Engineering Commons^™

Design Of An Apparatus To Detect Small Changes In The Mass Of Rotational Machine Components, Jonathan R.A. Maier, M. Laine Mears, Joshua D. Summers

Publications

In this study, an apparatus was designed to detect changes on the order of grams in the mass of test samples subject to accelerations approaching 275g. The apparatus incorporated a surface speedometer, displacement transducer and on-board data-logging device in order to correlate mass loss events with changes in rotational speed and acceleration. An accessory was also designed to allow for on-board video recording to validate the findings and to better understand the mechanics of mass loss events. Such mass loss events are of interest for high-speed rotating machinery (e.g., manufacturing equipment, turbine rotors and automotive drivetrains), where material can build …

The Sustainability Generation: Why Young People Hold The Key To A Better Future, Leidy Klotz

Publications

In a standard test of reasoning, you are given a candle, a box of thumbtacks, and a book of matches. Your task is to attach the candle to the wall so that it does not drip onto the table below.

I thought about how to melt the wax and use it to stick the candle to the wall. What would you do?

This challenge is designed to reveal functional fixedness, mental blocks against using objects in a new way. The experience that comes with age is a disadvantage here because it leads to thinking of the normal use of the …

Predictive Modeling Of The Virtual Hemi-Fontan Operation For Second Stage Single Ventricle Palliation: Two Patient-Specific Cases, Ethan Kung, Alessia Baretta, Catriona Baker, Gregory Arbia, Giovanni Biglino, Chiara Corsini, Silvia Schievano, Irene E. Vignon-Clementel, Gabriele Dubini, Giancarlo Pennati, Andrew Taylor, Adam Dorfman, Anthony M. Hlavacek, Alison L. Marsden, Tain-Yen Hsia, Francesco Migliavacca

Publications

Single ventricle hearts are congenital cardiovascular defects in which the heart has only one functional pumping chamber. The treatment for these conditions typically requires a three-staged operative process where Stage 1 is typically achieved by a shunt between the systemic and pulmonary arteries, and Stage 2 by connecting the superior venous return to the pulmonary circulation. Surgically, the Stage 2 circulation can be achieved through a procedure called the Hemi-Fontan, which reconstructs the right atrium and pulmonary artery to allow for an enlarged confluence with the superior vena cava.

Based on pre-operative data obtained from two patients prior to Stage …

A Study Of Designer Familiarity With Product And User During Requirement Elicitation, Beshoy Morkos, Joshua D. Summers

All CEDAR Publications

It is important to recognise the effects of a designer's source of information and decision making during requirements elicitation. Requirements are widely recognised as an important step in the design process. Designers may have perspective based on their experience which results in a level of familiarity with the design. This paper reports on a study that explores the effects of designer familiarity with a project and its user on their ability to elicit requirement specifications. Two familiarity constructs, product and user, are measured as low or high and used to study requirement elicitation with varying familiarity. A high familiarity study …

Detecting Copper Residues In Sediments From Aquatic Copper-Based Pesticide Applications, Ben Willis

All Theses

Copper-based algaecides and herbicides are commonly used to mitigate risks of problematic algae and weeds, however there are concerns regarding copper accumulation from treatments. Modeling and laboratory experiments can be used to predict copper accumulation and measurement in sediments, as well as benthic invertebrate responses following treatments. Modeling was used to estimate copper residual concentrations in sediments from algaecide and herbicide treatments. Reported and measured method detection limits (MDLs; minimum concentration of an analyte of interest that can be measured with 99 percent confidence in a specific matrix using an analytical method) were compared to model estimated copper residual concentrations …

