Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 102

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Assessment And Analysis Of Emotional Intelligence In Engineering Students, Xiaodan Zhou Dec 2010

Assessment And Analysis Of Emotional Intelligence In Engineering Students, Xiaodan Zhou

All Theses

ABSTRACT
Current research on the importance and relevance of the relationship between emotional intelligence and work outcomes has continuously gained momentum since the publication of Daniel Goleman's best seller Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ (Goleman, 1995). Professional expertise is no longer the only standard by which to evaluate graduates. 'Soft skills', like emotional intelligence are viewed as effective ways, to distinguish potential high-performance workers and those who will be 'no more than' a worker. This paper made an attempt to correlate emotional intelligence with academic performance of civil engineering students. The emotional capability of the students …


Effect Of Ultrasonic Vibration On The Mass Transfer Coefficient In A Sieve Plate Scrubber, Dinora Monroy Melendez Dec 2010

Effect Of Ultrasonic Vibration On The Mass Transfer Coefficient In A Sieve Plate Scrubber, Dinora Monroy Melendez

All Theses

The air pollution technique of wet scrubbers for fumes, mists and suspended dusts as part of a polluted gas stream has been study as well as used for industries for many decades. The sieve tray is the simplest type of these scrubbers. A laboratory-scale single-stage, sieve tray countercurrent wet scrubber has been designed to study the effect of ultrasonic vibrations on the rate of mass transfer. A 20 kHz ultrasound frequency was chosen for a high performance cavitation to enhance the mass transport between the gas and liquid phases. Various perforation diameters and weir heights were employed in order to …


A Computational Method For Analysis Of Material Properties Of A Non-Pneumatic Tire And Their Effects On Static Load Deflection, Vibration And Energy Loss From Impact Rolling Over Obstacles, Akshay Narasimhan Dec 2010

A Computational Method For Analysis Of Material Properties Of A Non-Pneumatic Tire And Their Effects On Static Load Deflection, Vibration And Energy Loss From Impact Rolling Over Obstacles, Akshay Narasimhan

All Theses

One of the potential sources of vibration during rolling of a non pneumatic tire is the buckling phenomenon and snapping back of the spokes in tension when they enter and exit the contact zone. Another source of noise was hypothesized due to a flower pedal ring vibration effect due to discrete spoke interaction with the ring and contact with the ground during rolling as the spokes cycle between tension and compression. Transmission of vibration between the ground force, ring and spokes to the hub was also considered to be a significant contributor to vibration and noise characteristics of the Tweel. …


Investigation Of Northeast Extreme Tee (Next) D Beam Bridges As An Alternative To Precast Hollow Core Bridges: An Exploration Of Appropriate Slab Design Forces, Daniel Deery Dec 2010

Investigation Of Northeast Extreme Tee (Next) D Beam Bridges As An Alternative To Precast Hollow Core Bridges: An Exploration Of Appropriate Slab Design Forces, Daniel Deery

All Theses

Adjacent precast, prestressed concrete beam bridges have become a popular solution throughout the country because deck forming can be eliminated and construction is rapid. In South Carolina, adjacent beam bridges primarily consist of flat slab or hollow core sections, and they are currently only used on secondary, low-volume, short-span bridges. Durability and load sharing issues stemming from cracking, however, have caused concern with the longevity of these bridge types. Thus, the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has sought an alternative to the flat slab for short span bridges that can be used on high volume roads without an overlay. …


Design Decisions Under Risk And Uncertainty, Sravya Thoomu Dec 2010

Design Decisions Under Risk And Uncertainty, Sravya Thoomu

All Theses

In the contemporary world of engineering, engineers strive towards designing reliable and robust artifacts while considering and attempting to control manufacturing costs. In due course they have to deal with some sort of uncertainty. Many aspects of the design are the result of properties that are defined within some tolerances, of measurements that are appropriate, and of circumstances and environmental conditions that are out of their control. This uncertainty was typically handled by using factors of safety, and resulted in designs that may have been overly conservative. Therefore, understanding and handling the uncertainties is critical in improving the design, controlling …


