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LSU Master's Theses

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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Applications Of Cfd Simulations On Fractal Fluid Distributor, Gongqiang He Jan 2015

Applications Of Cfd Simulations On Fractal Fluid Distributor, Gongqiang He

LSU Master's Theses

Since its emergence in 1970s, process intensification has been attracting extensive research interests from both academic and industrial societies over the years. One good example of process intensification in chemical industry is the optimization of flow distributors. In many chemical processes, the uniformity of flow distributions plays the key role in determining the overall efficiency. Conventional distributors rely on high pressure drop to achieve acceptable flow distribution. With scaling symmetry from fractal, fractal distributors can handle fluid distribution much better than conventional distributors. With the rapid development of computation power and numerical simulation algorithms, Computer Fluid Dynamics (CFD) provides us …


Multiscale Modeling Of Smart Materials Under Static And Dynamic Thermo-Mechanical Loading, Soodabeh Sharafi Jan 2015

Multiscale Modeling Of Smart Materials Under Static And Dynamic Thermo-Mechanical Loading, Soodabeh Sharafi

LSU Master's Theses

Engineering material systems with tailored capabilities are a topic trend in plethora of research. Polymer based Artificial Muscle, PAM, and Shape memory polymer fiber, SMPF, enable structural engineers to incorporate smartness functionality into their design through programming cycles. Smartness functionality leads to the production of artificial muscles with different load carrying capability. SMPF is another category of smart materials, which are capable of being micro-structurally engineered to isolate vibration at different temperature and frequency conditions. The smartness functionality offers the adjustment between inherent properties of these materials with their industrial applications through modeling techniques. Mixture of phenomenological, numerical, mathematical models …


Effects Of Light Quality And Light Quantity On The Growth Kinetics Of A Louisiana Native Microalgal/Cyanobacterial Co-Culture, Jonathan Zell Barnett Jan 2015

Effects Of Light Quality And Light Quantity On The Growth Kinetics Of A Louisiana Native Microalgal/Cyanobacterial Co-Culture, Jonathan Zell Barnett

LSU Master's Theses

One of the most important factors controlling the growth of microalgae is light. Light quality and light quantity have a dramatic effect on the production of biomass, lipids and pigments of microalgae. In this research, a native Louisiana co-culture containing Chlorella vulgaris (microalgae) and Leptolyngbya sp (cyanobacteria) was studied to determine the effects of various wavelength distributions and irradiance levels on growth kinetics. Growth rates, biomass levels, lipid contents and chlorophyll-a production was examined in batch cultures to determine which color light was optimum for cultivation. At 80 µmol/m^2-sec the species shifted from microalgae dominant to cyanobacteria dominant. The impact …


An Analytic Solution Of The Thermal Boundary Layer At The Leading Edge Of A Heated Semi-Infinite Flat Plate Under Forced Uniform Flow, Robert Jessee Jan 2015

An Analytic Solution Of The Thermal Boundary Layer At The Leading Edge Of A Heated Semi-Infinite Flat Plate Under Forced Uniform Flow, Robert Jessee

LSU Master's Theses

Abstract The heated flat plate under uniform flow has been vastly studied, with the Blasius and Pohlhausen solutions developed over 100 years ago. These solutions are numerical in nature. Here, an analytic solution is found for the temperature and velocity profiles at the leading edge of a heated flat plate under forced uniform flow. By defining a similarity variable the governing equations are reduced to a dimensionless equation with an analytic solution at the leading edge. This report gives justification for the similarity variable via scaling analysis, details the process of converting to similarity form, and presents a similarity solution. …


The Effects Of Work Zone Configurations On Physiological And Subjective Workload, Mahmoud Shakouri Hassanabadi Jan 2015

The Effects Of Work Zone Configurations On Physiological And Subjective Workload, Mahmoud Shakouri Hassanabadi

LSU Master's Theses

There is a dearth of research on the effect of driving through work zones on physiological and subjective workload of drivers. The objectives of this research were to (a) study the effect of work zones and traffic density on physiological measures of workload, subjective workload and performance variables (b) study the relationship between physiological measures of workload, subjective workload and performance variables. Conventional lane merge (CLM), joint lane merge (JLM) and a road without a work zone (control) were modeled with high and low traffic density by using a full-size driving simulator. 13 female and 17 male students volunteered to …


