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Articles 1951 - 1980 of 2584

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

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 …


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 …


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 …


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 …


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 …


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 …


Synthesis, Stabilization, And Characterization Of Metal Nanoparticles, Gregory White Ii Dec 2010

Synthesis, Stabilization, And Characterization Of Metal Nanoparticles, Gregory White Ii

All Dissertations

Wet chemical synthesis techniques offer the ability to control various nanoparticle characteristics including size, shape, dispersibility in both aqueous and organic solvents, and tailored surface chemistries appropriate for different applications. Large quantities of stabilizing ligands or surfactants are often required during synthesis to achieve these nanoparticle characteristics. Unfortunately, excess reaction byproducts, surfactants, and ligands remaining in solution after nanoparticle synthesis can impede application, and therefore post-synthesis purification must be employed. A liquid-liquid solvent/anti-solvent pair (typically ethanol/toluene or ethanol/hexane for gold nanoparticles, GNPs) can be used to both purify and size-selectively fractionate hydrophobically modified nanoparticles. Alternatively, carbon dioxide may be used …


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 …


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. …


Characterization Of Anti-Proteolytic And Anti-Proliferative Activities Of Pentagalloylglucose; Its Potential Application As A Therapeutic Agent In Vascular Diseases, Chaitra Cheluvaraju Dec 2010

Characterization Of Anti-Proteolytic And Anti-Proliferative Activities Of Pentagalloylglucose; Its Potential Application As A Therapeutic Agent In Vascular Diseases, Chaitra Cheluvaraju

All Dissertations

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of mortality in the United States and will cost around $500 billion this year alone. Elevated proteolytic activity, increased proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells are hallmarks of atherosclerosis, stenosis and aortic aneurysms. These diseases often manifest the transdifferentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells into osteoblast-like cells followed by deposition of hydroxyapatite–like mineral in the arterial walls.
Currently, there are no standard treatments available for vascular calcification or aneurysms. Atherosclerosis treatment options are limited to statins while balloon angioplasty and stenting – surgical procedures for stenosis, often end in restenosis. Therefore, we …


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 …


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 …


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 …


A Self Organization-Based Optical Flow Estimator With Gpu Implementation, Manish Shiralkar Dec 2010

A Self Organization-Based Optical Flow Estimator With Gpu Implementation, Manish Shiralkar

All Dissertations

This work describes a parallelizable optical flow estimator that uses a modified batch version of
the Self Organizing Map (SOM). This gradient-based estimator handles the ill-posedness in motion
estimation via a novel combination of regression and a self organization strategy.
The aperture problem is explicitly modeled using an algebraic framework
that partitions motion estimates obtained from regression into two sets, one (set Hc) with estimates
with high confidence and another (set Hp) with low confidence estimates. The self organization step
uses a uniquely designed pair of training set (Q=Hc) and the initial weights set …


Characterization And Evaluation Of A Novel Tissue Engineered Aortic Heart Valve Construct, Mary Tedder Dec 2010

Characterization And Evaluation Of A Novel Tissue Engineered Aortic Heart Valve Construct, Mary Tedder

All Dissertations

Tissue engineering holds great promise for treatment of valvular diseases. Scaffolds for engineered heart valves must function immediately after implantation, but must also permit repopulation with autologous host cells and facilitate gradual remodeling.
Native aortic heart valves are composed of three layers, i.e. two strong external fibrous layers (ventricularis and fibrosa) separated by a central, highly hydrated spongiosa. The fibrous layers provide strength and resilience while the spongiosa layer facilitates shearing of the external layers. Our working hypothesis is that partially cross-linked collagen scaffolds that closely mimic the layered histo-architecture of the native valve would fulfill these requirements. To test …


Sensitivity Analysis Of Uranium Speciation Modeling In Groundwater Systems With A Focus On Mobility, Andrew Scott Dec 2010

Sensitivity Analysis Of Uranium Speciation Modeling In Groundwater Systems With A Focus On Mobility, Andrew Scott

All Dissertations

Uranium is an important natural resource used in production of nuclear reactor fuel and nuclear weapons. The mining and processing of uranium has left a legacy of environmental contamination that remains to be addressed. There has been considerable interest in manipulating the oxidation state of uranium in order to put it into an environmentally immobile form. Uranium forms two stable oxidation states in nature, uranium (IV) being much less soluble than uranium (VI), and therefore the preferred state with regard to limiting the potential exposure of man. One of the tools used in evaluating potential effects of manipulating the natural …


A Meta-Analysis Of Human Factors Analysis And Classification System Causal Factors: Establishing Benchmarking Standards And Human Error Latent Failure Pathway Associations In Various Domains, Katherine Berry Dec 2010

A Meta-Analysis Of Human Factors Analysis And Classification System Causal Factors: Establishing Benchmarking Standards And Human Error Latent Failure Pathway Associations In Various Domains, Katherine Berry

All Dissertations

Many models of accident investigation have been created and have served as the basis for other tools and techniques. One of the most prominent techniques, Reason's Swiss Cheese Model (1990), is based on the idea of active and latent failures. Expanding on this idea, the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) was created with the idea to associate contributing factors and errors (Wiegmann & Shappell, 2003).
While HFACS has been frequently applied in the field of aviation in literature, other industry types are under-represented. Seventeen data sources encompassing various industry types were collected and included in this dissertation analysis. …


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 …


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 …


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 …


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 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. …


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 …


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. …


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. …


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. …


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 …


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 …