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Articles 21301 - 21330 of 27417

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Development Of A One-Piece, Aramid-Polyurethane Bumper System For Automobiles, Brent Zollinger, Dr. Christopher Rotz Feb 2014

Development Of A One-Piece, Aramid-Polyurethane Bumper System For Automobiles, Brent Zollinger, Dr. Christopher Rotz

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The automobile bumper system—consisting primarily of a decorative fascia, structural cross-beam, and energy absorber—is an ideal candidate for redesign using advanced technology. This report examines a concept that integrates the three main components of the bumper system into one by using high-performance materials. A one-piece, aramid-polyurethane composite bumper system that can be manufactured using the SRIM process offers possible weight reductions, cost reductions, and styling versatility, while maintaining manufacturability.

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Isotruss™ -Reinforced Concrete Beams, Justin Marshall, David Jensen, Fernando Fonseca Feb 2014

Isotruss™ -Reinforced Concrete Beams, Justin Marshall, David Jensen, Fernando Fonseca

Journal of Undergraduate Research

When a reinforced concrete beam is loaded it tends to sag or deflect. Because of this deflection, the bottom fibers of the beam are in tension while the top is compressed. Reinforcement (rebar) is placed in beams to resist tensile forces which concrete cannot support. Rebar can have adverse effects under certain conditions. If the concrete cracks, the steel will rust and expand causing increased cracking and strength loss. Other potential problems stem from steel’s density, magnetic properties and conductance. Currently, much research is being done in the area of composite reinforcement to solve these problems. Recent thesis research done …

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Fluidic Compression In A Scramjet Engine, Jeff S. Noall, Dr. Russell L. Daines Feb 2014

Fluidic Compression In A Scramjet Engine, Jeff S. Noall, Dr. Russell L. Daines

Journal of Undergraduate Research

A scramjet (supersonic-combustion ramjet) is a theoretical engine which, like a ramjet, converts the velocity of the inlet air into pressure. This “ram” pressure compresses the fluid stream entering the engine prior to fuel injection and combustion. In a ramjet, the incoming air is slowed to subsonic speeds (speeds less than the speed of sound) before combustion occurs. In a scramjet, the air stream remains supersonic throughout the process. This feature gives the scramjet potential in high-speed applications such as hypersonic aircraft and space-transport systems. One of the main problems facing scramjet development is controlling the behavior of the shock …

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Fiber Optic Modulator, Christian A. Fox, Dr. Richard H. Selfridge Feb 2014

Fiber Optic Modulator, Christian A. Fox, Dr. Richard H. Selfridge

Journal of Undergraduate Research

During the past decade, much research has been invested in the optics field to develop high-speed optical modulators. In particular, efforts have been directed toward combining the fast electrical responses of nonlinear optical polymers with the light guiding characteristics of fiber optics.1 At Brigham Young University, recent efforts have been made to develop a low-loss polarimetric modulator integrated onto a standard silicon wafer. This paper will discuss the fabrication process, present experimental results, and suggest further improvements for the fiber optic modulator.

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Predicting Gas-Phase Reaction Rates For Elementary Diatomic Substitutions Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Karl Fails, Dr. Richard Rowley Feb 2014

Predicting Gas-Phase Reaction Rates For Elementary Diatomic Substitutions Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Karl Fails, Dr. Richard Rowley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this study was to examine a new method for predicting elementary gas-phase reaction rates using molecular dynamics simulations. The diatomic substitution reaction:was to be used as a test model for its simplicity. Molecular dynamics simulations were to be used to calculate the motion of the interacting atoms. Any associations, dissociations and substitutions were to be counted and recorded.

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Manufacturing And Testing A Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Beam-To- Column Connector, Patrick J. Sedivy, Dr. Fernando S. Fonseca Feb 2014

Manufacturing And Testing A Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Beam-To- Column Connector, Patrick J. Sedivy, Dr. Fernando S. Fonseca

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Pultruded Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) structures are an attractive alternative to steel which is corrosive and heavy. However, FRP beams and columns cannot be connected using conventional methods such as bolting or welding. Anthony G. Cockbain demonstrated the potential of a monolithic sleeve connector.1 Although Cockbain’s research showed much promise for the sleeve connector, there were still several problems. The manufacturing process was extremely labor intensive and the connector needed to be stronger.

