Digital Commons Network^™

Microstructural Shielding And Advanced Fatigue Crack Analysis In The Presence Of Deformation Twinning, Seyed Ali Asli

All Dissertations

Design methods to mitigate fatigue failures have remained relatively stagnant, as engineers have relied on existing continuum-level models and adhered to the damage tolerance design methodology. Although damage-tolerant design has led to increased safety, extended component in-service life, and better life predictions, it still relies on maintenance routines to identify dangerous cracks. This research aims to test the hypothesis that bundles of deformation twin boundaries will increase the resistance to fatigue crack growth (FCG). Slip and twinning are two dominant mechanisms of plastic deformation in metals. Slip is more common in materials with face-centered cubic (FCC) crystal structures at room …

Can Kinematics Specify Tool Use Affordances?, Tyler Duffrin

All Dissertations

Object properties such as length, shape, and heaviness, as well as affordance-based properties such as strike-with-ability and poke-with-ability, can be perceived via dynamic touch as functions of inertia tensor invariants. The primary question addressed here was whether people can perceive these same power and precision properties for purely virtual objects, which lack dynamic physical forces. The Kinematic Specification of Dynamics (KSD) principle asserts that missing dynamics are lawfully specified by kinematic (visual) motion patterns, such that kinematic information alone may support successful interactions with virtual objects. In three experiments, we investigated (1) whether virtual reality (VR) users could calibrate to …

Efficient And Scalable Visual Computing For Nanoscale Imaging, Hao Wang

All Dissertations

Nanoscale analysis often relies on instrument-mediated scientific imaging methods to capture visual signals that are difficult to observe, interpret, or quantify through ordinary perception alone. These domains are often characterized by low signal quality, limited annotations, complex morphology, non-natural visual statistics, and strong dependence on physical acquisition processes. This dissertation focuses on efficient visual computing for nanoscale imaging, with an emphasis on the representation, reconstruction, and analysis of high-resolution scientific visual data. In our early work, we relied on rule-based algorithms and conventional machine learning methods for feature extraction. However, these approaches struggle to scale with the increasing complexity and …

The Influence Of Rainfall And Land Cover Change On Streamflow Variability In Eastern Florida Watersheds, Brynn Romberger

Theses and Dissertations

Streamflow in Florida watersheds is influenced by both land cover change and rainfall variability, but separating their contributions is difficult because both have changed over recent decades. This study evaluated rainfall trends and land cover change to determine which better explains flood and drought threshold exceedance across 27 USGS streamflow gauges within the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) from 1985 to 2025. Streamflow was characterized using change-point, trend, and variability analyses with a six-threshold exceedance framework. Land cover was quantified using the National Land Cover Database (NLCD), rainfall characteristics were derived from the Analysis of Records for Calibration …

Spatial Structure And Energy Content Of Wakes Behind Single And Arrayed Undulated Cylinders, Taiga Naomi Drucker-Boisvert, OndˇRej FerˇCák, Jérémie Auzoux, Sarah E. Smith, Zein Sadek, Rowan Moore, Christain T. Murphy, Trevor Dunt, Jennifer A. Franck, Raul Bayoan Cal

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Biologically inspired undulated cylinder geometries significantly influence wake structure and vortex-induced vibrations in turbulent flows, yet the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. It is further unknown how these influences extend to multi-cylinder arrays, where interacting wakes accumulate and mix. This study examines the wake characteristics of an undulated cylinder and a smooth elliptic cylinder in single- and multi-cylinder array configurations, using particle image velocimetry and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). Relative to the smooth elliptic cylinder, the undulated geometry induces pronounced spanwise-axial variability, characterized by enhanced near-wake mean momentum and weak far-wake signatures, consistent with reduced turbulent kinetic energy. While …

Prompt-Driven Tabletop Robotic Manipulation With A Structured Llm Interface And Visual Verification, Tomas Franco

Master's Theses

Creating a tabletop robotic manipulation system that connects language goals to robot actions is a challenging problem. Large language models can interpret mission objectives and reason through actions, but when placed directly in control of hardware they can produce hallucinated commands that result in unsafe behavior without the proper safeguards.

