Engineering Commons^™

Automation Of Lcmc Logistics Processes: A Delphi Approach, Kline M. Alt

Theses and Dissertations

As the U.S. Air Force confronts growing complexity in system acquisition, the implementation of digital models in system design and logistics process management allows the incorporation of digital tools and the possibility for automation of portions of logistics processes. This thesis investigates where these technologies can be most effectively integrated within the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center logistics enterprise (AFLCMC). Using a three round Delphi study, AFLCMC logistics subject matter expert (SME) opinions were solicited from program-level senior logisticians, program managers to identify high-need areas, key success factors, and potential barriers to adoption. Quantitative consensus from Likert-scale and ordinal …

A Review Of The United States' Long Term War Support Capabilities In The Indo-Pacific Command Region, Brian J. Mullin Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines U.S. maritime transportation readiness in the Indo-Pacific, highlighting fleet age, mariner shortages, shipyard decline, and port vulnerabilities. It also considers contested logistics and technological threats. Recommendations include fleet recapitalization, mariner pipeline growth, port diversification, and defensive upgrades. The study concludes that secure sea line assumptions are outdated and calls for greater resilience, with follow-on efficiency analysis proposed for ports and ships.

Implementing Lean Principles To Enhance Warehouse Operations At King Abdulaziz Air Base(Kaab): A Case Study Of Royal Saudi Air Force (Rsaf), Saleh A. Alghamdi

Theses and Dissertations

The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) relies on efficient logistics to sustain readiness. At King Abdulaziz Air Base, warehouse receiving inefficiencies caused delays and waste. This study used Lean principles and a six-month time–motion analysis, with Pareto and Fishbone tools, to identify 55% waste in dead pile and 75% in palletized shipments. Standard times of 5.98 and 6.55 minutes were set. Key recommendations include SOPs, cross-training, forklift certification, layout redesign, and RFID. Lean adoption could save 100+ labor hours and $4,000 annually, improving safety, accuracy, and mission readiness.

Modeling, Control, And Learning For Whole-Body Manipulation With Large-Scale Soft Robots, Curtis C. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the challenge of enabling soft robots to perform contact-rich manipulation tasks by overcoming limitations in hardware, modeling, control, and learning. First, we present hardware advancements with PneuDrive, a pneumatic control system for actuating soft robots. We also introduce Baloo, a hybrid soft-rigid robotic torso which achieves a single-arm payload capacity of 19.3 kg and robust whole-body grasping capabilities. We also develop a full-body tactile sensing system enabling piezoresistive sensor arrays to cover large areas (1 square meter) with over 8000 distributed sensing points. Second, we focus on developing tractable dynamic models based on the Recursive Newton-Euler algorithm …

Cost-Effectiveness Model For Reservoir Sediment Management Economics, Connor Ronald Hale

Theses and Dissertations

Reservoir sediment deposition poses a challenge to sustainable water supplies around the world. Sediment management has proven to be an expensive endeavor. Two models have been developed to guide economic analysis for reservoir sediment management, namely the Reservoir Sediment Economics Model (RSEM) and the Reservoir Conservation Model 2 (RESCON 2). While these are helpful tools for benefit-cost prefeasibility studies, they rely heavily on sometimes elusive estimations of the benefits of water supply. In this study, a new method for economic analysis is proposed that foregoes benefit-cost analysis in favor of a cost-effectiveness approach. The Sediment Management Cost-Effectiveness Model ranks sediment …

Köppen-Geiger Climate Effects On F-15 Readiness Spares Package Parts, Maximus A. Fan

Theses and Dissertations

Readiness Spares Packages (RSP) are critical to deployed operations. Future demands of the Air Force require squadrons to operate in different climate environments from home stations. RSPs can sustain aircraft maintenance operations for up to 30 days. Currently, failure rates of parts within the RSP are assumed to be constant. This research aims to explore whether there is a difference in F-15 RSP failure rates when Koeppen climate classifications are taken into effect. The Koeppen-Geiger system classifies area climates based on the geography, elevation, and location. The history of operations and diversity of F-15 locations make the aircraft an ideal …

Re-Engaging Driver Attention Using Chatgpt: A Multimodal Study On Stress Impact And Driving Performance, Alaa Zaki Elfiqi

