Engineering Commons^™

Behavior Of Gamma Tial Subjected To Impact Damage And Elevated Temperature Fatigue, Trevor S. Harding, J. Wayne Jones

Materials Engineering

Gamma titanium aluminide has received significant attention in recent years as a candidate material for use in aerospace and industrial gas turbine engine applications. In particular, these materials offer significant weight reductions (densities are less than half that of nickel-based superalloys), high specific strength retention at elevated temperature and high specific stiffness which is particularly important in vibrating components such as blades. This combination of weight savings and good mechanical properties has led to the possibility that γ-TiAl may be a suitable replacement for nickel-based alloys, such as Inconel 718, in low pressure turbine blades without significant redesign of the …

Internally Constrained Mixtures Of Elastic Continua, Stephen M. Klisch

Mechanical Engineering

A treatment of internally constrained mixtures of elastic continua at a common temperature is developed. Internal constraints involving the deformation gradient tensors and the common mixture temperature are represented by a constraint manifold, and an internally constrained mixture of elastic continua is associated with each unique equivalence class of unconstrained mixtures. The example of intrinsic incompressibility of each constituent first proposed by Mills is discussed.

Electroluminescent Device Comprising A Transparent Structured Electrode Layer Made From A Conductive Polymer, Aemilianus G. J. Staring, David Braun

Electrical Engineering

A description is given of an electroluminescent (EL) device (1) composed of polymeric LEDs comprising an active layer (7) of a conjugated polymer and a transparent polymeric electrode layer (5) having electroconductive areas (51) as electrodes. Like the active layer (7), the electrode layer (5) can be manufactured in a simple manner by spin coating. The electrode layer (5) is structured into conductive electrodes (51) by exposure to UV light. The electrodes (9) and (51) jointly form a matrix of LEDs for a display. When a flexible substrate (3) is used, a very bendable EL device is obtained.

Simtrainer: A Management Training Tool, Wade Stark, Sema E. Alptekin

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Abstract published of poster paper presented at conference.

Collaborative Undergraduate Research, Hamid Davoodi, Frederick Just, Ali Saffar, Mohammad Noori, William W. Durgin

Office of the Provost Scholarship

A joint undergraduate research project between University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM) and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) started four years ago. Each year a group of students, varying between six and ten, from WPI will come to Puerto Rico to work with a group of students, varying from six to ten, from UPRM on a well defined research project. Although the topics of the projects have been different but all follow the same goal, Vibration Control of Structures by Utilizing Shape Memory Alloys. Each year the project starts on January and ends on May. Both groups of the students …

The Relationship Between Basic Multicellular Unit Activation And Origination In Cancellous Bone, C. J. Hernandez, S. J. Hazelwood, R. B. Martin

Biomedical Engineering

Activation frequency is often used as a measure of basic multicellular unit (BMU) activity in cancellous bone. However, activation frequency expresses the rate of BMU appearance in a histologic slide and not the rate of origination, which is a more physiologic indicator of remodeling activity and is necessary for the development of BMU-level bone remodeling simulations. Using identical assumptions to those for calculating the activation frequency, it is shown that the origination frequency in cancellous bone is equal to the activation frequency divided by the total distance traveled by the BMU and its width.

Lead Binding To Metal Oxide And Organic Phases Of Natural Aquatic Biofilms, Yarrow M. Nelson, Leonard W. Lion, Michael L. Shuler, William C. Ghiorse

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The role of the composition of surface-coating materials in controlling trace metal adsorption in aquatic environments was investigated using natural biofilms that developed on glass slides in three New York State lakes and a water-supply well. Adsorption isotherms were obtained for Pb binding to each of the biofilms in solutions with defined Pb speciation at 25°C and pH 6.0, with Pb concentrations ranging from 0.2 to 2.0 μM. Adsorption isotherms for Pb binding to laboratory-derived metal oxides and surrogate organic materials were determined under the same conditions. These isotherms, combined with characterization of natural biofilm composition, were used to estimate …

Capacity‐Demand‐Diagram Methods Based On Inelastic Design Spectrum, Anil K. Chopra, Rakesh K. Goel

Civil and Environmental Engineering

An improved capacity‐demand‐diagram method that uses the well‐known constant‐ductility design spectrum for the demand diagram is developed and illustrated by examples. This method estimates the deformation of inelastic SDF systems consistent with the selected inelastic design spectrum, while retaining the attraction of graphical implementation of the ATC‐40 Nonlinear Static Procedure. One version of the improved method is graphically similar to ATC‐40 Procedure A whereas the second version is graphically similar to ATC‐40 Procedure B. However, the improved procedures differ from ATC‐40 procedures in one important sense. The demand diagram used is different: the constant‐ductility demand diagram for inelastic systems …