This thesis presents a constrained LLM-guided manipulation system built around the Quanser Qarm, a four degree of freedom manipulator with a mounted Realsense RGB-D camera and a gripper with readable current. Every decision made by the LLM planner is routed through a gated command interface that restricts the model to …

Hardware-In-The-Loop Evaluation Of Sensor-Source Selection For Prosthetic Locomotion Intent Recognition, Victoria Asencio-Clemens

Master's Theses

Active lower-limb prostheses use intent-recognition systems to identify a user’s locomotion mode and select an appropriate control strategy, but sensor configurations that perform well offline may be unsuitable for resource-constrained embedded hardware. Existing sensor-selection methods generally prioritize classification accuracy without directly accounting for processing latency, memory usage, or other hardware-dependent requirements. To address this limitation, this thesis develops a hardware-in-the-loop source-selection framework for embedded classification of level walking, ramp ascent, ramp descent, stair ascent, and stair descent using multimodal biomechanical data from transtibial amputee participants. Subject-specific linear support vector machine classifiers were evaluated using trial-held-out validation, and candidate configurations from …

A Maintainable Extensible And Performant Compiler Toolchain For The Trustguard Architecture, Ethan N. Emery

Master's Theses

TrustGuard is a hardware architecture implementing a CAVO (Containment Architecture with Verified Output) model, which provides security guarantees by bootstrapping trust of a system to a hardware component known as the Sentry. Rather than verifying an entire system, TrustGuard re-executes trusted computation on the Sentry and validates the host system's execution before allowing values to pass to the outside world, thereby containing the effects of erroneous computation. Implementing this architecture in practice without hardware modifications to a host CPU requires a compiler toolchain capable of automatically generating instrumented binaries for both the untrusted host and the trusted Sentry from C …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Carbon Quantum Dots And Gold Nanoparticles For Norovirus Biosensing Applications In Water Systems, Breanne Evans

Master's Theses

Rapid, reliable detection of viral pathogens remains a significant challenge across water-treatment and environmental monitoring systems, including drinking-water, wastewater, water reuse, and environmental surveillance applications. Waterborne viral contamination can pose substantial public-health risks, making early detection essential for protecting water quality and responding quickly to treatment failures or contamination events. Direct potable reuse (DPR) is one particularly demanding example because it requires continuous verification of treatment performance and the broader need for rapid virus monitoring extends across many water-treatment and environmental surveillance applications. Norovirus is a priority target because of its widespread occurrence in wastewater, environmental persistence, and exceptionally low …

Alternate Method For Determining The Liquid Pressure Recovery Factor, Bryson H. Parker

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

The term liquid pressure recovery factor aids in determining the flowrate through valves at the maximum flowrate under choking conditions. The pressure recovery factor can be difficult to determine for certain types of valves based on the industry standard procedure. This report looks at the current industry standard procedure and adds a procedure in the event of the industry standard not being feasible. Often it is not feasible for a testing facility to supply enough flow through the valve to reach the industry standard. The industry standard is to test the valve at the maximum flowrate with a constant upstream …

Graph-Based Machine Learning For Multivariate Time Series Prediction In Scientific Domains: Streamflow Forecasting And Solar Flare Prediction, Kishore Ragul Alagarsamy

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Machine learning methods applied to multivariate time series data have emerged as powerful tools across a range of scientific domains. This report examines two distinct application areas in which such methods yield actionable predictive insights: hydrological streamflow forecasting and solar flare prediction in space weather.

In the domain of streamflow forecasting, a Two-Graph Spatio-Temporal Graph Neural Network (Two-Graph STGNN) was developed to predict river discharge across a 20-station network in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The architecture separates hydrological and meteorological feature streams into two complementary graph representations and fuses them through a learned attention mechanism. Systematic evaluation across 23 …

Accelerating Rans Cfd Convergence For Bluff Body Flows Using Surface-Vorticity Panel Solver Initialization, Trisha Babu

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Reynolds-Averaged Navier--Stokes (RANS) simulations are widely used for predicting aerodynamic performance in engineering applications but often require substantial computational time to achieve convergence, particularly for bluff-body flows characterized by large-scale separation and wake formation. Improving the initialization of CFD simulations offers a practical approach for reducing computational cost without modifying the underlying numerical algorithms. This study investigates the use of a surface-vorticity panel solver (FlightStream) to generate physically informed velocity fields for initializing steady RANS simulations in STAR-CCM+.

