Engineering Commons^™

Academic Packing For Commercial Fpga Architectures, Travis D. Haroldsen

Theses and Dissertations

With a few exceptions, academic packing algorithms for FPGAs are typically applied solely to theoretical architectures. This has allowed the algorithms to focus on the basic components of packing while abstracting away many of the details dictated by real hardware. As commercially available FPGAs have advanced, however, the academic algorithms and architectures have diverged significantly from their commercial counterparts. In this dissertation, the RapidSmith 2 framework is presented. This framework accurately reflects the architecture of Xilinx FPGAs and provides support for integrating custom tools into the commercial CAD tools. Using this framework, the RSVPack packing algorithm is implemented. The RSVPack …

Development Of A Simplified Performance-Based Procedure For The Assessment Of Liquefaction-Induced Settlements Using Liquefaction Loading Maps, Braden Michael Error

Theses and Dissertations

Liquefaction-induced settlement can cause extensive damage to infrastructure. Quantifying the amount of settlement that may occur after an earthquake is crucial to seismic design. The Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center developed performance-based earthquake engineering (PBEE) as a probabilistic framework to characterize the risks associated with a seismic event. When applied to liquefaction-induced settlement, the PBEE framework provides a more complete and accurate representation of liquefaction hazard than other more conventional evaluation methods. Performance-based engineering is not widely used in practice, however, due to its complexity. In an attempt to make performance-based engineering methods more accessible to engineers for routine …

Mathematical Model And Experimental Verification Of Spatially Multiplexed System Using Ray Theory And Modified Laguerre Gaussian Beams, Saud Alanzi

Theses and Dissertations

Spatial/Space Division Multiplexing (SDM) is based on a channel spacing technique in optical fibers that has the potential to inspire a revolution in optical communications. This patented technique provides a method to launch, transport, and detect two or more optical channels that operate at exactly the same wavelength inside a single multimode optical fiber. In addition, the patented technique added a new dimension and a new degree of photon freedom to the existing fiber multiplexing techniques and complements Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) and Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM). As a result, the bandwidth of existing and new optical fiber systems maybe …

Improving Crash Safety Of Jet Dragsters Through Modeling And Analysis, Paige Leigh Sanchez

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis was to analyze how additional foam implementation in a jet dragster driver’s compartment can improve driver safety in the case of an accident. This analysis was divided into two sections: a crash simulation analysis and a base excitation mass-spring-damper model analyzing foam behavior. The jet dragster crash simulation modeled, reflected a Larsen Motorsports jet dragster accident in 2011, where a dragster hit the wall at 270 mph between a 43 to 60 degree angle. A static structural simulation, using the dragster chassis, was modeled in ANSYS and several dynamic simulations at varying impact angles were …

Analysis Of An Experimental Space Debris Removal Mission, Krista L. L. Roth

Theses and Dissertations

Encountering space debris is an ever-increasing problem in space exploration and exploitation, especially in Low Earth Orbit. While many space-faring governing bodies have attempted to control the orbital lifetime post mission completion of satellites and rocker bodies, objects already in orbit pose a danger to future mission planning. Currently, governments and academic institutions are working to develop missions to remove space debris; however, the proposed missions are typically costly primary missions. This research proposes an alternative to use an upper stage rocket, to be called a chaser, already launching a primary mission near the desired debris as a host for …

Effects Of Passive And Active Training Paradigms On Bone And Muscle Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury, Brittany Lynn King

Theses and Dissertations

The effects spinal cord injury (SCI) has have been studied in both human and animal models. Specifically in incomplete SCI, the bone degradation and muscle atrophy seen in the lower limbs has been documented, along with the effects of different training paradigms on bone and muscle loss. This study implemented a clinically relevant animal model of a moderate spinal contusion injury at the T9--T10 level, along with active body weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT) and passive bike training, to compare the effects such training methods have on the bone microstructure properties and muscle masses in the lower limbs of rats. …

