Engineering Commons^™

Use Of Friction Stir Processing And Friction Stir Welding For Nitinol Medical Devices, Blair London, Murray Mahoney, Alan Pelton

Materials Engineering

Metallic materials may be joined utilizing a friction stir processing technique. The friction stir processing technique utilizes a shaped, rotating tool to move material from one side of the joint to be welded to the other without liquefying the base material.

The Paperless Factory: A Review Of Issues And Technologies, Manocher Djassemi, James A. Sena

Industrial Technology and Packaging

paper-based data management can be a bottleneck, slowing factory-wide information transfer. This study explores the evolution of paperless communication in a factory environment and reviews some of the key technologies that contribute to the implementation of a paperless system including digital communication, the virtual factory, computer-integrated manufacturing, and web-centric information flow. The challenges facing users of a paperless information system are also discussed.

Negative Conductance Power Amplifier, Vladimir I. Prodanov

Electrical Engineering

Power amplifiers are disclosed that demonstrate improved linearity and efficiency in applications requiring significant peak-to-average ratios (PAR). A power amplifier in accordance with the present invention comprises a first transistor in an input stage that converts DC power into AC power; and a second transistor in a negative conductance stage that has a current-voltage characteristic with at least two slopes. The at least two slopes of the current-voltage characteristic are separated by a break point that may be controlled. The power amplifier may also include a non-dissipative two-port device that has two AC ports. The non-dissipative two-port device has a …

Two In Vivo Surgical Approaches For Lumbar Corpectomy Using Allograft And A Metallic Implant: A Controlled Clinical And Biomechanical Study, Philbert Huang, Munish C. Gupta, Nesrin Sarigul-Klijn, Scott Hazelwood

Biomedical Engineering

Background context: Both bone graft and metallic implants have been used in combination with the necessary anterior rod or plate instrumentation to fill the voids left by vertebral body removal, with the ultimate goal of restoring stability. One type of device that has recently been introduced is an expandable titanium telescoping cage that is designed to be used as a strut implant to fill corpectomy defects. The use of these devices has met varying success. Acceptance by surgeons and spine biomechanicians has been limited by clinical failure with subsequent loss of reduction and increase in kyphosis. In order to further …

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 …

Work In Progress: Crossing The Engineering Border Into Art And Society With A Materials Selection For The Life Cycle Course, Katherine C. Chen, Blair London

Materials Engineering

A new course in materials engineering has been developed to incorporate industrial design and sustainability principles. Many current engineering tasks require the ability to comprehend and consider the complicated interplay of technology with the environment and society. Thus the changing skill set required of future engineers is being reflected in the changes with our courses. We are stepping beyond the traditional boundaries of engineering courses to present a more holistic approach to problem solving. The use of materials and processing techniques is applied to product design, and thus involves consideration of the end user and the end of product life. …

Work In Progress: The Five Basic “Positions” Of Engineering, Blair London, Lisa Deyo

Materials Engineering

Classical ballet technique relies on mastery of the five basic positions of the feet. Every movement in classical ballet goes through one or more of these positions. The positions are practiced in class, used in choreography, and become second nature in performance on stage. Engineering may have a similar context. These engineering “positions” are not just the foundational coursework leading up to an engineering degree such as mathematics, chemistry, or physics. Rather, the positions are aspects of engineering that a practicing engineer routinely does to successfully perform as engineers. The engineering positions discussed are: question, analyze, team, write, and speak. …

A Lean Approach To Manage A Capstone Senior Project Course, Manocher Djassemi

Industrial Technology and Packaging

The senior project course (IT461) in the Industrial Technology program at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) is a quarter long capstone course that complements the "learn-by-doing" educational approach at Cal Poly. Our short time frame, an 11-week academic quarter, poses a challenge for both students and faculty. This paper provides details of a new design for the IT461 course. A lean, paperless approach to course management is presented. Using this approach, little or no paper is exchanged between students and faculty. The reduction in waste can be significant in engineering or technology senior project courses. Evaluation of the results …

