Engineering Commons^™

Multiphase Flow Packed-Bed Reactor Modeling: Combining Cfd And Cell Network Model, Yi Jiang, Jing Guo, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Performance of a Multiphase Flow Packed-Bed Reactor Was Evaluated by a Mixing-Cell Network Model in Which the Cell-Scale Flow Field Information Was Provided by Multifluid CFD Modeling. Such a Sequentially Combined Modeling Approach Was Able to Show the Heterogeneity of Liquid Species Conversion in a Trickle-Bed Reactor that Has Been Confirmed by in Situ Magnetic Resonance Experiments. 1 a Conventional Plug Flow Model (PFM) and Axial Dispersion Model (ADM) Showed Either overpredicted or Underpredicted Conversion Compared with the Conversion Computed from the CFD-Cell Network Model. Preliminary Case Study Has Shown the Ability of the CFD-Cell Network Model in Assessing …

Effect Of Silicon Content On The Corrosion Resistance And Radiation-Induced Embrittlement Of Materials For Advanced Heavy Liquid Metal Nuclear Systems: Quarterly Progress Report (February – April 2005), Ajit K. Roy

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

This proposal is intended to study the effect of Si content not only on the corrosion resistance but also on the radiation-induced embrittlement of martensitic stainless steels. The susceptibility of these alloys with different Si content to stress corrosion cracking, general corrosion and localized corrosion will be evaluated in the molten LBE and aqueous environments of different pH values using state-of-the-art testing techniques. Testing in the aqueous media is intended to develop baseline data for comparison purpose. Radiation-induced embrittlement of these alloys will initially be studied by irradiating the test specimens with bremmstrahlung gamma radiation from 20-40 MeV electron beams …

Modeling And Scale-Up Of Mixing- And Temperature-Sensitive Chemical Reactions, Gary Patterson

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A review of published measurements of yield for complex chemical reactions in mixed reactors of various types and methods of modeling and simulating such reactions for the purpose of reactor scale-up shows the extent of progress that has been made. Reaction kinetics for very fast competitive reactions are usually difficult and expensive to determine. Many reaction processes must be scaled up from bench- and/or pilot-scale experiments that produce yield data under various mixing conditions. the variables that strongly affect the yield results are the reaction types and their rates, feed point in the reactor, feed injection velocity and scale, mixing …

Real-Time Power Aware Routing In Wireless Sensor Networks, Octav Chipara, Zhimin He, Guoliang Xing, Qin Chen, Xiaorui Wang, Chenyang Lu, John Stankovic, Tarek Abdelzaher

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Many mission-critical wireless sensor network applications must resolve the inherent conflict between the tight resource constraints on each sensor node, particularly in terms of energy, with the need to achieve desired quality of service such as end-to-end real-time performance. To address this challenge we propose the Real-time Power-Aware Routing (RPAR) protocol. RPAR achieves required communication delays at minimum energy cost by dynamically adapting the transmission power and routing decisions based on packet deadlines. RPAR integrates a geographic forwarding policy cognizant of deadlines, power, and link quality with new algorithms for on-demand power adaptation and efficient neighborhood discovery. Simulations based on …

Evaluation Of Accuracy And Efficiency Of Some Simulation And Sampling Methods In Structural Reliability Analysis, Christopher D. Eamon, Michel D. Thompson, Zhenyu Liu

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research Publications

Numerous simulation and sampling methods can be used to estimate reliability index or failure probability. Some point sampling methods require only a fraction of the computational effort of direct simulation methods. For many of these methods, however, it is not clear what trade-offs in terms of accuracy, precision, and computational effort can be expected, nor for which types of functions they are most suited. This study uses nine procedures to estimate failure probability and reliability index of approximately 200 limit state functions with characteristics common in structural reliability problems. The effects of function linearity, type of random variable distribution, variance, …

Enhancing Student Learning In Mechanics Through Rapid-Feedback, Jennifer Kadlowec, John Chen, Dexter Whittinghill

Mechanical Engineering

In this project our goal is to improve student learning in engineering mechanics courses. The aim to improve learning was accomplished by providing rapid feedback to students of their understanding of key concepts and skills being taught. The feedback system acts as a catalyst to encourage students, working in pairs, to assist each other in correcting misconceptions or deepening each other’s understanding of the concept or skill at hand. Furthermore, the system allows the professor to assess the students’ level of comprehension or misconception in a just-in-time fashion, and thus guide the pace of covering the material. The feedback is …

A Flexible Infrastructure For Multi-Agent Systems, Gerrit Addison N Sorensen

Theses and Dissertations

Multi-Agent coordination and control has been studied for a long time, but has recently gained more interest because of technology improvements allowing smaller, more versatile robots and other types of agents. To facilitate multi-agent experiments between heterogeneous agents, including robots and UAVs, we have created a test-bed with both simulation and hardware capabilities. This thesis discusses the creation of this unique, versatile test-bed for multi-agent experiments, also a unique graph creation algorithm, and some experimental results obtained using the test-bed.

