Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Application Of Wavelets And Principal Component Analysis In Image Query And Mammography, Sol Neeman Ph.D.

Engineering Studies Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Breast cancer is currently one of the major causes of death for women in the U.S. Mammography is currently the most effective method for detection of breast cancer and early detection has proven to be an efficient tool to reduce the number of deaths. Mammography is the most demanding of all clinical imaging applications as it requires high contrast, high signal to noise ratio and resolution with minimal x-radiation. According to studies [36], 10% to 30% of women having breast cancer and undergoing mammography, have negative mammograms, i.e. are misdiagnosed. Furthermore, only 20%-40% of the women who undergo biopsy, have …

Modeling The Effect Of Plasticizer On The Viscoelastic Response Of Crosslinked Polymers Using The Tube-Junction Model, P. P. Simon, Harry J. Ploehn

Faculty Publications

Plasticizers modify the mechanical properties of polymericmaterials. The effects of plasticizers on glass transition temperatures can be most clearly observed in isochronal temperature sweep profiles of viscoelastic dynamic moduli. However, no simple mathematical models of plasticization are available to those who wish to design and employ plasticized materials in specific applications. We extend a phenomenological, molecular-level model (known as the tube–junction model) for crosslinked polymers to describe the effect of plasticizers on dynamic moduli. We show that the increase in free volume fraction due to the presence of the plasticizer can account for the shift in the glass transition in …

Matrix Structural Analysis, 2nd Edition, William Mcguire, Richard H. Gallagher, Ronald D. Ziemian

Faculty Books

The aims of the first edition of Matrix Structural Analysis were to place proper emphasis on the methods of matrix structural analysis used in practice and to lay the groundwork for more advanced subject matter. This extensively revised Second Edition accounts for changes in practice that have taken place in the intervening twenty years. It incorporates advances in the science and art of analysis that are suitable for application now, and will be of increasing importance in the years ahead. It is written to meet the needs of both the present and the coming generation of structural engineers.

KEY FEATURES …

Breakaway Steel Guardrail Post, Dean L. Sicking, John D. Reid, John R. Rohde

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A breakaway guardrail post includes upper and lower post sections spaced apart but connected by a breakaway joint. The joint is attached at one end to the upper post by a first fastener set and connected at a second end by a second fasteners set. Upon impact forces being applied to the upper post section, the first fastener fails and the upper post section rotates downwardly.

Foundation Sleeve For A Guardrail System, Dean L. Sicking, John D. Reid, John R. Rohde

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A highway guardrail terminal system having horizontally extending guardrail elements mounted on a plurality of posts. Foundation sleeves having an elongated slit along one side retain and support appropriate guardrail posts. A plurality of stiffing ribs extend across the slit at a distal portion of the tube. The sleeves enable a safer and faster removal of broken guardrail posts after vehicular impact.

Adaptive Sampling For Coordinate Metrology, Robert Edgeworth, Robert G. Wilhelm

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

An iterative sampling process for dimensional measurement is presented. The strategy is based upon the use of surface normal measurement data to develop an interpolating curve between sample points. The interpolant is used to select subsequent measurement targets iteratively. The process is repeated until the measurement converges to a complete and accurate evaluation of the surface. The required sample size is proportional to part quality. The most accurate parts will require the least sample points; whereas, lower quality parts will require a greater number of total samples. The method is particularly applicable to measurement of complex surfaces with coordinate measuring …

Triangulation Rangefinder And Sight Positioning System, Jeffrey Hargrove, William G. Wickham, John E. Briggs

Mechanical Engineering Patents

A rangefinder includes an angle sensitive transducer and a programmed data processor to calculate the distance to a target. In one embodiment, the rangefinder also includes a point-to-point measuring device. Another embodiment provides a linear actuator to selectively move a sight indicator vertically. A yet additional embodiment includes a liquid crystal display which displays information to the user.

Combining Wavelets And Hotelling Transforms In Image Query, Sol Neeman Ph.D.

Engineering Studies Faculty Publications and Creative Works

In the "content based" image query, also referred to as "query by example," "similarity retrieval" or "sketch retrieval," the query image is provided by the user either as a sketch of the object, as the output of a scanner or a video camera. Some of the difficulties associated with content based image query are described in [1], e.g. significant difference between the "query image" and the "target image," artifacts and poor resolution of the query image make a straightforward comparison of images using L1 and l2 metrics not effective.

