Engineering Commons^™

Optimization Of The Tool Path In A Robotic Environment, Mukund Venkatachari Narasimhan

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations

The rising costs and demand coupled with shrinking energy generating resources has triggered the need for optimum use of energy resources, minimizing the overhead costs and maximizing the profits. Robots have been long touted as a fit replacement of human labor force in manufacturing sectors. Slowly there is increased presence of robots in automobile and electronic industries. Typically they are used for welding, painting, ironing, assembly, pick and place, inspection, and testing. Mass production, fulfilling the ever increasing demand, can be accomplished by robots because of their precision, speed of operation and high endurance capabilities. This dissertation comprises of two …

Computer-Aided Patient Specific Treatment Planning Of Cryosurgery For Breast Cancer, Junkyu Jung

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses

Cryosurgery, which is to destroy tumors by use of localized freezing, is an emerging treatment modality for breast cancer as the size of detectable tumor becomes smaller due to more frequent use of various diagnostic imaging including MRI, CT and mammogram. Although general surgical guideline has been developed and its effectiveness has been demonstrated, cryosurgical protocol should be adjusted for a given patient to accommodate patient-specific variations including tumor size, location and geometry of patient's breast. In this study, a computerized treatment planning tool was developed to aid surgeons to determine surgical parameters considering patient specific diagnostic information. This tool …

Freezing-Induced Microstructural Changes Of Collagen Scaffolds, Jeffrey David Miller

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses

Understanding the effects of freezing on the functional properties of tissues is critical to cryopreservation of native and artificial tissues, and prognosis after cryotherapies. Although investigations have been performed to correlate macroscopic properties such as mechanical properties with freezing parameters, the effects are typically tissue-type dependent and no physical understanding is available to explain these effects. Since the mechanical and optical properties of a tissue are based on the characteristics of its extracellular matrix (ECM), understanding and quantifying these changes could assist in predicting the response a tissue will have to freezing under different circumstances. In this study, the microstructural …

Multi-Sensor Fusion Based Control For Autonomous Operations: Rendezvous And Docking Of Spacecraft, Jonathan Bryan Mcdonald

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses

The project considers the problem of motion synchronization of free flying robotic spacecraft and serviceable floating objects in space. The synchronization maneuvers are based on sample and hold nonlinear translational and attitude control laws. GPS pseudorange signals and a vision based sensor unit are modeled to give position measurements; position and velocity estimates are extracted from the measurements based on Extended Kalman Filter models. A sensor data fusion algorithm in the form of a Federated Extended Kalman Filter is implemented that blends the estimates of the individual filters into a global estimate. Nonlinear simulations where a Pursuer spacecraft attempted to …

Flexible Microfluidic Circuit With Embedded In-Plane Valve, Srikar C. Paruchuri

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses

Recent developments in Microfluidic systems have demonstrated many potential applications related to biology, chemistry and medical sciences. Fluidic manipulation with precise volume control is a basic function in these systems, and microvalves play an important role in control and delivery of the fluid sample. One of the key issues in such valve design is to make large membrane deflections compared to the channel dimension. This thesis reports a flexible microfluidic chip with embedded in-plane valves for fluid manipulation. Silicone elastomer (Polydimethylsiloxane - PDMS) is one of the most suitable materials to fabricate microvalve membranes, because of its low Young's modulus, …

A Parametric Study Of Water Vapor Condensation In Supersonic Nozzle Flow Fields, Todd Branson Vanpelt

Masters Theses

Combustion driven hypersonic and supersonic wind tunnels are impaired in their flight simulation abilities by the condensation of water vapor introduced into the test stream by the burning byproducts of air and hydrocarbon fuels. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the abilities of a condensation model to predict the beginning axial locations of vapor changing into liquid droplets and study the correlations with initial combustion chamber conditions. A test matrix with different fuels, chamber pressure, and equivalence ratio was applied to the FIRACON model written by Erickson, et al. [7] using the dimensions of the NASA Langley …