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Deep Dynamic Compaction Of Collapsible Soils, Ryan J. Olsen, Dr. Kyle Rollins Feb 2014

Deep Dynamic Compaction Of Collapsible Soils, Ryan J. Olsen, Dr. Kyle Rollins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Collapsible soils, in their natural state, are stiff and strong. However, when they become wet these soils lose their strength and settle significantly. This settlement can damage highways and structures built over these collapsible soils. Deep dynamic compaction (DDC) is a method used for improving soil conditions by repeatedly dropping a very large tamper onto the ground from heights typically ranging from 50 to 100 ft. DDC has been shown to significantly increase the strength and stiffness of collapsible soils. However, vibrations caused by dynamic compaction may affect surrounding buildings.

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The Effects Of Combining Ultrasonic Frequency And Antibiotics To Escherichia Coli Biofilms In An In Vivo System, Rachel L. Robison, Dr. William G. Pitt Feb 2014

The Effects Of Combining Ultrasonic Frequency And Antibiotics To Escherichia Coli Biofilms In An In Vivo System, Rachel L. Robison, Dr. William G. Pitt

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Prosthetic devices are commonly used in modern medicine. There are two types of prosthetic devices, implanted and transdermal. Implanted devices such as vascular grafts, heart valves, and prosthetic joints frequently become colonized by bacteria due to improper surgical techniques or post-operative infections.2 Transdermal devices such as catheters or electrical leads often become infected when bacteria from the patient’s skin migrates along the transdermal device and gains entrance into the body.1 If this occurs, microorganisms can cause serious infection at the site of the prosthetic device.

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Computer Speech Recognition With Neural Networks, Roger Scott Twede Feb 2014

Computer Speech Recognition With Neural Networks, Roger Scott Twede

Journal of Undergraduate Research

While attempts to create speech recognition systems have surfaced over several decades, obstacles limit the capabilities and performance of current systems. Nonetheless, the promise of incredible benefits and myriads of applications drive the technical world to continue the attempts.

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Multiple Scattering Events In Human Blood Solutions, Xunhai Xu Feb 2014

Multiple Scattering Events In Human Blood Solutions, Xunhai Xu

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Recently, modem medical technology has enabled surgeons and other medical scientists to perform certain organ transplantation within human beings successfully. However, thromboembolization, the formation of thromboemboli (usually of irregular shapes with sizes approximately 10,000 times bigger than that of red blood cell), is likely to occur with such operations. The cause of the thromboemboli is believed to be the interaction between human blood and the foreign materials. Since thromboemboli is a much larger particles than normal blood cells (such as red blood cell, white blood cell and single platelet), their existence in the blood solution might be detrimental to the …

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Multimedia Communications, David Stonely, Lawrence Tolman Feb 2014

Multimedia Communications, David Stonely, Lawrence Tolman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

People who work at an office or home could use more efficient telephone systems. A popular device to help people with telephone communications is the answering machine. However, popular answering machines can only provide generic messaging to all callers. It was proposed to program a personal computer to be an Intelligent Answering Machine that would play selected messages to certain callers using Caller ID to determine different callers. Using funds provided by the Office of Research and Creative Work, a Digital Signal Processor computer add-in board, the IBM Mwave, was purchased along with its development software to provide a basis …

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Resonant Tunneling Of Gaussian Beams, Travis Elgin Oliphant Feb 2014

Resonant Tunneling Of Gaussian Beams, Travis Elgin Oliphant

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Interaction of Gaussian beams with multi-layer dielectric structures has been the subject of numerous studies since Goos and Hiinchen first reported their findings [1]. In addition, resonant tunneling has been a source of considerable investigation both as It applies to quantum electronics and with regard to electromagnetic phenomena. Transistor [2] and a waveguide polarizer [3] have been suggested to take advantage of the resonant tunneling effects of a plane-wave impinging on a multilayer dielectric. The purpose of this study is to further examine the possibility of such applications of resonant tunneling phenomena by extending the analysis to finite width …

