Engineering Commons^™

Qualitative And Quantitative Flow Visualization Studies On A Distorted Hydraulic Physical Model, Patrick Scott

LSU Master's Theses

The submergence of coastal wetlands in south Louisiana leaves communities, commerce, industry, and ecosystems vulnerable to extreme weather events and human and natural disasters. The state of Louisiana has developed a plan to mitigate coastal land loss and with the help of Louisiana State University and the Lower Mississippi River Physical Model, projects like large scale sediment diversions will be extensively tested and researched to ensure proper implementation and operation. Due to scaling and distortion of the physical model, complete similitude with its prototype is not expected and scale effects are anticipated to affect the hydrodynamics and, as a result, …

Atmospheric Deposition Of Nitrogen And Sulfur In China: Current Status And Future Changes, Cheng Shi

LSU Master's Theses

Dry and wet deposition of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) has detrimental impacts on the health of both human and ecosystems. Intensive human activities are responsible for elevating emissions and deposition of N and S species. Large population and fast industrial development led China to one of the countries with highest acid deposition. The large fluxes of N and S deposition have caused acidification of surface water and soil, which damages plant growth and biodiversity in China. N and S deposition has been investigated using ground-based monitoring networks and satellite-based sensors. The limitation of location of monitoring sites and performance …

Performance Based Design For Bridge Piers Impacted By Heavy Trucks, Anil K. Agrawal

INSPIRE Archived Webinars

Based on bridge failure data compiled by New York State Department of Transportation, collision, both caused by vessel and vehicles, is the second leading cause of bridge failures after hydraulic. Current AASHTO-LRFD (2012) recommends designing a bridge pier vulnerable to vehicular impacts for an equivalent static force of 600 kips (2,670 kN) applied in a horizontal plane at a distance of 5.0 feet above the ground level. This research presents a performance-based approach for designing a bridge pier subject to impacts by tractor-semi-trailer weighing up to 80,000 lb based on an extensive investigation using finite element model of a tractor-semitrailer …

Material Parameter Estimation Of Thin Wafers With Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy, Kirk R. Jungles

Undergraduate Research & Mentoring Program

Terahertz Time Domain Spectroscopy(THz TDS) is a spectroscopic technique that can be implemented to perform non destructive material parameter extraction on a variety of materials. Accuracy of these material parameters is often limited by statistical variation between measurements and insufficient knowledge of the thickness of the slabs being measured.

The goal of this project was to develop an in house procedure that would allow us to perform THz TDS on thin wafers using an up to date signal processing algorithm that would provide accurate predictions for the thickness of the wafers, reliable estimations of the wafer’s material parameters, and demonstration …

Agora Teaching App, Sam Burns, Daisuke Kurita, Casey Xuereb

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

Professional development of teachers normally ends after formal collegiate education. Agora desires to help educators continually train, to learn the skills of good teaching in classrooms by using various, non-traditional methodologies. By translating Agoras current platform to an app, Agora can widen their scope and serve Latin American countries outside of Peru, where they are currently based. We will simply take their current business and course platform and provide a mobile user interface for it. By expanding the reach of Agora, Latin American teachers will be well equipped to teach their classes with innovation and effectiveness.

Omni-Gravity Hydroponics System For Spacecraft, Tara M. Prevo

Undergraduate Research & Mentoring Program

Effective omni-gravity hydroponics will allow astronauts to supplement nutrition and further close the life cycle of water in orbit, lunar, and Martian conditions. This project determines the operational limits of the test cells for the Plant Water Management Hydroponics mission. A scaled 1-g channel was designed by Rihana Mungin to mimic full-scale performance in microgravity that could be tested terrestrially. This project sought to find the limits of operation of the 1-g test cells and identify failure modes that could pose a safety risk in space. The cells were filled at increments of 20% and cycled from 0.184 to 8.33 …

Road Scholar Core Course #1 - Asset Management, Pat Conner P.E.

Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Conference Proceedings

This course provides a detailed overview of the concepts of asset management and how to apply these concepts to the planning and operations of a local public agency. This course will also provide detailed information on the LTAP Data Management System (DMS) and the tools and resources available to assist in your Pavement Asset Management Plan (PAMP) preparation.

While several components can make up a transportation asset management plan, this course will focus on pavement management and how to identify the condition of existing road networks. Attendees will also be presented effective methods for establishing priorities and developing policies and …

Exploration Vs. Data Refinement Via Multiple Mobile Sensors, Mohammad Shekaramiz, Todd K. Moon, Jacob H. Gunther

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We examine the deployment of multiple mobile sensors to explore an unknown region to map regions containing concentration of a physical quantity such as heat, electron density, and so on. The exploration trades off between two desiderata: to continue taking data in a region known to contain the quantity of interest with the intent of refining the measurements vs. taking data in unobserved areas to attempt to discover new regions where the quantity may exist. Making reasonable and practical decisions to simultaneously fulfill both goals of exploration and data refinement seem to be hard and contradictory. For this purpose, we …

Strength Tuned Steel Eccentric Braced Frames, Hosam Abdullah Al-Azzawi

Dissertations and Theses

The primary component in eccentrically braced frames (EBF) is the link as its plastic strength controls the design of the frame as well as the entire building within which it is installed. EBFs are the first part of building design and every other component is sized based on the forces developed in the link. Oversized link elements lead to the use of unnecessary materials and can increase construction costs. Additionally, the advantages of using a continuous member of the same depth for both the link and the controller beam (in terms of the cost and the time) motivates researchers to …

Uhf And Microwave Phase-Modulated Scattering Array, Nasr Nomas Hussein Alkhafaji

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation investigates the use an array of active nonlinear elements, with particular emphasis on controlling distortion products generated by nonlinear elements in space rather than using conventional ways such as transmission lines, waveguides, and power dividers and combiners. The nonlinear elements are made of assemblies of antennas and electronic switches, called modulated scatterers (MSs). These so-called MSs elements are utilized in a wide variety of applications such as radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, microwave imaging, Internet-of-Things sensors, etc. However, no research work has been reported in the literature regarding exploiting and controlling several distortion products generated by MSs at …

A Physical And Computational Reverse-Engineering Approach To Determine Dimensional Change And Its Relationship To Oxidation In Retrieved Orthopedic Implants, Josephine Kalshoven

ENGS 88 Honors Thesis (AB Students)

Oxidation of the Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) tibial inserts of total knee arthroplasty devices is a major factor underlying multiple modes of failure for these devices, including delamination, wear, and fracture. Previous research has demonstrated that oxidation of UHMWPE is driven by a high concentration of free radicals in the polyethylene. However, even new devices created with undetectable amounts of free radicals are oxidizing in vivo. One theory is that, in the absence of residual free radicals, oxidation is facilitated by absorbed species (e.g. lipids, ROS) delivered or exacerbated by contact stress. However, no method exists to comprehensively …

Analytical And Numerical Modeling Of Long Term Changes To Tides, Storm Surge, And Total Water Level Due To Bathymetric Changes And Surge Characteristics, Ramin Familkhalili

Dissertations and Theses

Natural and local anthropogenic changes in estuaries (e.g., sea-level rise, navigation channel construction and loss of wetlands) interact with each other and produce non-linear effects. There is also a growing recognition that tides in estuaries are not stationary. These factors together are changing the estuarine water level regime, however the implications for extreme water levels remain largely unknown. Changes over the past century in many estuaries, such as channel deepening and streamlining for navigation have significantly altered the hydrodynamics of long waves, often resulting in amplified tides (a ~85% increase in Wilmington, NC since 1900) and storm surge in estuaries. …

System Identification Based On Errors-In-Variables System Models, Hyundeok Kang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We study the identification problem for errors-in-variables (EIV) systems. Such an EIV model assumes that the measurement data at both input and output of the system involve corrupting noises. The least square (LS) algorithm has been widely used in this area. However, it results in biased estimates for the EIV-based system identification. In contrast, the total least squares (TLS) algorithm is unbiased, which is now well-known, and has been effective for estimating the system parameters in the EIV system identification.

