Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Development Of A Hybrid Residential Hvac System: An Experimental Study Of A Variable Refrigerant Flow System With Ducted And Ductless Elements, Andrew C. Hernandez Iii

Mechanical Engineering Theses

The introduction of variable refrigerant flow (VRF) expands the range of development potential for HVAC systems. The hybridization of traditional HVAC ducted systems and ductless VRF integrates both the advantages and disadvantages of each system type. Existing research does not focus on hybridization but on individual component evaluation that covers quantitatively expansive evaporator or multiple compressor configurations. The Trane Residential Heating and Cooling Research Lab at the University of Texas at Tyler was used as the research facility to experiment and validate a hybrid ducted-ductless HVAC system where a ducted attic air handler unit and three ductless evaporator units were …

System Integration Of C-Arm Robotic Prototype Using Motion Capture Guidance For Accurate Repositioning, Alireza Yazdanshenas

Mechanical Engineering Theses

One of the important surgical tools in spinal surgery is the C-Arm X-ray System. The C-Arm is a large “C” shaped and manually maneuvered arm that provides surgeons and X-ray technicians the ability to take quick quality X-rays during surgery. Because of its five degrees of freedom, the C-Arm can be manually maneuvered around the patient to provide many angles and perspectives, ensuring surgical success.

This system works fine for most surgical procedures but falls short when the C-Arm must be moved out of the way for complicated surgical procedures.

The aim of this thesis is to develop an accurate …

A Fuzzy Based Model For Standardized Sustainability Assessment Of Photovoltaic Cells, Muath Bani Salim, Dervis Emre Demirocak, Nael Barakat

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this paper, a new environmental sustainability indicator (ESI) is proposed to evaluate photovoltaic (PV) cells utilizing Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) principles. The proposed indicator is based on a model that employs a fuzzy logic algorithm to combine multiple factors, usually used in multiple LCAs, and produce results allowing a comprehensive interpretation of LCA phase sub-results leading to standardized comparisons of various PV cells. Such comparisons would be essential for policymakers and PV cell manufacturers and users, as they allow for fair assessment of the environmental sustainability of a particular type of PV with multiple factors. The output of the …

Nanostructure-Enabled And Macromolecule-Grafted Surfaces For Biomedical Applications, Madeline Small, Addison Faglie, Alexandra J. Craig, Martha Pieper, Vivian E. Fernand Narcisse, Pierre F. Neuenschwander, Shih-Feng Chou

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Advances in nanotechnology and nanomaterials have enabled the development of functional biomaterials with surface properties that reduce the rate of the device rejection in injectable and implantable biomaterials. In addition, the surface of biomaterials can be functionalized with macromolecules for stimuli-responsive purposes to improve the efficacy and effectiveness in drug release applications. Furthermore, macromolecule-grafted surfaces exhibit a hierarchical nanostructure that mimics nanotextured surfaces for the promotion of cellular responses in tissue engineering. Owing to these unique properties, this review focuses on the grafting of macromolecules on the surfaces of various biomaterials (e.g., films, fibers, hydrogels, and etc.) to create nanostructure-enabled …

Digital Enhancement Of Analog Measurement Systems For Temperature Compensation Of Strain Gages, Islombek Karimov

Electrical Engineering Theses

Generally known temperature compensation techniques for strain gages (like the use of a dummy gage or the implementation of half- and full-bridge configurations) are not applicable to all strain-measurement situations and cannot fully compensate for all sources of error. Digital Enhancement of Analog Measurement Systems presents a universal method of corrections for these effects in which temperature is measured independently of other variables and ex post facto corrections are computed and applied to digitized readings of the analog measurement system.

