Engineering Commons^™

Aging And Rejuvenation During Elastostatic Loading Of Amorphous Alloys, Nikolai V. Priezjev

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the effect of uniaxial elastostatic compression on the potential energy, structural relaxation, and mechanical properties of binary glasses. We consider the three-dimensional Kob-Andersen binary mixture, which was initially cooled from the liquid state to the glass phase with a slow rate at zero pressure. The glass was then loaded with a static stress at the annealing temperature during extended time intervals. It is found that the static stress below the yielding point induces large-scale plastic deformation and significant rejuvenation when the annealing temperature is smaller than a fraction of the glass transition temperature. By …

Soil-Recycled Aggregate-Geopolymer Road Base/Subbase Mixtures: Steps Towards Sustainability, Mohammad Khattak, Daniel Odion

Data

Corresponding data set for Tran-SET Project No. 18GTLSU10. Abstract of the final report is stated below for reference:

"This study deals with the development of Soil-Geopolymer mixtures using flyash, alkali activator and recycled aggregates (RAG) including recycled concrete (RCA) and reclaimed asphalt (RAP) as an alternative to soil-cement for pavement base and subbase layers. Several mix constituents were varied such as flyash type and content, RCA and RAP content and ratio of sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide. Experiment design was established and mechanical and durability characteristics of Soil-RAG-Geopolymer mixtures were evaluated and then compared to the conventional soil-cement mixtures. The …

Reduction Of Structural Damage From The Thermal Expansion Of Concrete Using Multifunctional Materials, Darren Hartl, Mirmilad Mirsayar

Data

Corresponding data set for Tran-SET Project No. 18STTAM01. Abstract of the final report is stated below for reference:

"This study leveraged past successes in the analysis and design of shape memory alloy (SMA) components to address the issue of thermal expansion in concrete structures. Since the SMA used in the current work is relatively cheaper than other common SMAs (less than $50/lb compared to NiTi which is $200/lb due to difficulties in processing), it is anticipated that the findings of the study could be implemented in real infrastructures made of concrete, asphalt concrete, and other complex large infrastructure. Low-cost Fe-SMAs …

Reduction Of Structural Damage From The Thermal Expansion Of Concrete Using Multifunctional Materials, Darren Hartl, Mirmilad Mirsayar

Publications

This study leveraged past successes in the analysis and design of shape memory alloy (SMA) components to address the issue of thermal expansion in concrete structures. Since the SMA used in the current work is relatively cheaper than other common SMAs (less than $50/lb compared to NiTi which is $200/lb due to difficulties in processing), it is anticipated that the findings of the study could be implemented in real infrastructures made of concrete, asphalt concrete, and other complex large infrastructure. Low-cost Fe-SMAs and other multifunctional materials can be considered as a replacement for components made of steel (e.g., in reinforced …

Nonlinear Characterizing Of A New Titanium Nitride On Aluminum Oxide Metalens, Michael A. Cumming

Theses and Dissertations

A sample metalens generated from Titanium Nitride deposited onto Aluminum Oxide was designed to focus at 10 microns with a beam centered at 800nm, and when analyzed with high intensity illumination was found to have a focal length of 9.650 ±.003µm at an intensity of 16.93[MW/cm² ]. Analyzing this change by comparing it to a Fresnel Lens’ physics shows that for this lens, the effective nonlinear index of refraction is certainly greater than the nonlinear index of just Titanium Nitride itself, at −1.6239 × 10⁻¹⁵[m²/W] compared to the materials −1.3 × 10⁻¹⁵[m^{2 …}

Soil-Recycled Aggregate-Geopolymer Road Base/Subbase Mixtures: Steps Towards Sustainability, Mohammad Khattak, Daniel Odion

Publications

This study deals with the development of Soil-Geopolymer mixtures using flyash, alkali activator and recycled aggregates (RAG) including recycled concrete (RCA) and reclaimed asphalt (RAP) as an alternative to soil-cement for pavement base and subbase layers. Several mix constituents were varied such as flyash type and content, RCA and RAP content and ratio of sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide. Experiment design was established and mechanical and durability characteristics of Soil-RAG-Geopolymer mixtures were evaluated and then compared to the conventional soil-cement mixtures. The results of the testing showed that for the selected Soil-RAG-Geopolymer mixtures the strength, stiffness, permanent deformation, and durability …