Cooling Of Qps Modular Coils Using Embedded Copper Tubes, Shankar Narasimhaswami

Masters Theses

In an era of insatiable appetite for energy, mankind is challenged to develop a sustainable, safe and clean means of energy production, which would virtually eliminate the existing dependence on fossil fuels. In this regard, Nuclear Fusion technology would give man a quantum leap to mark a near end to the long-term energy concerns and redefine the basis of energy production on earth and elsewhere. This explanation holds rationale on two principal elements 1-Abundant supply of cheap fusion fuel and 2-Surpassingly superior energy production efficiency.

But, as every boon comes with a ‘But’, the criticality of technology is that fusion …

Solar Dhw Storage Tanks And Systems, Florida Solar Energy Center

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Water is by far the most common storage medium in solar domestic hot water systems. Rock storage is another method of sensible heat storage, but is not generally used in systems that are exclusively DHW. Storage of heat in solutions of phase-changing salts is extremely rare in DHW systems and therefore is not discussed.

Investigation Of Knock In Gaseous Fuels In The Presence Of Diluents, Roshan Ashok Rodrigues

Masters Theses

Recent energy security and environmental concerns have prompted growing interest into utilization of alternative fuels such as, natural gas and landfill gas. These gaseous fuels contain significant amount of diluents in the fuel composition, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water vapor and other trace gases, which vary by geographical location. Successful engine operation is limited by a phenomenon called "knock", which occurs due to auto-ignition of the end gas ahead of the flame front, and therefore, needs to be investigated with the utilization of these gaseous fuels.

The present contribution discusses the experimental set-up, procedure and results of the investigation …

Defining A Model For Tool Consumption Rate On Asphalt Reclamation Machines, Matthew H. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

Asphalt and concrete reclamation machines are used to cut roadways when a repair is required. The performance of these machines can affect the quality of road repairs, and cost/profitability for both contractors and governments. We believe that several performance characteristics in reclamation machines are governed by the placement and pattern of cutting picks on the cutter head. Previous studies, focused on mining and excavation applications, have shown strong correlation between placement and wear. The following study employs a screening experiment (observational study) to find significant contributors to tool wear, in applications of asphalt milling or reclamation. We have found that …

Field Monitoring And Computer Modeling To Determine Energy And Demand Savingsfrom The Melink Intellihood Exhaust And Make-Up Air Control System At Two Supermarkets, One Restaurant, And One Fast Food Restaurant, Florida Solar Energy Center, James Cummings

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Note: Only the Executive Summary of this proprietary report is available for public download.

Balanced Return Air, Duct Airtightness, And Combustion/Dilution Air Code Compliance In 40 Central Florida Homes, Florida Solar Energy Center, James Cummings

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This report has been extracted from a larger report titled "Florida Building Code - Enhance Florida's Building to Next-Generation Energy & Mechanical Codes and Enrich Compliance", FSEC-CR-1678-06, November 29, 2006, which can be found at http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/publications/pdf/FSEC-CR-1678-06.pdf

Florida Building Code - Enhance Florida's Building To Next-Generation Energy & Mechanical Codes And Enrich Compliance, Florida Solar Energy Center, Muthusamy V. Swami

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The project implemented ASHRAE 90.1 2004 into Florida's compliance tool, EnergyGauge, to allow inclusion of the methodologies and rule sets of ASHRAE 90.1-2004. The project also implemented IECC 2003 into Florida's compliance tool to allow inclusion of the methodologies of Chapters 4, 5, and 6 of the International Energy Conservation Code 2003 (IECC 2003). Field testing was completed in 40 central Florida homes (built after March 1, 2002) to examine compliance with the balanced return air, duct leakage, and combustion/dilution air requirements of the Florida Mechanical Code. A course titled Complying with Duct System Requirements of the Florida Energy Code …

