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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Damage Detection Using Destructive Testing Of A Reinforced Concrete Slab, Michael Edward Daves Jan 2019

Damage Detection Using Destructive Testing Of A Reinforced Concrete Slab, Michael Edward Daves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Visual inspection is one of the primary tools for evaluating the health of bridges as more reach or exceed their intended lifespan. Bridge deterioration must be monitored to ensure continued safety, so owners need maintenance reports to decide on corrective actions. Strategic repair can offer asset managers the benefit of saving money and time; thus, knowing where to locate and what type of repairs can be challenging when relying on visual techniques alone. A tool designed to aid bridge inspectors is the SHE^tm program, which quantitatively measures damage location and severity for any set of time data.


Molecular Simulation Of Graphene Oxide (Go) Nanocarriers For Doxorubicin: Effects Of Ph And Go Pegylation On The Drug Loading, Retention, And Release, Mina Mahdavi Jan 2019

Molecular Simulation Of Graphene Oxide (Go) Nanocarriers For Doxorubicin: Effects Of Ph And Go Pegylation On The Drug Loading, Retention, And Release, Mina Mahdavi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation as a powerful tool is used to investigate the graphene oxide (GO) based drug delivery system in the process of drug loading, drug carrying and drug release. Doxorubicin (DOX), a widely used anticancer drug, is used as a drug model. The effect of different parameters including pH levels and the oxidation level of GO sheets on the drug loading mechanism is broadly discussed in this study. The drug release from the GO sheet using pH stimulus is explored and results confirmed that GO can release DOX molecules at acidic pH level.


A Study On The Comparison Of Sample Location Of Pultruded Composites Exposed To Corrosive Environment, Md Mahmudul Hasan Jan 2019

A Study On The Comparison Of Sample Location Of Pultruded Composites Exposed To Corrosive Environment, Md Mahmudul Hasan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Composite structures may experience different environments during their prolonged service life. These environments may include corrosive, acidic or both or many others that can adversely affect the mechanical properties of the structural composites. Various studies have been done on the environmental effects on the composites but only a few are on structural shaped pultruded composites. More specifically, none of the studies tell anything about the effects of corrosive media on the locations of the structural shaped pultruded composites coupon samples. Hence, this current study focused on two primary objectives, 1) the durability characterization of structural shaped pultruded composites after an …


Molecular Dynamics Study Of Sintering Behavior Of Single-Crystal, Bimetallic Core/Shell Alloy, And Intermetallic Alloy Nanoparticles, Jungmin Jeon Jan 2019

Molecular Dynamics Study Of Sintering Behavior Of Single-Crystal, Bimetallic Core/Shell Alloy, And Intermetallic Alloy Nanoparticles, Jungmin Jeon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There has been rapidly growing interest in the sintering process of nanoparticles (NPs) among academia and modern industry due to their promising applications in additive manufacturing (AM) based on the overall improved properties at nanoscale. In the past decade a lot of experimental and computational work has been conducted to study the sintering process of powder materials. However there is still a significant knowledge gap in a fundamental understanding of the thermodynamics and nanostructural evolution of NPs undergoing additive manufacturing. This thesis aims to gain fundamental insights into melting behavior of different materials including single-crystal bimetallic core/shell alloy and intermetallic …


Evaluation Of Wireless Router Antennas And 3d-Printed Simulated Antenna Designs, Bibek Kattel Jan 2019

Evaluation Of Wireless Router Antennas And 3d-Printed Simulated Antenna Designs, Bibek Kattel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the size of the electronics devices is decreasing the overall size of the antenna inside them is also decreasing. As the antenna size becomes smaller it is more difficult to manufacture them with the process of traditional manufacturing that uses the subtractive method to manufacture a structure. This is where additive manufacturing has an edge on traditional manufacturing. The use of this method to manufacture antennas has been discussed in this thesis. Five antennas from a wireless router are evaluated by modeling them in CST Microwave Studio and are modified so that they can be manufactured with 3D printing. …


