Engineering Commons^™

Predicting Creep In An Alloy 617 Pressure Vessel Using Uniaxial Bar Test Data, Justin Allen, Allyssa Bateman, Yudhishthir Bhetwal, Theodora Caldwell, Joseph Croteau, Elias Lindau

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Alloy 617 is being investigated as a candidate for application in next generation nuclear plants (NGNPs), including the very high temperature reactor (VHTR). Creep deformation concerns the lifetime and failure of heat exchangers used at the very high operating temperatures and pressures of such plants. In order to meet the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Boiler and Pressure Vessel code (ASME B&PV), and be certified for use in NGNPs, a thorough understanding of creep must be demonstrated. Current methods of testing creep have limitations and there remains uncertainty and controversy as to the applicability of these tests to more complex …

Use Of Global Electrochemical Techniques To Characterize Localized Corrosion Behavior On Aluminum Alloys, Joe Croteau, Kerry N. Allahar, Darryl P. Butt, Michael F. Hurley

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Precipitated intermetallic phases strengthen aluminum aircraft alloys; these inclusions also establish localized electrochemical environments, significantly influencing the bulk corrosion behavior of such alloys. To gain insight on the effects of intermetallic phases on the bulk corrosion behavior, two established forms of electrochemical characterization techniques were used, polarization scans and impedance spectroscopy. This effort was undertaken to:

• Provide a statistical body of electrochemical data for aluminum alloys,
• Provide fundamental electrochemical parameters to aide in a continuum scale modeling effort,
• Validate the effect of solution chemistry on bulk corrosion behavior,
• Determine the influence of precipitated intermetallic phases on the bulk corrosion behavior, …

Micro Grids Fabricated For Miniature Ion Thruster, Deborah French, Jesse Taff

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Part of the research at Boise State is a miniaturized plasma propulsion thruster. The purpose of the thruster is to provide the necessary location realignments for small satellites in space. The grid creates an electrostatic field, which extracts plasma ions from an Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) source. The ions are propelled toward a collector plate being a second identical grid, which in turn creates the desired thrust. The size and density of the openings in the grid are essential to optimizing the thrust produced. The grid geometry contributes to the ion departure angle (focusing) and the ion transparency. The Stainless …

Mechanical Testing And Design Of The Magnetic Linear Test Apparatus, Sam Barker, Eric Rhoads, Brittni Blessie, Zachary Harris, Courtney Hollar

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

In order to further understand the fatigue and electrical properties of multifunctional magnetic shape memory alloys (MSMA), such as nickel-manganese-gallium (Ni-Mn-Ga), it is often necessary to modify existing machinery or design unique devices. The existing linear test apparatus has accomplished the goal of straining specimens by applying linear compression in a static magnetic field. The data acquired by this apparatus has been useful, but is limited by the device’s lack of magnetic field strength variability and closed loop control, as well as its data acquisition speed. The proposed study seeks to design and test a linear test apparatus that performs …

Repairing Mixed-Conducting, Ceramic Electrolyte Films, Kevin Tolman, Izaak Williamson, Kokfoong Chan

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Ceramatec, Inc. develops ceramic-electrolyte thin films for gas separation/purification technologies. Specific ions (e.g., oxygen) can be selectively diffused through these films in order to obtain a desired product, such as syngas or pure O2. During production, residual stresses develop within the films which induce defects, such as pinholes, micro-cracks, and other sources of leaks, that allow gas contamination. To improve large-scale film production yield, four application techniques were analyzed for their feasibility of restoring the integrity of the films. Controlled, uniform defects were introduced to the films using a microindenter to enable an effective comparison of application techniques …

Particle Size Characterization Of Ferritic Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Alloy Powders, Sumit R. Tamrakar

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Ferritic oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloys are candidate materials for use in extreme applications due to their excellent high temperature strength. Fe₈₁Cr₁₆Mo₃ and Fe₈₁Cr₁₆Al₃ alloys were ball milled for various durations with 0.5 wt. % Y₂O₃ nanometer sized particles prior to consolidation via spark plasma sintering (SPS). The particle size characterization was completed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and laser scattering. The median particle size of Fe₈₁Cr₁₆Mo₃₊0.5 wt. % Y₂O₃ powder increased from 9µm to 31µm …

Camp Rainbow Gold: New Design, Andrew Campbell, Marcus Rasulo, Alex Nelson, Jill Pruett, Jarom Gray

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Camp Rainbow Gold is a summer camp for children diagnosed with cancer. The camp has experienced substantial growth since its inception, reaching the capacity of its current site, and is exploring alternative sites. Awesome Engineering was tasked to design a new resident camp facility to meet the needs of a growing Camp Rainbow Gold as a Civil Engineering Design project. We were given a 77-acre site located two miles south of Bellevue, Idaho, and a list of facility requirements for the camp. Our job is to design the facilities as well as investigate the required permits and codes. We will …