Power Electronic Courses That Work, Taufik

Electrical Engineering

This paper presents approaches that have been implemented in power electronic courses to be more appealing to electrical engineering students and hence increase their enrollments. The approaches entail redesigning the structure and content of the courses along with developing new laboratory experiments to better align the lab with the lecture portion of the courses and to reflect recent practical issues in power electronics. In addition to lab experiments, the redesigned courses provide students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge in assigned hardware projects that illustrated many of the points learned in the lecture portion of the course with increasing …

Electromagnetic Crosstalk Penalty In 2.5gb/S And 10gb/S Serial Optical Modules, Xiaomin Jin, Fei Wang, Keith D. Lystad, Musoke H. Sendaula

Electrical Engineering

Electromagnetic crosstalk poses a serious problem in advanced serial communication modules. This paper focuses on the primary sources of crosstalk penalty in a 2.5 Gb/s optic transceiver and a 1OGb/s optic transponder. A novel method to quantify the crosstalk penalty by observing a receiver's bit-error-ratio (BER) versus transmitter to receiver signal phase is proposed. A coupled microstrip transmission line model is also explored to demonstrate inductive crosstalk coupling.

Characterization Of Error-Tolerant Applications When Protecting Control Data, Darshan D. Thaker, Diana Franklin, John Y. Oliver, Susmit Biswas, Derek Lockhart, Tzvetan Metodi, Frederic T. Chong

Electrical Engineering

Soft errors have become a significant concern and recent studies have measured the "architectural vulnerability factor" of systems to such errors, or conversely, the potential that a soft error is masked by latches or other system behavior. We take soft-error tolerance one step further and examine when an application can tolerate errors that are not masked. For example, a video decoder or approximation algorithm can tolerate errors if the user is willing to accept degraded output. The key observation is that while the decoder can tolerate error in its data, it can not tolerate error in its control. We first …

Investigation Of The Lead-Free Solder Joint Shear Performance, James Webster, Jianbiao Pan, Brian J. Toleno

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Reflow profile has significant impact on solder joint performance because it influences wetting and microstructure of the solder joint. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of reflow profile and thermal shock on the shear performance of eutectic SnPb (SnPb) and Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu (SAC305) solder joints. Test boards were assembled with four different sized surface mount chip resistors (1206, 0805, 0603 and 0402). Nine reflow profiles for SAC 305 and nine reflow profiles for SnPb were developed with three levels of peak temperature (12ºC, 22ºC, and 32ºC above solder liquidus temperature, or 230ºC, 240ºC, and 250ºC for SAC …

A Data Fusion Approach To Automated Vehicle Detector Testing, C. A. Maccarley, N. Nesse, J. Slonaker

Electrical Engineering

Vehicle presence detectors have become critical elements of traffic management systems, including applications ranging from intersection signal control to freeway congestion monitoring. The need to assess the accuracy and attributes of each of the many types of sensors motivated the California Department of Transportation to construct the Traffic Detector Testbed on I-405 in Southern California. With up to ten detectors of different types under concurrent test in each of six lanes, a means for automating the testing process became imperative, since traditional human-verification methods were not practical. This paper describes the design and implementation of an automated data acquisition and …

Integrating Design Throughout The Mechanical Engineering Curriculum: A Focus On The Engineering Clinics, Krishan Bhatia, Tirupathi R. Chandrupatla, John C. Chen, Eric Constans, Jennifer A. Kadlowec, Anthony J. Marchese, Paris Von Lockette, Hong Zhang

Mechanical Engineering

At Rowan University, we have infused design into the curriculum through an eight-semester course sequence called the Engineering Clinic. Through this experience students learn the art and science of design in a multidisciplinary team environment. While many engineering programs currently include a Capstone Design course taken near the end of the college career to meet the design needs, Engineering Clinic at Rowan allows students to hone their design skills throughout their four-year career. This paper will describe in further detail the objectives and execution of each year in the design sequence, types of projects and how the Clinics complement traditional …

