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Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

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Melengestrol Acetate (Mga) As An Effective Alternative To Induce Molting In Laying Hens, Jill Marie Koch May 2005

Melengestrol Acetate (Mga) As An Effective Alternative To Induce Molting In Laying Hens, Jill Marie Koch

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The current experiments were conducted to determine if an orally active progestin, melengestrol acetate (MGA), would be an effective method to induce molting that addresses hen well-being during and after molt. MGA can easily be administered to a large population because it is orally active and can be included in a balanced layer diet. Hens could be fed throughout the molting process, which would address the concerns brought about by other methods in that there is a nutrient deficiency that results in hen weight loss. If feeding MGA can effectively lead to a reversible regression of the oviduct then it …

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Functional Mri Of Rat Kidney Using Bold & Asl Techniques, Rajesh K. Garugu May 2005

Functional Mri Of Rat Kidney Using Bold & Asl Techniques, Rajesh K. Garugu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Noninvasive functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods may provide new ways to detect and track renal hemodynamic changes in-vivo. In this thesis, two fMRI methods were correlated with simultaneous invasive hemodynamic measurements. A particular goal of this thesis was to measure the relative contributions of oxygenation and perfusion changes to changes in the relaxation rate, T2*. Also, an MRI compatible motion detector was built and along with the invasive probes was interfaced to a data acquisition system for use during scanning. Drug-induced changes in renal oxygenation and blood flow were measured by BOLD- & ASL-MRI noninvasively, while a dual oxygenation/perfusion …

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Investigation Of Relative Humidity And Induced-Vortex Effects On Aircraft Icing, Egemen O. Ogretim May 2005

Investigation Of Relative Humidity And Induced-Vortex Effects On Aircraft Icing, Egemen O. Ogretim

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Aircraft icing is an area of research that has drawn attention since the early times of powered flight at high altitudes. Since World War II, aircraft icing research has gained a great deal of momentum, and several branches of research have developed as a result. These branches include the experimental, analytical and computational methods. With the advent of high-speed computers, the computational methods are becoming the leading icing research area due to their low cost requirements. However, a significant hindrance is the lack of a complete understanding of the icing phenomena, which leads to discrepancies between the predictions and the …

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Evaluation Of Superpave Mixtures In West Virginia Using The Asphalt Pavement Analyzer, Gabriel E. Patino May 2005

Evaluation Of Superpave Mixtures In West Virginia Using The Asphalt Pavement Analyzer, Gabriel E. Patino

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Superpave mix design method is widely implemented in the Unites States. Fundamental tests have been developed to assess a pavement's distress; however, those tests are time-consuming and require special equipment. Simpler tests, such as wheel tracking devices, have been developed. The most common is the Asphalt Pavement Analyzer, APA, a loaded wheel tester method to evaluate rutting, moisture susceptibility, and fatigue cracking.;This research focused on establishing whether there are relationships between the APA rutting potential and field performance. The APA was used to measure the rutting potential of Superpave mixes constructed throughout the state. Then the WVDOH provided rutting …

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Electromagnetic Nondestructive Inspection Of Aircraft Structures By Using A Magnetic Flux Leakage Method, Iyad Mahmood Ali Muslih May 2005

Electromagnetic Nondestructive Inspection Of Aircraft Structures By Using A Magnetic Flux Leakage Method, Iyad Mahmood Ali Muslih

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Aging of aircraft structures is mostly associated with fatigue cracking, de-bonding and corrosion. Detection and characterization of the structural defects at the initiation stages makes it a great challenge for any inspection technology. This study proposes a new solution for the nondestructive evaluation problem by using a magnetic flux method for non-ferromagnetic materials and provides a new neural network tool that predicts crack profiles in three dimensions by solving the inverse problem, where available neural networks can solve it in two dimensions only.;The discontinuity resulting from a crack produces disturbance to the distribution of electrical current density in the structure …

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Preparation Of Acoustic Emission Data For Neural Network Analysis Using Awk And C Programs, Avinash Kaza May 2005

Preparation Of Acoustic Emission Data For Neural Network Analysis Using Awk And C Programs, Avinash Kaza

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Fiber Reinforced Polymer composites are relatively new to the bridge construction industry. One of the challenges to greater usage is the lack of a real-time nondestructive method to accurately evaluate them. A Neural Network program can be used to predict the status of a structure by analyzing summarized Acoustic Emission data from the structure in real-time.;Existing methods use tools such as MS Excel to extract the Neural Network input matrix from raw data having more than 30,000 rows of Acoustic Emission data for a simple three point bending test. This manual data extraction process is very time consuming. Therefore, application …