Evaluation Of Rubber Modified Porous Asphalt Mixtures, Kimberly Lyons

All Theses

A porous pavement is a type of sustainable pavement that allows stormwater to infiltrate through the pavement into the natural soil bed. Rubber modified binder is the combination of regular asphalt binder mixed with ground crumb rubber, which is derived from used rubber tires by shredding or grinding the tires into small fragments. This research investigated the effects of rubber modified binder on the performance properties of porous asphalt mixtures, which include draindown, porosity, permeability, abrasion resistance, moisture susceptibility, and rutting resistance.
The addition of cellulose fibers has been used to increase the optimum binder content of porous asphalt mix …

Alternative Energy Sources - Integration Of Power Generation Systems Into A Microgrid At Clemson University And An Atmospheric Thermodynamic Driven Mechanical Clock, Shreyas Patel

All Theses

Non-renewable energy sources such as coal, crude oil, and natural gas are being consumed at a brisk pace which is promoting a worldwide energy crisis. The burning of fossil fuels produces greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxides as well as soot which contribute to atmospheric pollution. Although fossil fuels will continue to be available for many decades, the amount of petroleum remaining in the earth and its associated cost remains an open issue. The utilization of green energy such as solar and wind offer renewable and pollution free sources. A worldwide shift is slowly underway towards the …

Standardization Of Process Sheet Information To Support Automated Translation Of Assembly Instructions And Product-Process Coupling, Matthew Peterson

All Theses

The design and manufacture of large scale systems, particularly automobiles, is a process that requires collaboration across multiple disciplines. This collaboration is facilitated through efficient and effective data and knowledge storage and transfer. Specifically, the data associated with the final assembly of the vehicle should be generated, organized, and distributed in such a manner that each user of the data is able to use it effectively. Furthermore, the structure for the assembly data should be robust and reliable such that it fosters consistency among various planners for multiple vehicle platforms that are assembled all around the world. This research aims …

The Control Of Nitrogenous And Carbonaceous Disinfection Byproduct Precursors With Magnetic Ion Exchange, Xiaojie Gan

All Theses

The objective of this study was to examine the potential of the magnetic ion exchange (MIEX®) process to remove nitrogenous disinfection byproduct (N-DBP) precursors while minimizing carbonaceous DBP (C-DBP) precursors in different water matrices. In the first phase of the study, the MIEX® process was tested in raw dinking waters and waters impacted effluent from wastewater treatment plant. Samples were collected from several drinking water/wastewater treatment plants in South Carolina. The effluent impacted source waters were prepared by mixing treated wastewater effluents with a drinking water. For all samples, formation potential (FP) tests were conducted for regulated trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic …

Dynamic And Static Effects In Wetting Of Capillaries And Fibers, Taras Andrukh

All Dissertations

This research is centered on the analysis of static and dynamic effects of wetting of single capillaries and fibers. We discuss specifics of the capillary rise and drop-on-fiber techniques and develop new methods of characterization of surface energy of single fibers when its contact angle varies between zero and ninety degrees. The contact angles were evaluated and compared for different substrates. We study the dynamics of the meniscus formation inside and outside of capillaries and fibers. We develop a mathematical model of liquid uptake by capillaries and analyze the factors affecting liquid uptake. The derived fundamental equation describes the dynamics …

Double Paddle Oscillators For The Mechanical Spectroscopy Of Ion-Solid Interactions, Jason Puls

All Theses

We demonstrated using a double paddle oscillator to measure subsurface defect formation at room temperatures caused by ion implantation. This sensor has a low amount of noise based because of its high quality factors in certain modes. The double paddle oscillator was bombarded with Ar ions under ultra-high vacuum conditions while it was oscillating. The resultant resonant frequency changes were discussed as a method to determine defect formation inside the bulk substrate.

