Engineering Commons^™

Investigation Of Port Fuel Injector Spray Mass Distribution By Laser Induced Fluorescence, Tuba Bayraktar

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Modern internal combustion engines have stringent requirements for performance and reduced toxic emissions. The fuel delivery system, and particularly the fuel injectors, have a vital role in reducing unburned hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) in exhaust emission.

The main goal of this study is to map the spatial and temporal distribution of the spray from a low-pressure gasoline fuel injector. To attain this goal, three tasks were performed: (1) the experimental investigation of the spray oscillation as functions of operating pressure and injector timing, (2) the determination of the appropriate dye/fuel combinations for one particular experimental technique, and (3) …

Creep And Creep-Recovery Models For Wood Under High Stress Levels, Zhiyong Cai, Kenneth J. Fridley, Michael O. Hunt, David V. Rosowsky

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Forty small clear southern pine specimens were loaded under third-point bending to examine creep and creep-recovery behavior for wood under high stress levels. Stress levels of between 69% and 91% of the predicted static strength were applied for 23 h with 1 h allowed for recovery, and the resulting deflection vs. time behavior was studied. The experimental creep and creep-recovery behavior was modeled using modified power law functions. The results indicate that these functions provide the best fit to both primary and secondary experimental data. The empirical models can be used to simulate the viscoelastic behavior of wood under high …

Propagation Of Detonation Waves In Tubes Split From A Pde Thrust Tube, August J. Rolling, Paul I. King, Fred R. Schauer

Faculty Publications

A Pulse Detonation Engine (PDE) combusts a fuel air mixture through detonation. Existing designs require spark plugs in each separate thrust tube to ignite premixed reactants. A single thrust tube could require the spark plug to fire hundreds of times per second for long durations. This paper reports on the use of a continuously propagating detonation wave as both a thrust producer and a single ignition source for a multi-tube system. The goal was to minimize ignition complexity and increase reliability by limiting the number of ignition sources. The work includes a systematic investigation of single tube geometric effects on …

Excimer Emission From Pulsed Microhollow Cathode Discharges, Mohamed Moselhy

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Microhollow cathode discharges (MHCDs) are direct current, high-pressure, non-equilibrium gas discharges. Direct current MHCDs in xenon and argon have shown to emit excimer radiation at 172 and 127 nm, respectively. Internal efficiency of excimer emission in DC MHCD was measured to be 6–9% in xenon, and 1–6%, depending on the gas flow rate in argon. This high efficiency is due to the high rate of rare gas excitation by electrons accelerated in the cathode fall and to subsequent three-body collisions in the high-pressure gas. The excimer power scales linearly with current; however, due to the increasing size of the source …

Aligning Hierarchical Goals In An Organization: The Path From Training To Performance, Jeanette Denise Selby-Lucas

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Training is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and with the advent of the training technology revolution and the possibilities it provides to business and government, as well as to the academic community, it is important to determine if the money invested in training by these communities is providing the expected performance on the part of those who are trained. This can be done by quantitatively evaluating the relationship between training and performance.

This study extends the scholarly literature by developing the concept of organizational alignment through a combination of Human Performance Technology literature and traditional engineering methodologies. Organizational training and performance is …

Semiconducting Polymer Leds, David Braun

Electrical Engineering

Technologies based on organic semiconductors may answer the increasing demands that consumers make in the areas of large-area electronics, lightweight displays, and portable computing. Advances in scientific understanding, technology, and device performance have occurred particularly rapidly in the area of polymer light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Material properties and economic considerations suggest that polymer LEDs are the devices most likely to win the race to applications that produce light on inorganic substrates such as glass and silicon, as well as plastic substrates.
The field of semiconducting polymers has its root in the 1977 discovery of the semiconducting properties of polyacetylene¹. …

Evaluation Of Water Levevaluation Of Water Levels In Relation To The Design Of Coastal Structures In Tanzaniaels In Relation To The Design Of Coastal Structures In Tanzania, Alfonse Dubi

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Water levels on the coastline of Tanzania vary under the influence of meteorological conditions (winds and barometric pressure) and the East African Coastal Current, whose strength varies with the monsoon winds. Available tidal information is not enough to warrant statistical analysis for evaluating extreme water levels. The highest mean water springs occur at Bagamoyo and Pangani (3.93 m) and the lowest are found at Lindi (2.96 m). The highest astronomical tide is 3.7 m for Dar es Salaam and 4.6 m for Zanzibar, both of which occur during March/April and November. Measured highest water levels approach 4.80 m for Dar …