Error Allocation In Complex Systems Design, Robert A. Mcdonald

Aerospace Engineering

A fidelity trade environment was conceived, formulated, developed, and demonstrated. This development relied on the advancement of enabling techniques including error propagation, metamodeling, and information management. These techniques were integrated with an existing commercial systems design framework and an intuitive graphical interface to create a fidelity trade environment. A sensitivity approach to the propagation of error through complex systems was developed. This approach relied on the system sensitivity matrix to model the behavior of a complex system as a whole. In verification tests, the sensitivity approach provided approximate results substantially similar to a Monte Carlo approach that was many orders …

Factors Influencing Engineering Students' Decisions To Cheat By Type Of Assessment, Honor J. Passow, Mathew J. Mayhew, Cynthia J. Finelli, Trevor S. Harding, Donald D. Carpenter

Materials Engineering

Academic dishonesty (cheating) has been prevalent on college campuses for decades, and the percentage of students reporting cheating varies by college major. This study, based on a survey of 643 undergraduate engineering majors at 11 institutions, used two parallel hierarchical multiple regression analyses to predict the frequency of cheating on exams and the frequency of cheating on homework based on eight blocks of independent variables: demographics, pre-college cheating behavior, co-curricular participation, plus five blocks organized around Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior (moral obligation not to cheat, attitudes about cheating, evaluation of the costs and benefits of cheating, perceived social pressures …

Assessment Of Freeway Traffic Parameters Leading To Lane-Change Related Collisions, Anurag Pande, Mohamed Abdel-Aty

Civil and Environmental Engineering

This study aims at ‘predicting’ the occurrence of lane-change related freeway crashes using the traffic surveillance data collected from a pair of dual loop detectors. The approach adopted here involves developing classification models using the historical crash data and corresponding information on real-time traffic parameters obtained from loop detectors. The historical crash and loop detector data to calibrate the neural network models (corresponding to crash and non-crash cases to set up a binary classification problem) were collected from the Interstate-4 corridor in Orlando (FL) metropolitan area. Through a careful examination of crash data, it was concluded that all sideswipe collisions …

Application Of Data Mining Techniques For Real-Time Crash Risk Assessment On Freeways, A. Pande, M. A. Abdel-Aty

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Data mining is the analysis of large "observational" datasets to find unsuspected relationships that might be useful to the data owner. It typically involves analysis where objectives of the mining exercise have no bearing on the data collection strategy. Freeway traffic surveillance data collected through underground loop detectors is one such "observational" database maintained for various ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) applications such as travel time prediction etc. In this research data mining process is used to relate this surrogate measure of traffic conditions with rear-end crash occurrence on freeways. Crash and dual loop detector data from 36.25-mile instrumented Interstate-4 corridor …

Non-Standard Structure Flow Measurement Evaluation Using The Flow Rate Indexing Procedure - Qip, Stuart W. Styles, Bryan Busch, Daniel J. Howes, Marcus Cardenas

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This report details the proper installation and calibration techniques for hydroacoustic meters. The calibration procedure developed as part of this study is called the Flow Rate Indexing Procedure (QIP). The QIP can be competed by a professional technician with a boat-mounted Acoustic Doppler Profiler (ADP) or a standard current meter. Once the QIP has been used to properly calibrate a hydroacoustic flow meter, the device can then measure and record the flow rate and volume in a channel to within +/- 6% of actual values.

Volumetric Water Pricing, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This document discusses the concept of volumetric pricing for irrigation water, including:

1. The justification for paying volumetrically

2. The challenge of charging volumetrically

3. Characteristics of volumetric charges and influencing factors

4. Examples of irrigation projects with volumetric charges

5. A summary of necessary conditions for volumetric billing

Monitoring And Evaluation (M&E) Of Capacity Development For Irrigation Modernization, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Effective capacity development monitoring and evaluation (M&E) depends first upon targeted capacity development programs, with well-defined and attainable objectives that can be evaluated after completion of the program. This paper focuses on capacity development related to technical issues of irrigation modernization.