Magnetic Amphiphiles And Their Potential Applications For Low Energy Separations Processes, Alexander Fortenberry Jan 2019

Magnetic Amphiphiles And Their Potential Applications For Low Energy Separations Processes, Alexander Fortenberry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Predicting the behavior of magnetic surfactants in magnetic fields is critical for designing magnetically driven processes such as chemical separations or the tuning of surface tensions. Our work supports the hypothesis that the ability of magnetic fields to alter the interfacial properties of magnetic surfactant solutions depends on the strength of association between the magnetic and surfactant moieties of the surfactant molecules. Our research shows that the stability of a magnetic surfactant in an aqueous environment is dependent upon the type of complex that contains the paramagnetic element and these findings provide valuable insight for the design of magnetic surfactants …


Developing A Calibrated Seepage Meter To Measure Stream-Aquifer Interaction In The Mississippi Delta, Wesley J. Bolton Jan 2019

Developing A Calibrated Seepage Meter To Measure Stream-Aquifer Interaction In The Mississippi Delta, Wesley J. Bolton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) is a premier region for irrigated agriculture in the United States producing approximately 9 billion dollars in annual revenues. The region receives around 138 cm of precipitation annually; however irrigation is necessary to maximize crop yields as most of the precipitation does not occur during the growing season. There are 8 million irrigated acres within the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. The source of most of the irrigated water is the surficial aquifer in the Mississippi Embayment the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer (MRVAA) and due to the reliance on irrigation for maximum crop yields recent potentiometric …


Dynamic Code Selection Method For Content Transfer In Deep Space Network, Rojina Adhikary Jan 2019

Dynamic Code Selection Method For Content Transfer In Deep Space Network, Rojina Adhikary

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Space communications feature large round-trip time delays (for example, between 6.5 and 44 minutes for Mars to Earth and return, depending on the actual distance between the two planets) and highly variable data error rates, for example, bit error rate (BER) of 10−5 is very comand even higher BERs on the order of 10−1 is observed in the deep- space environment. We develop a new content transfer protocol based on RaptorQ codes and turbo codes together with a real-time channel prediction model to maximize file transfer from space vehicles to the Earth stations. While turbo codes are used to correct …


Design And Investigation Of Genetic Algorithmic And Reinforcement Learning Approaches To Wire Crossing Reductions For Pnml Devices, Alexander Keith Gunter Jan 2019

Design And Investigation Of Genetic Algorithmic And Reinforcement Learning Approaches To Wire Crossing Reductions For Pnml Devices, Alexander Keith Gunter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Perpendicular nanomagnet logic (pNML) is an emerging post-CMOS technology which encodes binary data in the polarization of single-domain nanomagnets and performs operations via fringing field interactions. Currently, there is no complete top-down workflow for pNML. Researchers must instead simultaneously handle place-and-route, timing, and logic minimization by hand. These tasks include multiple NP-Hard subproblems, and the lack of automated tools for solving them for pNML precludes the design of large-scale pNML circuits.


Decoding And Optimizing Magnesium Phosphate Binders For Additive Construction Applications, Hashem Khaled Almashaqbeh Jan 2019

Decoding And Optimizing Magnesium Phosphate Binders For Additive Construction Applications, Hashem Khaled Almashaqbeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work aims to give more insight about the physical, mechanical, thermal, and chemical performance of the MPC paste composites. Our primary outcome from this research is to improve the MPC composites with different additives, including boric acid, GnP, and acetic acid for potential utilization in 3DcP applications. Furthermore, Martian and Lunar regolith simulants can be mixed with the MPC composites to create mortars as a possible extraterrestrial 3DP in-situ construction material mainly to support the NASA habitation exploration mission.