In this dissertation, we first show that the TLS algorithm computes the approximate maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) of the system …

Application Of Pressure And Rate Transient Analyses To Stress-Sensitive Multi-Fractured Composite Systems And Compartmentalized Reservoirs, Oscar Mauricio Molina

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Pressure transient analysis (PTA) is one of the most robust and commonly interpretation tools available for reservoir characterization. Common applications of PTA include estimation of near-wellbore and reservoir properties, detection of reservoir limits and identification of depletion mechanisms. In addition, PTA allows the identification of sealing and leaky faults and the characterization of its properties, such as permeability and transmissibility hence direction of leakage within the fault.

The purpose of this dissertation is to introduce the analytical solution for pressure-transient behavior for three novel reservoir models. First, we develop the analytical model of a multi-fracture horizontal well (MFHW) with pressure-dependent …

Promarc: An Online Skills And Projects Marketplace, Connor Carraher, Victor Yu

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

Technical projects can vary greatly in terms of cost, complexity, and time. Project leads spend a lot of valuable time and energy making sure that their teams are organized and on-task. A major part of their responsibilities includes putting together a team with the right skills in order to maximize efficiency. Having a platform where project leads can quickly find team members with the right skills would save them a lot of stress and trouble. The goal of this project is to deliver such a platform, where users can make posts about their projects and the technical skills that they …

Synthesis Of Metal Oxide Surfaces And Interfaces With Crystallographic Control Using Solid-Liquid-Vapor Etching And Vapor-Liquid-Solid Growth, Beth S. Guiton, Lei Yu

Chemistry Faculty Patents

The present invention provides integrated nanostructures comprising a single-crystalline matrix of a material A containing aligned, single-crystalline nanowires of a material B, with well-defined crystallographic interfaces are disclosed. The nanocomposite is fabricated by utilizing metal nanodroplets in two subsequent catalytic steps: solid-liquid-vapor etching, followed by vapor-liquid-solid growth. The first etching step produces pores, or “negative nanowires” within a single-crystalline matrix, which share a unique crystallographic direction, and are therefore aligned with respect to one another. Further, since they are contained within a single, crystalline, matrix, their size and spacing can be controlled by their interacting strain fields, and the array …

Evaluating The Potential For Renewable Energy Technology At Us Ski Resorts, Tyler Farrell

ENGS 86 Independent Projects (AB Students)

The ski industry is one of the most at-risk industries as a result of climate change. Warming temperatures and decreasing snowfall are contributing to a decline in skier visitations, shorter seasons, and higher energy costs. Currently, only 3 of 478 ski resorts in the United States rely on 100% renewable energy sources. The intent of this paper is to understand what the issues and barriers are to renewable energy development at ski resorts, and what technologies are feasible and appropriate for this industry to develop. While the renewable energy industry faces many issues and barriers, the ski industry faces its …

A Flexible Bch Decoder For Flash Memory Systems Using Cascaded Bch Codes, Arul K. Subbiah

Engineering Ph.D. Theses

NAND ash memories are widely used in consumer electronics, such as tablets, personal computers, smartphones, and gaming systems. However, unlike other standard storage devices, these ash memories suffer from various random errors. In order to address these reliability issues, various error correction codes (ECC) are employed. Bose-Chaudhuri Hocquenghem (BCH) code is the most common ECC used to address the errors in modern ash memories. Because of the limitation of the realization of the BCH codes for more extensive error correction, the modern ash memory devices use Low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes for error correction scheme. The realization of the LDPC decoders …

Equivalent Standard Fire Duration To Evaluate Internal Temperatures In Natural Fire Exposed Rc Beams, Robert T. Kuehnen, Maged A. Youssef

Civil and Environmental Engineering Publications

With the recent shift towards performance-based fire design, practical methods to account for natural fire loading when designing concrete structures are needed. Available design methods and analysis approaches are based on standard fire curves. To apply these methods, a natural fire event can be converted to a standard fire with a specific duration (time equivalent). However, existing time equivalents often ignore the influence of internal temperature gradients on the section behaviour, which is unacceptable for concrete structures.

