Engineering Commons^™

Development Of Composition Modulated Multilayer Alloy Coatings And Their Corrosion Behavior, S Yogesha, A C. Hegde

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

Multilayer Zn-Ni alloy coating was developed on mild steel from acid chloride bath containing thiamine hydrochloride, as additive. Composition modulated multilayer alloy (CMMA) coatings, or simply, multilayer coating with gradual change in composition were developed galvanostatically using triangular current pulses from single bath technique. CMMA coatings of Zn-Ni were developed under different conditions, such as cyclic cathode current densities (CCCDs) and a number of layers, and their corrosion behaviors were evaluated by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy method. Optimal configuration, (Zn-Ni)2.0/4.0/600 was found to exhibit ~50 times better corrosion resistance compared to monolayer (Zn-Ni)3.0 alloy, deposited from the same …

Chevron Crack Initiation In Mullti-Pass Drawing Of Inclusion Copper Shaped-Wire, S Norasethasopon

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

In the copper superfine wire drawing, the internal cracks such as chevron cracks and breakage of the wire were fatal to the success of quantitative drawing operations. This paper shows how the main process parameters, the drawing pass numbers, influence the plastic deformation, hydrostatic stress, maximum principal tensile stress and chevron cracks initiation investigated by FEM simulation. The effect of the lateral and longitudinal sizes of a central cylindrical inclusion in the multi-pass copper shaped-wire drawing was studied. The plastic deformation, plastic strain, hydrostatic stress and maximum principal tensile stress of the copper shaped-wire containing an inclusion were obtained from …

Improving Quench Hardening Of Low Carbon Steel, T Korad, M Polboon, N Chumchery, J Pearce

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

The carbon content in steel determines whether it can be directly hardened. If the carbon content is low (less than 0.25wt%) then an alternate means exists to increase the carbon content of the surface. In this study, the mixed quenchant consisting of brine and surfactants known as Superquench was applied in the quench-hardening process on AISI 1015 low carbon steel. The quench results were compared with quenching in heavy brine solution, water and oil which are recognized as the basic quenchants and cannot cause bulk-hardening low-carbon steels. The hardness tests on different points along the radius of cut round bar …

Immobilization Of Lipase Onto Cyperus Papyrus L. For Biodiesel Production By Transesterification And Hydrolysis-Esterification, S Charuchinda, P Suthianthong, W Chulalaksananukul

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

Lipase of Candida rugosa was immobilized on biomass support, plant fiber from Cyperus papyrus L., for biodiesel synthesis. The two immobilization techniques investigated in this study were physical adsorption and covalent binding with 1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC). Results showed that the prepared immobilized lipase by physical adsorption with adding heptane presented higher protein loading, lipase activity and degree of immobilization than that by physical adsorption in phosphate buffer solution and by covalent binding. This immobilized lipase was further applied as biocatalyst for biodiesel synthesis by transesterification and hydrolysis-esterification. The results showed that this immobilized lipase preferred to hydrolyze triglyceride in palm oil …

Calibration Of Complex System Dynamics Models: A Practioner's Report, Rod Walker, Wayne Wakeland

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper is not a typical academic paper that is solidly grounded in the literature. Instead, this paper reports practitioner’s experiences in rebuilding and calibrating a very large system dynamics model. A prior version of this model had been in use for over 10 years in an ongoing executive training simulation. That model had never worked correctly in several key areas, requiring the outputs to be manually adjusted by very experienced facilitators during the course of the simulation. The present project rebuilt the system dynamics model, redesigned the parts that weren’t working, and calibrated the resulting model to match the …

Analysis And Design Of A Propulsion System Trade Study Tool For A Boeing 376 Series Communications Satellite, Kevin Dunk

Aerospace Engineering

No abstract provided.

Identifying Changes In Climatic Trends And The Fingerprints Of Landuse And Landcover Changes In The High Plains Of The Usa, Denis Mutiibwa

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Human activities such as conversion of natural ecosystem to croplands and urban-centers, deforestation and afforestation impact biophysical properties of land surface such as albedo, energy balance, and surface roughness. Alterations in these properties affect the heat and moisture exchanges between the land surface and atmospheric boundary layer. The objectives of this research were; (i) to quantitatively identify the High plains’ regional climate change in temperatures over the period 1895 to 2006, (ii) detect the signatures of anthropogenic forcing of LULC changes on the regional climate change of the High Plains, and (iii) examine the trends in evolving regional latent heat …

Monitoring Of Mesenchymal Based Constructs Using Magnetic Resonance Elastography, Evan T. Curtis