Evaluating The Use Of Suas-Derived Imagery For Monitoring Flood Protection Infrastructure, Eleanor Mei Dietz Jan 2019

Evaluating The Use Of Suas-Derived Imagery For Monitoring Flood Protection Infrastructure, Eleanor Mei Dietz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the US there are approximately 33,000 miles of levees. This includes 14,500 miles of levee systems associated with US Army Corps of Engineers programs and approximately 15,000 miles from other state and federal agencies. More than 14 million people live behind levees and associated flood prevention infrastructure. Monitoring and risk assessment are an on-going process, especially during times of flood conditions. The city of New Orleans was heavily impacted by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 by storm surges and intense rainfall. The impact of the hurricane was substantial enough to cause levee failure and I-wall toppling where many of the …


Hydrophobization Of Cellulose-Based Fibers For Packaging Applications With Alkyl Ketene Dimers (Akd) And Food-Grade Waxes Via Supercritical Impregnation With Carbon Dioxide – Experimental And Thermodynamic Modeling Approaches, Kolawole Adenekan Jan 2019

Hydrophobization Of Cellulose-Based Fibers For Packaging Applications With Alkyl Ketene Dimers (Akd) And Food-Grade Waxes Via Supercritical Impregnation With Carbon Dioxide – Experimental And Thermodynamic Modeling Approaches, Kolawole Adenekan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This modified material has applications in food packaging, where frequently water-repellant surfaces are required. This method is preferable to traditional coating methods because it sizes across the entire thickness of the substrate rather than just the surface and can be used for non-planar surfaces; uses significantly less material than traditional methods and will be an excellent technique for multilayered and intelligent coating.


Geothermal Resource Assessment Of Mississippi, Adam Blake Goodwin Jan 2019

Geothermal Resource Assessment Of Mississippi, Adam Blake Goodwin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Geothermal energy is exploited through the process of using hot water or steam extracted from reservoirs of geothermal heat in Earth's crust which is derived from the upward convection and conduction of heat from Earth’s mantle and core. This energy can be harnessed to power geothermal heat pumps, heat water, or to generate electricity. Previous geothermal assessments of Mississippi have been locally focused, either in the southern Mississippi River flood plains or in eastern north central Mississippi at an active lignite coal mine. The focus of this project was to calculate and map heat flow estimates within the entire state …


Investigating The Use Of Passive Acoustics As A Surrogate Method Of Monitoring Coarse Bedload Transport In Rivers And Streams Via Laboratory Experiments And Field Studies, Bradley Goodwiller Jan 2019

Investigating The Use Of Passive Acoustics As A Surrogate Method Of Monitoring Coarse Bedload Transport In Rivers And Streams Via Laboratory Experiments And Field Studies, Bradley Goodwiller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The movement of coarse gravel in rivers in streams is important for many applications including wildlife habitation, river morphology, infrastructure maintenance and marine navigation. Physical sampling remains the most accurate method of determining coarse bedload transport but it can be expensive, dangerous and flow intrusive. Surrogate methods of monitoring bedload transport is an active area of research worldwide. One such method is the use of passive acoustics to record the sound generated when gravel particles in motion impact each other or the particles on the bed. This dissertation presents research and development that has been conducted on three key areas …


Raptor Codes For Biawgn Channel: Snr Mismatch And The Optimality Of The Inner And Outer Rates, Hussein Fadhel Jan 2019

Raptor Codes For Biawgn Channel: Snr Mismatch And The Optimality Of The Inner And Outer Rates, Hussein Fadhel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fountain codes are a class of rateless codes with two interesting properties, first, they can generate potentially limitless numbers of encoded symbols given a finite set of source symbols, and second, the source symbols can be recovered from any subset of encoded symbols with cardinality greater than the number of source symbols. Raptor codes are the first implementation of fountain codes with linear complexity and vanishing error floors on noisy channels. Raptor codes are designed by the serial concatenation of an inner Luby trans-form (LT) code, the first practical realization of fountain codes, and an outer low-density parity-check (LDPC) code. …


