Engineering Commons^™

Monitoring And Modeling Of The Hydraulic And Sediment Processes At In-Stream Restoration Structures In The Vicinity Of A Bridge Crossing, Brian P. Schultz

Master’s Theses

The long-term performance of infrastructure depends on reliable and sustainable designs. Many of Pennsylvania’s streams experience sediment transport problems that increase maintenance costs and lower structural integrity of bridge crossings. A stream restoration project is one common mitigation measure used to correct such problems at bridge crossings. Specifically, in an attempt to alleviate aggradation problems with the Old Route 15 Bridge crossing on White Deer Creek, in White Deer, PA, two in-stream structures (rock cross vanes) and several bank stabilization features were installed along with a complete channel redevelopment. The objectives of this research were to characterize the hydraulic and …

Development Of Reliability-Based Design For Railway Prestressed Concrete Sleepers, Sakdirat Kaewunruen, Alexander Remennikov, Martin H. Murray

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

Faster and heavier train services are a driven improvement aspect for leaner and more profitable transport logistics of either passengers or freights. Ballasted rail track has been adopted for modern railways because of its many superior advantages in design, construction, short- and long-term maintenance, sustainability, financial capital and life cycle cost. An important element of the railway track system, which distributes the wheel load to the formation and holds the rail gauge, is the railway sleeper. Field data has raised concerns about design techniques for prestressed concrete (PC) sleepers. Most current design codes for these rely on allowable stresses and …

Spectroscopy Of A Deterministic Single-Donor Device In Silicon, M. Fuechsle, J. A. Miwa, S. Mahapatra, H. Ryu, S. Lee, O. Warschkow, L. C. L. Hollenberg, G. Klimeck, M. Y. Simmons

Birck and NCN Publications

We present a single electron transistor (SET) based on an individual phosphorus dopant atom in an epitaxial silicon environment. Using scanning tunneling microscope (STM) hydrogen lithography, the single impurity is deterministically placed with a spatial accuracy of ±1 lattice site within a donor-based transport device. Low temperature transport measurements confirm the presence of the single donor and show that the donor charge state can be precisely controlled via gate voltages. We observe a charging energy that is remarkably similar to the value expected for isolated P donors in bulk silicon, which is in sharp contrast to previous experiments on single-dopant …

Nanopillar Based Electrochemical Biosensor For Monitoring Microfluidic Based Cell Culture, Rajan Gangadharan

All Dissertations

In-vitro assays using cultured cells have been widely performed for studying many aspects of cell biology and cell physiology. These assays also form the basis of cell based sensing. Presently, analysis procedures on cell cultures are done using techniques that are not integrated with the cell culture system. This approach makes continuous and real-time in-vitro measurements difficult. It is well known that the availability of continuous online measurements for extended periods of time will help provide a better understanding and will give better insight into cell physiological events.
With this motivation we developed a highly sensitive, selective and stable microfluidic …

Evaluation Of A Bisphosphonate Enriched Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene For Enhanced Total Joint Replacement Bearing Surface Functionality, Cassandra Wright-Walker

All Dissertations

Each year in the United States there is an increasing trend of patients receiving total joint replacement (TJR) procedures. Approximately a half million total knee replacements (TKRs) are performed annually in the United States with increasing prevalence attributed to baby-boomers, obesity, older, and younger patients. This trend is also seen for total hip replacements (THRs) as well. The use of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) inserts in TJRs results in wear particle-induced osteolysis, which is the predominant cause for prosthesis failure and revision surgery. Sub-micron size particle generation is inevitable despite the numerous efforts in improving this bearing material. …

Applying Chaotic Advection To Rheology: An In Situ Structuring Rheometer, Ramaswami Subrahmanian

