Engineering Commons^™

Modeling Of Cardiovascular System To Simulate Ventricular Septal Defect, Adarsh Kumar Gupta

Theses

The hemodynamics of the ventricular septa] defect is studied using a mathematical modeling technique. A twelve-compartment windkessel model of cardiovascular system is used to study the hemodynamics of the ventricular septal defect. The VSD is incorporated into the model via a parallel flow from the left to right ventricles (left-to-right shunt). The resistance to flow through the shunt is used to characterize the severity of the defect. Changes in the severity of the shunt flow produces changes in the ratio of pulmonary to systemic flow in the circulation. When the pulmonary to systemic flow ratio is more than 2:1, the …

The In Vitro Evaluation Of Various Biodegradable Composites Used In Internal Fixation Devices, Hui-Chen Hsieh

Theses

In vitro degradation kinetics and mechanical properties of various composites, comprising a polycarbonate (DTE polymer) reinforced with CaP glass fiber, synthetic ceramic and non-ceramic hydroxyapatite (HA-500,OsteoGen HA) were investigated.

They were soaked in the SBF solution with a constant pH of 7.4 at 37°C for 5 days. The DTE/CaP composite degraded in an acid manner such that a large amount of NaOH was required but with a small decrease in calcium ion concentration. By contrast, the DTE/OsteoGen HA composite required comparable amounts of NaOH, but with a concomitantly large decrease in calcium ion concentration. This showed that the OsteoGen HA …

Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition Of Silicon Dioxide And Phosphosilicate Glass Thin Films, Vijayalakshmi Venkatesan

Theses

Silicon dioxide thin films were synthesized on silicon and quartz wafers using Ditertiarybutylsilane(DTBS) and oxygen as precursors. Trimethylphosphite (TMP) was injected to obtain phosphosilicate glass. The films were processed at different temperatures between 700°C and 850°C at a constant pressure, and at different flow ratios of the precursors. The films deposited were uniform, amorphous and the composition of the films varied with deposition temperature and precursor flow ratios. The deposition rate increased with increasing temperature and with increasing TMP flow rate. The stresses were very low tensile in the case of undoped silicon dioxide film and tended towards being less …

Development Of A Gel Content Analysis Protocol For Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene, Max Harold Jeanty

Theses

A modified procedure based upon ASTM (D 2765 - 90) to determine the gel content of crosslinked polyethylene plastics was developed. The new procedure was applied to ram extruded Ultra High Molecular Weight (UHMWPE) implant components processed under different manufacturing conditions. This new evaluation tool provides consistent results with greater accuracy and consistency compared to the American Society for the Testing of Materials (ASTM) method. Using the same tool, several relationships between the UHMWPE processing conditions and gel content were established. The amount of gel content is related to the crosslinked material. It has been shown that the more crosslinking …

Fabrication Of Integrated Optic Sensor To Monitor Pollutant Concentration In Effluents, Kiran Chatty

Theses

An attempt has been made to fabricate an integrated optic sensor to monitor pollutant concentration in effluents. Optic fiber has to be coupled to the waveguide in order to send light through the waveguide. In order to facilitate the easy coupling of the fiber to the waveguide, V-grooves were formed in the silicon substrate. In order to achieve this Silicon nitride was deposited to serve as an etch mask. An attempt was made to obtain low stress silicon nitride films.