Theses and Dissertations

Driving is considered a complex task that requires continuous focus and attention from the driver. Driving performance can also be impacted by changes in the driver’s stress level. However, limited research explores methods to address this challenge. With the current advances in Large Language Models (LLMs) and their ability to engage in human-like interaction, this study investigates the potential of using ChatGPT, designed to speak Egyptian Arabic, in re-engaging driver attention under different driving scenarios for low-stress and high-stress conditions within a virtual reality (VR) environment driving simulator. Drivers were asked to follow a leading car into two scenarios with …

Transition And Instability Characteristics Of The Separated Shear Layer Formed At Low Reynolds Number Over Three-Dimensional Irregular Rough Surface, Ganesh Kt Mr

Theses and Dissertations

The present experimental work investigates the effects of irregularly roughened surfaces and imposed streamwise pressure gradients on the topological, transitional, and instability characteristics of the laminar separated shear layer (SSL). Experiments are conducted in the low-speed wind tunnel for 𝑅𝑒𝑡=30000, based on the thickness of the airfoil model, t, and freestream turbulence intensity, fst = 0.8%. The airfoil model used in this study features a semicircular leading edge followed by a constant-thickness flat portion and a pitchable trailing-edge flap. Test conditions include two rough surfaces: sandblasted (SB) and sand-deposited (SD), and flap deflections: 𝛽=−30° and 𝛽=+30°, imposing adverse (APG) and …

A Contemporary Approach For Exploring The Influence Of Detoxification And Standardization Of Traditional Metallopharmaceutical Product Pharmacological And Toxicological Aspects, Malarvizhi K

Theses and Dissertations

Polyherbomineral formulation possess unique medicinal properties due to the presence of metals and minerals as integral part, as processed in addition to specific herbals. There is an increased interest in metallopharmaceuticals in clinical and research areas, because of their immense therapeutic efficiency towards multiple diseases and evidence for non-toxic claim. Sivanar Amirtham is one of the polyherbomineral Siddha medicine recommended for the treatment of various respiratory diseases and other ailments including antidote therapy for poisonous bites. The present research work attempted for standardization of Sivanar Amirtham preparation as per the traditional standard protocols (including the detoxification process of raw materials) …

Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Polymers For Quercetin Adsorption: Fabrication, Characterization, And Application, Vinitha Ug

Theses and Dissertations

A highly selective Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Polymer (MMIP) was developed for the detection and purification of Quercetin. The Density Functional Theory was utilized for the selection of suitable monomers based on binding energy interaction between quercetin and monomers (Acrylamide, Acrylonitrile, Methacrylic Acid). From computational studies, Acrylamide was selected as a suitable monomer for the synthesis of MMIP. Under ultrasound irradiation both quercetin and naringin imprinted materials MMIP-Q and MMIP-N were fabricated.

Compared to ultrasound-assisted synthesis, Microwave Synthesis provides uniform heat transfer throughout the reaction solution, which enables uniformity in the size of synthesised material, increases the yield of material and …

Design And Development Of Deep Learning Based Generic Platform For Promoting Precision Agriculture, Srilakshmi A

Theses and Dissertations

Precision agriculture also referred as precision farming or smart farming, is an innovative approach to agricultural management that leverages technology and data to optimize various aspects of the farming process. This approach aims to make farming more effective, sustainable, and profitable by affording farmers with the application tools and information they need to make more informed decisions.

Precision agriculture combines elements of agriculture, technology, and data science to enhance crop production, and resource utilization. Precision agriculture techniques can be highly effective in leaf disease detection within crop fields. Machine learning has been developed incredibly across multiple domains and shown it …

Facile Fabrication Of Protein-Polysaccharide Conjugate Multifilament Nerve Guidance Conduit For Peripheral Nerve Regeneration, Preethy Amruthavarshini R

Theses and Dissertations

Long segmental defects in peripheral nerves impair sensory and motor function by disrupting neural impulse transmission. End-to-end autologous grafting with proper fascicular complementation has demonstrated functional recovery per the Medical Research Council Classification (MRCC). However, obtaining donor nerve tissue exceeding 30 mm remains a significant challenge. Artificial hollow conduits serve as an alternative but are limited to defects smaller than 30 mm due to inadequate innervation across the lumen.