Data Analysis And Processing Techniques For Remaining Useful Life Estimations, John Scott Bucknam

Theses and Dissertations

In the field of engineering, it is important to understand different engineering systems and components, not only in how they currently perform, but also how their performance degrades over time. This extends to the field of prognostics, which attempts to predict the future of a system or component based on its past and present states. A common problem in this field is the estimation of remaining useful life, or how long a system or component functionality will last. The well-known datasets for this problem are the PHM and C-MAPSS datasets. These datasets contain simulated sensor data for different turbofan engines …

Multi-Fidelity Model Predictive Control Of Upstream Energy Production Processes, Ammon Nephi Eaton

Theses and Dissertations

Increasing worldwide demand for petroleum motivates greater efficiency, safety, and environmental responsibility in upstream oil and gas processes. The objective of this research is to improve these areas with advanced control methods. This work develops the integration of optimal control methods including model predictive control, moving horizon estimation, high fidelity simulators, and switched control techniques applied to subsea riser slugging and managed pressure drilling. A subsea riser slugging model predictive controller eliminates persistent offset and decreases settling time by 5% compared to a traditional PID controller. A sensitivity analysis shows the effect of riser base pressure sensor location on controller …

Aerodynamic Drag On Intermodal Rail Cars, Philip Donovan Kinghorn

Theses and Dissertations

The freight rail industry is essential to the US infrastructure and there is significant motivation to improve its efficiency. The aerodynamic drag associated with transport of commodities by rail is becoming increasingly important as the cost of diesel fuel increases. For intermodal railcars a significant amount of aerodynamic drag is a result of the large distance between containers that often occurs and the resulting pressure drag resulting from the separated flow that results due to their non-streamlined shape. This thesis reports on research that has been done to characterize the aerodynamic drag on intermodal train builds and allow their builds …

An Analysis Of Enabling Techniques For Highly-Accessible Low-Cost Virtual Reality Hardware In The Collaborative Engineering Design Process, Joshua Q. Coburn

Theses and Dissertations

While there currently exists a great deal of research in the literature demonstrating various engineering applications for virtual reality (VR) and the benefits of these applications, VR adoption has been slow in part because of the high cost and resources required to setup and maintain the hardware for these applications. However, in the last 5 years, a new generation of VR hardware has emerged with cost and resource requirements which are a small fraction of previous hardware. This work begins with a survey of this newly available hardware summarizing recent advances for providing virtual input to all of the five …

How The Choice Of Bed Material Load Equations And Flow Duration Curves Impacts Estimates Of Effective Discharge, Michael James Cope

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to analyze how estimates of an important geomorphic parameter, effective discharge, are impacted by the choice of bed material load equations and flow duration curves (FDCs). The Yang (1979), Brownlie (1981), and Pagosa equations developed by Rosgen (2006) were compared for predicting bed material load. To calculate the bed material load using the Pagosa equations, the bedload and suspended load are calculated separately and the results are added together. To compare the effectiveness of the equations, measured bed material load data from the USGS Open-File Report 89-67 were used. Following the calculations, the equation …

In Situ Characterization Of Voids During Liquid Composite Molding, Brock Don Zobell

Theses and Dissertations

Global competition is pushing the composites industry to advance and become more cost effective. Liquid Composite Molding or LCM is a family of processes that has shown significant promise in its potential to reduce process times and cost while maintaining high levels of part quality. However, the majority of research and information on composite processes have been related to prepreg-autoclave processing which is significantly different than LCM. In order for LCM processes to gain large scale implementation, significant research is required in order to model and simulate the unique nature of the resin infusion process. The purpose of this research …

Design Of A Compact Helical Counterflow Heat Exchanger, Aravindakshan Thirumalai Ananthanpillai

