Engineering Commons^™

The Development Of Qualification Standards For Cast Super Duplex Stainless Steel (2507 Wrought Equivalent), Vasudevan Hariharan

Masters Theses

The objective of the program is to determine the suitability of ASTM A923 “Standard Test methods for Detecting Detrimental Intermetallic Phase in Wrought Duplex Austenitic-Ferritic Stainless Steels” for 25 Cr Cast Super Duplex Stainless Steels (ASTM A890-5A).

Different tests were carried out on the materials procured from various steel foundries as stated in the ASTM A923. The foundries were designated as Foundry A, B, C and D. All the materials were foundry solution annealed. Materials from Foundry D were solution heat treated at The University of Tennessee also and then they were subjected to heat treatment schedule which was derived …

Socio-Economic Analysis Of Fatal Crash Trends (Final Report), Adam Kirk, Jerry G. Pigman, Kenneth R. Agent

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This report describes the analysis of fatal crash patterns and explores the impact of socioeconomic factors and safety regulations on statewide crash rates. This analysis separated statewide crash rates between 2002 and 2004 into two samples, 1) those with crash rates 25 percent greater than the average national rate and 2) those with crash rates lower than this threshold. Safety regulations and socioeconomic factors were identified as having a significant effect on crash rates, with socioeconomic factors showing a higher potential to explain differences in crash rates between the two samples.

Automated Analysis Of Fluorescent Microscopic Images To Identify Protein-Protein Interactions, Sankar Venkataraman

Masters Theses

The identification and confirmation of protein interactions significantly challenges the field of systems biology and related bio-computational efforts. The identification of protein-protein interactions along with their spatial and temporal localization is useful for assigning functional information to proteins. Fluorescence microscopy is an ideal method for assessing protein localization and interactions as a number of techniques and reagents have been described. Historically, data sets obtained from fluorescence microscopy have been analyzed manually, a process that is both time consuming and tedious. The development of an automated system that can measure the location and dynamics of interacting proteins inside a live cell …

Temperature Control Of The Online Rheological Sensor, Larry Scott Spencer

Masters Theses

Rheometers are devices that can be used to measure the rheological properties of polymers. Online rheometers test for rheological properties during a polymer process. Real-time rheological data would eliminate any time delays that accompany off-line rheometers and would provide the feedback information needed for tighter polymer process control. A real-time control system would eliminate the need for an offline rheometer to analyze polymer product properties, thus saving both time and money.

The Online Rheological Sensor was used to estimate the shear and elongational viscosities of a polymer from measured variables during processing. The Online Rheological Sensor was mounted on a …

Green Engineering And Gate-To Gate Life Cycle Assessments For Pharmaceutical Products, Daniel Fichana

Theses and Dissertations

The research of this thesis focused on the environmental and processing metrics during the development of two different drugs. Previous research in life cycle assessments and green engineering have focused on other products and processes, but only a limited amount of studies have been conducted for pharmaceutical applications. This analysis concerned a gate-to-gate analysis of two distinct pharmaceutical products along with the development of a solvent selection table. The goal of this research was to determine how various processing and environmental metrics were affected by process improvements.

The first drug was the pravastatin, which was made via a fermentation route. …

Resilient And Residual Properties Of Asphalt Concrete: Superpave And Conventional Mix Design, Tamer Mohamed Breakah

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Optimization Of Dsss Receivers Using Hardware-In-The-Loop Simulations, Balbir Kaur Dhillon

Masters Theses

Over the years, there has been significant interest in defining a hardware abstraction layer to facilitate code reuse in software defined radio (SDR) applications. Designers are looking for a way to enable application software to specify a waveform, configure the platform, and control digital signal processing (DSP) functions in a hardware platform in a way that insulates it from the details of realization.

This thesis presents a tool-based methodolgy for developing and optimizing a Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) transceiver deployed in custom hardware like Field Programmble Gate Arrays (FPGAs). The system model consists of a tranmitter which employs a …

Hardware Design And Implementation Of Role-Based Cryptography, Scott Edward Fields

Masters Theses

Traditional public key cryptographic methods provide access control to sensitive data by allowing the message sender to grant a single recipient permission to read the encrypted message. The Need2Know® system (N2K) improves upon these methods by providing role-based access control. N2K defines data access permissions similar to those of a multi-user file system, but N2K strictly enforces access through cryptographic standards. Since custom hardware can efficiently implement many cryptographic algorithms and can provide additional security, N2K stands to benefit greatly from a hardware implementation. To this end, the main N2K algorithm, the Key Protection Module (KPM), is being specified in …

Synthesis, Microstructure, And Mechanical Behavior Of Fe-Cu Composites, Jin-Woo Jeon

Masters Theses

The synthesis, microstructure, and mechanical properties of ball-milled nanocrystalline (nc) Fe powder and immiscible Fe-Cu alloy composites are investigated in this thesis. Experimental approaches are described for the characterization of the grain size and hardness of nc Fe powders and the internal stress state of bulk Fe-Cu alloy composites are presented.