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Evaluating the functionality of an engineered material lies in the proper characterization of its material and functional properties. In the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders, engineered bone or fat tissue must behave as an adequate replacement else failure of the material could result in discomfort and further surgical procedures. A significant material characteristic that reflects tissue development is the mechanical properties (i.e. shear strength and viscosity). Shear strength and viscosity provide an indication of how efficient the material is in dissipating energy. Energy dissipation occurs naturally in many tissues including fat and can prevent damage to deeper tissues. Many of the …

Biofilter Media Characterization Using Water Sorption Isotherms, Guilherme Del Nero Maia, George B. Day, Richard S. Gates, Joseph L. Taraba

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Compost material has been used extensively as a gas‐phase biofilter media for contaminant gas treatment in recent years. One of the biggest challenges in the use of this type of material is adequate control of compost moisture content and understanding its effect on the biofiltration process. The present work provides a methodology for characterization of biofilter media under low moisture conditions. Results indicated that low levels of equilibrium moisture content (EMC) were obtained for high levels of equilibrium relative humidity (ERH), i.e., 99% ERH produced EMC of approximately 20% (dry basis) at 25° C. Most bacteria struggle to survive in …

An Analysis Of Statistical Power In Aviation Research, David Carl Ison

Applied Aerospace Science

"This study sought to evaluate the statistical power of aviation research published in four prominent peer-reviewed journals (Collegiate Aviation Review, Journal of Air Transportation Worldwide, Journal of Aviation/Aerospace education and Research, and International Journal of Applied Aviation Studies). Further, this study investigated whether power was mentioned or calculated as well as if articles included details on effect size(s). The study yielded 128 articles that included statistical testing and provided enough information to calculate power. From these articles a total of 1,692 statistical tests were analyzed. The average power of these tests was .277 considering a small effect size, .685 when …

Adaptive Real-Time Decoding Of Brain Signals For Long-Term Control Of A Neuro-Prosthetic Device, Tushar Ashok Dharampal

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Changes in the statistical properties of neural signals recorded at the brain machine interface (BMI) pose significant challenges for accurate long-term control of prostheses interfaced directly with the brain by continuously altering the relationship between neural responses and desired action. In this thesis, we develop and test an adaptive decoding algorithm that can recover from changes in the statistical properties of neural signals within minutes. The adaptive decoding algorithm uses a Kalman filter as part of a dual-filter design to continuously optimize the relationship between the observed neural responses and the desired action of the prosthesis. Performance of the algorithm …

Examining The Relationships Among Injury Outcomes, Velocity And Grip Strength During Dynamic Platform Perturbation, Braden Cripe

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Studies examining the relationship between inputs and outputs for simulated models of dynamically perturbed horizontal platforms are scarce. Most of these scenarios include a standing operator with upper extremity grip, oftentimes subjected to lateral impulses, which may lead to occupant injury. While the detailed study of these collision scenarios is sparse, the prevalence of their application is great.

This thesis aims to identify how two input parameters, velocity change (ÄV) and grip strength, affect injury assessment reference values (IARVs). This is accomplished by using Mathematical Dynamic Modeling (MADYMO) software to simulate the scenarios defined by those inputs. In the simulation, …

Role Of Tendon Vibration In Multijoint Reflex Coupling In The Hemiparetic Arm Post Stroke, Bani Gadhoke

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Post stroke hemiparesis causes reflex coupling in multiple muscles of the arm, leading to atypical movements that hamper motor control. In particular, people post-stroke can become unstable while holding the arm at the end of a planar motion. Recently, we have found that tendon vibration of the wrist flexors improves the stability of the arm during a hold task. The objective of the current study was to identify the effects of vibration applied to the wrist flexors on the biceps and triceps stretch reflexes, generated using a tendon tapper. In people post-stroke, tendon tap perturbations of the biceps and triceps …

Methods For Detecting High-Frequency Oscillations In Ongoing Brain Signals: Application To The Determination Of Epileptic Seizure Onset Zones, Chiran Dilip Doshi

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder with varied expression. Patients with focal onset seizures that are resistant to medications can benefit from ablative surgery. However, localization of the seizure onset zone (SOZ) and characterization of propagation to secondary areas can be challenging. The present study aimed at developing the appropriate signal processing methodology to detect bursts of interictal high-frequency oscillations (HFOs), as a possible signature of the SOZ, in patients with drug-resistant partial epilepsy. Additionally, invasive interictal and ictal intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) data and non-invasive electromagnetic source imaging with magnetoencephalography (MEG) data from three subjects were analyzed. We developed a novel …

Heat And Mass Transfer Correlations For Steam Methane Reforming In Non-Adiabatic, Process-Intensified Catalytic Reactors, Adam Stephen Kimmel