Characterization Of Biopolymer Using Swcc And Microfluidic Models: Implication On Eor, Jungyeon Jang Jan 2015

Characterization Of Biopolymer Using Swcc And Microfluidic Models: Implication On Eor, Jungyeon Jang

LSU Master's Theses

The objective of this study is to investigate the characteristics of biopolymers and to examine their application for soil stabilization and oil production. Biopolymers, the composite of multi-living organisms, are one of the most promising materials in the field of geotechnical engineering. The application of biopolymer is more efficient than water for soil stabilization and oil production due to its higher viscosity as a fill material of pores in the soil. This thesis begins with a definition of Agar and Polyacrylamide (PAM) as the measurement of viscosity, contact angle, and surface tension. The application of microfluidic models are applied to …


Motion Analysis Of Biotin Carboxylase-Driven Robotic Nano-Swimmers, Sima Hannani Jan 2015

Motion Analysis Of Biotin Carboxylase-Driven Robotic Nano-Swimmers, Sima Hannani

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to experimentally validate the hypothesis that the enzyme biotin carboxylase (BC) can behave as a bimolecular motor and propel nano-scale particles in fluidic environments. This hypothesis was proposed in the M.S. thesis “Toward the Development of Biotin Carboxylase Driven Robotic Nano-swimmer” by Rachel Yates (Yates, 2012). In (Yates, 2012), the nano-particle (called a nano-swimmer) is a Janus particle with BC molecules attached to one hemisphere. The idea is that in the presence of its substrates (i.e., fuel) BC will cause individual nano-particles to undergo non-Brownian motion by virtue of its conformational change. In order …


An Efficient Fault Location Algorithm For Shipboard Power Systems, Pedram Jahanmard Jan 2015

An Efficient Fault Location Algorithm For Shipboard Power Systems, Pedram Jahanmard

LSU Master's Theses

The Shipboard Power System (SPS) supply energy to sophisticated systems for navigation, communication, weapons, and operation. Due to the ship’s critical operating condition, faults can be very detrimental. Faults in the SPS may happen because of failure of electrical components or by damages that happen during a battle. These faults may interrupt the paths for supplying energy to loads that are not damaged. To enhance survivability of naval ships, SPS requires an efficient fault location algorithm in order to locate and clear the fault as well as provide an alternative path to supply energy to the loads that are not …


Engineering Behavior And Characterization Of Biomass Ashes Using Geotechnical Measurement Techniques, Francisco Javier Grau Sacoto Jan 2014

Engineering Behavior And Characterization Of Biomass Ashes Using Geotechnical Measurement Techniques, Francisco Javier Grau Sacoto

LSU Master's Theses

Biomass, the organic material derived from plants or animals in a biological process, has rapidly become a topic of worldwide interest. The need to find new types of renewable energy sources has led to the use of natural materials as an economic, sustainable and environmental alternative. Biomass can be used to produce biofuel after a conversion process. The combustion of biomass matter –which is mainly produced in industrial plants- becomes biomass ash, which contains macronutrients and micronutrients. Currently, the recycling potential is wasted and most of the biomass ash is dumped without control or just disposed in landfills. The main …


During And After Event Analysis Of Cell Phone Talking And Texting-A Driving Simulator Study, Raju Thapa Jan 2014

During And After Event Analysis Of Cell Phone Talking And Texting-A Driving Simulator Study, Raju Thapa

LSU Master's Theses

A number of studies have been done in the field of driver distraction, specifically on the use of cell phone for either conversation or texting while driving. However, till now, researchers have focused on the driving performance of drivers when they were actually engaged in the task, i.e. during the texting or phone conversation event. The primary objective of this study is to analyze the post event effect of cell phone usage in order to verify whether the distracting effect lingers on after the actual event had ceased. The research utilizes a driving simulator study of thirty-six participants to test …