Mac-Phy Frameworks For Lte And Wifi Networks' Coexistence Over The Unlicensed Band, Hadi Ahmad Kasasbeh Jan 2019

Mac-Phy Frameworks For Lte And Wifi Networks' Coexistence Over The Unlicensed Band, Hadi Ahmad Kasasbeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main focus of this dissertation is to address these issues and to analyze the interactions between LTE and WiFi coexisting on the unlicensed spectrum. This can be done by providing some improvements in the first two communication layers in both technologies. Regarding the physical (PHY) layer, efficient spectrum sensing and data fusion techniques that consider correlated spectrum sensing readings at the LTE/WiFi users (sensors) are needed. Failure to consider such correlation has been a major shortcoming of the literature. This resulted in poorly performing spectrum sensing systems if such correlation is not considered in correlated-measurements environments.


Historical Groundwater Data Analysis Of The Wilcox Aquifers In Lafayette County, Mississippi, Adam Schildhammer Jan 2019

Historical Groundwater Data Analysis Of The Wilcox Aquifers In Lafayette County, Mississippi, Adam Schildhammer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lafayette County, Mississippi, is located in the northern central part of the state and relies on groundwater resources for all of the municipal water needs in the county. The population is increasing in the county; therefore, groundwater withdrawals are as well. With such a high demand on groundwater, it is important to have an understanding of the historical trends of the groundwater levels to determine is the population is over pumping the available supply. The Meridian-upper Wilcox aquifer and the lower Wilcox aquifer are the two groundwater sources for the county. In order to fully understand the behaviors of these …


Design And Analysis Of Efficient Parallel Bayesian Model Comparison Algorithms, Robert Wesley Henderson Jan 2019

Design And Analysis Of Efficient Parallel Bayesian Model Comparison Algorithms, Robert Wesley Henderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bayesian model comparison provides a rational and consistent method for applying logic and probability to the problem of evaluating models. Model comparison requires numerical techniques that are usually very time consuming to run. This dissertation proposes extensions to several existing numerical model comparison techniques, including nested sampling and thermodynamic integration, that incorporate parallel algorithm design to achieve significant speed-ups. Serial computer performance gains have sloin recent years, and most processing speed improvements are seen in the area of parallel architectures. This work discusses the design, theoretical analysis, and empirical analysis of these algorithms, focusing on the performance of these algorithms …


Investigative Study Of Poly(Ionic) Liquid Incorporation In Resin Wafer Electrodeionization For Improved Specific Energy Consumption, Angela Fasuyi Jan 2019

Investigative Study Of Poly(Ionic) Liquid Incorporation In Resin Wafer Electrodeionization For Improved Specific Energy Consumption, Angela Fasuyi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An electrokinetic separation method known as Resin Wafer Electrodeionization (RW-EDI) is recognized as a promising technology for energy efficient desalination of brackish water. However RW-EDI is limited by an inherent drawback of its ion exchange media that prevents the largescale deployment of this technology. This research was undertaken to optimize the conventional resin wafer used in RW-EDI through the incorporation of high conducting polyionic liquids (PILs). It was hypothesized that by the changing non-conducting polyethylene binder with a PIL binder in conventional resin wafer configurations ion conductivity within the resin bed would be enhanced and could lead to an improvement …


Automation Of Data Collection From An Anechoic Chamber, Thomas S. Garner Jan 2019

Automation Of Data Collection From An Anechoic Chamber, Thomas S. Garner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper describes the calibration methods and the process that is used on the Ole Miss electrical engineering anechoic chamber. Furthermore the MATLAB code that operates the anechoic chamber has been updated to collect sweep data. The GUI also now includes a tab for calibration giving the user the ability to calibrate for their desired frequency range for when there is not sufficient calibration data already available.


