Engineering Commons^™

Laser Etched Pmma Microfluidic Chip Design And Manufacture With Applications In Capillary Zone Electrophoresis, Evan Allen Barbre

Master's Theses

This thesis encompasses a feasibility study of using low-cost materials to manufacture microfluidic chips that can perform the same functions as chips manufactured using traditional methods within an acceptable range of efficiency of chips created with more exotic methods and materials. The major parts of the project are the selection and characterization of the fabrication methods for creating the channels for fluid flow, the methods for sealing the channels to create a usable chip and the electrophoretic separations of carboxylated microspheres of different potentials. In this work we seek to answer the question if laser-etched PMMA microfluidic chips are comparable …

A Microsimulation Of Traffic, Parking, And Emissions At California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo, Steven Michael Kilbert

Master's Theses

Traffic and parking congestion are significant issues at many universities nationwide. The delays experienced result in wasted time, money, and fuel for students, faculty and staff, not to mention the negative contributions to the environment. This paper quantifies the amount of vehicle emissions generated during an average morning peak hour in the university environment. Using VISSIM and CMEM microsimulation packages, a model is created for California Polytechnic State University- San Luis Obispo to aggregate the collective transportation behaviors and practices of the campus and recognize the implications these behaviors pose on the transportation network as a whole. Reasonable estimates are …

Sar Map Of Gel Phantom In A 64mhz Mri Birdcage By Fiber-Optic Thermometry And Fdtd Simulation, Chirag Mukesh Patel

Master's Theses

As implantable medical devices are being used more often to treat medical problems for which pharmaceuticals don’t suffice, it is important to understand their interactions with commonly used medical modalities. The interactions between medical implants and Magnetic Resonance Imaging machines have proven to be a risk for patients with implants.

Implanted medical devices with elongated metallic components can create harmful levels of local heating in a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) environment [1]. The heating of a biological medium under MRI is monitored via the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). SAR, defined as power absorbed per unit mass (W/kg), can be calculated …

A Differential Planetary Gear Model With Backlash And Teeth Damage, Xi Wu, Jim Meagher, Andrew Sommer

Mechanical Engineering

Planetary gear trains can be more compact and efficient as power transmissions than fixed axis gear trains but are also more complicated and less understood in terms of vibration health monitoring. A practical differential planetary gear train, which combines two inputs and one output, is studied using multi-body dynamics software. Backlash between the sun gear and planet gears are precisely specified to avoid teeth interference and undercut. In order to calculate accurate impact forces, an impact model is chosen. Tooth geometry errors are created on the sun gear. Constraints and contact forces to the model are applied as close as …

An Advanced Numerical Model Of Gear Tooth Loading From Backlash And Profile Errors, Andrew Sommer, Jim Meagher, Xi Wu

Mechanical Engineering

This study demonstrates the early transient dynamic loading on teeth within a fixed-axis gear transmission arising from backlash and geometric manufacturing errors by utilizing a non-linear multi-body dynamics software model. Selection of the non-linear contact parameters such as the stiffness, force exponent, damping, and friction coefficients are presented for a practical transmission. Backlash between gear teeth which is essential to provide better lubrication on tooth surfaces and to eliminate interference is included as a defect and a necessary part of transmission design. Torsional vibration is shown to cause teeth separation and double-sided impacts in unloaded and lightly loaded gearing drives. …

The Effect Of Cox-2 Specific Inhibition On Direct Fracture Healing In The Rabbit Tibia, David J. Hak, Kurt S. Schulz, Behrang Khoie, Scott J. Hazelwood

Biomedical Engineering

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of Cox-2 administration on direct (primary) fracture healing.

Methods: A transverse tibial osteotomy was created in adult male rabbits and rigidly fixed in compression using a 2.7-mm dynamic compression plate. Animals were randomized to receive either rofecoxib (12.5 mg orally per day) or placebo. Animals were killed at 4 weeks and fracture healing assessed by mechanical testing.

Results: There were no significant differences between the control and Cox-2 treated animals in terms of mechanical strength at 4 weeks. There was a high complication rate of peri-implant fractures …

Top Transmission Grating Gan Led Simulations For Light Extraction Improvement, Simeon Trieu, Xiaomin Jin, Ashton Ellaboudy, Bei Zhang, Xiang-Ning Kang, Guo-Yi Zhang, Xiong Chang, Wei Wei, Sun Yong Jian, Fu Xing Xing

Electrical Engineering

We study the top transmission grating’s improvement on GaN LED light extraction efficiency. We use the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method, a computational electromagnetic solution to Maxwell’s equations, to measure light extraction efficiency improvements of the various grating structures. Also, since FDTD can freely define materials for any layer or shape, we choose three particular materials to represent our transmission grating: 1) nonlossy p-GaN, 2) lossy indium tin oxide (ITO), and 3) non-lossy ITO (α=0). We define a regular spacing between unit cells in a crystal lattice arrangement by employing the following three parameters: grating cell period (Α), grating …