Smart Additive Manufacturing: In-Process Sensing And Data Analytics For Online Defect Detection In Metal Additive Manufacturing Processes, Mohammad Montazeri

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The goal of this dissertation is to detect the incipient flaws in metal parts made using additive manufacturing processes (3D printing). The key idea is to embed sensors inside a 3D printing machine and conclude whether there are defects in the part as it is being built by analyzing the sensor data using artificial intelligence (machine learning). This is an important area of research, because, despite their revolutionary potential, additive manufacturing processes are yet to find wider acceptance in safety-critical industries, such as aerospace and biomedical, given their propensity to form defects. The presence of defects, such as porosity, can …

Enhanced Sensing Performance Of Novel Nanostructured Zno Gas Sensors In Ethanol Vapor Concentration Detection Applications, Pengtao Lin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Sensors are devices which have been commonly used to measure the functional dependence and the variability of physical parameters like temperature, pressure, pH, voltage, current, concentration, and others. Among the numerous kinds of sensors in different areas, gas sensors have been widely used and investigated for gas monitoring. Gas sensors are of crucial importance for the detection of hazardous atmospheres, because toxic gases are frequently odorless, colorless, invisible, rapidly evaporating, and flammable, and would otherwise go unnoticed. Gas sensors have been used in a variety of applications among others for the detection of specific gas species and the detection of …

Demonstration Of Visible And Near Infrared Raman Spectrometers And Improved Matched Filter Model For Analysis Of Combined Raman Signals, Alexander Matthew Atkinson

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Raman spectroscopy is a powerful analysis technique that has found applications in fields such as analytical chemistry, planetary sciences, and medical diagnostics. Recent studies have shown that analysis of Raman spectral profiles can be greatly assisted by use of computational models with achievements including high accuracy pure sample classification with imbalanced data sets and detection of ideal sample deviations for pharmaceutical quality control. The adoption of automated methods is a necessary step in streamlining the analysis process as Raman hardware becomes more advanced. Due to limits in the architectures of current machine learning based Raman classification models, transfer from pure …

Nonlinearities And Carrier Dynamics In Refractory Plasmonic Tin Thin Films, Heather George, Jennifer Reed, Manuel R. Ferdinandus, Clayton Devault, Alexei Lagutchev, Augustine Urbas, Theodore B. Norris, Vladimir M. Shalaev, Alexandra Boltasseva, Nathaniel Kinsey

Faculty Publications

Titanium nitride is widely used in plasmonic applications, due to its robustness and optical properties which resemble those of gold. Despite this interest, the nonlinear properties have only recently begun to be investigated. In this work, beam deflection and non-degenerate femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy (800 nm pump and 650 nm probe) were used to measure the real and imaginary transient nonlinear response of 30-nm-thick TiN films on sapphire and fused silica in the metallic region governed by Fermi-smearing nonlinearities. In contrast to other metals, it is found that TiN exhibits non-instantaneous positive refraction and reverse saturable absorption whose relaxation is dominated …

Biopolymer-Stabilized Earth Materials For Resilient And Adaptable Infrastructures, Sherif Abdelaziz, Dilip Gersappe, Dilip Rafailovich

Department of Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Earth dams and levees are constructed and retrofitted nowadays using the same materials that were used in the past, clays and sands. Despite the current advances in engineering, designing and constructing these critical infrastructure, earthen dams and levees continue to suffer from the same challenges over the years. These challenges include internal and surface erosions, loss of stability due to moisture migration, and inabilities to self-heal potential failure points. This project focuses on the use of biopolymers as additives to strengthen earthen dams and levees targeting an overall increase in their resilience.

