Engineering Commons^™

Effects On Strength And Corrosive Characteristics Of Hardened Cement Paste Using Rice Husk And Sugarcane Bagasse, Travis D. Garrett

Master's Theses

Cement is one of the most used building materials in the world. The production of ordinary Portland cement contributes to the release of harmful greenhouse gasses. In an effort to reduce these emissions, different materials are being evaluated for their use as partial replacements for ordinary Portland cement. Rice husk and sugarcane bagasse are agricultural waste products and large amounts of these are currently landfilled, making them inexpensive and available. When combusted at high temperatures they form rice husk ash and sugarcane bagasse ash that have pozzolanic characteristics. The high silicon dioxide in these products makes them good options to ...

Application Of Elastodynamic Finite Integration Technique (Efit) To Three-Dimensional Wave Propagation And Scattering In Arbitrary Geometries, Sean M. Raley

Master's Theses

Over several decades, railroad Ultrasonic Testing (UT) industry techniques have primarily been developed through simple analytical modelling and experimental approaches. However, with present-day computational capabilities, we can use numerical techniques like the Elastodynamic Finite Integration Technique (EFIT) to fine-tune systems for complex applications before the fabrication process begins. EFIT is well-established as a useful method in numerical analysis of ultrasonic wave propagation with distinct advantages over the Finite Difference Time Domain method. Several software packages exist that use EFIT as the primary method for simulating the behavior of ultrasonic waves over time in 2 or 3 dimensions, but none of ...

Direct Assessment Of Entrepreneurial Minded Learning Through Integrated E-Learning Modules, Aadtiyasinh Rana

Master's Theses

Entrepreneurial Minded Learning (EML) has a significant emphasis in engineering education

today. Several approaches have been used to assess the impact of various EML approaches. Many indirect assessment techniques have been used and a few direct assessment techniques have been developed. The work presented in this thesis investigates the effectiveness of two specific measurement methods to quantify entrepreneurial minded learning in students.

The University of New Haven has adopted the approach of integrating e-learning modules on entrepreneurial topics and related contextual activities into courses as the primary approach of developing an entrepreneurial mindset (EM) in students. This study focuses on ...

Surface Engineering Solutions For Immersion Phase Change Cooling Of Electronics, Brendon M. Doran

Master's Theses

Micro- and nano-scale surface modifications have been a subject of great interest for enhancing the pool boiling heat transfer performance of immersion cooling systems due to their ability to augment surface area, improve wickability, and increase nucleation site density. However, many of the surface modification technologies that have been previously demonstrated show a lack of evidence concerning scalability for use at an industrial level. In this work, the pool boiling heat transfer performance of nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) films, copper oxide (CuO) nanostructure coatings, and 1D roll-molded microfin arrays has been studied. Each of these technologies possess scalability in ...

Investigating The Rapid Curing Possibility Of Geopolymer Concrete, Ashlesh Banjara

Master's Theses

Recent studies of heat-cured fly ash based green geopolymer concrete have shown its suitability for fabrication of structural members. Fabrication of these structural members requires continuous moderate heating (145°F) for 24 hrs, and an oven essential, for a large member can quickly turn into an energy guzzler, potentially eliminating the green credentials of the product. The proposed research involves the development of a frontal polymerization (FP) method that achieves rapid curing of geopolymer at ambient condition after short-term heat application. Initial work shows thermal FP in geopolymer is a possibility and might be a solution to the problem. The ...

Macrobenthos Responses To Dam Removal And Habitat Restoration In The West River, Connecticut, Robert W. Sheridan

Master's Theses

Dam removal is being increasingly used nationwide to restore impaired rivers and streams. While dam removals are becoming more prevalent, little is known about whether these efforts create conditions for the enhancement and or establishment of desired biota.

Ongoing monitoring of these projects is an important step in the restoration process to ensure project goals are being met and the restoration has been successful.

This thesis focuses on the Pond Lily Dam removal and restoration which took place in October 2015 along the West River in New Haven Connecticut that removed an aging mill dam with the objective of restoring ...