Evaluation Of Corrosion Inhibitor On Pre-Corroded Carbon Steel In Co2 Medium By Impedance Spectroscopy, Joseph Buchweishaija

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

The effect of pre-corrosion of carbon steel on the performance of a commercial amine based fatty acid corrosion inhibitor, KI384, was investigated in formation water solutions saturated with CO₂ using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. The investigation was performed at constant partial pressure of CO₂ using an autoclave system with Rotating Cylinder Electrodes (RCE). Carbon steel was pre-corroded for periods up to 7 days at 35 and 80 °C in the test solution prior to inhibitor injection. The results showed that when KI384 was applied on non-corroded carbon steel specimen, high inhibitor performance (99.8 %) was achieved independent of temperature. …

Investigation Of Forces Acting On Plain Discs, S. M. Mpanduji

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

An investigation was carried out to study the mutually perpendicular forces generated by rotating and non-rotating plain discs similar to those used in disc ploughs. Experiments were conducted in a soil bin containing sand loam soil (Ryton sand) where forces were measured while changing disc rake and sweep angles. The results showed that draught forces were higher for non-rotating discs, while vertical and lateral forces were lower compared to rotating discs. Rotating discs were found to be suitable for counteracting high side forces because of less draught and higher lateral forces. The recommended optimum angles are between 8°–12° for disc …

Analysis On Possible Solution To Decreasing The Effect Of Non-Uniform Air-Gaps Due To Rotor Eccentricity In Asynchronous Machines, Dominic Chambega

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Rotor eccentricity introduces non-uniformity of the airgap which in turn causes additional frictional torques and losses in addition to establishing a uni-directional pulling magnetic force which is disastrous to the machine. This paper analyses the extent of the damage to the machine due to non-uniformity of the air-gap and proposes increasing the number of poles as a possible solution to arrest the effect. It is found through the analysis that as the number of poles increases the effect of eccentricity decreases.

Comparative Analysis Of H₂S Removal Ability Of Different Calcium-Based Absorbents Under Coal Gasification Conditions, Hassan Katalambula

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Calcium-based sorbents, such as limestone and dolomite are viable candidates for capturing pollutants in an in-situ coal gasification/desulphurisation process. Recently, scallop shell is also used as a Ca-based sorbent. However, the ability in capturing pollutants varies from one type to another and it also depends on the process involved. In this study, two types of limestone, scallop shell and dolomite were characterized and studied for H₂S absorption ability under the coal gasification conditions. The characterizations were done using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermal analysis and Surface Area analysis. All of the samples showed a porous structure, and …

A Comparative Application Of Telecommunication Traffic Forecasting Methods To A Backbone Link In Tanzania, M. L. Luhanga

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

In this paper various mathematical models to characterize and forecast telecommunication traffic time series traffic have been applied, and the ranges of validity of the models are determined by comparing them with measured traffic data using the measurement errors criteria method which resulted into the superior model. Based on this model the ARIMA (0,2,1) model for smoothed data, the traffic forecast findings show that by the year 2006, the traffic demand will exceed the current installed capacity of 140 Mbps in the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) network along the major link between the Dar es Salaam and Dodoma backbone …

Requirements Of A Sustainable Pavement Management System For Tanzania, N. K.M. Mushule

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Since the introduction of pavement management concepts in mid-1960s, more than three decades ago, a considerable number of Pavement Management Systems (PMS) have been developed and implemented widely in many parts of the world. These systems differ in scope and sophistication. However, in some cases, pavement management systems have fallen into marginal use, if not into complete disuse, because of a number of reasons. One of the major reasons leading to the marginalisation or abandonment of pavement management systems, is the failure of system developers to recognise specific and unique needs of the agency or authority responsible for road management. …

Comparison Of Repair Costs Of Two Wheel Drive Tractors Under Tanzania Conditions, S. M. Mpanduji

