Engineering Commons^™

Parallelization Of Performance Limiting Routines In The Computational Fluid Dynamics General Notation System Library, Kyle Horne

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Computational Fluid Dynamics General Notation System provides a unified way in which computational fluid dynamics data can be stored, but does not support the parallel I/O capabilities now available from version five of the Hierarchical Data Format library which serves as a back end for he standard. To resolve this deficiency, a new parallel extension library has been written and benchmarked for this work which can write files compliant with the standard using parallel file access modes. When using this new library, the write performance shows an increase of four-fold in some cases when compared to the same hardware …

Factors Affecting Air Entrainment Of Hydraulic Jumps Within Closed Conduits, Joshua D. Mortensen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

While there has been a great deal of research on air entrainment at hydraulic jumps within closed conduits, very little of the research has specifically addressed size and temperature scale effects. Influences from jump location and changing length characteristics on air entrainment have also received little attention from past research. To determine the significance of size-scale effects of air entrained by hydraulic jumps in closed conduits, air flow measurements were taken in four different-sized circular pipe models with similar Froude numbers. Each of the pipe models sloped downward and created identical flow conditions that differed only in size. Additionally, specific …

Psuedo-Randomly Controlled Analog Synthesizer, Jared Huntington

Electrical Engineering

The goal of this project was to design and build a portable box recreating classic sounds heard in science fiction films. These include sounds ranging from droning hums to bloops and bleeps. Currently no other device is made specifically for generating these sounds. The user controls and manipulates the sounds produced using a combination of switches and knobs to shape the sound generation. The sounds are generated using analog electronics. The project was successful in meeting the desired goal by designing and building a Randomizer, MIDI controller, VCO, LFO, VCA, Ring Modulator, and Fuzz Section. The resulting device is useful …

Switching Circuit For A Permanent Magnet Dc Motor, Alex Boatman

Electrical Engineering

The project is a circuit that will basically supply current from the battery to the different stator coils at opportune moments. With a hall-effect sensor on the shaft as a feedback to a microcontroller, I was able to toggle switches based on the position of the shaft at the moments where we would be using as little power as possible. The operation of the control circuit works similar to a stepper motor; it takes a signal from the microcontroller that is sent to some FET drivers, which in turn sends signals to the FETs to open or close as the …

Automated Basketball Return System, Victor Mendoza, Chris Chamberlain

Electrical Engineering

The project is meant to assist a basketball player in their practicing. The project hangs directly on the basketball rim and automatically rotates to find the player on the court. Once the player is detected, the automated basketball return system (ABRS) stays focused in the direction of the player so that any baskets successfully made will be funneled back to the player. When the player moves from center, IR motion detectors find which direction you moved to and rotates accordingly, until the player is focused in front of the funnel again. If at any time the player is absent from …

Lab-Scale Thyristor Rectifier And Static Var Compensator Circuits, Haroun Idris, Ibrahim Idris

Electrical Engineering

The purpose of this project is to design thyristor circuits by using single-phase FCRO 4100 firing board donated by ENERPRO. These circuits in conjunction with a thyristor module will be used for future lab experiments in power electronics courses.

The first part of this project is to study the full effect of a firing angle on a controlled single phase full bridge thyristor rectifier circuit. Furthermore, the resulting circuit setup will be implemented as part of future lab experiments in Power Electronics I course. The next purpose of this project is to design a small-scale Static VAR Compensator (SVC) lab …

Dc-Dc Converter For Harvesting Energy From An Exercise Bike, Henry Ureh, Chris Henry

Electrical Engineering

Create an efficient buck-boost converter that adapts to input voltage range from ~3.8V to 70V, and outputs 13.7V DC, the voltage required by a charge controller to charge a battery. The energy stored in the battery will be supplied back to the grid.

The cost of energy saved by the converter should eventually cover the initial price of the converter. The converter should help reduce the net power consumption of the exercise machines used in the Cal Poly gym

Overcurrent Coordination Study, Edwin Pho

Electrical Engineering

No abstract provided.

