Engineering Commons^™

A Comparative Analysis Of Three Water Treatment Programs For Cooling Tower Systems, Jeffry W. Shea

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the cost and effectiveness of three cooling tower water treatment programs. The programs studied were an acid program developed at WPAFB, a commercial solubilizer program manufactured by Lombardi, Inc, and a crystal modifier program developed by Dias, Inc. The experiment ran for 60 days at which time cost and effectiveness data were collected. Cost comparison was evaluated on the basis of tower performance in MBtu. The costs considered in this experiment were water costs, sewer costs, and chemical costs. All costs were recorded and totaled, then divided by the tower's performance. The effectiveness of each treatment method …

Impacts Of Biomonitoring Requirements On Dod Wastewater Treatment Facilities, James R. Brady

Theses and Dissertations

Legislative emphasis on reducing the toxicity of wastewater effluent has resulted in increasingly sophisticated methods of determining toxicity. The purpose of this research project is to assess the impacts on DoD wastewater treatment facilities of one new monitoring method, biomonitoring. Biomonitoring has impacted DoD wastewater treatment facilities, however not to the degree anticipated. For bases that have been impacted, cost of contracting the tests is the primary problem associated with biomonitoring. Many bases have not been impacted because wastewater reuse has negated the need for discharge permits, and the inherent monitoring requirements. Bases subject to biomonitoring should assess water reuse …

An Expert System Solution For The Quantitative Condition Assessment Of Electrical Distribution Systems In The United States Air Force, David O. Paine

Theses and Dissertations

Faced with a rapidly decreasing budget, the Air Force is in need of a method to objectively evaluate its aging utility infrastructure assets. This objective evaluation could be used to compare similar facility infrastructure systems for identification of possible problem areas and prioritization of major repair projects. This thesis developed a component model which can be used to objectively evaluate a typical electrical distribution system. The Delphi process was used to gather expert opinions regarding three areas: (1) the critical components which should be included in the model, (2) the relative importance of each selected critical component, and (3) the …

Investigation Of Advanced Aircraft Performance Measures Of Merit Including New Agility Metrics, Bruce A. Fox

Theses and Dissertations

Advanced aircraft performance measures of merit have been proposed and individually analyzed by various researchers. These metrics have been consolidated into a single computer code as part of this research effort. This code was used to study the relationships between the advanced metrics, aircraft design metrics and an aircraft's trajectory performance. The study found a linear relationship existed between the advanced metrics and the design metrics. This relationship was used to quantify the required levels of the advanced metrics which would give desired changes in trajectory performance. The results showed that advanced metrics could be applied only to very specific …

Evaluation Of Stamark Brand Bisymmetric 1.75 Grade Pavement Marking Tape, Kenneth R. Agent

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objective of this project was to evaluate the performance of Stamark Brand Bisymmetric 1.75 Grade pavement Marking Tape (Series 320) on a large-scale installation on Interstate 24 in McCracken County. The evaluation consisted of periodic inspection of the tape to determine its durability, appearance, and reflectivity.

The tape has demonstrated good performance after two years in service. No durability problems were noted. While the appearance of the tape was not as bright as a typical traffic paint, it was adequate. The tape has maintained a high level of reflectivity. The performance of the material would potentially warrant additional use …

1991 Safety Belt Usage Survey And Evaluation Of Effectiveness In Kentucky, Kenneth R. Agent

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objective of the survey was to establish 1991 safety belt and child safety seat usage rates in Kentucky. Data were collected at 100 sites and combined based on vehicle miles traveled for a given type of highway, rural or urban location, and county population category. Also included in this report is an analysis of accident records evaluating the effectiveness of safety belts.

Statewide usage rates were 39 percent for drivers and front-seat passengers (over 19 years of age) and 57 percent for children under four years of age (front and rear seats). Driver usage rates had increased significantly in …

Analysis Of Transport Phenomena In The Coating Of Fibers By Cvd, J H. Scholtz, J E. Gatica, Hendrik J. Viljoen

Papers in Materials Science

Inorganic coated fibres produced by chemical vapour deposition find several technological applications. In this CVD process, a filler core is mounted in a reactor between two electrodes. Reactive gases flow over the substrate and react near or on the fibre surface to form the desired coating. Experience has showed that, quality deposition can only be obtained over a small range of the governing parameters: these parameters are, however, difficult to control. In the present, study a mathematical model is developed for the reactor configuration under consideration. The different mass and energy transport mechanisms are compared and their influence on the …

A Summary Of Highway Revenues, Expenses And Distributions: 1984 Through 1991, Herpicc

Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Publications

This report shows the history of receipts, expenses and distributions of revenues that provide funding to all local governments for highway, road and street work.

