Engineering Commons^™

An Application Of Residual Relaxation To Mathematical Simulation Of Petroleum Reservoirs, Grufron Achmad

Doctoral Dissertations

"Stability and convergence have long been primary concerns in the application of numerical techniques to the simulation of petroleum reservoir performance. An iterative method based on sequentially reducing the residual to zero at each grid point has been developed. It has been shown analytically that this residual relaxation method is stable, convergent, and consistent.

A three-phase areal model was developed to simulate a hypothetical homogeneous petroleum reservoir, and various computational methods were tested with this model. The residual relaxation method developed in this study (RELAX) was found to converge as rapidly as SIP, and much faster than either LSOR or …

Measurement Of Molecular Diffusivities Of Liquid Alkane Systems, James W. Moore

Doctoral Dissertations

"An unsteady-state porous frit method of diffusion coefficient measurement, recently developed in this laboratory, was improved and expanded upon. The experimental technique has been refined and documented. The unsteady-state diffusion of an initially 0.5 N NaCl solution into pure water (effective diffusivity -1.480 x 10^-5 cm²/sec) was employed as the calibration standard. An overall calibration precision of ±4% was obtained. Diffusion times of two hours or less were used for the non-aqueous diffusivity measurements. The validity of this measurement technique was confirmed by the agreement of the measured self-diffusion coefficient of n-heptane (25⁰C) with literature values.

A …

Film Boiling Of Benzene, Freon 113, Freon 11, And Normal Pentane From Horizontal Surfaces At Atmospheric Pressure, Richard Stanley Kistler

Doctoral Dissertations

"A film boiling study was conducted with five different area flat plates at atmospheric pressure for benzene, Freon 113, Freon 11, and n-pentane. The heat transfer surface was horizontal for all tests.

The data were compared to the correlations commonly used for heat transfer. The common correlations were found to be in error for small surface sizes, but adequate for all fluids except benzene for the largest surface, a semi-empirical equation which correlates the available data as a function of surface diameter was derived and discussed"--Abstract, page iii.

Investigation Of Roof Shales In Illinois Coal Mines, Peter J. Conroy

Doctoral Dissertations

"This thesis describes an investigation of the relationships among the composition, physical properties and the performance of roof shales in Illinois coal mines. The study included cataloging the physical and mineralogical properties of typical roof shales, determining the interrelationships of the properties and defining the factors in the rock which effect deterioration. From the results, a classification system has been developed which may provide a means for evaluating coal mine roof stability.

A coring apparatus was developed for obtaining in situ samples from mine roofs. Five coal mines with varying geologic and roof conditions were sampled. Precautions were taken to …

The Effects Of High Pressure And Temperature Environments On The Properties Of 6061-T651 Aluminum, Patrick George Davidson

Doctoral Dissertations

"During this experimental testing program the effects of the simultaneous application of high pressure and temperature environments on the mechanical properties of 6061-T651 aluminum were analyzed. From the data obtained at the yield and ultimate points a yield and ultimate model was developed based upon the parameters effective stress, effective strain, and the hydrostatic component of stress. This model was obtained solely from the data acquired from uniaxial tensile specimen tested at various pressures and temperatures. Two other loading paths--biaxial tension and torsion--were then used to verify the accuracy of the model. From the testing program, data were also obtained …

Linear Stability Of Non-Parallel Flow In The Entrance Region Of Ducts, Francis Chung-Ti Shen

Doctoral Dissertations

"An investigation is made of the linear stability of the developing flow of an incompressible fluid in the entrance region of annular ducts, circular tubes, and parallel-plate channels. Small axisymmetric disturbances for annular duct and tube flows and small two-dimensional disturbances for channel flow are considered in the analysis. In formulating the stability problems, account is taken of the transverse velocity component of the mainflow. This results in the modified Orr-Sommerfeld equations, one for annular duct and tube flows and the other for channel flow. The mainflow velocity fields utilized in the stability analysis are those from the solutions of …

Numerical Simulation Of Heat, Mass, And Momentum Transfer In An Atmospheric Boundary Layer, Darrell W. Pepper

Doctoral Dissertations

"Considerable interest has developed in recent years to understand transport phenomena in thermally stratified boundary layers. More complete knowledge in this field is needed to improve the prediction of the diffusion of air pollutants in the lower atmosphere as well as in forecasting air-water circulation for weather conditions.