E-Design Tool For Friction Stir Welding, Harish Bagaitkar, Venkat Allada

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper describes efforts to develop a web-Based E-Design tool for the Friction Stir Welding (FSW) technique. the input parameters to the E-Design tool are the joint specifications. the output parameters of the E-Design tool are process parameters such as tool geometry details, tool rpm, and plunge depth. the heart of the E-Design tool is the FSW database. the FSW database contains mappings of various input parameters and output parameters that are captured by referring to various experimental studies cited in the literature. the proposed E-Design tool deals with lap joints and butt joints between similar aluminum alloys. Copyright © …

On The Statistical Estimation Of Rényi Entropies, Elia Liitiäinen, Amaury Lendasse, Francesco Corona

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Estimating Entropies is Important in Many Fields Including Statistical Physics, Machine Learning and Statistics. While the Shannon Logarithmic Entropy is the Most Fundamental, Other Rényi Entropies Are Also of Importance. in This Paper, We Derive a Bias Corrected Estimator for a Subset of Rényi Entropies. the Advantage of the Estimator is Demonstrated Via Theoretical and Experimental Considerations. © 2009 IEEE.

Effects On Digital Image Quality When Photographing Through A Transparent Material Used To Hold Or Flatten An Original Object, Paul E. Howell

Masters Theses

An increasing number of libraries and archives are initiating projects where new and updated technologies make it practical to digitize materials containing color and fine detail. Many of the imaging systems and methods used for this process require that some type of glass or plastic be placed over the original to hold it flat and in the correct position during image capture. The physical properties of a material placed between an original object and the capture system or camera, during digitization, could possibly affect the accuracy of image color and quality being reproduced by the system. This investigation provides an …

Methodology To Derive Resource Aware Context Adaptable Architectures For Field Programmable Gate Arrays, Harikrishna Samala

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The design of a common architecture that can support multiple data-flow patterns (or contexts) embedded in complex control flow structures, in applications like multimedia processing, is particularly challenging when the target platform is a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) with a heterogeneous mixture of device primitives. This thesis presents scheduling and mapping algorithms that use a novel area cost metric to generate resource aware context adaptable architectures. Results of a rigorous analysis of the methodology on multiple test cases are presented. Results are compared against published techniques and show an area savings and execution time savings of 46% each.

Wind Energy And Power System Operations: A Review Of Wind Integration Studies To Date, Jennifer Decesaro, Kevin Porter

Publications (E)

This paper provides an overview of the challenges associated with wind integration and summarizes the findings of the wind integration studies conducted over the course of the past five years. We begin with an overview of the approximate time frames used in grid operations. We then describe how wind integration studies are conducted, discuss the results on wind integration costs and grid impacts from these grid integration studies, and assess some of the grid planning and operation changes that may be necessary to incorporate higher levels of wind generation. We close with several conclusions.

Pump Sequencing Optimization, John S. Allan, Kyle J. Nekimken, Spencer B. Weills

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this document is to demonstrate the design, production, and testing of optimum pump sequencing logic for variable frequency drive (VFD) pumps in commercial heating ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The product will be developed by Pump Efficiency Solutions (PES), which is a group of Cal Poly students working on their senior project. The product is being developed for Trane, an industry leader in large scale HVAC systems. MATLAB™, Microsoft Excel, Pump System Improvement Modeling Tool™ (PSIM), and fluid mechanics hand calculations were used during software development. Next, we converted the program into Trane’s graphical programming language …

Chip Removal Tool Project, Brett Mori, John Cote, Kyle Rowland, Micah Wells

Mechanical Engineering

The Cal Poly senior project team worked with Helical Products Inc. to develop an automated method for removing swarf and chip buildup from the drill bits of their CNC milling machines. The removal methods in this report were designed for and tested using a Fanuc Robodrill while keeping the potential in mind for their use in other CNC milling machines. After extensive background research, preliminary and prototype design and testing the final chosen design is shown below. The cleaning device is made from flexible sheet metal and placed on a fixture that occupies one of the two pallet locations inside …

Supermileage Team - Urban Concept Competition Vehicle Chassis Design Report, Andrew Allport, Kevin Braico, Kevin Charles, George Kyi, William Lai

Mechanical Engineering

This research and design project was proposed by the Cal Poly Supermileage team. They have requested for our team to design an Urban Concept car, a new category of vehicles to compete for fuel efficiency in the Shell Eco-marathon in 2010. The primary focus of our team is in the design and construction of a chassis the Supermileage team can use for the 2010 competition in Fontana, CA. This design must meet dimensional and functional requirements set by Shell while being designed to maximize efficiency in the competition.

