Engineering Commons^™

Multi-Hazard Performance Assessment Of High-Rise Buildings, Jad El Khoury Antoun

LSU Master's Theses

In the last few decades, there has been an important increase in building high-rise constructions in many cities around the world. Since they offer several benefits in populous areas in terms of space efficiency, economy and sustainability, tower buildings attracted practitioners and researchers to understand better their exclusive behavior and response to natural hazards (e.g., hurricanes, earthquakes). Because of their flexibility and their commonly limited damping, skyscrapers are more susceptible to wind and earthquake actions than low- and mid-rise buildings. Moreover, many locations are prone to multiple hazards; hence, it is important to understand thoroughly the structural behavior of structures …

High-Throughput Droplet Barcoding And Automated Image Analysis In Microfluidic Droplet Trapping Array, Manibarathi Vaithiyanathan

LSU Master's Theses

Molecularly-targeted therapeutics and personalized medicine have dramatically increased the median survival rate of patients suffering from cancer. However, cellular heterogeneity and the personalized nature of cancer have resulted in the limited success of single drug treatments which has led to the use of multiple therapeutic combinations. This has required the development of new analytical methods capable of multiplexed high-throughput screening (HTS) technologies necessary to identify is single or multi-agent therapies are effective in ex vivo samples like liquid biopsies. Droplet microfluidic devices have garnered significant interest to facilitate high-throughput, single cell analysis of heterogeneous populations. However, these devices are still …

Mechanistic Modeling Of Nanoparticle-Stabilized Supercritical Co2 Foams And Its Implication In Field-Scale Eor Applications, Doris Patricia Ortiz Maestre

LSU Master's Theses

Previous experimental studies show that nanoparticle-stabilized supercritical CO₂ foams (or, NP CO₂ foams) can be applied as an alternative to surfactant foams, in order to reduce CO₂ mobility in gas injection enhanced oil recovery (EOR). These nanoparticles, if chosen correctly, can be an effective foam stabilizer attached at the fluid interface in a wide range of physicochemical conditions.

By using NP CO₂ foam experiments available in the literature, this study performs two tasks: (i) presenting how a mechanistic foam model can be used to fit experimental data and determine required model parameters, and (ii) investigating the …

Field Investigation And Performance Evaluation Of Interface Bonding Between Pavement Layers, Ramendra N. Das

LSU Master's Theses

Proper bonding between pavement layers is essential to provide a monolithic pavement structure that allows distribution of loading over a larger area. Inadequate interface bonding may cause debonding or shear failure at the interface due to the accumulation of concentrated tensile stresses at the bottom of the overlay. Tack coat, a light application of asphaltic cement emulsion is applied on the existing surface to create a strong adhesive bond between pavement layers. The objectives of this study are to investigate the effects of various factors affecting bond strength between hot-mix asphalt (HMA) overlay and underlying pavement layers in the field. …

Prevention Of Alkali-Silica Reaction (Asr) In Lightweight Wellbore Cements Containing Silica-Based Microspheres, Dylan Albers

LSU Master's Theses

Drilling through low pressure formations, either offshore or through depleted formations, requires the use of low density fluids to prevent lost circulation ensuring proper placement of cement for proper zonal isolation and structural integrity. Achieving these densities in cements can be done through foaming the cement, increasing water content, or using silica-based microspheres. Water extended cements are useful at densities down to 13 ppg below which only foaming and silica-based microspheres can be used. Each of these methods coming with individual limitations, with foamed cements being sensitive to high pressures and silica-based microspheres having chemical instability in the high alkalinity …

Microgrid Energy Management With Flexibility Constraints: A Data-Driven Solution Method, Okan Ciftci

LSU Master's Theses

Microgrid energy management is a challenging and important problem in modern power systems. Several deterministic and stochastic models have been proposed in the literature for the microgrid energy management problem. However, more accurate models are required to enhance flexibility of the microgrids when accounting for renewable energy and load uncertainties. This thesis proposes key contributions to solve the energy management problem for smart building (or small-scale microgrid). In Chapter 3, a deterministic energy management model is presented taking into account system flexibility requirements. Energy storage systems are deployed to enhance the grid flexibility and ramping capability. The objective function of …

