Engineering Commons^™

The Feasibility Of Using An Instrumented Vehicle Equipped With Inertial Navigation Guidence System To Collect Roadway Grade And Cross-Slope Data For Safety Analysis, Cyle Rhoades

All Theses

In 2005, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requested the development for the initial version of the Model Minimum Inventory of Roadway Elements (MIRE). MIRE is a roadway inventory and traffic data collection data program that has a strong focus on improving the decision process in safety programs. MIRE is not a mandatory state program, but is strongly recommended based on its potential advantages. Some of the data required for MIRE was previously collected as a result of the requirements set from the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS).
This thesis concentrates on the feasibility of determining as-built grade and cross-slope data …

Process Development For The Fractionation And Isolation Of Corn Fiber Hemicellulose, Justin Montanti

All Theses

Corn fiber is a co-product of the corn wet-milling process that holds potential to become a value-added product. A process was developed to fractionate and isolate the hemicellulose B component of corn fiber generated by corn wet milling. The process consisted of pretreatment by soaking in aqueous ammonia (SAA) of starch-free corn fiber followed by enzymatic cellulose hydrolysis, during which the hemicellulose B was solubilized by cleavage into xylo-oligosaccharides. The hemicellulose A and B fractions were separated by adjustment of pH, and the hemicellulose B recovered by precipitation with ethanol.
The pretreatment step resulted in a high retention of major …

Characterization Of Compression Molded Sodium Caseinate-Based Films, Kathryn Hartwig

All Theses

The objective of this research was to characterize compression molded sodium caseinate based films and investigate the effect of water and glycerol ratios on thermal transition and heal sealing properties. Studies were conducted on films from three variations of film-forming mixtures or 'resins', derived from US patent 4,076,846 containing sodium caseinate (NaCas), methylcellulose (MC), calcium chloride (CaCl2), glycerol (Gly), and distilled water. Moisture sorption isotherms were used to evaluate the water-protein and water-glycerol interactions in the resins. Sorption isotherms were characteristic of most biopolymer material and showed increasing moisture sorption with increasing amounts of glycerol. In compression molded films containing …

Anaerobic Bio-Oxidation Of Vinyl Chloride And Ethene, Anthony Reid

All Theses

Tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene are among the most prevalent groundwater contaminants found at hazardous waste sites throughout the United States. Since implementing some of the common treatment methods to remediate these hazardous waste sites would exceed hundreds of billions of dollars, there is considerable interest in reducing costs while achieving remediation regulations. Under anaerobic conditions, these compounds can undergo reduction reactions known as reductive dechlorination. This occurs when an electron donor provides the reducing equivalents needed to replace the chlorine atoms with hydrogen atoms. The daughter products from higher chlorinated ethenes are ethene and ethane which can be used to document …

Processing And Characterization Of New Oxy-Sulfo-Telluride Glasses In The Ge-Sb-Te-S-O System, C. (Charmayne) Smith (Lonergan), J. Jackson, L. Petit, C. Rivero-Baleine, K. Richardson

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

New oxy-sulfo-telluride glasses have been prepared in the GeSbTeSO system employing a two-step melting process which involves the processing of a chalcogenide glass (ChG) and subsequent melting with TeO₂ or Sb₂O₃. The progressive incorporation of O at the expense of S was found to increase the density and the glass transition temperature and to decrease the molar volume of the investigated oxy-sulfo-telluride glasses. We also observed a shift of the visNIR cut-off wavelength to longer wavelength probably due to changes in Sb coordination within the glass matrix and overall matrix polarizability. Using Raman spectroscopy, correlations …

A Spectroscopic Investigation Into The Setting And Mechanical Properties Of Titanium Containing Glass Polyalkenoate Cements, A. W. Wren, A. Kidari, N. M. Cummins, Mark R. Towler