Real-Time Crash Risk Estimation: Are All Freeways Created Equal?, Anurag Pande, Abhishek Das, Mohamed A. Abdel-Aty, Hany Hassan

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Underground loop detectors have been recently used by many researchers to investigate the links with real-time crash risk and the traffic data. An issue that has been raised but not explicitly addressed in these studies is how the results from one freeway might transfer to another. This study attempts to look at the relationship between crash risk and real-time traffic variables from a freeway corridor (I4 eastbound in Orlando, FL) and attempts to apply the models to three other freeway corridors (I-4 westbound, and I-95 north and southbound). Traffic data used in the study were collected using loop as well …

Traffic Engineering In A Hybrid Format: More Learning With Less Meeting, Anurag Pande, Joe Grimes

Civil and Environmental Engineering

In the Civil Engineering curriculum at Cal Poly, CE 421 (Traffic Engineering) course is intended to provide students with details of driver behavior, traffic characteristics, and design considerations for addressing traffic problems. In fall 2008, this class was taught in traditional Face-to-Face (f2f) lecture format. Based on the student feedback received at the end of the quarter and success in achieving learning outcomes, it was determined that the course should be more student-centered and there should be a 2-way feedback mechanism between students and instructor throughout the quarter. Based on this evaluation, the course was redesigned and taught in the …

A New Hardware Design Scheme Of Symbol Synchronization For An Underwater Acoustic Receiver, Li Ying, Bridget Benson, Ryan Kastner, Chen Lan

Electrical Engineering

Conventional time domain symbol synchronizer uses static predefined threshold to evaluate the level of environment noise and extract synchronization signal, but is less feasible to apply in underwater acoustic channel because of the great delay and noise variance make the threshold definition inaccurate. The paper provides a new hardware scheme using real time orthogonal sliding correlation as adaptive threshold to build a symbol synchronizer suitable for an underwater FSK acoustic receiver. The design has been implemented and evaluated on FPGA board. Both the simulation and real data experimental results show that the design provides accurate synchronization which consumes 9% of …

Part 2: Preparation For Wind Tunnel Model Testing And Verification Of Cal Poly’S Amelia 10 Foot Span Hybrid Wing-Body Low Noise Cestol Aircraft, Kristina Jameson, David D. Marshall, Robert Ehrmann, Eric Paciano, Robert J. Englar, William C. Horne

Aerospace Engineering

A collaboration between California Polytechnic Corporation with Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and DHC Engineering worked on a NASA NRA to develop predictive capabilities for the design and performance of Cruise Efficient, Short Take-Off and Landing (CESTOL) subsonic aircraft. The focus of this work presented in this paper gives details of a large scale wind tunnel effort to validate predictive capabilities for this NRA for aerodynamic and acoustic performance during takeoff and landing. The model, Advanced Model for Extreme Lift and Improved Aeroacoustics (AMELIA), was designed as a 100 passenger, N+2 generation, regional, cruise efficient short takeoff and land (CESTOL) …

Investigation Of The Unsteady Behavior Of A Circulation Control Wing Using Computational Fluid Dynamics, Jonathon A. Lichtwardt, David D. Marshall

Aerospace Engineering

This paper details the results of an investigation into the unsteady behavior of a circulation control wing using computational fluid dynamics. Oscillations in the lift coefficient of up to 10% are observed for steady state simulations. An investigation into the source of the unsteadiness is underway, and the results to date are presented. It is shown that the periodic oscillations are independent of the above the wing mounted engine effects on the cruise efficient short take-off and landing aircraft. The oscillations are also a viscous phenomenon that does not dampen as the solution marches through steady state. It is proposed …

Improved Meshing Technique For The Engine Exhaust Of An Over-The-Wing Engine And Circulation Control Wing Configuration, John Pham, David D. Marshall

Aerospace Engineering

This paper details the results of ongoing efforts to improve upon the meshing techniques required to produce accurate RANS CFD solutions for attached and separated flows for a Circulation Control aircraft. Work, thus far, under the current NASA Research Announcement (NRA) project has revolved around an unstructured near-body volume mesh due to its robustness for complicated geometries. However, it has been found that this technique does a poor job capturing detailed flow features such as the boundary layer, shear layer, and wake of large velocity-gradient regions. Its hindrance is primarily due to the limitations of current computational resources, thus new …

A Meshless Finite Difference Scheme For Compressible Potential Flows, Alejandro Ramos, Robert A. Mcdonald

