Engineering Commons^™

Motion Synthesis Of Mechanisms Using Constraint Manifolds In Image Space, Yeou-Kai Wu

Dissertations

Kinematic mappings, quaternion algebra, and constraint manifolds in the algebraic image space are applied to the problems of the dimensional synthesis of mechanisms. Dimensions of a mechanism are determined such that a tracer frame fixed on the coupler will pass through or at least as close as possible to the desired positions and orientations in the physical space as the input link rotates about its fixed joint. First, using kinematic mappings, the desired positions and orientations of the tracer frame of the mechanism can be mapped onto points in a hyperspace in which the motion of the tracer frame can …

Behavior Of Biaxially Loaded Concrete-Encased Composite Columns, Pedro Ricardo Munoz

Dissertations

The theory of nonlinear behavior of biaxially loaded short and slender composite columns is used to study the load-deformation and moment-curvature of four pin-ended composite column specimens tested under axial compressive load and biaxial bending moments in a single curvature. The accuracy of the test results is verified by comparison with analytical results obtained by a method of analysis that includes the nonlinear material properties of concrete and steel and covers the ascending and descending branches of the linear segmented column specimen. A computational method is presented to model the analytical behavior of the biaxially loaded composite column. Its validity …

Numerical Investigation Of Flow Through Wide Angle Diffusers, Moududur Rahman

Dissertations

This study is aimed at the development of a computational technique for the prediction of the flow field in wide angle diffusers. The finite element technique is used for the solution of the governing equations. A commercial software package, NISA/3DFlUID, modified for this specific application was used. The parameters affecting the flow field have been identified. For a wide range of variation of these parameters, the effects on the flow field have been examined. This investigation is an exhaustive and comprehensive numerical study of diffuser flows. Such a study will result in substantial improvement in the understanding of the anatomy …

Aqueous Absorption Of Nitrogen Oxides Induced By Oxychlorine Compounds : A Process Development Study For Flue Gas Treatment, Chen-Lu Yang

Dissertations

The use of chlorine (Cl₂), sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), and sodium chlorite (NaClO₂) as oxidizing agents to promote the absorption of nitric oxide (NO) from gas streams has been investigated in the Gas Scrubbing Laboratory of New Jersey Institute of Technology since 1988. The first step of this project had been to screen out the best scrubbing medium for nitric oxide removal from flue gases. The most successful oxidizing agent was found to be sodium chlorite in acidic aqueous solution. The screening results have been accepted for publication in Chemical Engineering Communications. A sodium chlorite containing aqueous …

An Investigation Of The Formation Of Turbulent Water And Abrasive Water Jets, Md. Ekramul Hasan Khan

Dissertations

This study is concerned with the development of a knowledge base for the selection of nozzle geometry by investigating the mechanism of formation and behaviors of water and abrasive water jets. A numerical prediction of turbulent water flow inside various nozzles is developed. The analysis is based on the numerical solution of conservation equations of continuity and momentum as well as equations of turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation for 2-dimensional axisymmetric flow by using a finite element package, FIDAP.

The technique for determining velocities and forces of water jet and abrasive water jet with the Laser Transit Anemometer and Piezoelectric …

Human Visual System Modelling : Analysis Of Evoked Potential Dynamics, Zongqi Hu

Dissertations

The visual evoked potential (VEP) reflects the electrical activity in the cerebral cortex due to visual stimulation. It contains information on signal processing in the visual pathways from the retina, through the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) to the cortical level. Although the VEP is generated by various sources in the multi-layer neural network, the functions of some neuronal mechanisms and the transfer characteristics of particular pathways can be revealed and analyzed by use of carefully designed stimuli (Zemon & Ratliff, 1984; Zemon, Victor & Ratliff, 1986). This dissertation focuses on studies of the visual evoked potential as a composite of …

Computer Aided Stress Analysis Of The Femur With Prosthetic Hip Stem Utilizing Computed Tomography, Wei-Chun Chang

Dissertations

A computer aided design and analysis method, utilizing computed tomography (CT) is developed, which together with a finite element program determines the stress and deformation patterns in the femur with hip prosthesis. The CT scan data file provides the geometry and the material parameters for the generated finite element model. The three-dimensional finite element model of the femur with hip prosthesis is automatically generated from the CT data file by a preprocessing procedure. The preprocessor includes a CT image display, edge detector, nodes generation, prosthesis simulator, mesh generator and model display. The loading conditions applied on the finite element model …

An Integrated Mrp And Finite Scheduling System To Derive Detailed Daily Schedules For A Manufacturing Shop, Sita D. Nathan

Theses

Many companies rely on Material Requirements Planning (MRP) to support their Production Scheduling and Control (PS&C) functions. Since MRP does not provide a detailed shop floor schedule, these users have to implement either a third party procedure or an internally developed procedure for shop floor controls. In this thesis we consider a class of user shops which are characterized by the following features:

• Homogenous machines, that is all machines can produce all products.