Determination Of Sorption Coefficients For Neptunium, Plutonium, Iodine, And Technetium In Engineered And Natural Systems Under Oxidizing And Reducing Conditions, Michael Lilley Dec 2010

Determination Of Sorption Coefficients For Neptunium, Plutonium, Iodine, And Technetium In Engineered And Natural Systems Under Oxidizing And Reducing Conditions, Michael Lilley

All Theses

Plutonium, neptunium, technetium, and iodine present appreciable risks at nuclear waste disposal sites around the world due to their potential mobility. Sorption of each of these radionuclides is profoundly influenced by oxidation/ reduction reactions. Therefore, the mobility of each radionuclide may be greatly influenced by redox conditions of the natural or engineered system. The primary focus of this study was to determine distribution coefficients (Kd) for each radionuclide for engineered concrete and saltstone systems with varying amounts of reducing slag (a cement additive to create a reducing environment), and for iodide/iodate in natural sediments. Saltstones are a mixture …


Influence Of Topography Of Endovascular Stent Material On Smooth Muscle Cell Response, Vipul Taneja Dec 2010

Influence Of Topography Of Endovascular Stent Material On Smooth Muscle Cell Response, Vipul Taneja

All Theses

Although implantation of endovascular stents for the treatment of coronary and peripheral artery diseases has been one of the most rapidly used medical interventions, significant limitations in terms of a restenosis rate of 10-30% still persists. Neointimal hyperplasia characterized by a phenotypic shift of smooth muscle cells from contractile to synthetic type, has been deemed to be the predominant cause of restenosis. A number of stent surface parameters, including topography, have been attributed to play an important role in stent performance. Although endothelial cell and thrombotic response to surface roughness have been well evaluated, the effect of topography of the …


Vena Cava As An Alternative To Pericardium In Bioprosthetic Percutaneous Heart Valves, Amy Munnelly Dec 2010

Vena Cava As An Alternative To Pericardium In Bioprosthetic Percutaneous Heart Valves, Amy Munnelly

All Theses

Valve disease is a specialized form of cardiovascular disease that specifically affects the heart valves. Heart valves serve the vital function of maintaining unidirectional blood flow through the chambers of the heart during the cardiac cycle; however, as valve disease progresses, this function can become severely compromised [1]. Currently, the only cure for valve disease is to replace the defective valve with an engineered substitute. Each year, over 300,000 heart valve replacement surgeries are performed worldwide [2], and this number is expected to continue growing as life expectancies increase [3].
In the United States, the most common form of valve …


On The Use Of Natural-Mode Basis Functions For Electromagnetic Analysis Of Arbitrary Conducting Surfaces, Joshua Lawrence Dec 2010

On The Use Of Natural-Mode Basis Functions For Electromagnetic Analysis Of Arbitrary Conducting Surfaces, Joshua Lawrence

All Theses

The natural modes defined in the singularity expansion method (SEM) are used as basis functions for the frequency- and time-domain current responses of arbitrary perfect electrically conducting (PEC) surfaces in this work. First, a method of determining the natural frequencies and corresponding modes which employs the electric field integral equation is presented. These quantities are then calculated for several geometries and the currents induced due to an incident plane wave in the frequency and time domains are approximated by a weighted sum of the natural modes. Additionally, the modal weights prescribed by SEM are compared to a set of weights …


Identifying Barriers To Address During The Delivery Of Sustainable Building Renovation Projects, Corey Cattano Dec 2010

Identifying Barriers To Address During The Delivery Of Sustainable Building Renovation Projects, Corey Cattano

All Theses

Architects, engineers, and contractors are continuously searching for tools and methods to reduce the unique risks associated with the delivery of construction projects. Since national policies to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption will require drastic improvements to the existing building stock, one specific area in need of such tools is the sustainable renovation of existing buildings. The purpose of this research is to identify the barriers to address during the delivery of sustainable renovation projects and offer solutions that overcome these barriers. For example, typical renovation projects do not coordinate energy retrofits with building system renovations, resulting in poor …