A single, linear-pattern strain gage, self-temperature-compensated for steel 1018, has been utilized in a quarter-bridge to measure tensile strain in …

Electrospun Fibers As A Dressing Material For Drug And Biological Agent Delivery In Wound Healing Applications, Mulugeta Gizaw, Jeffrey Thompson, Addison Faglie, Shih-Yu L Lee, Pierre Neunenschwander, Shih-Feng Chou

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Wound healing is a complex tissue regeneration process that promotes the growth of new tissue to provide the body with the necessary barrier from the outside environment. In the class of non-healing wounds, diabetic wounds, and ulcers, dressing materials that are available clinically (e.g., gels and creams) have demonstrated only a slow improvement with current available technologies. Among all available current technologies, electrospun fibers exhibit several characteristics that may provide novel replacement dressing materials for the above-mentioned wounds. Therefore, in this review, we focus on recent achievements in electrospun drug-eluting fibers for wound healing applications. In particular, we review drug …

A Review Of Injectable And Implantable Biomaterials For Treatment And Repair Of Soft Tissues In Wound Healing, Shih-Feng Chou, Simi Gunaseelan, Mhd Hussam Hijazi Kiellani, Venkata Vamsi Krishna Thottempudi, Pierre Neuenschwander, Huarong Nie

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The two major topics concerning the development of nanomedicine are drug delivery and tissue engineering.With the advance in nanotechnology, scientists and engineers now have the ability to fabricate functional drug carriers and/or biomaterials that deliver and release drugs locally as well as promote tissue regeneration. In this short review, we address the use of nanotechnology in the fabrication of biomaterials (i.e., nanoparticles and nanofibers) and their therapeutic function in wound healing as dressing materials. Furthermore, we discuss the use of surface nanofeatures to regulate cell adhesion, migration, proliferation, and differentiation, which is a crucial step in wound healing associated with …

In Vivo Pharmacological Evaluations Of Pilocarpine-Loaded Antioxidant-Functionalized Biodegradable Thermogels In Glaucomatous Rabbits, Shih-Feng Chou, Li-Jyuan Luo, Jui-Yang Lai

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

To alleviate oxidative stress-induced ocular hypertension, grafting of antioxidant molecules to drug carriers enables a dual-function mechanism to effectively treat glaucomatous intraocular pressure (IOP) dysregulation. Providing potential application for intracameral administration of antiglaucoma medications, this study, for the first time, aims to examine in vivo pharmacological efficacy of pilocarpine-loaded antioxidant-functionalized biodegradable thermogels in glaucomatous rabbits. A series of gallic acid (GA)-grafted gelatin-g-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (GN) polymers were synthesized via redox reactions at 20-50 °C. Our results showed that raising redox radical initiation reaction temperature maximizes GA grafting level, antioxidant activity, and water content at 40 °C. Meanwhile, increase in overall hydrophilicity of …

Small-Scale And Large-Scale Interventions To Improve [State] Student’S College Readiness, Virgil U. Pierce, Javier A. Kypuros, Shirley J. Mills

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

We are conducting two interventions aimed at improving entering students’ college readiness and mathematics placement. The small-scale intervention is aimed at working with students on the university campus. Students who are targeted have high school course work indicating that they have experience in Calculus or Pre-Calculus courses, but whose placement tests have not indicated they are ready for Calculus. At our institution this is a significant number of students and the goal of the project is to develop methods to address and accelerate students in this category. The course design, to take advantage of the students’ prior experience, emphasizes practice …

Development And Use Of The Energy Model Of A Research And Demonstration House With Advanced Design Features, Nelson Fumo, Vicente Bortone

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Advances on manufacturing processes and the use of new materials are increasing the efficiency and reducing the cost of energy efficient and renewable energy technologies to a point that their deployment will reach desired levels for the sake of energy security and environmental concerns. Along these advances, the demonstration of the cost-effectiveness of this technology is vital to educate people and promote deployment of these technologies. In this sense, at the University of Texas at Tyler, two research and demonstration houses were built. House #1 is a conventional design with some advanced features, and House #2 has more advanced design …

Sensitivity Analysis Of Common Input Parameters In Tools For Modeling Energy In Homes, Sheikh Tijan Tabban, Nelson Fumo

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Energy models of buildings can be developed and used for analysis of energy consumption. A model offers the opportunity to simulate a building under specific conditions for analysis of energy efficiency measures or optimum design. Due to the great amount of information needed to develop an energy model of a building, the number of inputs can be reduced by making variable the most relevant input parameters and making the others to take common or standard values. In this study, an analysis of input parameters required by computational tools to estimate energy consumption in homes was done in two stages. In …

Energy Models Of The Txaire Houses, Tajudeen Amadu Annafi

Mechanical Engineering Theses

Model calibration is important as its functions improve building models. A calibrated model of the TxAIRE Houses #1 and #2 have been developed using the OpenStudio software. The model was developed and calibrated with data of the year 2014 but can be used predict electricity consumption of any year.