Two canonical bluff-body geometries are considered: a sphere at a Reynolds number of 5 X 10⁵ and an isolated cube at …

Water Use And Yield Of Subsurface Drip-Irrigated Forage Crops In Northern Utah, Nishchal Tamang

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Growing water scarcity in the Intermountain West has increased interest in improving water use efficiency. Subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) has the potential to reduce evapotranspiration (ET), evaporative losses, surface runoff, and deep percolation. SDI adoption in Utah forage crops is limited, and region-specific information on forage crop water use under SDI is lacking. This study compared ET, yield, and productivity of forage crops between SDI and conventional irrigation methods in northern Utah.

The study was conducted on production fields. Applied irrigation, precipitation, and crop yield were directly measured, while deep percolation was estimated using numerical unsaturated flow modeling. Surface runoff …

Isolation, Identification, And Enzymatic Screening Of Fungi From Utah Dryland Soils For Industrial And Waste Valorization Applications, Jessica Lorena Silva Cuero

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Agricultural waste accumulation presents environmental challenges but also opportunities for biological valorization into value-added products. Fungi are particularly well-suited for this purpose due to their capacity to produce extracellular enzymes involved in the degradation of complex organic substrates. Dryland ecosystems represent a promising source for bioprospecting microbes capable of producing such enzymes. Drylands harbor a high diversity of extremophilic microorganisms that can withstand harsh conditions, extreme heat, UV, and low nutrients using unique adaptations. This suggests that these microbes are resilient and capable of surviving under varying conditions and still produce enzymes for biotransformation. The objective of this study was …

A Verification And Validation Framework For Model-Based Systems Engineering Using Executable Architecture Models And Integrated Simulation, Michael O. Cruz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) reaches its full value when architecture does more than describe a system. It should help engineers carry stakeholder need and system intent into executable analysis, preserve the configuration and criteria used, and return evidence that can be reviewed in the same architecture context. This dissertation develops and evaluates a seven phase, architecture-driven verification and validation framework for that purpose. The framework defines the responsibilities that connect SysML architecture, controlled execution, domain simulation, configuration management, persistent data, analytics, and accountable engineering review. A reusable Cameo/SysML digital test environment plugin provides the reference implementation for orchestration and model …

Optimization Of A Cryogenic Electrical Characterization System And Its Application To Thermal Admittance Spectroscopy, Angel Efren Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Defect characterization in semiconductors relies on locating trap levels through the temperature dependence of carrier emission, which makes the accuracy of the device temperature a limiting factor in every extracted parameter. This work addresses the limitations in the cryogenic electrical characterization system at The University of Texas at El Paso, where Deep-Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) had been established but produced activation energies that disagreed with literature values by as much as 0.33 eV. The discrepancy was traced not to the technique but to the transfer of heat to packaged devices in a probe station designed for on-die measurement. The cryogenic …

Modulating Linear Frequency Modulated Pulses To Send Communications Data In A Bistatic Sar Scenario, Jarren T. Worthen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is the technology that enables the creation of images using radar waves, allowing images to be formed regardless of weather. In bistatic SAR a radar platform uses a radar pulse from a separate platform to form an image. It is important that these radar systems are able to communicate with each other. Rather than wasting energy and space flying with a separate communication system, the radar systems could use the already existing SAR system to send data between each other while still forming SAR images. The work of this thesis is to show how very simple …

Modular Verification For Network-On-Chip Designs Using Probabilistic Verification And Assume-Guarantee Reasoning, Nicholas Waddoups