A Numerical And Experimental Study Of Differential Settling In Cohesive Sediment, Chad Heiliger Dec 2010

A Numerical And Experimental Study Of Differential Settling In Cohesive Sediment, Chad Heiliger

All Theses

Accurate sedimentation modeling has important applications in a number of fields. This includes modeling the accumulation of sediment in harbor channels and modeling the sedimentation and accumulation of particles in retention ponds in the still waters behind dams in order to calculate the trap efficiency. By accurately modeling sedimentation, engineering failures such as the 2008 TVA spill at the Kingston Fossil Plant could possibly be avoided. Three different numerical models comparing the settling rates of individual particles in quiescent waters were created to compare the change of settling velocity due to particle size distributions, change of local concentrations, and flocculation …


Discontinuous Galerkin Method For 1d Shallow Water Flow With Water Surface Slope Limiter, Wencong Lai Dec 2010

Discontinuous Galerkin Method For 1d Shallow Water Flow With Water Surface Slope Limiter, Wencong Lai

All Theses

A water surface slope limiting scheme is applied to numerically solve the one dimensional shallow water equations with bottom slope source term. The total variation diminishing Runge-Kutta discontinuous Galerkin finite element method with slope limiter schemes based on water surface and water depth are investigated for solving one-dimensional shallow water equations. For each slope limiter, three different Riemann solvers based on HLL, LF, and Roe flux functions are used. The three different solvers with slope limiters based on water surface and water depth are applied to simulate idealized dambreak problem, hydraulic jump, quiescent flow, subcritical flow, supercritical flow, and transcritical …


A Computational Investigation Of Contact Pressure For A Non-Pnemautic Wheel With A Meta-Material Shear Band, Renuka Jagadish Dec 2010

A Computational Investigation Of Contact Pressure For A Non-Pnemautic Wheel With A Meta-Material Shear Band, Renuka Jagadish

All Theses

One of the missions of National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) is to develop a vehicle that can travel for a longer distance on the moon and have a greater degree of mobility compared to the currently used Lunar Roving Vehicles (LRV). This led to the development of the All-Terrain Hex-Limed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer (ATHLETE), which requires a significant advance in the type of wheels that must be used on this highly mobile lander. The Michelin Lunar Wheel, which is a non-pneumatic tire invented by Michelin Researche et Technologie has been identified as one of the key designs capable of performing on …


Molecular Characterization Of Enrichment Cultures That Grow On Tetrachloroethene, 1,2 Dichloroethane And Ethylene Dibromide, Hari Shankar Peethambaram Dec 2010

Molecular Characterization Of Enrichment Cultures That Grow On Tetrachloroethene, 1,2 Dichloroethane And Ethylene Dibromide, Hari Shankar Peethambaram

All Theses

Halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons are among the most common contaminants in soil and groundwater found at hazardous waste sites throughout the United States. Among them are tetrachloroethene (PCE), 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) and ethylene dibromide (EDB). Organohalide respiration of each compound has been reported. However, considerably less information is known about EDB than PCE and 1,2-DCA, including the yield that occurs during growth with EDB as the sole TEA. The main objective of this project was to determine which types of chlororespiring microbes predominate during growth of enrichment cultures when PCE, 1,2-DCA and EDB served as the TEA, and what their yield is. …


Neomycin-Enhanced Carbodiimide Cross-Linking For Glycosaminoglycan Stability In Bioprosthetic Heart Valves, Joshua Leong Dec 2010

Neomycin-Enhanced Carbodiimide Cross-Linking For Glycosaminoglycan Stability In Bioprosthetic Heart Valves, Joshua Leong

