Engineering Commons^™

Future Housing In The United States: Senior’S Housing Demand, Sandeep Singh

Masters Theses

In the United States, persons born between 1942 and 1964 are within 10 to 15 years of traditional retirement age and are identified as baby boomers. The data shows that the number of persons aged 65 years and older have grown from 10 percent of the population in 1970 to nearly 13 percent in 1996. Furthermore, the population that is 65 years old or older is projected to be 20 percent of the population in 2030. As a result, the demographic change nurtures a demand for senior’s housing.

On the other hand, the concern is for the elderly living in …

Development Of A Redesign Plan For Moore Hall Using Architectural Principles Of Green Building And Sustainable Design, Alkhaziam Saad

Masters Theses

An existing in-use office and classroom building on Western Michigan University's main campus was chosen for a redesign project which incorporated study of architectural principles of green building and sustainable design. The study emphasized the central importance of buildings themselves in modem life, their effects on building users and their work, their effects on user relationships with one another and the surrounding environment, and the need to enhance the building's positive, natural, and life-supporting relationship with the total environment including the users.

The redesign problem statement reflected issues and ideas from recent architectural and building construction literature, which emphasized green …

The Design Of A Cnc Mill For Product Prototyping, Haasan Rabe

Masters Theses

Rapid prototyping is widely used to reduce time to market in product design and development. Today's systems are used by engineers to better understand and communicate their product designs as well as to make rapid tooling to manufacture those products. Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) milling machines are part of this technology. This project will present the design of a small CNC machine, and production, and analysis of a small CNC machine. This machine has the characteristics demanded by the industrial and academic designers. Studying the existing machines aided in setting specifications for the new design. Comparing the performance of the …

Reconfigurable Vibration Table (Rvt), Muhammad Ali

Masters Theses

A system was designed and manufactured to determine the modal, harmonic and transient behaviors of vibrating masses. The initial design was optimized by design for manufacture and assembly, and dynamic behaviors of the system were verified with finite element analysis. Small rods were used to reconfigure the table from one degree of freedom to two degrees of freedom and vice versa to provide data comparison for forced and free responses. Aluminum base plates containing oblong boles were used to allow the table to work with the two different types of existing vibration test systems.

Data Collection System For Putting Analysis, Joel Oostdyk

Masters Theses

A system was designed and built to measure four different physiological variables of a golf putting action. Putters as well as weight pads were outfitted with strain gages while optical sensors were used to detect the golf ball presence. Through the use of this equipment the data relating to weight shift between the golfer’s feet, strain on the putter shaft, and golf ball velocity was recorded. A computer with the Linux operating system was equipped with a data acquisition card and programs were written so the computer could collect data. A graphical user interface was also added to simplify the …

Silica Coating Of Gold Nanoparticles, Milind Laxman Surve

Masters Theses

“Gold colloids have been homogenously coated with silica using silane coupling agents as a primer to make the gold surface vitreophilic. After adding active silica, the particles are transferred in ethanol for uniform silica coating by using the Stober method. Gold nanoparticles used for this study ranged from 5 nm up to 40 nm with mixed results. Silica condensation can be controlled to produce different silica thicknesses on gold. The main problem while coating smaller particles (5 nm and 10 nm) was the final coagulation or necking of silica after coating the gold surface. The possible causes for this effect …

Application Of A Finite Element Model Update Technique To Detect Damage In A Beam Structure, Madhu Kumar Vattipulusu

Masters Theses

"The interest in the ability to monitor a structure and detect damage at the earliest possible stage is pervasive throughout the civil, mechanical and aerospace engineering communities. The thesis focuses on the application of a finite element model updating technique to monitor and detect damage in beams. A Sensitivity Based Element-by- Element (SBEBE) methodology is chosen as the finite element model updating technique. In this method, damage is detected by updating a finite element model with test data obtained from "healthy" and "damaged" structures and observing the relative changes in the updated finite element models. The performance, efficiency and sensitivity …

Numerical Modeling Of Focused Remediation Using A Groundwater Circulation Well, Gretchen R. Miller

Masters Theses

"Groundwater circulation wells (GCWs) allow for the in situ treatment of contaminated water resources. Focused remediation with a GCW could be used to treat groundwater before it enters an existing domestic well already in use. GCWs have been installed at the former Nebraska Ordnance Plant; the model originally developed for these was slightly modified and used to perform a feasibility study of a focused remediation system.