Application Of Surface Treatments To Improve Fuel Efficiency Of Internal Combustion Engines, Amirabbas Akbarzadeh

LSU Master's Theses

To improve the tribological performance of contacting surfaces, different surface modification methods can be employed. Surface texturing and surface coating are examples of viable techniques developed for this purpose. Surface texturing involves creating micropatterns on the contacting surfaces while surface coating requires depositing a thin layer of a suitable material on the surface(s) to improve the component’s friction and wear characteristics. The performance of textured surfaces is affected by the geometric characteristic of textures.When dealing with surface coating parameters, the parameters of interests are the type of coating materials and their thicknesses.

The current study aims to experimentally study the …

Optimization Of The Hot Embossing Parameters And Sintering Characterization For Alumina/Berea Sandstone Sintering, Justin F. Robbins

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to investigate the process of hot embossing on alumina based ceramics as a cost-efficient procedure for manufacturing microfluidic testing components. Alumina ceramics were used as an exploratory phase for the final objective of the project, manufacturing of Berea sandstone based ceramic samples. Previous research has shown potential in using hot embossing on Alumina based ceramics; however, complications with extrusion and micro-structure quality were observed. For this reason, the research performed aimed to produce Berea Sandstone based components by first improving upon the embossing quality of alumina ceramics.

The thesis first investigates changes in the …

Empirical Study: Exploring Medication Adherence For Medicaid Insured Asthma Patients In Louisiana, Archana Nittala

LSU Master's Theses

Asthma is a chronic disease whose effects are controlled/ prevented using appropriate medication. Although benefits of asthma medication is well known, poor medication adherence among asthma patients has been reported. Medication non-adherence is associated to increased healthcare costs, unnecessary hospital utilization, readmission and even death in few cases. The overarching goal of this research was to evaluate the impact of medication non-adherence on hospital admissions, and identify key factors that result in medication non-adherence for Medicaid insured asthma patients.

To achieve these objectives, Correlation analysis, T-tests, Multivariate logistic analysis and odds ratios were performed. Based on results of the study, …

Experimental Study And Modeling Of Smart Loss Circulation Materials; Advantages And Promises, Ahmed Khaled Abdelmaksoud Mansour

LSU Master's Theses

Lost circulation occurs when mud or cement is lost to the formation while drilling. Lost circulation has been a huge problem and may cause heavy financial costs in the form of lost rig time, mud fluid and in severe cases, well blowout with serious environmental and safety consequences. Despite extensive advances in the last couple of decades, lost circulation materials used today still have disadvantages such as damaging production zones, plugging drilling tools or failing to seal the fractures. Here, we propose a new class of smart expandable lost circulation material (LCM) to remotely control the expanding force and functionality …

Data-Driven Abstraction, Vivian Mankau Ho

LSU Master's Theses

Given a program analysis problem that consists of a program and a property of interest, we use a data-driven approach to automatically construct a sequence of abstractions that approach an ideal abstraction suitable for solving that problem. This process begins with an infinite concrete domain that maps to a finite abstract domain defined by statistical procedures resulting in a clustering mixture model. Given a set of properties expressed as formulas in a restricted and bounded variant of CTL, we can test the success of the abstraction with respect to a predefined performance level. In addition, we can perform iterative abstraction-refinement …

Determination Of Recovery Time For A Simple Lifting Task Based On Weight, Frequency, And Duration Of The Lift, Milad Amini

LSU Master's Theses

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a leading cause of injury in American workplaces which cost the economy billions of dollars each year. Extensive research has shown that job fatigue is one of the causes of MSDs. Allocating frequent and adequate rest break is suggested to be an effective method in mitigating the work overload and fatigue prevention. The objective of this research was to determine rest periods for lifting tasks based on the activity heart rate and by using a set of task variables. Twenty-four university male students took part in this study. The two response variables were perceived level of …