All Theses

Valvular heart diseases lead to over 290,000 heart valve replacements worldwide each year, and approximately half of these involve replacement with a bioprosthetic heart valve (BHV) [1]. BHVs exhibit excellent hemocompatibility, but suffer from inadequate long-term durability with most adult implanted valves failing within 12 to 15 years after implantation [2]. Although this may be adequate for some individuals, BHV implantation may be contraindicated in younger individuals to avoid reoperation. Even in elder recipients, valve dysfunction can still cause death or reoperation that could be avoided with increased BHV durability. Therefore, investigation into methods of increasing BHV durability can not …


Incorporating Function Structures Into Morphological Charts: A User Study, Jenkins Richardson Iii Dec 2010

Incorporating Function Structures Into Morphological Charts: A User Study, Jenkins Richardson Iii

All Theses

A morphological chart is an ideation tool that represents a large qualitative design space. Currently, morphological charts use a function list to as the function representation of the design problem. Using the morphological chart means (solutions) that can perform each function are generated. Combining one means from each function produces an integrated conceptual design solution. By repeating this process with all possible combination contained in the morphological chart, a long list of conceptual design solutions will be generated, although not all will be practical. This long list of potential design solutions is difficult to analyze and there are limited systematic …


Evaluation Of Utility Relocation Costs And Best Management Practices, Michael Reinke Dec 2010

Evaluation Of Utility Relocation Costs And Best Management Practices, Michael Reinke

All Theses

In recent years, the SCDOT has experienced a significant variation in estimated costs for the relocation of utilities on many projects. This has led to cost overruns and caused concerns for the district engineers responsible for the projects. Through meetings with SCDOT personnel and utility company representatives it was determined that a standardized cost estimate form combined with improved change order management and cost management strategies was needed. Recently submitted estimates were analyzed and rated by a panel on multiple criteria to generate a list of 'poor', 'good', and 'excellent' estimates. The 'excellent' estimates provided insight into the development of …


Analysis Of Alternative Manufacturing Processes For Lightweight Biw Designs, Using Analytical Hierarchy Process, Srinath Vijayakumar Dec 2010

Analysis Of Alternative Manufacturing Processes For Lightweight Biw Designs, Using Analytical Hierarchy Process, Srinath Vijayakumar

All Theses

The main objective of the analysis was to investigate the forming of Body in White (BIW) panels using alternative processes most suitable for replacing the conventional press working process in order to achieve a reduction in the total mass of the vehicle body structure. The selection of the alternatives was guided by multi criteria decision making tool, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Here the alternatives were selected based on their relative importance to the different manufacturing attributes considered. The selected processes were applied to the manufacturing of different parts of BIW indicated in the BOM along with suggestion of the …


Circuit Modules For Cmos High-Power Short Pulse Generators, Yongtao Geng Dec 2010

Circuit Modules For Cmos High-Power Short Pulse Generators, Yongtao Geng

All Theses

High-power short electrical pulses are important for high-performance functionality integration, such as the development of microelectromechanical/nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), system on chip (SoC) and lab on chip (LoC). Many of these applications need high-power (low impedance load) short electrical pulses, in addition to CMOS digital intelligence. Therefore, it is of great interest to develop new circuit techniques to generate high-power high-voltage short electrical pulses on-chip.
Results on pulse forming line (PFL) based CMOS pulse generator studies are reported. Through simulations, the effects of PFL length, switch speed and switch resistance on the output pulses are clarified. CMOS pulse generators are modeled …


Determining The Global Maximum Biofuel Production Potential Without Conflicting With Food And Feed Consumption, Watcharapol Pumkaew Dec 2010

Determining The Global Maximum Biofuel Production Potential Without Conflicting With Food And Feed Consumption, Watcharapol Pumkaew

All Theses

This study tries to resolve the competition between food and biofuel by balancing the allocation between food and feed areas and biofuel areas for the entire world. The maximum energy production is calculated by determining the theoretical amount of energy that can be grown, once food and feed consumption is taken into account, based on the assumption that unprotected grass and woody lands and forest lands can be converted into cultivated lands. The total optimum land area for biofuel energy, 4,926.49 Mha, consists of corn, rapeseed, sugar beet, sugar cane, and grasses. When considering energy conversion efficiency, the maximum energy …