Rotational Legged Locomotion, Damian M. Lyons, Kiran Pamnany

Faculty Publications

In this paper we presented a novel, agile robot mechanism, which we call a rotopod, which combines aspects of wheeled and legged locomotion. A general description of how a tripedal rotopod can be made to step, rotating the mechanism about one leg, and moving the center of the mechanism, is presented. The concept of a gait for this mechanism is defined, and is used to show how extremely agile the mechanism can be. Specific resistance is employed as a way to explore the relative efficiency of this mechanism versus a wheel. Finally, we describe our first prototype rotopod and report …

Rank-Based Multisensory Fusion In Multitarget Video Tracking, Damian M. Lyons, D. Frank Hsu

Faculty Publications

An attractive approach to improve tracking performance for visual surveillance is to use information from multiple visual sensory cues such as position, color, shape, etc. Previous work in fusion for tracking has tended to focus on fusion by numerically combining the scores assigned by each cue. We argue that for video scenes with many targets in a crowded situation, the splitting and merging of regions associated with targets, and the subsequent dramatic changes in cue values and reliabilities, renders this form of fusion less effective. In this paper we present experimental results showing that use of cue rank information in …

Acuta Enews July 2005, Vol. 34, No. 7

ACUTA Newsletters

In This lssue

Meet the ACUTA Board for 2005-2006

Communities of lnterest.................................. Jeri A. Semer, CAE, ACUTA Executive Director

Tech Talk: Advances Opening Up in the World of Storage ............................. Kevin Tanzillo, Dux PR

DC Update Whitney Johnson, Retired, No. Michigan Univ.

11th Circuit Court Reverses Decision on LD Excise Tax .................. Ed Quinn, Ohio State University

FYI: Useful lnformation from the Campus Student Monitor

Member Anniversaries

Board Report ............................ Carmine Piscopo, Providence College

Web Tip: Upload Documents to Resource Library................... Aaron Fuehrer, ACUTA Computer Services Mgr.

Welcome New Members

ACUTA Online Press Room

Summer 2005, 90.9 Wmpg Fm

WMPG Program Guides

Summer 2005

Flexible Roofing Facility: 2004 Summer Test Results, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The Flexible Roof Facility (FRF) is a test facility in Cocoa, Florida designed to evaluate five roofing systems at a time against a control roof with black shingles and vented attic (Figure E-1). Since 1989 the testing has evaluated how roofing systems impact summer residential cooling energy use and peak demand. In the summer of 2004, the following roofing systems were tested. Materials tested were: Galvalume® unfinished (unpainted) 5-vee metal with vented attic (3rd year of exposure), galvanized unfinished 5-vee metal with vented attic (3rd year of exposure, black shingles with standard attic ventilation (Control Test Cell), white standing seam …

Processing Educational Data: From Traditional Statistical Techniques To An Appropriate Combination Of Probabilistic, Interval, And Fuzzy Approaches, Olga Kosheleva, Martine Ceberio

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

There are many papers that experimentally compare effectiveness of different teaching techniques. Most of these papers use traditional statistical approach to process the experimental results. The traditional statistical approach is well suited to numerical data but often, what we are processing is either intervals (e.g., A means anything from 90 to 100) or fuzzy-type perceptions, words from the natural language like "understood well" or "understood reasonably well". We show that the use of intervals and fuzzy techniques leads to more adequate processing of educational data.

Interval Versions Of Statistical Techniques With Applications To Environmental Analysis, Bioinformatics, And Privacy In Statistical Databases, Vladik Kreinovich, Luc Longpre, Scott A. Starks, Gang Xiang, Jan Beck, Raj Kandathi, Asis Nayak, Scott Ferson, Janos Hajagos

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In many areas of science and engineering, it is desirable to estimate statistical characteristics (mean, variance, covariance, etc.) under interval uncertainty. For example, we may want to use the measured values x(t) of a pollution level in a lake at different moments of time to estimate the average pollution level; however, we do not know the exact values x(t) -- e.g., if one of the measurement results is 0, this simply means that the actual (unknown) value of x(t) can be anywhere between 0 and the detection limit DL. We must therefore modify the existing statistical algorithms to process such …

Study On Poly[2-Methoxy-5-(2'-Ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-Phenylenevinylene] Polymer Based Photodetectors, Difei Qi

Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis is dedicated to the development of novel and efficient polymer photodetectors based on MEH-PPV conjugated polymers. The polymer-based photodetectors have the advantages of easy processing, low weight, and low cost, and thus are promising candidates for future generations of photodetectors. At present, the quantum efficiency of polymer photodetectors is still low and not comparable to inorganic photodetectors. Therefore, in this thesis we explore ways to enhance the quantum efficiency of polymer photodetectors by using different electron donors, configurations, and implementation of the diffraction optical grating into photodetector structure. We designed, fabricated, and characterized several original types of devices: …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 47 Number 1, Summer 2005, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

9 - A MOGUL IN THE MAKING By Larry Sokoloff J.D. '92 While working toward his business degree, SCU sophomore Tyler Dickman runs a multimillion-dollar business based in Florida.