There were various chassis concepts under consideration that would possibly work for …

Broccoli Floret Cutter: Gold Coast Packaging, Inc., Sean Stamm, Walter Salguero, Felipe Gomez Jr, Ruben Duenas

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Simpler Packaging, Tomiko Oden

Graphic Communication

This project explains how product packaging is become more "green", and thus more simple. Packaging needs to go beyond just simplifying materials and graphics - it needs to create a simpler process in order to reduce wasted time, energy, and resources.

Is The Test Of Senior Friendly ⁄Child Resistant Packaging Ethical?, Laura Bix, Javier De La Fuente, Kenneth D. Pimple, Eric Kou

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Research has documented the drastic reduction of unintentional poisonings of children since the introduction of child resistant (CR) packaging. However, studies also indicate that consumers report difficulty using CR packages, in part because tests which determine the ‘senior friendliness’ of CR designs that are used throughout the world disallow people with ‘overt or obvious’ disabilities from being test subjects. Our review of drug package usability suggests that the current tests of CR packaging can and should be revised to correct this problem. We use US legislation, regulation and data to exemplify these points, but the conclusions are applicable to all …

Voltage Stability Indices Based On Active Power Transfer Using Synchronized Phasor Measurements, Rui Sun

All Theses

In recent years and in the foreseeable future, power demands generally around the world and particularly in North America will experience rapid increases due to the increase of customers' requirements, while the development of transmission systems in North America is rather slow. Voltage stability assessment becomes one of the highest priorities to power utilities in North America. Voltage stability index is a feature for solving voltage stability problems. It is generated from the basic power flow equations and/or energy functions. The mathematical expression of a VSI is often written as a polynomial containing the systems real-time measurements such as voltage …

Linguistic Analysis Of Natural Language Engineering Requirements, Carl Lamar

All Theses

In engineering design, the needs of the customer are expressed through engineering requirement statements. These requirement statements are often expressed using natural language because they are easily created and read. However, there are several problems associated with natural language requirements including but not limited to ambiguity, incompleteness, understandability, testability and over specificity. Several representation and analysis tools have been proposed to address these problems within a requirement statement. These tools include formal languages, such as UML and SysML, requirement management tools, such as IBM Telelogic Doors, and natural language processors such as QuARS. These tools assist in the systematic elicitation …

The Development Of A Mechatronics And Material Handling Course: Laboratory Experiments And Projects, James Shirley

All Theses

Mechatronic systems integrate technologies from a variety of engineering disciplines to create solutions to challenging industrial problems. The material handling industry utilizes mechatronics to move, track, and manipulate items in factories and distribution centers. Material handling systems, because of their use of programmable logic controllers (PLC), PLC networks, industrial robotics, and other mechatronic elements, are a natural choice for a college instructional environment. This thesis offers insight and guidance for mechatronic activities introduced in a laboratory setting. A series of eight laboratory experiments have been created to introduce PLCs, robotics, electric circuits, and data acquisition fundamentals. In-depth case studies synthesize …

A Voltage Flicker Suppression Device For Residential Air Conditioners And Heat Pumps, John Fox

All Theses

In some circumstances, voltage flicker due to the inrush current of residential heat pump can be a fairly visible to the residents as a slight flashing of the household's lights during the compressor starting event. The voltage flicker problem is caused by a variable contribution from sizable equivalent power system impedances and considerable inrush currents drawn by compressors. While this is not a new problem, and there are technologies on the market that attempt to alleviate the voltage flicker issue, no current solution attempts to correct for the problem at its root cause.
This thesis presents a device designed to …

The Formation And Control Of Iodinated Trihalomethanes In Drinking Water Treatment, Darryl Jones