Offshore Wind Power Integration Into The South Carolina Power System, Mountaga Fane Dec 2010

Offshore Wind Power Integration Into The South Carolina Power System, Mountaga Fane

All Theses

The steady state analysis of the impact of offshore wind on the South Carolina power transmission was conducted in three phases of incremental wind energy injection into the system using forecasted base power flow. The simulation of Phase I involved the generation capacity of 80 MW projected for 2014 in state water. The modeling Phases II and III, which will distribute the energy among neighboring utilities, involve a supplementary capacity of 1000 MW projected for 2020 and 2000 MW for 2030 in federal water. In addition to this steady state investigation, a contingency analysis was performed on the power system …


Optimizing The Mechanical Properties Of Partially Yttria Stabilized Zirconia With Alumina Additions, Ramanaganapathy Kandaswamy Dec 2010

Optimizing The Mechanical Properties Of Partially Yttria Stabilized Zirconia With Alumina Additions, Ramanaganapathy Kandaswamy

All Theses

Zirconia is one of the extensively studied solid oxide ceramics with respect to its use in various industrial applications like electrolyte in fuel cells, sensors, refractories and exhaust chamber in automobile industry. It can be found from the literature 1-4 that are contradictory results on the mechanical properties when alumina is added. There are several factors like microstructure, phase composition and method of processing that affects the mechanical properties of the material. The focus of this research is to examine how hardness, tensile strength and other properties varies with alumina content and deduce the optimal amount of alumina that is …


Modeling Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Conventional Wastewater Treatment Plants In South Carolina, Andrea Hicks Dec 2010

Modeling Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Conventional Wastewater Treatment Plants In South Carolina, Andrea Hicks

All Theses

Wastewater treatment is an essential part of life in the urbanized world. As global climate change becomes a more pressing issue, the greenhouse gas emissions created through wastewater treatment will become a more prominent concern. Tertiary treatment will likely be standard for wastewater treatment plants in the near future, and therefore must be included in a model of greenhouse gas emissions. Also, the geographic location of a WWTP will change the mix of power types (e.g., coal, nuclear, biomass) used to run the plant. Although GHG emissions from the waste sector are small compared to the emissions of the United …


Mapping Problem And Requirements To Solution: Document Analysis Of Senior Design Projects, Shraddha Joshi Dec 2010

Mapping Problem And Requirements To Solution: Document Analysis Of Senior Design Projects, Shraddha Joshi

All Theses

Formulating and solving engineering problems and designing solutions that meet the established requirements are important skills that graduating engineering students need to possess. However, there are noticeable gaps in the literature with respect to understanding how the formulation of design problems and establishment of requirements affect the final design solution. This thesis is an initial attempt to understand the influence of level of detail of problem statement and requirements on the level of detail of final solution. In doing so, a document analysis of final reports from senior design class collected over a period of ten years from 1999 to …


Correcting Liquefaction Resistance Of Partially Saturated Soil Using Compression Wave Velocity, Md Hossain Dec 2010

Correcting Liquefaction Resistance Of Partially Saturated Soil Using Compression Wave Velocity, Md Hossain

All Theses

Empirical relationships for correcting liquefaction resistance of partially saturated soil using longitudinal (P-) wave velocity (VP) and shear (S-) wave velocity (VS) are developed and evaluated in this thesis. The relationships are based on the laboratory test results for four different types of sands and one silt published by other investigators. The data used to develop the relationship with VP exhibit less scatter than the data used to develop the relationship with VP/VS. For this reason, the VP based relationship is recommended for correcting liquefaction resistance of partially saturated soil. …


Advanced Automotive Thermal Management - Operation Of An Electric Radiator Fan Array For Reduced Electric Power Consumption, Amit Jagarwal Dec 2010