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Distribution And Habitat Use Of The Crystal Darter ( Crystallaria Asprella) And Spotted Darter (Etheostoma Maculatum ) In The Elk River, West Virginia, Elizabeth A. Osier May 2005

Distribution And Habitat Use Of The Crystal Darter ( Crystallaria Asprella) And Spotted Darter (Etheostoma Maculatum ) In The Elk River, West Virginia, Elizabeth A. Osier

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Crystal darters (Crystallaria asprella) and spotted darters (Etheostoma maculatum) have disjunct distributions within the Mississippi River drainage. In West Virginia, both species are restricted to a single drainage (the Elk River). Little information exists on the distribution and habitat use of crystal and spotted darters in the Elk River. I surveyed the Elk River between Sutton and Charleston, West Virginia, and documented distributions of crystal and spotted darters, as well as habitat use and habitat availability data. Two crystal darters were collected during 20 sampling occasions from 2002 to 2004. Spotted darters were documented at 9 sites; habitat use data …

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Methods To Examine Social Change During National Forest Plan Revision, Jason M. Siniscalchi May 2005

Methods To Examine Social Change During National Forest Plan Revision, Jason M. Siniscalchi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Over the past three decades forest planning has undergone significant changes. First, planning has shifted from a synoptic to transactive process allowing the public a greater say in the decision making process. Second, ecosystem management has been the predominant philosophy in forest management since the 1990s which suggests involving a search for an ecosystem wide, long-term optimal solution toward management that integrates human desires and needs with ecological needs and technological and economic considerations. In taking an ecosystem-level approach, it is an extension of decentralized management by involving collaboration from multiple disciplines. Ecosystem management requires methods of data collection and …

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The Effects Of Asynchronous Computer Voice Conferencing On Learners' Anxiety When Speaking A Foreign Language, Maria Isabel Charle Poza May 2005

The Effects Of Asynchronous Computer Voice Conferencing On Learners' Anxiety When Speaking A Foreign Language, Maria Isabel Charle Poza

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study investigated the influence of asynchronous computer voice conferencing on learners' anxiety when speaking in a foreign language. The technology chosen was the voice board powered by Wimba. Three research questions guided this study: Research Question 1: What is the learners' perception of their language anxiety when speaking in the asynchronous computer voice conferencing environment?, Research Questions 2: How empowered do the learners feel to take risks in the asynchronous computer voice conferencing environment?, and Research Question 3: How concerned are the learners about being evaluated by others when making oral mistakes in the foreign language in the asynchronous …

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Learning To Deal With Cots (Commercial Off The Shelf), Sreeram Bayana May 2005

Learning To Deal With Cots (Commercial Off The Shelf), Sreeram Bayana

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With the advent of model based development technologies, dependence of COTS in software development has increased considerably. Use of COTS is considered economical and practical when it comes to integration of various software components. However COTS are trapped with some pitfalls. COTS provided are not usually accompanied by models or extensive specifications. This approach makes usage & integration of COTS components with in house developed software components a very challenging task. Conformance of the implementation with the specification forms the basis for our approach. In this thesis, we analyze an approach where the model is extracted from the COTS software …

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Periplasmic Flagella Of The Spirochetes Borrelia Burgdorferi And Brachyspira Hyodysenteriae, Melanie S. Sal May 2005

Periplasmic Flagella Of The Spirochetes Borrelia Burgdorferi And Brachyspira Hyodysenteriae, Melanie S. Sal

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Spirochetes are unique bacteria that cause a variety of diseases. Motility, provided by periplasmic flagella (PFs), is a virulence factor for spirochetes. This work focuses on PFs from Borrelia burgdorferi and Brachyspira hyodysenteriae. PFs consist of three main parts: basal body, hook, and filament. Monoclonal antibodies were developed to attempt identification of individual FlaB filament proteins in B. hyodysenteriae .;The PF filament of B. burgdorferi consists of a major flagellin, FlaB, and a minor flagellin, FlaA. FlaB constitutes 10-14%, whereas FlaA contributes less than 0.5%, of total cellular protein. Although these flagellins co-precipitate, the location of FlaA on a PF …

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The Character Within The Actor: A Journey Through Myself To Find Manya, Carrie L. Witting May 2005

The Character Within The Actor: A Journey Through Myself To Find Manya, Carrie L. Witting

