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Articles 2791 - 2820 of 3180

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Thermal Design Optimization Of Internally Cooled Turbine Blades, James Daniel Ruiz Jan 2008

Thermal Design Optimization Of Internally Cooled Turbine Blades, James Daniel Ruiz

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

This paper outlines the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) Optimization to enhance the design of a 3-dimensional internally cooled turbine blade. The optimization code utilizes principles of Genetic Algorithms to optimize (i.e. minimize) the integrated heat flux through the turbine blade. The optimization is accomplished by adjusting the size and position (within pre-determined constraints) of cooling passages internal to the turbine blade. Starting with an aerodynamically optimized airfoil shape, cooling passage designs are generated by the optimization process and coupled with boundary and airfoil domains. The analysis becomes a Conjugate Heat Transfer (CHT) problem analyzing …


Development Of Spectral And Wavelet Time-Of-Flight Methods For Propagating Shock And Detonation Waves, Alfredo Albert Ortiz Jan 2008

Development Of Spectral And Wavelet Time-Of-Flight Methods For Propagating Shock And Detonation Waves, Alfredo Albert Ortiz

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

An accurate time delay estimate for a propagating disturbance, including an estimate of its uncertainty, is important in many areas of science. Several techniques were developed for determining the propagation time of a shock and detonation wave. The speed of the propagating wave was then determined by the time delay estimates provided for the best techniques. The techniques used ranged from the commonly used time-of-flight method to a nonstationary cross-spectral density phase method that provided a statistical estimation of the propagation time. The time delay results for a shock tube experiment showed that most of the methods had difficulties in …


Thermal Analysis Of Pulse Detonation Engines, Raghu Raman Ghandikota Jan 2008

Thermal Analysis Of Pulse Detonation Engines, Raghu Raman Ghandikota

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The pulse detonation engine (PDE) is a compact system that can be modeled thermodynamically by the Humphrey cycle and is capable of high efficiency. The rapid heat release for stochiometric fuel/oxidizer ratios results in developing high temperatures. The high temperatures produced during its operation can cause the engine to fail. Thus, operating this engine for a longer duration would become dubious if the temperatures are not dissipated from it. The current research aims to perform a preliminary thermal analysis. This analysis consists of two steps. The first step is to determine the heat dissipated from the engine using the unsteady …


Effect Of Pullout And Torsional Strength Of Composites With Co-Molded Thread Inserts, Dan L. Reller Jan 2008

Effect Of Pullout And Torsional Strength Of Composites With Co-Molded Thread Inserts, Dan L. Reller

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Rotorcraft transmission housings and drive system components are typically made from cast metals due to their highly complex geometries. Utilizing composite materials offers potential to reduce weigh and manufacturing cost while increasing corrosive resistance and extending part life. Traditional compression molded composites have not been utilized in aerospace because they typically experience low fiber volume fraction. Currently there are numerous materials which offer opportunities for composites in drive system housing applications and also offer the ability to co-mold details to reduce post mold operations. One of the issues associated with composite structures is the ability to fasten them to one …


Electromagnetic Flow Control: A Review And Experimental Development And Testing Of A Compact Actuator, Eric Braun Jan 2008

Electromagnetic Flow Control: A Review And Experimental Development And Testing Of A Compact Actuator, Eric Braun

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

This thesis is divided into two sections which both relate to the field of magnetohydrodynamics and particularly electromagnetic flow control (EMFC). The first section contains a review of recent research in EMFC. The second section presents the experimental results of a compact EMFC actuator designed for use at low speeds where the flow conductivity is raised by conductive seed particle injection.Fifty years ago, publications began to discuss the possibilities of using EMFC to improve aerodynamic performance. This led to an era of research that focused on coupling the fundamentals of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) with propulsion, control, and power generation systems. Unfortunately, …


Finite Element Analysis Of Helicopter Main Rotor Hub Plates To Evaluate The Possibility Of Increasing The Time To Retirement, Douglas Wittig Jan 2008