• Each product requires a setup, but several products may have a common setup.

• MRP requirements are specified on a weekly basis while actual requirements are specified on …

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Transient Behavior Of An Adaptive Synchronous Cdma Receiver, Bin Zhu

Theses

A steepest descent algorithm is used to update the adaptive weights of a two-stage synchronous Code-Division Multiple-Access (CDMA) receiver that was proposed recently. An issue of the adaptive CDMA system - the convergence and stability property of the receiver is investigated in this thesis.

This adaptive synchronous CDMA receiver uses a decorrelator at the first stage and adopts a neural network which acts as an interference canceler at the second stage. It can achieve near-optimum performance. Furthermore, its computational complexity is just a square function of the number of users. The only requirement is the knowledge of the users' signature …

An Adaptive Fusion Model For Distributed Detection Systems With Unequiprobable Sources, Yuzheng Zhang

Theses

In a traditional communication system, a single sensor such as a radar or a sonar is used to detect targets. Since the reliability of a single sensor is limited, distributed detection systems in which several sensors are employed simultaneously have received increasing attention in recent years. We consider a distributed detection system which consists of a number of independent local detectors and a fusion center. Chair and Varshney have derived an optimal decision rule for fusing decisions based on. the Baysian criterion. To implement such a rule, the probability of detection P_D and the probability of false alarm …

Fluid Flow Modeling For Pneumatically Fractured Formations, Deepak Nautiyal

Theses

This thesis investigates the flow of compressible fluids in pneumatically fractured formations. Pneumatic fracturing is a recently developed technique for increasing permeability in geologic formations by the controlled injection of high pressure air. The artificially induced fractures enhance the flow rate of liquids and vapors in the subsurface, and can be applied to in situ remediation of hazardous waste sites, and for other hydrogeological applications.

A flow model for discrete fractures is derived based on the assumptions of viscous, laminar fluid flow through planar fractures (Poiseuille type flow). The model takes into account non-linearity introduced by gas compressibility effects. Provision …

Modeling Arsenic Transformation In Clay Soils, Chao-Yi Chung

Theses

This project is designed to estimate the possible transformation forms of arsenic in clay soil. A computer model was established to simulate arsenic transformations. The amount of arsenic species adsorbed, dissolved, and the predominant soluble species are calculated by the model, which is mainly based on the Freundlich adsorption isotherm, solubility data collected by Keaton and Kardos, and pH-Eh diagram established by Ferguson and Garvis. The computer language used is Turbo PASCAL version 5.5.

The clay soil environment is considered to be in standard state: 25°C 1 atm. Environmental factors of the soil system which are accounted for by the …

Machining Of Silicon Wafers With An Abrasive Water Jet Cutter, Frank J. Marciniak

Theses

This thesis consists of a study of the effects of abrasive water jet cutting on brittle silicon substrates. In total, 26 different cuts were made in a single crystal silicon substrate with an abrasive water jet cutter under different conditions of water flow, water pressure, and abrasive flow rate. These cuts were analyzed for surface roughness, and microstructure.

The roughness measurements were compared in order to determine the best possible cutting conditions. The cut with the best roughness of 0.000170 inches was obtained under cutting conditions of 30 KSI water pressure, 1 inch/minute cutting speed, and an abrasive flow rate …

Concurrent Engineering And Design For Manufacture In The Medical Device Industry, Martin A. Mathelier

Theses

Concurrent Engineering (CE) is an approach to product development in which engineers work on design and manufacturability at the same time. The ultimate goal of concurrent engineering is to reduce the time-to-market while improving quality. This thesis goes into details about the tools necessary to achieve successful product development in the Medical Device Industry. The novelty of this thesis is not in the tools themselves but rather in the way that they are applied to the medical device industry. The need for the CE approach is of utmost importance because of the vast competition in the medical device industry.

The …

Development And Evaluation Of A Nfweav Simulation Model For Weaving Areas Under Non-Freeway Condition, Wen-Min Pan

Theses

The development of a microscopic digital computer simulation model representing vehicle interaction at a weaving area under non-freeway condition is presented. Weaving areas are classified into two categories: 1. Weaving caused by merging and diverging of a ramp with an arterial, 2. On/off ramps connecting an arterial with a highway. The principal characteristics of the simulation model are the following: 1) a car following and lane changing model were used to represent vehicle movements; 2) an anti-collision check algorithm was developed for all vehicle movements; 3) driver merging urgency and follower courtesy model were developed for weaving vehicles. The simulation …

Performance Of National Research And Education Network While Transmitting Healthcare Information Data, Bhavesh Mahendra Shukla

Theses

National Research and Education Network(NREN) is a first step in the process of building a National Information Infrastructure(NII). NII will ultimately lead to Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network(B-ISDN), a network which will support global exchange of voice, data, images and video.