A Machine Learning Approach To Network Intrusion Detection System Using K Nearest Neighbor And Random Forest, Ilemona S. Atawodi

Master's Theses

The evolving area of cybersecurity presents a dynamic battlefield for cyber criminals and security experts. Intrusions have now become a major concern in the cyberspace. Different methods are employed in tackling these threats, but there has been a need now more than ever to updating the traditional methods from rudimentary approaches such as manually updated blacklists and whitelists. Another method involves manually creating rules, this is usually one of the most common methods to date.

A lot of similar research that involves incorporating machine learning and artificial intelligence into both host and network-based intrusion systems recently. Doing this originally presented ...

Control Law Synthesis For Lockheed Martin’S Innovative Control Effectors Aircraft Concept, Cameron James Segard

Master's Theses

This thesis documents a conventional and modern flight control system design process carried out on a tailless aircraft Simulink model with innovative control effectors provided by Lockheed Martin. To set scope and design requirements a performance analysis was carried out to categorize the aircraft. Evaluation of open-loop dynamics reveled modal instabilities as well as state and control coupling. Flight condition dependent pole migration mapping reveled large changes in the aircraft’s static stability. Leading to the development of a four channel proportional-integral- derivative (PID) stability and control augmentation system (SCAS) controlling pitch-rate, roll-rate, side-slip angle, and airspeed states. PID gains ...

Model Predictive Control Synthesis For The Innovative Control Effector Tailless Fighter Aircraft, Christopher Proctor

Master's Theses

A nonlinear model predictive control law was developed for the Lockheed Martin Innovative Control Effector tailless fighter aircraft to track way points. In general, aircraft are described by nonlinear dynamics that are dependent on the regime of flight. Additionally strict requirements on state and actuator constraints are common to all aircraft. Tailless aircraft are usually overdetermined systems, meaning solutions to control problems are not unique, and the system is non-affine. The proposed nonlinear control law considers those constraints during run-time, and solves the nonlinear control problem for a range of points within different flight regimes. The control law was developed ...

Modeling And Simulation With Optimal Gear Ratio For A Forward-Looking, Velocity-Driven, Power-Split Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Sonal Babasaheb Kanap

Master's Theses

Increases in vehicle demand and fossil fuel consumption are major contributors to environmental problems, such as air pollution and climate change. This has led to research on alternative, energy-efficient vehicle technologies. Automobile users are now preferring comfortable vehicles with minimal fuel consumption and with more efficient engines. Hybrid cars are becoming common because of their advantage of running cleaner and with better gas mileage. A hybrid car runs on the power of both an electric motor and a gasoline engine. This mechanism helps cut fuel consumption and conserve energy. An additional advantage is a regenerative braking system that helps recharge ...

Optimal Energy Management For Forward-Looking Serial-Parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicle Using Rule-Based Control Strategy, Abhijit Bhaskar Jadhav

Master's Theses

In today’s sophisticated era of technology, resolving environmental problems is a matter of grave concern. Developing hybrid electric vehicles is a good step towards environmental preservation, since they use less fuel compared to conventional vehicles because of the combination of electric and mechanical energy. A hybrid electric vehicle reduces dependence on fossil fuels and hence lowers emissions. Specifically, a hybrid powertrain that includes a conventional gasoline engine and a brushless DC motor offers great potential to meet stringent CO₂ regulations and fuel economy requirements. This thesis focuses on the effects of initial state of charge (SOC) stored in ...

Training Set Density Estimation For Trajectory Predictions Using Artificial Neural Networks, Zachary Reinke

Master's Theses

Demand on earth orbiting surveillance systems in increasing as more equipment is put into orbit. These systems rely on predictive techniques to periodically track objects. The demand on these systems may be reduced if object trajectory data to develop scalable training sets used for training artificial neural networks (ANNs) to predict trajectories of a dynamic system. These methods use multi-variable statistics to analyze data energy content to provide the ANN with low density, feature-rich, training data. The developed techniques have been shown to increase ANN prediction accuracy while reducing the size of the training set when applied to a linear ...