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Titanium (Ti) implants are extensively used in a number of biomedical and dental applications. This work introduces Ti into the glass phase of a zinc-based glass polyalkenoate cement (GPC) and investigates changes in handling and mechanical properties considering two molecular weight polyacrylic acids (PAA), E9 and E11. Considering the handling properties, the working time (T_w) increased from 50 s_E9, 32 s_E11 (BT 101, Ti-free) to 169 s_E9, 74 s_E11 with TW-Z (highest Ti content), respectively. The setting time (T_s) increased from 76 s_E9, 47 s_E11 (BT 101) …

A New Methodology For Hydrodynamic Similarity In Bubble Columns, Ashfaq Shaikh, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Bubble Columns Are Widely Used in Chemical, Petrochemical, and Biochemical Industries for Various Processes Such as Alkylation, Oxidation, Chlorination, Wet Oxidation of Effluents, Etc. a New Hypothesis for Hydrodynamic Similarity that Can Be Subsequently Used for Scale-Up of Bubble Column Reactors Was Proposed. This Hypothesis Was Evaluated using Advanced Diagnostic Techniques. the Conditions of Similarity Where overall Gas Holdup and Radial Gas Holdup Profiles Were the Same, and Mismatch Where overall Gas Holdup Was the Same But Gas Holdup Radial Profiles Were Different, Were Identified. the Condition that Two Systems Must Operate in the Same Flow Regime to Be Hydrodynamically …

2010 Driver Attitudes And Awareness Survey, Kenneth R. Agent, Eric R. Green, Ronald E. Langley

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

A basic set of questions were developed that could be used in periodic surveys that track drivers attitudes and awareness concerning impaired driving, seat belt use, and speeding issues. The objective of the survey was to learn the knowledge, views, and behaviors of drivers in these areas. The objective of this report is to document the results of the 2010 baseline survey.

The method used to conduct the survey was a telephone survey. In addition to questions for the three major highway safety areas of impaired driving, seat belt use, and speeding, an additional question was added which dealt with …

Development Of Measurement Methods For Application To A Wind Tunnel Test Of An Advanced Transport Model, Robert S. Ehrmann

Master's Theses

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo is currently working towards developing a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) database for future code validation efforts. Cal Poly will complete a wind tunnel test on the Advanced Model for Extreme Lift and Improved Aeroacoustics (AMELIA) in the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) 40 foot by 80 foot wind tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center in the summer of 2011. The development of two measurement techniques is discussed in this work, both with the objective of making measurements on AMELIA for CFD validation.

First, the work on the application of the Fringe-Imaging Skin Friction …

Class-F Power Amplifier With Maximized Pae, Kai Shing Tsang

Master's Theses

Due to the rapid development of telecommunication devices, operating speeds are getting faster and more power is being consumed by those devices. Therefore, there is a big concern on how to prolong the battery life in order to fit consumers’ needs. Power amplifiers (PA) at the front end of wireless equipment have drawn a big concern from engineers because of their large power consumption in the system. There is a lot research conducted on PA solutions for improving power-added efficiency (PAE) of amplifiers. PAE is a figure of merit representing how efficient the PA converts DC power to RF power. …

Picasso Interface For Horizon Simulation Framework, Brian E. Kirkpatrick

Master's Theses

The Horizon Simulation Framework, or HSF, is a modeling and simulation framework compiled from C/C++ source code into a command line program. Picasso is an interface designed to control the input files to Horizon by providing visual tools to create and manipulate the XML files used to define an HSF system of assets, their environment, and other simulation parameters. Picasso also supports the visualization of Horizon output in several different forms, and import mechanics from online space object catalogues.