In [2] a new strategy is suggested based on wavelet decomposition …

Processing Of Hydroxylapatite Coatings On Titanium Alloy Bone Prostheses, Michael A. Nastasi, Timothy E. Levine, James W. Mayer, Vincent B. Pizziconi

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Processing of hydroxylapatite Sol-gel films on titanium alloy bone prostheses. A method utilizing non-line-of-Sight ion beam implantation and/or rapid thermal processing to provide improved bonding of layers of hydroxylapatite to titanium alloy Substrates while encouraging bone ingrowth into the hydroxylapatite layers located away from the substrate, is described for the fabrication of prostheses. The first layer of hydroxylapatite is mixed into the Substrate by the ions or rapidly thermally annealed, while Subsequent layers are heat treated or densified using ion implantation to form layers of decreasing density and larger crystallization, with the outermost layers being Suitable for bone ingrowth.

Mass Transfer With Chemical Reaction In The Process Of Ammonia Desorption From Aqueous Solutions Containing Carbon Dioxide, Wojciech M. Budzianowski

Wojciech Budzianowski

No abstract provided.

Placement Of Piezoelectric Actuators For Active Control Of Vibration Using Modal Parameters, Xuegeng Zhu

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

An equation is derived to model the piezoelectric actuators incorporation with flexible structures. This equation permits the comparison of the performance indices over the entire structure for a piezoelectric actuator with constant area, which is unachievable if the Finite Element Method is used for complicated structures.

An index has been developed for placement of piezoelectric actuator for control of vibration of a flexible structure. This index is derived from the definition of H2norm. Computation of the proposed index requires only the natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes of the structures of interest. The method is well suited to large …

Part Form Errors Predicted From Machine Tool Performance Measurements, R. G. Wilhelm, N. Srinivasan, F. Farabaugh, R. Hocken

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Machine tool performance testing, as defined by IS0 230 and ANSI B5.54 has been successfully used to maintain and improve the accuracy and repeatability of production-level machine tools. In this study, a controlled series of experiments have been used to test the efficacy of these performance tests in the prediction of part form errors. Results are shown for flatness, squareness, position, and profile tolerances. The experimental results suggest that standard machine tool performance tests can also be used to predict the “best-case” tolerances that can be achieved for particular part features.

Molecular-Level Modeling Of The Viscoelasticity Of Crosslinked Polymers: Effect Of Time And Temperature, P. P. Simon, Harry J. Ploehn

Faculty Publications

We present a new molecular-level picture of chain dynamics for describing the viscoelasticity of crosslinked polymers. The associated mathematical model consists of a time-dependent momentum balance on a representative polymer segment in the crosslinked network, plus phenomenological expressions for forces acting on the segments. These include a cohesive force that accounts for intermolecular attraction, an entropic force describing the thermodynamics governing chain conformations, and a frictional force that captures the temperature dependence of relative chain motion. We treat the case of oscillatory uniaxial deformation. Solution of the model equations in the frequency domain yields the dynamic moduli as functions of …

Arts, Computers And Artificial Intelligence, Sol Neeman Ph.D.

Engineering Studies Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Science and art seem to belong to different cultures. Science and technology, mainly the products of the intellect, use terminology and vocabulary that are concise and well defined. In contrast, in artistic expression, ambiguity is a powerful component. Still the relationship between these two different categories of human activity is interesting and fascinating. In this paper, a general comparison of these two disciplines will be introduced. Then the possibility of mechanical creation of art using computers and artificial intelligence will be discussed. This will be followed by two techniques which are used to create poetry and music. First, a statistical …

Incorporating Matlab's Signal Processing Toolbox Into A Dsp Course At An Undergraduate E.E. Program, Sol Neeman Ph.D.

Engineering Studies Faculty Publications and Creative Works

This paper provides some suggestions for incorporating MATLAB's Signal Processing Toolbox into a DSP course. Often, in a DSP course, students have difficulties understanding abstract and non-intuitive concepts and seeing their relevance to the practical part of their curriculum. The tools offered by MATLAB's Signal Processing Toolbox, can help to make these concepts more tangible and provide a perspective for students. Some basic tools relevant to an undergraduate DSP course will be introduced, including examples of tool use and graphic results. The tools presented will be applied in the areas of synthesis and analysis of signals, FFT computation, impulse response …

Process For The Formation Of Wear- And Scuff-Resistant Carbon Coatings, Gerard W. Malaczynski, Xiaohong Qiu, Joseph V. Mantese, Alaa A. Elmoursi, Aboud H. Hamdi, Blake P. Wood, Kevin C. Walter, Michael Nastasi