If the focused remediation system works properly, the capture zone of the domestic well should be within the recharge zone of the GCW. Deterministic modeling with capture zone analysis indicated that a GCW installed …

Distributed Sensor Network For Civil Infrastructure Health Monitoring, Jose Humberto Mata Hernandez

Masters Theses

"This thesis focuses on the development of a robust, low power consumption and cost effective wireless data acquisition, system to be used for civil infrastructure health monitoring. The complete solution that has been developed for this application integrates micro-electromechanical sensing elements (e.g. PVDF sensor); a wireless data acquisition system based on a Bluetooth-enabled radio, a microcontroller with analog to digital conversion capabilities, a power source including a solar cell array for long term operation, and a weatherproof enclosure for on-site installation. The complementary part of the solution is a weatherproof On-site Remote Access Point (ORAP) which collects, stores, and transmits …

Novel Concepts For Monitoring The Stability Of Open Pit Mine Highwalls Using Radar Interferometry And Spectral Imaging, Jami Girard Dwyer

Masters Theses

"Ground control problems at surface mining operations can occur for a variety of reasons. The geologic setting, rock strengths, joint spacing, orientation, pore pressures, and many other factors contribute to slope instabilities that range from small rock falls to massive slides of material. While much of this ground movement can be predicted or controlled, each year many completely unexpected failures occur. This poses serious safety and economic issues for the mining industry, since any unanticipated movement of the ground increases the potential for significant property damage, injuries, and even death. In the United States alone, 70 people died in slope …

Performance & Project Spirit Of Student Design Competition Teams, Bradley Marcus Davis

Masters Theses

"Student design competition teams present a valuable research possibility in the field of work group research. They are widely available and present greater learning opportunities than do class project groups. This study intended to create an instrument to measure the level of project spirit and team performance in order to establish a link between these two concepts. In the present study, nine student design competition teams from the University of Missouri - Rolla (UMR) campus (n = 186) were surveyed. The results indicate a strong correlation of the project spirit variables (project culture, project commitment, project citizenship, and project satisfaction) …

Dsp Processor Based Vision Processing And System Integration For Control Of Laser Aided Manufacturing Process (Lamp), Srinivas Musti

Masters Theses

"This thesis presents the research and development of a real-time vision system and integration of various subsystems to build the hybrid system for the Laser aided manufacturing process (LAMP), being developed at the University of Missouri--Rolla. A description of the real-time control architecture, showing the interaction of the real-time controller with various sensors and subsystems to monitor and regulate the process is presented.

Control of melt pool geometry is important for ensuring the final product quality since the bead size significantly influences the joint strength. However, during the deposition process, impurities and the plume present around the pool complicate the …

Common- And Differential-Mode Signaling And Filtering, Zhe Li

Masters Theses

"Common-mode chokes are widely used as suppression filters against interference of common-mode noise in high-speed differential signaling. This thesis focuses on investigating the characteristics of common-mode chokes. Mixed-mode S-parameters are presented as a useful concept for explaining the modal operation of differential circuits.

Three methods for measuring common-mode and differentia-mode S-parameters of common-mode chokes are demonstrated. The three methods involve (1) ABCD chain matrix, 2) using hybrid couplers and 3) modal decomposition. Each measurement method provides a specific level of accuracy. The modal decomposition method can work up to 10GHz.

SPICE equivalent circuit model of common-mode chokes and the extraction …

Adaptation Of Project Finance To Small Contractor Financing, Ragunathan Venkateswaran

Masters Theses

One key reason for the poor performance of small construction establishments in securing a higher chunk of the annual project volume is funding. While construction industry does not require a large capital investment it does require a large working capital to start up the project and generate bills so that the resulting cash flow may take over the remaining funding requirements. Unfortunately for small contractors there are very limited options available from the banks or other lending institutions to cover this large working capital requirement in the absence of sufficient collateral. The "Project Finance" method, which has been used in …

Resonance Detection And Acoustic Behaviour In Polymer Intake Manifolds, Amrith Ramanan

Masters Theses

The Automotive Industry, over the last few years, has been placing major emphasis on the use of lightweight components in engines as well as other structural components. The material for these lightweight components are being chosen in such a way that they require minimal secondary operations to place the components in service. One area that has developed is the use of Polymer (Plastic) Intake Manifolds for Internal Combustion engines. Plastics meet all the criteria for quality low cost production with a minimum weight component. Plastic intake manifolds, however, have been found to be excessively noisy in operation. This noise can …