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Because of its high energy density, hydrogen is a desirable energy source for the achievement of a renewable energy landscape. Though production methods like thermolysis, electrolysis and biomass conversion, among others, are thought to be long term renewable solutions, catalytic steam methane reforming (SMR) is currently the predominant mechanism to produce hydrogen on an industrial scale. The highly endothermic, transport-limited reforming process has also been scaled down through process intensification to create efficient small-scale hydrogen-generating systems. One proposed geometry utilizes a catalytic finned cylinder that provides a manufacturable solution to enable high-efficiency heat exchange and SMR reaction. An accurate representation …

Tools For Creating Wide-Field Views Of The Human Retina Using Optical Coherence Tomography, Ashavini M. Pavaskar

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) has allowed in-vivo viewing of details of retinal layers like never before. With the development of spectral domain OCT (SD-OCT) details of nearly 2µm axial resolution and higher imaging speed have been reported. Nevertheless, a single volume scan of the retina is typically restricted to 6mm x 6mm in size. Having a larger field of view of the retina will definitely enhance the clinical utility of the OCT.

A tool was developed for creating wide-field thickness maps of the retina by combining the use of already available tools like i2k Retina (DualAlign, LLC, Clifton Park, NY) …

Modeling And Computational Framework For The Specification And Simulation Of Large-Scale Spiking Neural Networks, David James Herzfeld

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Recurrently connected neural networks, in which synaptic connections between neurons can form directed cycles, have been used extensively in the literature to describe various neurophysiological phenomena, such as coordinate transformations during sensorimotor integration. Due to the directed cycles that can exist in recurrent networks, there is no well-known way to a priori specify synaptic weights to elicit neuron spiking responses to stimuli based on available neurophysiology. Using a common mean field assumption, that synaptic inputs are uncorrelated for sufficiently large populations of neurons, we show that the connection topology and a neuron's response characteristics can be decoupled. This assumption allows …

Surface Preparation Of Naval Ship Construction Steel (Abs-A And Ah-36) Via Bristle Blasting Process, Jorge Andres Martinez

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Bristle blasting is a new and unique corrosion-removal process that is rapidly gaining widespread acceptance among engineers and practitioners in the corrosion/ surface preparation community. Engineers from the ship construction and repair industries face a constant corrosive threat to ships' steel infrastructure and welded joints. To this end, great care is exercised in protecting the vessels' structural integrity and longevity, while maintenance engineers in the ship-building industry seek new methods to improve surface preparation that will not compromise the surface cleanliness and anchor profile required for proper adhesion of paints and coatings.

In this study, the cleanliness and texture of …

Applying Bayesian Forecasting To Predict New Customers' Heating Oil Demand, Tsuginosuke Sakauchi

Master's Theses (2009 -)

This thesis presents a new forecasting technique that estimates energy demand by applying a Bayesian approach to forecasting. We introduce our Bayesian Heating Oil Forecaster (BHOF), which forecasts daily heating oil demand for individual customers who are enrolled in an automatic delivery service provided by a heating oil sales and distribution company. The existing forecasting method is based on linear regression, and its performance diminishes for new customers who lack historical delivery data. Bayesian methods, on the other hand, respond effectively in the start-up situation where no prior data history is available.

Our Bayesian Heating Oil Forecaster uses forecasters' past …

Development Of An Experimental Model To Quantify Lumbar Spine Kinematics During Military Seat Ejection, Steven George Storvik

Master's Theses (2009 -)

The initial phase of a military ejection sequence exerts substantial axial loads on the spinal column. Eccentric inertial loading on the thoracolumbar spine can lead to injury. Most serious injuries due to ejection are in the form of a vertebral fracture, most commonly occurring at the thoracolumbar junction. The objective of the current study was to understand characteristics of a military seat ejection by employing an experimental model designed to simulate the boost or in-rail phase. The model incorporates realistic boundary conditions and is capable of quantifying metrics associated with injury tolerance such as applied accelerations and resultant loads and …

Twin-Screw Extrusion Processing Of Distillers Dried Grains With Solubles (Ddgs)-Based Yellow Perch (Perca Flavescens) Feeds, Ferouz Y. Ayadi, Kurt A. Rosentrater, Kasiviswanathan Muthukumarappan, Michael L. Brown

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Increases in global aquaculture production, compounded with limited availabilities of fish meal for fish feed, has created the need for alternative protein sources. Twinscrew extrusion studies were performed to investigate the production of nutritionally balanced feeds for juvenile yellow perch (Perca flavescens). Five isocaloric (~3.06 kcal/g) ingredient blends, adjusted to a target protein content of 36.7% db, were formulated with 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) at an initial moisture content of 5–7%db, with appropriate amounts of fish meal, fish oil, whole wheat flour, corn gluten meal, and vitamin and mineral premixes. …

A Taskable Space Vehicle: Realizing Cost Savings By Combining Orbital And Suborbital Flight, Thomas Co, Jonathan T. Black