Association Of Lean Implementation On Perceived Organizational Maturity Levels Of Managers And Staff In The Public Sector, Patrick Eduardo O'Mara Jan 2014

Association Of Lean Implementation On Perceived Organizational Maturity Levels Of Managers And Staff In The Public Sector, Patrick Eduardo O'Mara

LSU Master's Theses

Extensive research has shown the impact of Lean implementation at the process level of an organization to increase quality, reduce cycle time, and reduce operational costs. However, little research has been done to associate Lean with improvement at the strategic level of an organization. The objectives of the present research were to (a) study the association of Lean implementation with maturity levels of employees (b) study the relationship between Lean implementation in the levels of agreement with cohesion between managers and staff in evaluating perceived current state and desired state of organizational practices (c) identify potential barriers of Lean implementation …


Sinking Of Hydrocarbon Mixtures Due To Evaporative And/Or Dissolution Weathering On The Surface And Submerged In Water, Christopher Clayton Stevens Jan 2014

Sinking Of Hydrocarbon Mixtures Due To Evaporative And/Or Dissolution Weathering On The Surface And Submerged In Water, Christopher Clayton Stevens

LSU Master's Theses

The appearance of on-bottom oil following surface and deep water spills has been well documented. A very likely, yet sparingly studied, cause of this phenomenon is the evaporation and/or dissolution of the light constituents of the mixture, leaving a heavy residual fraction that may sink. A binary mixture of a light, volatile/soluble and a heavy, nonvolatile/insoluble component was used in numerous laboratory experiments, with binary and multi-component mixtures, to confirm this event is possible. A binary-component model was developed based on the law of conservation of mass for “oil” spilled on the surface to predict sinking time requirements based on …


Design Of A Multi-Agent System For Process Monitoring And Supervision, Onur Dogu Jan 2014

Design Of A Multi-Agent System For Process Monitoring And Supervision, Onur Dogu

LSU Master's Theses

New process monitoring and control strategies are developing every day together with process automation strategies to satisfy the needs of diverse industries. New automation systems are being developed with more capabilities for safety and reliability issues. Fault detection and diagnosis, and process monitoring and supervision are some of the new and promising growth areas in process control. With the help of the development of powerful computer systems, the extensive amount of process data from all over the plant can be put to use in an efficient manner by storing and manipulation. With this development, data-driven process monitoring approaches had the …


Method For Synchrotron X-Ray Computed Tomographic Imaging Of Biofilms In Porous Media, Corey Matthew Klibert Jan 2014

Method For Synchrotron X-Ray Computed Tomographic Imaging Of Biofilms In Porous Media, Corey Matthew Klibert

LSU Master's Theses

Modeling of biofilms in porous media at pore scale resolution has been hindered by the lack of available experimental techniques to non-destructively image biofilm structure at these resolutions. Researchers have relied upon simulation rather than experimentation to produce pore-scale biofilm models, using simplifying assumptions governing microbial growth such as Monod kinetics and random biofilm seeding locations to generate biofilms in simulated environments. This study investigated the use of absorption-edge synchrotron X-ray computed microtomography (SXCMT) in combination with a contrast agent, Lugol’s iodine solution (10% KI/5% I2), to nondestructively obtain three-dimensional images of biofilms at pore-scale resolution. The study examined and …


Exploring Invariant Hybrid Color Image Features For Face Recognition Under Illumination Variation, Jayesh Mohan Jan 2014

Exploring Invariant Hybrid Color Image Features For Face Recognition Under Illumination Variation, Jayesh Mohan

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis, a novel analysis framework is presented in order to automate testing response of an image-feature descriptor algorithm for face recognition under different illumination conditions and white balance calibration over intra- and inter-color space. The experimental results on the OPFD database show that our analysis framework finds the least sensitive channel of a color space for recognizing a face under unknown illumination, unknown white balance, and the both unknown illumination and white balance conditions. The results also show the combination of channels in a color space which are best suited face recognition.