This paper introduces a time equivalent method suitable for reinforced concrete (RC) beams exposed to natural fire. The method is based on the …

Methods For Using Manpower To Assess Usaf Strategic Risk, Calvin J. Bradshaw Iii

Theses and Dissertations

With limited personnel resource funding availability, senior US Air Force (USAF) decision makers struggle to base enterprise resource allocation from rigorous analytical traceability. There are over 240 career fields in the USAF spanning 12 enterprises. Each enterprise develops annual risk assessments by distinctive core capabilities. A core capability (e.g. Research and Development) is an enabling function necessary for the USAF to perform its mission as part of the Department of Defense (DOD). Assessing risk at the core capability is a good start to assessing risk, but is still not comprehensiveness enough. One of the twelve enterprises has linked its task …

Using Big Data Analytics To Improve Hiv Medical Care Utilisation In South Carolina: A Study Protocol, Bankole Olatosi, Jiajia Zhang, Sharon Weissman, Jianjun Hu, Mohammad Rifat Haider, Xiaoming Li

Faculty Publications

Introduction Linkage and retention in HIV medical care remains problematic in the USA. Extensive health utilisation data collection through electronic health records (EHR) and claims data represent new opportunities for scientific discovery. Big data science (BDS) is a powerful tool for investigating HIV care utilisation patterns. The South Carolina (SC) office of Revenue and Fiscal Affairs (RFA) data warehouse captures individual-level longitudinal health utilisation data for persons living with HIV (PLWH). The data warehouse includes EHR, claims and data from private institutions, housing, prisons, mental health, Medicare, Medicaid, State Health Plan and the department of health and human services. The …

Mapping Modeled Exposure Of Wildland Fire Smoke For Human Health Studies In California, Patricia Koman, Michael Billmire, Kirk Baker, Ricardo De Majo, Frank Anderson, Sumi Hoshiko, Brian Thelen, Nancy H. F. French

Michigan Tech Publications

Wildland fire smoke exposure affects a broad proportion of the U.S. population and is increasing due to climate change, settlement patterns and fire seclusion. Significant public health questions surrounding its effects remain, including the impact on cardiovascular disease and maternal health. Using atmospheric chemical transport modeling, we examined general air quality with and without wildland fire smoke PM_2.5. The 24-h average concentration of PM_2.5 from all sources in 12-km gridded output from all sources in California (2007–2013) was 4.91 μg/m³. The average concentration of fire-PM_2.5 in California by year was 1.22 μg/m³ (~25% …

Seismic Performance Of Substandard Reinforced Concrete Bridge Columns Under Subduction-Zone Ground Motions, Alvaro Francisco Lopez Ibaceta

Dissertations and Theses

A large magnitude, long duration subduction earthquake is impending in the Pacific Northwest, which lies near the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ). Great subduction zone earthquakes are the largest earthquakes in the world and are the sole source zones that can produce earthquakes greater than M8.5. Additionally, the increased duration of a CSZ earthquake may result in more structural damage than expected. Given such seismic hazard, the assessment of reinforced concrete substructures has become crucial in order to prioritize the bridges that may need to be retrofitted and to maintain the highway network operable after a major seismic event. Recent long …

Living Shorelines As Alternative Methods Of Shoreline Protection, Hunter Shows

LSU Master's Theses

Louisiana’s marshes and coastal estuaries are losing habitat at an alarming rate. High rates of sea level rise coupled with coastal subsidence are turning once thriving marsh land into open water. The sediment starved Mississippi River Delta is drowning, making families homes, property, and livelihoods increasingly vulnerable every year. Significant funding is being allocated for projects to offset the increasing erosion including but not limited to diversions, marsh creation, ridge restoration, and shoreline protection projects.