The atmospheric boundary layer is modeled using the equations of continuity, momentum, energy, and concentration. Closure of this set of partial differential equations is hindered by the turbulence terms. Using turbulence kinetic energy, the system of equations is closed by internally determining the exchange coefficients of heat, mass, and momentum along with …

A Study Of The Dynamic Loading Of Hydrodynamically Lubricated Journal Bearings, Nader Khorzad

Doctoral Dissertations

"The analytical and experimental investigation presented here examined the response of a full journal bearing to a unidirectional dynamic load. Frequency response of the bearing at different eccentricity ratios was investigated. It was concluded that the response of the bearing varies with eccentricity. The experimental data obtained was compared to an analytical model which considered inertial, damping, and elastic characteristics of the lubricant film. An investigation of film pressure revealed that the pressure due to journal center acceleration is smaller than the hydrodynamic and squeeze-film pressures"--Abstract, page 1.

Premartensitic Elasticity Of Fe-Ni Invars, Bryce Linn Shriver

Doctoral Dissertations

"The premartensitic temperature dependence of ultrasonic wave propagation in Fe-30 pct Ni polycrystals and Fe-32 pct Ni single crystals was measured by using a continuous wave technique. As the temperature was lowered to within 10°C of the M_s, a nonlinear decrease of the relative shear velocity was observed. This effect is related to dislocation stacking fault instabilities which may trigger the martensitic phase transformation. In addition, the single crystals show a frequency dependence of the shear elastic constant C' well above the M_s. The dispersion is believed to be caused by fluctuations in the anisotropic molecular …

Prebainitic Phenomena In Aisi 86b80 And 0.8c-5.3ni Steels, Chung Lim

Doctoral Dissertations

"An ultrasonic investigation shows that the prebainitic kinetics of AISI 86B80 and 0.8C-5.3Ni steels follow t^2/3 and or t¹ time laws in the lower bainite temperature region. The data analysis indicates that these kinetics signal carbon segregation to dislocations. The simple time laws are interrupted at the bainite start time. It is shown that at this time the carbon depleted regions around dislocations transform martensitically. The lower bainite reaction is thus initiated by the formation of supersaturated ferrite through carbon segregation and the subsequent local martensitic transformation"--Abstract, page iii.

Dynamic Instability And Ultimate Capacity Of Inelastic Systems Parametrically Excited By Earthquakes, Wu-Hsiung Tseng

Doctoral Dissertations

"A procedure of analysis is presented for determining the dynamic instability and response of framed structures subjected to pulsating axial loads, time-dependent lateral forces, or foundation movements. Included in the analytical work are the instability criterion of a structural system, the finite element technique of structural matrix formulation, and the computer solution methods.

The dynamic instability is defined by a region in relation to transverse natural frequency, longitudinal forcing frequency and the magnitude of axial dynamic force. The axial pulsating load is expressed in terms of static buckling load for ensuring that the applied load is not greater than the …

A Yield And Fracture Model For Ti-6al-4v Titanium And 7075-T6 Aluminum, Richard L. Pendleton

Doctoral Dissertations

"The objective of the research being reported in this thesis was to conduct a series of experiments on two commonly used structural metals in several different environmental pressures so that a graphical representation of the material response both to yielding and fracture could be ascertained. It was further intended to show that parameters herein defined and called effective stress, effective strain, and pressure are useful parameters for graphically representing the material response. The final goal of this research was to show that the graphical representation does, in fact, predict the yield and fracture for a simple forming process. The forming …

The Application Of Impact Dampers To Continuous Systems, Ranjit Kumar Roy

Doctoral Dissertations

"A study has been made of the application of impact dampers to two types of continuous systems, a simply supported and a clamped beam. Previous efforts have included the effect of impact dampers on single degree of freedom and other systems with finite numbers of degrees of freedom.