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The creation of the character Manya in Stephen Dykes' Kolonists required me to stop acting and begin living onstage. I have always perceived acting as a feat of doing or creating. I succumbed to a habit of falsely imitating reality and dwelled in the manufacturing of phony characters. Through a journey full of self discovery I find a character within the life I have already created: myself. Through the journey of my experiences in Kolonists, I am able to acknowledge these habits and personal misunderstandings, and encourage myself to stop imitating life onstage and allow myself to act as an …

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Identifying Critical Factors For Developing Effective Rural Community Technology Centers, Daphne Gooding May 2005

Identifying Critical Factors For Developing Effective Rural Community Technology Centers, Daphne Gooding

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this research is to inform both existing and developing community technology initiatives as to the critical factors for building effective rural community technology centers. Rural community technology centers which had been operating for at least two years were identified and contacted by telephone. Either a paid or volunteer staff person was interviewed using a semi-structured protocol of open-ended questions. Responses were taped, transcribed and coded using standard tools and procedures for qualitative investigation. Codes were grouped in 12 thematic groups. Relative occurrences of codes within each group were analyzed. Participants were asked what criteria were used to …

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Numerical Simulation Of Continuous Miner Rock Cutting Process, Bo Yu May 2005

Numerical Simulation Of Continuous Miner Rock Cutting Process, Bo Yu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Usually, parametric analysis of the continuous miner cutting process is studied by experimental tests. In this dissertation, the need for numerical simulation of the continuous miner rock cutting process is established. In order to fulfill this need, four major numerical methods, namely the Finite Difference Method, the Finite Element Method, the Boundary Element Method, and the Discrete Element Method, are reviewed. The Finite Element Method is then chosen as the simulation tool because it is more advanced and versatile than the other methods.;The rotation and advance of a continuous miner cutter head is simulated by the Finite Element Method with …

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Shared Decision-Making And Its Impact On Inclusion For Special Needs Students, Deborah E. Kuhns May 2005

Shared Decision-Making And Its Impact On Inclusion For Special Needs Students, Deborah E. Kuhns

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Shared decision-making is a style of leadership that affords ownership, empowerment, and being part of a team that can make a difference. When the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) required a committee to develop an Individualized Education Program, inclusion was considered in order to provide the least restrictive environment within which the student could make progress in a school setting.;When the regular classroom teachers feel that they help to make decisions for inclusion of children in their classrooms, does it impact their implementation of inclusion? Regular classroom teachers were interviewed for this case study to determine how shared decision-making …

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Classroom Justice As A Predictor Of Students' Perceptions Of Empowerment And Emotional Response, Michelle L. Paulsel May 2005

Classroom Justice As A Predictor Of Students' Perceptions Of Empowerment And Emotional Response, Michelle L. Paulsel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

One purpose of this dissertation was to examine the emotional response theory in the instructional context. A second purpose of this dissertation was to determine the predictive power of classroom justice. The effects of distributive, procedural, and instructional justice on students' emotional response and perceptions of empowerment were examined. Students ( N = 511) completed questionnaires about the class they had immediately before the class in which data were collected. Results indicated that classroom justice positively predicted students' emotional response and perceptions of empowerment. This dissertation also examined the relationships between students' emotional response and their perceptions of empowerment. Results …

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Development Of An Indentation Method For Material Surface Mechanical Properties Measurement, Ziheng Yao May 2005

Development Of An Indentation Method For Material Surface Mechanical Properties Measurement, Ziheng Yao

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With the utilizing structural materials with small size dimensions (such as MEMS devices), there are growing need to characterize the mechanical properties of the small volumes of materials. Tensile test is not possible to be applied to these small volumes. Indentation technique has emerged as a cost-effective, convenient and non-destructive method to solve this problem. It is also a promising means of obtaining mechanical properties for thin films, which were widely used in various industries nowadays.;In this work, finite element simulations of spherical indentation on various material models were performed to develop a series of methodology, by which the material …

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Experimental Investigation Of Oscillatory Heat Release Mechanisms And Stability Margin Analysis In Lean -Premixed Combustion, Don H. Ferguson May 2005

