Engineering Commons^™

An Investigation Into A Least Squares Method For Image Registration, Ernest William Cordon

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

One of the problems associated with the automatic image processing of satellite photographs such as weather maps is the need for image registration; that is, the fitting of a map that has some translational and rotational bias to a known data base. This paper investigates a least square method of image registration using an image that has been converted into a boundary map with a pixel representation 1 for land, -1 for water and zero for cloud pixels. A sampled correlation array is constructed by shifting the weather map to locations on a given grid, centered around a sampled correlation …

A Case Study Of A Solar Augmented Heating System Versus A Solar Assisted Heat Pump, Louis P. Braleski

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The usage and applications of solar energy are numerous; however, it's still in its infancy. The subject matter discusses two applications of solar energy, a "Solar Augmented Heated System" and a "Solar Assisted Heat Pump." The solar augmented system and the solar assisted system have the same components; however, the way they are used is of primary concern. A solar system in parallel with a heat pump is called "Solar Augmented Heating System" or in series with a heat pump is a "Solar Assisted Heat Pump." A 2000 ft2 house was utilized as the basis of the design. The heating …

Inviscid Two-Dimensional Vortex-Panel Method For Calculating The Pressure Distribution Over Noncircular Cylinders At Various Flow Incidence Angles, Sophia Kokkinos Ashley

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A method. has been implemented to calculate the potential flow pressure distribution over noncircular cylinders at various flow incidence angles. The inviscid, solution has been obtained by replacing the surface of a noncircular cylinder with a vortex sheet. The surface has been approximated by a number of flat panels. Each vortex panel has been assumed to have a constant vorticity, and the condition of no-circulation applied.. Solutions yield the local tangential velocity and pressure coefficient at each point.

The accuracy of the method has 'been established through comparison of the predicted results with existing exact theoretical results.

Comparisons of the …

An Experimental Investigation Of A Turbulent Boundary Layer With Suction Through Closely Spaced Streamwise Slots, Stephen P. Wilkinson

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The object of this research was to experimentally evaluate a suction surface for use with incompressible turbulent boundary layers. The surface consisted of an array of closely spaced slots aligned in the direction of the free stream flow. Direct drag and mean boundary layer velocity profile measurements showed that the slotted surface had nominally the same suction characteristics as the porous surface.

Design, Calibration, And Application Of A Sensor For Measuring Time Dependent Angle Of Attack Of Helicopter Blades, Weiyuan Henry Liu

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Various pressure probes were designed and tested which could be attached to helicopter blades when a helicopter is in flight. The pressure probes consisted of spherical heads which were held in place by cylindrical shanks. Built inside the heads were transducers to measure the pressure differential between pressure ports which were located on the front portion of the spherical head facing the airstream. Data was obtained over a range of airstream velocity of 11,6 to 88.4- m/s (38 to 290 ft/sec), corresponding to Reynolds numbers of 0.24 to 1.84x10⁵ based on the sphere diameter. Both static and dynamic tests …

The Fracture Toughness Of Steel-Aluminum Deformation Welds, Charles Ellis Albright Jr

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

A study of the fracture toughness (in this case, Gic) of steel-aluminum deformation welds using a specially developed double cantilever beam fracture toughness specimen is presented. Welds made at 350C were heat treated at 360, 380, 400, 420 and 440 C.

An intermetallic reaction product layer of Fe2Al5 is formed at the steel-aluminum interface with increasing heat treating temperature and time by a process of nucleation and growth of discrete particles. A transition in toughness from a higher average Gic value (6097 N/m) to a very low average Gic value (525 N/m) is observed. The decrease in toughness is accomplished …

Improvement To The Solution Of Stefan-Like Freezing And Melting Problems, With Application To Lmfbr Safety Analysis, Mohamed Shafik El-Genk

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

This work involves development of improvements to two analytical methods to predict the instantaneous position of the moving phase-change front in one-dimensional Stefan-like problems. These techniques, the refined integral heat balance and the upper and lower bounds averaging methods, are useful in practical applications for reactor safety analysis, under hypothesized conditions leading to molten fuel relocation problems. With such applications in mind, the two methods are applied to four different one-dimensional problems which involve change-of­phase, with or without a convective boundary condition at the moving front. Comparison with the exact solution has been presented whenever possible; ultimately, all solutions have …

Dynamics Of Submerged Cylindrical Shells With Eccentric Stiffening, Kerry Kier-Ten Chu

Dissertations

A theoretical analysis is presented for treating the free vibrations of submerged, ring stiffened cylindrical shells with simply supported ends. The effects of the eccentric stiffeners are averaged over the thin-walled isotropic cylindrical shell. The energy method is utilized and the frequency equation is derived by Hamilton's Principle. All three degrees of freedom are considered. Numerical results are presented for frequencies and mode separation for several cases of interest. Comparisons with previous theoretical and experimental results indicate good agreement. The cylindrical wave approximation and the plane wave approximation for the field equation were investigated. Their applicability was evaluated and the …

