Engineering Commons^™

Exploring Stress Overshoot Phenomenon Upon Startup Deformation Of Entangled Linear Polymeric Liquids, Yangyang Wang, Shi-Qing Wang

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

This work explores the picture associated with stress overshoot during sudden continual (i.e., startup) external deformation of entangled polymeric liquids and proposes a specific scaling form to depict the intermolecular interactions responsible for chain deformation. Following a previously proposed idea that the stress overshoot in startup deformation is a signature of yielding, we search for ingredients that should go into the description of the force imbalance at the yield point and show that the expression for the intermolecular locking force f(iml), derived from the characteristics associated with the yield point, can be tested against experiment. New rate-switching experiments support the …

Nature Of Steady Flow In Entangled Fluids Revealed By Superimposed Small Amplitude Oscillatory Shear, Pouyan E. Boukany, Shi-Qing Wang

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

We carry out a systematic investigation into steady-state shear behavior of six entangled solutions based on a superposition of continuous shear and small amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS). During steady shear in the shear thinning regime, the superimposed SAOS frequency sweep measurements reveal characteristics of viscous liquids, e. g., terminal dynamics, on the experimental time scale of the reciprocal shear rate. The residual entanglement network retains the same level of elastic stiffness as the equilibrium system does. Consistent with the convective constraint release idea, chains in the network are forced to pass around each other as they must do so to …

Study Of Take-Up Velocity In Enhancing Tensile Properties Of Aligned Electrospun Nylon 6 Fibers, Johnny F. Najem

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

The variation of both the tensile properties and thermal properties of aligned electrospun fibers with the take-up velocity (TUV) of disc collector has not been widely investigated due to the difficulty of handling aligned nanofibers and measuring low loads. In this thesis, 25% of nylon 6 was dissolved in formic acid and then electrospun into fibers and the fibers were aligned using a rotating disc collector. We evaluated the tensile and thermal properties, average fiber diameter, crystallinity, crystalline morphology, molecular and crystalline orientation of aligned electrospun nylon 6 nanofibers as a function of TUV based on a disc collector. It …

Sonic Boom Prediction Methods Using Feature-Based Adaptation Of Unstructured Meshes, Jacob Chackasseril Varghese

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the improvement of near-field sonic boom prediction of an inviscid supersonic configuration using two grid generation refinement procedures. The first method uses P_HUGG, a parallel hierarchical Cartesian mesh generation algorithm to generate a volume mesh, with the solution-based mesh adaptation capability of P_HUGG being exploited. The mesh quality was improved using P_OPT, a parallel optimization-based mesh-smoothing program. In the second method, the commercially-available software POINTWISE™ is used for volume mesh generation. Then, P_REFINE, a parallel subdivision refinement code, is used t o adaptively refine the mesh. The effectiveness of capturing far field shocks was examined using TENASI, …

A Bandwidth Aware Modification To The Dsr Routing Protocol For Wireless Mesh Networks, Mustafa Ramadhan, Mark Davis

Conference papers

This work proposes a bandwidth aware cross-layer modification to the DSR routing protocol. We include the Access Efficiency Factor (AEF) parameter in addition to the hop-count in the routing discovery mechanism. AEF is a measure to the local availability of bandwidth at a node. Employing the AEF as a metric in the routing discovery mechanism attempts to avoid routing through a congested area in the network. In this modification, we impose a limit on the hop-count in order to control the delay time in the network. The path selection procedure operates by finding a path with the highest minimum AEF …

Ict Innovation Diffusion In Small Logistics Service Providers: An Empirical Survey, Pietro Evangelista, Edward Sweeney, Claudia-Maria Wagner

Conference papers

For companies competing in highly dynamic markets, innovation is considered a fundamental component of a successful business as it allows companies to sustain profit margins, sales growth and reduce competitors’ pressures. Information and communication technology (ICT) is essential innovation enablers especially in service companies. The focus of the paper is on the analysis of the role of ICT in innovation processes of small third-party logistics service providers (3PLs). On the basis of quantitative evidence emerging from a recent survey carried out on the Italian 3PL market, the paper analyses how ICT is used to support innovation and the factors the …

Supply Chain Learning:The Role Of Games, John Cotter, Gerry Forster, Edward Sweeney

Practitioner Journals

No abstract provided.