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A process for forming an adherent diamond-like carbon coating on a workpiece of suitable material such as an aluminum alloy is disclosed. The workpiece is successively immersed in different plasma atmospheres and subjected to short duration, high voltage, negative electrical potential pulses or constant negative electrical potentials or the like so as to clean the surface of oxygen atoms, implant carbon atoms into the surface of the alloy to form carbide com pounds while codepositing a carbonaceous layer on the surface, bombard and remove the carbonaceous layer, and to thereafter deposit a generally amorphous hydrogen-containing carbon layer on the surface …

Method Of Making Quasicrystal Alloy Powder, Protectivecoatings And Articles, Jeffrey E. Shield, Alan I. Goldman, Iver E. Anderson, Timothy W. Ellis, R. William Mccallum, Daniel J. Sordelet

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A method of making quasicrystalline alloy particulates wherein an alloy is superheated and the meltis atomized to form generally spherical alloy particulates free of mechanical fracture and exhibiting a predominantly quasicrystalline in the atomized condition structure. The particulates can be plasma sprayed to form a coating or consolidated to form an article of manufacture.

Using Matlab To Illustrate The 'Phenomenon Of Aliasing', Sol Neeman, Ph.D.

Engineering Studies Faculty Publications and Creative Works

The phenomenon of aliasing is important when sampling analog signals. In cases where the signal is bandlimited, one can avoid aliasing by ensuring that the sampling rate is higher than the Nyquist rate . But in cases where the signal is not bandlimited , aliasing is unavoidable if the signal is not filtered before it is sampled. It is then crucial to understand the phenomenon in order to estimate the distortion generated when the signal is reconstructed from its samples. Using the software package MATLAB by MathWorks, Inc ., two examples are presented. The first is a pure sinusoid which …

Development Of Vibration And Sensitivity Analysis Capability Using The Theory Of Structural Variations, Ting-Yu Rong

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In the author's previous work entitled "General Theorems of Topological Variations of Elastic Structures and the Method of Topological Variation," 1985, some interesting properties of skeletal structures have been discovered. These properties have been described as five theorems and synthesized as a theory, called the theory of structural variations (TSV). Based upon this theory, an innovative analysis tool, called the structural variation method (SVM), has been derived for static analysis of skeletal structures (one-dimensional finite element systems).

The objective of this dissertation research is to extend TSV and SVM from one-dimensional finite element systems to multi-dimensional ones and from statics …

Finite Element Frequency Domain Solution Of Nonlinear Panel Flutter With Temperature Effects And Fatigue Life Analysis, David Yongxiang Xue

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A frequency domain solution method for nonlinear panel flutter with thermal effects using a consistent finite element formulation has been developed. The von Karman nonlinear strain-displacement relation is used to account for large deflections, the quasi-steady first-order piston theory is employed for aerodynamic loading and the quasi-steady thermal stress theory is applied for the thermal stresses with a given change of the temperature distribution, ΔΤ (x, y, z). The equation of motion under a combined thermal-aerodynamic loading can be mathematically separated into two equations and then solved in sequence: (1) thermal-aerodynamic postbuckling and (2) limit-cycle oscillation. The Newton-Raphson iteration technique …

Automating Tolerance Synthesis: A Framework And Tools, Stephen C.-Y. Lu, Robert G. Wilhelm

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

This paper describes CASCADE-T—a new approach to tolerance synthesis that uses a complete representation of the conditional tolerance relations that exist between features of a part under design. Conditional tolerances are automatically determined from functional requirements and shape information. Tolerance primitives based on the virtual boundary requirements approach to tolerance representation are composed to form more complex tolerance relationships. Artificial intelligence techniques, including a constraint network, frame-based system, and dependency tracking are used to support flexible and detailed computation for tolerance analysis and synthesis.

Nondestructive Detection Of An Undeserable Metallic Phase, T1, During Processing Of Alumnum-L Thumalloys, Otto Buck, David J. Bracci, David C. Jiles, Lisa J.H. Brasche, Jeffrey E. Shield, Leonard S. Chumbley

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A method is disclosed for detecting the T1 phase in aluminum-lithium alloys through simultaneous measurement of conductivity and hardness. In employing eddy current to measure conductivity, when the eddy current decreases with aging of the alloy, while the hardness of the material continues to increase, the presence of the T1 phase may be detected.