Finite Element Analysis Of Helicopter Main Rotor Hub Plates To Evaluate The Possibility Of Increasing The Time To Retirement, Douglas Wittig

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Rotorcraft main rotor systems have multiple components that are subject to very high loads and moments. These loads and moments dictate the life expectancy of the parts based upon the components material of composition. This project will primarily focus on the upper and lower hub plates on the main rotor system of a typical four bladed commercial helicopter. The upper and lower plates are machined from 7075-T73 aluminum forgings. The upper and lower plates were laboratory fatigue tested during product development as supporting parts in the test of the main rotor assembly. With recent advances in finite element analysis, there …


Fabrication And Characeterization Of Granular Magnetic Gold Nanoparticles, Rishi Wadhwa Jan 2008

Fabrication And Characeterization Of Granular Magnetic Gold Nanoparticles, Rishi Wadhwa

Material Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

In recent years, gold and magnetic nanoparticles have showed great potential in biomedical applications. Magnetic nanoparticles can be used in both in- vivo and in-vitro applications such as drug and gene delivery, hyperthermia treatment of cancer, MRI contrast enhancement, cell labeling and magnetic separation. Due to the surface plasmon resonance effect (SPR), gold nanoparticles strongly absorb and scatter visible and infrared light in resonance with SPR. They have been exploited for bioimaging and photothermal therapy applications. This is why different sizes and shapes of Au nanoparticles exhibit different colors.In this thesis, we are investigating a new type of nanoparticles, granular …


Clay Mineralogy Effects On Long-Term Performance Of Chemically Treated Expansive Clays, Bhaskar Chandra Srinivas Chittoori Jan 2008

Clay Mineralogy Effects On Long-Term Performance Of Chemically Treated Expansive Clays, Bhaskar Chandra Srinivas Chittoori

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Stabilization of expansive soils using chemical additives such as cement and lime had been in use for several decades and these treatments provide riding comforts to travelers. However, many state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) in the United States have had problems with subgrade failure even after stabilization with chemical additives due to a loss of stabilizer over time, or a stabilizer being ineffective in some soils while other soils with the same index properties respond well to that stabilizer. These problems are attributed to the limitations of the current procedures of stabilization for pavement subsoil layers. One such limitation is …


Construction Cost Of Underground Infrastructure, Seyed Behnam Hashemi Jan 2008

Construction Cost Of Underground Infrastructure, Seyed Behnam Hashemi

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Renewal of aging underground infrastructure is a major challenge that municipalities inNorth America face every day. Traditional replacement or renewal of these underground utilitiesuses open-cut excavation methods that can be disruptive to everyday life of citizens andexpensive, particularly in built-up areas and in projects with difficult ground and site conditions. Incontrast, trenchless technologies use innovative methods, materials, and equipment that requireminimum surface excavation to renew and construct aging underground infrastructure. Thesenew methods are considered to be more safe, cost-effective, efficient and productive thanconventional open-cut projects. However, to select trenchless technologies in utility design,consulting engineers and utility owners need to compare …


Adsorption Curve Fits For Landfill Vocs On Bituminous Coal Based And Coconut Shell Based Activated Carbon, Annaprabha Athappan Jan 2008

Adsorption Curve Fits For Landfill Vocs On Bituminous Coal Based And Coconut Shell Based Activated Carbon, Annaprabha Athappan

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

This study explores adsorption as a method of controlling hazardous gas emissions from Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (MSWL). In particular, the hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) para, meta, and ortho-xylene, ethylbenzene and methyl ethyl ketone are selected for experimental study. Activated carbon is a good adsorbent and well known for its high surface area. Among the many varieties of activated carbon, bituminous coal based activated carbon (BPL) and coconut shell based activated carbon (OVC) are compared in this study. Each experiment was conducted in a vial with a known amount of carbon in it. The pollutant concentration remaining in the vial …