A Computational Analysis Of The Gradient Concentration Profile Of Deet And The Mosquito Behavioral Response, Brandon Carver

Master's Theses

DEET is a common active ingredient in most spatial repellents. DEET is also a volatile organic compound. DEET prevents mosquitoes from detecting and coming into contact with an human individual. Gas sensing technologies such as metal oxide semiconductor sensors can detect VOCs. The World Health Organization provides the majority of efficacy testing methods. This research adapts methods from the WHO and use of MOS sensors to further understand how and why DEET affects mosquitos. A custom developed system is used to measure DEET dissipation and observe mosquito behavioral response to the DEET. DEET dissipations and mosquito behavior is measured within ...

Global Renewable And Nonrenewable Energy Use Impact Assessment Of U.S. Manufacturing: An Integrated Cradle-To-Gate Lca And Dea Approach, Bahadir Ezici

Master's Theses

In this thesis, U.S. manufacturing industries` global supply chain-linked energy use and economic output are investigated considering a total of 16 renewable and nonrenewable energy carriers. A multiregion input output (MRIO) framework is employed to conduct the global supply chain-linked energy use impact assessment. The study period was between 1995 and 2014 based on data availability. Thus, 20 MRIO models were developed. Each MRIO model consists of the 40 largest economies of the world and the rest of the world (ROW) as the 41st country. Each country’s economy was structured into 35 manufacturing and service industries based on ...

Midpoint And Endpoint Sustainability Assessment Of U.S. And China Manufacturing: A Comparative Mrio+Recipe Analysis, Mustafa Saber

Master's Theses

Manufacturing is among the most important industries for an economy, which creates value-added, fosters innovation, stimulates employment and economic growth. Therefore, manufacturing industries are crucial for a country’s sustainable development not only for economic reasons but also for social (.e.g. employment, tax, etc.) and environmental ones. Thus, manufacturing activities’ contribution to the economy is critically related with environmental and social impacts. Sustainable economic growth is essential and necessary for a country to provide all necessary goods and services to its growing population.

And, this is highly linke with the creation of new jobs and in this context, manufacturing ...

Soy- Based Flexographic Ink For Linerboard Printing, Rahul Ramchandra Pingale

Master's Theses

Many printing inks use volatile solvents in the formulation, which are hazardous to the environment from emission of VOC’s and at the same time, synthetic resins in these inks are not biodegradable. These problems with the fluctuating and rising price of petroleum are main reasons to look for new resources for making more environmentally friendly printing inks. The majority of the commercially available water based inks are formulated based on using acrylic resins, synthetic colorants, solvents/water and additives, which are the common main components for formulating printing inks. In this research, soy proteins were tested for their suitability ...

Optimization Of Analytical Inverse Heat Transfer Recovery Solution, Nathan Schick

Master's Theses

This thesis describes the different methods used when trying to solve inverse heat transfer problems, particularly those involving recovering heat flux. There are currently several techniques to measure the temperature history in an object subjected to heat transfer using various temperature sensors, however these types of sensors are gradually being replaced by Temperature Sensitive Paints (TSP), a technique that is more accurate and provides a better spatial resolution. TSP is a polymer that is applied on a base object. Changes in temperature in the polymer result in variations of the luminescence intensity in the paint. These variations can be captured ...

Liquid-To-Liquid Low Grade Waste Heat Recovery Using A Two-Channel Loop, Waleed Farwana

Master's Theses

The use of thermoelectric generators (TEGs) for producing electric energy from low grade “waste heat” has been theorized to provide a sustainable and low-cost energy source for electric power plants. The purpose of this study is to model and experimentally validate a TEG device that takes advantage of low grade waste heat (approximately 100-150 degrees Celsius) in liquid form in order to generate power that can be used for various applications in the surrounding environment. This research aims to demonstrate that optimized TEG designs bear the potential to compete with other methods of low grade waste heat energy harvesting in ...