All Dissertations

A prototype In Situ Structuring Rheometer (ISSR) was designed and implemented to study changes in shear viscosity of polymer blends and composites while processing them in such a way as to control the evolution of microstructure. The ISSR is based on a regime of fluid mechanics known as chaotic advection, in which simple time-periodic flow fields can cause fluid particles to move chaotically. Chaotic advection is also the basis of Smart Blending, a technology employed to process polymer blends having a variety of morphologies at a fixed composition, and polymer composites in which the additives have been arranged into layered …

Assessing The Engineering Performance Of Affordable Net-Zero Energy Housing, Jordan P. Wallpe

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

The purpose of this research was to evaluate affordable technologies that are capable of providing attractive, cost-effective energy savings to the housing industry. The research did so by investigating the 2011 Solar Decathlon competition, with additional insight from the Purdue INhome. Insight from the Purdue INhome verified the importance of using a three step design process to design a net-zero energy building. In addition, energy consumption values of the INhome were used to compare and contrast different systems used in other houses.

Evaluation of unbiased competition contests gave a better understanding of how a house can realistically reach net-zero. Upon …

Scaling Relations And The Role Of Bond-Charge To The Electron Transmission Through Two Coupled Aharonov-Bohm Rings, Cheng-Hsiao Wu, Lam C. Tran, C. A. Cain

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Electron transport and the exact scaling relations for two irreducibly coupled Aharonov-Bohm (AB) rings with two external terminals attached are investigated. In coupled AB rings, a center common path exists where the phase of the electron wave function can be modulated by two applied fluxes simultaneously. The two coupled rings can be considered as two coupled atoms where Fermi level crossings exist not only between bonding states but also between bonding and anti-bonding states when the applied flux is varied in one of the two cases studied. We show that when the smallest atomic-sized coupled rings are scaled up any …

Reduction Of Solid-Solid Thermal Boundary Resistance By Inserting An Interlayer, Zhi Liang, Hai-Lung Tsai

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An Effective Method is Proposed to Greatly Improve the Thermal Transport Across the Interface between Two Solids with Dissimilar Phonon Spectra. If the Two Solids Have Similar Crystal Structure and Lattice Constant, It is Predicted from the Molecular Dynamics Modeling that an over 50% Reduction of the Thermal Boundary Resistance Can Be Achieved by Inserting a 3-Unit-Cell-Thick Interlayer Whose Debye Temperature is Approximately the Square Root of the Product of the Debye Temperatures of the Two Solids. on the Other Hand, If the Two Solids Have a Large Difference in Lattice Constant, It is Found the Interfacial Atomic Restructuring Plays …

Character-Based Automated Human Perception Quality Assessment In Document Images, Tayo Obafemi-Ajayi, Gady Agam

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Large degradations in document images impede their readability and deteriorate the performance of automated document processing systems. Document image quality (IQ) metrics have been defined through optical character recognition (OCR) accuracy. Such metrics, however, do not always correlate with human perception of IQ. When enhancing document images with the goal of improving readability, e.g., in historical documents where OCR performance is low and/or where it is necessary to preserve the original context, it is important to understand human perception of quality. The goal of this paper is to design a system that enables the learning and estimation of human perception …

A Study On The Effects Of Solar Power, Jonathan Hayes

Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The utilization of new and alternative energy sources, specifically solar energy, has been on the rise and will continue to grow as we attempt to diminish our use and dependency on older, nonrenewable energy sources. One of the biggest challenges involved with the use of solar energy, or renewable energy in general, is how to provide this energy for general public use. Some of the limiting factors to this are the efficiency in which solar power can be harvested and converted into usable energy, and the cost of the technology to do this. Recent technological developments have included the microinverter, …

Development Of Micro-Hall Sensors For High Power Electronics Applications, Thomas Rembert

Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this project, we are looking to explore the characteristics of GaAs/InGaAs/AlGaAs and GaAs/AlGaAs Hall Effect sensors for use in power electronics monitoring circuitry. Hall sensors have the ability to detect the presence of magnetic fields orthogonal to the sensor surface. In order to fully understand the response of such a sensor, I performed complete micro-Hall sensor fabrication and characterization, which includes (i) fabrication of Greek cross sensors with lateral dimensions of 120 µm (ii) contact optimization (iii) sensitivity measurements (iv) noise spectra measurements. Basic studies of sensor response to high current circuit board traces were also performed on the …

