Engineering Commons^™

Assessing Pesticide Contamination To Groundwater: A Rapid Approach, Majid Ehteshami, Richard C. Peralta, Hubert Eisele, Howard M. Deer, Terry Tindall

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

A methodology has been developed for identifying hazardous pesticides/site combinations threatening ground-water contamination. Screening methodologies are required to determine which locations and pesticides now in use should receive the greatest attention to safeguard the public health. The presented method uses a hazard to ground-water hydrogeological screening model (DRASTIC) and employs a one-dimensional pesticide transport model ( CMLS). The method is an efficient and practical technique to identify where particular combinations of pesticides, water management practices, soils, and geology result in the greatest potential hazard to ground-water contamination. Use of the presented approach can reduce sampling needs and expense.

Effect Of Passive Flow-Control Devices On The Drug Of A Tractor-Trailer Model, Jagjit K. Ahuja

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The aerodynamic drag of tractor trailers is responsible for approximately half of the fuel consumption at highway speeds (55m.p.h.). Thus, it is important that vehicle drag be reduced in order to reduce operating costs and to conserve fuel. The purpose of the subject research conducted in the Old Dominion University Low-Speed Wind Tunnel was to determine the effect of various add-on flow-control devices, such as a cab-mounted flow deflector and gap seals between the tractor and the trailer. In addition, the effect of trailer rear-edge shaping has been studied. This was accomplished by contouring the trailer's rear end. It has …

Factors Influencing Preparation Needed Of Future Industrial Technology Department Leaders In Higher Education, Rajendra L. Desai

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The object of this study was to help future industrial technology department leaders in higher education develop effective planning strategies and prioritize their preparation before they sought leadership positions in industrial technology. Two hundred fifty-four industrial technology department leaders in higher education from all over the United States were asked to respond to a questionnaire. A five point Likert-type scale was used to rate the importance of 58 statements identified from Marshall's (1984) study. One hundred sixty (62.99%) usable responses formed the basis of this study.

Mean values and standard deviations were determined for all the statements. The grand mean …

Toward The Optimization Of Cell Operator Productivity In Computer Integrated Manufacturing, David Leonard Gobeski

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) has been seen as the answer to maintaining the lead in American productivity. The cell operator was seen as being critical to the success of CIM. The design of the operator's job was seen as very important. As manufacturing engineers design cell jobs, including the roles and tasks, with the operators, it was believed important for the engineer to know what motivated the cell operator. However, past studies of supervisors and their subordinates have shown that supervisors are unable to predict the importance of the elements of job enrichment of the subordinates. It was questioned whether …

Surface Treatment Of Cast Iron By Adding Different Alloying Elements To Form Metallic Glass Structure Layer Using An Industrial Carbon Dioxide Laser, Mohammad Riahi

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Wear and corrosion are the two factors that make utilization of metals very costly. Extraordinary amount of time and money is spent to replace metallic parts affected by either wear or corrosion. Cast iron that is used very widely in a host of different industrial products is one such metal. Among the various methods used to improve the properties of metals, production of amorphous metals is highly noticeable. This process is done by treating the base metal in a certain technique which produces a metal that is more resistant to wear and corrosion.

This study was conducted to examine the …

Perceived Importance Of Identified Duties And Tasks In The Area Of Design/Drafting Management, John Edward Shultz

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of the study, was to determine the importance of identified duties to the career success of a newly hired design/drafting employee aspiring to become a supervisor or manager as perceived by design/drafting managers and university professors. An opinionnaire was developed which consisted of 141 tasks which were grouped into 13 general duties. The 13 duties represented the job functions for design/drafting managers. The opinionnaire was validated utilizing a jury of experts consisting of eight design/drafting managers and five university professors. It was then mailed to the membership of the American Design Drafting Association (ADDA) who identified themselves as …

An Analysis Of Reinforced Concrete Composites Utilizing Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate Thermoplastic, Jaroslav V. Vaverka

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Removing plastic from landfills does not solve the solid waste problem entirely. Plastic products are difficult to recycle because, unlike aluminum or glass, the plastics used in food packaging cannot be reused for the same purpose. Among the commonly used plastic resins, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has been widely adopted by the packaging industry. This research study was concerned with recycling of PET thermoplastic in concrete as a way to reduce the volume of solid waste.

