for advanced surface-active devices. Multi-scale hierarchical carbon materials are being fabricated by strong covalent attachment of multiwall carbon nanotube(MWCNTs) arrays on flexible carbon fabric substrates in order to enhance the surface area per unit volume. This was done using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) after functionalizing the surface with a plasma-derived nano-oxide coating. Structural and chemical characterization is performed using scanning electron microscope(SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS). Surface area estimates have been made by building structural models …