Integrating Recycled Glass Cullet In Asphalt Roof Shingles To Mitigate Heat Island Effect, Micah Kiletico Jan 2014

Integrating Recycled Glass Cullet In Asphalt Roof Shingles To Mitigate Heat Island Effect, Micah Kiletico

LSU Master's Theses

As an approach to mitigate the harmful effects of Urban Heat Island (UHI), the use of glass cullet in the production of asphalt roof shingles has the potential to be employed as a cool roof strategy. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that the use of recycled glass increases solar reflectance index (SRI) without affecting the performance of asphalt roof shingles. In order to evaluate the feasibility of recycled glass for alternative uses, the engineering properties of glass cullet were investigated and compared to conventional aggregates used in the production of asphalt roof shingles. Laboratory samples …


Experimental Assessment Of Cement Integrity Under Thermal Cycle Loading Conditions In Geopressured Geothermal Reservoirs, Kolawole Saheed Bello Jan 2014

Experimental Assessment Of Cement Integrity Under Thermal Cycle Loading Conditions In Geopressured Geothermal Reservoirs, Kolawole Saheed Bello

LSU Master's Theses

The number of well integrity issues increase as wells are exposed to severe downhole conditions and have longer lifetimes. Techniques for heat extraction from geopressured geothermal reservoirs involve production of hot water and injection of cold water which expose downhole materials to harsh cyclic temperature variations. Heating and cooling make the cement expand and contract as a result of thermal expansion. This volumetric change can influence cement sheaths causing them to fail. Failure of annular cement sheaths can introduce well integrity issues and subsequently lead to sustained casing pressure. This study measures the effect of cyclic thermal loading of cement …


Using A Sleep And Activity Monitor To Operationalize Fatigue Risk Management, Vanessa Bégat Seitz Jan 2014

Using A Sleep And Activity Monitor To Operationalize Fatigue Risk Management, Vanessa Bégat Seitz

LSU Master's Theses

When a person continues to work despite being fatigued, an accident may occur or productivity may decrease. Reducing fatigue related accidents is complicated due to the subjective nature and pervasiveness of the feeling of fatigue. Because finding one universal definition or measure of fatigue is problematic, fatigue is typically measured by a combination of factors such as amount of sleep obtained, physical or cognitive work performed, or sleepiness which can then be related back to a measure of performance. Until recently, sleep measurement was restricted to a lab setting; however, with the emergence of actigraph devices, it is now possible …


Assessing The Effects Of Work Zone Configurations On Drivers' Visual Attention, Karthy Punniaraj Jan 2014

Assessing The Effects Of Work Zone Configurations On Drivers' Visual Attention, Karthy Punniaraj

LSU Master's Theses

This study assessed the effects of two different work zone configurations on driver’s visual attention by eye movement monitoring. A driving simulator study was conducted with thirty participants. Variations in traffic density and warning sign placement distance were added to the merge configurations to simulate the real time situation. A 2 x 2 x 3 within-subjects factorial design was used for this research. The independent variables used in this study were (1) merge configuration [(i) Conventional Lane Merge (CLM) and (ii) Joint Lane Merge (JLM)], (2) traffic density [(i) high and (ii) low] and (3) distance between traffic signs [(i) …


Pah Degradation In Wetland Soils As Influenced By Redox Potential, Haoxuan Zhang Jan 2014

Pah Degradation In Wetland Soils As Influenced By Redox Potential, Haoxuan Zhang

LSU Master's Theses

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a common contaminant in wetland soils. They are a group of compounds widely distributed in the environment and tend to accumulate in soils. Major contribution to removal of PAHs is biological degradation. For investigating the biodegradation potential of PAHs influenced by tidal actions, equipment was built for simulating the tidal actions, and concentrations of phenanthrene, pyrene, and benzo[e]pyrene were added to the soils samples which were collected from wetland. Experiments were then conducted over 120 days. Redox potentials and PAHs concentrations were measured and analyzed. Results are concluded: 1) influenced by tidal action, phenanthrene, pyrene, …


Analysis Of Data Selection And Inclusion For Highway Safety Manual Model Calibration, Bridget Scheyd Robicheaux Jan 2014

Analysis Of Data Selection And Inclusion For Highway Safety Manual Model Calibration, Bridget Scheyd Robicheaux