An actual meteorological year (AMY) weather file was also created for the houses which was used for calibration. The data used to develop this weather file were measured on-site which improved the accuracy of the model. It was found that an error difference of -1.0 % and -4.2 % occurred between …

Model And Control Development Of Hybrid Fuel Cell And Battery Power System For Uas (Quadcopter), Mohammad Biswas

Faculty Posters

This poster was presented during the UT Tyler Faculty Research Poster Showcase 2016.

Measured And Predicted Performance Of A Photovoltaic Grid-Connected System In A Humid Subtropical Climate, Racquel Lovelace

Mechanical Engineering Theses

Solar energy is an alternative energy source that has the potential to provide energy for the very increasing global population. Photovoltaic modules are the means by which solar energy is collected. Photovoltaic modules convert sunlight into direct-current (DC) electricity which can then be converted to alternating current (AC) electricity and used in regular household systems. This research aimed to determine the measured and predicted performance of a photovoltaic grid-connected system in a humid subtropical climate. Simulation and numerical models were used to determine the predicted performance of the system to be compared to the recorded data from the system. In …

Utilizing An Emporium Course Design To Improve Calculus Readiness Of Engineering Students, Virgil U. Pierce, Javier A. Kypuros

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The intervention has targeted incoming students in Engineering and Computer Sciencedegrees. Participating students were selected who had a record of participation in Pre-Calculus classes in high school, but who had not demonstrated their readiness to take Calcu-lus, as measured by placement tests and existing credit. The course design uses an emporiummethod, specifically the Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS) software,in a computer lab to deliver to students an intensive program of mathematical practice andexploration. The course design is meant to take advantage of students? existing knowledge,rewarding them for it in fact, and focus them on specific Algebra and Trigonometry …

Investigating The Potential Of Residential District Energy, Nelson Fumo, Vicente Bortone, Juan Zambrano, Aleyani Zambrano

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The International District Energy Association claims that district energy: improve energy efficiency, enhanced environmental protection, fuel flexibility, ease of operation and maintenance, reliability, comfort and convenience for customers, decreased life-cycle costs, decreased building capital costs, and improved architectural design flexibility. In the U.S.A. most of the installed district energy systems are found in buildings such as colleges and universities, healthcare installations, government installations, airports and community utilities, as well as industry. All these applications have proved the advantages of district energy. However, for typical neighborhoods in small cities in the U.S.A., the dispersion of the dwelling imposes additional challenges to …

Artificial Intelligent Metallurgical Grain Detection, Adarsh Kesireddy

Mechanical Engineering Theses

In recent years, image processing has been applied to metallurgy but its applications were mainly confined to iron. This research instead focuses on recognizing phases present in steel. Phase recognition is very important because it aids in specifying the properties of steel specimens. This research is concentrated on recognizing Pearlite, Ferrite, Martensite and Cementite present in steel. A neural network was used to recognize these four phases. For a neural network to recognize any object it requires input values called features. This research introduces a combination of features which were not used before: texture based features of entropy, energy, contrast, …

An Analysis Of Sound Exposure In A University Instrumental Music Rehearsal Venue, Joe Farmer, Nelson Fumo, Michael Thrasher

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this study is to collect and analyze the sound load exposure of a population of university music students participating in instrumental music ensemble rehearsals

A Characterization Of The Knee Moment Using The Niagara Foot, Kerron James

Mechanical Engineering Theses

A variety of low cost prosthetic feet exist, but sufficient data on these kinds of feet is limited. This study evaluated the effects of the Niagara Foot™ on an amputee performing walking tasks. Specifically, the study determined the effects of this foot on the amputee's residual knee compared to the amputees current prosthetic foot. An active transtibial amputee was used to perform walking tasks across a force plate to collect ground reaction forces of the amputee while wearing the Niagara Foot and the Ottobock® 1C31+ Trias. Motion capture was used to record the amputee's movements in the room. The data …

