Engineering Commons^™

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 …

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 …

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 …

Validation Of A Mathematical Model Of The Human Walking Cycle Using Parameter Identification Methods, Robert Mccann

Theses

A mathematical model of the swing phase, toe-off and heel strike is presented in this paper and is mathematically represented as a two dimensional, simple coupled pendulum system with three degrees of freedom. Lagange equations of motion are used to solve this highly idealized system. The model consists of three segments which represent the stance leg, thigh and shank. During the swing phase it is assumed that the only external forces acting on the system are gravity and viscous dissipative terms proportional to joint angular velocities. It is assumed that muscle forces act only to establish the initial limb segment …

Removal Of Vocs From Waste Gas Streams By Cyclic Membrane Separation Techniques, Gordana Obuskovic

Theses

In this study, new separation techniques called Flow Swing Membrane Absorption Permeation (FSMABP) and Flow Swing Membrane Permeation (FSMP) were used for the removal of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In both cases, processes are cyclic in terms of feed flow while desorption of the VOCs is constantly taking place. The transport mechanism in the FSMABP process is selective permeation followed by absorption of the VOCs into the stagnant nonvolatile absorbent liquid on the shell side of the membrane module and then desorption through a similar polymeric membrane. In the FSMP process, VOCs selectively permeate through the membrane into the …

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 …

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 …

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. …

A New Concept In Artificial Ligament And Tendons Modeling : Finite Element Analysis, Miroslaw Sokol

Theses

Reconstruction of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) has been a major focus in sports medicine for over twenty years. Severe or unrepairable damage of the ACL due to sport injury is a major problem faced by orthopedic surgeons and engineers. To successfully replace or reconstruct an injured ACL, the mechanical properties as well as the dimensional limitation of the material used must be similar to the biological ligaments. Although excessive literature describes experimental investigation on the mechanical property and clinical application of the ligament material, there is no analytical study that describes strains, stresses, and endurance in the bone/ligament/bone complex. …

Granular Dynamics Study Of Sieving, Heng Yung

Theses

The objective of this thesis is to study the behaviors of granular particles under sieving. A three-dimensional dynamic simulation code was transferred and modified for this purpose, The major concern is the mass flow rate of the particles. Lots of case studies were run. The influences of the friction coefficient, the sieve aperture, and the energy of vibration are studied.

Numerical Simulation Of Clipping Distortion In Lightwave Catv Systems, Luay Al-Nadi

Theses

Clipping induced distortion is an essential limit for modulation depth and number of channels in subcarrier multiplexed lightwave video transmission systems. Two different types of laser clipping are compared (single-clipping vs. double-clipping). In this work, the distortion limits imposed by clipping effects, in both directly (single-clipping) and externally (double-clipping) modulated systems, are examined. Numerical simulations were performed to test the efficiency of Saleh's Model. A comparison of results with clipping induced distortion in directly modulated lightwave systems (single-clipping) and clipping induced distortion in externally modulated lightwave systems (double-clipping) is presented, it is shown through numerical simulation that the total non-linear …

Integrating Key Functions In Product Development : A Conceptual Product Development Model For The Korean Context, Jong-Wook Kim

Theses

The high-tech market is characterized by market uncertainty, technology uncertainty and rapid change. To survive in this risky high-tech market, a company must create competitively effective product development practices that meet its own unique needs and circumstances.

One effective practice is cross-functional integration in the product development process. The advantages of integration include a shortened time to market, successful transformation of research results to production, productivity improvement, innovation project success, and high-quality problem solutions. However, these advantages are rarely obtained in the current product development practices of Korean companies. Their product development efforts are generally characterized by time consuming sequential …

Gabor Expansion Of An Equivalent Dipole Antenna, Oksana Manzhura

Theses

The Gabor representation in the context of an aperture problem is an expansion of a radiated field in terms of a discrete set of linearly shifted and spatially rotated elementary Gaussian beams. The parameters that can be varied in this summation are the number of beams and corresponding beam widths. As the difficulty associated with the unique determination of the expansion coefficients was alleviated, the method has been successfully applied to one and two dimensional apertures. Although, the asymptotic evaluation of expansion functions has reduced the computational burden drasticallym it was at the expense of some loss in accuracy. The …

Signal Processing Techniques In Heart Rate And Systolic Arterial Blood Pressure Variability Studies, Christopher O'Bara

Theses

Power spectral analysis of heart rate and systolic arterial blood pressure variability provides a window to the activity of the autonomic nervous system. To derive power spectra from raw blood pressure and electrocardiogram signals, many steps of signal processing must be performed. Most popular methods of spectral analysis require evenly spaced samples; therefore interpolation and resampling techniques must be used.