The Continuous Non-Equilibrium Parametric Pump: A Theoretical And Experimental Study, John Lawrence Rak

Dissertations

A continuous parametric pump in which the feed and product streams flow steadily both in upflow and downflow (hot and cold temperatures, respectively) is examined theoretically and experimentally. The model system is Sodium Chloride-Water-Bio Rad AG11A8 Ion Retardation Resin, a physical system characterized by relatively slow interphase mass transfer rates. For short half-cycle times, where interphase equilibrium is not approached, separation of the salt from water is found to be enhanced by longer half-cycle times, smaller reservoir displacements, and longer adsorbant columns. In most cases, separation improves with increasing number of cycles. However, steadily degrading separation is found to exist …

Deposition Of Suspensions In Laminar Flow In The Entrance Region Of Channels With Diffusive, Electrostatic And Gravitational Effects, Thomas Anthony Korjack

Dissertations

This investigation entailed the consideration of the deposition of suspensions in laminar flow in the entrance region of a parallel-plate channel, and both converging and diverging channels, under the combined influences of diffusive, electrostatic and gravitational effects. The fluid phase was assumed to be incompressible, steady and laminar; the particle phase was assumed to be steady, laminar, dilute, and with negligible lift force.

The complete solution of the problem involved solving the boundary layer equations for the completely viscous fluid phase, and the particulate momentum, continuity and potential equations for the particle phase. Since the resulting equations are non-linear partial …

Paper Recycling : Recovery Of Secondary Fibers By Selective Wettability, Gary Keith Welshans

Dissertations

A separation process has been developed which recovers similar paper grades from a mixed stock by selective wettability. This process capitalizes on the various paper additives which are intended to resist water wetting and result in paper flotation. While water can be used to achieve many desirable paper separations, the detention times required are excessive, and therefore, limit any industrial application. Surface-active agents, in low concentrations, can be used advantageously by reducing the detention times for all paper while the structure of the surfactant can be used to selectively recover similar papers over a controlled time period. Detention times have …

Possible Efficiency Improvements In Residential, Gas Fired Furnances, Philip Louis Rinaldi

Theses

This project examines the problem of how to improve energy utilization in a residential space heating environment. Techniques for lowering unit energy consumption are developed and the feasibility of their implementation is discussed.

The project development first establishes the magnitude of the energy wastage problem for the individual consumer and its impact on the national scale. It must be emphasized that these represent two, sometimes distinctly different justifications for reducing energy use in the home. What may be considered only a small personal waste of $50 to $100 per year may indeed--when viewed in aggregate--represent a significant burden on the …

A Kinetic Study Of The Reactions Of Poly-L-Lysine With 1-Halo-2, 4-Dinitrobenzenes, Raymond K. Rakowitz

Theses

The kinetics of the reactions of poly-L-lysine with 1-Fluoro, 1-Chloro, 1-Bromo, and 1-Iodo-2,4-Dinitrobenzenes have been studied. The investigation was done at 25°C as a function of pH and concentration. In all cases the rate of reaction increased as pH increased. In the reactions of Chloro, Bromo, and Iododinitrobenzenes with Polylysine the reaction rate is the composite of two rates; one associated with the random coil and one associated with the helical conformation. For the reaction of Fluorodinitrobenzene with Polylysine the reaction rate is the composite of four rates; two associated with the random coil and two associated with the helical …

The Countercurrent Multistage Desorption Of The Acetic Acid/Water Solution With An Inert Vapor, Michael John Danko

Theses

The desorption of a acetic acid and water solution with an inert gas was experimentally investigated using a perforated plate distillation column having 17 actual trays. An inert air stream flowing countercurrent was used to strip the water from the acetic acid and water solution.

The feed composition was 0.2509 mole fraction acetic acid. The experimental results showed the best obtainable separation to be 0.16118 and 0.3965 mole fraction acetic acid in the overhead condensate and bottoms respectively, at an average column operating temperature of 56.0 degrees centigrade. The concentration of acetic acid predicted by calculation is 0.003917 and 0.9860 …

The Slow Settling Of A Sphere In A Viscous Fluid In The Proximity Of A Corner, Joseph Kisutcza

Theses

Experimental settling velocities for three different sizes of Delrin spheres in Ucon lubricant were determined at 20.2 degrees Celsius in order to confirm the validity of a theoretically derived equation for the settling of a sphere in the proximity of a corner. The experiments were conducted in a wedge shaped column with a circular sector base, filled with the viscous fluid, where the angle of the wedge was varied for experimental purposes. The distance from the wedge apex to the particle was also changed for the different runs.