The grain size measurements of ball-milled Fe powders obtained from the XRD line broadening analysis (15 nm) and TEM observation (18 nm) showed good agreement between two results. From the nanoindentation tests, the hardness values of the ball-milled Fe powders were increased from 3.5 to 10.5 GPa as the …

Bio-Derived Fuels For Hybrid Rocket Motors, Joshua David Scholes

Masters Theses

Two bio-derived fuels have been successfully tested in a laboratory scale hybrid rocket combustion chamber located at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Pure lard soaked in an open cell sponge matrix and beeswax were both tested using gaseous oxygen as the oxidizer. Given similar testing conditions, these fuels exhibit higher regression rates than the common hybrid rocket propellant HTPB (hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene), thus overcoming one of the main shortcomings of hybrid rocket fuels. These fuels also have similar or higher regression rates than paraffin-based fuels recently tested by a Stanford University/NASA Ames team. Measured thrusts ranged from 20-140 Newtons, and calculated …

Experimental Aerodynamic Analysis Of A Wing-Flap System With Delta Vortex Generators, Charles Roy Mcconnell

Masters Theses

The principle idea upon which the use of vortex generators (VGs) is based has been to control flow separation. The characteristic of VGs has been used to improve lift and alter the stall characteristics of aircraft and has been a relatively common practice for many years. Due to the seemingly limitless range of VG geometries and arrangements, which are largely dependant upon the desired aerodynamic performance, there has been a broad investigation into VG application.

The purpose of this experimental investigation has been to collect data to be used to establish the effects of various delta shaped vortex generators (delta-VGs) …

Evaluation Of Engineering Plastic For Rollover Protective Structure Mounting, Robert Stephen Comer

Masters Theses

The agricultural industry has one of the highest fatality rates of any industry in the U. S. This death rate is largely due to deaths caused by roll over accidents while on agricultural vehicles. The addition of a Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) has aided in lowering these high fatality rates on full-size tractors. Studies have shown that death rates have been reduced by as much as 98% with the addition of rollover protective structures. However, a large number of older tractors still do not utilize a ROPS. This is due to the difficulty of designing and creating a mounting structure. …

Physical Layer Simulation Study For The Co-Existence Of Wlan Standards, Chad Joseph Kiger

Masters Theses

Interference is a prime factor that limits the performance of devices within the 2.4 GHz ISM Band. Due to the ISM Band being unlicensed and free to all users, there is an abundance of devices within this frequency range. The three most prominent of such devices used for data communication consist of Bluetooth, Wifi, and Zigbee. In order to understand whether these three protocols can co-exist with each other, a physical layer system model will be developed for each protocol. These systems models will be combined and their interaction with each other examined to determine the effects of the interference …

Propeller Development Process: Conflict And Cooperation Between The Department Of Defense And Civil Aviation, Nathan Grant Neblett

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to compare and contrast the acquisition of the Electronic Propeller Control System through both the Department of Defense and Civil Aviation processes controlled by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The author was a planner and participant in the Department of Defense (DoD) process. Information about the Civil Aviation process was obtained via email and telephone communication with participants, some of whom aided both processes.

Strong similarities existed in system design and prototype manufacture for both processes. A large portion of developmental flight test was similar, if not identical. In particular, both the DoD and …

An Investigation Of Employee Satisfaction And Employee Empowerment Specific To On-Site Supervisors In The Residential Construction Industry, David Lars Halvorsen

Theses and Dissertations

Employee satisfaction and empowerment are vital elements to businesses in most industries. The construction industry has various types of employees, ranging from managers and executives to on-site supervisors and laborers. This study was conducted to obtain a greater understanding about the elements and levels of satisfaction and empowerment of on-site supervisors in the residential construction industry. An on-site supervisor in the residential construction industry is responsible for coordinating and managing employees, materials, equipment, budgets, schedules, contracts, and the safety of employees and the general public. They are also the employees most frequently perceived as accountable for the success or failure …

A Numerical Study Of Curved Labyrinth Seals For Steam Turbines, Sricharan Kishore Ayyalasomayajula

Masters Theses

A numerical experiment has been conducted to study and evaluate the structural behavior of newly designed labyrinth seals. Structural analysis was performed to understand, evaluate and compare new seals with a baseline straight seal that is typical of commonly used seals in steam turbines. New configurations of labyrinth seal knives were developed for use in steam turbines [17]. The main objective of this study is to develop a better understanding of selected various labyrinth seals that may be configured to minimize the steam leakage and reduce seal interactions with the shaft. Computational fluid dynamic modeling of the various configurations, from …