The results of the present study indicate that different interpolation techniques result in spectral distortions that vary depending upon the interpolation methods used as well as physiological parameters such as heart and respiration rate. Different interpolation methods applied to heart …

Design And Development Of Four To Sixteen Channel Video Multiplexers, Ronan Rahimi

Theses

Video multiplexer series were successfully designed and built for prototype and evaluation both in terms of hardware and software. The hardware platform was designed to accommodate up to sixteen color video input channels for time lapse or real time recording on a single video cassette recorder. This product implements four modes of operation; Live, Record, Playback and Menu mode, which is not a full mode of operation. Menu mode is a series of on-screen programming menus which appears on Live, Record and Playback modes. Menu mode enables the user to program the machine to work under specific modes of application. …

Configuring The Radial Basis Function Neural Network, Insoo Sohn

Theses

The most important factor in configuring an optimum radial basis function (RBF) network is the training of neural units in the hidden layer. Many algorithms have been proposed, e.g., competitive learning (CL), to train the hidden units. CL suffers from producing "dead-units." The other major factor Which was ignored in the past is the appropriate selection of the number of neural units in the hidden layer. The frequency sensitive competitive learning (FSCL) algorithm was proposed to alleviate the problem of dead-units, but it does not alleviate the latter problem. The rival penalized competitive learning (RPCL) algorithm is an improved version …

Linearly Tapered Slot Antenna, Luis Alberto Tumialan

Theses

Design procedure for Linearly Tapered Slot Antennas (LTSA) has been developed and implemented using High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) code based on a finite-element analysis.

A CAD study of two variations of a LISA based on either a stripline or a microstrip feed has been carried out. Circular and radial stubs have been considered in these designs for an antenna operating at 10 Ghz. LTSA on a Duroid substrate fed by a stripline has been designed to operate with better than 12 dB return loss. Fabricated antenna was characterized and had even a wider response than the CAD design. Radiation …

Analysis Of Calibration, Robustness, Detection Of Space-Time Adaptive Rada Using Experimental Data, Murat O. Berin

Theses

Signal cancellation effects in adaptive array radar are studied under non ideal conditions when there is a mismatch between the true desired signal and the presumed theoretical desired signal. This mismatch results in decreased performance when the estimated correlation matrix has a large desired signal component. The performance of the sample matrix inversion (SMI) method is compared to the eigenanalysis-based eigencanceler method. Both analytical results and the processing on the experimental data from the Mountaintop Program, show that eigenanalysis-based adaptive beamformers have greater robustness to signal cancellation effects than the SMI method. Also, the calibration of the recorded data, and …

Nondestructive Dynamic Load Testing Of Bridges Using Strain Sensors, Suzanne Boland

Theses

This thesis investigates the use of nondestructive bridge load testing utilizing strain sensing equipment. Nondestructive bridge load testing has not been used extensively due to lack of expertise and perceived high cost. It can, however, play a key role when an existing bridge needs to be evaluated. Since most evaluation techniques tend to be conservative, the results from such an evaluation may not represent the real properties of the structural members. The true properties of an existing bridge can be identified using the results from nondestructive static and dynamic load testing. The procedures used to identify a structure with the …

Implementation Of A Three-Dimensional Non-Intrusive Particle Tracking System, Vivek Gupta

Theses

A Three-Dimensional Non-Intrusive Particle Tracking System has been developed at NJIT's Particle Technology Center to provide experimental results for validating theories being developed in the field of Particle Technology. The system utilizes the principle of magnetic induction between several high-frequency miniature transmitters mounted inside a sphere and a set of receiving loop antennae mounted outside the experimental apparatus. Basic theories and algorithms for the tracking system have already been developed. The focus of this thesis is to make the tracking system more accurate, reliable and user-friendly and to apply it to the study of vibrated beds and chute flows. Various …

The Development Of An Embedded Wireless Modem Conforming To Advanced Mobile Phone System And Cellular Digital Packet Data Standards, Xin Ren

Theses

Introduced by AT&T Bell Labs in 1970s, today Advanced Mobile Phone Systems (AMPS) - a first generation analog cellular system serve millions of customers in the United States and 55 other countries, and the number of subscribers is still rapidly increasing. Although digital cellular systems are emerging in recent years, research efforts are still being made to the enhancement of AMPS systems because of their popularity. An example is the new Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) standard announced in 1994. CDPD is an overlay of the existing AMPS, and has the capability of transmitting data packets over such an analog …

Remediation And Reuse Of Chromium Contaminated Soils Through Cold Top Ex-Site Vitrification, Wiwat Kamolpornwijit

Theses

More than 150 sites in Hudson County, New Jersey are identified as chromium contaminated sites. Hexavalent chromium, highly soluble in water, is considered as an environmental and health hazard, classified as a group A human carcinogen. In this research, the feasibility was performed to study the possibility of remediation of chromium contaminated soil by ex-situ vitrification and to evaluate reuse potential of vitrified products as highway construction aggregate. A series of physical and chemical analysis was conducted on nine soil samples collected from different chromium contaminated sites. Results were analyzed for their compatibility for vitrification. Sand and carbon were added …

Comparison Of Adaptive Radar Algorithms : Transformed Smi, Eigencanceler, And Smi, Chaitanya H. Kathiari

Theses

Advanced airborne radars must perform target detection in the presence of interference and heavy clutter. In many applications, the practical usefulness of adaptive arrays is limited by their convergence rate. In this paper, we first analyze the performance of the SMI method. Then, two other methods, the transformed SMI and the eigencanceler, both based on the principle component inversion (PCI) technique, are described and analyzed by simulation. It is shown by simulation based comparison that the transformed SMI and the Eigencanceler outperform the SMI method. It is also shown that the transformed SMI and the eigencanceler has higher convergence rate …

Implementation Of A Friction Estimation And Compensation Technique, Jayesh N. Amin

Theses

This thesis reports implementation of a friction estimation and compensation technique on a special laboratory apparatus. In this work, experimental results are reported for the Coulomb friction observer.