An Evaluation Of Ploughing Models For Orthogonal Machining, Daniel J. Waldorf, Richard E. Devor, Shiv G. Kapoor

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

An analytical comparison is made between two basic models of the flow of workpiece material around the edge of an orthogonal cutting tool during steady-state metal removal. Each has been the basis for assumptions in previous studies which attempt to model the machining process, but no direct comparison had been made to determine which, if either, is an appropriate model. One model assumes that a separation point exists on the rounded cutting edge while the other includes a stable build-up adhered to the edge and assumes a separation point at the outer extreme of the build-up. Theories of elastic-plastic deformation …

Scheduling Semiconductor Device Test Operations On Multihead Testers, Tali Freed, Robert C. Leachman

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Past attempts to devise scheduling methods for the device test operations of semiconductor manufacturing firms fail to address a significant characteristic of multiple-head test systems—the dependency of processing rates on the lots processed simultaneously on the testers. Since the problem has never been modeled accurately in the scheduling literature, feasibility and performance of previously proposed scheduling methodologies for multihead testers may not be accurately assessed. In this paper, we describe the multihead tester scheduling problem, present an enumeration solution procedure, and illustrate the problems of previously suggested tester scheduling algorithms.

Gauge Repeatability & Reproducibility Study For A 3-D Solder Paste Inspection System, Jianbiao Pan, Gregory L. Tonkay, Robert H. Storer, Ronald M. Sallade, David J. Leandri

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Due to the increased use of Ball Grid Arrays (BGAs) and fine pitch and ultra fine pitch Quad Flat Packages (QFPs), there is a dramatic increase in demand for solder paste inspection after the stencil printing process. The important response variables of the printing process are deposited solder paste volume, area, height and position. To identify and remove defects at the earliest possible process step, a 3-D solder paste inspection system should be used to monitor solder paste deposited on all pads on every board before component placement. An example is a fully automatic laser-based 3-D triangulation solder paste inspection …

Letters To The Editor: Filtering Property Of A Lightly Damped System, Subjected To Transient Excitation, M. F. Dimentberg, Mohammad N. Noori

Office of the Dean (CENG) Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Critical Variables Of Solder Paste Stencil Printing For Micro-Bga And Fine Pitch Qfp, Jianbiao Pan, Gregory L. Tonkay, Robert H. Storer, Ronald M. Sallade, David J. Leandri

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Stencil printing continues to be the dominant method of solder deposition in high volume surface mount assembly. Control of the amount of solder paste deposited is critical for fine pitch and ultra-fine pitch SMT assembly. The process is still not well understood as indicated by the fact that industry reports 52-71% of SMT defects are related to the solder paste stencil printing process. The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical variables that influence the deposited solder paste volume, area, and height. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of relevant process parameters on the amount of …

Case Study: Modernization Of The Patterson Irrigation District, Stuart W. Styles, Charles M. Burt, Mike Lehmkuhl, John Sweigard

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

The Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC) at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California has been working in conjunction with the Patterson Irrigation District (PID) on modernization of the district facilities. This project is being partially funded by the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) Mid-Pacific Region. The district is located in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Water supply for the district is pumped primarily from the San Joaquin River. The district utilizes a series of pump stations and canal pools to bring water uphill to supply the lateral canals, which are laid out on the contour. Modernization …

Case Study: Modernization Of The Government Highline Canal, Stuart W. Styles, Charles M. Burt, Ram Dhan Khalsa, Robert Norman

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

The Government Highline Canal Modernization Study was completed to evaluate options for reducing the flow rate requirement of the Government Highline Canal during the late Summer and Fall water delivery months. The intent was to develop a design for which Colorado River diversions could be better matched to on-farm demands. The two primary challenges associated with reducing diversions are that (i) at low canal flows many turnouts do not have sufficient pressure, and (ii) it is difficult to schedule diversions to match deliveries. The Government Highline Canal is part of the federal Grand Valley Project in the Colorado River Basin …