All Theses

Ever since toxic disinfection by-products (DBPs) were discovered in the 1970s drinking water utilities have had to continue to develop treatment strategies to reduce the acute health risk from infectious pathogens in water, and at the same time limit the formation of disinfection by-products. The recent two stage (1998, 2006) D/DBP rule enacted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which sets limits of 80 µg/L for trihalomethanes (THMs) and 60 µg/L for haloacetic acids (HAAs) will likely put more pressure on utilities in the future to decrease their chorine contact time and follow that with ammonia addition to form monochloramine …

A Genetic Approach To Voltage Collapse Mitigation, Dwarakesh Nallan Chakravartula

All Theses

The objective of this thesis is to provide an efficient and accurate corrective solution to a system that is on verge of voltage collapse. This thesis describes, in detail, the development of an optimization scheme that aims to alleviate power system instability and voltage collapse condition based on the principles of an evolutionary approach called Genetic Algorithm. The state of a system is determined using a voltage stability identifier termed Collapse Proximity Index (CPI) and the critical loading condition is identified. Applying principles of Genetic Algorithm, the critical system is brought back to a stable operating region. The sequential procedure …

Identifying The Optimum Process Parameters Of Precision Glass Molding For Aspherical Lenses, Waqas Iqbal

All Theses

The purpose of this research is to determine the optimum process parameters for the Precision Glass Molding (PGM) Process using Manufacturing Design, Design of Experiments and Metrology (for measuring the geometry of lenses). First, a custom machine is designed and manufactured which can carry out Precision Glass Lens Molding Experiments. This machine is then modified to improve temperature, position and force control. A literature review is performed to obtain data for process parameters that have been used in previous PGM studies. The collected data is then used in Design of Experiments to create twenty seven experiments that determine the optimum …

Identifying And Comparing Key Process Attributes For Sustainable Building Delivery In India And The U.S., Prashanth Palanisamy

All Theses

India is a rapidly developing nation with the associated brisk pace of construction. More sustainable building practices for construction in India would have social, environmental, and economic benefits. However, the key process attributes for successfully planning, designing, and constructing sustainable buildings in India are largely undefined. Other projects in India would benefit from a rigorous identification of these key process attributes which could help leapfrogging the sustainable building delivery in India to the best available practices.
Sustainable buildings require different delivery processes than traditional buildings; this can lead to process wastes due to unfamiliarity or incompatibility of the processes. These …

The Design Of An Ic Half Precision Floating Point Arithmetic Logic Unit, Balaji Kannan

All Theses

A 16 bit floating point (FP) Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) was designed and implemented in 0.35µm CMOS technology. Typical uses of the 16 bit FP ALU include graphics processors and embedded multimedia applications.
The ALU of the modern microprocessors use a fused multiply add (FMA) design technique. An advantage of the FMA is to remove the need for a comparator which is required for a normal FP adder. The FMA consists of a multiplier, shifters, adders and rounding circuit. A fast multiplier based on the Wallace tree configuration was designed. The number of partial products was greatly reduced by the …

2-D And 3-D Assessment Of Cambered And Symmetric Airfoils: A Cfd Study, Tuncay Kamas

All Theses

A two dimensional and three dimensional computational study has been carried out respectively regarding aerodynamic forces affecting a symmetric airfoil, NACA0015 and a cambered airfoil, NACA2414. The negative lift (down force) and drag forces were predicted through the simulation of airflows over inverted rear-wings in different configurations namely; varying incidences i.e. angles of attack of the airfoils, two dimensional cross section of the inverted rear wings to be mounted on back of a car, and varying speeds of initial airflow.
The downforce increases as the angle of attack increases however, if an inverted rear wing is fixed on a car …

Neomycin Enhances Glutaraldehyde Crosslinking And Glycosaminoglycan Stability In Bioprosthetic Heart Valves, Vincent Friebe

All Theses

The native heart valve will open and close an astonishing 3 billion times in the average lifetime, implicating immense biomechanical ramifications that necessitate near-flawless structure and functional behavior. Deviations from this idyllic function as a result of heart valve disease (HVD) affect millions of individuals worldwide and result in over 275,000 heart valve replacements worldwide every year. Glutaraldehyde (GLUT) cross-linked porcine aortic heart valves, a common type of bioprosthetic heart valve (BHV), are used frequently in these valve replacement surgeries. The native valve leaflets entail a tri-composite design of type I collagen, elastin and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), each of which are …