Faculty Publications

The use of space gives the United States distinct advantages in any battlefield environment, but the high cost of space operations increasingly jeopardizes those advantages. Although the United States pioneered much of the current space technology, declining budgets for space research, development, and operations leave our legacy systems vulnerable to adversaries around the world. Other nations formerly incapable of space exploitation are quickly learning to counter US space technologies at surprisingly low costs. In order to reduce the expense of deploying and maintaining a robust space capability, the Department of Defense (DOD) must change the status quo in space operations …

Direct Numeric Simulation Of Shock Wave Structures Without The Use Of Artificial Viscosity, Kenneth Bernard Jordan

Dissertations (1934 -)

The purpose of this work is to directly simulate shock wave structures without the use of artificial viscosity. The commonly used artificial viscosity model is replaced with an irreversibility model. Irreversibilities are not typically taken into account when modeling the shock processes because shocks are resolved in a large domain where the thickness of the shock is thin compared to the numeric grid resolution. The result is the shock is poorly resolved. In addition processes other than shock processes are adiabatic and reversible. The result is artificial viscosity, a form of irreversibility, is added to the numeric cells near the …

Detection Of Specific Biological Antigens Using Ac Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy, Darrel Angelo Mazzari

Dissertations (1934 -)

When certain antigens are present in our environment, a rapid, on-site, accurate, selective, and repeatable detection method can be invaluable in preventing illness or saving lives. Rapid detection of these antigens is important to avert spreading infections.

Currently, capturing a sample and sending it to a laboratory can take weeks to get results, which can be much too long. Conventional sensing methodologies include various electrical measurements as capacitive, potentiometric, piezoelectric, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). Of particular power and interest is Alternating Current (AC) Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) which provides for the characterization of the electrical …

Development Of Guidelines For The Rating, Inspection, And Acquisition Of Railroad Flatcars For Use As Highway Bridges On Low-Volume Roads, Jason T. Provines, Robert Connor

Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Technical Reports

Due to budget constraints, many state and county highway agencies are often forced to develop innovative and economical rehabilitation strategies for deteriorated bridges. One such option is to use a retired railroad flatcar for a bridge superstructure. Railroad flatcars can be found in many lengths, making them versatile options for replacing bridges of a range of span lengths up to about 90 feet. Railroad flatcars are also completely modular and lightweight, allowing for quick construction. Within Indiana, as well as other states, several of these bridge structures have been in service for many years.

Although their performance has been satisfactory, …

Estimating Highway Maintenance Work, Fifth Edition, Ohio Department Of Transportation, Indiana Ltap

Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Publications

This manual is founded upon a problem index that walks through a number of equations that will estimate the maintenance work required in areas such as bridge deck repair, chip and seal, crack sealing, mowing, road salt application, salt spreader calibration, and many more everyday road maintenance operations. The manual also includes an appendix to help with lengths, areas, volumes, rates, equivalents, and rules.

Virtual Prototyping Of A Mechatronics Device, Ryne P. Mchugh

Purdue Polytechnic Directed Projects

Mechanical, electrical, and embedded software engineering are being combined in modern products. This combination has come to be known as mechatronics. The high level of multidisciplinary interaction makes it difficult for collaboration and use of computers in Mechatronics’ design.

Dassault Systems’ SolidWorks and National Instruments’ LabVIEW are industrial grade softwares that can be used in the development and deployment phase of engineering design. SolidWorks is used for physical modeling and analysis of geometric parts, while LabVIEW is used as a programming language for control logic and data acquisition. National Instruments has developed a module, known as SoftMotion, which allows communication …

A Water Distribution And Treatment Simulation For Testing Cyber Security Enhancements For Water Sector Scada Systems., Justin Robert Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are used by many critical infrastructures including electric power production and distribution, water and waste water treatment, rail transportation, and gas and oil distribution. Originally isolated proprietary systems, SCADA systems are increasingly connected to enterprise networks and the Internet and today use commercial hardware and software. As a result SCADA systems now face serious cyber-security threats. The need for testing and evaluation of developed cyber-security solutions presents a challenge since evaluation on actual systems is usually not possible and building complete physical testbeds is costly. This thesis presents the design and development of …

Design For Soft Error Tolerance In Fpga-Implemented Asynchronous Circuits, Yu Bai

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This research in its present form is the result of experimentation on effect of soft error in FPGA-implemented asynchronous circuit. The conclusion are drawn that asynchronous circuit are much easier to detect soft error than synchronous circuits. The asynchronous circuit is implemented in FPGA with software fault injection method to analyze the behavior of soft error generation in FPGA implementation asynchronous circuits. The proposed detection circuit can detect all soft errors that generated in FPGA-implemented asynchronous circuit. The contributions include: investigation of FPGA structure, investigation of soft error model in FPGA, mechanism of FPGA implemented asynchronous circuit, behavior of soft …

Bs News July/August

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.