Aerospace Engineering

A meshless solution algorithm for the full potential equation has been developed by applying the principles of the Taylor Least Squares (TLS) method. This method allows for a PDE to be discretized on a local cloud of scattered nodes without the need of connectivity data. The process for discretizing the full potential equation within a meshless framework is outlined along with a novel Hermite TLS technique for enforcement of Neumann boundary conditions. Several two-dimensional test cases were solved that compare well with analytical and benchmark solutions. The first test case solved for the subcritical compressible flow over a circular cylinder …

Part 1: The Wind Tunnel Model Design And Fabrication Of Cal Poly's Amelia 10 Foot Span Hybrid Wing-Body Low Noise Cestol Aircraft, Kristina K. Jameson, David D. Marshall, Rory Golden, Eric Paciano, Robert J. Englar, Richard J. Gaeta, Jay Paterson, Dave Mason

Aerospace Engineering

A collaboration between California Polytechnic Corporation with Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and DHC Engineering worked on a NASA NRA to develop predictive capabilities for the design and performance of Cruise Efficient, Short Take-Off and Landing (CESTOL) subsonic aircraft. In addition, a large scale wind tunnel effort to validate these predictive capabilities for this NRA for aerodynamic and acoustic performance during takeoff and landing has been undertaken. The model, Advanced Model for Extreme Lift and Improved Aeroacoustics (AMELIA), was designed as a 100 passenger, N+2 generation, regional, cruise efficient short takeoff and land (CESTOL) airliner with hybrid blended wing-body with …

A Scientific Software Verification Library Based On The Method Of Manufactured Solutions, David D. Marshall

Aerospace Engineering

A software library, avali, is being developed in the C++ programming language that applies the Method of Manufactured Solutions (MMS) to a variety of partial differential equation (PDE) problems. This library will allow researchers to utilize MMS as a software verification process without developing significant amounts of testing code. The library is split into 3 components: solution classes which can be used as manufactured solutions to PDE problems; PDE problem classes which represent specific types of PDEs to be solved (such as linear convection-diffusion equation or Poisson's equation); and post-processing classes that collect the convergence information and can perform various …

Gis-Based Irrigation District Flow Routing/Scheduling, Charles M. Burt, Beau Freeman

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

In 2007, the Irrigation Training and Research Center (ITRC) at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo undertook to develop a prototype of an intelligent and scalable real-time GIS-based water scheduling and routing software system for irrigation districts, capable of integrating multiple data sources into an information access and management facility featuring collaborative tools with automatic reasoning and analytical capabilities. Improving the infrastructure and management capabilities of irrigation districts in order to provide flexible delivery schedules and increase participation in peak demand reduction programs has been identified as having a significant potential to achieve energy conservation and resource efficiencies.

The …

Canal Lining, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Larry and I thought that some musings about canal lining might be of some interest for some of you USCID newsletter readers. As you know, there are many canal lining techniques – especially if one considers the wide assortment of internationally used lining methods.

Freeing Space For Nasa: Incorporating A Lossless Compression Algorithm Into Nasa's Fiber Optic Strain Sensing System, Kaitlyn Fiechtner, Allen Parker

STAR Program Research Presentations

NASA’s Fiber Optic Strain Sensing (FOSS) system can gather and store up to 1,536,000 bytes (1.46 megabytes) per second. Since the FOSS system typically acquires hours—or even days—of data, the system can gather hundreds of gigabytes of data for a given test event. To store such large quantities of data more effectively, NASA is modifying a Lempel-Ziv-Oberhumer (LZO) lossless data compression program to compress data as it is being acquired in real time. After proving that the algorithm is capable of compressing the data from the FOSS system, the LZO program will be modified and incorporated into the FOSS system. …

Effects Of Liquefaction-Induced Ground Failure On Bridges, Roads, Railroads And Lifeline Systems, Christian Ledezma, Scott Ashford, Tara Hutchinson, Robb E.S. Moss, Pedro Arduino, Robert Kayen, Scott Olson

Civil and Environmental Engineering

No abstract provided.

Landfill Temperatures Under Variable Decomposition Conditions, Nazli Yesiller, James L. Hanson, H. Yoshida

Civil and Environmental Engineering

This study was conducted to evaluate temperature, gas, and leachate data at two landfills in similar climatic regions (Detroit, Michigan, USA and Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan) to determine the interrelations between heat production and resulting waste temperatures and gas and leachate levels in landfills under variable decomposition conditions. Significant temperature increases occurred under long-term anaerobic conditions. Stable elevated temperatures under anaerobic conditions were observed for wastes at central locations. Seasonal fluctuations in both temperature and gas existed at shallow depths and near perimeter locations. Placement of an overfill of fresh wastes over old wastes affected temperatures, yet did not significantly influence …