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

To satisfy increasing demands for computer chip performance in personal computing, mobile devices, and commercial server computing, a modern computer chip is constructed with tens (or hundreds) of small individual computing modules. Each of these modules must communicate with one other to share information about the running state of a computer. Historically, when chips were a few modules a simple communication method sufficied. However, as the number of modules in a chip grew, a more effecient method was needed in order to maintain performance across the system as a whole. A Network-on-Chip (NoC) design is the de-facto communication method for …

Theory, Implementation, And Practical Applications Of A Modern Parabolized Navier-Stokes Code, Logan B. Freeman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The Parabolized Navier-Stokes (PNS) method is a specialized computational approach for solving the equations that govern fluid flowing faster than the speed of sound, known as supersonic flow. By leveraging unique physical properties of supersonic environments—specifically that information cannot travel upstream—this method allows for significantly more efficient calculations than traditional approaches. Supersonic flows are important for many military and civilian applications including hypersonic weapons, high-speed passenger aircraft, and reentry. This thesis provides a comprehensive review of the two-dimensional PNS formulation, detailing the mathematical derivation and its practical implementation for solving flow problems. Through performance analysis and error assessment, this research …

Simulation Of Hypersonic Conditions In A Lab-Scale Environment Using A Hybrid Rocket With Nitrogen Cooling, Joshua R. Sorenson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Developing hypersonic vehicles requires testing under extreme heat, airflow, and pressure. Traditional facilities like shock tunnels and arc-heated wind tunnels are costly and slow to set up. This thesis proposes a simpler, low-cost method using a small-scale hybrid rocket motor as a gas generator. The rocket’s hot exhaust is directed onto the front edge of a scaled-down model that represents the nose of a hypersonic vehicle. This creates a realistic flow that matches both the intense heat energy and the pushing force experienced in high-altitude hypersonic flight. The setup allows easy measurement of motor performance, surface pressures, leading-edge temperatures, and …

Thermal Rating And Prediction Of Roadway-Embedded Power Electronics For Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer, Forrest D. Nichols

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Electric vehicles can be charged while driving through wireless charging coils buried in the road surface. To avoid running expensive cables from roadside equipment to each charging pad, the electronics that control the power transfer can also be buried in the road. However, burying these circuit boards removes the ability to cool them with fans or flowing air, so the heat generated during operation must escape naturally into the surrounding road material. If the boards get too hot, components fail—a problem that has already been observed in prototype systems.

Predicting how hot each component on a circuit board will get …

Toward Risk-Informed Design Of Supercooling Heat Exchangers: Statistical Inference And Experimental Investigation Of Heterogeneous Ice Nucleation, Daniel B. Gardner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Ice-based cooling storage systems can reduce electricity costs and grid strain by making ice during off-peak hours and using it for air conditioning during the day. One promising design works by chilling water below its freezing point as it flows through a heat exchanger, then allowing it to freeze in a separate storage tank. The challenge is that the chilled water can freeze prematurely inside the heat exchanger itself, blocking the flow and shutting the system down. Preventing this unwanted freezing requires understanding how and where ice begins to form on surfaces, a process called nucleation.

This dissertation investigates ice …

Sensitivity Analysis Of A Low-Power Wireless Capacitive Charging System To Inform Thermal Limitations And Battery Size Reduction Potential For Electric Passenger Vehicles, Karmen Teuscher

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The purpose of using electric vehicles instead of internal combustion engine vehicles that burn gas is to reduce pollutants in the air and potential environmental impacts such as climate change. EVs produce much less air pollutants than ICEVs but manufacturing the EV batteries and the repeated recharging still contributes to the overall air pollution.

Capacitive power transfer systems can wirelessly charge vehicles through the road as they drive along highways or stop at traffic lights. If vehicles charge as they drive, an opportunity opens to reduce the size of the battery while maintaining the same driving range. Reducing the size …

The Impact Of Early Exposure To Engineering Concepts In The Form Of Family, School Classes, And Stem Extracurriculars On The Long-Term Sense Of Belonging In Undergraduate Women In Engineering, Hannah Lloyd

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Engineering continues to struggle with the underrepresentation of women, and many women who begin engineering programs report feeling isolated or uncertain about whether they belong. A strong sense of belonging has been linked to greater confidence, persistence, and success in engineering. This study examined how early experiences with engineering before college may influence students' sense of belonging later in their undergraduate engineering programs.