Experimental models were tested in the laboratory and finite element computer programs were developed to calculate response. Results from calculations agree favorably with experimental tests. Further, results from the first few natural modes also compare reasonably with data published on systems with finite number of degrees of freedom.

Curves are presented which …

Digital Spectrum Analyzer Systems: A Model And System Implementation, Richard Ray Kuenzer

Doctoral Dissertations

"This thesis introduces digital spectrum analyzer systems and presents a generalized model which can be used to implement new systems. The model is presented using the Digital Design Language (DDL) to facilitate system programming. Three hardware systems are defined and their merits are considered. Procedures are given to aid in implementing an analyzer system on a wide range of hardware configurations. A digital spectrum analyzer system which was implemented at the University of Missouri - Rolla and is presently being used by electrical engineering students is presented. This system utilizes the IBM 360/SO computer located in the Computer Center at …

Methods And Applications Of Systems Identification, Allen Glenn Behring

Doctoral Dissertations

"A "Schmidt filter" is proposed to compute an optimal orthonormal basis for a set of "noisy" filter input functions. Procedures for determining the transfer function and inverse transfer function of the filter are given. The Schmidt filter is applied to the problem of determining mathematical models of discrete, stationary, linear, dynamic systems for the case where measurements may be corrupted by noise of unknown statistics. The identification problem is reconsidered for the case where noise and signal moments are specified. Procedures are given which insure unbiased, adaptive estimates of system order and parameters for this case. These theoretical propositions are …

An Exact Analysis Of Two-Dimensional Radiative Transfer In An Absorbing And Emitting Gray Medium, William F. Breig

Doctoral Dissertations

"The exact formulations for the radiative flux and the emissive power are presented for a two-dimensional, finite, planar, absorbing and emitting, gray medium in radiative equilibrium. Exact expressions are obtained for the medium subjected to the following types of boundary conditions: (1) cosine varying diffuse, (2) cosine varying collimated, (3) constant temperature strip, and (4) the strip illuminated by a uniform collimated flux. The solutions for the physically unrealistic cosine varying models are used to construct the solutions for the more practical finite strip models. The two-dimensional equations are reduced to one-dimensional equations by the method of separation of variables. …

Performance Of Self Bit Synchronizers For Binary Overlapping Signals, Chung-Tao David Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

"This research is concerned with the optimum and suboptimum ways of providing self bit synchronization for binary overlapping signals. A maximum likelihood synchronizer is derived as the optimum approach. The suboptimum ways are those employing decision-directed feedback and matched derivative filter techniques which are proposed for treating the overlapping signals. Combining the two suboptimum techniques along with the bandlimited version of the overlapping signal, a suboptimum synchronizer is derived. The performance of the above synchronizer is evaluated by Monte Carlo simulation techniques. Finally, a bit synchronizer using nonlinear filtering theory is considered. The performance of a nonlinear bit synchronizer is …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Poly-(P-Phenylene Pyromellitamic Acid), Constantine William Tsimpris

Doctoral Dissertations

"Poly-(p-phenylenepyromellitamic acid)s have been synthesized over the weight average molecular weight range from 8,000 to 22,000 by reaction of pyromellitic dianhydride and p-phenylenediamine in dimethylformamide. The polymers were recovered as amorphous yellow powders having planar dimensions of 3-4 x 1-2 µm with thicknesses of 0.1-0.2 µm and contained 20-30% associated dimethylformamide. Consumption of reactants and attainment of the ultimate molecular weight of the polymer was found to occur within one minute. Thermogravimetry of the solid poly(amic acid)s was used in a method developed to determine the amount of associated dimethylformamide, to study the cyclization of poly(amic acid) to polyimide, and …

