Engineering Commons^™

Design Of A Near-Constant Force Spring For Orthopedic Implants, Christopher Hartman, Paul Rotarius

Honors Theses

The design and testing of a spring assembly for the attachment of an orthopedic implant is presented. The assembly is intended to supply a constant compressive force of approximately 800 lb. at the bone-implant interface, while exhibiting insensitivity to changes in the displacement of the clamping device. This near-constant force will aid in-growth of bone tissue at the implant surface. This constant compressive force was ultimately not attained due to the packaging dimensions and materials available. However, significant improvement was made upon the current design in use by lowering the spring constant around 800 lb.

The final assembly fits in …

Toward Automated Detection And Diagnosis Of Mammographic Microcalcifications, Imad Mohammad Zyout

Dissertations

Mammographie diagnosis is the most effective technique to detect breast cancer in its infancy when it is most responsive to treatment. An early and a significant indicator of breast cancer is the presence of clustered microcalcifications (MCs). Mammographie MCs greatly vary in their appearance and shape, and become indistinguishable when surrounded by dense breast tissue. This makes radiologist's interpretation of mammograms a tedious and an error prone task.

Although computer aided diagnosis (CAD) methods are being developed to aid radiologist in detecting and analyzing the malignancy of MCs, existing systems have not achieved a satisfactory performance. The specificity of existing …

Development Of A Task Assignment Tool To Customize Job Descriptions And Close Person-Job Fit Gaps, Bryan W. Booker

Dissertations

Does the knowledge worker fit the job or should the job fit the knowledge worker? This research developed a methodology and a tool to customize a knowledge worker’s job design to better fit their knowledge, skills, abilities and characteristics. The research outcomes support the customization of the job design to improve person-job fit, the documentation of the customized job design as a position description, and the use of a structured person-task assignment process. The recommended task assignment process includes a job aid that uses multivariate equations to predict expected task performance. Data were collected from two knowledge worker sub-groups: lean …

An Automated Framework For Defect Detection In Concrete Bridge Decks Using Fractals And Independent Component Analysis, Fadi Abu-Amara

Dissertations

Bridge decks deteriorate over time as a result of deicing salts, freezing-andthawing, and heavy use, resulting in internal defects. According to a 2006 study by the American Society of Civil Engineers, 29% of bridges in the United States are considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a promising non-destructive evaluation technique for assessing subsurface conditions of bridge decks. However, the analysis of GPR scans is typically done manually, where the accuracy of the detection process depends on the technician's trained eye. In this work, a framework is developed to automate the detection, localization, and characterization of …

Pattern Recognition For Fault Detection, Classification, And Localization In Electrical Power Systems, Qais Hashim Alsafasfeh

Dissertations

The longer it takes to identify and repair a fault, the more damage may result in the electrical power system, especially in periods of peak loads, which could lead to the collapse of the system, causing the power outage to extend for a longer period and larger parts of the electrical network. Reducing the outage time and immediate restoration of service can be achieved if the fault type and location are determined in a timely and precise manner.

An integrated algorithm that is based on generating unique signatures from the electric current signal to detect, classify, and localize a fault …

Design Of Adaptive Collective Foraging In Swarm Robotic Systems, Hanyi Dai

Dissertations

Inspired by the collective behavior observed in biological colonies, swarm robotics is a new approach to design a distributed control algorithm in order to coordinate a group of simple robots performing a complex group task. With only limited computation and communication ability of individual robots, one of the challenges in designing such multi-robotic systems is to understand the effect of individual robots behavior on the group performance. This thesis dedicates the research to designing a set of local interaction and adaptation rule for individual robots so that optimized collective foraging performance can be achieved at group level.

The research starts …

A Decision Model For Nurse-To-Patient Assignment, Ilgin Acar

Dissertations

A critical consequence of the current nurse shortage in the US may be an increase in the workloads on hospital nurses. Heavy workloads have been identified as a major cause of job dissatisfaction among hospital nurses and may ultimately lead to a reduction in the quality of patient care. A focus on the balancing of the workload among scheduled nurses through patient assignments can help to alleviate the chance of assigning excessive workloads to one or more nurses during a shift. Nurse-to-patient assignment, the final stage of the nurse planning was the main intention of this study. It is reasonable …

Modeling The Momentum And Mass Transfer Within A Micro-Scale Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell For Flows Within The Slip Flow Regime, Sean Tamarun Goudy

Dissertations

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems are heterogeneous catalytic systems. Although there are many computational models that describe the behavior of PEM fuel cells, few simulate the catalyst surface concentration of reactant gases at the catalyst layer-membrane layer inteface. Most PEM fuel cell models make no distinction between the bulk concentration of reactants and the catalyst surface concentration of reactants. It is the surface concentration that is key when studying PEM fuel cell systems: the reactions occur at the surface of the catalyst.

In addition, few model the dynamics within the non-continuum flow region near the solid surfaces of …

Optimum Failure Truncated Testing Strategies, Erik Kostandyan

Dissertations

Accumulated fatigue damage on mechanical components due to random stress loads eventually causes failure. Therefore products with lower failure rates are more desirable. Testing mechanical components for their intended purpose under predetermined working conditions is a common practice used by industries to prevent failures. Fatigue tests are categorized as Time Truncated or Failure Truncated, known in the literature as Type I and Type II tests, respectively. In failure truncated tests, the mechanical components are tested until the desired number of results is obtained. The parameters of a typical failure truncated test include the capacity of the test facility, the actual …

Optimizing Green Sand Properties Of Fluidized Sand From Aeration And Developing New Green Sand Testing Technique, Ananda Mani Paudel

Dissertations

Aeration sand filling is a new molding technique in foundry. Using this technique, sand with smooth flow can be filled in any orientation and shape using low-pressure air. This is not possible by conventional gravity and high-pressure blow filling techniques. Aeration was introduced as an energy-efficient and environmentally- friendly sand molding technique. In addition, aeration has its niche on quality of molds it could produce. Friability, one of the crucial green properties for the quality mold was significantly low in aeration in comparison to the gravity and high-pressure blow filling. The fluidization action in aeration acted upon the sand clay …

Site Design Of A Four-Story 11,705 Sq-Ft Class A Office Building, Britney Richmond, Allison Porrett, Kimberly Warners

Honors Theses

This senior capstone design project was a two-semester long venture that began last fall with the formation of the team, the selection of the sponsored project, and the conclusion of a proposal. The purpose of the proposal was for the senior design team to display a thorough understanding of the project's scope of work and to declare the deliverables agreed upon by the team. The team began contact with the sponsor, Hurley &Stewart, prior to beginning the proposal writing in order to gain more details about the project at hand and to ask any questions. The team chose to add …