Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Wind Turbine Wake Interactions - Characterization Of Unsteady Blade Forces And The Role Of Wake Interactions In Power Variability Control, Daniel Curtis Saunders

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Growing concerns about the environmental impact of fossil fuel energy and

improvements in both the cost and performance of wind turbine technologies has spurred

a sharp expansion in wind energy generation. However, both the increasing size of wind

farms and the increased contribution of wind energy to the overall electricity generation

market has created new challenges. As wind farms grow in size and power density, the

aerodynamic wake interactions that occur between neighboring turbines become

increasingly important in characterizing the unsteady turbine loads and power output of

the farm. Turbine wake interactions also impact variability of farm power generation,

acting …

Status Monitoring Of Inflatables By Accurate Shape Sensing, Justin Matthew Bond

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The use of inflatable structures in aerospace applications is becoming increasingly widespread. In order to monitor the inflation status and overall health of these inflatables, an accurate means of shape sensing is required. To this end, we investigated two existing methods for measuring simple curvature, or curvature in one-dimension. The first method utilizes a pair of strain sensing Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs) separated by a known distance; dividing the difference in strain by the separation distance yields an experimental value for the one-dimensional curvature at a point. The second method makes use of conductive ink-based flex sensors, which give a …

Investigation Of Pyrolysis Gas Chemistry In An Inductively Coupled Plasma Facility, Corey Tillson

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The pyrolysis mechanics of Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablators (PICA) makes it a valued material for use in thermal protection systems for spacecraft atmospheric re-entry. The present study of the interaction of pyrolysis gases and char with plasma gases in the boundary layer over PICA and its substrate, FiberForm, extends previous work on this topic that has been done in the UVM 30 kW Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Torch Facility. Exposure of these material samples separately to argon, nitrogen, oxygen, air, and carbon dioxide plasmas, and combinations of said test gases provides insight into the evolution of the pyrolysis gases as …

Fabrication And Thermoelectric Characterization Of Stretchable Conductive Latex-Based Composites, Cory Michael Arcovitch

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Miniaturized stretchable electronic devices that can be bent and strained elastically without breaking, have drawn considerable research interest in recent years for wearable computers and integrated bio-sensor applications. Portable electrical power harvesting remains a critical challenge in flexible electronics materials. One proposed solution has been to convert waste heat from the human body into electricity using thermoelectric materials. Traditionally, however, these materials are brittle ceramic semiconductors with limited fracture resistance under deformation. The primary objective of this thesis is to address this challenge by fabricating and studying the mechanical, thermal and electrical performance of stretchable composites combining natural latex polymer …

Manufacturing Microfluidic Flow Focusing Devices For Stimuli Responsive Alginate Microsphere Generation And Cell Encapsulation, Michael A. Karasinski

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

In this paper a novel stimuli responsive hydrogel material, methacrylated sodium alginate beta-cyclodextrin (Alg-MA-β-CD), was used in combination with a microfluidic device to create microspheres. Currently there is no reliable method for fabricating homogeneous stimuli-responsive microspheres, in-house microfluidic devices are not reliable in manufacture quality or long-term use. Alginate hydrogels have many attractive characteristics for bioengineering applications and are commonly used to mimic the features and properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are of top interest to tissue engineers. hMSCs are widely available and can be harvested and cultured directly out of human bone marrow. …

Steady State Simulation Of Pyrolysis Gases In An Inductively Coupled Plasma Facility, Nicholas C. Martin

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

An important step in the more efficient use of PICA (Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator) as a Thermal Protection System (TPS) material for spacecraft is the understanding of its pyrolysis mechanics. The gases released during pyrolysis and their subsequent interaction with the reactive plasma environment is not yet well understood. The surface recession of PICA as it ablates during testing only makes the study and characterization of the chemical reactions more difficult. To this end, a probe has been designed for this study to simulate, in steady state, the pyrolysis gases within the UVM 30kW Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Torch Facility. …