Engineering Commons^™

Nonlinear Model Development And Validation For Ball And Plate Control System, Zachary Richter

Master's Theses

Ball and plate balancing control systems are commonly studied due to the complex dynamics associated with the instability of the system in open-loop. For simplicity, mathematical models describing the ball and plate dynamics are often linearized and the effects of complex motion are assumed to be negligible. These assumptions are rarely backed with evidence or explanations validating the simplified form of the dynamical equations of motion. This thesis focuses on developing a nonlinear model that more accurately defines the dynamics of the system, in order to quantify the error of linear and nonlinear models when compared to a Simscape physical …

Housing And Urban Development Home Development And The Future Of The Industry: Case Study, Nolan J. Binkele

Construction Management

A HUD home is a 1-4 unit residential property acquired by HUD (Housing and Urban Development) as a result of a foreclosure action. These homes tend to be priced slightly below market value in order to regain past losses. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has developed a building code to classify manufactured homes as HUD. Although manufactured homes are typically sold to single property owners, I hypothesize that building them in a tract form can benefit a community by providing affordable, adequate housing for low income families and single families. I also hypothesize that HUD home development will …

The Preconstruction Work For The Shaded Structure At Growing Grounds, Grace Gv Brekke

Construction Management

When beginning a project, one must take vast consideration into the plan. For a construction project, this means considering how long the project will take, how much it will cost, what materials will be used, who will build it, where the money will come from, and who will utilize the space. This paper analyzes all this preconstruction work for a shaded structure at Growing Grounds. The Growing Grounds shared community space in San Luis Obispo, California, provides incredible resources and opportunities to the people in the area that struggle with mental health. Through horticulture, the volunteers must work hard to …

Reasons And Remedies To The Dying Plant Walls, Hayley Q. Mcgough

Construction Management

Sustainability in construction has been increasingly popular and detrimental with the state of the planet and climate change. One of the more popular solutions is the addition of plant façades to a building, which are plants that are put on the vertical of a building. The benefits that come with plant facades include and are not limited to: Reduction of the urban heat island effect, improved air quality, local job creation, improved energy efficiency, building structure protection, noise reduction, increased biodiversity, urban agriculture. These benefits are not reaching their full potential because these plant façades keep dying creating a bigger …

Noninvasive Measurement Of Arterial Compliance With A Blood Pressure Cuff Using A Surrogate Arm Bench Top Model For Oscillometric Use, Shane Wilsey

Master's Theses

A surrogate arm model was created that is capable of being used for oscillometry. This model is capable of being used as a bench top model for blood pressure cuff devices. The arm consists of endplates and internal supports that are 3D printed with ABS, a silicone rubber outer sleeve, and interchangeable arteries made from two silicone rubber strips glued together at the edges. The interchangeable arteries have varying compliances that can be used as different inputs for oscillometric testing. A process was established to measure the artery compliances with a curve fit correlation of 0.95. However, testing revealed that …

Comparison Of Two Advanced Oxidation Processes For Their Production Of Hydroxyl Radicals And Evaluation Of A Uv/Ozone Aop At Varying Uv Fluence For Treating Diclofenac, Alexandra Cass

Master's Theses

This study explores the efficacy of two advanced oxidation processes for generation of hydroxyl radicals to promote degradation of emerging contaminants. Drought and water shortage have become pressing issues caused by our world’s changing climate. Water reclamation and reuse are increasingly important options for relieving this water stress. Water reuse runs the risk of reintroducing recalcitrant compounds that can accumulate in our bodies and environment. Advanced treatment methods that degrade these compounds are vital to protect our health and the health of the environment while providing necessary water resources. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have shown great promise for removing recalcitrant …

A Fire Protection Life Safety Analysis Of Multipurpose Building, Dalower Hossain

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

The following report is a fire and hazard protection analysis of a new building. This new building is a multi-purpose building called MPB locates in Gazipur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The prescriptive requirements set by the codes and standards used at time of construction of the building have been met. The building has been properly classified with respect to occupancy as S1, Group B and F-1 and construction Type I A Sprinklered. Appropriate designs for interior partitions and exterior wall have been identified. Interior finish requirements have been analyzed for a better understanding of aesthetics guidelines. Based on the sprinkler drawing calculations, …

Design And Analysis Of A Single-Stage Inverter Using Parallel Dc-Dc Converters For Solar Cell Application, Gabriel Leonides