LSU Master's Theses

The application of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ (AASHTO) Highway Safety Manual (HSM) to Louisiana roads is a key component to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development’s (LA DOTD) plan to improve safety on state highways and reach the goal of “Destination Zero Deaths.” To apply the HSM the research sought to develop state-specific HSM calibration factors for eight facility types. During the development process, the data-intensive computational procedure followed to compute the calibration factors revealed numerous issues associated with the inclusion and definitions of various data elements required by the HSM. These included coding …


Mechanical Behavior Of Frp-Confined Self-Healing Concrete, Yueqiang Sui Jan 2014

Mechanical Behavior Of Frp-Confined Self-Healing Concrete, Yueqiang Sui

LSU Master's Theses

This research study is motivated by the need to reduce the costs of maintenance and repair of the aging transportation infrastructure in the US. The proposed approach is to use self-healing concrete. The objective of this study is to test the hypothesis that composite action due to fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) confinement of cylindrical concrete specimens may improve the self-repairing properties of self-healing concrete materials. Sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) is utilized as healing agent in this research. Concrete cylinders with 0.0%, 1.0%, 2.5%, and 5.0% of sodium silicate (SS) by weight of cement were cast and tested to evaluate the effectiveness …


G-Box Model For The Fate Of Emerging Contaminants In Soil, Eileen Cranfield Jan 2014

G-Box Model For The Fate Of Emerging Contaminants In Soil, Eileen Cranfield

LSU Master's Theses

Pesticides applied to agriculture fields move and react into the soil system. The objective of this research was to develop a model that uses the natural soil processes (diffusion, advection, or reaction type processes in multiple phases) to track pesticides and other emerging contaminants (EMCONs) in the soil over space and time. The model separates the soil into a series of boxes with soil processes passing through and into the boxes. With a system of equations developed from these processes, the model produces a gradient concentration profile, hence the Gradient Box, or G-box Model. The model is first tested against …


Physical Stability Of Poly (Lactic-Co-Glycolic Acid) And Plga/Chitosan Nanoparticles And Chemical Stability Of Entrapped Alpha-Tocopherol And Lutein, Meocha Whaley Jan 2014

Physical Stability Of Poly (Lactic-Co-Glycolic Acid) And Plga/Chitosan Nanoparticles And Chemical Stability Of Entrapped Alpha-Tocopherol And Lutein, Meocha Whaley

LSU Master's Theses

The published benefits of polymeric nanoparticles as a system for antioxidant delivery have encompassed topics of improved oral delivery, bioavailability, and modified release to name a few. Generally accepted as safe polymers Poly(lactic-coglycolic acid) and the mucoadhesive chitosan were selected to entrap alpha-tocopherol and lutein. This study proposed to assess the physical stability of PLGA and Chi/PLGA nanoparticles with entrapped bioactives in varying biological suspension medias ( water, pbs, hbss and cell media). Also, to assess the chemical stability of the entrapped antioxidants lutein and alpha-tocopherol within the same media as deemed relevant for in-vitro and and in-vivo studies. Of …


Framework Development For A Performance-Based Specifications For Asphaltic Concrete Pavements, Harshavardhan Challa Jan 2014

Framework Development For A Performance-Based Specifications For Asphaltic Concrete Pavements, Harshavardhan Challa

LSU Master's Theses

The objective of this study was to develop a framework for performance-based specifications (PBS) which rely on the fundamental mechanistic asphalt mixture properties as performance predictors, verified to actual field performance, to compliment current QC/QA specifications for Louisiana. Nine asphalt paving projects were selected across the state with a total of 14 pavement sections that included 21 asphalt mixtures. A suite of laboratory tests using the Hamburg loaded-wheel tracking (LWT) test and the Semi-Circular Bending (SCB) were performed to evaluate the rutting and cracking resistance, respectively. In addition, the Indirect tensile dynamic modulus test (IDT E*) was conducted to evaluate …


Age, Performance And Retention Interval Effects On Acceptance Of A Consumer Health Information Technology System, Stephen Andrew Ford Jan 2014