Optimization Of Reconstruction Parameters In Brain Activation Studies, Aswini Kanneganti Jan 2008

Optimization Of Reconstruction Parameters In Brain Activation Studies, Aswini Kanneganti

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Diffuse Optical Imaging (DOI) is being extensively used in brain activation studies for the quantification of hemodynamic changes in the cerebral cortex. Many investigators have utilized the commercially available CW5 DOI device to attain cortical activation maps. However, the localization and spatial resolution in the resulting activation images remains poor. These limitations arise due to the large source detector separations required for light to reach the brain's surface and the limited number of detector channels in the CW5 system, which result in sparse spatial sampling of the cortical activation regions. In this thesis we assess the feasibility of using denser …


Assessing Control Strategies For Ground Level Ozone, Neelesh Vijay Sule Jan 2008

Assessing Control Strategies For Ground Level Ozone, Neelesh Vijay Sule

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Developing cost effective control strategies for ozone has been a challenge to air quality modelers. Conventionally, the control strategies are applied across-the board to the region. The main aim of this research was to develop a Decision-Making Framework (DMF) for evaluating and optimizing the selection of ozone control strategies. Conventional across-the-board reductions conduct emission reductions uniformly throughout the region and throughout the day. By contrast, this dissertation studied targeted reductions, in which emission sources of various types are reduced at various times and locations. The proposed DMF comprised of four phases: (1) Initialization, (2) Mining, (3) Metamodeling, and (4) Optimization. …


Measured And Theoretical Response Of Perpetual Pavement Structures, Miguel M. Portillo Jan 2008

Measured And Theoretical Response Of Perpetual Pavement Structures, Miguel M. Portillo

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The Kansas Perpetual Pavement experiment includes the construction of four pavement sections on the US-75 highway designed according to the perpetual pavement concept. The sections were instrumented with strain gauges and pressures cells to measure strains and stress at the bottom of the base layer and at the top of the subbase layer. Pavement response measurements were carried out in seven occasions between July 2005 and October 2007 with a loaded truck. Measured values obtained show that longitudinal and transverse values were almost always below the average endurance limit of 70 microstrains. The measurements also showed that temperature and vehicle …


Fano Resonance Filters On Patterned Silicon Photonic Crystal Nanomembranes, Santhad Chuwongin Jan 2008

Fano Resonance Filters On Patterned Silicon Photonic Crystal Nanomembranes, Santhad Chuwongin

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

Recently broadband reflectors and guided-resonance narrowband filters have been proposed to be the major components in communication and optical interconnect systems. Most work reported so far are based on free-standing membranes. Recent advances in the fabrication process have made it possible to pattern crystalline silicon nanomembranes (NMs) and transfer to foreign substrates. These NMs are transferable, stackable, bondable and manufacturable. In this thesis, we present two-dimensional photonic crystal broadband reflectors and narrowband filters based on Fano resonances on patterned silicon nanomembranes, on Si, glass, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates. For broadband reflectors, spectral trimming was achieved by partially or even …


Collision Response Of Surface Modeled Organs For Virtual Laparoscopic Surgery, Dibbesh Sharma Adhikari Jan 2008

Collision Response Of Surface Modeled Organs For Virtual Laparoscopic Surgery, Dibbesh Sharma Adhikari

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

Laparoscopic surgery is a modern surgical procedure in which, operations are performed in the abdomen by monitoring the image from a laparoscope: a telescopic rod lens system, which is usually connected to a video camera with a halogen or xenon light source, and is inserted into the abdomen through a small incision. Generally, laparoscopic surgeries are chosen over open surgery because of lower pain and speedier recovery process. However, the surgeon needs additional training in performing such surgery since laparoscopic camera reflects 2D mirror image of hand movement and depth information of the scene is harder for the surgeon to …


Collision Detection And Penetration Depth Calculation In Virtual Surgical Simulation, Rupin Pavithran Jan 2008