Master's Theses

This thesis introduces the design and analysis of a single-stage inverter. A circuit was designed and simulated as a proof of concept to investigate the possibility of using boost and buck-boost converters to provide an AC output. The proposed circuit utilizes non-synchronous boost and buck-boost converters due to their simplicity in control signals as opposed to synchronous converters. The application of the proposed inverter is for use with individual solar cells. The aim of the inverter for a single cell is to improve the efficiency of a solar panel, whose performance is limited to the performance of the least efficient …

Development Of A Low-Cost, Photovoltaic-Powered, Automated Water Recovery System, David E. Daley

Master's Theses

An existing water filtration system at the Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute (CIMWI) wastes approximately 25 gallons of water per day rinsing out solid waste under light load. To reduce CIMWI’s water and energy consumption, an automated system was designed and built to recover the rinse water and return it to the existing filtration loop. Models for fluid system requirements, basic energy needs, and photo- voltaic energy generation were created to aid in component selection. Basic sensors and electronics were programmed in Python for use with a Raspberry Pi single board computer to collect and process water recovery data …

Integral Boundary Layer Methods In Python, Malachi Joseph Edland

Master's Theses

This thesis presents a modern approach to two Integral Boundary Layer methods implemented in the Python programming language. This work is based on two 2D boundary layer methods: Thwaites' method for laminar boundary layer flows and Head's method for turbulent boundary layer flows. Several novel enhancements improve the quality and usability of the results. These improvements include: a common ordinary differential equation (ODE) integration framework that generalizes computational implementations of Integral Boundary Layer methods; the use of a dense output Runge-Kutta ODE solver that allows for querying of simulation results at any point with accuracy to the same order as …

High Voltage Dc-Dc Converter Design For Submarine Application, Oscar Ambriz

Master's Theses

In this work a proof of concept for a step-down DC-DC converter used in a high voltage submarine application is presented. The purpose of the converter is to step down a 5000V-6000V input to a 24V output which can serve as an input to a submarine sensor. The completed system consists of two stages where the first stage is an unregulated switched capacitor converter to step down the initial input to a voltage range more appropriate for the selected second stage. The second stage is a regulated flyback converter topology which regulates the final output to the desired 24V. Performance …

Multi-Robot Path Planning Using Sampling-Based Algorithms And Reinforcement Learning, Donald J. Alexander

Master's Theses

In today’s world, robots are becoming extremely useful in many facets of life. With the recent increase in applicable uses of robots, multi-robot path planning has emerged as a fundamental research area. Multi-robot path planning is the process of developing a coordinated plan which is utilized by multiple robots to efficiently work together to complete a common goal. Over the history of multi-robot path planning, many new path planning methodologies have been developed with the goal of outperforming the last, boasting better efficiency and optimality. In this thesis, an analysis of various multi-robot path planning methodologies is carried out with …

A Method For Monitoring Operating Equipment Effectiveness With The Internet Of Things And Big Data, Carl D. Hays Iii

Master's Theses

The purpose of this paper was to use the Overall Equipment Effectiveness productivity formula in plant manufacturing and convert it to measuring productivity for forklifts. Productivity for a forklift was defined as being available and picking up and moving containers at port locations in Seattle and Alaska. This research uses performance measures in plant manufacturing and applies them to mobile equipment in order to establish the most effective means of analyzing reliability and productivity. Using the Internet of Things to collect data on fifteen forklift trucks in three different locations, this data was then analyzed over a six-month period to …

Modeling Action Potential Propagation During Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Through A Three-Dimensional Computational Model, Julia Elizabeth Kelley

Master's Theses

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common monogenic disorder and the leading cause of sudden arrhythmic death in children and young adults. It is typically asymptomatic and first manifests itself during cardiac arrest, making it a challenge to diagnose in advance. Computational models can explore and reveal underlying molecular mechanisms in cardiac electrophysiology by allowing researchers to alter various parameters such as tissue size or ionic current amplitudes. The goal of this thesis is to develop a computational model in MATLAB and to determine if this model can accurately indicate cases of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This goal is achieved by combining …

Minimizing Leakage In Thin Walled Structures Printed Through Selective Laser Melting, Andrew Spencer Yap

Master's Theses

In this project, the scan strategy of selective laser melting (SLM) for thin walled structures was investigated by changing laser parameters and tool path. Producing thin walled structures is difficult due to defects such as warpage and porosity. A layer on the SLM 125 consists of hatch volume, fill contours, and borders, however, for thin walls, hatch volume can become unavailable, resulting in a solely border/fill contour laser tool path.