Bs News

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Department Of Defense Organic Depot Maintenance Capacity Management And Facility Utilization Factors, Marlies Dewoody

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of mandated depot capacity utilization rates on throughput, inventory, and operating expense. The measures of merit analyzed were work in process inventories, leadtime, and throughput. Since the services do not use a common computer system to track/compute capacity data, a computer simulation provided the data used to meet the research objectives. The simulation modeled a serially interdependent system subject to statistical fluctuations. Variability in the system was reduced by reducing the spread around the processing time mean. Buffer inventories were placed in front of each process to protect the process from variability. Constrained systems were …

Determining Production Capability In Aircraft Maintenance: A Regression Analysis, Charles R. Jung

Theses and Dissertations

This research analyzed twenty-three maintenance constraint and three production output performance measures for nine SAC aircraft systems. SAS System for Elementary Statistical Analysis is used to analyze twenty-one months of ex post facto maintenance data. Correlation analysis is used to identify maintenance constraints that assist in explaining aircraft maintenance production capability. Forward stepwise regression is used to build predictive models of maintenance production capability for each of the nine aircraft systems. The twenty-three maintenance constraint measures are regressed against three productivity output measures: Mission Capable Rate, Total Not Mission Capable Supply Rate and Total Not Mission Capable Maintenance Rate. The …

An Analysis Of Measures Used To Evaluate The Air Force Critical Item Program, Robert R. Lee

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of two measures, percent defects and cycle time, to measure the overall performance of the Air Force Critical Item Program (CIP). The need for such study was generated from the current absence of any measurement system available to evaluate the CIP. This research used these two measures with actual data, evaluated the correlation between aircraft availability and percent defects and cycle time, and analyzed management perceptions addressing the usefulness of these measures for field use. Performance of this analysis resulted in support for these measures by over two thirds of …

Field-Equation Approximations And Amplification In High-Gain Lasers: Numerical Results, Lee W. Casperson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

It has recently been shown that a field-equation time-derivative approximation that is commonly used in studies of laser-oscillator dynamics is not necessary and can lead to significant errors for some lasers. A related space-derivative approximation is widely used in studies of steady-state laser amplifiers. A more rigorous amplifier formalism is developed here, and the results are exact solutions of Maxwell’s equations. The improved model predicts a spatial instability, single mirror oscillation, and other interesting field behavior.

Field-Equation Approximations And Amplification In High-Gain Lasers: Analytical Results, Lee W. Casperson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In a related study the equations governing a high-gain laser amplifier have been solved numerically without making the usual slowly-varying-amplitude derivative approximation in Maxwell’s equations, and thus the field amplitudes are not restricted to vary negligibly in a distance of one wavelength. The results reveal an instability that involves reflections and oscillatory growth of perturbations away from steady state. In the present study steady-state solutions of the field equations are obtained analytically, and transformations are described for converting the equations to alternative intensity-equation sets. These intensity equations are linearized and solved for the growth rate and oscillation period of the …

Crystallization Kinetics And Polyblends Of Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Recycled From Post-Consumer Beverage Bottles, Peming Peter Hsu

Dissertations

In order to reduce waste generation, and comply with state and federal laws, plastic beverage bottles are usually undergoing recycling. Poly(ethylene terephthalate) [PET], which is the main component the bottles are made of, cannot be used for manufacturing new food containers, and has to be used for manufacturing other end consumer products. The recycled PET is a cheap material, but its use is problematic due to the low crystallization rates of PET. The present study investigates ways of accelerating PET crystallization by using inorganic carbonate salts as nucleating agents. This study also explores the possibility of forming polymer blends based …

Performance Of The Extended Token Bus Network With Asymmetric Load Distribution, Hong Lin

Theses

The Token Bus, IEEE 802.4, provides high priority message options. The delay of high priority messages becomes an important criterion in the design and management of computer communication networks. A goal of the protocol is to allocate sufficient bandwidth and frequency of access to minimize of the high priority message delay. In this study, a simulation model of a priority based network, consisting of two token bus networks interconnected by a bridge is implemented. The load distribution among stations is asymmetric and the messages are divided into two priorities, high and low. Both fixed and variable token token holding times …