A Study Of Cooperative Spectrum Sharing Schemes For Internet Of Things Systems, Adham Hagag Jan 2019

A Study Of Cooperative Spectrum Sharing Schemes For Internet Of Things Systems, Adham Hagag

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Internet of Things (IoT) has gained much attention in recent years with the massive increase in the number of connected devices. Cognitive Machine-to-Machine (CM2M) communications is a hot research topic in which a cognitive dimension allows M2M networks to overcome the challenges of spectrum scarcity, interference, and green requirements. In this paper, we propose a Generalized Cooperative Spectrum Sharing (GCSS) scheme for M2M communication. Cooperation extends the coverage of wireless networks as well as increasing their throughput while reducing the energy consumption of the connected low power devices. We study the outage performance of the proposed GCSS scheme for …


Computational Modeling And Simulations Of Condition Deterioration To Enhance Asphalt Highway Pavement Design And Asset Management, Zul Fahmi Bin Mohamed Jaafar Jan 2019

Computational Modeling And Simulations Of Condition Deterioration To Enhance Asphalt Highway Pavement Design And Asset Management, Zul Fahmi Bin Mohamed Jaafar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A nation’s economy and prosperity depend on an efficient and safe transportation network for public mobility and freight transportation. A country’s road network is recognized as one of the largest public infrastructure assets. About 93 percent of 2.6 million miles of paved roads and highways in the United States (U.S.) are surfaced with asphalt. Longitudinal roughness, pavement cracking, potholes, and rutting are the major reasons for rehabilitation of asphalt roads. Billions of dollars are required annually for the maintenance and rehabilitation of road networks. If timely maintenance and rehabilitation are not performed, the pavement damages inflicted by heavy traffic repetitions …


Evaluating The Effects Of Water Influx On The Mississippi Sound: Current Vs. Historical Relationships, Jarett Lee Bell Jan 2019

Evaluating The Effects Of Water Influx On The Mississippi Sound: Current Vs. Historical Relationships, Jarett Lee Bell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research investigated the influence of the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway and other fresh water inputs on the Mississippi Sound. The Bonnet Carre Spillway was completed in 1931 and was constructed to protect New Orleans whenever the Mississippi River is at flood stage. The spillway drains into Lake Pontchartrain a brackish-water lagoon north of New Orleans which then drains into Lake Borgne and subsequently into the Mississippi Sound. The inflow of water from the spillway changes the water chemistry of all receiving water bodies and impacts the waters of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. We collected in-situ temperature specific …


Use Of Seismic Refraction In Determining Rock Mass Anisotropy, Mohammad Najmush Sakib Oyan Jan 2019

Use Of Seismic Refraction In Determining Rock Mass Anisotropy, Mohammad Najmush Sakib Oyan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Seismic refraction is a popular method used by geological/geotechnical engineers to understand subsurface conditions. This method along with information collected from borings produce a realistic image of the ground beneath us. The goal of this study is to define and test a set of procedures to use seismic refraction alone to create high quality images of subsurface conditions. The focus is on areas with several meters of soil overlain by bedrock. The application of these procedures will minimize construction costs by eliminating the need for multiple boreholes. The results show that two important criteria must be met for successful application …


Analytical Modeling And Life Cycle Assessment Of A Solar Powered Vapor Absorption Cooling System, Harold A. Walters Jan 2019

Analytical Modeling And Life Cycle Assessment Of A Solar Powered Vapor Absorption Cooling System, Harold A. Walters

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vapor absorption cooling systems (VACS) offer an environmentally friendly alternative to the standard vapor compression cooling systems (VCCS) for cooling homes, businesses, factories, and other buildings. VACS use low-grade thermal energy to achieve a cooling effect and require minimal electrical input for the liquid solution pump used for circulation within the system. The thermal energy which powers these systems can be provided through several means; one popular form is through the use of solar thermal collectors. This paper provides a process for determining the overall size and configuration of the VACS depending upon the operating conditions of selected components. A …