Secondary Techniques For Increasing Fault Coverage Of Fault Detection Test Sequences For Asynchronous Sequential Networks, Lewis Ronald Hoover

Doctoral Dissertations

"The generation of fault detection sequences for asynchronous sequential networks is considered here. Several techniques exist for the generation of fault detection sequences on combinational and clocked sequential networks. Although these techniques provide closed solutions for combinational and clocked networks, they meet with much less success when used as strategies on asynchronous networks. It is presently assumed that the general asynchronous problem defies closed solution. For this reason, a secondary procedure is presented here to facilitate increased fault coverage by a given fault detection test sequence. This procedure is successful on all types of logic networks but is, perhaps, most …

An Analytical Study Of A Confined Viscous Vortex, David Edward Crow

Doctoral Dissertations

"A composite solution for the flow field of a three dimensional, incompressible laminar, viscous vortex confined inside a conical converging nozzle is presented. This model is used to study the strong mainstream boundary layer interaction that occurs in confined vortex flows. The confined vortex flow field is divided into mainstream and boundary layer regions. A particular class of solutions of the general equations of motion is used to represent the vortex flow in the mainstream region. That is, the tangential velocity in the mainstream region is assumed to be of the form W = T(e)/R. Velocity and pressure profiles from …

The Use Of Shaped Explosive Charges To Investigate Permeability, Penetration, And Fracture Formation In Coal, Dolomite And Plexiglas, Calvin J. Konya

Doctoral Dissertations

"The concentration of methane gas which exists in the exhaust air from a coal mine is critical. It can be controlled by dilution of the gas with fresh air or by the regulation of the rate of methane emission into the mine workings. Degasification techniques which control the emission rate are currently being developed. The use of shaped charges to initiate fractures in coal and increase the gas flow rate was the object of this research. The three areas of investigation were: 1) permeability changes in coal models after fracturing with shaped charge jets, 2) fracture formation in coal and …

The Structural Behavior Of Cold-Formed Steel Members With Perforated Elements, Charles S. Davis

Doctoral Dissertations

"Analytical and experimental investigations have been conducted to study the influence of perforations on the structural behavior of cold-formed steel structural members. Since in many cases, the load-carrying capacity of cold-formed steel members depends on the buckling behavior of individual component elements, emphasis has been concentrated on the study of the instability and post-buckling strength of perforated elements. In this investigation, the buckling loads and post-buckling strength of stiffened and unstiffened compression elements having single circular and square holes have been studied analytically by using the finite element method. The effects of different holes on the buckling coefficient have been …

The Electrochemical Reduction Of Fumaric Acid On Hg-Bi Cathodes, Chen Hwei Chi

Doctoral Dissertations

"The electrochemical reduction of fumaric acid was studied on Hg, Hg/1%Bi amalgam, and Bi at 60ºC in acidic solutions of various pH ranging from 0.3 to 3.7. The fumaric acid was reduced to succinic acid with high efficiency on each electrode. The steady state kinetic parameters included Tafel slopes of ca. 2.3 RT/F and first order concentration dependences for both undissociated fumaric acid and H⁺. Transient measurements indicated low coverages of adsorbed fumaric acid and no adsorbed hydrogen species in the potential region of the reaction. A reaction mechanism is proposed which involves a chemical rate determining step between an …

A Numerical, Time Domain Solution For The Response Of A Gimbal Supported Gyro, Floyd Stanley Hall

Doctoral Dissertations

"This paper develops an algorithm to generate a numerical solution for the response of a gimbal supported gyro to arbitrary forcing functions and base motion, and includes the normal parasitic effects of bearing friction, viscous pivot damping, and pivot spring constants. There are relatively few restrictions on gyro and gimbal structure geometry. Solution accuracy is limited only by the computing machine accuracy; the algorithm being an explicit function of the input data. The algorithm is fast and requires only a moderate amount of computer memory"--Abstract, page ii.