The Performance Evaluation Of A New Neural Network Based Traffic Management Scheme For A Satellite Communication Network, Dequan Liu

Theses

The thesis describes a new neural network based traffic management scheme for a satellite communication network. The scheme consists of two levels of management. The front end of the scheme is a derivation of the Kohonen's self-organization model to configure maps for the satellite communication network dynamically, The model consists of three stages. The first stage is the pattern recognition task which selects an exemplar map that best meets the current network requirements. The second stage analyzes the discrepancy between the chosen exemplar map and the state of the network, and adaptively modifying the chosen exemplar map to conform closely …

Implementation Of An Integrated High Energy Beam Workcell, Varadaraj Souda

Theses

This study is an effort to advance the technology of machining by High energy beams. Investigation of the Waterjet, Plasma and the Oxyfuel beams was carried out to explore novel machining techniques. The study was focussed on three major objectives.

One of the major objectives was to set up an Integrated beam workcell consisting of the three beams. A hydroabrasive waterjet workcell was modified to install the three cutting tools to be along the same line of traverse. An integrated beam consisting of the thermal and the waterjet beams was produced because of this arrangement. The feasibility of using the …

A Biomechanical Analysis Of Three Humeral Fracture Fixation Systems, Alina Michelle Waite

Theses

Often, humeral fractures requiring internal fixation can be a challenging orthopaedic procedure. Each method of treatment possesses clinical and biomechanical advantages and disadvantages. Rigid plate fixation is highly successful in treating a large variety of long bone fractures. Nevertheless, excessive soft tissue dissection is necessary, and vascular and neural anatomy of the humerus can make plate application and removal difficult. An intramedullary nail offers a relatively simple procedure, thereby reducing these anatomical concerns. However, rotational instability at the fracture site is a common complication with a conventional intramedullary nail. Thus, a study was conducted to evaluate a new interlocking intramedullary …

An Approach To Improving The Antithrombogenesis Of Pneumatic Diaphragm Artificial Ventricle : Fabrication And Design Considerations, Hui-Sun Wang

Theses

Thrombus formation is one of the major problems in artificial heart development and its clinical applications. In order to improve the antithrombogenesis in the artificial ventricles, three aspects of investigation have been done in the laboratory.

1] the surface features and the surface defects on specially prepared samples made of polyurethane and silicon rubber were studied and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy ( SEM ), light microscopy and KEVEX Feature Analysis for understanding and controlling the blood contacting surface.

2] the polyurethane blood contacting surface with smooth surface fabricated by solution cast process, the material treatment, and the fabrication procedure …

Graded Buried Channel Charge Coupled Device Design, Zengjing Wu

Theses

A process and device simulation study has been made to optimize a new type of buried channel CCD (BCCD) structure to be referred to as Graded BCCD (GBCCD) whose buried channel is formed by multiple implantations for achieving higher charge transfer efficiency. The 2-D process simulation tool SUPREM4 and 2-D device simulation tool PISCES2 were used in this research. The simulation results of the GBCCD with double channel implants are compared with the previously obtained experimental results.

Triple channel implants under the conditions of various process parameters were also simulated and the optimized case was chosen on the base of …

Mobile Manipulator Path Planning By A Genetic Algorithm, Min Zhao

Theses

The thesis addresses the path planning problem for a mobile manipulator system which is used to perform a sequence of tasks specified by locations and minimum oriented force capabilities. The problem is to find an optimal sequence of base positions and manipulator configurations for performing a sequence of tasks given a series of task specifications. The formulation of the problem is nonlinear. The feasible regions for the problem are nonconvex and unconnected. Genetic algorithms applied to such problems appear to be very promising while traditional optimization methods cause difficulties. Computer simulation is carried out on a three degrees-of-freedom manipulator mounted …

Mobile Robot Path Planning Based On Hierarchical Hexagonal Decomposition, Dan Zheng

Theses

In this thesis, a new algorithm based on hierarchical cell decomposition and artificial potential field is developed to solve the find-path problem for a mobile robot. The basic cell structure used for decomposition is a hexagon. The artificial potential field is based on an attractive force from the goal position and repelling forces from the obstacles. Computer simulations of the algorithm for various obstacle scenarios are also presented.