Analysis Modeling And Optimization Of A Smart Sulky, Nicholas C. Noble

Honors College

For several hundred years, the Standardbred harness racing industry has remained relatively unchanged. The sulkies pulled by the horses have seen only minor changes. New construction techniques and lighter materials have allowed sulkies to become lighter and generally faster. However, there is currently no sulky that uses a modern control system to adapt to changing racetracks, horses, and drivers. A Smart Sulky would be able to accomplish these things. The Smart Sulky would be capable of measuring changes in the movements of the horse and compensate for rotational movement and vibration, which the horse transfers to a conventional sulky. The …

Data Logging Radiation Detector, Joseph P. Record

Honors College

This thesis describes significance of radiation detection and describes the design, build, and test of a radiation detection device called the Data Logging Radiation Detector. The device is capable of measuring alpha, beta, and gamma radiation and storing the resulting data to an SD card. The Data Logging Radiation detector consists of four major blocks: a DC-DC boost switched mode power supply, a Geiger-Müller tube, an ATMega328p microcontroller, and a removable SD card. The switched mode power supply generates the necessary high voltage to bias the Geiger tube. Alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays are then able to be …

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Carbon Foams For Repair And Reconstruction Of Bone Defects, Brock Holston Marrs, Rodney Andrews, Larry Cunningham Jr.

Center for Applied Energy Research Faculty Patents

The present invention relates to a tissue scaffold and a method of preparing a tissue scaffold for implantation. The tissue scaffold includes a body having a graphite foam core. At least a first portion of the external surface of that graphite foam core is covered by a composite material to provide additional mechanical strength to the scaffold.

Effective Thermal Conductivity Of Tri-Isotropic (Triso) Fuel Compacts, Charles P. Folsom

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) program objective is to develop a new type of nuclear reactor that produces process heat instead of electricity. The process heat can be used in the production of hydrogen and many other industrial processes. As part of the NGNP program a new type of nuclear fuel is being developed. The fuel is a composite construction of specially coated fuel particles and graphite pressed together in a cylindrical compact.

Thermal conductivity is an important thermophysical property of the fuel that needs to be measured. Knowledge of the thermal conductivity of the fuel will provide accurate …

The Equine Distress Monitor Project, Luke B. Peacock

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Colic is a very common symptom that effects many horses. Sometimes colic is an indicator of some very serous medical conditions that, if left untreated, could result in the death of the horse. A cast horse is a horse trapped in a prone position Cast horses are also at risk of serous injury or even death. The causes of these two conditions are so numerous that a horse's risk of being affected, while preventable, is significant. This illustrates a need for constant monitoring of high-risk, high-sentimnet, or high-cost horses.

The Equine Distress Monitor (EDM) system is non-evasive electronic long-term monitoring …

Mathematical Modeling Of Fluid Spills In Hydraulically Fractured Well Sites, Oluwafemi Michael Taiwo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Improved drilling technology and favorable energy prices have contributed to the rapid pace at which the exploitation of unconventional natural gas is taking place across the United States. As a natural gas well is being drilled, reserve pits are constructed to hold the drilling fluids and other materials returned from the drilling process. These reserve pits can fail, and when they do, plant and animal life of the surrounding area may be adversely affected. This project develops a screening tool for a suitable location for a reserve pit. This work will be a critical piece of the Infrastructure Placement Analysis …

Photocatalytic Reactor Using Tio2 Thin Film On Quartz Tubes, Ram Mahipal Kouda

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Photocatalysis process, as an environmental application is an advanced oxidation process with tremendous potential in the near future. Previously many researchers, have conducted photocatalysis in different reactor configuration using TiO2 slurry and thin film, using a UV light source, the constraints for these reactors are the need for the removal of TiO2 particles at the outlet stream in a slurry reactor and poor environment for the efficient use of TiO2 film using UV light, as the UV light penetration depth in water is about an inch.