Current Canal Modernization From An International Perspective, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Modernization differs from rehabilitation, which simply returns a deteriorated project or structures to their original new state. Rehabilitation by itself typically only perpetuates the vicious cycle of rehabilitation, deterioration, rehabilitation, etc. A modern irrigation design is the result of a thought process that selects the configuration and the physical components in light of a well-defined and realistic operation plan that is based on the service concept. A modern irrigation design is not defined by specific hardware components and control logic. Advanced concepts of hydraulic engineering, irrigation engineering, agronomy, and social science should be used to arrive at the most simple …

Modernization Of The Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District, Charles M. Burt, Dale R. Brogan

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Delano-Earlimart Irrigation District (DEID) delivers water through closed reinforced concrete pipelines on an arranged schedule. Farmers are not allowed to operate their own turnouts, and individual turnout flow rate changes impact flow rates at all other turnouts on the same pipeline. DEID is in the process of a complete modernization program which will allow the farmers to operate their own turnouts on a very flexible arranged schedule. The modernization includes (i) a new water ordering program, (ii) new turnout designs with pressure regulators and new flow propeller flow meters, (iii) the use of hand held data recorders to document deliveries …

Temperature Dependence Of Electrical And Optical Modulation Responses Of Quantum-Well Lasers, T. Keating, Xiaomin Jin, Shun Lien Chuang, K. Hess

Electrical Engineering

We present theory and experiment for high-speed optical injection in the absorption region of a quantum-well laser and compare the results with those of electrical injection including the carrier transport effect. We show that the main difference between the two responses is the low-frequency roll-off. By using both injection methods, we obtain more accurate and consistent measurements of many important dynamic laser parameters, including the differential gain, carrier lifetime, K factor, and gain compression factor. Temperature-dependent data of the test laser are presented which show that the most dominant effect is the linear degradation of differential gain and injection efficiency …

Parallel Ac-Ac Converters Using Stationary Master Slave Control, Taufik, F. E. Villaseca

Electrical Engineering

This study proposes parallel ac-ac converters using Stationary Master Slave Control with Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation to achieve voltage regulation and equal current sharing among parallel generators such that it minimizes the total production cost. Development of Pspice model representing the parallel ac-ac converters is presented and then simulated. In addition, computer simulations are also used to perform robustness study on the parallel converters.

Application Of A Fiber-Reinforced Continuum Theory To Multiple Deformations Of The Annulus Fibrosus, Stephen M. Klisch, Jeffrey C. Lotz

Mechanical Engineering

Accurate tissue stress predictions for the annulus fibrosus are essential for understanding the factors that cause or contribute to disc degeneration and mechanical failure. Current computational models used to predict in vivo disc stresses utilize material laws for annular tissue that are not rigorously validated against experimental data. Consequently, predictions of disc stress resulting from physical activities may be inaccurate and therefore unreliable as a basis for defining mechanical–biologic injury criteria. To address this need we present a model for the annulus as an isotropic ground substance reinforced with two families of collagen fibers, and an approach for determining the …

Optical Gain Measurements Based On Fundamental Properties And Comparison With Many-Body Theory, T. Keating, S. H. Park, J. Minch, Xiaomin Jin, Shun-Lien Chuang, T. Tanbun-Ek

Electrical Engineering

We present high accuracy measurements of gain, loss, and transparency energy in long-wavelength semiconductors based on a hybrid approach using the fundamental relationship between the gain and the spontaneous emission spectra. Independent measurements of optical gain, transparency energy, and loss show the accuracy and validity of this technique. These results are compared with those obtained by the non-Markovian gain model with many-body effects under the spontaneous emission transformation method. It is found that the hybrid approach for the gain spectrum alleviates many of the problems related to the poor signal to noise ratio in the amplified-spontaneous emission near and below …

Discovery Of Design Methodologies, Cirrus Shakeri, David C. Brown, Mohammad N. Noori

Office of the Dean (CENG) Scholarship

In this paper we present an AI-based approach for the discovery of design methodologies for multi-disciplinary design situations. The approach is based on simulating the design process using a multi-agent system that mimics the behavior of the design team. The system activates the pieces of design knowledge when they become applicable. The use of knowledge by agents is recorded by tracing the steps that the agents have taken during a design project. Many traces are generated by solving a large number of design projects that differ in their requirements. A set of design methodologies is constructed by using clustering techniques …

Theoretical And Experimental Investigation On The Low Temperature Properties Of The Nbcr2 Laves Phase, Dan J. Thoma, Chu Fuming, Katherine C. Chen, Paul G. Kotula, Terence E. Mitchell, John M. Wills, Alim Ormeci, Shao Ping Chen, Robert C. Albers