Collision Detection And Penetration Depth Calculation In Virtual Surgical Simulation, Rupin Pavithran

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

Virtual Reality (VR) based surgical simulators create a simulated, realistic three dimensional surgical environments using advanced graphic and haptic rendering techniques. Virtual objects, which are geometric surface polygonal models of different human organs and instruments, are rendered in a common viewing volume. Such deformable or non-deformable polygonal models interact with each other. In order to provide a realistic response in real-time, detection of collisions in such models is the greatest challenge in the field of VR based simulators. Once collision is detected, the overlapping region and the largest penetration distance for a pair of intersecting objects need to be determined …


The Design Of A Precision Current Miror Using A High-Gain Current Amplifier, Mei-Ping Pua Jan 2008

The Design Of A Precision Current Miror Using A High-Gain Current Amplifier, Mei-Ping Pua

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

An improved high gain, precision, low sensitivity current mirror is designed around a feedback circuit. This mirror utilizes a buffered Widlar current mirror to drive the constant input reference current, two beta helpers to compensate for the loss of base current and an active load, and a feedback loop in the amplifier. This design provides a comparison node for detecting the input error signal. The output collector current is substantially equal to the input reference current when driving multiple transistor loads. The circuit has been fabricated with National's VIP10 process, which caters to the high gain bipolar technology. Measurement results …


Development Of A New Procedure For Assessing Power System Reliability In Preparation For Nerc's Standards Compliance, Frederico Von Pinho Jan 2008

Development Of A New Procedure For Assessing Power System Reliability In Preparation For Nerc's Standards Compliance, Frederico Von Pinho

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

In response to historical reliability issues of the past and following the evolution of newly developing power system markets, NERC has created new standards for maintaining and enforcing power system reliability. Entities are still reviewing the standards and finding ways to comply with the same. Non-compliance can result in financial penalties that can add-up to $1M per day per violation.The aim of this thesis is to propose a procedure to be followed by entities wishing to comply with NERC's reliability requirements for a preliminary determination/understanding of the current reliability situation of the system and therefore foresee any difficulties might appear …


Evaluation Of Iso 18000-6 Type C Class 1 Generation 2 Rfid Protocol Artifacts, Nikhil Ayer Jan 2008

Evaluation Of Iso 18000-6 Type C Class 1 Generation 2 Rfid Protocol Artifacts, Nikhil Ayer

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

In this thesis, we have identified the effect on the performance of the RFID system when ISO 18000-6 Class 1 Gen 2 RFID protocol's parameters are changed. The protocol parameters we considered changing for the conformance testing are Tari, operating frequency, pulse width and modulation index at the constant transmitted power. The range of frequencies used in the experiments does fall outside the specification of ISO 18000-6 Type-C Class-1 Gen-2 protocol; but the power transmited by the RFID reader is under the FCC regulations. The research gives the detail behavior of the RFID signal propagation both from the reader to …


Statistical Approach To The Development Of A Microscale Model For Estimating Exhaust Emissions Of Light Duty Gasoline Vehicles, Benjamin Nmai Afotey Jan 2008

Statistical Approach To The Development Of A Microscale Model For Estimating Exhaust Emissions Of Light Duty Gasoline Vehicles, Benjamin Nmai Afotey

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Today, air pollution is taking a growing toll on human health, the environment and the economy, despite decades of efforts to combat it. Although it was once a primary urban phenomenon in industrialized countries, today air pollution has spread worldwide. Mobile, industrial and natural sources constitute the major sources of air pollution. Around the world, major cities in industrialized countries have in recent times been battling air pollution from mobile sources. Beijing, New Delhi, Dallas/ Fort Worth and Los Angeles are no exceptions.Pronounced interest has focused on mobile source (vehicle exhaust) emissions in recent decades. A rapid increase in the …


Multi-Criteria Assessment For Supporting Freeway Operations And Management Systems, Auttawit Upayokin Jan 2008