Three central composite designs (CCD) were created to optimize the laser parameters of borders to minimize leakage rate and porosity. The two factors changed were border laser power and scanning …

Analysis Of The Use Of Waste Material In 3d Printing, Alexander Laurence

Materials Engineering

Globally, only 9% of plastic by mass is recycled. Allowing consumers to directly convert polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste into 3D filament can increase the recycling rate by reducing contamination and costs from traditional large-scale recycling methods. This was tested by heating strips of PET to various temperatures within its glass transition region and pressing a roller with a 1.75 mm indentation against it to observe strip deformation. PET was also placed in a hemispherical well with a 1.75 mm diameter hole at the bottom and heated above its melting temperature to determine the mass of PET required to extrude 3D …

Center Pivot Project Specifications, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This note provides an example of items that are included in a specification for center pivots. It is a supplement to design drawings that have numerous additional details. This example combines items from various ITRC jobs, and therefore the units are not consistent (there is a mix of metric and English units). The intention, however, is not to provide a precise specification that can be replicated, but rather to show the key items that are typically included.

In such projects, there are two primary sets of specifications:

• The details of the center pivots themselves and warranties for the pivots
• The …

B-91 Fire Protection Analysis, Evan Phillips

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

B-91 is a multiuse building on a Department of Defense installation rented out to a defense contractor consisting of laboratory, office, storage, and utility spaces. To determine the adequacy of the building’s fire protection systems as determined by the state-adopted 2015 International Building Code, a prescriptive analysis was performed with specific areas of focus on the building construction and occupancy, emergency egress capacity, fire suppression systems, and fire alarm systems. The building is compliant with code requirements in its construction and the fire alarm systems are adequately designed to provide notice, but the egress from the building’s main conference room …

Fire Protection Analysis For The Tritium Engineering Building, Jack Smeck

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This report analyzed several different aspects of the fire protection and life safety strategy for the Tritium Engineering Building (TEB) at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, SC. The TEB is a single-story, Type IIB building that primarily houses engineering and technical staff. The building is approximately 15,560 ft2 and consists of two large “open areas” enclosed by hard- wall offices. Modular workstations are located in both “open areas” and accommodate the majority of the building occupants. This analysis provided both a prescriptive and a performance-based approach for analyzing fire hazards within the building. The prescriptive- based analysis evaluated the …

College Sports Center Fire Protection Analysis, Elijah Kimmig

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

The purpose of this project was to analyze and compare the existing fire protection systems in the college sports center to current applicable codes and standards. Both prescriptive based analysis and performance based analyses were performed.

The prescriptive based analyses included analyzing the structural fire protection, fire suppression, fire alarm, and egress systems. Overall, the majority of the fire protection systems appeared to meet the requirements of the current codes but there are a few items that were found that appear to not meet current code. These items are listed below along with recommendations to mitigate: (1) Placement of certain …

Fire Protection Analysis Of Johnson Controls Office Building, Derek Driscoll

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This project report contains a fire and life safety analysis of the Johnson Controls Office Building. The building is located in Los Angeles, California. The building is a mixed use occupancy with office spaces, meeting rooms, training rooms, and a warehouse for storing fire sprinkler and fire alarm materials. The building is one level with a mezzanine. It is attached to another building and separated by fire barrier so that they are considered separate buildings. This report contains a prescriptive analysis and a performance-based design analysis of the building.

The prescriptive code requirements were determined based on the 2019 edition …

Construction Innovation Center At California Polytechnic State University, James Hunter Gildart

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

The building of interest for this project is the Construction Innovation Center (CIC) at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The CIC consists of 3 structures (buildings A, B, and C) equipped throughout with a wet pipe automatic sprinkler system and a fire alarm system with smoke detection. This report reviews the prescriptive and performance-based requirements along with providing a fire safety management plan. The prescriptive based portion of this report covers egress, fire alarm, automatic fire sprinklers, flammability, and structural fire protection requirements. Upon completion of the prescriptive code analysis comparing the CIC to the 2015 International Building …

Husky Union Building - University Of Washington Fire And Life Safety Overview And Analysis, Dan Quatier

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

A fire and life safety analysis was performed on the Husky Union Building, which is the student union building on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. This analysis was performed for the fulfillment of requirements for the Master of Science in Fire Protection Engineering degree from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo.