Materials Engineering

This is the final report of a three-year, Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The goal of the project was to develop methodologies in which to define and improve the properties of NbCr₂ so that the high temperature structural applications of alloys based upon this would not be limited by the low-temperature brittle behavior of the intermetallic. We accomplished this task by (1) understanding the defect structure and deformation mechanisms in Laves phases, (2) electronic and geometric contributions to phase stability and alloying behavior, and (3) novel processing of dual phase (Laves/bcc) …

Screen Printing Process Design Of Experiments For Fine Line Printing Of Thick Film Ceramic Substrates, Jianbiao Pan, Gregory L. Tonkay, Alejandro Quintero

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Screen printing has been the dominant method of thick film deposition because of its low cost. Many experiments in industry have been done and many models of the printing process have been developed since the 1960's. With a growing need for denser packaging and a drive for higher pin count, screen printing has been refined to yield high resolution prints. However, fine line printing is still considered by industry to be difficult. In order to yield high resolution prints with high first pass yields and manufacturing throughput, the printing process must be controlled stringently.

This paper focuses on investigating the …

Evaluation Of Caltrans District 10 Automated Warning System, Year Two Progress Report, Art Maccarley

Electrical Engineering

District 10 of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) encompasses an area of seasonal fog and dust-related visibility problems that have been the cause of numerous multi-car traffic collisions, many fatal. In 1990, motivated by the expansion of State Route 120 (SR 120) connecting Interstate Highway 5 (I-5) and State Route 99 (SR 99), Caltrans proposed a sophisticated multi-sensor automated warning system as a means for reducing incidents in this high-traffic area. This proposal, and the significant development effort that followed, culminated in the implementation of Phase 1 of the Caltrans Automated Warning System, or “CAWS”, which entered service in …

An Efficient Finite Difference Time Domain (Fdtd) Technique For Modeling A Reflector Antenna System With Partial Circular Symmetry, Dean Arakaki, Wenhua Yu, Raj Mittra

Electrical Engineering

This paper presents an efficient method for solving a large body scattering problem, viz., a paraboloidal reflector antenna system with only partial circular symmetry. The asymmetry in the system is introduced by two factors, viz., the microstrip feed and an inhomogeneous radome. The paper presents a novel approach, based on the reciprocity principle and the “equivalent aperture” theory, to handle the asymmetry problem and still take advantage of the circular symmetry of the large paraboloid of revolution to render the problem manageable

The Effect Of Stimulus Current Pulse Width On Nerve Fiber Size Recruitment Patterns, Robert B. Szlavik, Hubert De Bruin

Biomedical Engineering

There have been theoretical studies presented that postulate a change in the stimulus current amplitude required to recruit nerve fibers with different stimulus current pulse widths. Based on these theoretical predictions, it has been suggested that the stimulus pulse width parameter may be used to selectively recruit fibers of different sizes and that this selectivity should increase with increasing distance from the stimulus electrode. In this paper, a simulation study of the recruitment patterns of a population of motor nerve fibers with a histologically accurate fiber diameter distribution is presented. Nerve fiber excitation simulations coupled with a time varying field …

In Vivo Electrical Stimulation Of Motor Nerves, Robert B. Szlavik

Biomedical Engineering

Stimulus waveform parameters and stimulation protocols are fundamental to the use of electrical stimulation in medical applications. This thesis presents new simulation and experimental procedures that for the first time can quantify the effects on nerve fiber recruitment patterns of variable stimulus waveform parameters, such as pulse width and changes in the stimulation protocol with respect to electrode orientation. The study of the effect of variable electrical stimulus waveform parameters and stimulation protocols is important from the perspective of therapeutic and diagnostic medicine. Variations in the stimulus waveform such as stimulus pulse width have been shown to offer some promise …

Closure To Period Formulas For Concrete Shear Wall Buildings, Anil K. Chopra, Rakesh K. Goel

Civil and Environmental Engineering

No abstract provided.

Electroluminescent Illumination System, Dirk J. Broer, David Braun, Antonius H.J. Venhuizen, Christianne R.M. De Witz

Electrical Engineering

An illumination system has an active layer which includes an electroluminescent material, the active layer being located between an optically transparent electrode layer and a reflective electrode layer. A reflective polarizer is present at a side of the transparent electrode layer facing away from the active layer. A sub-beam incident on the polarizer and having an unwanted polarization is reflected back to the active layer, where it is again partially depolarized to recover a component having the desired state of polarization. The invention also relates to a flat-panel picture display device which includes such an illumination system.