Impedance-Based Fault Location Methods For Transmission Line Connecting Wind Farm Plants, Chaoqi Ji

All Theses

With an increasing capacity of wind power installed in the world, the impact of wind generation during fault condition has been studied. Wind plants equipped with induction generator results in a different fault behavior in transmission networks. In this paper, the validation of existing impedance-based fault location methods are performed on a transmission line connecting wind plant equipped with three different types of induction generators. This work is based on the simulation in real-time digital simulator (RTDS).
Squirrel-cage induction generator (SCIG), wound-rotor induction generator (WRIG) and doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) are the three common generators used for wind power plants. …

Product Display Versus Graphical Representation On Packaging, Joshua Galvarino

All Theses

ABSTRACT
Previous research conducted (Hurley, et al., 2012) concerning physical and graphical product visibility from the primary display panel (PDP) is limited to one product category. This research expands previous peer-reviewed research, which indicates that there is a significant difference between consumer preferences of graphical display vs. physical product display on packaging.
The shelf presence of packages showing actual product visibility versus packages showing only a graphical representation of the product was evaluated. Both shopping results and quantitative data using eye-tracking technology were collected and cross-referenced with a qualitative, post-experiment survey.
Specifically, variables of packaging within pasta, snacks, prepared frozen …

3d Reconstruction For Post-Disaster Analysis Of Civil Infrastructure, Joshua Caron

All Theses

Following a natural disaster, there is a need to rapidly assess the safety of civil infrastructure. This job is typically undertaken by local governments with the help of volunteer civil engineers with structural expertise, as well as organizations such as Cal EMA and ASCE. However, the inspection process is labor-intensive and a bit tedious, and results are prone to error as they tend to rely on the individual expertise of the inspectors. 3D reconstruction stands to become a useful tool in the safety evaluation process, as well as providing valuable opportunities for forensic engineering. This research explores the application of …

Environmental And Biological Applications And Implications Of Soft And Condensed Nanomaterials, Pengyu Chen

All Dissertations

Recent innovations and growth of nanotechnology have spurred exciting technological and commercial developments of nanomaterails. Their appealing physical and physicochemical properties offer great opportunities in biological and environmental applications, while in the meantime may compromise human health and environmental sustainability through either unintentional exposure or intentional discharge.
Accordingly, this dissertation exploits the physicochemical behavior of soft dendritic polymers for environmental remediation and condensed nano ZnO tetrapods for biological sensing (Chapter two-four), and further delineate the environmental implications of such nanomaterials using algae- the major constituent of the aquatic food chain-as a model system (Chapter five).
This dissertation is presented as …

Managing Elective And Non-Elective Case Assignments For An Operating Room Suite, Narges Hosseini

All Dissertations

The success of operating room management depends on all levels of decision making, from strategic to tactical and operational decisions. One key decision in systems with block booking is to assign sufficient amount of block time to surgeons and surgery groups. While the typical method of block assignment identifies the share of surgery groups from OR times based on average of past usage, this method does not count for the difference between cost of under and overtime. One of the goals of this research is to develop a decision framework for block assignment. This work is presented in chapter two. …

An Error Quantification Methodology For Hurricane Storm Surge Simulations, Bin Pei

All Theses

This thesis describes the development of a procedure to quantify errors in hurricane storm surge simulations using a decoupled wind-surge model. The state-of-the-art storm surge simulation program, ADCIRC (Advanced Circulation), and the Georgiou's wind field model were used to simulate the storm surge heights associated with 169 historical hurricanes from 1922 to 2011 along the coast of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The storm surge modeling errors were quantified by comparing the measured to the simulated annual maximum surge heights at nine water level observation stations maintained by the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS). The simulated …

Concept Generation Using Morphological And Options Matrices, Dani George

All Theses

The use of morphological matrices as a tool to aid concept generation is examined. Two limitations of the method are highlighted; (1) the large number of potential combinatorial possibilities and (2) the lack of design details in the system concepts generated. An Integrated Idea Generation (IIG) method is proposed to support the generation of detailed system concepts effectively without performing a full factorial combination of the means within a morphological matrix. Pairwise functional combinations are extracted from the functions listed in the morphological matrix and explored in detail using options matrices and innovation challenges, encouraging designers to identify implicit assumptions …