Reuse And Recycling Drill Cuttings In Concrete Applications, Maziar Foroutan

LSU Master's Theses

Drill cutting (DC) is a major waste produced during petroleum extraction, which could present a major source of contamination to soil and groundwater, if not disposed of properly. The objective of this study aims to test the hypothesis that drill cuttings can be incorporated as an aggregate in the production of concrete, and is suitable for use in controlled, low-strength material (CLSM) for non-structural applications. To achieve this objective, the physical and consensus properties of drill cuttings were characterized. Concrete mixtures were designed for CLSM applications with and without drill cuttings sampled from two sources. Prepared concrete mixes were then …

Transport And Degradation Of Oil Residues On Coastal Beaches, Sirui Wen

LSU Master's Theses

Fourchon Beach, a 9-mile coastal headland located in Louisiana Gulf Coast, has been heavily impacted by the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, which began on April 20th 2010. Once on the beach, the oil spill residues were moved, suspended and transported by subsequent washover events. These washover events occur during storm surges, hurricanes or other situations with high water levels; pushing oil residues from the subtidal and intertidal zone of the beach and then depositing them in the supratidal marshes and mudflat areas. In order to determine the impacts of washover events on oil residues, two complementary studies regarding degradation …

Characterization Of Hybrid Synthetic/Adipose-Derived Ecm Scaffolds, John Nicholas Poche

LSU Master's Theses

Evolving out of a need to address growing concerns regarding current methods of tissue transplantation, the field of tissue engineering seeks to facilitate the regeneration of viable tissue through the use of cellular scaffolds. The first aim of this thesis was to provide a summary of the current literature on advances in biomaterial synthesis and pertaining methods of stem cell delivery in tissue engineering. Improvements in the processing of decellularized tissue and the expansion of synthetic hydrogels as platforms for stem cell encapsulation have led to the development of extracellular matrix (ECM)-based hybrid hydrogels. These stem cell scaffolds are currently …

Characterizing The Hydrodynamics Of A Meandering River Neck Cutoff, Christopher Turnipseed

LSU Master's Theses

Meandering river systems often experience a geomorphic phenomenon known as a neck cutoff. The White River of Arkansas has recently undergone several neck cut offs, which have provided a unique opportunity to collect field measurements of the first two years after the opening of the cutoff. In this study the field data was complemented with hydrodynamic simulations to assess the significance of different flow conditions. The findings suggest that flood events play a substantial role in the geomorphic adjustment of the river to the cutoff.

Accumulation And Dynamics Of Petrogenic Pahs On Leaves Of Black Mangrove (Avicennia Germinans), Matthew Decell

LSU Master's Theses

Crude oil from Deepwater Horizon Macondo oil spill is currently present in Louisiana coastal surface sediments and its effects on the coastal ecosystem are still being realized. Deposition of 2- and 3-ring PAHs (alkylated naphthalenes and phenanthrenes) on the exterior of Spartina alterniflora and Avicennia germinans leaves have been demonstrated in marshes impacted by Macondo spill. Whether these deposition events result from contaminated tidal water or volatilization followed by deposition onto the leaf surface has not been conclusively established. Measurements of PAH deposition on the leaf surface of black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) can provide important evidence of the mechanism of …

Unsteady Flow Simulations To Develop Model Scale Discharge Hydrographs For The Expanded Small Scale Physical Model Of The Mississippi River, Ronald Joseph Rodi

LSU Master's Theses

Small-scale HEC-RAS models were used to analyze discharges used to test the Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Coastal Protection & Restoration Authority Expanded Small Scale Physical Model (ESSPM) of the Mississippi River. The HEC-RAS models extend from River Mile 228.4 (Baton Rouge) to the Gulf of Mexico that includes the ESSPM reach which begins at River Mile 173.5 (Donaldsonville). The model scales are 1:6000 horizontally and 1:400 vertically. Using the historic river discharges from 2008 through 2015, the small-scale numerical models proved capable of replicating observed stages along eleven sites of the lower Mississippi River within the targets of …