This work also attempted to synthesize the materials required to fabricate the waveguide. LPCVD processes were developed to produce undoped …

Residual Stress Analysis Of Sputtered Tantalum Silicide Thin Film, Young Joo Song

Theses

The influence of different argon pressures on the residual stress, microstructure, and resisitivity of sputtered tantalum silicide thin films has been investigated. TaSi₂ films were deposited onto Si wafers by dc magnetron sputtering. The deposition temperature was assumed to be 300°C. The thickness was about 0.5 μm. The residual stresses in the films deposited at different argon pressures were determined by curvature measurement method. The compressive intrinsic stress of 1033.4MPa was measured at P_Ar = 0.5 mTorr. The intrinsic stress in the films seemed to change from compression to tension as P_Ar increased above 8mTorr. A maximum …

Removal Of Volatile Organic Compounds From Contaminated Groundwater By Pervaporation, Sukla Chandra

Theses

Effective removal of non-aqueous phase liquid pools in groundwater and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from contaminated soils can be achieved by surfactant flushing. This surfactant-rich ground water contains VOCs like trichloroethylene (TCE), dichloroethylene (DCE), etc. Membrane pervaporation technique is employed here to remove TCE from these micellar systems where a very high percentage of the VOC is trapped inside the micellar core. The micellar solution flows through the bore of microporous hydrophobic hollow fibers wherein the micelles break down and release the surfactants and the TCE. The TCE is then removed through the pores and a nonporous thin silicone skin …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Silicon Dioxide Thin Films By Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition Using Ditertiarybutylsilane And Oxygen, Sung-Jun Lee

Theses

This study is focused on the synthesis and characterization of silicon dioxide thin films deposited on silicon wafers by Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD), using ditertiarybutylsilane (DTBS) as a precursor and oxygen as the oxidant. The dependence of film growth rate on various process parameters were studied. The growth rate was found to follow an Arrhenius curve with the variation in the temperature with an activation energy of 12.6 kcal/mol. The growth rate was found to be inversely proportional to the temperature in the range 550-750 °C. The refractive index and density were observed to be close to 1.47 …

Effect Of Lamellar Microstructure On The Permeability Of Polyethylene Films, Yufu Li

Theses

Lamellar microstructures can decrease the permeability to gases and vapors by increasing the diffusive path in plastic films, or the so-called "tortuosity" which depends on the aspect ratio, orientation, and the volume fraction of the dispersed material. In this research, different types and percentages of mica with relatively high aspect ratio are used as oxygen barrier materials in blown films. Both high and low density polyethylenes (HDPE and LDPE), as well as their blends are used as the matrix materials.

A decrease in permeability of both LDPE and HDPE films to oxygen is achieved with increasing volume fraction of the …

Real-Time Implementation Of An Adaptive Control System For A 3-Zone Rapid Thermal Processing Station, David Hur

Theses

In this thesis, the implementation details of a real time adaptive control system for a TI 3-zone RTP station, as well as the simulation and the experimental results are presented. Extensive simulation of the system is performed in order to ensure proper operation of the system. The experimental results are used to verify proper operation of the closed loop control system. Initial experiments were conducted using two thermocouples. Further experiments were conducted using one thermocouple for the purpose of testing the performance of the system using Extended Kalman Filter as the state estimator.

The implementation of the control system is …

Biodegradation And Landfill Settlement, Shailesh Pisolkar

Theses

The most widely used method for the final disposal of solid waste is landfilling, which is also economical and simpler than most other disposal systems. Long term settlement in a landfill occurs mainly due to biodegradation of the refuse which is a very slow microbiological process. However, if the rate of biodegradation is enhanced, it may be possible to achieve early stabilization, faster settlement, consequently more capacity of the landfill to handle waste.

The objective of this research is to study the effects of enhanced biodegradation on settlement and to compare these results to other models used for predicting landfill …

Solids Suspension And Power Dissipation In Stirred Tanks Agitated By An Impeller Near The Tank Bottom, Ernesto Uehara-Nagamine

Theses

In this work, the effect of very small impeller clearances off the tank bottom, C, on complete solid off-bottom suspension, Njs, was investigated. Four types of impellers were used six-blade flat-disk turbine, six-blade flat-blade turbine, six-blade flat (45 degreees) pitched-blade turbine, and the high efficiency impeller Chemineer HE-3. The effects of the impeller diameter, D, tank diameter, T, and solids loading, X, were quantified. The presence of two impellers was analyzed using impellers of the same type and size.