Decentralized Detection With Correlated Gaussian Observations: Parallel And Tandem Networks With Two Sensors, Shailee Yagnik Jan 2019

Decentralized Detection With Correlated Gaussian Observations: Parallel And Tandem Networks With Two Sensors, Shailee Yagnik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Signal detection in cognitive radio involves the determination of presence or absence of a primary user signal so that the secondary user may opportunistically gain access when the spectrum is unoccupied. In decentralized sensing scheme, two or more secondary users sense the spectrum, process individual observation and then pass the quantized data to a fusion center where a decision with regard to which hypothesis being true, that is, a signal being present or absent, is made. In the second part of the thesis, we study Bayes error performance of two-sensor tandem network designed to detect the presence or absence of …


Cellulose Nanocrystals As 'Green' Emulsifiers Stabilized Crude Oil In Water Emulsions, Omayma Alazzam Jan 2019

Cellulose Nanocrystals As 'Green' Emulsifiers Stabilized Crude Oil In Water Emulsions, Omayma Alazzam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the ability of CNC to stabilize crude o/w Pickering emulsions. The effects of concentration of CNC, ionic strength of the aqueous phase, volume fraction of crude oil to water, and the presence of divalent ions on the stability of crude o/w emulsions were examined. Emulsions stabilized with different concentrations of CNC vary from 0.1 to 1.0wt% were prepared and examined by visual assessment for creaming analysis and microscopic pictures to analyze droplet size and size distribution. Low concentration of CNC as 0.1wt% didn’t help with forming stable emulsions. As the concentration of CNC stabilized the emulsions increased, …


Utilizing Of Magnesium Oxysulfate Binders For Additive Construction Applications, Hatem Hashem Al-Masaeid Jan 2019

Utilizing Of Magnesium Oxysulfate Binders For Additive Construction Applications, Hatem Hashem Al-Masaeid

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is serving multiple transdisciplinary top-notch material design and technological topics. It is a proof of concept of the feasibility of 3D printing using Magnesium Oxysulfate (MOS) binder as an alternative to the ordinary Portland cement (OPC) to be utilized in terrestrial and extraterrestrial additive construction (AC) fields. MOS paste and mortar are characterized physically, chemically, and mechanically. The characterization results conducted in this research show how MOS’s properties can be controlled to match the 3D printing requirements by manipulating the MOS’s ingredients proportions.


Field Testing And Simulation Of Vadose-Zone Recharge Wells In The Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer As An Artificial Recharge Method, Kyungwon Kwak Jan 2019

Field Testing And Simulation Of Vadose-Zone Recharge Wells In The Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer As An Artificial Recharge Method, Kyungwon Kwak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increasing concerns regarding depletion of groundwater in the Delta region of Mississippi have led to a need to augment natural recharge. Infiltration basins are often one of the simplest means of artificially recharging aquifers. However the Delta has a layer of clay and silt at the surface so it is a better idea to use vadose-zone recharge wells that are not limited by the surficial layer of fine soils. The purpose of this study is to use full-scale field testing to assess the feasibility of using vadose-zone wells for artificial recharge of the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer by using …


Optimizing The Performance Of Complex Engineering Systems Aided By Artificial Neural Networks, Khalil Qatu Jan 2019

Optimizing The Performance Of Complex Engineering Systems Aided By Artificial Neural Networks, Khalil Qatu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the first problem Polyetherimide graphene nanoplatelets papers (PEIGNP) were tested with different graphene loadings varying from 0-97 weight percent (WT%). The resulting stress-strain curves were utilized to develop two ANN models. Stress-controlled and strain-controlled models. Both models shoan excellent correlation to the experimental. Several Mechanical properties were calculated from the predicted stress-strain curves namely; toughness maximum strength maximum strain and maximum tangent modulus. Both models captured the same overall behavior of the PEIGNP composite. However the strain-controlled model was found to predict lower stress than the stress-controlled model. Finally a Graphical User Interface (GUI) was developed to aid in …