Method For Quantifying Floating Marsh Strength And Interaction With Hydrodynamics, Jason Haydel Collins Iii

LSU Master's Theses

Louisiana possesses over 350,000 acres of unique floating vegetated systems known as floating marshes or flotants. Due to their buoyant nature, floating marshes are susceptible to high energy changes in the hydrodynamic environment that may result from proposed river diversion projects which introduce flow to areas that are typically somewhat isolated. The overall goal of this research is to improve the understanding of how exposed flotants deteriorate under increased hydrodynamic stresses. More specifically, this thesis aims to answer how the material limits of floating marshes can be measured and how the mats interact with hydrodynamics. The two primary objectives are: …

Quantitative Estimation Of Causality And Predictive Modeling For Precipitation Observation Sites And River Gage Sensors, Tri Vu Nguyen

LSU Master's Theses

This project seeks to investigate two questions: correlations from precipitation measurement sensors to river gage sensors, and predictive modeling of peak river gage heights during precipitation events. First, if correlations can be quantified, then a predictive model can be explored to predict peak water levels at river gage sensors, in response to precipitation inputs. Answering both research questions can provide early flood detection benefits and provide quantitative time assessments for flood risks. An extensive data-driven study was conducted across a geographical area of the U.S, spanning the time period 2008-2016 to identify river gage sensors that are closely correlated to …

Improved Subset Generation For The Mu-Decoder, Utsav Agarwal

LSU Master's Theses

The MU-Decoder is a hardware subset generator that finds use in partial reconfiguration of FPGAs and in numerous other applications. It is capable of generating a set S of subsets of a large set Z_n with n elements. If the subsets in S satisfy the “isomorphic totally- ordered property”, then the MU-Decoder works very efficiently to produce a set of u subsets in O(log n) time and Θ(n √u log n) gate cost. In contrast, a vain approach requires Θ(un) gate cost. We show that this low cost for the MU-Decoder can be achieved without the isomorphism constraint, thereby allowing …

Development Of Laboratory Scale Conical Spouted Bed Reactors, James Blake Gegenheimer

LSU Master's Theses

Conical spouted beds (CSBs) are a form of a fluidized bed that is characteristic of its spouting behaviors. The conical spouted bed has a small inlet that diverges through a conical section towards a larger fixed-diameter column which is filled with static spouting media. By injecting a fluid at a sufficient velocity, a small spout will form in which the spouting media will become entrained by the fluid particles and carried to the top of the system where it will circulate back into the system. It has been shown that CSB reactors have the potential for increasing the heat circulation …

Estimation Of Rfid Tag Population Size By Gaussian Estimator, Md Mahmudul Hasan

LSU Master's Theses

Radio Frequency IDenti cation (RFID) systems are prevalent in all sorts of daily life endeavors. In this thesis we propose a new method to estimate RFID tag population size. We have named our algorithm "Gaussian Estimation of RFID Tags,"namely, GERT. We present GERT under both {0,1} and {0,1,e} channel models, and in both cases the estimator we use is a well justi ed Gaussian random variable for large enough frame size based on Central Limit Theorem for triangular arrays. The most prominent feature of GERT is the quality with which it estimates a tag population size. We support all the …

Cuticle Accumulation Of Petrogenic Pahs On Spartina Alterniflora: A Novel Exposure Pathway For Marsh Biota, Joyce Gabriel Kassenga

LSU Master's Theses

Louisiana coastal marshes were heavily impacted by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. MC252 oil pollution in coastal marshes lead to the exposure of biota to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs are persistent organic pollutants that can reside and accumulate in marsh biota. The aim of this study was to investigate the uptake mechanisms of PAHs by Spartina alterniflora at heavily oiled Bay Jimmy marsh in Barataria Basin, Louisiana. Study objectives were to quantify and investigate the uptake mechanisms of PAHs in the leaves of Spartina. The plant/air partitioning of PAHs was studied using a fugacity approach to determine their …