The experimental data gave a good approximation of the values evaluated by …

Semicontinous Ph-Parametric Pump : Experimental Study, Hsien-Chih Lee

Theses

Voidage of SP Sephadex (C-50) ion exchanger at different aqueous buffer concentration and the pH have been estimated from draining the interstitial aqueous. Experimental results of the SP Sephadex (C-50) voidage at pH cycling zone are in quantitative agreement with previous test method, so the voidage estimated from draining the interstital aqueous can be used in pH-parametric pumping. The optional displacement volume in semicontinuous pH-parametric pump of different buffer concentration can be predicted from voidage. A semicontinuous pH-parametric pump for separating proteins has been experimentally investigated using the model system haemoglobin and albumin on a. SP Sephadex (C-50) ion exchanger. …

Management Of Manpower Planning In A Job Shop, John E. Yadlon

Theses

The object of any system of manpower planning is to provide a means to optimize manpower utilization. Within this base there is the normal requirement to provide effective utilization of equipment, materials and manpower. In a production type of environment, studies, statistics, research and supervisory manpower are readily available to best optimize manpower planning. In a job shop environment only fragments of these elements are available. Also, the available supervisory time for studies and implementation of research into statistics is usually very small. The net result is that manpower management in a job shop is all too often guessed at. …

The Introduction Of A Computerized Production Control System In A Small Manufacturing Company, Harry Leroy Zimmerly

Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to acquaint the reader with the intricacies of introducing a computerized production control system into a small manufacturing company. To do this a hypothetical company was described as it existed with a manual production control system. The information flow of the manual system was described in detail.

Potential computerized production control systems with a shop data collection system were then investigated. A computerized system would expedite information flow, allow rapid assembly tracking, take accurate data and reveal the actual cost (including labor cost) of an assembly. This was done first by examining technical publications. …

A Comprehensive Study Of Excimer Laser Systems, Robert Ray Butcher

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Rare gas halogen lasers are finding increasing usage as an intense source of ultraviolet energy. Many applications require a high energy laser capable of operation at reasonably high repetition rates. Elec­trical discharge pumping satisfies these requirements quite nicely, however to date little has been reported on the discharge character­istics of this class of laser. This paper describes a parametric study done on electrical discharge excimer laser systems.

We have designed and tested a flashboard pre-ionized excimer laser utilizing a cable pulse forming network (PFN) for the main discharge. Extensive voltage and current data were taken with various gas mixtures at …

A Design Study For A Wavy Hydrodynamic Mechanical Face Seal, Raymond Edward Pierce

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

A desirable objective of mechanical face seal design is to achieve the maximum hydrodynamic load support possible while main­taining an acceptable leakage. In this way, mechanical face seal life can be greatly extended as the wear of the seal faces is significantly reduced. It has been shown that circumferentially varying waviness of one of the faces of a mechanical face seal causes such hydrodynamic lubrication.

The objective of this investigation is to examine the performance characteristics of the wavy mechanical face seal by studying the effects of certain design parameters. Seal performance is measured by leakage and wear rate. The …

A Mathematical Model Of Stratified Bi-Directional Flow Through The Railroad Causeway Embankment Of Great Salt Lake, James T. Cameron

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A two-dimensional, finite-element, porous-media flow model is developed to simulate stratified bi-directional flow of brine through the earth embankment carrying the Southern Pacific Railroad across Great Salt Lake. The model is part of a two-year research program whose objective is to develop a computer model of circulation in Great Salt Lake. This overall model is to be used as a predictive device for salinity distributions and circulation patterns in the lake. The porous media flow model is designed to establish flow rates through the Southern Pacific Railroad causeway embankment which traverses the north central part of the lake and divides …

Engineering Properties, And Slope Stability And Settlement Analysis Related To Phosphate Mine Spoil Dumps In Southeastern Idaho, Richard Ellsworth Riker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The engineering properties of waste spoil from phosphate mines in Southeastern Idaho were determined through field and laboratory testing. The testing included compaction tests, grain size analysis, powder x-ray defraction tests, permeability tests, compression tests, triaxial and direct shear strength tests, and nutrient analyses. Based on these tests, the slope stability and settlement characteristics of phosphate spoil dumps were investigated.

The study showed that the foundation is an important component of the stability of a spoil dump. Hypothetical examples were used to illustrate possible modes of foundation failures. Such failures might occur when weak foundation soils exist or when there …

A Mathematical Model Of The Dispersion Of A Concentrated Substance For Use In The Great Salt Lake's South Arm, Anthony O. Rughellis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The ability to predict the dispersion of substances in the Great Salt Lake is a requisite towards making responsible management decisions relating to uses of the lake. The lake is a complex terminal body of water and will require a fairly sophisticated mathematical model to properly simulate the dispersion process in the lake. This finite element convection-dispersion model is a first step towards developing a comprehensive model.