Methods And Metrics For Human Control Of Multi-Robot Teams, Jeffrey D. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

Human-controlled robots are utilized in many situations and such use is becoming widespread. This thesis details research that allows a single human to interact with a team of robots performing tasks that require cooperation. The research provides insight into effective interaction design methods and appropriate interface techniques. The use of team-level autonomy is shown to decrease human workload while simultaneously improving individual robot efficiency and robot-team cooperation. An indoor human-robot interaction testbed was developed at the BYU MAGICC Lab to facilitate experimentation. The testbed consists of eight robots equipped with wireless modems, a field on which the robots move, an …

Simulation Of A Carbon Nanotube-Based Compliant Parallel-Guiding Mechanism: A Nanomechanical Building Block, Martin L. Culpepper, Christopher M. Dibiasio, Robert M. Panas, Spencer P. Magleby, Larry L. Howell

Faculty Publications

The authors report the behavior of a nanoscale parallel-guiding mechanism wherein the compliant components are single-walled carbon nanotubes. Parallel-guiding mechanisms are often the building blocks of macro- and microscale mechanical systems. The authors present results that provide insight into the performance of a parallel-guiding mechanism for nanoscale devices. The device exhibits a range over 75% of the device size, i.e., 5.5 nm, when actuated with 6.4 nN. Below 3.6 nN, displacements are due to bulk elastic bending of the nanotubes. Above 5.2 nN, displacements are governed by the hingelike bending of kinks in the nanotubes. van der Waals forces are …

Active Minimization Of Acoustic Energy Density To Attenuate Radiated Noise From A Diesel Generator, Andrew J. Boone

Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this thesis was to use active noise control (ANC) to globally minimize the tonal and broadband noise radiating from a diesel generator enclosure. The major goal of this research was to show that minimizing the noise within the enclosure can lead to an overall sound pressure level (SPL) reduction of radiated noise. The target levels for overall SPL reduction were at least 2 dBA. The control algorithms used in this research were based on a filtered-x LMS adaptive algorithm, which minimizes energy density (ED). Both feedforward and feedback control approaches were investigated. The noise spectrum produced by …

Characterization Of Black Liquor Sprays For Application To Entrained-Flow Processes, Andrew John Mackrory

Theses and Dissertations

In this work the differences between and characteristics of water and high solids, heated black liquor sprays from air-assist atomizers are examined. Sprays were imaged with a high speed camera and the images analyzed with computer code to produce droplet size data and macroscopic spray characteristics such as mass distribution. Fluid flow rates were measured to allow relevant dimensionless groups for the spray to be calculated. A 1000 degree C tubular furnace was placed around the spray to determine the effect of industrially relevant temperatures on the droplet formation process, relative to room-temperature conditions. It was found that high solids …

Segmental Sinusoidal Model For Speech Signal Coding, Florentinus Budi Setiawan, Soegijardjo Soegijoko, Sugihartono Sugihartono, Suhartono Tjondronegoro

Makara Journal of Technology

Segmental Sinusoidal Model for Speech Signal Coding. Periodic signal can be decomposed by sinusoidal component with Fourier series. With this characteristic, it can be modeled referring by sinusoidal form. By the sinusoidal model, signal can be quantized in order to encode the speech signal at the lower rate. The recent sinusoidal method is implemented in speech coding. By using this method, a block of the speech signal with 20 ms to 30 ms width is coded based on Fourier series coefficients. The new method proposed is quantization and reconstruction of speech signal by the segmental sinusoidal model. A segment is …

A Study On Parallel Computation Tools On Networked Pcs, Heru Suhartanto

Makara Journal of Technology

A Study on Parallel Computation Tools on Networked PCs. Many models for natural phenomena, engineering applications and industries need powerfull computing resources to solve their problems. High Performance Computing resources were introduced by many researchers. This comes in the form of Supercomputers and with operating systems and tools for development such as parallel compiler and its library. However, these resources are expensive for the investation and maintenance, hence people need some alternatives. Many people then introduced parallel distributed computing by using available computing resource such as PCs. Each of these PCs is treated as a processors, hence the cluster of …