Establishing Delay-Based Criteria For Installing Traffic Signals At Two-Lane Roundabouts, Oluwaseun Ayomide Adegbaju

Master's Theses

A roundabout is a circular intersection where drivers travel counterclockwise around a center island in the United States. Roundabouts can be more beneficial than the conventional intersections because they increase the capacity of the intersection and reduce delays and crashes at the intersection. However, the performance of roundabouts can be severely affected by unbalanced traffic flows among the approaches. While the resulting delays can be mitigated by installing traffic signals, there is a lack of clear criteria on when to install a traffic signal at a roundabout. This research focuses on establishing criteria for installing traffic signals at two-lane roundabouts ...

Metal Segregation During The Solidification Of Titanium-Aluminum Alloys For 3d Printing Applications, Jwala Parajuli

Master's Theses

Titanium-Aluminum alloys are one of the widely used alloys in multiple engineering applications. They are highly preferred in Selective Laser Melting (SLM) processes due to their low density, high melting temperature, and good strength. Segregation occurs during the solidification of most alloys and produces a non-uniform distribution of atoms. In SLM, segregation may depict the type of adhesion between the two deposited interfacial layers and the strength between the interphase between an already solidified layer and a new one, and overall, the quality of the printed part. In order to avoid segregation, the understanding of the segregation behavior at atomistic ...

On Wlan Fingerprint Indoor Positioning Systems Clustering, And Classification For Enhanced Performance, Haider G. Al Glehawi

Master's Theses

The most economic and affordable IPS are those incorporating existing infrastructure, such as the widely spread Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). The Received Signal Strength (RSS) fingerprinting-based system is one of the most promising and powerful techniques so far to be used for indoor positioning. However, there are two challenges in using RSS based IPS; the first challenge is the variation of RSS to indoor multipath propagation, and the second is the high number of Access Points (APs) that are deployed in the region of interest. The first issue leads to degradation in the performance of RSS based IPS, while ...

Pyrolysis Of Plastic Waste From Medical Services Facilities Into Potential Fuel And/Or Fuel Additives, Bright Kweku Ansah Baiden

Master's Theses

Limited space and high costs for landfilling as well as increasing regulations in plastic waste disposal, has led to high operating costs for organizations involved in managing plastic waste from medical facilities which led to the need to investigate an alternative option such as pyrolysis. The overall goal of this study was to evaluate pyrolysis as a means to repurpose plastic waste obtained from medical service facilities into fuel and fuel additive compounds, with two objectives involving, (1) to examine the effect of heat input (as voltage) and reaction/residence time; and (2) to evaluate the effect of the plastic ...

Control-Oriented Automatic Transmission- Based Powertrain Modeling And Simulation With Judder, Harshal B. Kundale

Master's Theses

This work presents automatic transmission-based powertrain modeling. The powertrain consists of an engine, torque converter with lock up clutch, transmission gearbox, propeller shaft, and vehicle body. Simplified powertrain component models are developed for vehicle powertrain dynamic response analysis and future control work. The powertrain components are modeled with algebraic and first order non-linear differential equations. A MATLAB-based powertrain simulation system is developed to investigate the transient characteristics during lock up of torque converter. Simulation results are used in the determination of effects of judder on torque and angular velocity. Clutch judder is a self-excited vibration that occurs during the clutch ...

Maintaining Deck Profile In Steel I-Girder Bridges During Deck Placement, Ali Naif Inceefe

Master's Theses

Conventional steel I-girder highway bridges utilize cast-in-place concrete deck. Maintaining the deck profile as per project specifications might be a challenging task. Deformation of girders and formwork used for deck placement need to be controlled during deck placement. Differential deflection between girders, exterior girder web out-of-plane deformation, exterior girder warping, or a combination thereof could impact the deck profile. These deformations challenge maintaining deck profile and need to be considered as a part of constructability evaluation. Determining deck profile due to potential girder deformations is necessary before deck placement so that the remedial actions can be implemented when deck finish ...