Multichannel nerve guidance conduits (mNGCs) have emerged as a promising solution by enhancing fascicular complementation similar to autografts. This study presents a two-step approach for fabricating nerve conduits with precise fascicular …

Structural Response Of Rc Columns Strengthened Using Bfrp Based Bfegc System – Under Fire And Cooling Regime, Ruba P

Theses and Dissertations

Retrofitting fire-damaged columns is essential for restoring structural integrity. This study evaluates the effectiveness of BFRP based Basalt fiber Engineered Geopolymer Composites (BFEGC). The performance of basalt fiber wrapping and BFEGC was tested for fire protection system and retrofitted system. An optimal BFEGC mix achieved a compressive strength of 55.34 MPa, with split tensile strength, flexural strength, and strain hardening behaviour of 15.5 MPa, 5.13 MPa, and 6% respectively.

Microstructural analysis was accessed for the optimum mix. Durability tests include water absorption, sorptivity, and RCPT which confirmed compliance with standards. Thermo gravimetry analysis (TGA) shows the minimal weight loss of …

Encountering And Mitigating Selfish Mining In Bitcoin Mining Pools, Jeyasheela Rakkini M J

Theses and Dissertations

Blockchain, an innovative decentralized distributed, disrupting programming paradigm embodies key principles such as decentralization, data provenance, immutability, and transparency. At its core blockchain begins with the genesis block and progresses with each subsequent block containing the hash of the previous block, Merkle root, timestamp, a coin base transaction address, and a nonce. Miners compete to discover a target hash value (hash value of the previous block and nonce) for the current block, that is less than or equal to the difficulty value set by the system, a process known as mining.

This work encounters selfish mining attacks in bitcoin mining …

Computational Studies On The Major Antioxidant Enzymes Of Wuchereria Bancrofti Towards The Development Of Anti Filarial Leads, Sureshan M

Theses and Dissertations

Lymphatic filariasis (LF), or elephantiasis, is a mosquito-borne parasitic disease affecting the lymphatic system, primarily in tropical and subtropical regions. It is the second leading cause of long-term disability and a neglected tropical disease. According to WHO, LF threatens 882 million people in 44 countries, with over 9 billion treatments administered. The disease is caused by three nematodes: Wuchereria bancrofti (90% of cases worldwide, including India), Brugia malayi (10% in Southeast and Eastern Asia), and Brugia timori (found in Timor and nearby islands). Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is an ancient disease that continues to challenge scientists and physicians. Current treatments include …

Impact Of Ionic Liquids On The Treatment Of Various Derivatives Of Prosopis Juliflora For Removing Toxic Pollutants From Wastewater, Karthikeyan A

Theses and Dissertations

Water resources are increasingly contaminated by toxic pollutants, particularly industrial effluents, posing significant environmental concerns. Addressing the toxicity of these pollutants, especially those released from textile industries, presents challenges due to their harmful effects on living organisms. Various treatment methods are employed to mitigate this issue, including coagulation, flocculation, membrane filtration, photocatalytic degradation, adsorption, anaerobic processes, and chemical oxidation. Among these, adsorption emerges as an effective and economical method due to its minimal secondary contamination, negligible sludge production, and the use of inexpensive agricultural and marine waste materials.

This study examines the ability of Prosopis juliflora treated with imidazolium-based ionic …

Artificial Intelligence-Based Adaptive Data-Driven Techniques For Disruption Prediction In Tokamak, Priyanka M

Theses and Dissertations

Tokamaks are nuclear fusion reactors designed to generate sustainable energy by confining plasma, yet plasma disruptions remain a major obstacle as they can damage reactor components and interrupt fusion reactions. Addressing this challenge requires reliable models that can classify plasma discharges and predict disruptions in advance. This thesis develops machine learning and deep learning approaches to improve both classification and forecasting.The first contribution is a semi-supervised active learning framework, Nearest Margin-Ranked Batch Mode Active Learning (NM-RBMAL), integrated with an ensemble model.

Unlike traditional classifiers that operate on static training data, this approach continuously adapts to new plasma conditions, reducing model …

Ai Based Early Detection Of Hormonal Imbalance And Poly-Cystic Ovary Syndrome In Young Women, Reka S

Theses and Dissertations

A hormonal disorder, Poly-Cystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) usually affects women during the reproductive age. It is characterised by imbalances in hormones, particularly a rise in the female body's androgen level (male hormone) and enlarged ovaries with small cysts. PCOS can cause ovarian cysts, weight gain, acne, excessive hair growth, insulin resistance, and irregular menstrual cycles along with other health problems. While the exact origin of PCOS is uncertain and its symptoms are unclear, diagnosing PCOS in real-world conditions is a difficult task. Therefore, prompt and precise PCOS diagnosis is essential for efficient treatment and for averting long-term issues.