Probabilistic Models For Construction Estimating And Bidding, James E. Spooner

Doctoral Dissertations

"Two probabilistic models are offered as a means for quantitatively determining contingency in a lump-sum bid. The first model is based on the isolated project and requires subjective evaluation of probabilities associated with the individual elements of the estimate. Contingency is defined as a function of the standard deviation of project field costs. Procedures are developed to obtain the variance of the total field cost from three-value estimates of the primary quantities. The second model considers the business as a stochastic process with an initial risk reserve and a positive risk loading, and contingency in this model is a function …

The Average Dissipation Curve Of An Attenuative Layered Earth Medium, Joong Hee Chun

Doctoral Dissertations

"A feasible method of estimating the attenuative properties of a layered earth medium from a reflection seismogram has been developed. An average attenuation factor of n layers in the least squares sense is designated as ß and its usefulness in real applications is investigated. Techniques of extracting dissipation factors from both noise free and noisy reflection seismic traces are discussed. In order to describe the change of the factors with an increase of depth, an average dissipation curve the form of which is similar to the average velocity of layered medium is also introduced. Both the ß and the average …

Deformation And Fracture Of Concrete Under Uniaxial Impact Loading, Esteban Eulogio Miranda

Doctoral Dissertations

"Stress wave propagation and interaction in plain concrete leading up to spall fracture was investigated experimentally with a computer numerical analysis of the bar-geometry axial-impact loading. The critical normal fracture strain energy U and mechanical energy W criteria are proposed for the spatial and time dependence explanation of spallation in concrete. The energy criteria are special cases of a more generalized cumulative damage model of the form:....

Finite-difference analyses of the wave propagation and interactions in the split Hopkinson bar showed that early failure in brittle materials limits the application of the conventional method of analysis because equilibrium in the …

Modal Truncation Of Substructures Used In Vibration Analysis, Suresh Kumar Tolani

Doctoral Dissertations

"The objective of this study is to describe in a unified manner a group of structural dynamics analyses using the substructures technique. An additional effort is to provide a consistent basis for the selection of substructure principal modes as required by this method. Substructure principal mode frequency roots and strain energy are two criteria evaluated for the selection of substructure principal modes. System eigenvalues and system strain energy are investigated for the comparison of results in the principal modes. System strain energy should provide more rational results since it is proportional to the stress times the strain in the system …

A Method For Generating Uts Assignments With An Iterative State Transition Algorithm, Dattatraya Govind Raj-Karne

Doctoral Dissertations

"There is a lack of systematic procedures that can be used to find uni-code totally sequential (UTS) assignments from a flow table description of an asynchronous sequential circuit. Presented here is an iterative internal state assignment method. This method consists of three algorithms. The first generates a minimum variable initial assignment from a flow table description. The second tests the validity of this assignment by constructing minimum length transition paths without crossover and the third augments this assignment by adding an internal state variable in the event that all transition paths cannot be constructed without crossover. The second and the …

The Morphology Of Cellular Precipitation In Aluminum Rich Aluminum-Silver Alloys, Santiago Ibarra Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations

"The morphology of cellular precipitation in Al-29.8wt%Ag alloy has been investigated in bulk specimens by transmission electron microscopy and in solution treated specimens by means of hot stage microscopy. Both cellular and general precipitation were observed to occur simultaneously in quench-aged and isothermally aged alloys. By studying the early stages of precipitation in the hot stage, the mechanism for the growth of cells in Al-Ag alloys was developed. According to this mechanism, the grain boundary allotriomorphs begin to form, the boundary then interacts with the allotriomorphs by bowing, and then either trailing precipitation forms on the allotriomorphs or new lamellae …