Theses and Dissertations

Compact heat exchangers are desirable in many aerospace applications. New additive manufacturing approaches, such 3D printing, have enabled the fabrication of heat exchange devices utilizing geometries that cannot be fabricated using traditional approaches. The new geometries enabled by 3D printing may result in higher heat transfer using smaller devices, however, constraints associated with the fabrication of these devices also impose potential performance degradations. This document presents the design and analysis of a novel, compact counter flow heat exchanger which uses helically shaped passages to enhance the effectiveness of the heat transfer. Although the helical passages increase the heat transfer and …

Estimation Of Size And Rotations Of Icebergs From Historical Data Utilizing Scatterometer Data, Jeffrey Scott Budge

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, the development and methodology of a new, consolidated BYU/NIC Antarctic Iceberg Tracking Database is presented. The new database combines data from the original BYU daily iceberg tracking database derived from scatterometers, and the National Ice Center's weekly Antarctic iceberg tracking database derived from mostly optical and infrared sensors. Using this data, interpolation methods and statistical analyses of iceberg locations are discussed. The intent of this database is to consolidate iceberg location data in order to increase accessibility to users.Active microwave remote sensing instruments are used to track tabular icebergs and provide a daily estimate of their positions …

A Survey Of Sparse Channel Estimation In Aeronautical Telemetry, Christopher James Hogstrom

Theses and Dissertations

Aeronautical telemetry suffers from multipath interference, which can be resolved through the use of equalizers at the receiver. The coefficients of data-aided equalizers are computed from a channel estimate. Most channels seen in aeronautical telemetry are sparse, meaning that most of the coefficients of the channel are zero or nearly zero. The maximum likelihood (ML) estimate does not always produce a sparse channel estimate. This thesis surveys a number of sparse estimation algorithms that produce a sparse channel estimate and compares the post-equalizer bit error rates (BER) using these sparse estimates with the post-equalizer BER using the ML estimate. I …

Flexible Micro-N-Line Probe And Apparatus To Characterize Electronic Conductivity Of Li-Ion Battery Electrode Films, Derek Van Clement

Theses and Dissertations

A key metric that affects Li-ion battery cell performance is the electronic conductivity of the electrode films. Previous research has found that the conductivity of electrodes is not homogeneous throughout the entirety of the deposited film area. To further characterize the non-homogeneity of the conductivity of electrode films, a micro-N-line probe and a micro-flex-line probe were developed to take micro-scale conductivity measurements of thin-film battery electrodes in a non-destructive manner. These devices have been validated by comparing test results to those of it's predecessor, the micro-four-line probe, on various commercial-quality Li-ion battery electrodes. Results show that there is significant variation …

Metallization Of Self-Assembled Dna Templates For Electronic Circuit Fabrication, Bibek Uprety

Theses and Dissertations

This work examines the deposition of metallic and semiconductor elements onto self-assembled DNA templates for the fabrication of nanodevices. Biological molecules like DNA can self-assemble into a variety of complex 2-D and 3-D architectures without the need for expensive patterning tools. In addition, self-assembled DNA templates can be designed to controllably place functional nanomaterials with molecular precision. These characteristics make DNA an attractive template for fabricating electronic circuits from biological molecules. However, electrically conductive structures are required for electronic applications. While metallized DNA nanostructures have been demonstrated, the ability to make thin, continuous wires that are electrically conductive still represents …

The Application Of Artificial Neural Networks For Prioritization Of Independent Variables Of A Discrete Event Simulation Model In A Manufacturing Environment, Rebecca Pires Dos Santos

Theses and Dissertations

The high complexity existent in businesses has required managers to rely on accurate and up to date information. Over the years, many tools have been created to give support to decision makers, such as discrete event simulation and artificial neural networks. Both tools have been applied to improve business performance; however, most of the time they are used separately. This research aims to interpret artificial neural network models that are applied to the data generated by a simulation model and determine which inputs have the most impact on the output of a business. This would allow prioritization of the variables …

Development Of A Performance-Based Procedure To Predict Liquefaction-Induced Free-Field Settlements For The Cone Penetration Test, Mikayla Son Hatch