Metastable Phases Of Mgo-Tio2 Solid Solutions, Liang-Chieh Ma

Masters Theses

Magnesium titanium oxide powders were synthesized by the sol-gel method using alkoxides of magnesium and titanium with different ratios. Matastable phases of qandilite, Mg₂TiO₄, were found with Mg:Ti ratios down to 1.52:1 in lower temperature 600 °C than in the equilibrium condition which is above 1200 °C. Powder samples were examined by neutron powder diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for analysis of structure and oxidation states. Also, samples were tested for the Mg:Ti ratios by induced coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. The structure refinements of the samples were done by General Structure Analysis System (GSAS) …

An Imaging System For Concrete Bridge Inspection, Mohammed Talal Al-Bataineh

Masters Theses

Bridges are the most important element in the road network because of, the strategic position a bridge occupies, its direct impact on safety, and its high cost. Therefore, a continuous maintenance and inspection should be performed. During the past years visual inspection has been the primary method of bridge inspection.

Pontis is a comprehensive bridge management system developed as a tool to assist in the challenging task of bridge management. Pontis stores bridge inventory and inspection data and formulates network-wide preservation and improvement policies for use in evaluating the needs of each bridge in a network.

The concrete bridge inspection …

Development Of A Simulation For The Prediction Of Pvdf Surface Velocity Sensor Response For Vibrating Beams And Rectangular Plates, Brian C. Zellers

Masters Theses

A simulation for the prediction of Polyvinylidene Flouride (or PVDF) sensor charge response to structural vibration displacements of beam and rectangular plate structures was developed. The simulation uses measured vibration displacements from an actual structure using point sensors (accelerometers) assembled in an array on the surface of the structure. The PVDF sensor charge output equation was written for a PVDF film of constant spatial sensitivity so that numerical analysis tools in Matlab® can be used to solve the equation. Preliminary experimental results showed that the bending strain component, due to transverse vibration displacements, is the dominant term for both the …

Building Deconstruction Guidelines: Tools For Recovering Building Materials, Ali Ayedh Merzen

Masters Theses

The traditional method of tearing down building when its life cycle is completed is known as demolition, which means destroying most of the structures and burying it in the landfills. This is the most common practice in most countries, but in recent years there is a new movement toward using the components of these buildings. Burying usable or recyclable materials in landfills means more pollution and increasing the need for more landfills. The concept of reusing or recycling building materials is known as Deconstruction. This practice is relatively new in the construction industry and requires more research and studies to …

Development Of Water-Based Ink System For Braille Printing, Saurabh Varma

Masters Theses

The most commonly used system of writing by and for blind persons is called Braille, named after its French inventor, Louis Braille (1809-1952). Braille is comprised of a rectangular six-dot cell on its end, with up to 63 possible combinations using one or more of the six dots. Braille is the only reliable method of literacy for blind persons, because it enables them to read and write by touch¹.

Currently, Braille is printed by special embossers that serve as a printing press. These embossers create Braille output when it is attached appropriately to computers. The speed of these …

Using The Boundary Element Method For Prediction Of Sound Radiated From An Arbitrarily Shaped Vibrating Body, Mark J. Christensen

Masters Theses

The Boundary Element Method can be used to predict sound pressure levels radiated from an arbitrarily shaped vibrating body. Using the Direct, Indirect and Approximation formulation one can solve such an ‘exterior’ acoustic problem. In this work, the Direct formulation was chosen. The two major methods employed for implementation of this formulation are the Combined Helmholtz Integral Equation Formulation (CHIEF) and the Burton–Miller Method. Since the CHIEF method was easier to program and adapt to changes, it was decided that the CHIEF method would be the focus of this research. Using the CHIEF method as a guide, a computer simulation …

Management Commitment To Construction Safety, Areen M. Shaar

Masters Theses

The objective of all businesses including construction is to make money and to be profitable. The costs resulting from personal injuries and equipment damage, combined with the associated financial impact resulting from schedule disruptions, insurance hikes, and workers compensation can definitely impact the profitability of any construction operation. Most times those costs can be minimized or avoided by giving safety more attention on construction job sites.

The main purpose of this research is to determine the correlation between management commitment to safety and its impacts on the frequency of injuries and illnesses. To achieve this, a survey was methodically developed …

Correlation And Prediction Of Fatigue Crack Growth Rate For Different R-Ratios, Sudip Dinda

Masters Theses

The prediction of fatigue crack growth rate of a structural material is an important aspect by which we can predict the critical or safe crack length and, therefore, avoid the sudden failure of components and structures.

There are numerous models which claim to predict the fatigue crack growth rate, but with the exception of the highly published "crack closure methodology" no other model lived up to the expectation of correlating the fatigue crack growth data or predicting the fatigue crack growth rate for different R-ratios.