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

The repair costs of 2WD tractors were investigated in order to provide important information, which lacks in the scope of agricultural mechanization in Tanzania. Previously repair cost functions established for tractors in developed countries were used for both theoretical and practical purposes. The findings of this study have revealed that repair costs of tractors vary substantially from one make to another. The prediction functions developed in this study indicated that the magnitudes of repair costs in Tanzania are higher than the repair costs established in Europe and North America. The reason for this could be either due to high cost …

Hydrogen-Induced Embrittlement Of Candidate Target Materials For Applications In Spallation-Neutron-Target Systems: Annual Progress Report (May 2001 – May 2002), Ajit K. Roy, Brendan O'Toole

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The primary objective of this task is to evaluate the effect of hydrogen on environment-assisted cracking of candidate target materials for applications in spallation-neutron-target (SNT) systems such as accelerator production of tritium (APT) and accelerator transmutation of waste (ATW). The materials selected for evaluation and characterization are martensitic stainless steels including Alloy HT-9, Alloy EP 823 and Type 422 stainless steel. The susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) and hydrogen embrittlement (HE) of these materials are being evaluated in environments of interest using tensile specimens under constant load and slow-strain-rate (SSR) conditions. Further, the localized corrosion behavior of these alloys …

Probabilistic Microcell Prediction Model, Song-Kyoo Kim

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

A microcell is a cell with 1-km or less radius which is suitable for heavily urbanized area such as a metropolitan city. This paper deals with the microcell prediction model of propagation loss which uses probabilistic techniques. The RSL (Receive Signal Level) is the factor which can evaluate the performance of a microcell and the LOS (Line-Of-Sight) component and the blockage loss directly effect on the RSL. We are combining the probabilistic method to get these performance factors. The mathematical methods include the CLT (Central Limit Theorem) and the SPC (Statistical Process Control) to get the parameters of the distribution. …

Nanosat One Critical Design Review: Final Report - Part 1, Robert J. Twiggs, Jonathan How, Christopher Kitts

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint Presentation created by Jonathan How, Christopher Kitts, and Bob Twiggs titled "Nanosat One Critical Design Review: Final Report" from June 24 , 2002.

Colorado Nasa Space Grant Workshop (Part 2), Robert J. Twiggs, Brian Foster

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint Presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs and Brian Foster titled "Colorado NASA Space Grant Workshop" from June 20, 2002.

Fast Landmark-Based Registration Via Deterministic And Efficient Processing, Some Preliminary Results, Fred W. Depiero

Electrical Engineering

Preliminary results of a new method for range view registration are presented. The method incorporates the LeRP Algorithm, which is a deterministic means to approximate subgraph isomorphisms. Graphs are formed that describe salient scene features. Graph matching then provides the scene-to-scene correspondence necessary for registration. A graphical representation is invariant with respect to sensor standoff. Test results from real and synthetic images indicate that a reasonable tradeoff between speed and accuracy is achievable. A mean rotational error of ~1 degree was found for a variety of test cases. Mean compute times were found to be better than 2 Hz, with …

The University Space Community: An Asset For Workforce Training & Low Cost Space Experimentation, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint Presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs titlted "The University Space Community: An Asset for Workforce Training & Low Cost Space Experimentation" from June 17, 2002.

Development Of A Mechanistic Understanding Of High-Temperature Deformation Of Alloy Ep-823: Aaa Task-10 Quarterly (03/01, 2002 –05/31, 2002) Report, Ajit K. Roy, Brendan O'Toole

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The objective of this task is to evaluate the elevated temperature tensile properties of Alloy EP-823, a leading target material for accelerator-driven waste transmutation applications. The test material will be thermally treated prior to evaluation of its tensile properties at temperatures relevant to the transmutation applications. The deformation characteristics of tensile specimens, upon completion of testing, will be evaluated by surface analytical techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The overall results are expected to provide a mechanistic understanding of high-temperature deformation behavior of Alloy EP-823 as a function of heat treatment.

Highlights of Accomplishment

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Suggestions For Establishing Centers For Engineering Education, Trevor S. Harding, Cynthia J. Finelli

Materials Engineering

No abstract provided.