Current surveys of recycling efforts reveal that existing PET recycling approaches have become inadequate. Solid waste management is stressing the eminent need for new recycling …

Continuum Modeling Methodology For Dynamic Behavior Of Towers, Khaled A. Obeid

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A very common problem in Civil Engineering is the analysis and design of lattice structures. These types of structures generally consist of repetitive sections and have been utilized in the erection of transmission and communication towers, space roof trusses, solar energy collectors, and space platforms. Since lattice structures consist of a significantly large number of members and subsequently a large number of nodes, the classical discrete technique of analysis can be very expensive even on today's modern computers. This study applies a rational approach which capitalizes on the repetitive nature of towers to develop the equivalent continuum model for the …

Numerical Modeling Of Flame Lift-Off Phenomenon And Calculation Of Thermal Loads On A Methane Fuel Injector With Complex Geometry, Taj O. Mohieldin

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A numerical study has been conducted to analyze a fuel injector with three in-line cylinder geometry that has been adopted as a model for investigating the combustion phenomenon in the 8-Foot High Temperature Tunnel (HTT) combustor at the NASA Langley Research Center. The primary objective here is to analyze the flame lift-off phenomenon in the three cylinder fuel injector geometry in two-dimensions. The fluid mechanics model used in the analysis includes time-averaged Navier-Stokes equations that are employed in conjunction with a two-equation k-$\epsilon$ model for predicting the effects of turbulence. Calculations were performed with three chemistry models, namely fast chemistry, …

Micromechanics Of Granular Materials And Its Relation To Wave Velocity, Tarun K. Agarwal

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The macro characters of the granular materials depend upon micromechanical parameters such as the void ratio, particle shape, contact force distribution, and initial state of the fabric of the assembly. Since it is difficult to evaluate these internal parameters from laboratory experiments, a macro measure is desired which depends directly on these internal parameters. One such measure has been shown to be dynamic shear modulus but it was incomplete in predicting directional changes in the internal parameters. Therefore, it is hypothesized here that the complete elastic moduli matrix will have more direct information about the internal parameters, especially the dynamic …

Information Technology And Wealth: Cybernetics, History And Economics, Elin Whitney-Smith

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Capitalism developed where and when it did because there was high information access. There was high information access because of a major advance in information technology--the press. Where the technology was not controlled by the "powers that be" there was economic growth and a shift in the entire social structure. Where it was controlled there was no structural change and there was economic ruin. The development of capitalism is a major step change in economic growth. It is also a major change in the way people organize themselves into groups.

Major step changes in the growth and in the organization …

A Median-Filter-Based Ambiguity Removal Algorithm For Nscat, David G. Long, Scott J. Shaffer, R. Scott Dunbar, S. Vincent Hsiao

Faculty Publications

A description is given of the baseline NSCAT (the NASA scatterometer) ambiguity removal algorithm and the method used to select the set of optimum parameter values. An extensive simulation of the NSCAT instrument and ground data processor provides a means of testing the resulting tuned algorithm. This simulation generates the ambiguous wind-field vectors expected from the instrument as it orbits over a set of realistic mesoscale wind fields. The ambiguous wind field is then de-aliased using the median-filter-based ambiguity removal algorithm. Performance is measured by comparison of the selected wind fields with the true wind fields. Results have shown that …

An Unsolicited Sociotechnical Intervention In A Public System: A Participatory Action Research Approach, Ely Alfred Dorsey Jr.

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This research concerns itself with Participatory Action Research in a hostile setting. The thrust is a sociotechnical one, with the intent being to enhance the capacity of the Wallop Public School System, Wallop, USA, to address its problem of racial disparate treatment of Black children. The potential for Organizational Learning among the school system's senior staff is studied. Some new theory about such hostile interventions is proposed. Also discussed are questions about reliability and construct validity within the context of the multiple role playing that an interventionist has in this setting. The role of the press is reflected in the …