Explicitly, the report for Milestone 3 presented the …

Effect Of Anisotropic Elasticity On Dislocation Pile-Ups At Grain Boundaries, Xiaolei Chen, Stéphane Berbenni, Christian Motz, Thiebaud Richeton

Nanomechanical Testing in Materials Research and Development VII

This study deals with in-situ micromechanical tests of micron-sized bi-crystals and observations coupling SEM, AFM and EBSD. Different FCC bi-crystals are obtained from FIB machining. A SEM in-situ compression test with a low strain is performed on a micron-sized bi-crystal in order to induce single slip deformation. Spatial variations in the surface step height due to dislocation activity in localized slip bands terminating at the grain boundary (GB) are measured by AFM. This allows the determination of the Burgers vector distribution and hence the dislocation positions in the pile-up as shown in Figure 1. Furthermore, local misorientation along slip bands …

Conference Program, Jon Molina-Aldareguia

Nanomechanical Testing in Materials Research and Development VII

No abstract provided.

Optical Response Of Bifeo3 Films Subjected To Uniaxial Strain, Andrew Herklotz, Stefania Rus, Changhee Sohn, Santosh Kc, Valentino Cooper, Er-Jia Guo, Thomas Ward

Faculty Publications

The impact of single-axis lattice expansion on the optical response of BiFeO3 films is examined. Low-energy He implantation is used to tailor morphotropic phases of BiFeO3 films and study changes in their optical spectra with continuously increasing lattice expansion. He ion implantation of epitaxial rhombohedral (R)- and tetragonal (T)-like BiFeO3 films induces uniaxial out-of-plane strain that, on R-like films, eventually leads to a complete R-T phase transition. This approach allows us to provide insights into the optical response of BiFeO3 films. Strain doping of T-like films leads to a significant redshift of the optical absorption spectra that is theoretically explained …

Optimization And Structural Stability Of Gold Nanoparticle–Antibody Bioconjugates, Robert T. Busch, Farzia Karim, John Weis, Yvonne Sun, Chenglong Zhao

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) bound with biomolecules have emerged as suitable biosensors exploiting unique surface chemistries and optical properties. Many efforts have focused on antibody bioconjugation to AuNPs resulting in a sensitive bioconjugate to detect specific types of bacteria. Unfortunately, bacteria thrive under various harsh environments, and an understanding of bioconjugate stability is needed. Here, we show a method for optimizing Listeria monocytogenes polyclonal antibodies bioconjugation mechanisms to AuNPs via covalent binding at different pH values, from 2 to 11, and 2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid (MES), 3-(N-morpholino)propanesulfonic acid, NaOH, HCl conditions. By fitting Lorentz curves to the amide I and II regions, we …

Force Oscillations Distort Avalanche Shapes, Louis W. Mcfaul, Wendelin J. Wright, Jordan Sickle, Karin A. Dahmen

Faculty Journal Articles

Contradictory scaling behavior in experiments testing the principle of universality may be due to external oscillations. Thus, the effect of damped oscillatory external forces on slip avalanches in slowly deformed solids is simulated using a mean-field model. Akin to a resonance effect, oscillatory driving forces change the dynamics of avalanches with durations close to the oscillation period. This problem can be avoided by tuning mechanical resonance frequencies away from the range of the inverse avalanche durations. The results provide critical guidance for experimental tests for universality and a quantitative understanding of avalanche dynamics under a wide range of driving conditions.

Application Of Active And Edible Films Of Sodium Caseinate To Extend The Shelf-Life Of Argentine Pategrás Cheese, Brenda S. Álvarez, Natalia Damiani, Marina Czerner, Josefa F. Martucci, Liesel B. Gende

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Argentine Pategrás cheese is one of the most popular types of cheese in Argentina. The main spoilage causes in these products are microbiological contamination and lipid rancidity. Semi-hard cheeses are usually covered with a paraffin wax that favors its preservation. When pieces are stored, cutting faces must be protected to prevent desiccation and contamination. Active biodegradable films are an alternative to the traditional materials, in particular, casein-based edible films are attractive for food applications. In the present work, active films of sodium caseinate with oregano (Origanum vulgare) and laurel (Laurus nobilis) essential oils were produced for …

Mitigating Reflective Cracking Through The Use Of A Ductile Concrete Interlayer, Qian Zhang, Mohammad Khattak, Adway Das

Data

Corresponding data set for Tran-SET Project No. 18PLSU13. Abstract of the final report is stated below for reference:

"Reflective cracking is considered one of the most important issues that causes premature deterioration of composite pavements. Many types of mitigation methods have been studied in the past. However, they are either not effective in delaying the reflective cracking, or they only extend the service life by a few years. To address this critical issue and significantly extend the service life of the composite pavement, in this research, a ductile interlayer made of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) was proposed. It was hypothesized …

Development Of Geopolymer-Based Cement And Soil Stabilizers For Transportation Infrastructure, Miladin Radovic, Anand Puppala

Data

Corresponding data set for Tran-SET Project No. 18CTAM03. Abstract of the final report is stated below for reference:

"Geopolymer Cement (GPC) has drawn much attention in the recent years as an alternative to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) for soil stabilization, pavements, bridges and other transportation structures due to their good mechanical properties in comparison to OPC. In addition, GPC can be processed at room temperatures from aqueous solutions of waste materials (e.g. fly ash) or abundant natural sources (e.g. clay), thereby significantly reducing CO2 production associated with processing of OPC. As such, GPC proves to be a more sustainable and …

Toward Non-Corrosion And Highly Sustainable Structural Members By Using Ultra-High-Performance Materials For Transportation Infrastructure, Shih-Ho Chao, Ashish Karmacharya

Data

Corresponding data set for Tran-SET Project No. 18STUTA01. Abstract of the final report is stated below for reference:

"This research focused on investigating a highly sustainable and efficient reinforced concrete structural member for future infrastructure by utilizing emerging high-performance materials. These materials include ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHP-FRC) and corrosion-resistant high-strength fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars. Four reduced scale UHP-FRC specimens were tested under large displacement reversals to prove the proposed new ductile-concrete strong-reinforcement (DCSR) design concept by fully utilizing these ultra-high-performance materials. Micro steel fibers were incorporated into three specimens and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers were blended into the fourth …

Mitigating Reflective Cracking Through The Use Of A Ductile Concrete Interlayer, Qian Zhang, Mohammad Khattak, Adway Das

Publications

Reflective cracking is considered one of the most important issues that causes premature deterioration of composite pavements. Many types of mitigation methods have been studied in the past. However, they are either not effective in delaying the reflective cracking, or they only extend the service life by a few years. To address this critical issue and significantly extend the service life of the composite pavement, in this research, a ductile interlayer made of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) was proposed. It was hypothesized that by adding a thin layer of highly ductile ECC material between the existing pavement and overlay, reflective …

Investigation Of Physical And Dynamic Properties Of High Porous Concrete, Ildar Akhmadullin

Publications

This project pursued two main objectives: (1) providing opportunities to Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC) students to develop hands-on laboratory skills and exposure to the transportation field, and (2) investigating porous concrete properties. Several BRCC student groups performed the work presented within this report; students prepared samples with different porosity and permeability according to standard specifications. The testing of the samples was performed at the Louisiana Transportation Research Center (LTRC) facility under the supervision of LTRC specialists. Findings indicate that the porosity of samples is backward proportional to the compression strength. This function is not linear but can be estimated …

Toward Non-Corrosion And Highly Sustainable Structural Members By Using Ultra-High-Performance Materials For Transportation Infrastructure, Shih-Ho Chao, Ashish Karmacharya

Publications

This research focused on investigating a highly sustainable and efficient reinforced concrete structural member for future infrastructure by utilizing emerging high-performance materials. These materials include ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHP-FRC) and corrosion-resistant high-strength fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars. Four reduced scale UHP-FRC specimens were tested under large displacement reversals to prove the proposed new ductile-concrete strong-reinforcement (DCSR) design concept by fully utilizing these ultra-high-performance materials. Micro steel fibers were incorporated into three specimens and ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers were blended into the fourth specimen. One specimen with ASTM A1035 MMFX high-strength steel rebars, one with high-strength glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) …

Development Of Geopolymer-Based Cement And Soil Stabilizers For Transportation Infrastructure, Miladin Radovic, Anand Puppala

Publications

Geopolymer Cement (GPC) has drawn much attention in the recent years as an alternative to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) for soil stabilization, pavements, bridges and other transportation structures due to their good mechanical properties in comparison to OPC. In addition, GPC can be processed at room temperatures from aqueous solutions of waste materials (e.g. fly ash) or abundant natural sources (e.g. clay), thereby significantly reducing CO2 production associated with processing of OPC. As such, GPC proves to be a more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative than OPC. This research explores methods to develop GPC with desired properties and evaluate their …