In order to find an effective solution to the above problem a study has been …

A Model For Optimizing The Selection Of Project Delivery Systems Using Analytic Hierarchy Process (Ahp), Arosha De Silva

Masters Theses

The project delivery systems applicable to the construction industry in the U.S. consist of different approaches. This study focuses on three main approaches, (1) Design-Bid-Build (DBB), (2) Design-Build (DB), and (3) Construction Management (CM). Since each construction project is unique, selecting the right project delivery system is a tough decision.

This study develops a decision making system, based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), for selecting the best delivery system for a given construction project. AHP is a decision making mathematical model developed by Thomas L. Saaty and consists of a hierarchical structure. It analyzes several alternatives for a given …

Rheology Of Silica Based Inkjet Coatings And Their Filterability, Peeyush Tripathi

Masters Theses

Coating rheology has long been understood to be a key factor in the smooth operation and performance of a coater. As coaters run faster and formulations become more complex, the demands on a coating's rheology grow more stringent.

Silica based coating formulations present unique rheological challenges, thus providing the opportunity for coating formulators to improve their performance through rheological studies under various conditions of shear. Due to rheological restrictions (gelling), silica based coatings are generally applied at 25-26% solids which is very low as compared to calcium carbonate or clay based coating, at 68-70% solids. Consequently, any improvement in coatings …

A Comparison Of The Level Of Maturity Of Manufacturers In The Lake Land College School District In Lean Manufacturing Techniques As Compared To Goodson's Survey Data, Mark W. Henderson

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if manufacturers in the Lake Land College School District have implemented Lean Manufacturing techniques and score as high as the manufacturers in Goodson's Michigan study. Lean Manufacturing techniques have revolutionized the auto industry, with the Toyota Production system the benchmark in Lean Manufacturing techniques. A survey using Goodson's Rapid Plant Assessment compares the level of maturity in the utilization of the Lean Manufacturing techniques with the manufacturers in the Lake Land College School District and Goodson's survey of manufacturers in Michigan. The mean score of 57.67 for the manufacturers in the Lake …

Design And Operation Of A Pilot Plant For Biodiesel Production From Triglycerides, Balasubramaniam Karthikeyan

Masters Theses

"In the wake of the events of September 11th 2001, the quest to relieve the nation’s dependence on petroleum fuels have taken a new urgency, there is a renewed interest in use of renewable biogenic fuels in particular -- the “biodiesel.” Biodiesel generally refers to fatty acid methyl esters of monohydric alcohols -- predominantly the methyl alcohol.

The principal sources of fatty acids are vegetable oils - soybean oil and canola oil. However, there are other “cheaper” sources of fatty acids that include beef tallow, poultry fats, pork fats and the used cooking oils. The first two are available in …

Iron Phosphate Glass For The Vitrification Of Ineel Sodium Bearing Waste And Hanford Low Activity Waste, Robert Douglas Leerssen

Masters Theses

"The current study investigates the feasibility of using iron phosphate glass for the immobilization of nuclear wastes that have limited solubility in the current borosilicate glass used for vitrification. These wastes contain elements such as sulfur and phosphorus, which have proven problematic (causing phase separation at >1 wt%) for vitrification in borosilicate glasses, as well as having a high soda content (50-75 wt%) which also limits wasteloading"--Abstract, page iv.

Structural Studies Of Metastable Nanocrystalline Magnesium Titanate Ceramics, Renmei Xu

Masters Theses

Nanocrystalline magnesium titanate powders were produced using alkoxides of magnesium and titanium for the sol-gel method. High temperature phases which can only be formed at above 1200°C in equilibrium were formed at much lower temperature 600°C in nanometric system. Cation ordering and structural changes in qandilite (Mg₂TiO₄ ), geikielite (MgTiO₃ ) and karrooite (MgTi₂O₅ ) were studied by Rietveld refinement of neutron powder diffraction data and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Single qandilite phases were obtained in a wide range of Mg:Ti ratios from 2:038:1 to 1.52:1, and appeared to be Mg_2-xTi_{1+x …}

Lateral Migration Of A Solid Particle In Shear Flow, Wutthapong Jiraporncharoen

Masters Theses

Lateral migration of solid particles in shear flow is observed in various industrial applications. Suspensions in a blade coater, a device used to apply coating pigment to a base paper to improve paper properties, is an example. Particle hydrodynamics will affect the quality of coated paper and runnability of the coater especially when the speed of the coating machine is very high or the pigment concentration is increased.

Many factors will affect the particle migration. The wall repulsion or lubrication effect forces the particle away from a wall to the channel center. The inertial effects are increased by increasing the …