Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Investigation Of Vorticity Confinement As A High Reynolds Number Turbulence Model, Nicholas F. Lynn

Doctoral Dissertations

Vorticity Confinement (VC) is a computational technique used to compute fluid flows with thin vortical regions in an accurate and efficient manner. Recent results have shown that it accurately computes the turbulent wake behind blunt bodies at large Reynolds numbers. Physically, these flows are dominated by thin vortices that convect downstream with the flow, which accounts for the important higher-order velocity statistics. These thin vortices are artificially dissipated with traditional methods, whereas VC can accurately compute them.

VC consists of a set of discrete equations with the confinement appearing as a source term in the discretized momentum equations. The term …

Novel Numerical Approaches For The Resolution Of Direct And Inverse Heat Transfer Problems, Gregory Evan Osborne

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation describes an innovative and robust global time approach which has been developed for the resolution of direct and inverse problems, specifically in the disciplines of radiation and conduction heat transfer.

Direct problems are generally well-posed and readily lend themselves to standard and well-defined mathematical solution techniques. Inverse problems differ in the fact that they tend to be ill-posed in the sense of Hadamard, i.e., small perturbations in the input data can produce large variations and instabilities in the output. The stability problem is exacerbated by the use of discrete experimental data which may be subject to substantial measurement …

Simulation And Fabrication Of Three Novel Micromechanical Sensors, Yanqing Lu

Doctoral Dissertations

This work focuses on the simulation, fabrication and characterization of novel microdevices for chemical and biological sensors for improved sensitivity, enhanced performance and applicability. Specifically, microbridge and microcoil sensors have been fabricated via advanced microfabrication technologies. Due to the potential application in chemical and biological sensing, the growth of gold and platinum nanowires during an electrolysis process have also been investigated.

A microbridge can be considered as the head-to-head fusion of two cantilevers and the middle of the bridge would deform in a way similar to a microcantilever. The microbridge sensing device is more stable than the microcantilever, especially in …

Development Of An Integrated Opto-Electric Biosensor To Dynamically Examine Cytometric Proliferation And Cytotoxicity, Chang Kyoung Choi

Doctoral Dissertations

My doctoral research has focused on the development of microscale optical techniques for examining micro/bio fluidics. Preliminary work measured the velocity field in a microchannel, by optical slicing, using Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM). Next, Optical Serial Sectioning Microscopy (OSSM) was applied to examine thermometry by detecting the free Brownian motion of nano-particles suspended in mediums at different temperatures. An extension of this work used objective-based Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy (TIRFM) to examine the hindered Brownian motion of nano-particles that were very close to a solid surface (within 1 mm).

An optically transparent and electrically conductive Indium Tin Oxide …

A Finite Difference Method For Studying Thermal Deformation In A Three-Dimensional Microsphere Exposed To Ultrashort-Pulsed Lasers, Xudong Du

Doctoral Dissertations

Ultrashort-pulsed lasers with pulse durations on the order of sub-picoseconds to femtoseconds possess the capabilities in limiting the undesirable spread of the thermal process zone in a heated sample which have been attracting worldwide interest in science and engineering. Success of ultrashort-pulsed lasers in real application relies on: (1) well characterized pulse width, intensity and experimental techniques; (2) reliable microscale heat transfer models; and (3) prevention of thermal damage. Laser damage by ultrashort-pulsed lasers occurs after the heating pulse is over since the pulse duration time is extremely short and the heat flux is essentially limited to the region within …

An Intermediate-Layer Lithography Method For Producing Metal Micron/Nano Patterns And Conducting Polymer-Based Microdevices, Xinchuan Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

Metals have been widely used in the areas of integration circuit (IC) and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) fields as materials for gates, contact pads, interconnects, corrosion resistance coatings, rectifying contacts, redundancy memories, heating elements, mechanical parts, magnetic component, etc. due to their good properties, such as high electrical conductivity and good thermal conductivity. Conducting polymers, because of their promising potential to replace silicon and metals in building devices, have attracted great attention in recent decades.

