Engineering Commons^™

Sensitivity Of Tremor Propagation To Model Parameters, Charles Paul Curtis Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Although Essential Tremor (ET) is the most common type of tremor, many patients are left without satisfactory treatment options. One potential alternative treatment to medication or surgery is a wearable tremor-suppressing device. However, optimizing the effectiveness of such a device requires knowledge of which muscles/joints are most responsible for tremor. To answer this question, current efforts simulate tremor propagation using a model of the neuromusculoskeletal dynamics of the upper limb. To guide efforts to identify realistic model parameters and use the model to determine the mechanical origin of tremor, we performed preliminary parameter estimation work and a thorough sensitivity analysis …

An Integrated Model Of Optofluidic Biosensor Function And Performance, Joel Greig Wright, Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Optofluidic flow-through biosensor devices have been in development for fast bio-target detection. Utilizing the fabrication processes developed by the microelectronics industry, these biosensors can be fabricated into lab-on-a-chip devices with a degree of platform portability. This biosensor technology can be used to detect a variety of targets, and is particularly useful for the detection single molecules and nucleic acid strands. Microfabrication also offers the possibility of production at scale, and this will offer a fast detection method for a range of applications with promising economic viability. The development of this technology has advanced to now warrant a descriptive model that …

Sensitivity Analysis Of Transportation Emissions On Near-Road Air Dispersion Using The Epa-Approved Gaussian Air Dispersion Model Aermod, Ivan Mauricio Ramirez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Departments of transportation across the United States have presented concerns over making the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regulatory Model (AERMOD) the new regulatory air dispersion model for federally funded transportations projects. Concerns arose from the lack of data presented on its use in transportation projects. AERMOD was developed to present a steady-state air dispersion model used on industrial complexes which present static emission sources unlike the dynamic sources presented by transportation projects. We used multiple analytical and statistical methods to further understand the sensitivity of the model results based on different factors and therefore …

Assessing The Feasibility Of A Biofilter In Medium-To-High Scale Industries, Javier A. Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

The removal of volatile organic compounds, VOCs, from contaminated sources of air stream has become a major air pollution risk. Excessive amounts discharged to the atmosphere are highly risky to human health and to the environmental system. Demand for sustainable VOC control technologies has become crucial for the reduction of emissions. Biological treatments of waste gas streams, such as biofiltration, have proven to be cost effective and environmentally friendly compared to conventional pollution control technologies. The goal of this research is to simulate data for a given biofilter model, and to evaluate if it is economically and environmentally feasible to …

Numerical Simulation Of Losses In Four-Way Pipe Junctions, Simon Barth

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

To design pipelines, engineers need to know how much energy the fluid in the pipe has at different locations in the pipe network. The energy the fluid has comes in the form of pressure, velocity, and elevation. As fluid travels through a pipe, it loses energy for many different reasons. Some of those reasons include friction between the fluid and the pipe wall, shear forces within the fluid, changes in flow direction, changes in elevation, or various pipe fittings like elbows, tee’s, valves, reducers, and expanders. Many of the causes of energy loss are well researched. One cause of energy …

Corrosion Rate Prediction In Frp-Concrete Repair, Mohammad A. Khawaja

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research has proven that wrapping structural elements with fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) slows down chloride-induced corrosion rate but does not stop it. Although FRP has been used for corrosion repair for over 40 years, predictive corrosion rate models for FRP-concrete systems are limited in literature. This dissertation presents an oxygen diffusion-based predictive framework to estimate corrosion rate in FRP-concrete systems.

The dissertation has three main components. First, a core framework that is referred to as Khawaja-Sen-Bhethanabotla (KSB) model. In the KSB model, statistical methods were used to extend experimental data on oxygen permeation coefficients. These data were for one and two …