Multi-Criteria Assessment For Supporting Freeway Operations And Management Systems, Auttawit Upayokin

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Freeway traffic congestion represents an increasing concern for urban areas throughout the United States. In addition, faced with limited roadway expansion alternatives, transportation agencies are considering investment in traffic management centers (TMCs) as a more viable way to operate and manage freeways effectively. The TMCs' responsibilities include monitoring roadway conditions using the various data collection strategies and determining performance measures for freeway operations. At the same time, traffic engineers at the TMCs may react to the traffic congestion problems by implementing operational strategies. In order to provide reliable decision support for TMC freeway operations and management systems, this dissertation aims …


Feasibility Study Of An Ultra Fast Gated Camera To Image Biliary Tree Embedded In Adipose Tissue Using Laboratory Phantoms And Monte Carlo Simulations, Nimit Lalitkumar Patel Jan 2008

Feasibility Study Of An Ultra Fast Gated Camera To Image Biliary Tree Embedded In Adipose Tissue Using Laboratory Phantoms And Monte Carlo Simulations, Nimit Lalitkumar Patel

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Every year, approximately 500,000 cholecystectomies are performed in US. As biliary tree structures are embedded in adipose tissue, they cannot be visualized directly by the surgeon, which causes inadvertent injuries to the common bile duct, vein and artery during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Thus there is an urge for an imaging modality which could see biliary tree structure through fatty tissue. Successful clinical implementation of an imaging system which could attain this goal would reduce surgical time, improve patient safety and minimize the risk of complications and expenses attributable to the current standard practice of intraoperative cholecystectomy. It is hoped that …


Automated Quantification Of White Matter Hyperintensity Burden Using Mprage And Flair Images From A Large Population, Keith Mcleod Hulsey Jan 2008

Automated Quantification Of White Matter Hyperintensity Burden Using Mprage And Flair Images From A Large Population, Keith Mcleod Hulsey

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

White Matter Hyperintensity(WMH) burden, as observed in T2 and proton weighted MR images, is associated with several health factors such as decreased cognitive ability, hypertension, diabetes and cerebrovascular disease. An algorithm was developed to automatically estimate WMH burden from pairs of MPRAGE and FLAIR images which is robust and requires essentially no operator involvement. The WMH burden estimation generated by this fully automated algorithm has been shown to correlate well with known risk factors for WMH burden.


Synthesis And Characterisation Of Raman Nanotags For Molecular Detection, James Otieno Nyagilo Jan 2008

Synthesis And Characterisation Of Raman Nanotags For Molecular Detection, James Otieno Nyagilo

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

The realization that most diseases are preceded or accompanied by changes in the genetic and cellular level of an organism has increased with the need for imaging modalities, with the sensitivity and specificity, to quantitatively detect biomolecules at those levels. Specifically there has been a need for the development of a modality that has the ability to detect multiple biomolecules from a single sample in order to increase accuracy of molecular diagnosis and allow for early detection of terminal diseases. Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy provides potential for such a modality. The distinct spectrum of each Raman active molecule serves as …


Visible To Near Infra Red Hyperspectral Imaging: Visualizing The Neurological And Biological Nature Of Ischemic Tissue, Swetha Suresh Jan 2008

Visible To Near Infra Red Hyperspectral Imaging: Visualizing The Neurological And Biological Nature Of Ischemic Tissue, Swetha Suresh

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Diabetic Neuropathy is a neuropathic disorder which is associated with Diabetes Mellitus. It is known to result in lower limb ulcers which can lead to amputation. Nerve damage, microvascular dysfunctions and use of ill fitting shoes are significant causes for it. These abnormal dysfunctions can lead to Ischemia. We have used the Multimodal Hyperspectral Imaging System image areas of high pressure on the skin that correspond to pain and also to visualize vascular changes that are associated with this pain. The instrument majorly consists of near-infrared and visible charge coupled devices (CCDs), lenses, liquid crystal tunable filters (LCTFs) for both …