The analysis includes both a prescriptive-based and a performance-based design. The prescriptive analysis includes the following elements: (1) Building Code Overview, (2) Egress Analysis and Design, (3) Fire Alarm and Detection, (4) Water-Based Suppression Systems, and (5) Structural Fire Protection

The prescriptive analysis …

Tucson Student Housing, Abraham Coria

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

The purpose of this report is to perform a two-part analysis of Tucson Student Housing’s fire protection design components. The two-part analysis consists of a prescriptive analysis, and a performance-based analysis. The purpose of the prescriptive-based analysis is to verify Tucson Student Housing meets or exceeds applicable construction standards. The prescriptive based analysis reviews the fire resistance of building elements, flammability of interior finishes, wet suppression system, fire alarm system, voice evacuation system, and occupant egress requirements. The performance-based analysis evaluates the performance of Tucson Student Housing’s fire protection systems when subjected to specified design fires. The design fire scenarios …

Fire Protection And Life Safety Analysis Of Art ‘N Motion, Jordan Albrecht

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This report includes a fire protection and life safety analysis for the Art ‘n Motion building. This analysis was done to fulfill the requirement for the Master of Science Degree in Fire Protection Engineering from California Polytechnic State University. The Art ‘n Motion building is two (2) stories, approximately 17,720 sqft, and is Type III-B construction. The building’s primary use is a vehicle showroom business where multiple exotic and antique vehicles are on display, and can be bought and sold. The building is also used as a home base for a NASCAR team, that operates out of the garage area …

Nursing Home Study- Culminating Project Final Report, Ed Hale

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This project report is a component of the culminating project required by the California Polytechnic State University, Master of Science, Fire Protection Engineering program. The purpose is to demonstrate the student’s comprehensive knowledge, skill, and ability to evaluate fire and life safety engineering principles utilizing both prescriptive and performance- based design as applied to the built environment. The student project building is a two-story, 78-bed, federally funded, government owned, skilled nursing facility with 90% of the occupants being mobility impaired.

The project building was designed and constructed using prescriptive codes. Fire and life safety structural components, means of egress, fire …

Fire Protection And Life Safety Analysis: Canyon Vista Dining Renovation- University Of California San Diego, Paul Ian Jungco Cabasag

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

The Canyon Vista Dining project is a renovation of an existing two-story dining facility located in the Warren College area of the University of California San Diego campus for the owners, Housing, Dining and Hospitality. The renovation scope of work comprised a new dining experience with a better diversity of food options and indoor and outdoor seating, which upgraded the first floor, second floor, and mechanical penthouse. In the course of the design and construction, the prescriptive, performance, wildfire, and due diligence design results were utilized during discussions with design team and building permit approval. The project construction was completed …

Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center Fire Protection And Fire Life Safety Analysis, Alex Dowdy

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

The Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center Fire Protection and Life Safety Report evaluates the building’s prescriptive compliance and provides a performance-based analysis. The original construction documents were completed in 1993 in line with UBC 1991 requirements, however, the 2016 Edition of the California Building Code was used for the purpose of this analysis.

The Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center was constructed as a Type I-B building, fully protected with a sprinkler system and an emergency voice alarm system. The building is located far enough from surrounding buildings as to not require a fire-resistance rated exterior, with the exception of a …

Effect Of Distal Core Flattening On 304 Stainless Steel Guide Wires, Khanh Phan

Materials Engineering

Abbott Vascular produces a variety of medical guide wires to accommodate a wide array of minimally invasive medical procedures. Certain types of these wires have the distal core flattened to improve specific properties such as flexibility and steerability. However, it is unknown how this affects the other mechanical properties of the wire. Abbott Vascular provided two types of wire to test the effects of distal core flattening on the mechanical performance of the wires. One group of wires was made from 304 single spring stainless steel with no flattening performed. The other group of wires was made from 304 triple …

Pier Ocean Pier, Brandon J. Nowak

Computer Engineering

Pier Ocean Peer is a weatherproof box containing a Jetson Nano, connected to a cell modem and camera, and powered by a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery charged by a 50W solar panel. This system can currently provide photos to monitor the harbor seal population that likes to haul out at the base of the Cal Poly Pier, but more importantly it provides a platform for future expansion by other students either though adding new sensors directly to the Jetson Nano or by connecting to the jetson nano remotely through a wireless protocol of their choice.