Clinicians typically …

Bioprospecting Of Wheat Straw Pyrolysis Aqueous Phase To Combat Multi-Drug Resistant Pathogens, Srividhya K

Theses and Dissertations

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) significantly contribute to the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), primarily through the contamination of high-touch surfaces. Current disinfectants have drawbacks like high environmental persistence, ecotoxicity, and resistance development, prompting the need for environmentally friendly alternatives.

One potential approach is pyrolysis, during which the biomass components are broken down into solid, liquid, and pyro-gas. The aqueous phase of the liquid fraction is usually discarded as waste, but it contains a variety of organic compounds that have the potential for antibacterial and antifungal activity. The present study assessed the anti-infective and anti-biofilm properties of wheat straw pyrolysis …

Fabrication Of Transparent Conducting Electrodes By Chemical Approaches & Their Application Towards Sensing And Energy Storage, Namuni Sneha

Theses and Dissertations

In the intelligent era, there is a growing demand for developing highly efficient and robust wearable electrodes through simple chemical approaches. We developed highperforming transparent electrodes using interconnected Au nanoparticle networks via a simple liquid-liquid interface approach that offers high conductivity, transparency (>85%), and mechanical durability. Additionally, the prepared electrodes exhibit tunable transmittance and sheet resistance, and the method was also adaptable to various substrates without harsh chemical or thermal treatments.

Furthermore, using Au 1L (1-layer) nanonetwork, a highly transparent breath sensor is fabricated with short response and recovery times (1.1 s and 1.3 s). The Au-1L sensor is …

Design And Investigation Of Deep Eutectic Solvent-Assisted Extractive Fermentation Of Biomolecules, Ramya M

Theses and Dissertations

The increasing demand for sustainable and efficient bioprocessing techniques has prompted the development of novel separation strategies integrating bioproduction with downstream processing. Extractive fermentation has emerged as a promising process intensification to overcome product inhibition and enhance productivity by constantly removing target biomolecules from the fermentation medium. Although the extractive fermentation of acids and alcohols has been extensively studied, less attention has been focused on green solvents and their compatibility, phase-forming abilities, and reactor configurations.

Therefore, advancing extractive fermentation technology necessitates comprehensive studies on solvent systems and the development of modified bioreactor configurations to aid future optimization. Initially, 22 DESs …

Investigation Of Dependency Parsing Techniques For Digital Document Analysis Through Deep Learning Approach, Rekah D Ms

Theses and Dissertations

Digital document dependency parsing is a significant task in natural language processing. Dependency parsing supports verification of the grammatical correctness of a sentence besides enabling extraction of relevant documents. Inappropriate extraction of features may result in falsely parsing a document, leading to decreased accuracy. Machine learning methods have been employed to perform feature extraction. However, selecting pertinent features was never achieved which minimizes the time consumption and overhead.

Hence, novel machine learning and deep learning techniques have been designed in our work for accurate and computationally efficient digital document analytics through dependency parsing. Four different contributions have been proposed for …

Cyclone Intensity Prediction In The Bay Of Bengal Using Deep Learning Methods, Senthil Kumar J

Theses and Dissertations

The Bay of Bengal region's coastlines have been badly devastated by tropical cyclones, as the region experiences an average of five to six cyclones per year, with about two to three of these intensifying into tropical storms or severe cyclones. Thus it necessitates to study the accurate and efficient forecasting of their intensity to improve preparedness and response to natural disasters. The present study compares and examines three distinct approaches to cyclone intensity prediction using historical datasets from 1998 to 2020: hybrid optimisation, deep learning-based, and empirical approaches.The predicted accuracy, computational effectiveness, and feasibility for real-time scenarios of each model …

Development Of Powder Activator From Agro-Industrial Waste And Its Application In The Preparation Of One-Part Alkali Activated Concrete, Anoop Kn