10 - TOP OF THE CLASS: FOUNDATION HONORS INNOVATIVE SCU PROFESSORS By Kim Kooyers. This year's winners of the Louis and Dorina Brutocao Award for Teaching Excellence and the Brutocao Family Foundation Award for Curriculum Innovation are examples of the SCU's outstanding teaching scholars.

14 - A GLOBAL ETHIC: A CONVERSATION WITH HANS KUNG By Rita Beamish '74 Hans Kung, scholar, Roman Catholic priest, and author of some 50 books on …

Uranium Geochemistry In Vadose Zone And Aquifer Sediments From The 300 Area Uranium Plume, John M. Zachara, J. A. Davis, James Mckinley, D. M. Wellman, Chongxuan Liu, N. Qafoku, S. B. Yabusaki

United States Department of Energy: Publications

In 1996, an interim record of decision was issued for the 300-FF-5 Operable Unit on the Hanford Site in southeast Washington State. The record of decision specified the interim remedy as (1) continued monitoring of groundwater and (2) institutional controls to restrict groundwater use. This record of decision was based on a remedial investigation that suggested levels of uranium would decrease with time because of natural geochemical and hydrologic processes. A prediction was made that concentrations of uranium would decrease to the proposed drinking water standard or lower (20 μg/L) in 3 to 10 years from 1993. This prediction has …

Review Of Academy Of Distinguished Teachers, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Reports

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln established the Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 1994. Academy members are to engage in activities to support teaching at UNL. Such activities may include (but were not limited to), speaking about teaching and pedagogy at department, college, campus, state, regional, and national meetings, allowing other faculty to observe one's teaching, and serving in an advisory capacity to the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs on matters related to teaching at UNL. Following my selection into the UNL Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 2004, I explored ideas for how the structure of our campus …

Organization And Signal Processing Of The Descending Tracts In The Cervical Spinal Cord, Yanmei Tie

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the research for the development of spinal cord-computer interface (SCCI). The main objective of SCCI is to generate voluntary motor control signals for individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).

In the neuroscience aspect, organization of the fibers in the descending tracts of the dorsolateral funiculus of the cervical spinal cord was investigated in cats. The spinal cord was penetrated with silicon substrate microelectrodes at 400 μm intervals in the medio-lateral direction at the C5/C6 and C6/C7 segmental borders. The stimulus consisted of a 20 ms train of charge-balanced biphasic pulses at 330 Hz. The evoked activities from …

Study Of Blast Wave Impact On Concrete, Ajit Geevarghese John

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The past decade has brought an upsurge of terrorist attacks throughout the world. A common form of attack is bombings employed against a civilian structure. These bombs lead to blast waves resulting from high explosive bursts in air, causing severe structural damage to buildings that often collapse before evacuation is possible. These blast waves subject the buildings to repeated dynamic loading in the form of reflecting shock waves which then finally lead to their destruction. Many studies have been carried out to understand the static loading of these structures. The current study is to protect existing buildings from an explosion. …

Research For Dynamic Seal Friction Modeling In Linear Motion Hydraulic Piston Applications, Brian Edward Suisse

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

This paper presents a unique physics-based analytic model for dynamic seal friction in hydraulic actuators as a function of cylinder pressure, seal material, piston rod dimensions, piston rod seal gland dimensions, and other influencing factors. Results from a series of friction tests are presented. Finite element analysis of an installed seal is used to predict contact stress between the seal and the gland, providing a normal force against the sealing surface. This information is used to determine coefficients of friction within the test specimen. From the analysis, a pressure-sensitive model is generated. The friction model is overlaid on the test …

Maneuvering Control Of A Spacecraft With Propellant Sloshing, Philip A. Savella

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Propellant slosh has been a problem studied in spacecraft designs since the early days of large, liquid-fuel rockets. The conventional design solution involves physical structures inside the fuel tanks that limit propellant motion. Although effective, baffles and bladders add to spacecraft mass and structural complexity. In this research, the sloshing fuel mass is treated as an unactuated degree of freedom within a rigid body. Specifically, the propellant is modeled as a pendulum mass anchored at the center of a spherical tank. After obtaining the coupled equations of motion, several linear controllers are developed to achieve planar spacecraft pitch-maneuvers while suppressing …