Theses and Dissertations

Liquefaction-induced settlements can cause a large economic toll on a region, from severe infrastructural damage, after an earthquake occurs. The ability to predict, and design for, these settlements is crucial to prevent extensive damage. However, the inherent uncertainty involved in predicting seismic events and hazards makes calculating accurate settlement estimations difficult. Currently there are several seismic hazard analysis methods, however, the performance-based earthquake engineering (PBEE) method is becoming the most promising. The PBEE framework was presented by the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center. The PEER PBEE framework is a more comprehensive seismic analysis than any past seismic hazard analysis …

Measuring The Robustness Of Forensic Tools' Ability To Detect Data Hiding Techniques, Samuel Isaiah Moses

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research is to create a methodology that measures the robustness and effectiveness of forensic tools' ability to detect data hiding. First, an extensive search for any existing guidelines testing against data hiding was performed. After finding none, existing guidelines and frameworks in cybersecurity and cyber forensics were reviewed. Next, I created the methodology in this thesis. This methodology includes a set of steps that a user should take to evaluate a forensic tool. The methodology has been designed to be flexible and scalable so as new anti-forensic data hiding methods are discovered and developed, they can …

Effects Of Bioengineering Scaffolds Releasing Neurotrophins And Body Weight Supported Treadmill Training On H-Reflex After Spinal Cord Injury, Jaclyn Ann Witko

Theses and Dissertations

Changes in monosynaptic reflex, often used to study spasticity, has been tested through the H-reflex in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients after rehabilitation training, such as body weight support treadmill training or cycling. The combinational effects of rehabilitation training and a bioengineered scaffold on spasticity in SCI animal model have not been studied. We used a clinically relevant animal model of spinal cord moderate contusion at T9/T10 with BWSTT and the bioengineered scaffold PNIPAAm-g-PEG loaded with the growth factors BDNF/NT-3 to measure the efficiency of the combinational bioengineered approach to treat spasticity. Five animal groups were included in the study: …

Developing Hybrid Thickness-Accommodation Techniques For New Origami-Inspired Engineered Systems, Kyler Austin Tolman

Theses and Dissertations

Origami has become a source of inspiration in a number of engineered systems. In most systems, non-paper materials where material thickness is non-negligible is required. In origami-inspired engineered systems where thickness is non-negligible, thickness-accommodation techniques must be utilized to overcome the issue of self-intersection. Many thickness-accommodation techniques have been developed for use in thick-origami-inspired-engineered systems. In this work several thickness-accommodation techniques are reviewed and discussed. New thickness-accommodation techniques including hybrid thickness-accommodation techniques and the split vertex technique are presented and discussed. These techniques enable new capabilities of thickness-accommodation in origami adapted design. Thickness-accommodation techniques have been developed in the context …

Cost And Fuel Usage Optimization Of Activating Solution Based Silica Fume Geopolymer Concrete, Lateef Najeh Assi

Theses and Dissertations

Development of sustainable construction materials has been the focus of research efforts worldwide in recent years. Concrete is a major construction material; hence, finding alternatives to ordinary Portland cement is of extreme importance due to high levels of carbon dioxide emissions associated with its manufacturing process. Geopolymer concrete is a potential solution; however, concerns about the high cost and the low real fuel energy efficiency are obstacles against its increase in the market share.

In this thesis, the current cost and fuel (thermal energy) usage are calculated. In addition, the cost and fuel usage were optimized based on previous experimental …

Low Bandwidth Communication For Networked Power Hardware-In-The-Loop Simulation, Sean Borgsteede

Theses and Dissertations

Power-Hardware-In-the-Loop (PHIL) simulations allow the design and validation of power hardware components in virtual power system schemas with near real-time operation. This technique is increasingly used in the development cycle of many products to reduce design costs and increase design fidelity. The Hardware under Test (HuT) interfaces with a simulation of the user’s choosing through a hardware interface (HI). The digitally simulated system (DSS) runs on the real-time simulator before sending a reference value to the hardware interface to enforce. In this virtual to real interface, closed-loop stability and the simulation accuracy are the two paramount criteria in regards to …

Physical Characterization Of Electrodeposited Pcb Copper Foil Surfaces, Blessing Kolawole Ojo

Theses and Dissertations

Given that data rates of computers is on the rise and optimization of bus speeds continue to be of importance in improving the system performance, different models for a prediction of the impact of the surface roughness of copper foil have been developed and incorporated into different software’s and applications used by design engineers.