Experimental Investigation Of Oscillatory Heat Release Mechanisms And Stability Margin Analysis In Lean -Premixed Combustion, Don H. Ferguson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Lean-premixed combustion has become an acceptable means of achieving ultra-low NOx emissions from land-based gas turbines. Further reduction may be possible through the use of hydrogen augmented or syngas fuels. However, advanced combustor designs developed to utilize these technologies often encounter thermoacoustic instabilities that may significantly hamper engine performance and shorten component life-cycles. These dynamics, although not fully understood, occur through a complex interaction between variations in heat release rate and acoustic properties of the system, and can be exacerbated by variable fuel properties in natural gas and syngas applications.;Theoretical models of thermoacoustic instabilities have attempted to describe the coupling …

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Steady State Thermal Stress Analyses Of Two-Dimensional And Three-Dimensional Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Srividya Valluru May 2005

Steady State Thermal Stress Analyses Of Two-Dimensional And Three-Dimensional Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Srividya Valluru

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices which convert fuels directly into electrical energy without combustion. The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) is the most promising energy saving technology to generate electric power. The present work characterizes the thermal stresses arising during the operation of planar solid oxide fuel cells which is a critical factor in the development of an efficient fuel cell. The thermal stresses are calculated from the temperature fields using ANSYS(TM). A sequentially coupled thermal stress analysis approach is implemented for the two-dimensional five stack fuel cell model and a structural analysis for the three-dimensional single stack fuel cell. …

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Noise And Error Propagation In Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Shital Bipin Desai May 2005

Noise And Error Propagation In Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Shital Bipin Desai

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is the in vivo visualization and analysis of white matter fiber tracts by measuring the anisotropy of water molecule diffusion in the brain tissue. DTI has been increasingly used in clinical imaging. Diffusion weighted images are affected by noise from the human subject and the MRI scanner. This thesis studies the error propagation in the calculation of the DTI invariant anisotropy, mainly the Fractional Anisotropy (FA) using four methods and their comparison in terms of error, filtering and computational efficiency using simulated and human brain data. These methods were Diffusion Tensor, Diffusion Ellipsoid, Hasan and Platonic …

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How People Become Media Literate And Their Media Habits, Indira Liz Calles Giraud May 2005

How People Become Media Literate And Their Media Habits, Indira Liz Calles Giraud

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Media literacy is defined as the way people analyze and interpret messages from mass media. This project studies how people become media literate and methodologies that may be applied to make media education more effective. It is important to know and understand background information about people, exclusively their likes and dislikes about mass media and also to identify what makes these people form media literacy habits. This study discusses different theories about media education and propagation. But primarily this study compares those who have had formal exposure to media literacy with those whose exposure has been less methodical. The study …

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Durability Studies Of High Performance Concrete Used For Bridge Decks, Dayong Fan May 2005

Durability Studies Of High Performance Concrete Used For Bridge Decks, Dayong Fan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The present study, as a part of the WVDOH large scale project on HPC, was directed to evaluate various durability aspects of HPC using West Virginia (WV) sources of materials. A total of 24 HPC mixtures were prepared with different supplementary cementing materials (SCM), such as fly ash, slag, silica fume and metakaolin as single or combined admixtures; normal Portland cement, chemical admixtures, and WV sources of limestone and gravel. Durability evaluations included: electrical indications of chloride penetration, chloride ion diffusion test, freeze-thaw/salt scaling test and physical sulfate attack test.;Results and relationships between the results were discussed. Some conclusions were …

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Bioleaching And Electrobioleaching Of Sulfide Minerals, Brian D. Conner May 2005

Bioleaching And Electrobioleaching Of Sulfide Minerals, Brian D. Conner

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and pyrite, were leached using a bioleaching mode and an electrobioleaching mode. The former mode was used to teach the minerals with the bacterium A. ferrooxidans in a bioreactor. In the latter mode, the leaching of the minerals was performed in a combination of a bioreactor and an electrochemical cell. The idea is that an increase in Fe(II) concentration, which is a nutrient of the bacteria, by electrochemical reduction of Fe(III) would increase the bacterial population and in turn would accelerate the leaching of the mineral.;It has been found that the electrobioleaching of chalcopyrite and pyrite is superior …

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Instant Message Communication And Its Impact Upon Written Language, Lara L. Eller May 2005

Instant Message Communication And Its Impact Upon Written Language, Lara L. Eller

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of computer-mediated communication upon users. The theory of technological determinism will be defined, discussed in detail, and applied to the research of computerized communication. The concept of language deconstruction (i.e., Internet slang, use of emoticons, and shorthand) in instant messaging will be analyzed through content analysis and through a series of interviews with high school and college journalism instructors. Does computer-mediated communication, specifically Instant messaging have a positive or negative effect on written language? The author discovered that many instant message conversations, in personal and professional settings, have Internet slang …