User Study Of Information Extracted From Engineering Representations, Rachel Hannah

All Theses

It is important for designers to understand the usefulness of different engineering representations in order to save time and money throughout a project. Designers often rely on past experience to decide which model to construct; yet students without this experience have no help. Interestingly there are noticeable gaps in the research literature with respect to how and when to select representations and modeling approaches for engineering designs. This thesis examines the differences between three types of engineering representations, specifically sketches, drawing packages, and physical prototypes. The amount of information designers can extract from these representations and also the correctness and …

An Integrated Database Management System And Building Information Modeling For Sustainable Design, Sultan Althobaiti

Masters Theses

The use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) with sustainable design is getting widespread since it helped architects, engineers, and contractors in achieving the sustainability goal. The present work is using green and certified products and materials to be integrated with Building Information Model (BIM) to simulate and generate a conceptual design for green and sustainable design. The use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) would help achieving sustainability, which would be predictable and possible. Revit Architecture is a tool of BIM technology that can be used for building designing and modeling.

The research represents a database system for green building products …

High Contrast Grayscale Object Tracking Embedded System Design, Scott Donald Neally

Electrical Engineering

The purpose of this project is to prove that a real-time object-tracking camera can be implemented using the Digilent NEXYS board with Xilinx Platform Studio. With great ambition I set to implement the camera with RGB color tracking of bright green objects. This would make segmentation between the object of interest and its background much easier, allowing less stringent requirements on the background color beyond the object. Because of time restraints, the actual implementation remains as 8-bit grayscale, where the object of interest is intended to be white and highly contrasted from its black background. A simple algorithm is used …

Musicman Communications System, Dan Strengier

Electrical Engineering

The MusicMan portable music mixer is a solution for users who enjoy listening to music and would also like to communicate to friends on a walkie-talkie system. The MusicMan provides the user the ability to simultaneously listen to an MP3 player and operate a communications device, such as a walkie-talkie.

Punching Bag Trainer, Gian Delacruz

Electrical Engineering

Martial artists, such as boxers, kick boxers, and karate practitioners, use punching bags in training all the time to work on technique, speed and power but there hasn’t really been a good way to train reaction and combination speed (a combination is a string of strikes) without the aid of a training partner. Reaction and combination speed are important in competition because a faster competitor can attack successfully before his or her opponent has the time to react. This device aims to help martial artists increase reaction and combination speed through the use of randomly flashing targets attached to a …

Protected Ir Input System, Kevin Ersoy

Electrical Engineering

The result of this project is a product that may be used to apply a digital input to a system without physically touching a device. The combination of a modulated IR signal and reflective technology produces this remote actuation. The signal emitter should produce the modulated IR light, and the receiver should continuously wait for this signal to be received. If the IR signal should encounter an obstruction causing reflection at the appropriate distance, it will be reflected directly into the receiving device. This project may be extended to include multiple duplicate systems in proximity by transmitting a modulated digital …

Passivation Of Polymer Light-Emitting Diodes, Stephen A. Fehrman

Electrical Engineering

This senior project investigates various methods of packaging polymer LEDs. The polymer LEDs fabricated in the EE 422 Polymer Electronics lab use calcium cathodes. While calcium acts as an excellent low work function electrode, it quickly oxidizes in the presence of oxygen or water. Additionally, the intrusion of water can degrade the OC1C10-PPV electroluminescent polymer and the PEDOT polymer. Therefore, in order to use these devices outside the inert atmosphere of a glove box, we must first apply a passivation layer that inhibits the deterioration of these materials.

For this project I will test two packaging methods. The first method …

Ultracapacitor Frequency Analysis And Its Equivalent Circuit Modeling, Xiaomeng Li, Mariesa Crow

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Energy storage system is becoming more and more important in power electronics device. the Ultracapacitor or so-called electrochemical capacitor is one of the most popular choices for the energy storage system because of its distinct characters. in the application UCAP's transient behavior need to be studied for design purpose. Usually, these transient characters are not shown in the product data sheet. in this paper UCAP frequency analysis is performed, and based on the test data the equivalent model of the UCAP is built. the fitting result shows that using multi-level ladder circuit can perfectly fit the UCAP transient characters.