Age, Performance And Retention Interval Effects On Acceptance Of A Consumer Health Information Technology System, Stephen Andrew Ford

LSU Master's Theses

The older adult population will continue to place pressure on the financial and resource allocation of the healthcare industry as the over 65 population continues to grow. Health care expenditures to treat the aging population will continue to rise as older adults are more likely to have expensive chronic conditions. The future may lay with Consumer Health Information Technology which may allow the patients to have more control of their treatment schedule and self-management of their health and chronic conditions. However, older adults may exhibit cognitive declines that prohibit the learning and proper use of technology, and this assumption is …


A Parametric Investigation Of A Novel, Modular, Gasketless, Microfluidic Interconnect Using Parallel Superhydrophobic Surfaces, Christopher Ramsey Brown Jan 2014

A Parametric Investigation Of A Novel, Modular, Gasketless, Microfluidic Interconnect Using Parallel Superhydrophobic Surfaces, Christopher Ramsey Brown

LSU Master's Theses

The gasketless microfluidic interconnect has the potential to offer a standardized approach to interconnects between modular microfluidic components. This strategy uses parallel superhydrophobic surfaces (contact angle ≥ 150ᴼ) to passively seal adjacent, concentric, microfluidic ports separated by an air gap using a liquid bridge created between the chips. The parallel superhydrophobic surfaces do not require the addition of a gasket or other additional components so that the assembly process scales favorably with an increasing number of fluidic interconnects. The gasketless seal does not contribute to geometric constraint between the component chips which allows alignment between chips to scale favorably with …


Chronic Toxicity Of Nano Metallics On Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus Clarkii) In Laboratory And Mesocosm Studies, Jake Andrew Farlow Jan 2014

Chronic Toxicity Of Nano Metallics On Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus Clarkii) In Laboratory And Mesocosm Studies, Jake Andrew Farlow

LSU Master's Theses

Nanotechnology has become integrated in commercial, industrial and medical products, and its use has grown exponentially in the past several years. Although potential applications of nanoparticles (NPs) are numerous, concerns about their water quality, environmental, and human health impacts remain unclear. Crayfish are ubiquitous to streams and wetland habitats, are used as a food source, and inhabit areas that could be impacted by water quality issues. Numerous studies have been conducted on the toxicity of various classes of agricultural pesticides and oils to crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) as a non-target organism. However, there is little evidence published on chronic toxicity of …


Characterization Of Hybrid Electronic Materials Using Atomic Force Microscopy, Madhavi Divakar Rajathadripura Jan 2014

Characterization Of Hybrid Electronic Materials Using Atomic Force Microscopy, Madhavi Divakar Rajathadripura

LSU Master's Theses

Miniaturization in the electronics industry has been driven by advancements in material science. Recently, Hybrid Electronic Materials (HEMs) have been postulated to have unique material properties that can be used within the semiconductor industry. As such, the main focus of this research is to characterize the relevant properties of HEMs using atomic force microscopy (AFM), conductive probe atomic force microscopy (CP-AFM), and Raman spectroscopy techniques. Emphasis is placed on characterizing [R6G][TPB] GUMBOS which are a Group of Uniform Materials Based on Organic Salts. GUMBOS exhibit properties such as fluorescence and magnetic susceptibility, both of which may be important with respect …


Laboratory Evaluation Of Asphalt Mixtures And Binders With Reclaimed Asphalt Shingle Prepared Using The Wet Process, Alejandro Jose Alvergue Jan 2014

Laboratory Evaluation Of Asphalt Mixtures And Binders With Reclaimed Asphalt Shingle Prepared Using The Wet Process, Alejandro Jose Alvergue

LSU Master's Theses

The objective of this study is to conduct a laboratory evaluation of asphalt mixtures and binders containing RAS prepared using the newly-developed wet process. In the proposed wet process, RAS material is blended with the binder at high temperature prior to mixing with the aggregates. The proposed wet process offers the potential to better control the Superpave Performance Grade (PG) of the binder blend, to stimulate chemical and physical interactions taking place in the blend between asphalt binder in shingles and virgin asphalt binder in the mix, and to reduce maintenance issues at the plant due to the high content …