Living shorelines, for the sake of this study, can be defined as a form of shoreline protection which helps shoreline stabilization and erosion reduction while …

A Decision-Making Tool For Incorporating Cradle-To-Gate Sustainability Into Pavement Design, Sujata Subedi

LSU Master's Theses

The need to continually maintain an aged and crumbling national roadway network, together with a growing demand for upgrading has resulted in major environmental and economic impacts around the nation. This has led to an interest in developing a structured framework to quantify the sustainability performance of pavements by balancing economic and environmental performance against engineering criteria. This study developed an Environment Product Declaration (EPD) based, decision-making framework to quantify the sustainability of pavement design alternatives. In this study, the sustainability of pavement is described in tandem with Environmental and Economic performance criteria. First, the Environmental analysis was inclusive of …

Field Drilling Data Cleaning And Preparation For Data Analytics Applications, Daniel Cardoso Braga

LSU Master's Theses

Throughout the history of oil well drilling, service providers have been continuously striving to improve performance and reduce total drilling costs to operating companies. Despite constant improvement in tools, products, and processes, data science has not played a large part in oil well drilling. With the implementation of data science in the energy sector, companies have come to see significant value in efficiently processing the massive amounts of data produced by the multitude of internet of thing (IOT) sensors at the rig. The scope of this project is to combine academia and industry experience to analyze data from 13 different …

Transient Flow Analysis Of A Closing Blowout Preventer Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (Cfd), Daniel Barreca

LSU Master's Theses

Reliability of blowout preventers (BOPs) is crucial for drilling and production operations. Erosion of BOP components and hydrodynamic forces on rams may cause failure of BOP elements to seal the well. Transient computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of fluids within the wellbore and BOP offer quantitative and qualitative data related to this reliability during the closure of various BOP components. Since limited research has been published in transient CFD simulations of closing BOPs, this thesis discusses challenges and solutions to simulating closing blowout preventers. Single component fluids are simulated through several BOP geometries such as annular preventers, pipe rams, and …

A Low-Cost Experimental Testbed For Multi-Agent System Coordination Control, Victor Fernandez-Kim

LSU Master's Theses

A multi-agent system can be defined as a coordinated network of mobile, physical agents that execute complex tasks beyond their individual capabilities. Observations of biological multi-agent systems in nature reveal that these ``super-organisms” accomplish large scale tasks by leveraging the inherent advantages of a coordinated group. With this in mind, such systems have the potential to positively impact a wide variety of engineering applications (e.g. surveillance, self-driving cars, and mobile sensor networks). The current state of research in the area of multi-agent systems is quickly evolving from the theoretical development of coordination control algorithms and their computer simulations to experimental …

Maximizing And Modeling Malonyl-Coa Production In Escherichia Coli, Tatiana Thompson Silveira Mello

LSU Master's Theses

In E. coli, fatty acid synthesis is catalyzed by the enzyme acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), which converts acetyl-CoA into malonyl-CoA. Malonyl-CoA is a major building block for numerous of bioproducts. Multiple parameters regulate the homeostatic cellular concentration of malonyl-CoA, keeping it at a very low level. Understanding how these parameters affect the bacterial production of malonyl-CoA is fundamental to maximizing it and its bioproducts. To this end, competing pathways consuming malonyl-CoA can be eliminated, and optimal nutritional and environmental conditions can be provided to the fermentation broth. Most previous studies utilized genetic modifications, expensive consumables, and high-cost quantification methods, making …

Investigation Of Tactile Sensory System Configuration For Construction Hazard Perception, Sayan Sakhakarmi, Jeewoong Park

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

The application of tactile-based wearable devices to assist in navigation for people with low sight/low memory has demonstrated the feasibility of using such devices as a means of communication. Accordingly, a previous study in construction research investigated various parameters of tactile signals to develop a communicable system for potential application in construction hazard communication. However, the nature of construction limits the application of such devices to the body of construction workers, and it is important to understand sensor design parameters for improved communication, which has not been given significant attention yet. Therefore, this study aims to determine key design factors …