Taking all this into consideration, we propose a design for reactor with efficient contact …

Dynamical Model Of Harmonic Generation In Centrosymmetric Semiconductors At Visible And Uv Wavelengths, Michael Scalora, Maria Antonietta Vincenti, Domenico De Ceglia, N. Akozbek, Vito Roppo, M. J. Bloemer, Joseph W. Haus

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We study second and third harmonic generation in centrosymmetric semiconductors at visible and UV wavelengths in bulk and cavity environments. Second harmonic generation is due to a combination of spatial symmetry breaking, the magnetic portion of the Lorentz force, and quadrupolar contributions from inner core electrons. The material is assumed to have a nonzero, third-order nonlinearity that gives rise to most of the third harmonic signal. Using the parameters of bulk silicon we predict that cavity environments modify the dependence of second harmonic generation on incident angle, while improving third harmonic conversion efficiency by several orders of magnitude relative to …

Even Moderate Visual Impairments Degrade Drivers' Ability To See Pedestrians At Night, Joanne M. Wood, Richard A. Tyrell, Alex Chaparro, Ralph P. Marszalek, Trent P. Carberry, Byoung Sun Chu

Publications

PURPOSE. To determine the effect of moderate levels of refractive blur and simulated cataracts on nighttime pedestrian conspicuity in the presence and absence of headlamp glare.

METHODS. The ability to recognize pedestrians at night was measured in 28 young adults (M ¼ 27.6 years) under three visual conditions: normal vision, refractive blur, and simulated cataracts; mean acuity was 20/40 or better in all conditions. Pedestrian recognition distances were recorded while participants drove an instrumented vehicle along a closed road course at night. Pedestrians wore one of three clothing conditions and oncoming headlamps were present for 16 participants and absent for …

Best Management Practices Effectiveness To Reduce Sediment Transport To Morro Bay, Michael J. Randall

Master's Theses

The Morro Bay Watershed, which is located inSan Luis Obispo County,California, covers more than 48,000 acres of land and discharges intoMorroBaythrough the Morro Bay National Estuary (MBNE). The Chorro Creek Subwatershed consists of approximately 30,000 acres of the overall watershed. The MBNE provides an ecosystem that supports a variety of wildlife from the common sea gull to the endangered sea otter. The estuary is also home to over 200 species of birds. The operational waterfront of theMorroBayHarborwas and continues to be a strong supporter to the local economy of the City of Morro Bay. Numerous studies were conducted since the …

In Situ Method Of Measuring Atmosphere Neutral Winds With A Rigid Falling Sphere, Joshua F. Martineau

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The new falling sphere instruments will measure lower E-region winds and density, which are critical for many of the electrodynamics and plasma physics studies that are carried out as part of the NASA suborbital rocket program. The new falling sphere design will take advantage of modern commercially available electronic components and materials. Of primary importance, it is proposed to fly an in-situ instrument that targets the measurement of neutral wind profiles over the altitude range from 80 to 150 km, with accuracy better than that achieved in previous implementations of the falling sphere technique and those typically obtained with the …

A System-Generated Password And Mnemonic Approach To Optimize The Security And Usability Of Text-Based Passwords, Sanjaykumar Ranganayakulu

All Theses

In this study a novel password generation policy called the system-generated password and mnemonic was designed and implemented. The intent of this policy was to optimize both the security and usability of text-based passwords. After implementing the policy we evaluated its usability and compared it with three other existing policies: user-generated password, system-generated password and user-generated mnemonic for a system-generated password. In order to have a fair comparison among the policies we maintained a constant level of security of 30±2 entropy as dictated by NIST level 2 standards.
The study involved 64 participants, equally divided into four groups, 16 in …

The Effect Of Full Body Versus Partial Body Graphic Labeling On Beverage Packaging, Toni Gomes