The model provides a finite element solution to the two-dimensional convection-dispersion equation and is capable of simulating steady or unsteady-state situations. It utilizes a known velocity field, dispersion coefficients, an introduced substance concentration, …

Geothermal Energy: Heat Extraction From Hot-Dry-Rock Masses In The Presence Of Secondary Thermal Cracks, Yaw-Min Lu

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Additional heat extraction from geothermal energy reservoirs depends on the feasibility to extend the main, hydraulic fracture through secondary thermal cracks of the adjacent hot rock. When the main, hydraulic fracture is cooled sufficiently, these secon­dary thermal cracks are produced normal to the main fracture surface, As such, both the heat transfer surface area and heat energy available to the fluid circulating through the main, hydraulic fracture system increase.

An Investigation Into The Transport Properties And Kinetic Parameters Of Single Coal Particles During Devolatilization, Gregory Forrest Roach

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

This study focuses on the devolatilization step that occurs in the process of coal gasification. This is a key economic step for both the Lurgi synthetic natural gas process and the in-situ gasification that are being proposed for New Mexican coals. The findings of this study may be used by industry to improve the design and operation of these processes.

The work presented is an investigation into the transport properties and kinetic parameters that govern the extent of pyrolysis for single particles of subbituminous coal from the San Juan Basin in north-west New Mexico. The unique feature of this work …

Axisymmetric Air Jet Impinging On A Hemispherical Concave Plate, Stefan Jachna

Dissertations

This experimental study was conducted on an axisymmetric air jet impinging normally on a smooth, hemispherical, concave plate. The jet Reynolds numbers, based on bulk nozzle velocity and nozzle exit air properties, were between 14,000 and 75,000.

The impingement plate used in this work was a hemispherical surface with the radius of 94 mm.

Calibrated Pitot tubes and a micromanometer were used for pressure and velocity measurements. The Pitot tubes were mounted on precision positioning mechanisms permitting the accurate traversing of any direction in space. The test air flow rate was measured with calibrated rotometers.

The following results of this …

Desublimation Of Water Vapor At Low Pressure And Evaporative Freezing Of Seawater, Sun Sea Pao

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

The Vacuum-Freezing Vapor-Desublimation and High Pressure Ice-Melting Process has been developed since 1972. In 1976, Mr. T. C. Chung finished a theoretical study of Low Pressure Water Vapor Desublimation Operation. The writer was a co-worker of Mr. Chung, and had worked with him for the study for four months. The information collected in Mr. Chung's thesis was borrowed and edited as Chapters 1 and 2 in the present thesis. Mr. Chung's theory predicts the rate of water vapor desublimation as a function of the difference between operating temperature and desublimer wall temperature. In the present thesis, experimental rates of desublimation …

A Simple, Inexpensive Spinning-Drop Interfacial Tensiometer, Humoud S. Al-Rabiah

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

A spinning-drop interfacial tensiometer was designed, built, and tested. The device is very simple, inexpensive to build, and easy to operate compared with other spinningdrop tensiometers.

The tensiometer measures the interfacial tension of liquid-liquid or liquid-vapor systems. Interfacial tensions of three systems were measured to test the device: water-heptane, glycerol-heptane, and glycerol-air.

Experimental results agree with literature values within one percent for the glycerol-heptane system. The variations among the values for the liquid-liquid systems at different rotational speeds are within six percent. Repeated experiments with different drop sizes show that drop size of the glycerol-air system may affect the results. …

Dielectric Strength Of Sio₂ In A Cmos Transistor Structure, Jerry Malin Soden

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The maximum dielectric strength distribution of SiO₂ in a CMOS structure is shown to be composed of a primary, normal distribution of high dielectric strength and a low dielectric strength group spread through the lower electric field region. The maximum dielectric strength in the primary distribution is within about 0.5 MV/cm of the dielectric strength reported for uniform thickness SiO₂ in capacitor studies. This indicates the maximum dielectric strength of SiO₂ in a properly fabricated CMOS structure can be nearly as high as the maximum obtainable dielectric strength of uniform SiO₂. The primary dielectric strength …

Charge Storage Nonvolatile Semiconductor Memory Device, Dae Yeong Joh

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Semiconductor memory elements have been fabricated on silicon utilizing reactively evaporated TiO₂ as the charge storage insulator medium. The dielectric and charge storage properties of TiO₂ films have been characterized as a function of TiO₂ deposition conditions and post-deposition heat-treatment. Experimental results indicate a strong dependence of the film properties on fabrication process parameter such as oxygen pressure during deposition, substrate temperature, and post-deposition heat-treatment temperature and time. Data taken on the test devices show that both dielectric constant and charge storage properties are enhanced by reactive evaporation of TiO₂ in an oxygen ambient and substrate …