Traditional photolithography methods are often used to pattern metals and conducting polymers. However, it cannot be used to fabricate nano patterns because the minimum feature size …

Analysis And Optimization Of Partial Length, Constrained Damping Layers, Shing-Jia Tang

Doctoral Dissertations

A laminated beam with constrained damping layers is analyzed. The normal strain in the longitudinal direction and shear strain in the viscoelastic layer is considered. Hamilton’s principle is used to derive equations of motion and boundary conditions. A 6th order equation is used to describe the portion of the beam covered with a constrained damping layer and a 4th order equation is used to describe the remainder of the beam. The characteristic equations are solved numerically with a gradient-based optimization method in order to determine normalized loss factor values. The loss parameter (normalized loss factor) is shown to be a …

Modeling Coordinate Measuring Machine Scanning Operations, Pamela Murray Moor

Doctoral Dissertations

International standards require that dimensional inspection operations include an assessment of measurement uncertainty. Scanning coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) are frequently used to measure part surfaces and features, and there is a continuing need to improve their performance for high precision measurement applications. This research provides a mechanism for minimizing the uncertainty of measurements made with a CMM in scanning mode by developing a model of CMM scanning that allows selection of optimum scanning parameters.

The method for selecting scanning parameters is based on models developed from measurements of a ring with a constant five micrometer amplitude swept sine wave machined …

Uncertainty And Error In Laser Triangulation Measurements For Pipe Profiling, Michael Kenneth Swanbom

Doctoral Dissertations

Underground pipeline infrastructure often receives insufficient attention and maintenance. Those responsible for ensuring the continuing functionality of this infrastructure primarily use subjective information in their decision making, and standards defining the level of damage acceptable before repair or replacement are difficult to implement. Laser pipe profiling is a relatively new technology that has emerged to take a step toward the objective assessment of buried assets. A laser profiler is a device that traverses a section of pipe, taking measurements of radius around the circumference of the inner pipe wall at multiple locations along the length of the pipe. The accuracy …

Structural Behavior Of Pvc Pipe Liners Subjected To Seasonal Groundwater Loading, Qing Cai

Doctoral Dissertations

Thin-walled polymeric liners are routinely used to rehabilitate deteriorated underground pipe lines that are structurally sound but have lost their hydraulic integrity. These host pipes are said to be "partially deteriorated" since they can support soil and surface loading. For this case, the pipe liners must only be designed to withstand the pressure of the groundwater that seeps through openings in the host pipe and migrates through the small annular gap between the liner and the host pipe. This external pressure will cause the polymeric liner to slowly deform inward toward the center of the pipe, and the compressive hoop …

Analysis And Prediction Of Effectiveness For Residential Hvac Ductwork, Jinson J. Erinjeri

Doctoral Dissertations

An analysis of residential HVAC ductwork has been performed. Ductwork in 55 homes in Northern Louisiana was tested to determine duct leakage by means of using various measurement techniques to determine the differences between the existing methods as well as the revised method developed in this project referred to as Generalized Subtraction Correction Algorithm (GSCA). A protocol to measure and estimate return leaks at operating pressure was developed. The weighted average return leakage for the homes sampled was determined to be 115 cfm at operating pressure whereas the weighted average duct leakage was determined to be 348 cfm at 25 …

A Computational Theory For The Generation Of Solutions During Early Conceptual Design, Cari R. Bryant

Doctoral Dissertations

"Advancement in technology is usually made by building on previous experiences and learning from past successes and failures. However, knowledge transfer in the broad field of product design is often difficult to accomplish. Research has shown that successful component configurations, observed from existing products, can be dissected and stored for reuse; but few computational tools exist to assist designers during the conceptual phase of design. Many well-known manual methods (e.g. brainstorming, intrinsic and extrinsic searches, and morphological analysis) rely heavily on individual bias and experience and are often time intensive, laborious tasks that may not catch solutions that are functionally …

Mechanical Integrity And Behavior Of Thin Films And Their Applications In Mems, Gang Duan

Doctoral Dissertations

"Electric actuated thin films are widely used in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) such as radio frequency switches (RF-switches), micro-pumps and valves, and electrostatic actuators. This dissertation will focus on the operation of a MEMS-RF-switch. In a typical MEMS-RF-switch, a mechanically suspended 1-D rectangular or 2-D axisymmetric thin film is pulled by an electrostatic voltage (V₀) applied to an electrode-pad directly underneath. When V₀ exceeds a certain "pull-in" threshold, V₀*, the thin film makes direct contact with the pad so that either an "on" or "off" signal is induced, and when the voltage is removed, the thin film resumes its original undeformed …