Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Improving Irrigant Flow Characteristics For Enhanced Root Canal Therapy: A Numerical Study, Bibek Banjaday

Masters Theses

This numerical study investigates the flow characteristics within a root canal during a manual endodontic treatment. To underscore the difference in root canal geometry, a simplified root canal (frustum of a cone) and a more complex (realistic) root canal geometry were considered. The needle utilized in all simulations is a side-vented 30G KerrHaweIrrigation Probe, KerrHawe SA, Bioggio, Switzerland. For both root canal geometries, the effect of variation of fluid inlet velocity, needle insertion depth, and needle tilt angle on flow characteristics was examined via velocity contours, turbulent intensity, wall shear stress, and streamline and vector plots. The fluid was Sodium …

Enhancing Human Key Point Identification: A Comparative Study Of High-Resolution Vicon Dataset And Coco Dataset Using Bpnet, Bibash Lama

Masters Theses

Accurately identifying human key points is crucial for various applications, including activity recognition, pose estimation, and gait analysis. This study presents a high-resolution dataset created using the VICON motion capture system and three differently oriented 2D cameras, that can be used to train different neural networks for estimating the 2D key joint positions of the person from the 2D images or videos. The participants in the study included 25 healthy adults (17 males and 8 females) performing normal gait movements for about 2 to 3 seconds. The VICON system captured 3D ground truth data, while the three 2D cameras collected …

A Parametric Computational Fluid Dynamics (Cfd) Study Of In-Line Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (Hawts) With Yaw, North Alyster Yates

Masters Theses

Because of the constant use of non-renewable fossil fuels, and the enormous impact they have on global warming and pollution, there has been a push to use more eco-friendly and renewable sources for power. One such form is wind power via turbines. The most common form, Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs), can generate massive amounts of power. However, they also have a serious flaw in their design. As the wind passes through the swept area of the blades and past the tower, it creates massive disturbances in the airflow. These disturbances are called a ‘wake’. When trying to create a …

Development Of A Tiny House Design Tool To Increase Safety, Efficiency, And Cost-Effectiveness, Michael Joseph Stratton Ii

Masters Theses

A growing number of people are choosing to live more sustainably, and this is commonly done through living in an extremely small house, also called a “tiny house”. There is no set definition for a tiny house, but it typically refers to a structure less than 500 ft2, sometimes built by the homeowner, and frequently built on a travel trailer.

The popularity of tiny houses has increased over the years due to different television shows, internet videos, and photo sharing websites, but the technical details are rarely covered, which is why this study examines the structural, stability, weight, and thermal …

Modeling And Improvement Of Electronic Waste Collection System: Case Study At Grand Valley State University, Quang Tran Nhat Nguyen

Masters Theses

Accelerated and advanced development of the electronics industry in the 21st century is creating the rapid obsolescence of electrical and electronic equipment. This causes one of the largest and unstoppable waste streams called electronic waste (e-waste). There have been obstacles in e-waste recycling, including the existence of the informal sector such as peddlers (a larger issue in developing countries) and insufficient consumer awareness. The ideal e-waste recycling system would be able to overcome these obstacles. To establish an effective e-waste recycling system, the first important step is to implement an e-waste collection system. To implement an e-waste collection system, many …

Cfd Study Of Aerodynamic Drag Reduction Tool Of A Generic Sports Utility Vehicle (Suv), Samira Ishrat Jahan

Masters Theses

The Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) has been a popular automobile choice in North America for over 50 years due to its seating and hauling versatility and good towing capacity. This widespread popularity has resulted in manufacturers pushing for increased horsepower and cabin size. Unfortunately, the limiting factor has been fuel economy which is governed by the vehicle aerodynamics. A reduction in aerodynamic drag can result in better fuel economy. The goal of this study is to reduce the aerodynamic drag of a generic SUV and the efficient application of drag reduction devices to control flow separation. An initial study has …

Algorithm For Geodetic Positioning Based On Angle-Of-Arrival Of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcasts, Richard Allen Gross

Masters Theses

This paper develops a non-precision, three-dimensional, geodetic positioning algorithm for airborne vehicles. The algorithm leverages the proliferation of Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) equipped aircraft, utilizing them as airborne navigation aids to generate an RF Angle-of-Arrival (AOA) and Angle-of-Elevation (AOE) based geodetic position. The resulting geodetic position can serve as a redundant navigation system for use during locally limited Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) availability, be used to validate on-board satellite navigation systems in an effort to detect local spoofing attempts, and be used to validate ADS-B position reports.

The navigation algorithm is an implementation of an Extended Kalman …

Mathematical Modeling And Empirical Validation Of A Conceptual Exoskeleton For Astronaut Glove Augmentation, Joseph Kissling

Masters Theses

Space presents numerous difficulties for astronauts conducting their work, not the least of which is the spacesuit that is worn to protect them from space. It has long been known that a spacesuit is difficult to work in, especially the rigid and pressurized gloves that put strain on the astronaut's hands, frequently leading to injuries. Astronaut gloves inhibit more than 50% of their strength in some cases [1]. NASA and other space agencies have been working to alleviate these problems by attempting to mechanically augment the gloves to reduce the exertions of the astronaut. To date, no augmentation systems have …

Experimental And Numerical Study Of Dysphagia, Yash G. Potdar

Masters Theses

Dysphagia, meaning difficulty in swallowing, is a symptom of disease that occurs in young children and elderly people. It occurs particularly due to two reasons, weak neural network and/or deformities in oral section/s. The Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital’s Intensive Feeding Program takes care of children suffering from Dysphagia. In order to make the swallowing process easier and in some cases safer, thickener is added to the liquids. Depending on the requirement of thickness, the amount of thickener is varied. Although the directions to prepare the mixtures are given by the thickener product company, the required thickness is not achieved when …