Magnetic Field Effects On Caco3 Precipitation Process In Hard Water, Nelson Saksono, Setijo Bismo, Elsa Krisanti, Azwar Manaf, Roekmijati Widaningrum

Makara Journal of Technology

Magnetic Field Effects on CaCO3 Precipitation Process in Hard Water. Magnetic treatment is applied as physical water treatment for scale prevention especially CaCO3, from hard water in piping equipment by reducing its hardness. Na2CO3 and CaCl2 solution sample was used in to investigate the magnetic fields influence on the formation of particle of CaCO3. By changing the strength of magnetic fields, exposure time and concentration of samples solution, this study presents quantitative results of total scale deposit, total precipitated CaCO3 and morphology of the deposit. This research was run by comparing magnetically and non-magnetically treated samples. The results showed an …

Determination Of Operation Condition And Product Dimension Accuracy Optimization Of Filament Deposition Modelling On Layer Manufacturing Application, Slamet A. Widyanto, Alva Edy Tontowi, Jamasri Jamasri, Heru Santoso Budi Rochardjo

Makara Journal of Technology

Layer manufacturing process has proven as a process that can produce a high complexity mechanical part. Now, Improvement of LM methods continuously conduct that is aimed to increase precessions and efficiency of these processes. Pressure filament deposition modelling is a form of layer manufacturing process that is designed to produce a plastic part with controlling its semisolid phase. In this research, the equipment of filament depositor is designed and tested to make the product filament deposition. With operation condition observation, the optimal temperature and pressure of deposition process was determined. These experiments used PVC as crystalline material and polypropylene as …

Crude Oil Sludge Degradation In Microcosmic Scale: Simple Simulation As Preliminary Study On Land Treatment Bioremediation., Astri Nugroho

Makara Journal of Technology

Crude Oil Sludge Degradation in Microcosmic Scale: Simple Simulation as Preliminary Study on Land Treatment Bioremediation. A study in microcosmic condition has been carried out to evaluate the bacterial hydrocarbonoclastic capability in increasing the oil sludge degradation being mixed with NPK fertilizer as nitrogen resources. Aerobic test was carried out by putting erlenmeyers in a shaker incubator, 120 rpm shaking speed, at 50°C temperature. While 150 days in microcosmic one observation showed that the consortium has the potential to grow up to 50% (v/v) sludge oil load. Maximum growth and maximum growth rate of the consortium occurred in the III …

Stress Corrosion Cracking Behavior Of Stainless Steel 304 In The Sulfuric Acid Environment Due To Prestrain, Mohammad Badaruddin, Ahmad Suudi, Arinal Hamni

Makara Journal of Technology

Stress Corrosion Cracking Behavior of Stainless Steel 304 in the Sulfuric Acid Environment Due to Prestrain. The aim of research is to investigate the effect of prestrain on the stress corossion cracking behavior of AISI 304 stainless steel in the sulfuric acid of 10% concentration under the static cantilever loading according to ASTM E-1681 standart. The specimen of 304 Stainless steel was strain up over the yield strength until reaching the uniform strain of 5% and 10% using servopulser UTM 9506 under the displacement control of 0,3 mm/sec. The results of test show that the prestrain of 5% specimen is …

Biogasoline Production From Palm Oil Via Catalytic Hydrocracking Over Gamma-Alumina Catalyst, Anondho Wijanarko, Dadi Ahmad Mawardi, Mohammad Nasikin