Analysis And Evaluation Of Existing And Novel Turbulent Dynamic Pressure Based Methods For Measuring Bridge Pier And Abutment Scour, Murray Fisher

All Dissertations

Scour is one of the most significant threats to bridge infrastructure and is the leading cause of failure within the United States. Given this risk to the nation’s transportation infrastructure, it is necessary to understand the development of scour holes around bridge piers and abutments. This can be achieved with scour monitoring, a Federal Highway Administration approved scour countermeasure. As the monitoring techniques available range from simple devices that rest on or in the channel bed to advanced scanning systems that provide a bed contour profile, a concise study of the state of the art in real time scour measurement …

Network Target Coordination For Design Optimization Of Decomposed Systems, Wenshan Wang

All Dissertations

A complex engineered system is often decomposed into a number of different subsystems that interact on one another and together produce results not obtainable by the subsystems alone. Effective coordination of the interdependencies shared among these subsystems is critical to fulfill the stakeholder expectations and technical requirements of the original system. The past research has shown that various coordination methods obtain different solution accuracies and exhibit different computational efficiencies when solving a decomposed system. Addressing these coordination decisions may lead to improved complex system design. This dissertation studies coordination methods through two types of decomposition structures, hierarchical, and nonhierarchical.
For …

Flow Behavior Modeling And Process Control Of Electrically-Assisted Forming (Eaf) For Sheet Metals In Uniaxial Tension, Joshua Jones

All Dissertations

This work studies the influence of an applied electrical current on magnesium sheet metal and introduces models which are successful in predicting the deformation behavior (i.e. material flow stress, local material strain, and thermal response). Also, this work examined the theory of electroplasticity by studying prior proposed theories and by quantifying the prior theories potential for improved dislocation mobility. From this analysis, a single dominant mechanism is determined and the theory of electroplasticity is explained using this single mechanism. The theory discussed in this work is supported by experimental testing and microstructure analysis.
In addition to studying the exact electroplastic …

Development Of Feature Recognition Algorithm For Automated Identification Of Duplicate Geometries In Cad Models, Aravind Shanthakumar

All Theses

This research presents a feature recognition algorithm for the automated identification of duplicate geometries in the CAD assembly. The duplicate geometry is one of the seven indicators of the lazy parts mass reduction method. The lazy parts method is a light weight engineering method that is used for analyzing parts with the mass reduction potential. The duplicate geometry is defined as any geometries lying equal to or within the threshold distance with the user-defined orientation between them and have the percentage similarity that is equal to or greater than the threshold value. The feature recognition system developed in this research …

Design Automation And Optimization Of Honeycomb Structures For Maximum Sound Transmission Loss, Rohan Galgalikar

All Theses

Cellular materials with macro effective properties defined by repeated meso-structures are increasingly replacing conventional homogeneous materials due to their high strength to weight ratio, and controllable effective mechanical properties, such as negative Poisson's ratio and tailored orthotropic elastic properties. Honeycomb structures are a well-known cellular material that has been used extensively in aerospace and other industries where the premium on the weight reduction with high-strength is required. Common applications of honeycomb cellular structures are their use as the core material in sandwich plates and plates between two face sheets. Honeycomb structures are built from repetition of a common hexagonal unit …

Performance Evaluation Of Video Streaming In An Infrastructure Mesh Based Vehicle Network, Sajindra Pradhananga

All Theses

Most next-generation wireless networks are expected to support video stream-
ing which constitutes the bulk of traffic on the Internet. This thesis evaluates the
performance of video streaming in a vehicle network with an infrastructure wireless
mesh network (WMN) backhaul. Several studies have investigated video quality per-
formance primarily in single hop wireless networks and static WMNs. This thesis is
based on those studies and conducts the study in relation to a network where the
multi-hop features of the mesh network and mobility of the streaming clients may
have substantial impact on the perceived video quality in the network.
The …