Fabrication Of Fluorescent Nanoparticle-Polymer Composites For Photoactive-Based Materials, Brett Ellerbrock

All Theses

Nanocomposites of nanoparticles dispersed throughout a polymer matrix have been studied to great length to improve the overall polymer properties. These enhancements are observed in the thermal, physical, and/or optical characteristics. Being able to harness nanoparticles in such a way may help improve fiber technology into the 21st century.
This work was geared toward synthesizing rare earth doped lanthanum fluoride (LaF₃) nanoparticles because good separation in the absorption and emission bands of the material and it fluoresces in the visible to near-infrared range. Terbium ions were added to a LaF₃ crystal because of their distinct visible green …

Surface Characterization And Electrochemical Behavior Of Colloidal Particles, Cinta Pepin

All Theses

There is an ongoing interest in research focused on developing polymeric organic-light-emitting-devices (OLED) to replace inorganic devices. Compared to inorganic devices, OLEDs could present better properties such as higher efficiency, lower cost and simpler device fabrication. In an attempt to get a device with high efficiency, the hole transporting group and the electron transporting group were combined into a polymer to make an individual 'particle device'. The idea was to create a polymer particle containing both charge transporting moieties via emulsion polymerization. In this presentation, different techniques will be described that were used to determine the stability and the surface …

An Automated Framework For Defect Detection In Concrete Bridge Decks Using Fractals And Independent Component Analysis, Fadi Abu-Amara

Dissertations

Bridge decks deteriorate over time as a result of deicing salts, freezing-andthawing, and heavy use, resulting in internal defects. According to a 2006 study by the American Society of Civil Engineers, 29% of bridges in the United States are considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a promising non-destructive evaluation technique for assessing subsurface conditions of bridge decks. However, the analysis of GPR scans is typically done manually, where the accuracy of the detection process depends on the technician's trained eye. In this work, a framework is developed to automate the detection, localization, and characterization of …

Fully Anisotropic Split-Tree Adaptive Refinement Mesh Generation Using Tetrahedral Mesh Stitching, Vincent Charles Betro

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Due to the myriad of geometric topologies that modern computational fluid dynamicists desire to mesh and run solutions on, the need for a robust Cartesian Mesh Generation algorithm is paramount. Not only do Cartesian meshes require less elements and often help resolve flow features but they also allow the grid generator to have a great deal of control in so far as element aspect ratio, size, and gradation. Fully Anisotropic Split-Tree Adaptive Refinement (FASTAR) is a code that allows the user to exert a great deal of control and ultimately generate a valid, geometry conforming mesh. Due to the split-tree …

A Hybrid Method For Flows In Local Chemical Equilibrium And Nonequilibrium, Nicholas G. Currier

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The primary objective of this work is to develop a more efficient chemically active compressible Euler equation solver. Currently, a choice between the physical accuracy of a finite-rate solver or the computational efficiency of an equilibrium flow solver must be made. The number of species modeled continues to increase with available computational resources. A method of further leveraging the increase in computational power is desired. The hybrid chemistry scheme proposed here attempts to maintain the accuracy of finite-rate schemes while retaining some of the cost savings associated with equilibrium chemistry solvers. The method given uses a full finite-rate flux in …

Design And Implementation Of Pott Protection Scheme Using Iec-61850, Kirpal Singh Doad

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study is an attempt to implement the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) - 61850 to protect a transmission line using Generic Object Oriented Substation Events (GOOSE) messaging. IEC 61850 describe rules for integration of protection, control, measurement and monitoring functions within a power system network at the process and station control levels. Earlier envisioned for substation automation, IEC 61850 has shown its potential in eliminating substation wiring, enhanced interoperability between vendors and systems. Thus efforts are now being made to expand it to cover substation to control center and substation to substation automation. In this paper, GE D90 Plus Line …

Analysis Of Traffic Crash Data In Kentucky (2005 - 2009), Eric R. Green, Kenneth R. Agent, Jerry G. Pigman

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This report documents an analysis of traffic crash data in Kentucky for the years of 2005 through 2009. A primary objective of this study was to determine average crash statistics for Kentucky highways. Average and critical numbers and rates of crashes were calculated for various types of highways in rural and urban areas. These data can be used in Kentucky’s procedure to identify locations that have abnormal rates or numbers of crashes.