All Theses

Through the collection of quantitative and qualitative data, the shelf presence of
full body graphic labels versus partial body graphic labels on plastic beverage bottles was
examined and evaluated. Eye tracking was used to collect phenomenological data atop
the stimuli, while a shopping checklist was used to collect purchase preference. A postexperiment
survey was also conducted in order to gather qualitative data regarding
possible purchase influences.
The experiment was a 2 (label size) x 6 (beverage flavor) x 2 (age group) study,
conducted with 28 participants in a consumer retail environment using mobile eye
tracking technology. The goal of this …

Security And Performance Verification Of Distributed Authentication And Authorization Tools, Seok Bae Yun

All Theses

Parallel distributed systems are widely used for dealing with massive data sets and high performance computing. Securing parallel distributed systems is problematic. Centralized security tools are likely to cause bottlenecks and introduce a single point of failure. In this paper, we introduce existing distributed authentication and authorization tools. We evaluate the quality of the security tools by verifying their security and performance.
For security tool verification, we use process calculus and mathematical modeling languages. Casper, Communicating Sequential Process (CSP) and Failure Divergence Refinement (FDR) to test for security vulnerabilities, Petri nets and Karp Miller trees are used to find performance …

A Framework For Federated Two-Factor Authentication Enabling Cost-Effective Secure Access To Distributed Cyberinfrastructure, Matthew Allan Ezell

Masters Theses

As cyber attacks become increasingly sophisticated, the security measures used to mitigate the risks must also increase in sophistication. One time password (OTP) systems provide strong authentication because security credentials are not reusable, thus thwarting credential replay attacks. The credential changes regularly, making brute-force attacks significantly more difficult. In high performance computing, end users may require access to resources housed at several different service provider locations. The ability to share a strong token between multiple computing resources reduces cost and complexity.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) provides access to digital resources, including supercomputers, …

Grain Boundaries Structures And Wetting In Doped Silicon, Nickel And Copper, Kaveh Meshinchi Asl

All Dissertations

This thesis reports a series of fundamental investigations of grain boundary wetting, adsorption and structural (phases) transitions in doped Ni, Cu and Si with technological relevance to liquid metal embrittlement, liquid metal corrosion and device applications. First, intrinsically ductile metals are prone to catastrophic failure when exposed to certain liquid metals, but the atomic level mechanism for this effect is not fully understood. A nickel sample infused with bismuth atoms was characterized and a bilayer interfacial phase that is the underlying cause of embrittlement was observed. In a second related study, we showed that addition of minor impurities can significantly …

Further Investigation On Magnetically Induced Subsequent Fault And Study On Electromagnetic Scattering Of Objects Buried Below A Random Rough Surface, Haiyan Yang

All Dissertations

This dissertation contains two subjects: further development of numerical
technique for the analysis of magnetically induced subsequent fault (MISFault) in overhead power lines and its implementation into a software upgrade; and first-phase of study on the electromagnetic scattering from objects buried below a random rough surface making use of the multidomain pseudospectral time domain (PSTD) method and Monte-Carlo simulation. An initial electric fault can result in strong magnetic torque on the overhead power line conductors, which will make them swing and may bring them to close proximity or in contact with one another, causing a subsequent fault. In Chapter 2, …

Assembly And Disassembly Of Myofibrils In Dissociated Cardiomyocytes, Honghai Liu

All Dissertations

Significance
1) We have developed a hybrid TPEF-SHG imaging system with an onstage incubator for long-term living-cell imaging. Using the imaging system, the assembly of myosin filaments onto the myofibrils can be investigated without fluorescently labeling the specific proteins, which enabled us to study the dynamic process of the assembly and dedifferentiation of myofibrils in living cardiomyocytes without labeling any sarcomeric proteins for long time.
2) We observed the addition of new sarcomeres during myofibrillogenesis while neonatal cardiomyocytes were spreading on the substrate for up to 10 hours under the customized TPEF-SHG imaging system. New-sarcomere addition at both the ends …