Typically, Njs and the power consumption were found to decrease with the impeller clearance. However, for lower C/T values, a slight …

Solidification/Stabilization Of Petroleum Contaminated Soils With Cold Mix Asphalt Concrete, Nazhat Aboobaker

Theses

In this research Petroleum Contaminated Soils (PCSs) are recycled in Cold Mix Asphalt (CMA), to produce a useful product that can control potential environmental threats. The stability, durability, and hydraulic conductivity are three important engineering parameters that need to be considered when using petroleum contaminated soils (PCSs) in cold mix asphalt (CMA). In this research, stability, durability, and hydraulic conductivity due to the addition of six different PCSs into CMA is investigated. The stability test were performed to determine if cold mix asphalt made with petroleum contaminated soil can withstand heavy traffic. The freeze-thaw, and wet-dry tests were performed to …

Removal Of Gasoline-Based Hydrocarbons By Vapor Permeation Membranes, Shivashanker Bagavandoss

Theses

Removal and recovery of evaporated lighter gasoline fractions can be effectively implemented by selectively permeating the hydrocarbons (HCs) and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the vented air streams through nonporous hydrophobic polymeric membranes subjected to vacuum on the permeate side and then condensing these organics from the permeate. Such a vapor permeation process employing spiral-wound membranes has already been commercialized for VOCs. In this study, attention has been focused on removal of hydrocarbons from nitrogen flowing through the bore of microporous hydrophobic hollow fibers with a specially engineered nonporous silicone coating on the outside surface with a view to …

Implementation Of Fortran Finite Element Analysis Source Code With Application : Particle Deposition In A 90 Degree Duct Bend, Pantaleo Loiacono

Theses

Two FORTRAN 77 finite element analysis source codes, by 1.N. Reddy, were input into a PC, debugged, executed, and tested successfully. These programs are available to students interested in implementing a good finite element analysis source code on a PC or on a workstation in one or two dimensions. The programs can solve problems relating to heat transfer, stresses, beam analysis, frames, trusses, plane elasticity, plate bending, and laminar viscous incompressible fluids with various node and element combinations.

The two-dimensional program was used to obtain the velocity distributions in a 90 degree duct bend with incoming and exiting fully developed …

Relationship Between Precipitation, Surface Runoff, And Shallow Water-Table, Manoj Patel

Theses

In this study, a model was developed to describe the relationship between precipitation, surface runoff, and shallow groundwater table in a watershed that is subjected to groundwater extraction and urbanization. Regression analysis of fourteen years (1976-1989) of time series data for precipitation, stream discharge, ground water elevation, and groundwater extraction yielded good correlation between these parameters.

Analysis of the data associated with groundwater recharge and discharge events that occurred in the watershed from 1976 to 1989 yielded a high correlation between the above cited parameters. Regression analysis utilized to predict monthly variations in groundwater elevations showed a fair correlation between …

Fuel-Rich Combustion Of Ethylene And Air In A Two Stage Turbulent Flow Reactor, Tara Byrnes Salem

Theses

This thesis presents experimental and modeling results from the combustion of ethylene and air in a two stage turbulent flow reactor. This work is motivated by the continuing concern over combustion by-products. The first half of the research effort focused on the validation of the reactor as a perfectly stirred reactor and a plug flow reactor (PSR+PFR) sequence. Using four detailed reaction mechanisms, measured concentrations of carbon oxides, oxygen, and light hydrocarbon concentrations were modeled. Within the accuracy of the data, the mechanism of Mao (1995) yielded the best results. However, it was observed that the success of the reactor …

Advanced Characterization And Leaching Behavior Of Hexavalent And Trivalent Chromium From Waste Material, Erik Moerman

Theses

In this thesis we employed advanced characterization techniques such as XRF, XRD, XPS, SEM, and EDS to provide detailed information about the chromium waste _ specifically chromium valence states (Cr(VI) and Cr(III)), and their chemical association with other phases in the waste matrix.

