Engineering Commons^™

Compositional Analysis Of Cerium And Cesium In Rapid Setting Cement As An Immobilization Agent For Nuclear Waste, Riyadh M. Motny

Theses and Dissertations

A feasibility of rapid setting cement (RSC) as an agent of immobilization for certain elements such as fission products or radioactive materials was explored. Cerium (Ce) and cesium (Cs) have been selected as a surrogate for U and/or Pu and fission products, respectively, in this study in three phases. In Phase I, RSC was evaluated for physical properties (e.g., porosity, density, pH values, etc.) using two groups methods—the cement powder at different concentrations of Ce (2 – 10 wt%) with deionized water (DIW) and artificial seawater (ASW). The results showed that the final setting time and compressive strength of RSC …

Multiphase Droplet Interactions With A Single Fiber, Noor M. Farhan

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Multiphase Droplet Interactions with a Single Fiber

By: Noor M. Farhan

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Virginia Commonwealth University, 2019

Director: Hooman V. Tafreshi,

Professor, Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering

Formulating the physics of droplet adhesion to a fiber is interesting intellectually and important industrially. A typical example of a droplet–fiber system in nature is the dew droplets on spider webs, where droplets first precipitate and grow on the fibers, but they eventually fall when they become too heavy. Obviously, quantifying the force …

Differential Mobility Classifiers In The Non-Ideal Assembly, Thamir Alsharifi

Theses and Dissertations

The differential mobility classifier (DMC) is one of the core components in electrical mobility particle sizers for sizing sub-micrometer particles. Designing the DMC requires knowledge of the geometrical and constructional imperfection (or tolerance). Studying the effects of geometrical imperfection on the performance of the DMC is necessary to provide manufacturing tolerance and it helps to predict the performance of geometrically imperfect classifiers, as well as providing a calibration curve for the DMC. This thesis was accomplished via studying the cylindrical classifier and the parallel plate classifier. The numerical model was built using the most recent versions of COMSOL Multiphysics^{® …}

Computational And Experimental Investigation On The Wetting Behavior Of Droplet-Fiber Systems, Hossain Aziz

Theses and Dissertations

Interaction of a liquid droplet and a fiber or layer of fibers is ubiquitous in nature and in a variety of industrial applications. It plays a crucial role in fog harvesting, coalescence filtration, membrane desalination, self-cleaning and fiber based microfluidics, among many others. This work presents a quantitative investigation on the interactions of a droplet with a fiber or layers of fibers. More precisely, the present work is focused on 1) predicting the effects of fiber’s size and material on its ability to withhold a droplet against external forces and on the liquid residue left on the fiber after the …

Resonant Acoustic Wave Assisted Spin-Transfer-Torque Switching Of Nanomagnets, Austin R. Roe

Theses and Dissertations

We studied the possibility of achieving an order of magnitude reduction in the energy dissipation needed to write bits in perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (p-MTJs) by simulating the magnetization dynamics under a combination of resonant surface acoustic waves (r-SAW) and spin-transfer-torque (STT). The magnetization dynamics were simulated using the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation under macrospin assumption with the inclusion of thermal noise. We studied such r-SAW assisted STT switching of nanomagnets for both in-plane elliptical and circular perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) nanomagnets and show that while thermal noise affects switching probability in in-plane nanomagnets, the PMA nanomagnets are relatively robust to the …

Material Interactions And Self-Assembly In Inkjet Printing, Karam Nashwan Al-Milaji

Theses and Dissertations

Inkjet printing has attracted much attention in recent years as a versatile manufacturing tool, suitable for printing functional materials. This facile, low-cost printing technique with high throughput and accuracy is considered promising for a wide range of applications including but not limited to optical and electronic devices, sensors, solar cells, biochips, and displays. The performance of such functional devices is significantly influenced by the deposit morphology and printing resolution. Therefore, fabrication functional devices with precise footprints by inkjet printing requires deep understanding of ink properties, material interactions, and material self-assembly.

In conventional inkjet printing process, where sessile droplets are directly …

Optimizing Nasal Cannulas For Infants Using Computational Fluid Dynamics, Ahmad El-Achwah Mr.

Theses and Dissertations

Aerosolized medications can potentially be delivered to the lungs of infants through a nasal cannula interface. However, nose-to-lung delivery technologies currently allow for ~1% of the loaded dose to reach an infant’s lungs. Conventional dry powder inhalers (DPI) are superior to other types of inhalers in many ways. However, passive DPIs that operate based on user inhalation and require large volumes of airflow are not applicable to infants. To overcome this challenge, positive pressure DPIs have been developed that enable aerosol delivery to infants. Unless an adequate nasal interface is used with these devices, a significant amount of drug will …

Capillary Forces In Partially Saturated Thin Fibrous Media, Ali Moghadam

Theses and Dissertations

Capillarity is often exploited in self-cleaning, drag reducing and fluid absorption/storage (sanitary products) purposes just to name a few. Formulating the underlying physics of capillarity helps future design and development of optimized structures. This work reports on developing computational models to quantify the capillary pressure and capillary forces on the fibrous surfaces. To this end, the current study utilizes a novel mass-spring-damper approach to incorporate the mechanical properties of the fibers in generating virtual fibrous structures that can best represent fibrous membranes. Such virtual fibrous structures are then subjected to a pressure estimation model, developed for the first time in …

Modeling Electrospun Fibrous Materials, Sina Hassanpouryousefi

Theses and Dissertations

Electrospinning has been the focus of countless studies for the past decades for applications, including but not limited to, filtration, tissue engineering, and catalysis. Electrospinning is a one-step process for producing nano- and/or micro-fibrous materials with diameters ranging typically from 50 to 5000 nm. The simulation algorithm presented here is based on a novel mass-spring-damper (MSD) approach devised to incorporate the mechanical properties of the fibers in predicting the formation and morphology of the electrospun fibers as they travel from the needle toward the collector, and as they deposit on the substrate. This work is the first to develop a …