With different models known to have been created for characterization of electrodeposited copper, they have been mostly affected by the need for higher frequencies as they are mostly useful for prediction at frequency of a few GHz. With the introduction of a new model (known as …

Production Of Mesophase Pitch From Gasified Lignin-Derived Tars, Adedayo O. Idowu

Theses and Dissertations

Lignin tars are created as a by-product of lignin gasification. Significant effort has gone into minimizing tar production. However, no process has been shown to completely eliminate its formation. As a result, the tar is being used to manufacture low value products such as asphalt, or is being used as a fuel in fixed combustion systems.

The research presented here is part of an effort to increase the viability of using lignocellulosic biomass as a feedstock to produce high value products. We tested the postulate that tars derived from lignin could be processed into a mesophase pitch allowable for conversion …

A Comparison Of Airline Passengers' Perception And Attention Toward Onboard Safety Briefing Video Presentations, Yousef Aba Alkhail

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of the type of safety demonstration on a passenger's perception and attention. Furthermore, the study examined if there are gender differences based on participant gender. The design utilizes a two-study approach. Study 1 used Florida Tech College of Aeronautics students. For Study 1, the design for Florida Tech Aeronautics students was a mixed design using one within subjects variable and one between subjects variable. This study was a nonrandomized, posttest-only design. Experimental conditions were counterbalanced. The ANOVA analysis of Study 1 demonstrated that there was no significant interaction between gender …

Examining The Safety Climate Of U.S. Based Aviation Maintenance, Repair, And Overhaul (Mro) Organizations, Kole Osaretin Uhuegho

Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to replicate Fogarty (2005) by determining if the current study’s data were consistent with Fogarty’s model involving the three constructs of Safety Climate, Psychological Strain, and Errors; and (b) to examine the extent to which the sample data supported Bandura’s (1977) reciprocal causation model involving the three corresponding dimensions of Environment, Person, and Behavior. The study used an explanatory correlational design to measure the relationships between the targeted variables associated with U.S based civilian MRO workers. Safety Climate/Environment variables included recognition, safety concern, supervision, feedback, and training; Psychological Strain/Person variables included …

Consumers’ Level Of Trust In Using An Automated Train, Aircraft, Or Vehicle As A Transportation Means, Vivalda Alexandra Patin

Theses and Dissertations

Automation is a growing technology within most industries. It is expected that automated systems may replace human functions in the near future. The purpose of this study was to determine whether factors such as: type of passenger, type of transportation, and type of operating system have an effect on consumers’ level of trust when it comes to automation in terms of transportation. In order to accomplish this task, an experimental study was conducted with 735 participants who were recruited via Amazon’s ® Mechanical Turk ®. The study provided participants with a questionnaire where they were presented with different scenarios such …

A High Density Micro-Electrocorticography Device For A Rodent Model, Mukhesh Kumar Koripalli

Theses and Dissertations

Electrocorticography (ECoG) is a methodology for stable mapping of the brain surface using local field potentials (LFPs) with a wide cortical region, high signal fidelity, and minimal invasiveness to brain tissue. To compare surface ECoG signals with inter-cortical neuronal activity, we fabricated a flexible handcrafted ECoG electrode made with economically available materials. This research is on a Lewis rat implanted with a handcrafted 256-channel, non-penetrative ECoG electrode covering an area of 7mm x 7mm on the cortical surface. This device was placed on the motor and somatosensory cortex of the brain to record signals with an active animal. The recordings …