Comparison Of Microscopic Modalities For The 3d Model Reconstruction Of Nanodevices, Christopher Robert Kammerud

Masters Theses

As manufacturing capabilities push nanotechnology to smaller and smaller scales, novel inspection schemes must be developed to ensure product quality. The objective of our research was to implement, refine, and compare 3D reconstruction algorithms that could aid manufacturers in their ability to visualize and inspect nanodevices. Data was collected from three different microscopes: the atomic force microscope (AFM), the scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM). For each of these microscopes, a specific algorithm was implemented to generate 3D models from the raw microscope data. Scans from the AFM microscope give range information similar to laser …

Flight Testing Quadeye The First Night Vision Helmet Mounted Cueing System For Fixed Wing Jet Aircraft, Timothy Ghannon Burton

Masters Theses

In 2002 the United States Navy introduced helmet mounted cueing systems (HMCS) into tactical jet operations. As aircrews have become more reliant on their HMCS the requirement for a night vision capable cueing system has risen to the forefront of HMCS technology. One proposed solution to this requirement was Quadeye. Quadeye is a wide-angle (100deg field of view) four cathode-ray tube system with injected Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing video. The Navy flew 8 evaluation sorties from March to August 2005, in the F-18 A-F fighter aircraft. The goal of this limited scope effort was to answer four questions:

1. Does the …

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Linking Channel Stability And Bed Sediment Characteristics To Biological Integrity In Tennessee Ridge And Valley Streams, Kelley H. Williams

Masters Theses

Streambed sedimentation has plagued waterways since the beginning of civilization, whether as a natural flow process or human disturbances on the landscape in more recent times. Due to the continual degradation in the quantity and diversity of aquatic organisms within streams, the issue has finally surfaced as a significant concern. The need to develop better Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) assessment tools to link sediment impairment to biological integrity was the driving force behind this study.

Within the Ridge and Valley Ecoregion, 76 stream reaches were analyzed to investigate the impacts of stability issues and bed sediment characteristics on stream …

Robust And Efficient Localization Techniques For Cellular And Wireless Sensor Networks, Haseebulla M. Khan

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Localization in wireless networks refers to a collection of tasks that, collectively, determines the location of a mobile user, striving to hide the effects of mobility from the user and/or application. Localization has become an important issue and has drawn considerable attention, as many applications including E-911, cargo tracking, locating patients, location-sensitive billing, etc., require knowledge of the location of user/objects. It was realized, quite a while back, that extending emergency 911-like services (E-911) to continually growing mobile population is one of the extremely important localization applications. The bulk of the proposed solutions to emergency location management in wireless environments …

Universal Geometric Camera Calibration With Statistical Model Selection, Chistopher Paul Broaddus

Masters Theses

We propose a new universal camera calibration approach that uses statistical information criteria for automatic camera model selection. It requires the camera to observe a planar pattern from different positions, and then closed-form estimates for the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters are computed followed by nonlinear optimization. In lieu of modeling radial distortion, the lens projection of the camera is modeled, and in addition we include decentering distortion. This approach is particularly advantageous for wide angle (fisheye) camera calibration because it often reduces the complexity of the model compared to modeling radial distortion. We then apply statistical information criteria to automatically …

Topology Optimization Of Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Polymer Damping Structures, Seshadri Mohan Varma Damu

Masters Theses

Topology optimization has been successfully used for improving vibration damping in constrained layer damping structures. Reinforcing carbon nanotubes in a polymer matrix greatly influence the mechanical properties of the polymer. Such nanotube-reinforced polymers (NRP) can be used to further enhance the damping properties of the constrained layer structures. In this work, topology optimization is performed on constrained damping layer structures using NRP in order to maximize the loss factor for the first resonance frequency of the base beam. In addition to the material fractions of the NRP and elastic material, the volume fraction of the nanotubes in the polymer is …

Effect Of Hydrogenon On Mechanical Behavior Of A Zircaloy-4 Alloy, Elena Garlea

Masters Theses

Hydride formation is one of the main degradation mechanisms of zirconium alloys in hydrogen-rich environments. When sufficient hydrogen is present, zirconiumhydride precipitates can be formed. Cracking of the brittle hydrides near a crack tip can initiate the growth of a crack leading to the premature failure of the material. Hydride formation is believed to be enhanced by the presence of residual or applied stresses. Therefore, the increase in the stress field ahead of a crack tip may promote precipitation of additional hydrides. In order to verify these phenomena, the effect of internal stresses on the zirconium-hydride-precipitate formation, and in turn, …

