Engineering Commons^™

Live Load Test And Finite Element Model Analysis Of A Box Girder Bridge For The Long Term Bridge Performance Program, Dereck J. Hodson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Long Term Bridge Performance (LTBP) Program is a 20-year program initiated by the Federal Highway Administration to better understand the behavior of highway bridges as they deteriorate due to environmental variables and vehicle loads. Part of this program includes the periodic testing of selected bridges.

The Lambert Road Bridge was subjected to nondestructive testing in the fall of 2009. Part of this testing included a live load test. This test involved driving two heavy trucks across the instrumented bridge on selected load paths. The bridge was instrumented with strain, displacement, and tilt sensors. This collected data was used to …

Evaluation Of The Aerodynamic Differences Of A Balloon Shape And A Sphere Using Computational Fluid Dynamic Modeling In Fluent, Daniel Burton Scholes

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

While tracking balloons for wind characterization, there was a question about the theoretical rise rate and corresponding coefficient of drag of a balloon shape as compared to a sphere. Since there are many studies published detailing the drag on spherical shapes, the question of whether or not a balloon can be treated as a sphere begged to be answered.

In this study we apply Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) modeling to compare the aerodynamic behavior and drag of a sphere to that of a balloon as it moves through fluid at Reynolds numbers from 10,000 to 100,000.

Fluent CFD models are …

Sustainable Management Of Duckweed Biomass Grown For Nutrient Control In Municipal Wastewaters, Maureen Kesaano

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The use of duckweed as a nutrient removal option for municipal wastewaters can only be realized through regular plant harvesting. As a result, the nutrient-rich biomass generated needs to be effectively managed and disposed of. This study looked at three alternative options for biomass management that would make duckweed-based nutrient removal systems sustainable and attractive to small communities like Wellsville City, Utah. The options included: the use of harvested duckweed biomass as an animal feed, anaerobic digestion of duckweed for methane production, and fermentation of biomass for ethanol production.

Duckweed feed quality was determined using feed analysis reports and results …

A Linearly And Circularly Polarized Active Integrated Antenna, Ali Khoshniat

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis work presents a new harmonic suppression technique for microstrip patch antennas. Harmonic suppression in active integrated antennas is known as an effective method to improve the efficiency of amplifiers in transmitter side. In the proposed design, the antenna works as the radiating element and, at the same time, as the tuning load for the amplifier circuit that is directly matched to the antenna. The proposed active antenna architecture is easy to fabricate and is symmetric, so it can be conveniently mass-produced and designed to have circular polarization, which is preferred in many applications such as satellite communications.

The …

Dynamic Testing For A Steel Truss Bridge For The Long Term Bridge Performance Program, Cody Joshua Santos

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Under the direction of the Federal Highway Administration the Long Term Bridge Performance Program (LTBP) selected Minnesota Bridge number 5718 as a pilot bridge for evaluation. This program focuses on the monitoring of bridges for a 20-year period to understand the structural behavior over time due to the various loads and weathering. In monitoring this bridge a better understanding can be acquired for the maintenance issues related to the nation's deteriorating bridge infrastructure.

Bridge Number 5718, which is located just outside of Sandstone Minnesota, is a steel truss bridge that spans the Kettle River. Constant monitoring of the bridge along …

Fluoro-Silane As A Functional Monomer For Protein Conformational Imprinting, Yun Peng

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

By using the technology of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP), we propose to synthesize a protein conformational imprint that also acts as a plastic enzyme, inducing protein structural transitions. The imprint aims at MIP-induced stabilization and / or formation of bound protein secondary structure and the applications associated with analysis and correction of misfolded proteins. The screening of polymeric functional monomers being able to induce the conformational transitions in proteins is investigated in this report.

The fluoro-silanes (3-heptafluoroisopropoxy)propalethoxysilane (7F) and 3,3,3-trifluoropropylmethoxysilane (3F) were employed as functional monomers for synthesis of this catalytic protein conformational imprint via sol-gel reactions. 3F was demonstrated …