Makara Journal of Technology

Biogasoline Production from Palm Oil Via Catalytic Hydrocracking over Gamma-Alumina Catalyst. Bio gasoline conversion from palm oil is an alternative energy resources method which can be substituted fossil fuel base energy utilization. Previous research resulted that palm oil can be converted into hydrocarbon by catalytic cracking reaction with γ-alumina catalyst. In this research, catalytic cracking reaction of palm oil by γ-alumina catalyst is done in a stirrer batch reactor with the oil/catalyst weight ratio variation of 100:1, 75:1, and 50:1; at suhue variation of 260 to 340oC and reaction time variation of 1 to 2 hour. Post cracking reaction, bio …

Effect Of Chromium–Gold And Titanium–Titanium Nitride–Platinum–Gold Metallization On Wire/Ribbon Bondability, Jianbiao Pan, Robert M. Pafchek, Frank F. Judd, Jason B. Baxter

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Gold metallization on wafer substrates for wire/ribbon bond applications requires good bond strength to the substrate without weakening the wire/ribbon. This paper compares the ribbon bondability of Cr-Au and Ti-TiN-Pt-Au metallization systems for an optoelectronic application. Both Chromium and Titanium are used to promote adhesion between semiconductor substrates and sputtered gold films. However, both will be oxidized if they diffuse to the gold surface and result in the degradation of the wire/ribbon bondability. Restoring bondability by ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) etch was investigated. Experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of Cr-Au and Ti-TiN-Pt-Au, annealing, and CAN etch processes, on …

Towards A New Taxation System For Motor Vehicles, Theodoros Zachariadis

Theodoros Zachariadis

No abstract provided.

Integrated Guidance And Control Of Missiles With Θ-D Method, Ming Xin, S. N. Balakrishnan, Ernest J. Ohlmeyer

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A new suboptimal control method is proposed in this study to effectively design an integrated guidance and control system for missiles. Optimal formulations allow designers to bring together concerns about guidance law performance and autopilot responses under one unified framework. They lead to a natural integration of these different functions. by modifying the appropriate cost functions, different responses, control saturations (autopilot related), miss distance (guidance related), etc., which are of primary concern to a missile system designer, can be easily studied. A new suboptimal control method, called the θ-D method, is employed to obtain an approximate closed-form solution to this …

One-Class-At-A-Time Removal Sequence Planning Method For Multiclass Classification Problems, Chieh-Neng Young, Chen-Wen Yen, Yi-Hua Pao, Mark L. Nagurka

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Using dynamic programming, this work develops a one-class-at-a-time removal sequence planning method to decompose a multiclass classification problem into a series of two-class problems. Compared with previous decomposition methods, the approach has the following distinct features. First, under the one-class-at-a-time framework, the approach guarantees the optimality of the decomposition. Second, for a K-class problem, the number of binary classifiers required by the method is only K-1. Third, to achieve higher classification accuracy, the approach can easily be adapted to form a committee machine. A drawback of the approach is that its computational burden increases rapidly with the number of classes. …

Thermal Enhancement Of Stacked Dies Using Thermal Vias, Baekyoung Sung

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses

Following Moore's law, the number of transistors on a die continues to rise and has recently exceeded a billion on high end processors. In light of the convergence of technology, power requirements is becoming a serious concern even on low density interconnect systems such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants. Also, in order to minimize foot prints, the recent trend in packaging is stacking. The stacking, however, creates challenges in cooling and especially if one is to include logic in the stack. The primary heat flow path for stacking is through the substrate and as the number of stacks …

Comparison Of Solar Hot Water Systems Simulated In Energygauge Usa And Trnsys 15, Florida Solar Energy Center, Michael Anello

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This document is meant to serve as a detailed summary of the comparison between the simulation methods of EnergyGauge USA and TRNSYS (version 15) relating to solar hot water systems. The initial motivation behind this comparison was to verify that the f-chart model created for EnergyGauge's solar hot water calculations was reporting the correct results. To this end, models of three systems were created in TRNSYS in order to serve as a baseline for the EnergyGauge results. The three systems modeled were: Liquid-active closed loop (LACL), Liquid-active open loop (LAOL), Integrated collector storage (ICS). This document will detail each of …