The Coulomb friction observer estimates the total friction present in a system, assuming it to be a constant function of velocity. An extension of the observer, utilizing a coupled velocity observer, is used when velocity is not measurable. A modification to the velocity observer is also implemented. Experimental results show a remarkable improvement in the friction estimates which are also compared to the actual friction measurements. The estimates are qualitatively similar to …

Sensivity Analysis And Design Calculations With Biofiltration Models, Michael Lawrence Cohen

Theses

Biofiltration is a new technology for biological treatment of volatile organic compounds present in airstreams. It is a complex process and thus, engineering models which attempt to describe it are by necessity very involved and contain a large number of parameters.

In this study, two models describing biofiltration of airstreams carrying a single pollutant (VOC) were used in detailed parameter-sensitivity studies. One model concerned biofiltration under steady-state conditions, while the second described the transient behavior of the process. The intent of the sensitivity studies was to determine which model parameters need to be known with accuracy in order to allow …

Comparison Of Reductive Dehalogenation By Microbial Populations On Adsorptive Versus Non-Adsorptive Bioreactor Support Materials, Linda S. Colella

Theses

The overall performance of two bioreactors was studied. The reactor with a wood-based activated carbon as a biosupport completely dehalogenated a higher feed concentration of trichlorophenol than that with Manville beads. The carbon reactor was further characterized by the development of adsorption isotherms for most of the class of chlorophenols. Competitive adsorption wag investigated using an anaerobic medium, and a lignite-based carbon was studied for comparison. The order of adsorption strength on both carbons is trichloropenols> dichlorophenols> monochlorophenols, with the wood-based carbon having higher overall adsorption than the lignite-based carbon. The presence of the anaerobic medium decreased the extent of …

Adaptive Radar In Heterogeneous Environment, Albert Futernik

Theses

Radar performance in heterogeneous clutter has been a much studied topic. In all the studies so far, various forms of the sample matrix inversion (SMI) technique where used to calculate the weight vector of the processor. In this thesis an eigenanalysis-based technique known as the eigencanceler, is used. Performance of this technique is compared to the performance of the generalized likelihood ration (GLR) processor. This comparison is done using the clutter edge model, in which there is an abrupt change in the clutter power in the reference window. It is shown that the false alarm rate fluctuations, of the cell …

Design For Quality Manufacturability Analysis Of Total Nonconformity Damaged Parts, Samir R. Gami

Theses

The competitive nature of modern manufacturing, demands that innovative approaches be applied in order to have a competitive edge. Shortening the product development cycle, the period from initial design to full production, is a priority for most manufacturers today. The DFQM methodology addresses the issue of quality manufacturability (QM) - the likelihood that defects will occur during manufacture of a product in a standard plant. As a consequence, DFQM helps to shorten the design cycle time. The DFQM architecture identifies a variety of design factors and variables that influence specific defects. This process of influencing defects can be described by …

Small Computer System Interface (Scsi) Universal Services For The Turbonet Parallel Computer, Artak Ohan Melkonian

Theses

TurboNet is a parallel computer with shared-memory and message-passing hybrid architecture. It employs two boards, with four digital signal processors (DSPs) each, and a host FORCE SPARC CPU-2CE board with a SCSI bus.

Software has been developed in this thesis to provide SCSI services to programs running on the DSPs. DSP programs can therefore fully control assigned SCSI devices at the SCSI command level. Transfer control modifiers ensure compatibility with most SCSI devices.

The software provides service for three SCSI access levels. The "su" SCSI universal device driver is built into the host computer's kernel and is a gateway to …

Characterization Of Low Pressure Chemically Vapor Deposited Boron Nitride Films As Low Dielectric Constant Materials, Manish Narayan

Theses

Boron nitride thin films were synthesized on Si and quartz wafers by low pressure chemical vapor deposition using borane triethylamine complex and ammonia as precursors. The films were processed at 400°C, 475°C and 550°C at a constant pressure of 0.5 Torr and at different precursor flow ratios.

The films deposited were uniform, amorphous and the composition of the films varied with deposition temperature and precursor flow ratios. The thickness of the film increased with increasing flow ratio, but, decreased with increasing temperature. The stresses in the film were either mildly tensile or compressive.

The least dielectric constant for the films …