Grain Size Effects In Selective Laser Melted Fe-Co-2v, Wesley Everhart, Joseph William Newkirk

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The material science of additive manufacturing (AM) has become a significant topic due to the unique way in which the material and geometry are created simultaneously. Major areas of research within inorganic materials include traditional structural materials, shape memory alloys, amorphous materials, and some new work in intermetallics. The unique thermal profiles created during selective laser melting (SLM) may provide new opportunities for processing intermetallics to improve mechanical and magnetic performance. A parameter set for the production of Fe-Co-2V material with additive manufacturing is developed and efforts are made to compare the traditional wrought alloy to the AM version of …

Rare But Conceivable: Determining The Likelihood Of Meteors And Other Infrequent Events, Michael S. Schmidt, Maria Vega-Westhoff

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In the aftermath of a rare but devastating disaster, there is a tendency to overestimate how frequent such an event may be, hence a tendency to overestimate the risk associated with such an event. Those concerned with process safety will acknowledge that though rare, events like meteors, hurricanes, and airplane crashes that can impact chemical plants are conceivable. Typically, though, they have nothing more than feelings to decide whether these events are likely enough to be considered "credible." This compiles data from the literature for several "meteors," both natural and man-made, that often become a cause of general concern after …

Improving Boron For Combustion Applications, Kerri-Lee Annique Chintersingh

Dissertations

Boron has received much attention as a potential additive to explosives and propellants due to its high theoretical gravimetric and volumetric heating values. The challenge, however, is that boron particles tend to agglomerate, have lengthy ignition delays and very low combustion rates. Prior research indicates that boron’s long ignition delays are due to its inhibiting naturally occurring oxide layer, impeding the diffusion of reactants for oxidation. For combustion, current studies report that boron particles have two consecutive stages, but the actual reaction mechanism is poorly understood. Despite many years of relevant research, quantitative combustion data on micron-sized boron particles are …

Low-Cost Open Source Ultrasound-Sensing Based Navigational Support For The Visually Impaired, Aliaksei Petsiuk, Joshua M. Pearce

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Nineteen million Americans have significant vision loss. Over 70% of these are not employed full-time, and more than a quarter live below the poverty line. Globally, there are 36 million blind people, but less than half use white canes or more costly commercial sensory substitutions. The quality of life for visually impaired people is hampered by the resultant lack of independence. To help alleviate these challenges this study reports on the development of a low-cost, open-source ultrasound-based navigational support system in the form of a wearable bracelet to allow people with the lost vision to navigate, orient themselves in their …

Regulation Of Copper Surface Via Redox Reactions For Enhancing Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction, Bao-Hua Hang, Jin-Tao Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

A large-scale application of fossil fuels has led to excessive emission of carbon dioxide (CO₂), resulting in serious environmental issues. A promising path to reducing CO₂ emissions is recycling CO₂ into valuable chemicals and fuels through an electrochemical process. Herein, the redox reactions between copper (Cu) and ferric chloride (FeCl₃) have been utilized to regulate the Cu surface composition and structure, aimed to improve the electrocatalytic activity toward CO₂ reduction. Typically, a series of samples (named Cu-1h, Cu-2h, Cu-3h and Cu-4h) were prepared via the redox reactions for various time from 1 to …

Single-Layer Oxygen Deficiency Δ-Mno2 For Electrochemical Co2 Reduction, Yue-Feng Zhang, Jian-Jun Liu, Zeng-Xi Wei, Xin-Xin Tian, Jian-Min Ma

Journal of Electrochemistry

Manganese dioxide (MnO₂) has been widely used in catalysis. In addition, since the defect engineering can change the electronic properties of the catalyst, here we have systematically studied electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO₂RR) on δ-MnO₂ with and without oxygen deficiency, denoted as Ov-MnO₂ and MnO₂, respectively. We calculate the electronic properties and the intermediate of free energy for MnO₂ and Ov-MnO₂ with the help of spin-polarized density functional theory. By analyzing this result, we can find that the introduction of defects change the δ-MnO₂ from semiconducting properties to …