Microcomputer Based Digital Image Processing System Developed To Count And Size Laser-Generated Small Particle Images, K. D. Ahlers, D. R. Alexander

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A microcomputer-based digital image processing system has been developed to count and size laser-generated small particle images. Processing rates of 5 to 600 frames per minute were achieved by utilizing a real-time digital image processor. Particles from 7 to 700 µm in the plane of focus were counted and sized. A major emphasis in this work was to determine the basic problems and limitations involved with using a digital image processing scheme to accurately size particles. Areas that were investigated include the effect of the threshold level on measured particle size, particle boundary diffraction gray-level gradients, and geometric nonlinearities introduced …

An Apparatus For Measuring The Thermal Conductivity Of Cast Insulation Materials, Christine A. Wilkins, Robert L. Ash

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

A steady-state apparatus has been developed for measuring the thermal conductivity of cast materials. The design has employed a novel thermal symmetry arrangement which can permit total electrical isolation of the test material from its surroundings. © 1980 American Institute of Physics

Effect Of Compliant Wall Motion On Turbulent Boundary Layers, Dennis M. Bushness, Jerry N. Hefner, Robert L. Ash

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

A critical analysis of available compliant wall data which indicated drag reduction under turbulent boundary layers is presented. Detailed structural dynamic calculations suggest that the surfaces responded in a resonant, rather than a compliant, manner. Alternate explanations are given for drag reductions observed in two classes of experiments: (1) flexible pipe flows and (2) water-backed membranes in air. Analysis indicates that the wall motion for the remaining data is typified by short wavelengths in agreement with the requirements of a possible compliant wall drag reduction mechanism recently suggested by Langley. Copyright © 1977 American Institute of Physics.

Ua64/3 Readout, Wku Industrial Education & Technology

WKU Archives Records

Newsletter includes articles:

• New Departmental Programs
• Crisp, Jeff. Vocational-Industrial & Technical Teacher Education CBTE Project
• Lyons, Jerry. Not a Dirty Word, re productivity
• Conley, Frank. Comment, re: scholarships
• Dye, Wandel. Airbrush Rendering
• Student Chapter of SME Formed
• New Equipment Inventory
• Nalbach Demonstration Highlights Semester
• Environmental Science & Technology Building
• Industrial Technology Lecture Series

Ua64/3 Readout, Wku Industrial Education & Technology

WKU Archives Records

Newsletter includes the following articles:

• Environmental Science & Technology Building
• Redrup, Donald. A Philosophy of Industrial Arts - ?
• Conley, Franklin. A Comment, re: energy crisis
• Bywaters, Gary. Student vs Faculty Sports
• Redrup, Donald. Department Possesses EDM Capability
• Craftsman and Guitar Genuis Speaks, re: Hascal haile
• Bochan, John. Computer Controlled Machinery at WKU
• Bywaters, Gary. Western Wins at KIEA
• Mr. Walter Nalbach Honored.

Forming Of 7075-T6 Aluminum In High Pressure Environments, Richard L. Pendleton, Robert L. Davis

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Plates of 7075-T6 Aluminum have been folded along a major axis in pressure environments of atmospheric, 20,000 psi, and 40,000 psi. A finite element computer program is used to determine the stress state in the plates at various loads. Tension and compression tests conducted in pressure environments up to 70,000 psi were used to construct models using effective stress, effective strain, and pressure as parameters to predict the behavior of the material under various stress conditions. A prediction of the occurrence of fracture in the folded plate was possible using the computer results and the pressure dependent model. As better …

Australian Tractor Test Report No. 58 : Massey-Ferguson 165, G H. Vasey, W. T. Brown

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE Massey-Ferguson 165 is a general purpose farm tractor. The test tractor gave 50 drawbar h.p. with 59 h.p. at the P.T.O. at rated engine speed it comes within Class 5 of the Australian Standard Classification of Wheeled Tractors for Agricultural Purposes, AS Dl 0-1967. It is equipped with 18.4 x 28 in. pneumatic tyres. It has a threespeed gear box with a ratio change giving 6 forward and reverse speeds.

Australian Tractor Test Report No. 55 : Nuffield 4/65, G H. Vasey, W. F. Baillie

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE Nuffield 4/65 is a general purpose farm tractor of 49 drawbar horsepower.

With 54 h.p. at the P.T.O. at rated engine speed it comes within Class 5 of the Australian Standard Classification of Wheeled Tractors for Agricultural Purposes, AS D10-1967. I t is equipped with 18.4 x 30 pneumatic tyres.

It has a five speed gear box with a High and Low ratio change giving 10 forward and 2 reverse speeds.