Novel Electron Shuttling Compounds, Ramasubramanian Neeraja

All Theses

Electron mediator's usage in remediation technologies might be an excellent alternative to increase the rate of transformation of various contaminants such as nitroamine, polyhalogenated compounds and many others. Employing electron shuttles open up different pathways for the contaminant transformation and the reaction goes to completion at a much faster rate. Anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate (AQDS) has been known to be a model electron shuttle with good shuttling capacity followed by humic acids. But the necessity for identifying electron shuttles suitable for field applications is important. As remediation technologies will command application of the shuttles on a large scale, tracing shuttles which are cheap, …

Connecting Architecture, Fitness, Optimizations And Performance Using An Anisotropic Diffusion Filter, Sumedh Naik

All Theses

Over the past decade, computing architectures have continued to exploit multiple levels of parallelism in applications. This increased interest in parallel computing has not only fueled the growth of multi-core processors but has also lead to an emergence of several non-traditional computing architectures like General Purpose Graphical Processing Units (GP-GPUs), Cell Processors, and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). Of these non-traditional computing architectures, GP-GPUs have gained widespread popularity due to their massively parallel computational abilities and relative ease of programmability.
Several software development ecosystems have emerged to harness the power of these parallel architectures. Although several threading libraries like POSIX …

Determination Of A Higher-Order Elastic Constant Of A Single Filament Of Hextow Im7-12k Carbon Fiber Using Finite Deformations, Luciana Oliveira

All Theses

The modulus of elasticity of a homogeneous body is the same for all directions. No known crystalline materials have a Young's modulus that is the same in all directions. The linear theory of elasticity states that strain is proportional to stress so that a straight line is obtained in a stress versus strain plot. As long as the forces applied to the body are proportional, the body behaves perfectly elastically, obeying Hooke's law. At high enough strains, however, deviations from Hooke's law will occur. Nonlinear elasticity is generally apparent when large deformations are applied and usually when the sample size …

The Effects Of Low Dose Ionizing Radiation Exposure On The Metabolic And Mechanical Properties Of Articular Cartilage, Carl Lindburg

All Theses

Radiation therapy is necessary treatment for many cancer patients due to its non-surgical, yet aggressive and efficacious properties. In fact, over 50% of patients with cancer will undergo some form of radiotherapy during the course of their treatment. While the biological response to ionizing radiation has been examined over the years and many adverse effects have been identified, the effects of radiation on mature cartilage and musculoskeletal tissues are not well understood. Bone, once thought to be a tissue relatively resistant to radiation, has recently been shown to have osteoporosis-like bone atrophy after exposure to low doses (2 Gy) of …

Study On Corrosion Activity Of Carbon Steel In Concrete Simulated Pore Solution Under Static Tensile And Compressive Stresses, Yujie Zhang

All Theses

Reinforced concrete is a structure material made up of concrete with relatively lower tensile strength containing reinforcements with higher tensile strength and better ductility, which are embedded into fresh concrete to resist tensile stress in certain regions of concrete. Steel reinforced concrete is most widely used around the world in civil engineering structures, water conservancy and highway construction due to its durability strength and reasonable cost.
However, reinforced concrete structures such as bridges and parking lots slabs inevitably experience variable loads and constant degradation from the aggressive environments, such as marine and deicing salts. Therefore, it is imperative to study …

Development Of A Two-Dimensional Model Of A Pneumatic Tire, Timothy Lewis

All Theses

The pneumatic tire has been studied extensively since its invention in 1888. With the advent of high-powered computers and the use of the finite element method, the understanding of the tire's complex non-linear behavior has grown tremendously. However, one weakness of finite element models is that parameter studies are difficult and time consuming to perform. In contrast, an analytical model can quickly and easily perform extensive parameter studies. To the knowledge of the author, all existing analytical models of the tire make assumptions concerning the tire's behavior and construction that while useful for obtaining some of the first-order characteristics, are …