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Analysis Of Enhanced Resolution Ers·1 Scatterometer Imagery Over The Canadian Boreal Forest, Clarence J. Wilson Iii Feb 2014

Analysis Of Enhanced Resolution Ers·1 Scatterometer Imagery Over The Canadian Boreal Forest, Clarence J. Wilson Iii

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The European Remote Sensing satellite, ERS-1, carries a scatterometer radar which measures the radar backscattering coefficient (rr.) over the entire earth. The primary purpose of this measurement is to determine wind speeds and directions over the ocean. Recently, however, scientists have begun considering the use of ERS-1 backscatter measurements over land surfaces (Mougin et a!., 1995; Kennett and Li, 1989a; Kennett and Ll, 1989b). The ERS-1 scatterometer measurement data provides 50 km resolution of these surfaces and repeated coverage every 4-10 days. While this temporal repetivity is very good, the spatial resolution is extremely low and thus limits applications of …

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Remote Control And Web-Access Of The Mitutoyo Coordinate Measuring Machine, Cun Ling Linda Chu, Dr. C. Greg Jensen Feb 2014

Remote Control And Web-Access Of The Mitutoyo Coordinate Measuring Machine, Cun Ling Linda Chu, Dr. C. Greg Jensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The goal of this project was to devise a way to remotely control a Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) so students could measure an engineering product wherever they have access to a computer. The project began as a semester assignment for Dr. Jensen’s ME 273 course in the fall of 1998. During the semester a group of students and I researched and developed the basic procedure to accomplish the goal.

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Torsion Testing Of The Isotruss, Jeff Brimhall, Dr. David W. Jensen Feb 2014

Torsion Testing Of The Isotruss, Jeff Brimhall, Dr. David W. Jensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The IsoTruss is an innovative structural member made up of a unique geometric configuration and composite material that has tremendous potential for use in civil infrastructure, aerospace and other applications. This unique geometric configuration, which uses minimal material, yet maintains a very high strength. This greatly reduces the weight of the structure and causes the strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios to skyrocket.

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Evaporation Losses In The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Krey H. Price Feb 2014

Evaporation Losses In The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Krey H. Price

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge has long been an important haven for migrating waterfowl in North America. During the wet years of 1983-84, however, the refuge was inundated and closed. The refuge has since reopened, but reconstruction of water control structures continues. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has requested an evaporation study as a part of the refuge’s water budget to enable more accurate calibration of inflows to and outflows from the individual ponds in the refuge. This study applied computer modeling to estimate evaporation losses from the refuge’s ponds and marshes.

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Fuzzy Logic Control Of An Inverted Pendulum, Sean Lynn Mckell Feb 2014

Fuzzy Logic Control Of An Inverted Pendulum, Sean Lynn Mckell

Journal of Undergraduate Research

A little-known phenomenon recently explored by a few engineers seems, to some, to be a little out of focus. This phenomenon, dubbed “fuzzy logic” by its inventor, Lotfi A. Zadeh, is an oxymoron to mostit connotes something ethereal and misplaced in a field such as engineering which demands precision in order to produce results which work and do something useful. This “fuzzy” thinking, as an engineer might say, should instead be found in the circles of those humanists who often are immersed in endless debates about whether life is real or not.

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Ground-Effect Flight, Troy Schank, Dr. Paul Eastman Feb 2014

Ground-Effect Flight, Troy Schank, Dr. Paul Eastman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Ground-effect is a well-known phenomenon that occurs as an aircraft approaches the surface of the earth. Flight in ground-effect changes the characteristics of the airflow around the wing causing both positive and negative effects. Though ground-effect is a well-known phenomenon, the details of lift and drag are less understood. I was able to gain an understanding of the details of ground effect from existing studies and learn from my own experiments in this research.