Photo-Effects On Current Transport In Back-Gate Graphene Field-Effect Transistor, Xinlu Chen

LSU Master's Theses

Graphene, which has attracted wide attention because of its two-dimensional structure and high carrier mobility, is a promising candidate for potential application in optics and electronics. In this dissertation, the photonic effects on current transport in back-gate graphene field-effect transistor is investigated. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on metal provides a promising way for large area, controllability and high quality graphene film. The transfer and back-gate transistor fabrication processes are proposed in this dissertation. The theoretical analysis of photodetector based on back-gate graphene field-effect transistor has been done. It is shown that the photo-electronic current consists of current contributions from photovoltaic, …

Novel Design And Synthesis Of Nanostructured Electrode Materials For Advanced Lithium Ion Batteries, Zhiqiang Xie

LSU Master's Theses

Nowadays, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been widely used as energy storage devices for portable electronic devices. The increasing demand for their emerging applications in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs) requires us to develop LIBs with higher energy density and power density. However, both the commercial cathode material (LiCoO2) and anode material (graphite) exhibit low specific capacity and poor rate capability, which severely hinder the practical application of lithium-ion batteries for transportation. This thesis mainly includes four research works on novel design and synthesis of nanostructured electrode materials for advanced lithium-ion batteries. To improve the electrochemical performances …

Analysis Of Cost And Energy Performance Of Geothermal Heat Pump Systems In Southern Louisiana, Claudia De Lourdes Duran Tapia

LSU Master's Theses

In the last three decades of geothermal heat pump (GHP) industry, there has been an urge to present data, especially performance and itemized installation cost, as a plan to reduce the lack of knowledge and trust towards GHP systems for heating and cooling. The potential of GHPs in hot and humid climates is significant [Tao and Zhu, 2012]. However, past research efforts have demonstrated this potential through the use of simulation rather than real-time data. Therefore, the scope of work for this research is to investigate GHP system applications for residential buildings in areas with hot and humid climates. Based …

Novel Design Of Nanostructured Material For Advanced Energy Conversion And Storage Devices, Wangwang Xu

LSU Master's Theses

Nowadays, the fast-increasing energy demand for efficient, sustainable and environmentally-friendly energy storage devices remains a significant and challenging issue. Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) have been widely used as commercial energy devices in portable electronics and also shown great promise in upcoming large scale applications due to their advantages of environmental safety, efficiency in energy delivering and light weight. However, due to their limited capacity, energy densities and cycle ability, LIBs still need further improvement to expand their applications to a larger field, especially electric vehicle (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), in which energy storage devices with large capacity and …

Experimental Study Of Frequency Oscillations In Islanded Power System, Kevin Daniel Wellman

LSU Master's Theses

Since the introduction of power electronics to the grid, the power system has quickly changed. Fault detection and removal is performed more accurately and at quicker response time, and non-inertia driven loads have been added. This means stability must continue to be a main topic of concern to maintain a stable synchronized grid. In this thesis a lab was designed, constructed, and tested for the purpose of studying transient stability in power systems. Many different options were considered and researched, but the focus of this paper is to describe the options chosen. The lab must be safe to operate and …

Impact Of Connected Vehicle Safety Applications On Driving Behavior At Varying Market Penetrations: A Driving Simulator Study, Matthew Alexander Theriot

LSU Master's Theses

The studies conducted in this thesis evaluate the safety benefits of a blind spot warning (BSW) application and a do not pass warning (DNPW) application at low, medium, and high market penetrations (MP) of connected vehicles (CV) using a high-fidelity driving simulator. Using vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, CVs can exchange information to alert drivers of potential safety hazards and reduce potential crashes during lane change and overtaking maneuvers. A CV testbed was developed to relay visual and auditory warnings when dangerous thresholds were met for each application. For the BSW a proximity-based threshold was used to trigger a warning as a …