Experimental Comparison Between Hollow Cathodes With Cermet, Lanthanum Hexaboride, And Barium Oxide Insert Materials, Nagual Simmons

Master's Theses

This thesis compares two different hollow cathode assemblies (HCA) using three different insert materials. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) provided the H6 HCA and the Lanthanum Hexaboride (LaB₆) insert. A barium oxide (BaO) insert was purchased from Ebeam and used with the H6 HCA. The novel Cermet material was purchased from Plasma Controls, LLC and the HCA was based on the JPL H6 HCA. Plasma properties in the external region of all three inserts and the internal region of the LaB₆ were determine using two separate Langmuir probes. Various operating points were tested at a combination of ...

Power-Efficient And Highly Scalable Parallel Graph Sampling Using Fpgas, Muhammad Usman Tariq

Master's Theses

Energy efficiency is a crucial problem in data centers where big data is generally represented by directed or undirected graphs. Analysis of this big data graph is challenging due to volume and velocity of the data as well as irregular memory access patterns. Graph sampling is one of the most effective ways to reduce the size of graph while maintaining crucial characteristics. This thesis presents design and implementation of a field programmable gate array (FPGA) based graph sampling method which is both time- and energy-efficient. This is in contrast to existing parallel approaches which include memory-distributed clusters, multicore and GPUs ...

Investigation Of Discrete Element Methods For Stud To Turf Interactions, Justin Rittenhouse

Master's Theses

Artificial turf is frequently used in sports today and attempts to advantageously replicate a natural grass/soil playing surface. Despite numerous advantages, the technology is correlated with an increase in injuries. The concept behind this research is to create and validate a discrete element model (DEM) for the ground/foot interaction through the use of open source software. After validation, the goal is to analyze an arrangement of studs to determine what role stud geometry plays on torque [N-mm] and force [N] generation. The validation data was provided through laboratory experiments. Three football studs attached to a rigid bracket were ...

Forward-Looking, Velocity-Driven, Powertrain Modeling And Optimal Control For Continuous Variable Transmission, Paresh Deshmukh

Master's Theses

This thesis is the second part of a two-part study focused on improving Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT) ratio management and control. The objective of the overall project was to develop a methodology for a vehicle with a CVT and a downsized gasoline engine to deliver the maximum vehicle fuel economy within drivability and performance constraints. The first part of this study, as described in [1], focuses on developing a cycle driven model for optimizing the CVT ratio. The study presented in this paper focuses on developing a velocity driven model to simulate the real-time behavior of a vehicle. The results ...

Experimental Study Of Global Luminescent Oil-Film (Glof) Skin-Friction Meter On Delta Wings, Patrick Nicholas Wewengkang

Master's Theses

This thesis describes how the Global Luminescent Oil-Film (GLOF) Skin-Friction Meter can be applied experimentally to extract skin-friction from a set of images. In this study, the effect of oil viscosity, experimental sample size, and step size were considered to see how they would affect the extracted skin-friction using the GLOF method. These results were then compared to published literature on skin-friction diagnostics of delta wings, based on observations of critical characteristics such as reattachment and separation lines. Delta wings of 50°, 55°, 60°, 65°, and 70° sweep angles were built and placed in the Small Wind Tunnel (SWT) at ...

Model Predictive Power Management Of A Hybrid Electric Propulsion System For Aircraft, Tyler J. Wall

Master's Theses

This work presents the switched optimal power flow control for an aircraft with a hybrid electric propulsion system. The propulsion system is a switched system that operates in either of two modes: (i) battery discharging and electric motor propelling and (ii) battery charging and electric motor generating. The aircraft model and components that form the hybrid propulsion system are modeled as either an algebraic power source/sink or as a dynamic model with appropriate power and state interconnections. With the system model defined, a model predictive control power management strategy is set fourth which minimizes a performance index that includes ...