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Theses and Dissertations

Theses/Dissertations

2005

Modeling

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Developing A Gis And Hydrological Modeling Approach For Sustainable Water Resources Management In The West Bank -- Palestine, Walid Wajeeh Sabbah Apr 2005

Developing A Gis And Hydrological Modeling Approach For Sustainable Water Resources Management In The West Bank -- Palestine, Walid Wajeeh Sabbah

Theses and Dissertations

This research deals with setting up a GIS and hydrological modeling based approach for sustainable water resources management in the West Bank of Palestine. This water sustainability approach took into consideration the water balance, the social, the economic, the demographic, the environmental, and the institutional components in order to enhance and promote the sustainable development in Palestine, both on the short and long runs. To evaluate the water balance component, a methodology was introduced to create the Water Sustainability Map (WSM). Since the groundwater is currently the only accessible water source by the Palestinians, the WSM is represented by the …


Electrothermomechanical Modeling Of A Surface-Micromachined Linear Displacement Microactuator, Christian D. Lott Mar 2005

Electrothermomechanical Modeling Of A Surface-Micromachined Linear Displacement Microactuator, Christian D. Lott

Theses and Dissertations

The electrothermomechanical characteristics of an electrically-heated polycrystallinesilicon microactuator are explored. Using finite-difference techniques, an electrothermal model based on the balance of heat dissipation and heat losses is developed. For accurate simulation, the relevant temperature dependent properties from the microactuator material are included in the model. The electrothermal model accurately predicts the steady-state power required to hold position, and the energy consumed during the thermal transient. Thermomechanical models use the predictions of temperature from the electrothermal solution to calculate displacement and force from pseudo-rigid-body approximations and commercial finite-element code. The models are verified by comparing experimental data to simulation results of …


Numerical Modeling Of Synthetic Jets In Quiescent Air With Moving Boundary Conditions, Nicholas D. Castro Jan 2005

Numerical Modeling Of Synthetic Jets In Quiescent Air With Moving Boundary Conditions, Nicholas D. Castro

Theses and Dissertations

Flow control is a key factor in optimizing the performance of any vehicle moving through fluids. Particularly, in aerodynamics there are many potential benefits for implementing synthetic jets to achieve aircraft designs with less moving parts, uper- maneuverability, and separation control for fuel economy. Piezoelectric synthetic jets are of special interest because of their lightweight and low power consumption. Numerous publications on such jets are available. Actuator properties and boundary conditions relevant to this particular application however are often overlooked. The focus of this project is to numerically model synthetic jets in quiescent air to study the influence of cavity …


Analysis And Shape Modeling Of Thin Piezoelectric Actuators, Makram Mouhli Jan 2005

Analysis And Shape Modeling Of Thin Piezoelectric Actuators, Makram Mouhli

Theses and Dissertations

The field of smart materials is an increasingly growing area of research. In aerodynamics applications especially, transducers have to fulfill a series of requirements such as light weight, size, energy consumption, robustness and durability. Piezoelectric transducers, devices which transform an electrical signal into motion, fulfill many of these requirements. Specifically, piezoelectric composites are of interest due to their added toughness and ease of integration into a structure. Resulting composites have a characteristic initial curvature with accompanying residual stresses that are responsible for enhanced performance, relative to flat actuators, when the active material is energized. A number of transducer designs based …