The removal of Cr(VI) was accomplished by leaching with aqueous solutions containing inorganic anions such as Cl^-, SO₄^2-, PO₄^3- and others. Cr(VI) can be released from the waste by a combination of desorption and ion exchange processes. The efficiency and kinetics of displacing CrO₄^2- from the waste by …

Dynamic Mechanical Analysis Of Particulate Dental Composites, Minu Parekh

Theses

Typically, dental composites are used in different configurations and situations. When a cavity forms at the occlusal surface of a posterior tooth, a class I and class II filling is used, depending on the extent and nature of the cavity formed. These fillings have to be designed to resist mechanical abrasion and occlusal stress during chewing, bruxing and other tooth functions. Class IV fillings are also designed to resist biting stress. In these applications composites with high filler loading with filler particles of size >0.6μm are used. These composites are typically known as minifill or midifill composites. When more than …

A Digital Signal Processor Based Optical Position Sensor And Its Application To Flexible Beam Control, Thomas J. Spirock

Theses

A Digital Signal Processor (DSP) based optical position sensor was developed. The sensor system consists of the following components: 1) analog electronics, 2) the DSP based synchronous demodulation software, 3) PC based interface software which samples and saves the data, and 4) PC based control codes for a flexible beam. experiment.

The ability of the system to determine the distance from the optical sensor to the power modulated light source was assessed by the following tests: 1) a stationary drift test to evaluate the system's noise, 2) a short-range test to determine the resolution of the optical sensor over a …

The Study Of Sige-Channel Heterojunction Mos Device, Yunchen Qiu

Theses

The advances in the growth of pseudomorphic silicon-germanium epitaxial layer combined with the strong need for high-speed CMOS VLSI circuit have led to increased interest in silicon-based heterojunction MOSFET's transistors. The high-performance heterostructure SiGe MOSFET exhibits higher channel mobility than its bulk Si counterpart. The most critical and challenging process for fabricating a SiGe MOSFET device is that for making a gate oxide with sufficient quality for useful conductivity modulation. PECVD methods was employed to deposit the gate oxide and C-V method was used to investigate the electrical characteristics of the film. For PECVD gate oxide, a film refractive index …

A Mathematical Model Of Cardiovascular System With Feedback Control, Jiayu Gu

Theses

A mathematical model of human cardiovascular system is presented in this study. The closed-loop model is composed of twenty compartments which includes the left and right ventricles, and the systemic and pulmonary circulations. Two physiologic feedback control mechanisms, autoregulation of blood flow and baroreceptor reflex regulation of arterial pressure, are incorporated in the model. Autoregulation acts by changing local resistance to blood flow through metabolic and myogenic mechanisms, thereby insuring a match between oxygen supply and demand for any tissue or organ. Baroreceptors act through neural pathways to alter heart rate, contractility and peripheral resistance in order to return sudden …

Relay Ladder Logic And Petri Nets For Discrete Event Control Design : A Comparative Study, Edward Twiss

Theses

In the 1960's and earlier discrete event systems (DES) were controlled by hardwired electromechanical relay systems. In 1969 an electronic programmable logic controller (PLC) was introduced. PLC's have been programmed utilizing relay ladder logic (RLL). RLL is a graphical programming language with software "devices" used to emulate electromechanical devices. RLL programs, however, often become large and difficult to understand because its graphical representation of physical switching devices obscures the discrete event dynamics inherent in the process to be controlled. Petri nets are a methodology for modeling discrete event systems (DES). Using a Petri net based controller, a control strategy could …

Remote Measurement Calibration In Power System, Xiaofeng Li

Theses

Power system reliability and economy of operation require accurate measurements of current, voltage, real and reactive powers. These measurements are transmitted to a control center of a power system for monitoring, display, and use in power system real-time analysis. The number of measurements is in thousands. Routinely field technicians must calibrate transducers and/or determine other sources of metering errors. Due to the large number of measurements and the time required to check each individual measurement, field calibration procedures are impractical, expensive, and not timely.