Development Of Optical Fiber Sensors For Distance, Refractive Index And Strain Measurement, Ayan Majumdar Jan 2008

Development Of Optical Fiber Sensors For Distance, Refractive Index And Strain Measurement, Ayan Majumdar

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

This thesis is focused on the development of optical fiber based sensors for the measurement of distance, refractive index, and strain. The fabrication, implementation, analysis, and evaluation of the sensors are presented. The Extrinsic Fabry-Perot Interferometric (EFPI) distance sensor is one of the most popular distance sensors but it possesses an inherent drawback. When the free-space cavity distance is very small, the numbers of fringes generated are not sufficient for the distance demodulation algorithm; therefore the smallest distance it can measure is determined by the bandwidth of the light source. An optical fiber based distance sensor is developed in this …


A Process For Ice Detector Placement Using 3-D Eulerian Droplet Impingement Analysis, Glenn T. Lancaster Jan 2008

A Process For Ice Detector Placement Using 3-D Eulerian Droplet Impingement Analysis, Glenn T. Lancaster

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Ice detectors invoke an aircraft's ice protection systems, which reduce the risks of flight into known icing conditions. A process has been developed to place ice detectors on aircraft using high fidelity computational icing tools. Three-dimensional Eulerian droplet impingement analysis is used to determine the necessary ice detector height and location required to achieve full functionality. This method is applied to the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft for validation against both tunnel and flight test data. When compared to icing tunnel test data, computational results for the volume of ice accreted on an antenna were within ten percent, validating the computational …


Capacity Of Two-Sided Type C On Freeway With Four Lanes, Shadi Ghasemi-Majd Jan 2008

Capacity Of Two-Sided Type C On Freeway With Four Lanes, Shadi Ghasemi-Majd

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Weaving segments are categorized based on weaving length, configuration, number of lanes, free flow speed and weaving ratio. All these parameters affect weaving capacity. One of the objectives of this research was to extend Phong Thanh Vo's dissertation and study the relation between weaving capacity of two-sided type C on freeways with four lanes and any potential variables (mainalane demand, entrance ramp demand, exit ramp demand and weaving ratio). Micro-simulation has been used in order to analyze different capacity scenarios and the VISSIM calibrated model by Vo was used. Also, the effect of each of the VISSIM calibration parameters on …


The Effect Of Displacement Control Loading Histories On Genral Connecting Surfaces Using Finite Element Analysis, Sanjog Chandrakant Sabnis Jan 2008

The Effect Of Displacement Control Loading Histories On Genral Connecting Surfaces Using Finite Element Analysis, Sanjog Chandrakant Sabnis

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Displacement loading history provided by the AISC Seismic Provision 2002 is commonly used for experimental testing and analytical modeling of beam-to-column steel connection to stimulate the seismic effect. However, the basis for the above loading history is not documented in the literature. Thus, this study developed 25 cyclic load cases by varying the frequency and magnitude of the AISC-2002 loading within a predefined envelops. The 25 load cases are obtained from five different load sets in which the concept of uniform and non-uniform frequencies and amplitude are utilized. All the load cases are limited to the displacement equivalent to the …


Clay Mineral Quantification Using Gravemetric Analysis, Sarwenaj Ashraf Jan 2008

Clay Mineral Quantification Using Gravemetric Analysis, Sarwenaj Ashraf

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The current procedure used by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to determine the type of stabilizer is based mainly on the Plasticity Index (PI) and the gradation of the soil. This method of stabilization does not always work because two soils with the same PIs can have very different shrink/swell potential, plastic limits or liquid limits, hence their behavior may be very different. This is mainly due to the fact that two soils that have the same PI can have very different clay mineral composition. Montmorillonite and kaolinite are the clay minerals that cause swelling/shrinking in soils.Chittoori (2008) had …