Theses and Dissertations

The environmental concerns associated with the traditional ordinary Portland cement (OPC) such as CO2 emission and high energy demand along with resource depletion as binder has led to the development of alkali activated binders (AABs). Even with the reduction in environmental issues, the implementation of AAB in practice is hindered by the handling issues of liquid activators. Hence, it is required to develop AAB with powdered activators to address the handling issues and to further reduce the environmental issues related to the production of activators. This research investigates the development of one-part alkali-activated concrete (OAAC) system utilising wastederived materials as …

Design Of An Integrated Lightweight Cryptographic Algorithm For Device Level Security And Fraternal Cryptographic Algorithm For Communication Security In Medical Cyber Physical Systems, Vimala Devi P

Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare involves detecting symptoms, diagnosing conditions and giving treatment to patients. It is one of the fundamental human rights, and it might be difficult to provide healthcare to those with chronic illnesses, elderly people with disabilities and those under distant observation. The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that Cardio Vascular Disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide.

According to the prediction, CVD-related causes such as heart attacks and strokes, could result in 23.3 million deaths by 2030. In addition, the number of people with diabetes will reach 246 million; thereby, the prevalence of CVD patients and diabetics will …

Investigations Of Secure Memory For Vlsi Based Crypto System, Vijay Sai R Mr

Theses and Dissertations

Semiconductor technology is growing very rapidly in their architectural developments, involving the usage of processor and memory. Presence of memory, in general is a vital commodity in various devices which are almost embedded into human activity, from robust work stations to handy mobile phones. Security of data stored in memory is very important, and hence, observation must be made that these valuable data should not be thwarted by malicious means. Security in cache memory is a major issue in memory related applications such as smart cards and bio-metric implementations.

Cache, is a small and limited memory located between central processing …

Characterizing And Modeling The Nonlinear Behavior Of Additively Manufactured Trapped-Powder Dampers, Jonathan Knight Black

Theses and Dissertations

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) can be used to create metal parts with pockets of retained, unfused powder that serve as mechanical dampers. These trapped-powder dampers show promise for reducing the amplitude of vibrations at resonance by orders of magnitude. However, little is currently understood about the nonlinearity and repeatability of trapped-powder dampers, meaning that the design process currently consists of expensive trial-and-error prototyping and iteration. The present work contributes a corpus of experimental measurements for rectangular beams with trapped-powder dampers of various dimensions and locations. Preliminary testing revealed the presence of a memory effect which we hypothesize to be …

Investigating Radiation Induced Rowhammer And Retention Failures In Dram, Tyler Ricks

Theses and Dissertations

It is desirable for DRAM devices to be used in harsh radiation environments. Exposure to radiation causes DRAM cells to lose their retention time as their ability to store charge effectively declines. Exposure also worsens the effect of disturbance that causes neighboring cells to flip when a row is opened multiple times: an effect known as the Row Hammer Effect. This thesis evaluates the impact of radiation-induced memory cell degradation by comparing memory cell's retention time and their resilience to the row hammer vulnerability. Three generations of DRAM were placed under a neutron radiation beam. Sections of the irradiated devices …

Compact Heterogeneous Architectures And Algorithmic Methods For Enhanced Real-Time Digital True Time Delay Beamforming And Radar Applications, Nathan Lynn Burnett

Theses and Dissertations

Modern radar and signal processing systems require efficient computational architectures to handle increasing data rates while still being able to maintain dynamic configurability and complex tasks. This thesis presents and explores hardware and algorithmic approaches addressing these demands across several different applications. First, a low-cost tracking platform and architecture for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is developed, which provides detection and tracking capabilities, compliant with new FAA remote ID regulations. Second, a GPU-FPGA based digital true time delay beamformer is implemented to achieve real-time wideband radio frequency interference (RFI) mitigation. Specifically this beamformer explores weight calculation and calibration through particle swarm …

Versatile Waveform Generation And Clocking Techniques For Rfsoc-Based Digital Designs, Michael David Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Within an ever-evolving radio-frequency (RF) environment, designers are required to adapt systems to increasingly constricted parameters. The available tools continually grow to match this need, but so does the complexity in using them. The radio-frequency system-on-chip (RFSoC) is an innovation that combines a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) with an integrated RF chain. Designing with an RFSoC allows for high-precision data transmission, sampling, and processing, but it can be difficult and time-consuming to develop specialized circuits. The open-source CASPER project aims to provide a library of abstracted block-design components to simplify the design process. An arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) is created …