Ten Mile Road Interchange And Bridge Design, Brian Portugais, Joshua Lee, Darryl Joinol, Shelby Bittner, Alex Dow, Nicolette Villagomez, Jonathan Solano

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

The Ten Mile Road Bridge crossing I-84 in Meridian, Idaho was determined to be inadequate. A new interchange capable of accommodating traffic volumes through 2030 has been proposed. We will demonstrate through computer modeling that a Single Point Urban Interchange (SPUI) configuration is a safe and effective interchange option for managing the Ten Mile Road configuration. Design of the Single Point Urban Interchange (SPUI) will include a new six lane, composite, simple span bridge with four ramps converging on a single traffic control point. The bridge design is composed of two simple spans supported by piers and abutments. Reinforced concrete …

Verification Of Particle Image Velocimeter For Study Of Martian And Lunar Regoliths, Kristopher Burch, Eric Wright, Jozey Mitcham, Alfredo Bravo Iniguez

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

The behavior of dust, or regolith, on Mars and the moon is critical to our understanding of the Martian and lunar environments. The dust interaction with space suits and other equipment is a major concern for long term space missions. Dust on the moon greatly deteriorated the space suits in NASA’s Apollo program. We have developed a test enclosure for the study of dust motion. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has developed a Particle Image Velocimeter (PIV) to measure the velocity and size of thousands of moving particles. The PIV was developed as a demonstration project for use on possible …

Versatile In-Situ Engine Lubricant Health Sensor, Sanjeev Acharya

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Lubricants which are used in engines to reduce friction, promote engine cooling, and prevent corrosion degrade with time under harsh engine operating conditions and hence need to be changed periodically. Since degradation of oil is a result of number of mechanisms such as; engine component wear, oil oxidation, water ingress, and carbon particles, a versatile and microscopic in-situ sensor that can sense quality of wide variety of engine lubricant brands at various temperatures and pressures is of great need. This problem can be resolved by applying portable interdigitated micro-sensors to examine the impedance behavior of degraded lubricants through electrochemical tests. …

Hop Funnel And Field Emitter Array Interaction, Tyler Rowe

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Investigate the use of hop funnels with field emitter arrays (FEAs) as a method to improve FEA performance for use in various microwave vacuum electron devices (MVEDs).

Rf Sputter Optimization Of Germanium Sulfide (Ges2) Thin Films, Steven Livers

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Radio frequency sputter deposition of germanium sulfide thin films can be optimized for surface thickness homogeneity and surface roughness. Optimizing these two components are the first steps of producing memory devices that use the film as a solid electrolyte. The best films were produced using a sputter power of 16 Watts and a pressure of 0.2 mbar. Using these settings a deposition rate of 3.7 nm/min was recorded and the films had a minimum RMS surface roughness of 0.4550 nm.

Minimization Of Surface Impurities In Anodized Aluminum, Logan Ward, Steven Livers, Amber Huddleston

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Anodized aluminum is commonly used to create wear-resistant parts for process tools used in the semiconductor industry. Sinc microchips require high purity manufacturing environments[1], surface impurities on tooling needs to be minimized.

It has been determined that anodized aluminum parts are one source of contamination. This project investigates the source of trace elements in anodized aluminum 6061 parts and ways to reduce them.

Camera Imaging System, Wayne Kreimeyer, Adrian Rothenbühler, Anita Poudel, Elisa Barney Smith

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

• Magnetic shape memory alloys are functional materials which can remember their shape
• Currently, twin boundaries as a function of magnetic field angle can not be measured
• Information about shape changes of different parts of the sample will increase the understanding of deformation mechanisms

A Prototyping Hardware Platform For ∆Σ Adcs, Abbas Alahmed, Mohammed Alhajji, Zacharias Arnos, Vishal Saxena

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

The project involves development of a generic test-bed for prototyping and characterizing Delta-Sigma Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADCs). The ADCs are designed at the Analog Mixed Signal IC (AMS) Laboratory at Boise State. This is a high-speed evaluation board that can be connected into an FPGA board which assists in controlling the ADC chip and assists in capturing blocks of digital data.