NREN will evolve out of present National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET), also known as Interim NREN. At present NSFNET operates at 45 MBits/sec. By 1996, there are plans to boost the data rate to 155 MBits/sec and to 620 MBits/sec by the turn of century.

In this thesis, present actual NSFNET is simulated using software simulation tool Networkll.5. The …

Measurement Of Velocity Of A High Speed Waterjet, Chang-Hsin Yu

Theses

In order to maximum the productivity of water jet cutting and cleaning. The determination of the particle velocities at different conditions of water jet formation is essential to the establishment of a prediction model of the cutting results.

The Study is Intended to develop an interface between Laser Transit Anemometer (LTA) and IBM PC for velocity field measurement of the jet by automation of technology design. To achieve this, a turbo basic program is developed to link LTA, counter processor, NIC-320 nicolet oscilloscope and IBM PC together for improve the efficiency and quality of velocity's measurement of the jet.

Because …

Laser Treatment Of Ceramic Coatings On Defective Ceramic Glazed Tile, Gousinn Yu

Theses

Laser surface melting treatment was achieved by a 2 Kw CO2 surgical laser system.The partially defocused laser beam provided a circular spot with an annular energy distribution on the sample.

It is certain that laser surface treatment will do the job of repairing in defective ceramic tiles. All glazes provided by American Standard were tested for an ability of withstand laser treatment when coated on to a glazed tile. In order to repair the defective ceramic tile it is necessary to patch the damaged region with a cement. The cement must then be glazed in order to match that of …

Measurement Of Heart Rate Variability Using Correlation Dimension And Entropy, Su Zhang

Theses

Heart rate variability regulation is controlled by the autonomic nervous system. Disorders of the autonomic nervous system may cause the loss of heart rate variability. Two new approaches, correlation dimension and entropy, based on ideas from nonlinear dynamics, have been applied to studying heart rate variability. The correlation dimension measures the extent of correlation between the data points. The entropy measures the amount of information needed to specify the state of a system. The interbeat interval signal (1BI) from eighteen subjects (nine normal controls and nine patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) ) have been analyzed and compared. The results …

Contour Extraction From Hvem Image Of Microvessel Using Active Contour Models, Manping Xiao

Theses

This thesis reports the research results on automatic contour extraction from high voltage electron microscope (HVEM) image of thick cross section montages of small blood vessels. The previous work on this subject, which was based on the conventional edge detection operations combined with edge linking, has proven inadequate to describe the inner structural compartments of microvessels. In this thesis, an active contour model (commonly referred to as "Snakes") has been applied to advance the previous work. Active contour models have proven themselves to be a powerful and flexible paradigm for many problems in image understanding, especially in contour extraction from …

Patient, Disease And Surgical Parameters In The Prediction Of Histologic Nodes And Recurrence Of Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Adolfo A. Ferreira

Theses

This research explores the impact of a variety patient, disease and lesion parameters upon the probability of post surgery recurrence of squamous cell carcinoma and the involvement of histologic nodes. It was found that parameters such as number of nodes, Lymph Vascular Space Invasion (LVS), figo stage, growth rate and host response as well as tumor thickness, depth of invasion and lesion size are good predictors. Other parameters such as cell type and condylomas were found to correlate minimally with recurrence and histologic nodes. Surgical parameters such as surgical margin and distance surgical margin were found to have poor correlation …

Design And Implementation Of Fuzzy Logic Controller For A Process Control Application, Sujit S. Nerurkar

Theses

Many industrial applications of fuzzy logic control have been reported. This thesis studies and reports the problems associated with the Heat-exchanger temperature control via conventional PID control implemented with Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) and provides an example of design and implementation of fuzzy logic controllers (FLC's) for a Heat exchanger in a Water for Injection (WFI) system.