Advanced Automotive Thermal Management - Operation Of An Electric Radiator Fan Array For Reduced Electric Power Consumption, Amit Jagarwal

All Theses

The depletion of fossil fuel reserves and the limited renewable energy resources have raised public awareness about the need to improve fuel efficiency in ground transportation vehicles. The internal combustion engine remains one of the primary industrial machines using gasoline or diesel fuel to produce mechanical work. In these engines, the cooling system performs the vital role of removing waste heat to ensure normal combustion processes in the cylinders. To accomplish this task, the radiator, the radiator fan(s), the thermostat valve, and the water pump operated by circulating cooling fluid through the engine block and rejecting heat to the atmosphere. …


Pulse Echo Ultrasonic Testing Of Adhesive Bonded Joints For Automotive Applications, Arun Ganapathi Dec 2010

Pulse Echo Ultrasonic Testing Of Adhesive Bonded Joints For Automotive Applications, Arun Ganapathi

All Theses

The growing prominence of adhesive bonding technology in automotive manufacture has necessitated the development of reliable and robust quality assurance techniques. Of the different Nondestructive testing technologies available, Ultrasonic testing has shown itself to be the most promising technique to satisfy the requirements in automobile production. The current work attempts to apply two variations of the Ultrasonic Pulse Echo technique namely Contact and Immersion testing for inspecting typical hem bonded automotive joints. The joints have been tested for disbond at the various metal-adhesive interfaces by using an ultrasonic scan comparison method which compares the acquired signals against a reference scan …


Mass And Assembly Time Reduction For Future Generation Automotive Vehicles Based On Existing Vehicle Model, Essam Namouz Dec 2010

Mass And Assembly Time Reduction For Future Generation Automotive Vehicles Based On Existing Vehicle Model, Essam Namouz

All Theses

This research presents method for evaluating the lightweightedness of a vehicle and an approach for vehicle assembly time savings potential developed through a case study. The Lazy Part Identification method for mass reduction specifically addresses those components whose primary purpose is to aid in manufacturing and assembly rather than to provide end-user function. Seven specific laziness indicators are described and illustrated: rigid-to-rigid connection, support for a flexible, non-moving part, positioning feature, duplicate geometry, fastener, bridging system, and material flow restriction. These indicators are used to evaluate individual vehicle components as part of a proposed method for identifying mass reduction potential. …


Analysis Of Part Consolidation Techniques For Automotive Body In White Panels Based On Advanced Sheet Metal Forming Technologies, Harish Thiruvengadam Dec 2010

Analysis Of Part Consolidation Techniques For Automotive Body In White Panels Based On Advanced Sheet Metal Forming Technologies, Harish Thiruvengadam

All Theses

The automotive industry is looking to move from mass production to mass customization in order to manufacture and sell a variety of products in different markets on a global scale. This requires a robust and cost effective manufacturing system which would help design new products in the shortest possible lead time. This thesis tries to investigate the current sheet metal forming process for body in white, identify the limitations and propose an alternative which would help the industry cut down product lead time and costs. Decision making tools are used to identify the technical requirements of a BIW manufacturing system …


Evaluation Of Tetrachloroethene Dechlorination Under Low Ph Conditions In Microcosms And Enrichment Cultures, Michael Hickey Dec 2010

Evaluation Of Tetrachloroethene Dechlorination Under Low Ph Conditions In Microcosms And Enrichment Cultures, Michael Hickey

All Theses

Chlorinated ethenes are among the most prevalent groundwater contaminants found at hazardous waste sites throughout the United States. Two such sites are the Statesville FCX OU3 Superfund Site in North Carolina and the C-area at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, SC. Both sites are contaminated with two of the more common chlorinated ethenes; tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE). Anaerobic biological reductive dechlorination is an increasingly common treatment option. There are two main concerns as to the feasibility of this approach. The first is if the microbes are present that are needed for carrying out complete reductive dechlorination of …