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Design And Fabrication Of A Water Tunnel For The Byu Mechanical Engineering Department, Lon M. Stevens, Dr. Daniel R. Maynes Feb 2014

Design And Fabrication Of A Water Tunnel For The Byu Mechanical Engineering Department, Lon M. Stevens, Dr. Daniel R. Maynes

Journal of Undergraduate Research

A water tunnel is essential for visualization, validation, and experimental analysis of the fundamental fluid dynamic behavior of flowing liquids. Water tunnels come in a variety of geometric dimensions, which are dependent upon the type of fluid flows that are of interest. It was proposed for this project that a water tunnel be designed to be used for research and instruction in the Mechanical Engineering Department. The test section of the proposed design will be three feet long, eight inches wide, and eight inches high and manufactured from transparent Plexiglas. Water will flow from one side of the tunnel to …

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Systems Integration Of The Goldhelox X-Ray Telescope, Paul F. Eastman, Dr. Thomas J. Utley Jr. Feb 2014

Systems Integration Of The Goldhelox X-Ray Telescope, Paul F. Eastman, Dr. Thomas J. Utley Jr.

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The GoldHelox X-Ray Telescope is an undergraduate project of the Brigham Young University Physics Department in conjunction with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It is a fully autonomous robotic telescope and camera system capable of converting x-rays in the range of 171 angstroms into visible light and capturing the source images on 35mm film. This particular wavelength corresponds to the frequency of x-rays emitted by solar flares erupting from the surface of the sun, and by imaging only the x-rays emitted by the flares themselves, the effect will be to strip away much of the rest of the solar …

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Considerations In The Design Of A Prosthetic Foot Using Compliant Design And Analysis Techniques, Kenneth E. Richardson Feb 2014

Considerations In The Design Of A Prosthetic Foot Using Compliant Design And Analysis Techniques, Kenneth E. Richardson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The modeling of the human body is not an easy task. Designers of artificial organs and prosthetic devices have the unenviable goal of attempting to duplicate (or at least satisfactorily approximate) the motion and function of the greatest and most powerful machine on the face of the earth. Any new tool that could be used in such design would be valuable and useful. Compliant mechanism theory and design is one such tool.

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Limitations Of One-Dimensional Surface Water Models, Todd J. Strong, Dr. Alan K. Zundel Feb 2014

Limitations Of One-Dimensional Surface Water Models, Todd J. Strong, Dr. Alan K. Zundel

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Using the Surface Water Modeling System (SMS), models were generated to reflect the situation of bridge abutments being placed in the flow path of a river. Two types of models were generated, a one-dimensional (1D) model and a two-dimensional (2D) mesh. To analyze the models, the 1D program WSPRO and the 2D program FESWMS were used. The 2D models contain more properties of the system, allowing them to be much more characteristic of the actual river, and provide more accurate results. However, 2D models take much more time to generate, edit and analyze. In our tests, the average time to …

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Educational Software For Toddler-Age Children Castle: Computer Aided Steps To Learning, Scott D. Frel, Benjamin W. Holladay Feb 2014

Educational Software For Toddler-Age Children Castle: Computer Aided Steps To Learning, Scott D. Frel, Benjamin W. Holladay

Journal of Undergraduate Research

CAStLe was developed during the Spring of 1995. The primary purose of the project was to complete the requirements for the mandatory senior project all Electrical and Computer Engineering majors must complete. With the support provided by the Office of Research and Creative Activities, this project was enhanced with sound, graphics and a friendly user interface using some of the best product development tools available to date.