Effects Of Electromagnetic Stimulation On Soil’S Hydraulic Conductivity, Jonathan Rocha, Arvin Farid, Jim Browning

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Our research involves the identification of the different effects that electromagnetic (EM) stimulation has on varying soil properties; properties such as hydraulic conductivity. This work could prove to be of importance in furthering our understanding of the effects of EM stimulation with regard to the hydraulic conductivity of soil. A positive correlation between EM stimulation and an increase in hydraulic conductivity could have broad applications for environmental contaminant mitigation in soils and for various geotechnical construction applications such as minimizing soil setup during pile driving operations. EM waves can be used to enhance soil and groundwater remediation in a way …

Minidoka Memorial Hospital Expansion, Bryanne Calkins, Mike Dupras, William Thornton, Brett Feichtinger, Corinne Haase, Ena Beganovic, Scott Moreno

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

The Minidoka Memorial Hospital is the main hospital serving Minidoka County. Due to an increase in farming and traffic accidents, the emergency facilities are no longer adequate and require expansion.

Characterization Of Emissions Of Wax-Based Products During Combustion, Ben Albiston, Crystal Grasmick

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Currently, over 40% of the global burden of disease is attributed to environmental factors; of this, 2.6% of disease is attributed to indoor pollutants. When considering that people currently spend about 85 percent of their time indoors, this is a concerning statistic. Environmental and health concerns have pushed scientists to develop new cleaner and greener burning wax-based products. E3 Fuels has developed an additive that is claimed to reduce the emissions, both particulate and gaseous, associated with the combustion of hydrocarbons in solid wax-based products. In this study, the aforementioned emissions were qualified and quantified in paraffin candles using various …

Process Development For Advanced Complex Nuclear Oxide Fuels, Richard Reavis, Daniel Osterberg

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Oxide nuclear fuel processing has the ability to convert long-lived actinide waste into short-lived fission products through fast reactors. Research is needed to improve the overall efficiency of this process to ensure it is a viable and sustainable option. Boise State University (BSU) worked in collaboration with others to synthesize, consolidate, and characterize complex surrogate oxide systems for use as advanced nuclear fuels. The objective of this work was to demonstrate the atmosphere affects on the final composition and density of the final fuel. The scope of this work included the identification of surrogate fuel compositions (target fuels, mixed oxide …

War Eagle Shopping Center, Megan Kautz, Jonathan Rocha, Peter Mckenzie, Clemente Salinas, David Mclenna

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

This senior design project is for the development of the War Eagle Shopping Center in Elmore county, Idaho. The shopping center is a part of the Elmore County comprehensive growth and development plan. The shopping center will be placed on 1,120 acres of land that is located fifteen miles northwest of Mountain Home, west of Interstate 84 and east of Simco Road. Our team will determine the required environmental and building permits, design the access and egress roadways, perform a nutrient pathogen study, design a wastewater treatment system, water supply systems, and a structure that includes two anchor stores, three …

Rooftop Ventilator Senior Design Project, Gavin Moody, Nick Thompson, Jon Flack

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

The purpose of this research was to explore the energy savings between passive and active ventilation techniques and explore the feasability of a hybrid solar ventilator. The methodology that was employed for this research involved fluid flow analysis, thermal and heat transfer analysis and system modeling and controls. Additionally, machine design skills such as stress, failure and fatigue analysis were employed to ensure the longevity of the final design. Results can be placed into two categories. First, annual savings in terms of energy consumption for active versus passive ventilation will be displayed for various geographical areas. Second, a hybrid solar …

Shielded Cold Cathode Magnetron (Sccm), Tyler Rowe, Geoff Groff, Sonya Shawver, Brandon Wells

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

A magnetron is a vacuum device that uses the interaction of electrons and an electric field to generate microwaves. Magnetrons are often used for radar systems. Current magnetrons create electrons by heating a tungsten wire to the point that it emits electrons. These systems waste large amounts of energy and are difficult to control. A shielded cold cathode magnetron is a new magnetron design that has the potential to greatly improve the magnetron’s efficiency. These new magnetrons utilize arrays of gated field emitters to inject the electrons into the electric field. These field emitters must be protected from electron bombardment …

Energy Modeling Using Feed-Forward Artificial Neural Networks, Dustyn Deakins

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Buildings are responsible for over half the energy use in this country. Building energy use can be reduced by a few actions and one is energy conservation. This can be accomplished by knowing what the building energy use is currently and even better is what the energy use is going to be tomorrow, or next month, or even next year. By use of building energy models this will help monitor performance to ensure buildings are operating at peak performance and yield non-HVAC energy use. There has been many studies in this area and one of the many that have been …

Personal Fall Protection: A Look At The Differences Among Industries, Nathan Miller

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Fall prevention and protection is a mandatory part of nearly every type of construction. This project took a closer look at the fall protection equipment used in the construction industry relative to the equipment used in other industries. These industries include high rise window washing, rock climbing, utility lineman, and tree trimming. All of these industries rely on some form of fall protection and the equipment used varies per each unique application. In the construction industry, falls are the highest ranked cause of injury and account for roughly one third of all construction fatalities annually. A closer look at the …