ITRC performs diagnostic research on irrigation projects and field irrigation systems in advance of developing targeted capacity development programs. If the capacity development is appropriate, and if it is targeted in both content and to specific audiences, one can expect an eventual improvement in post-capacity-building performance. ITRC has found that the improvements are incremental, and often require substantial changes …

Surface Drip Tape Irrigation Systems As An Alternative To Sdi For Field And Row Crops, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

In recent years, new equipment and techniques developed by farmers and private industry have improved the suitability of surface drip tape as an alternative to subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) for field crops and vegetable crops in highly mechanized farming. Retrievable drip tape systems now lack many of the disadvantages of SDI, yet provide the advantages typically expected from drip irrigation. Tape retrieval practices have now reached well beyond the theoretical realm to the point that they dominate drip systems for cauliflower, lettuce, celery, and broccoli on the Central Coast of California. It is expected that drip design and practices will …

The Effect Of Plate Rotation On The Stiffness Of Femoral Liss: A Mechanical Study, Afshin Khalafi, Shane Curtiss, Scott Hazelwood, Philip Wolinsky

Biomedical Engineering

Objective: Malposition of the femoral Less Invasive Stabilization System (LISS) plate may alter its biomechanical behavior. This study compares the mechanical stability of ‘‘correctly’’ affixed LISS plates matching the slope of the lateral femoral condyle to ‘‘incorrectly’’ placed LISS plates fixed in external rotation relative to the distal femur.

Methods: A fracture gap model was created to simulate a comminuted supracondylar femur fracture (AO/OTA33-A3). Fixation was achieved using two different plate positions: the LISS plate was either placed ‘‘correctly’’ by internally rotating the plate to match the slope of the lateral femoral condyle, or ‘‘incorrectly’’ by externally rotating the plate …

Estimation Of Liquidus Temperature When Snagcu Bga/Csp Components Are Soldered With Snpb Paste, Jianbiao Pan

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Recently, the soldering of lead-free components with SnPb paste, or lead-free backward compatibility, is becoming a hot topic. One of the major challenges in backward compatibility assembly is the development of a right reflow profile for the soldering of SnAgCu Ball Grid Array (BGA)/Chip Scale Package (CSP) components with SnPb paste. If the SnAgCu reflow profile is used, the reflow temperature may be too high for other SnPb components in the same board during assembly according to the component rating per IPC/JEDEC J-STD-020C. In addition, the flux in SnPb solder paste may not function properly in such a high reflow …

Structural Matching Via Optimal Basis Graphs, Fred W. Depiero

Electrical Engineering

The ‘basis graph’ approach to structural matching uses a fixed set of small (4 node) graphs to characterize local structure. We compute mapping probabilities by first finding the probability of a basis graph being an induced subgraph of the input graph. The similarity of these probabilities is used to compare nodes of the input graphs. The method permits common subgraphs to be identified without the use of any node or edge coloring. We report on an improved, simpler, version of the algorithm, which has also been optimized. Performance is compared with the LeRP method, which is based on length-r paths. …

Stochastic Adaptive Control Model For Traffic Signal Systems, Xiao-Hua Yu, W. W. Recker

Electrical Engineering

An adaptive control model of a network of signalized intersections is proposed based on a discrete-time, stationary, Markov decision process. The model incorporates probabilistic forecasts of individual vehicle actuations at downstream inductance loop detectors that are derived from a macroscopic link transfer function. The model is tested both on a typical isolated traffic intersection and a simple network comprised of five four-legged signalized intersections, and compared to full-actuated control. Analyses of simulation results using this approach show significant improvement over traditional full-actuated control, especially for the case of high volume, but not saturated, traffic demand.