P.A.C.E.S. - A Study On Academic Integrity Among Engineering Undergraduates (Preliminary Conclusions), Donald D. Carpenter, Trevor S. Harding, Susan M. Montgomery, Nicholas H. Steneck

Materials Engineering

Student academic dishonesty, commonly referred to as cheating, has become a serious problem at institutions of higher education. This is particularly true of engineering students who, according to previous research, are among the most likely to cheat in college. To investigate this concern, the authors have undertaken a research project on the Perceptions and Attitudes toward Cheating among Engineering Students (P.A.C.E.S.). The premise of this research is that a combination of pressures, rather than malicious motivations, account for most student cheating. The P.A.C.E.S study consists of a seven page, self-reported survey that investigates: (1) student definitions of academic dishonesty; (2) …

Integrating Manufacturing, Design And Teamwork Into A Materials And Process Selection Course, Trevor S. Harding, G. Y. Lai, B. L. Tuttle, C. V. White

Materials Engineering

No abstract provided.

Space Engineering - Project Based Learning By Working Real Space Programs, Robert J. Twiggs, Michael Colonno

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint Presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs and Michael Colonno titled "Space Engineering - Project Based Learning by Working Real Space Programs" and presented at the 2002 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition on June 16, 2002.

Development Of An Automated Airport Pavement Image Collection System, Chau Lee, C.F. Chen, Shu-Meng Huang, Chun-Jung Hsu, Shu-Wang Sheu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Airport pavement maintenance is an extremely important link in any airport pavement management system. How to quickly and effectively perform pavement surveys and data collection at today's very busy airports, while minimizing disruption to the airport's normal operation, is a major issue in airport pavement maintenance management research. This study uses a van to perform photographic surveys, and employs a global positioning system (GPS), geographic information system (GIS), image caption device, and the audio acquisition method to develop an automated airport pavement image collection system. This system currently is able to display a pavement image, slab name, and damage location …

Effects Of Carbonation On Mechanical Properties And Durability Of Concrete Using Accelerated Testing Method, Jack M. Chi, Ran Huang, C. C. Yang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

An experimental investigation was carried out to study the effect of carbonation on mechanical properties and durability of concrete. Ordinary portland concretes (OPC) with water/cement ratios of 0.58 and 0.48 and self-compacting concretes (SCC) with water/binder ratios of 0.40 and 0.36 were used in this study. Compressive strength test, splitting strength test, electrical resistivity test, rapid chloride penetration test (RCPT), open circuit potential method and alternative current (AC) impedance method were performed to estimate the properties of concrete. Test results showed that carbonation may compensate some concrete properties such as compressive strength, splitting strength, electrical resistivity and chloride ion penetration. …

A Device For Surface Study Of Confined Micron Thin Films In A Total Internal Reflection Geometry, Sergey Mamedov, Alexander D. Schwab, Ali Dhinojwala

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

A device to probe the molecular structure of materials next to a solid interface in a thin film geometry has been developed. The device can produce controlled thicknesses as small as 1 mum with parallelity better than 0.003degrees. We have shown that the thickness and the parallelity of the film produced between two optical surfaces can be quantified using white light and monochromatic light interferometry, respectively. In addition, this apparatus allows the study of these films in a static state or under shear using spectroscopic techniques involving transmission or reflection measurements. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.

Ground Vibration During Gravel Pile Construction, Jin-Hung Hwang, Tung-Yueh Tu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This investigation performs a field measurement of ground vibration due to gravel pile construction at a hydraulic-filled reclamation land. The ground vibrations were characterized by wave form, Fourier spectrum and response spectrum. The attenuation relation between both peak ground velocity and acceleration with distance was also derived from the measured data. An empirical method for evaluating the safe construction distance to adjacent building structures was presented based on the attenuation relation and a building vibration criterion. Vibration response spectra were also suggested for use with the spectral analysis method to determine more accurately the safe construction distance.

Effect Of Sand Ration On The Elastic Modulus Of Self-Compacting Concrete, J. K. Su, S. W. Cho, C. C. Yang, R. Huang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In order to study the effect of sand ratio (S/A ratio, fine aggregate volume/total aggregate volume) on the elastic modulus of self-compacting concrete (SCC), concretes with various S/A ratios were cast and tested. Elastic moduli of SCC were compared with those of normal concrete. Slump flow test, slump test, and box test were carried out to evaluate concrete flowability. The flowability of SCC increases with an increase in S/A ratio. However, the elastic modulus of SCC is not significantly affected by S/A ratio when total aggregate volume is kept constant.