Biomimetic Membranes Realized With Arrays Of Carbon Nanofibers, Eric Hullander

Masters Theses

A microfluidic device with imbedded nanoporous membranes, constructed using a novel nanostructured material, was designed, built, modeled, and tested. The membranes were shown to be modular, and by adsorbing monodisperse latex spheres to the fibrous membrane, the pore size could be controlled. A mathematical model of the device was developed based on several existing fluidic models for transport through fibrous materials, and an image processing algorithm was designed to extract the hydrodynamic properties of the device from a series of scanning electron micrographs based on the existing hydrodynamic models. A series of experiments were performed using fluorescent microscopy to quantify …

Lattice Quantum Algorithm For The Schrodinger Wave Equation In 2+1 Dimensions With A Demonstration By Modeling Soliton Instabilities, Jeffrey Yepez, George Vahala, Linda L. Vahala

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A lattice-based quantum algorithm is presented to model the non-linear Schrödinger-like equations in 2 + 1 dimensions. In this lattice-based model, using only 2 qubits per node, a sequence of unitary collide (qubit-qubit interaction) and stream (qubit translation) operators locally evolve a discrete field of probability amplitudes that in the long-wavelength limit accurately approximates a non-relativistic scalar wave function. The collision operator locally entangles pairs of qubits followed by a streaming operator that spreads the entanglement throughout the two dimensional lattice. The quantum algorithmic scheme employs a non-linear potential that is proportional to the moduli square of the wave function. …

A Generic Object-Oriented Tabu Search Framework, Hoong Chuin Lau, Xiaomin Jia, Wee Chong Wan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Presently, most tabu search designers devise their applications without considering the potential of design and code reuse, which consequently prolong the development of subsequent applications. In this paper, we propose a software solution known as Tabu Search Framework (TSF), which is a generic C++ software framework for tabu search implementation. The framework excels in code recycling through the use of a well- designed set of generic abstract classes that clearly define their collaborative roles in the algorithm. Additionally, the framework incorporates a centralized process and control mechanism that enhances the search with intelligence. This results in a generic framework that …

Composite Mechanical Property Enhancement Through The Use Of Y-End Shaped Short Fibers, Jin Tan

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study uses Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to predict the mechanical property enhancement of the composites reinforced by end-shaped short fibers with different aspect ratios and volume fractions at microscale. Fibers used include conventional straight short fibers (CSSF), dumbbell-end shaped short fibers (DSSF), bone-end shaped short fibers (BSSF) and Y-end shaped short fibers (YSSF) with various lengths and angles. The critical distances between neighboring fiber ends for FEA modeling were theoretically deduced and numerically verified. This study has never been done before and the results fill a gap to this field.

In conclusion, planar-end Y-shaped short fiber reinforced composites showed …

Capacitated And Uncapacitated Facilities Locationallocation Problem With Sensitive Prices, Stochastic Demands, And Inventory, Yaser Al-Alawi

Dissertations

This study developed a quantitative model that solves a facility locationallocation (LA) problem that maximizes the net profits generated from expected sales. The model was formulated to take into consideration demand uncertainty, sensitive prices, and existence of inventory for capacitated and uncapacitated facilities. Four new models for the LA problem with stochastic demands and inventory were developed and studied. The four models were combinations of capacitated and uncapacitated facilities and sensitive and insensitive prices.

A new method was proposed for achieving optimality, and an approximation procedure was developed that could find near-optimal solutions for problems that could not be solved …

Broadband Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Spectroscopy Of Nitrogen Using A Picosecond Modeless Dye Laser, Sukesh Roy, Terrence R. Meyer, James R. Gord

Terrence R Meyer

Broadband picosecond coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) spectroscopy of nitrogen is demonstrated using 145-ps pump and probe beams and a 115-ps Stokes beam with a spectral bandwidth of 5 nm. This is, to our knowledge, the first demonstration of broadband CARS using subnanosecond lasers. The short temporal envelope of the laser pulses and the broadband spectral nature of the Stokes beam will enable nonresonant-background-free, single-shot, or time-dependent spectroscopy in high-pressure or hydrocarbon-rich environments. Successful correlation of room-temperature broadband picosecond N2 CARS with a theoretical spectrum is presented.

Inventions On Drag And Drop In Gui, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

Drag and drop operation is one of the key capabilities of any Graphical User Interface. The user can do quite complex operations simply by visually dragging and dropping objects from one location to another. It saves user from remembering and typing a lot of commands. The result of a drag and drop operation may vary depending the type of source object and type of destination object. For example dragging a file and dropping on a folder may copy or move the file to the destination folder, dropping that file to a remote ftp location may upload that file using internet, …