Using survey responses from undergraduate engineering students across the United States, this study explored several types of early exposure to engineering, including family influence, school-based engineering and STEM courses, extracurricular programs such as robotics clubs and engineering …

The Role Of Roughness And Geometry In 2d Depth-Averaged Models: A Comparative Study Using Laboratory Flume Experiments, Adrienne Luymes Mckell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Hydraulic models are commonly used to predict how water moves through rivers and streams, helping engineers manage flood risk and design infrastructure such as bridges, culverts, and restoration projects. One challenge in these models is representing the effects of riverbed roughness, including features such as rocks, vegetation, and other obstacles that slow water flow.

This study investigated whether it is better to represent these roughness features in detail or to simplify them while still accounting for their effects. Laboratory measurements from a controlled channel experiment were used to create two computer models: one that included the detailed shape of the …

Comparison Of Forces Generated By An Impinging Water Jet Using Numerical And Physical Experimentation, Spencer R. Young

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

When water is released from hydraulic structures such as dams water jets are formed and land on the downstream surfaces. When these jets land there is high potential for erosion or scour. Scour has the potential to compromise the structure and cause the uncontrolled release of water that can endanger downstream communities and infrastructure.

Engineers use tools including computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to inform their designs to mitigate the risk of scour. This study compares how well CFD is able to model the forces created by a water jet by comparing the results to laboratory collected physical data. To make …

The Role Of Autonomy, Competence, And Relatedness In The Relationship Between Ai Use, Resilience, And Motivation Among Engineering Students, Daniel Kane

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The purpose of this study was to determine how the widespread use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) influences engineering students’ motivation and resilience. Specifically, the role of autonomy, competence, and relatedness as defined in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) was assessed to determine how these basic psychological needs interact with students’ AI use and motivation or resilience. The following research questions guided the study: (1) To what extent do the three basic psychological needs defined in SDT (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) mediate the relationship between the frequency of AI use and students’ levels of motivation (on the self-determination continuum) or resilience in an …

A Cfd-Dem Framework For Characterizing Nanoparticle Adhesion Effects On Creeping-Flow Permeability In Composite Manufacturing, Gavin Stoker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Modern aircraft, spacecraft, and high-performance vehicles are increasingly built from composite materials, engineered combinations of plastics and fibers that are lighter and stronger than traditional metals. Researchers are now pushing these materials further by mixing in microscopic particles thousands of times smaller than a human hair, called nanoparticles, to make them even tougher and more resistant to damage. The challenge is getting those nanoparticles distributed evenly. During manufacturing, liquid plastic resin is pumped through a network of tightly packed fibers, carrying the nanoparticles along with it. But nanoparticles tend to clump together and stick to surfaces as they travel, clogging …

A Multi-Label Computer Vision-Based Approach For Condition Assessment Of Traffic Signs: Database Compilation, Model Training, And Evaluation, Shailaja Ratna Pandey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Traffic signs help drivers and pedestrians to understand roadway rules, warnings, and directions, which determine how road users should behave. When signs fade or delaminate, they become harder to read and interpret, which creates increased safety hazards. Transportation agencies usually deploy engineers to the field to inspect signs because they need to evaluate and document the sign’s condition based on established standards and engineering judgment. This process requires substantial time and cost and becomes challenging to apply across large highway networks.

This study evaluated two computer vision (CV) models for automated traffic sign condition assessment using highway images collected across …

A Laboratory Investigation Of Energy Dissipators At Embankment Dams, Nathan L. Young

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Dams play a critical role in protecting communities from flooding and providing reliable water supplies. When large amounts of water pass through a dam’s spillway during floods, the discharge can travel at high speeds and carry potentially destructive kinetic energy that can damage the dam or erode downstream channels if that energy is not properly controlled. To reduce this risk, engineers commonly use hydraulic structures called energy dissipators that slow spillway discharge and safely release it downstream.

Commonly used energy dissipators at embankment dams include stilling basins that rely on a hydraulic jump – a sudden rise in water depth …