Automatic Biasing Of A Power Device For Linear Operation, Vladimir I. Prodanov

Electrical Engineering

A power device(s) is biased and operates in Class-AB. Crossover distortion is minimized over a broad range of operating conditions, not only for a nominal case. The bias current of a power transistor is automatically adjusted in response to process and temperature variations. Preferably, the adjustment is performed using an error-feedback arrangement. An exemplary ‘rule’ for bias adjustment involves satisfying a proportionality relationship between the small-signal device transconductance at the operating point, and a maximum device transconductance. A dual replica master-slave control architecture is utilized. A self-adapting circuit is provided to change the bias current (or voltage) so that the …

Cpt-Based Probabilistic And Deterministic Assessment Of In Situ Seismic Soil Liquefaction Potential, Robb E.S. Moss, Raymond B. Seed, Robert E. Kayen, Jonathan P. Stewart, Armen Der Kiureghian, K. Onder Cetin

Civil and Environmental Engineering

This paper presents a complete methodology for both probabilistic and deterministic assessment of seismic soil liquefaction triggering potential based on the cone penetration test (CPT). A comprehensive worldwide set of CPT-based liquefaction field case histories were compiled and back analyzed, and the data then used to develop probabilistic triggering correlations. Issues investigated in this study include improved normalization of CPT resistance measurements for the influence of effective overburden stress, and adjustment to CPT tip resistance for the potential influence of "thin" liquefiable layers. The effects of soil type and soil character (i.e., "fines" adjustment) for the new correlations are based …

Investigation Of The Performance Of The New Orleans Flood Protection System In Hurricane Katrina On August 29, 2005: Volume 1, Raymond B. Seed, Robert G. Bea, Remon I. Abdelmalak, Adda G. Athanasopoulos, Gordon P. Boutwell, Jr., Jonathan D. Bray, Jean-Louis Briaud, Carmen Cheung, Diego Cobos-Roa, Julien Cohen-Waeber, Brian D. Collins, Luke Ehrensing, Dan A. Farber, W. Michael Hanneman, Leslie F. Harder, Kofi S. Inkabi, Anne M. Kammerer, Deniz Karadeniz, Robert E. Kayen, Robb E.S. Moss, Jennifer Nicks, Seshu Nimala, Juan M. Pestana, Jim Porter, Keunyong Rhee, Michael F. Riemer, Karlene Roberts, J. David Rogers, Rune Storesund, Anand V. Govindasamy, Xavier Vera-Grunauer, Joseph E. Wartman, Conor M. Watkins, Ed Wenk, Jr., Solomon C. Yim

Civil and Environmental Engineering

This report presents the results of an investigation of the performance of the New Orleans regional flood protection system during and after Hurricane Katrina, which struck the New Orleans region on August 29, 2005. This event resulted in the single most costly catastrophic failure of an engineered system in history. Current damage estimates at the time of this writing are on the order of $100 to $200 billion in the greater New Orleans area, and the official death count in New Orleans and southern Louisiana at the time of this writing stands at 1,293, with an additional 306 deaths in …

Investigation Of The Performance Of The New Orleans Flood Protection System In Hurricane Katrina On August 29, 2005: Volume 2, Raymond B. Seed, Robert G. Bea, Remon I. Abdelmalak, Adda G. Athanasopoulos, Gordon P. Boutwell, Jr., Jonathan D. Bray, Jean-Louis Briaud, Carmen Cheung, Diego Cobos-Roa, Julien Cohen-Waeber, Brian D. Collins, Luke Ehrensing, Dan A. Farber, W. Michael Hanneman, Leslie F. Harder, Kofi S. Inkabi, Anne M. Kammerer, Deniz Karadeniz, Robert E. Kayen, Robb E.S. Moss, Jennifer Nicks, Seshu Nimala, Juan M. Pestana, Jim Porter, Keunyong Rhee, Michael F. Riemer, Karlene Roberts, J. David Rogers, Rune Storesund, Anand V. Govindasamy, Xavier Vera-Grunauer, Joseph E. Wartman, Conor M. Watkins, Ed Wenk, Jr., Solomon C. Yim

Civil and Environmental Engineering

No abstract provided.