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Design, Construction And Initial Testing Of Experimental Test Package For Convective Spray Cooling In Terrestrial Gravity Conditions, Charles Andy Hunnell May 2005

Design, Construction And Initial Testing Of Experimental Test Package For Convective Spray Cooling In Terrestrial Gravity Conditions, Charles Andy Hunnell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The design and construction of an apparatus for spray cooling tests was completed to better understand the effects of spray cooling with different geometries at varied flow rates and different spray orientations. Three different geometries were studied at four different spray volumetric flow rates varying from 9.3 GPH to 4.6 GPH. At each spray flow rate the heat flux of the small heated pedestal located in the spray chamber was increased from 5 W/cm2 to 32.24 W/cm2. During these tests the spray orientation was changed from a vertical downward spray to a horizontal spray. The convective heat transfer coefficient and …

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Computer-Assisted Learning Of Japanese Kanji, Adam D. Horne May 2005

Computer-Assisted Learning Of Japanese Kanji, Adam D. Horne

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of the program described in this problem report is to assist learners of Japanese kanji in remembering the order, direction, and number of strokes for a given kanji. Using OpenGL and the Open Haptics toolkit, the program allows the user to both see and feel the kanji. Using a PHANTOM haptic device, the user can trace the different strokes using a height map of the kanji or following arrows that show the direction and order of strokes.

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Forced Vibration And Hygrothermal Analysis Of Composite Laminated Beams Under The Action Of Moving Loads, Praveen Kumar Kavipurapu May 2005

Forced Vibration And Hygrothermal Analysis Of Composite Laminated Beams Under The Action Of Moving Loads, Praveen Kumar Kavipurapu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The dynamic response of simply supported glass/epoxy composite beams subjected to moving loads in a hygrothermal environment is carried out using the general purpose finite element program ANSYS. The moving load model and the hygrothermal incorporation are validated separately by reproducing results available in the literature. The hygrothermal effect is introduced by using empirical relations for degrading the material stiffness properties of the matrix. The corresponding ply properties are calculated using the rule of mixtures. A parametric study is conducted by varying the fiber volume fraction and the fiber orientation of the angle plies in the laminate. The results indicate …

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Text-Independent Speaker Recognition, Smitha Gangisetty May 2005

Text-Independent Speaker Recognition, Smitha Gangisetty

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research presents new text-independent speaker recognition system with multivariate tools such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Independent Component Analysis (ICA) embedded into the recognition system after the feature extraction step. The proposed approach evaluates the performance of such a recognition system when trained and used in clean and noisy environments. Additive white Gaussian noise and convolutive noise are added. Experiments were carried out to investigate the robust ability of PCA and ICA using the designed approach. The application of ICA improved the performance of the speaker recognition model when compared to PCA. Experimental results show that use of …

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Methodology To Determine Post Yield Material Mechanical Properties From Spherical Indentation, Bharath Konda May 2005

Methodology To Determine Post Yield Material Mechanical Properties From Spherical Indentation, Bharath Konda

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Conventional material testing methods, such as tensile tests require the preparation of specimens and is not applicable for small-size coupons or on-site, in-situ testing. In this research, a method of determining material stress-strain curve based on spherical indentation is studied. Spherical-indentation process is analyzed by finite element (FE) method and a systematic analysis of relationships between indentation parameters and true stress/plastic-strain (sigmat- epsilonp) curve is performed for a range of material properties. A detailed methodology based on Tabor's empirical formula and Meyer's law is developed to determine the material strain hardening properties, Young's modulus and yield strength. It is noticed …

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Effect Of Opening Size On The Effectiveness Of A Noise Enclosure On The Side Facing The Opening, Amit Damodar Hegde May 2005

Effect Of Opening Size On The Effectiveness Of A Noise Enclosure On The Side Facing The Opening, Amit Damodar Hegde

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Noise enclosures are an important tool in reducing noise exposures. Holes in enclosures are known to reduce the effectiveness of such enclosures. There are methods to predict the effects of openings, but those methods are largely untested in real enclosures. This study investigated the effects of hole size (0%, 0.024%, 0.379%, 0.675%, 1.492%,and 5.063%) at a distance of 5 feet (1.524 m) in a 96 inch (2.46 m) x 37 inch (0.94 m) x 31 inch (0.79 m), 3/4 inch plywood enclosure with a noise source centered in the box and the openings centered on one long face of the …

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