The other primary objective of this study was to provide data that can be used in the preparation of the problem identification portion of Kentucky’s Annual Highway Safety …

Material Modeling And Analysis For The Development Of A Realistic Blast Headform, S. G. M. Hossain

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Blast traumatic brain injury (BTBI) has become an important topic of study because of the increase of such incidents, especially due to the recent growth of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). This thesis discusses a project in which laboratory testing of BTBI was made possible by performing blast loading on experimental models simulating the human head. Three versions of experimental models were prepared – one having a simple geometry and the other two having geometry similar to a human head. For developing the head models, three important parts of the head were considered for material modeling and analysis – the skin, …

Simsight: A Virtual Machine Based Dynamic Call Graph Generator, Xueling Chen

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

One problem with using component-based software development approach is that once software modules are reused over generations of products, they form legacy structures that can be challenging to understand, making validating these systems difficult. Therefore, tools and methodologies that enable engineers to see interactions of these software modules will enhance their ability to make these software systems more dependable. To address this need, we propose SimSight, a framework to capture dynamic call graphs in Simics, a widely adopted commercial full-system simulator. Simics is a software system that simulates complete computer systems. Thus, it performs nearly identical tasks to …

Managing Large Data Sets Using Support Vector Machines, Ranjini Srinivas

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Hundreds of Terabytes of CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) data are being accumulated for storage day by day at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which is one of the eight US CMS Tier-2 sites. Managing this data includes retaining useful CMS data sets and clearing storage space for newly arriving data by deleting less useful data sets. This is an important task that is currently being done manually and it requires a large amount of time. The overall objective of this study was to develop a methodology to help identify the data sets to be deleted when there is a requirement for …

System Development And Integration Of An Airborne Laser Communications Payload For Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Mariusz Czarnomski

Theses and Dissertations

Free space laser communications provides wide bandwidth and high security capabilities to Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in order to successfully accomplish Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance (IST AR) missions. A practical implementation of a laser-based video communications payload flown by a small U AS aircraft is described as a proof-of-concept. The two-axis gimbal pointing control algorithm calculates the line-of-sight vector in real-time by using Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) information gathered from the UAS vehicle's autopilot so that the laser transmitter in the airborne payload can accurately track a ground-based photodiode array receiver with …

Ultracapacitor Heavy Hybrid Vehicle: Model Predictive Control Using Future Information To Improve Fuel Consumption, Seneca Schepmann

All Theses

This research is concerned with the improvement in the fuel economy of heavy transport vehicles through the use of high power ultracapacitors in a mild hybrid electric vehicle platform. Previous work has shown the potential for up to 15% improvement on a hybrid SUV platform, but preliminary simulations have shown the potential improvement for larger vehicles is much higher.
Based on vehicle modeling information from the high fidelity, forward-looking modeling and simulation program Powertrain Systems Analysis Toolkit (PSAT), a mild parallel heavy ultracapacitor hybrid electric vehicle model is developed and validated to known vehicle performance measures. The vehicle is hybridized …

State Estimation For Diffusion Systems Using A Karhunen-Loeve-Galerkin Reduced-Order Model, Justin Mattimore

All Theses

This thesis focuses on generating a continuous estimate of state using a small number of sensors for a process modeled by the diffusion partial differential equation(PDE). In biological systems the diffusion of oxygen in tissue is well described by the diffusion equation, also known by biologists as Fick's first law. Mass transport of many other materials in biological systems are modeled by the diffusion PDE such as CO2, cell signaling factors, glucose and other biomolecules.
Estimating the state of a PDE is more formidable than that of a system described by ordinary differential equations (ODEs). While the state variables of …

Time Dependence Of Self-Assembly Process For The Formation Of Inorganic–Organic Hybrid Nanolayers, Alexandre Dhôtel

Department of Engineering Mechanics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

There is increasing interest in self-assembled materials for energy storage, flexible electronics and hydrophobic barriers. Inorganic/organic hybrid thin films and especially organosilane-based coatings already have demonstrated their ability to achieve those goals. However, some fundamental points of their formation process by molecular self-assembly remain unexplained. Although the literature widely reports the effect of temperature on the final nanostructure, until now, no one has taken into account the importance of time during their synthesis.