Investigation Of Crosstalk Among Vias, Songping Wu, Jun Fan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Crosstalk among vias is a critical problem in highspeed digital circuits, deteriorating signal quality and increasing jitter, especially when circuit density is high. Underlying mechanism of crosstalk among vias is investigated in this paper. using a physics-Based equivalent circuit model, crosstalk as a function of various geometrical parameters, including parallel plane pair thickness, layer count in printed circuit board (PCB) stack up, ground via patterns, and parallel plane pair dimensions, has been investigated. a multi-step crosstalk evaluation procedure is proposed based on the study for PCB layout-design verifications. © 2009 IEEE.

Equivalent Mixed-Mode Characteristic Impedances For Differential Signal Vias, Siming Pan, Jun Fan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Differential signal via structures in multi-layer printed circuit boards (PCBs) and packages are studied using an equivalent coupled multi-conductor transmission-line model. Thus, easy-to-understand transmission-line concepts, such as mixed-mode characteristic impedances and propagation constants, can be used to characterize the performance of differential signal via structures in a signal path. the closed-form expressions of per-unit-length parameters in the equivalent coupled multi-conductor transmission-line model are derived based on a physics-Based via circuit model with parallel-plane impedances and via-plate capacitances. Mode conversions are discussed for different via structures. Effects of geometrical parameters on equivalent differential via impedances are studied in the paper as …

A Real-Time Implementation Of A Pbil Based Stabilizing Controller For Synchronous Generator, Komla A. Folly, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents the optimal tuning of power system stabilizer parameters using a newly introduced evolutionary algorithm called Population based Incremental Learning (PBIL). to robustly stabilize the system, an objective function that minimizes the infinity norm of the closed-loop system is introduced such that the parameters of a fixed structure PSS are optimally tuned, and the controller stabilizes a pre-specified set of system models. the PBIL-PSS is compared with the Conventional PSS (CPSS). the simulation results presented in this paper show that the proposed PBIL-PSS is more effective than the Conventional PSS in damping the low frequency oscillations. the performance …

Comparison Among Different Via Models Based On Feature Selective Validation Technique, Siming Pan, Hanfeng Wang, Jun Fan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A new approach is proposed in this paper to validate different uncertain approaches without knowing a standard reference by applying the Feature Selective Validation (FSV) technique. New reference is established by the weighted average of the various approaches. Four via modeling methods including physics-Based circuit model, equivalent transmission line model, multiple scattering model, and full wave model are compared and validated by the approach proposed in this paper to illustrate the effectiveness of different via modeling techniques. © 2009 IEEE.

Bio-Inspired Node Localization In Wireless Sensor Networks, Raghavendra V. Kulkarni, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy, Maggie X. Cheng

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Many applications of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) require location information of the randomly deployed nodes. a common solution to the localization problem is to deploy a few special beacon nodes having location awareness, which help the ordinary nodes to localize. in this approach, non-beacon nodes estimate their locations using noisy distance measurements from three or more non-collinear beacons they can receive signals from. in this paper, the ranging-Based localization task is formulated as a multidimensional optimization problem, and addressed using bio-inspired algorithms, exploiting their quick convergence to quality solutions. an investigation on distributed iterative localization is presented in this paper. …

Model-To-Hardware Correlation Of Disk Resonators For Via-Array Modeling In High-Speed Pcbs, Arun Reddy Chada, Young H. Kwark, Xiaoxiong Gu, Jun Fan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In high-speed printed circuit board (PCB) designs, vias play a critical role in determining signal and power integrity. This paper uses disk resonators to investigate modeling approaches for common via array structures. Boundary integral equation (BIE) and effective dielectric medium approaches are used for a perforated disk resonator with non-plated holes, using dielectric properties derived from a solid disk resonator study. Both approaches are compared and validated with measurements. ©2009 IEEE.

Updating And Enhancing The Indiana Bridge Management System (Ibms), Kumares C. Sinha, Samuel Labi, Bobby G. Mccullouch, Abhishek Bhargava, Qiang Bai

JTRP Technical Reports

The Indiana Bridge Management System (IBMS) software package, considered one of the few bridge management system software packages in the United States, possesses several unique features such as multiple criteria analysis but has not been used to its full capabilities because of coding language, outmoded operating system, and other software-related problems. Also, the framework lacked certain considerations such as a preventive maintenance component. In addressing this issue, this study reviewed the existing internal logic of IBMS, and updated some of the cost and deterioration models to include preventive maintenance considerations in the decision tree. Also, the IBMS operating system and …

Sensor-Based Soil Water Monitoring To More Effectively Manage Agricultural Water Resources In Coastal Plain Soils, Christopher Bellamy