Variability And Accuracy Of Target Displacement From Nonlinear Static Procedures, Rakesh K. Goel

Civil and Environmental Engineering

This paper compares the target displacement estimate from four current nonlinear static procedures—FEMA-356 CM, ASCE41 CM, ATC-40 CSM, and FEMA-440 CSM—with the value derived from recorded motions of five strongly shaken reinforced concrete buildings.This comparison provides useful insight into two important questions: (1) how much does the target displacement vary among the four nonlinear static procedures? and (2) can the engineering profession “accurately” predict the response of a real building during an earthquake event using currently available modeling techniques and pushover analysis procedures? It is shown that these procedures may lead to significantly different estimates of the target displacement, particularly …

Comparison Of Base Shears Estimated From Floor Accelerations And Column Shears, Rakesh K. Goel

Civil and Environmental Engineering

This paper compares base shears computed from floor accelerations (inertial base shear) and column shears (structural base shear) for two mid-rise, multistory buildings due to a suite of 30 earthquake ground motions. The presented results demonstrate that the inertial base shear exceeds the structural base shear in the median by 10% to 20% and may exceed the structural base shear by as much as 70% for individual ground motions. Therefore, it is concluded that the inertial base shear computed from strong motion records should be used with caution to estimate the structural base shear.

Building A Visual Front-End For Audio-Visual Automatic Speech Recognition In Vehicle Environments, Robert Hursig, Jane Zhang

Electrical Engineering

Automatic speech recognition (ASR) holds the promise of providing a natural, efficient, and safer means for communication between humans and computers and can profoundly change the way we live. Since its invention in the 1950s, ASR has witnessed considerable research activities and in recent years is finding its way into practical applications as evidenced by more and more consumer devices such as PDAs and mobile phones adding ASR features. While mainstream ASR has focused almost exclusively on the acoustic signal, the performance of these systems degrades considerably in the real-world in the presence of noise. One way to overcome this …

Pipe Flow – A Tutorial For Electrical Engineers, William Ahlgren

Electrical Engineering

Energy is transported over long distances primarily by electric power transmission lines and by pipelines carrying gas or liquid fuel. Electric power engineers need to compare these two energy transmission methods, but often lack knowledge of fluid mechanics pre‐requisite to understanding pipeline transmission. This article provides a focused tutorial to provide the necessary background in the fluid mechanics of pipe flow.

Variable Frequency Drive (Vfd) Controlled Irrigation Pumps – Analysis Of Potential Rebate, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Well pumps, booster pumps, and a combination of the two are used throughout the agricultural sector to provide water for on-farm irrigation. However, the pump discharge pressures for the majority of irrigation systems are excessive, waiving considerable monetary and power consumption savings. This report analyzes the numerous potential benefits of integrating a variable frequency drive (VFD) to irrigation supply systems and modifying system design philosophies.

Low Pressure Drip/Micro System Design – Analysis Of Potential Rebate, Charles M. Burt, Daniel J. Howes

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Drip/micro irrigation systems are often referred to as “low pressure” systems because the required emitter pressures are relatively low (6-12 psi). However, the pump discharge pressures of systems on flat ground throughout California average 40 psi. This report examines readily attainable system losses by examining individual components of the drip/micro system.

Irrigation District Flow Metering, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Most readers of this publication are probably somewhat familiar with USBR Reclamation Reform Act requirements for measurement of water deliveries to farm turnouts, in cases where the water is supplied by Reclamation facilities. Basically, volumes within the Mid-Pacific Region are supposed to be measured within ±6%. This sounds like a fairly straightforward requirement, but the reality is anything but simple.

Characteristics Of Pump Performance In Major Irrigated Areas Of California, Sierra A. Orvis Layous, Charles M. Burt, Luis P. Urrestarazu

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Well pump tests (12,876) in three Central California groundwater basins were characterized and described according to their spatial distribution. The average overall pumping plant efficiency (wire-water, not including column losses and velocity head) was about 56%. Characteristics such as drawdown, total dynamic heads, kW, and flow rate vary greatly between pumps within and between sub-basins. This is the first well pump characterization of its type in California, although irrigation pump tests have been conducted for over 70 years in California. This paper provides a summary of the spatial variation of well pump performance and characteristics.

The Irrigation Sector Shift From Construction To Modernization: What Is Required For Success?, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

External pressures related to environmental protection, commodity prices, energy availability, larger populations, and climate change have combined to require an immediate and substantial improvement in agricultural irrigation performance. Worldwide progression towards modernized irrigation projects has been uneven and slower than desired, but decades of irrigation modernization development have clarified certain requirements for success, as well as illuminated indicators of project failure. Of particular importance are required shifts within the state and national irrigation bureaucracies, as well as universities.