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Evaluation Of The Tendency Of Biomaterials To Produce Microemboli, Jesse Hamilton Feb 2014

Evaluation Of The Tendency Of Biomaterials To Produce Microemboli, Jesse Hamilton

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Many people in today’s society depend on devices that contact their blood. Devices such as dialyzers and blood oxygenators are used every day in hemodialysis or coronary bypass. More permanent fixtures are also used such as artificial kidneys and hearts. These devices are wonderful and have contributed to longer and fuller lives for many people. However, man’s attempt to simulate the functions of the human body are simple at best, and there are serious problems that arise. These problems are tolerated by the medical profession at present because (1) they are not completely understood, and (2) the risks posed by …

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Computer Simulation Of Synthetic Aperture Radar, Adam Robertson, Dr. David V. Arnold Feb 2014

Computer Simulation Of Synthetic Aperture Radar, Adam Robertson, Dr. David V. Arnold

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Microwave Earth Remote Sensing group in the BYU Department of Electrical Engineering has developed several Synthetic Aperture Radars (SAR). SARs transmit many short bursts of energy from a satellite or airplane. The bursts of energy are reflected by whatever is in their path. Some of the reflected signals return to the same place that they were transmitted from and are sampled by the radar system. Materials reflect the pulses differently depending on their roughness and their electromagnetic properties, similar to how light bouncing off an object may be bright or dull, blue or red. The received pulses are processed …

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Complexation Reactions And Structure Of The Iron-Molybdenum Cofactor Of Nitrogenase, Dean Wheeler Feb 2014

Complexation Reactions And Structure Of The Iron-Molybdenum Cofactor Of Nitrogenase, Dean Wheeler

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As described in the proposal submitted last year for this project, there is a great need to further understand the dynamics and processes of the nitrogenase system. Using this chemical system a limited number of microorganisms are able to break down atmospheric nitrogen so it may be used by other organisms. The heart of the matter-where the reduction of nitrogen takes place-is a small cluster of atoms located inside the dinitrogenase protein. This cluster is known as the iron-molybdenum cofactor or FeMoco.

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Methane Recovery At Springville Wastewater, Rochelle Phillips, Dr. William Hecker, Dr. Vincent Wilding Feb 2014

Methane Recovery At Springville Wastewater, Rochelle Phillips, Dr. William Hecker, Dr. Vincent Wilding

Journal of Undergraduate Research

During the treatment of municipal wastewater, several means are used to accomplish the breakdown of the wastewater and its solid components into innocuous substances. At one point, the filtered solids are combined in a digester with various bacteria. These bacteria convert the waste into carbon dioxide, methane gas, water, and small amounts of hydrogen sulfide.

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The Effects Of Winglets At Low Speeds, Brian Johansen Feb 2014

The Effects Of Winglets At Low Speeds, Brian Johansen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of an airplane wing is to provide lift by creating a pressure gradient between the top and bottom of the wing. However, this pressure gradient causes some inherent problems at the wing tip. A vortex forms when the high pressure from the bottom side of the wing flows around the wig tip to the top side of the wing. This vortex is detrimental not only to the lift that the wing can produce but to the fuel efficiency of the airplane.

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Building Software Radios Using Fpgas, Preston A. Jackson, Dr. Brad L. Hutchings Feb 2014

Building Software Radios Using Fpgas, Preston A. Jackson, Dr. Brad L. Hutchings

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The ability to implement a commercial AM and FM radio receiver on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) has only recently become possible. FPGAs, the bottleneck technology, have made recent gains is speed and size that allow a signal demodulator to be designed completely in software. As shown below, two additional conversion systems are needed beyond the software demodulator, namely the analog to digital conversion system and the digital to analog conversion system.

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The Role Of Grain Boundary Misorientation In Intergranular Cracking Of Copper, John W. Bean Feb 2014

The Role Of Grain Boundary Misorientation In Intergranular Cracking Of Copper, John W. Bean

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This report will summarize the efforts and results of the research conducted by John Bean on the role of grain boundary misorientations in intergranular cracking of copper-based metals. This research was conducted during the period of Sept. 1993 toApril1994. I was not able to prove all that I had originally proposed to do because of certain difficulties I will explain below. My research was ended when the equipment I was using was moved at the end of the 1994 winter semester. This report will briefly describe the purpose of my research and the difficulties that I encountered.

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