After a basic FLC was designed and tested, it is shown how its rule base evolved to achieve superior performance by utilizing additional low-cost sensing information in the process and its environment. A method for the implementation of FLC's into the existing PLC …

Biomechanical Comparison Of Interosseous And Subperiosteal Flexor Tendon Reattachment, Alisa Beth Olin

Theses

This study was undertaken to biomechanically compare the interosseous and subperiosteal distal flexor tendon reattachment techniques. Twenty New Zealand white rabbits underwent division of the right second and third hind limb profundus flexor tendon distal to the insertion of the superficial flexor. All tendons were repaired using the Kleinnert-Bunnell configuration with a 5-0 nylon tied over a cotton pad on the dorsum of the digit. In half of the animals, the second profundus was reattached into a hole in the middle phalanx and the third profundus was reattached after periosteal stripping of the middle phalanx. The other animals underwent subperiosteal …

The Use Of Cod As An Indicator For Evaluation Of Pretreatment Of Nitrocellulose With Acid Hydrolysis, Han-Chung Lee

Theses

Nitrocellulose is a toxic waste by definition. It is widely used in military and commercial industries. Nitrocellulose fines escaped from the manufacture's process has created problems in receiving water. However, little information is available for the treatment of nitrocellulose. Nitrocellulose is difficult to treat by microorganisms without any pretreatment. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to use acid hydrolysis to break down this material before biological treatment, and find the optimal operation conditions in this process.

In this work, the results indicate that percentage of nitrocellulose decomposing in hydrolysis depends on types of acid, acid concentration, reaction temperature, …

Investigation Of Reduced Hypercube (Rh) Networks : Embedding And Routing Capabilities, Michalis A. Sideras

Theses

The choice of a topology for the interconnection of resources in a distributed-memory parallel computing system is a major design decision. The direct binary hypercube has been widely used for this purpose due to its low diameter and its ability to efficiently emulate other important structures. The aforementioned strong properties of the hypercube come at the cost of high VLSI complexity due to the increase in the number of communication ports and channels per node with an increase in the total number of nodes. The reduced hypercube (RH) topology, which is obtained by a uniform reduction in the number of …

Performance Modeling Of High Data Rate Ring Networks Using Stochastic Petri Nets, Le Zhong

Theses

This thesis has proposed a performance analysis method for Carrier Sensing Multiple Access Ring Network (CSMA) based on Petri net methodologies. The method can offer more accurate results than traditional queuing methods, but less than simulation results. In the CSMA network access protocol is studied in this thesis, when a passing message is detected by a station, it stops transmitting immediately in order to avoid a collision.

A generalized stochastic Petri nets model is made first, then the SPNP package is used to do the analysis. The analysis results show that even at a very heavy load fraction of near …

Design Of An Autonomous Vehicle System, Fritz Gerald Momplaisir

Theses

With advances in electronics, mobile vehicles are becoming more and more sophisticated. The Potential applications of AGVs are numerous an range from a material handling system for the factory floor to an intelligent wheel chair for the handicapped. The design of these vehicles, however, remains a difficult task. Even when the machine is given precise information about its environment, the fact that it is never free of noise further complicate the situation. One of the goals of an AGV project is to design a robust system that will operate efficiently in the presence of different sources of noise.

The scientific …

Time Frequency Analysis Of The Electromyogram During Fatigue, Michelle Rene Davies

Theses

Spectral parameters obtained from the surface EMG signal have been used as indicators of fatigue during a sustained contraction. These same parameters have not been tested with the EMG signals obtained from fine wire electrodes. One such parameter is the median frequency which is known to decline with fatigue. A comparison was done between the median frequencies obtained from the surface EMG and those obtained from the fine wire EMG. The median frequencies from both types of electrodes decreased with time indicating that fine wire electrodes could be used to measure fatigue.

In addition, a new technique, time frequency analysis, …

Application Of The Wavelet Transform To Biomedical Signals, Karl O. Hauck

Theses

The basic concepts and fundamentals of the wavelet signal representation were examined. The orthonormal wavelet was selected for this project after being compared to various types of wavelets. The orthonormal wavelet was chosen due to the equal time and frequency resolution exhibited in the wavelet coefficients. Programs were written in Matlab to implement the orthonormal wavelet in developing wavelet coefficients for a given signal. The programs include the conditions for an orthonormal wavelet in and which produce the wavelet filters g(n) and h(n). The wavelet filters were then incorporated into another program that applied Mallat's multiresolution algorithm for a given …

Fast Point Pattern Matching By Heuristic And Stochastic Optimization Techniques, Ashish Agrawal

Theses

This work is concerned with one of the methodologies used in the final stages of machine vision: the matching of model point patterns to observed point patterns. Conventional search methods not only fail to arrive at the optimal match, but are also computationally expensive and time consuming. To arrive at the optimal pattern match, stochastic and heuristic optimization as the search technique, exploiting Simulated Annealing (SA), Evolutionary Programming (EP) and Mean Field Annealing (MFA), are explored in detail. A comparison of results obtained using SA versus "hill-climbing" and "exhaustive search" techniques, and results of EP are presented. The relative effectiveness …