There has been a need for a more efficient approach to measurement calibration and identification of …

Separation Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons By Using Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography, Patricia Simmons

Theses

In this work, the use of micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) for the separation of five polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds is investigated. All of the compounds studied are listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as priority pollutants.

In micellar electrokinetic chromatography, solutes partition between the aqueous phase and the micellar phase. This partition is based on the hydrophobicity of each compound. In some cases, organic modifiers are added to the electrophoretic solution to enhance the separation efficiency. The organic modifier used in this study is y-cyclodextrin (y-CD), and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) is used as the micellar phase. …

Simple Fast Vector Quantization Of The Line Spectral Frequencies, Jin Zhou

Theses

Speech coding has been of interest to communication specialists for years. A number of technologies for describing and transmitting the speech spectral envelope have been studied. Among them, the Vector Quantization (VQ) of Line Spectral Frequencies (LSF) is receiving more attention because of its good rate-distortion performance. Typically, about 30 bits are assigned to code 10-dimensional LSF vectors with a resulting spectral distortion of less than ldB. However, 30-bit full-search VQ is totally impractical in terms of both computational complexity and memory space. Various standard suboptimal, low-complexity VQ techniques have been used for coding the LSF's in the literature. The …

Development Of A Fiber Optic Polarimetric Sensor For Concrete, Insang Lee

Theses

Development of a fiber optic sensor for embedment in cementitious composites and measurement of displacements associated with the opening of microcracks is described. The sensor can be employed as a transducer for measurement of crack tip opening displacements during fracture tests. A polarization maintaining fiber is used as the sensing element, and transduction mechanism is similar to those of other polarimetric type based sensors. However, the deformation resolving power of the sensor is increased by way of increasing the effective length of the optical fiber. This is done by winding the optical fiber into a coil. A direct relationship between …

Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition Of Stress Free Tungsten Films, David Perese

Theses

This study focuses on PECVD to make tungsten film for X-ray absorber for use in X-ray lithography applications. The previous LPCVD study was used for comparison of film properties. A cold wall, single wafer, Spectrum 211 CVD reactor was used for the deposition of tungsten from H2 and WF6. The growth kinetics were determined as a function of temperature, pressure and flow rate ratio. The deposition rate was found to follow an Arrehnius behavior between 300-500°C with an activation energy of 55.7 kJ/mol. The growth rate increased linearly with total pressure and H2 partial pressure. In the H2/WF6 ratio studies …

Measurement Of The Electroencephalogram (Eeg) Coherence, Atmospheric Noise, And Schumann Resonances In Group Meditation, Douglas A. Newandee

Theses

Electrical activity in the human body was investigated using EEG and ECG measurements while subjects remained with eyes open, eyes closed and in a meditation state. During these measurements, additional antennas were attached to the equipment to record atmospheric noise and signal activity simultaneously. The obtained data was analyzed and various observations were made. Processed data based on antenna signals clearly showed the presence of man-made signals, having narrow spectral widths that could be treated as atmospheric noise in the frequency range up to 50 Hz. In addition, signals clustered around 7.8, 14.1, 20.3, 26.4, and 32.5 Hz were observed …

Comparison Of Different Signal Processing Algorithms To Extract The Respiration Waveform From The Ecg, David J. Caggiano

Theses

Power spectral analysis of heart rate variability is a powerful tool to measure the activity of the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system noninvasively. To determine the parasympathetic activity, the frequency of respiration must be known. However, during ambulatory studies, the frequency of respiration is not acquired. To alleviate this problem, methods have been proposed in the past to derive the respiration from the ECG. Unfortunately, these previous methods are unreliable if the subject's breathing rate is uncontrolled. In this study, four methods to derive the respiration waveform from the electrocardiogram (ECG) were developed. Two leads of ECG and …