Engineering Commons^™

Energetics And Kinetics Of Dislocation Initiation In The Stressed Volume At Small Scales, Tianlei Li

Doctoral Dissertations

Instrumented nanoindentation techniques have been widely used in characterizing mechanical behavior of materials in small length scales. For defect-free single crystals under nanoindentation, the onset of elastic-plastic transition is often shown by a sudden displacement burst in the measured load-displacement curve. It is believed to result from the homogeneous dislocation nucleation because the maximum shear stress at the pop-in load approaches the theoretical strength of the material and because statistical measurements agree with a thermally activated process of homogeneous dislocation nucleation. For single crystals with defects, the pop-in is believed to result from the sudden motion of pre-existing dislocations or …

Mitigation Of Chloride And Sulfate Based Corrosion In Reinforced Concrete Via Electrokinetic Nanoparticle Treatment, Kunal Kupwade-Patil

Doctoral Dissertations

Concrete is a porous material which is susceptible to the migration of highly deleterious species such as chlorides and sulfates. Various external sources, including sea salt spray, direct seawater wetting, deicing salts and chlorides can contaminate reinforced concrete. Chlorides diffuse into the capillary pores of concrete and come into contact with the reinforcement. When chloride concentration at the reinforcement exceeds a threshold level it breaks down the passive oxide layer, leading to chloride induced corrosion. The application of electrokinetics using positively charged nanoparticles for corrosion protection in reinforced concrete structures is an emerging technology. This technique involves the principle of …

Elimination Of Deck Joints Using A Corrosion Resistant Frp Approach, Ashok Reddy Aleti

Doctoral Dissertations

The research presented herein describes the development of durable link slabs for jointless bridge decks based on using FRP grid for reinforcement. Specifically, the ductility of the FRP material was utilized to accommodate bridge deck deformations imposed by girder deflection, temperature variations, and concrete shrinkage. It would also provide a solution to a number of deterioration problems associated with bridge deck joints.

The design concept of the link slabs was then examined to form the basis of design for FRP grid link slabs. Improved design of FRP grid link slab/concrete deck slab interface was confirmed in the numerical analysis. The …

An Adaptive Nonparametric Modeling Technique For Expanded Condition Monitoring Of Processes, Matthew John Humberstone

Doctoral Dissertations

New reactor designs and the license extensions of the current reactors has created new condition monitoring challenges. A major challenge is the creation of a data-based model for a reactor that has never been built or operated and has no historical data. This is the motivation behind the creation of a hybrid modeling technique based on first principle models that adapts to include operating reactor data as it becomes available.

An Adaptive Non-Parametric Model (ANPM) was developed for adaptive monitoring of small to medium size reactors (SMR) but would be applicable to all designs. Ideally, an adaptive model should have …

Experimental Investigation Of Flow And Heat Transfer Characteristics Of R -134a In Microchannels, Abdullahel Bari

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the flow and heat transfer characteristics of liquid refrigerant R-134a in rectangular microchannels. The research concentrated mostly upon single-phase experiments with limited investigation of boiling phenomenon in microchannels. Tests were performed using rectangular microchannels with hydraulic diameters ranging from 112 μm to 210 μm and aspect ratios varying approximately from 1.0 to 1.5. The Reynolds number in the experiments ranged from 1,200 to 13,000 although most data were collected in the transition and turbulent flow regimes.

The experimental data for friction factor measurement had a similar trend as predicted by macroscale theory …

Analysis Of Laminated Architectural Glazing Subjected To Combined Wind And Debris Impact Loading, Mahesh Shibarooru Shetty

Doctoral Dissertations

"Laminated glazing has been a popular form of window glazing in recent years and is found to be effective during extreme weather conditions like hurricane. Laminated glass is composed of two glass layers with a polymer as an interlayer. The main objective of this work involves studying the stress response, failure and damage analysis of rectangular laminated architectural glazing against combined wind and windborne debris impact. Here both small-hard (like roof gravel) and large-soft (like timber) windborne debris are considered. The stress response of the rectangular laminated architectural glazing was modeled using the finite element code ABAQUS. The effect of …

Effects Of Optimized And Sub-Optimum Two Degree Of Freedom Lining Tolerances On Modeled Inlet Acoustic Attenuation And Normal Incidence Impedance Measurement At Elevated Temperatures, David R. Burd

Doctoral Dissertations

"This work first investigates the effect of manufacturing tolerances on realized attenuation for two degree-of-freedom linings with the use of lining models and finite element duct propagation codes. Acoustic linings were created for two turbofan engines that optimize attenuation at takeoff/sideline and approach conditions. Lining physical and geometric parameters were set, which best meet the optimum impedance requirements at two target frequencies. Similar linings were created to investigate sub-optimum designs. Variations of these parameters representing realistic manufacturing tolerances were used to systematically examine the effect on installed impedance and predicted attenuation. Attenuation at sideline and approach conditions was found to …

Experimental And Computational Investigations Of Hydrogen Safety, Dispersion And Combustion For Transportation Applications, Shravan K. Vudumu

Doctoral Dissertations

"Hydrogen is an energy carrier that can be produced from a variety of sources, offering one of the viable solutions to the increasing demands for clean and sustainable energy. Compared to the conventional fuels, hydrogen has distinct properties that need to be properly accounted for during its safer storage and delivery as well as more efficient and cleaner utilization. The broader objective of this study is to contribute to the scientific knowledge necessary to overcome key technical barriers to the widespread implementation of hydrogen in transportation applications. Specifically, lower flammability limit of hydrogen is first measured with an enhanced experimental …

Molecular Simulation Of The Infrared Absorption Cross Section And Thermophysical Properties Of A Polyatomic Fluid, Zhi Liang

Doctoral Dissertations

"The work presented in this dissertation aims at ab initio calculations of the infrared absorption cross section, heat capacity, self-diffusion coefficient, shear viscosity and thermal conductivity of a polyatomic fluid with the aid of statistical mechanics. The simulation is firstly focused on calculating single-molecule properties such as molecular structure, vibrational energy eigen values and transition dipole moments using an efficient method based on the density functional theory. Based on these ab initio results, the infrared absorption cross sections are determined by the Fermi's Golden rule, and the thermophysical properties are determined from molecular dynamics simulations. Using carbon dioxide as an …

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Electrode Characterization And Improvement For Fuel Flexibility And Supplemental Power Production, Isaiah D. Kellogg

Doctoral Dissertations

"Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) were fabricated and the electrodes tested for their individual catalytic effectiveness in various fuels by exposing each electrode to mixed gas while the opposite electrode was exposed to its respective pure gas. Mixed hydrogen and oxygen gas was successfully utilized as fuel in a single chamber SOFC (SC-SOFC). The conditions at which the porous nickel-yttria-stabilized zirconia (Ni-YSZ) cermet anode performed well did not significantly overlap the conditions at which the La₀.₈Sr₀.₂Fe₀.₈Co₀.₂ oxide (LSCF) cathode performed well, but there was significant catalytic activity at both electrodes which increased the open circuit voltage (OCV) beyond that predicted …