All Theses

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is widely grown in the United States with 5.7 million ha grown nationally and 1.2 million ha grown in the humid southeastern states in 2005. From 1969 to 2003, agricultural irrigated farmland acreage and total water applied increased by over 40% and 11% respectively to include a total of 55.3 million acres in 2002. Combined with recent and more frequent drought periods and legal water conflicts between states, there has been an increased interest in more effective southeastern water management, thus making the need to develop improved irrigation scheduling methods and enhanced water use efficiency of …

Callaway Golf: Variable Curved Impulse Sealer, Justin Cook, Ben Jones, Sean Reynolds

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Module Cover Conductivity Enhancement, Niles Dhanens, James Fortner

Mechanical Engineering

A clam shell module cover for printed circuit boards (PCB) has been designed for use in Boeing’s AECM cabinet. The cover utilizes materials with high thermal conductivity and cools the PCB by conducting the heat to a cold plate interface. Materials were compared and aluminum 6061-T6, aluminum 3003, and annealed pyrolytic graphite (APG) were chosen. A prototype was built and tested using aluminum 6061-T6 which was able to dissipate 57.7% of the projected wattage. Issues may include unforeseen complications in assembly along with components performing at lower levels than specified by manufacturers. The APG prototype was unable to be tested …

Hydraulic Hand Press Final Project Report, Nathaniel Marc Brown, Matthew Thomas Knorr

Mechanical Engineering

This report provides a thorough description of the design of a hydraulic hand-operated press by mechanical engineering students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California, for the Estrella Warbirds Museum in Paso Robles, California. It begins with research into hydraulic operations, a brief study of fluid power and incompressible fluids, and a look into existing products. Specified customer requirements stipulate the loading and general size constraints. As part of the project, a schedule is laid out following industry techniques. Brainstorming and decision matrices are utilized as well, conveying our design process. A basic structure is developed using strength …

Best-In-Class Global Bumper Reinforcement Beam, Garret Anthony Bautista, Chad Anthony Hardin, Benjamin Ray Taylor

Mechanical Engineering

Modern bumper systems are governed by laws and regulations imposed separately by various countries. Today, the regulations in China, North America, and Europe are becoming more similar, but there is not a widely accepted bumper reinforcement that meets the requirements of all markets around the globe.

A universal bumper reinforcement beam incorporating Plug-n-Play techniques was developed to meet and exceed all testing requirements and performance standards of each country. These Plug-n-Play techniques consist of adding energy absorbing attachments to the front of a base bumper beam. Simple beam analysis and FEA were the primary analysis tools in the development of …

Synthesis, Characterization And Potential Applications Of Fept Nanoparticles, Vikas Nandwana

Material Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Monodisperse FePt nanoparticles with controlled size and geometry have drawn great attention in the last decade for fundamental scientific studies and for their potential applications in advanced materials and devices such as ultra-high-density magnetic recording media, exchange-coupled nanocomposite magnets, biomedicines and nanodevices. This dissertation focuses on the synthesis and characterization of FePt nanoparticles and their use in potential applications. The FePt nanoparticles of different size (2 to 16 nm) and shape (spherical, cubic, rod) were synthesized by a chemical solution method. The size and shape of these particles were controlled by adjusting reaction parameters. The as-synthesized FePt nanoparticles have chemically …

Design, Construction And Evaluation Of A Fueltank/Tool Box Combination, Michael R. Chase Jr

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This project is the design and development of a combination tool box and auxiliary fuel tank built as a single unit, specifically built for a 2000 Ford F250 short bed truck; having a fuel capacity exceeding 50 gallons; meeting federal requirements for motor vehicle fuel tanks; performing as an auxiliary tank using the factory fuel gauge and having a tool box that can carry a wide array of tools. This paper will describe the design considerations, the regulation requirements, the material selection, and the construction process of the combination tool box/fuel tank.

Rfid Modeling, Characterization, And Optimization, Joseph A. Cudrnak

Electrical Engineering

Passive RFID tags may be used to transmit a message to a reader. This technology is useful for many applications, including inventory systems. However, due to electromagnetic cancellation on conductive surfaces, the reader cannot detect RFID tags placed directly on conductive objects. Using tag characterization in an RF anechoic chamber and modeling in HFSS, three types of Omni ID tags were characterized and a design was proposed to maximize signal power delivered to the reader.