Investigation Of Minimum Response For Damage Assessment, Jeffrey Kirk

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Assessment of structural damage based on changes in vibratory response characteristics has been researched for many years, with much attention directed toward the use of modal parameters. Modal responses contribute to form points of local minima in the frequency response of a system. The frequency and amplitude values corresponding to these points of minimum response can be analytically determined, experimentally measured, and shown to exhibit sensitivity to damage. This work was performed to investigate the possible contribution that explicitly targeted minimum response information could provide in a damage detection process. A simple 6-DOF discrete spring-mass system was used to conduct …

Deformable Haptic Models For Surgical Simulation, Xiuzhong Wang

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Surgical simulation is in great need for surgical training, analysis, planing and rehearsal. The core of this simulation is the deformable models for the organs. The deformable model must provides both realistic visual effects (graphics) and high fidelity force feedback (haptics) in real time, without distractive visual artifacts and misleading tactile clues. In view of the requirement of physical accuracy, physically based deformable models are favorable for surgical simulation. Physically based deformable modeling has been a serious research topic for about twenty years in the computer graphics community. For computer animation, a great deal of work has been done so …

Effects Of Base Station Power Control And Soft Handoff On The Outage And Capacity In The Forward Link Of Cdma Systems, Dongdong Li

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This thesis focuses on the capacity analysis of the forward link of code division multiple access (CDMA) systems by characterizing the base station (BS) power distribution. With the rapid growth of data and multi-media traffic, the forward link becomes the system bottleneck. How to design an efficient call admission algorithm in the forward link to effectively use the limited base station power while guaranteeing certain quality of service is important to increase the forward link capacity. To effectively use the limited BS power, we need to understand the BS power distribution given a certain traffic pattern. However, the characterization of …

Developing A Shared Vision: Strategic Planning As A Guide To Technology Funding

ACUTA: Other Publications

In December 2004 ACUTA and WTC sent a survey to 768 ACUTA primary members to determine what issues were important on campuses today and what issues respondents felt will be of importance in the next few years. Questions related to management, strategy, infrastructure, technology, organization, polity, and funding. One of the most interesting observations is that the current and five-year rankings are nearly identical- today's concerns are also your concerns for the future. Here are the highlights of our findings:

A cluster of five management issues were rated very close to the same importance. This cluster included developing a vision …

Spatial Variation Of Protein, Oil, And Starch In Corn, Samuel G. Mcneill, Michael D. Montross, Scott A. Shearer

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Significant spatial yield variations are known to exist in cornfields with different soil types, topsoil depth, and other variables. Similarly, variations might also be found among the highly valued chemical components (oil, protein, and starch) in corn kernels due to local differences in soil type, fertility, acidity/pH, organic matter, etc. This study quantified the spatial variability of protein, oil, and starch content of corn from two conventional cornfields and two high-oil cornfields. Whole ears were harvested by hand from 20 to 40 randomly selected locations within each field. A differential global positioning system (DGPS) receiver recorded the location of each …

Modeling, Design, And Validation Of Fluorescent Spherical Enzymatic Glucose Microsensors Using Nanoengineered Polyelectrolyte Coatings, Jonathan Quincy Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, the modeling, design, and function of fluorescent spherical enzymatic microsensors for minimally-invasive diabetic monitoring are described. The devices reported herein are novel and their experimental construction and theoretical analysis have not been previously reported, thus laying the foundation for an intensive set of studies. These sensors are based on the encapsulation of an enzymatic fluorescent assay for glucose within hydrogel alginate microspheres with diameters on the order of tens of microns, which are of the appropriate size for intradermal implantation. A novel feature of these sensors is the use of multifunctional nanoengineered ultrathin multilayer polyelectrolyte coatings on …

Dna-Templated Assembly Of Metallic Nanowires, Qun Gu

Doctoral Dissertations

Nanowires are widely recognized as key elements in the development of futuristic nanoscale devices of nanoelectronics, optoelectronics and nano-electro-mechanic systems. Lithographic fabrication, however, faces increasing difficulties in the realization of continuously miniaturized features. The “Bottom-up” approach is a promising successor to lithography for fabrication of nanostructures. DNA is a natural template for nanowire assembly. The linear polynucleotide chain has a width of 2 nm and a length of 0.34 run per nucleoside subunit.

One-dimensional magnetic Co and Ni nanoparticles have been assembled in-situ for the first time by use of single DNA molecules as templates. Target metallic nanowires that are …

Flight Physician - July, 2005, Civil Aviation Medical Association

Browse all Civil Aviation Medical Association Newsletters

A sixteen page newsletter of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. The newsletter provided news about civil aviation medicine and information related to the organization.