Metodología Para La Aplicación De Un Plan De Mantenimiento Centrado En La Confiabilidad Con Criterios De Administración De Energía En Equipos De Aire Acondicionado Tipo Compacto, A. Zambrano, J. Zambrano, Nelson Fumo

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A través del tiempo han evolucionado filosofías con procedimientos muy diferentes con intereses que pueden llegar a ser comunes en cuanto a su objetivo terminal, es así como se presenta la administración de energía y el mantenimiento centrado en la confiabilidad. Estas teorías buscan en común el adecuado funcionamiento de los sistemas, lograr un uso sostenible con el ambiente a través de un estudio detallado de la causas y efectos de los problemas y averías presentadas. La propuesta presentada constituye un punto intermedio entre ambas filosofías donde se indica la afectación que puede presentar el mal funcionamiento de un equipo …

Propuesta De Implementación De Energía Solar Fotovoltaica En Instalaciones Pesqueras En Venezuela, Juan Zambrano, Aleyani Zambrano, Buitrago Franklin, Nelson Fumo

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Los sistemas de obtención de energía por medios renovables han venido creciendo de manera interesante en los últimos años debido a los altos precios de la energía y a la limitada disponibilidad del recurso, en el caso de los sistemas de energía solar fotovoltaica (FV), a nivel mundial se ha demostrado gran potencial en proyectos de electrificación rural para aplicaciones domésticas y labores agropecuarias. Venezuela por su posición geográfica privilegiada, cuenta con un gran potencial energético solar, se tiene garantizado un 85% de la incidencia solar estable durante todo el día, incluso en períodos de verano se alcanzan hasta 8 …

Guided Discovery Modules For Statics And Dynamics, Javier A. Kypuros, Horacio Vazquez, Constantine Tarawneh, Robert R. Wrinkle

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Students struggle to conceptualize Engineering Mechanics (i.e. Newtonian Physics, Statics, and Dynamics) fundamentals because they cannot successfully visualize the effects of external loads on physical systems and/or do not intuitively comprehend the static or dynamic response. Traditionally, Engineering Mechanics courses like Statics and Dynamics have been primarily lecture-based with little experimentation. The authors contend that through the use of inquirybased, multimodal activities, lower-division engineering students can more effectively interpret Engineering Mechanics concepts. Instructors must place emphasis on engendering properly conceived engineering intuition and contextualizing concepts and fundamentals. The authors hypothesize that by utilizing often simple, multimodal, inquiry-based exercises, instructors can …

Breaking Away From The Laboratory: Using Lean-Computing Technology To Merge Theory-Based Learning And Experimentation, Thomas Connolly, Kathy Schmidt, Javier Kypuros

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This ongoing research involves a departure from traditional laboratory instructional practices in that it seeks to forge a closer connection between lecture-based and laboratory courses. As such, the authors have devised a program that: (1) relinquishes a degree of control to students by providing them some flexibility in determining the subject of their experiments and in the development of experimental procedures and protocols, (2) uses mobile experimentation as a powerful and flexible tool in lecture-based coursework, and (3) expands the concept of the “laboratory” to include virtually everything outside of it. A pilot program in mobile experimentation and data acquisition …

Collaborative Experimentation And Simulation: A Pathway To Improving Student Conceptualization Of The Essentials Of System Dynamics And Control Theory, Javier A. Kypuros, Thomas J. Connolly

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The overarching goal of this research is to improve conceptualization of System Dynamics and Controls concepts by incorporating a Web-facilitated curriculum to enable intercampus collaboration and remotely-accessible or virtual systems. This approach will complement lecture-based curricula and will strongly enhance students’ conceptualization and exposure to System Dynamics and Controls fundamentals by providing less restricted exposure to a variety of systems that encompass the more important Dynamic Systems concepts. The plan involves the development of a System Dynamics Concepts Inventory and the implementation and assessment of three Web-enabled laboratory formats: (1) inter-campus collaborative experimentation, (2) remotely-accessible experiments, and (3) virtual system …