The main objective of this study was to improve and complete the understanding of mechanisms responsible for the self-organization of organic/inorganic molecules into a highly ordered, layered …

Design Of A Transtibial Prosthesis Utilizing Active And Passive Components In Conjunction With A Four-Bar Mechanism, Bryan Bergelin

Master's Theses (2009 -)

This thesis outlines the design and testing of a powered ankle prosthesis which utilizes a four-bar mechanism in conjunction with a spiral torsion spring and a servo motor that mimics non-amputee (normal) ankle moments during the stance phase of gait. Previous research has shown that this novel approach is feasible, but the proof-of-concept prototype was not designed to be able to be worn by an amputee due to size, strength and mobility limitations. The goal of this research was to redesign the transtibial prosthesis to fit the requirements of the targeted amputee population. A preliminary virtual prosthesis was designed using …

Passenger Car Equivalent Factors For Level Freeway Segments Operating Under Moderate And Congested Conditions, Umama Ahmed

Master's Theses (2009 -)

The significant impact Heavy Vehicles (HV) have on freeway operations has been identified since the first edition of the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM). The method of incorporating their impact in freeway capacity calculations has changed through the years. The HCM 2000 used Passenger Car Equivalent (PCE) values and percent of trucks/buses and Recreational Vehicles (RV) to account for HV effect on capacity. However PCE values in the most recent HCM edition rely on a limited field database and extensive simulation runs based on this information; they were calibrated on `steady-flow' traffic operations. The objective of this effort was to indentify …

Analysis Of Simultaneous Switching Noise Coupling In Multilayer Power/Ground Planes With Segmentation Method And Cavity Model, Gang Feng, Jun Fan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An accurate power bus model is essential for predicting noise coupling in high-speed printed circuit board (PCB) and package designs. with a complex multilayer structure, the power bus is often modeled using numerical simulation methods. However, full-wave approaches are computationally inefficient, or even infeasible for extremely complicated geometries. Fortunately, the segmentation method makes it possible to combine different types of models together, and both simulation accuracy and efficiency can be obtained through this divide-and-conquer strategy. after segmentation, one of the fundamental blocks is a parallel plane pair. for this block, analytical expressions for the impedance (Z) matrix are available for …

An Intrinsic Circuit Model For Multiple Vias In An Irregular Plate Pair Through Rigorous Electromagnetic Analysis, Yao Jiang Zhang, Jun Fan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An irregular plate pair with multiple vias is analyzed by the segmentation method that divides the plate pair into a plate domain and via domains. in the via domains, all the parallel-plate modes are considered, while in the plate domain, only the propagating modes are included to account for the coupling among vias and the reflection from plate edges. Boundary conditions at both vias and plate edges are enforced and all parasitic components of via circuit are expressed analytically in terms of parallel-plate modes. the work presented in this paper indicates that a previous physics-Based via circuit model from intuition …

Evaluation Of Toxicity Analysis For Foundry Sand Specifications, M. Katherine Banks, A. Paul Schwab

JTRP Technical Reports

Byproducts from many industries have the potential to be used as construction materials, but some means is required to determine if the material is environmentally benign. Foundry sands are produced in many states and can be useful as in transportation projects. However, INDOT currently requires the use of the MICROTOX test to assess the potential toxicity of the sands, and this requirement is viewed as an unnecessary impediment by the producers of foundry sands and is a requirement not encountered in other states. Therefore, the goal of this project was to review current requirements for testing of recycled materials, determine …