Adaptive Filter Application In Fetal Electrocardiography, Xueqiang Zhou

Theses

A hybrid adaptive algorithm for cancelling the maternal electrocardiography (MECG) component in abdominal fetal electrocardiography(FECG) is described. This algo rithm combines the advantages of the orthogonal algorithm which was developed by Reichert(1977) and the multiple reference noise cancelling adaptive algorithm which was developed by Widrow(1975).

The simulating experiment was taken to test all of these three algorithms. It demonstrated that all these three algorithms can cancel the abdominal component of the maternal ECG with three limb lead ECG signals. and the hybrid algorithm is at least as effective as each other algorithm alone. In this experiment, the abdominal ECG signal …

Measurement Of The Electrical And Optical Properties Of Thermid Polymide, Zhixiong Zhu

Theses

Electrical and optical properties of spin-coated THERMID polyimide EL-5010 have been studied and evaluated in this thesis. The D.C. bulk resistivities of 0.96^-2.56 μm thick samples were measured to be 10¹⁶ Ω-cm over the 27-160°C range using a test system consisting of Keithley 236 Source-Measure Unit. The bulk resistivity decreased to 2 x 10¹⁴Ω-cm at 200?C. The surface resistivity, 10¹⁵Ω/0 , and breakdown voltage, 350 V/pm, were also measured. The fixed charge concentration and mobile ion concentration in the THERMID polyimide EL-5010 insulator of a MIS capacitor structure were measured using a high …

A Three-Dimensional Finite Element Stress Analysis Of Interface Conditions In Porous Coated Hip Prosthesis, Siu-For Yau

Theses

A three-dimensional finite element model of a collar-type hip stem and both the cortical and cancellous bones is used to investigate the stress distributions on an implanted femoral stem, adjacent bone, and specifically at the bone/implant interface for various amounts of porous coating and different stem materials. The finite element model consists of 909 nodes comprising 536 linear eight-node solid brick elements and 176 two-node interface elements. The finite element analysis code employed is SUPERTAB from SDRC. The interface elements consist of coincident-node spring elements and gap elements which model the rigidly bonded and loose interfaces respectively. Local coordinate systems …

Nontraditional Machining Techniques With Emphasis On Waterjet Milling, Shiv K. Kunapuli

Theses

The rapid growth of harder and difficult-to-machine materials over the past two decades necessitates the development of compatible nonconventional machining techniques, as detailed in this work, with special emphasis on one of the most recent machining method, the abrasive-waterjet technique(AWJ).

The feasibility of using AWJ for milling on glass is investigated. Due to the large number of parameters involved in the AWJ technique, and the multitude of machining requirements, optimization of performance is the focus. These parameters include waterjet pressure, particle size, abrasive flow rate, traverse rate and number of passes.

Surface topography is found to be a function of …

Oscillatory Potentials Model And Parameter Identification, Huizhong Pan

Theses

Two mathematicals model are presented for the oscillatory potentials of the electroretinogram. These models represent the oscillatory potential in terms of sets of parameters whose values may provide information of diagnostic value.

The test setup and protocol for obtaining the oscillatory potentials are described, as well as the data processing including acquisition up to identification of the model parameters.

Data from eight subjects, five normals and three diabetics, were used to evaluate the two models. These preliminary test results show a marked difference in the values of some of the model parameters between normals and diabetics.

Studies Of Electrical Properties Of Sio2 /Inp System, Milind S. Patel

Theses

Analyses of Electrical characteristics, of TilAu/SiO₂1InP structures, are presented here. The (MIS) Metal-Insulator- Semiconductor capacitors were fabricated with oxide thickness of 195nm, 420nm and 610nm respectively. The SiO₂ films were deposited on n-type Indium Phosphide(/nP) using Rapid Thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition (RTCVD). The characterization techniques employed in these experiments were (I-V) Current Voltage and High Frequency Capacitance Voltage (C-V) techniques. The electrical parameters obtained from the I-V and C-V measurements have been discussed here.

Mapping Hierarchical Structures Onto Hypercubes, Sandip C. Patel

Theses

Hierarchically structured arrays of processors are appropriate for low-level and intermediate-level image processing and computer vision. The most widely used structure is the pyramid. Neverthless, pyramid machines do not support the efficient implementation of the majority of scientific algorithms and their cost may become prohibitively high. In contrast, hypercube machines efficiently implement a wide variety of important algorithms due to the versatility of the underlying network. In fact, hypercube-based systems have become commercially available. The hypercube network supports both regular and irregular communications and it can efficiently simulate a variety of other structures like rings, trees, meshes, pyramids, etc. Thus, …