Engineering Commons^™

Design Of High Fidelity Building Energy Monitoring System, Hao Wang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Building energy meter network, based on per-appliance monitoring system, willbe an important part of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure. Two key issues exist for designing such networks. One is the network structure to be used. The other is the implementation of the network structure on a large amount of small low power devices, and the maintenance of high quality communication when the devices have electric connection with high voltage AC line. The recent advancement of low-power wireless communication makes itself the right candidate for house and building energy network. Among all kinds of wireless solutions, the low speed but highly reliable …

Production Of Biofuel Intermediates From Woody Feedstocks Via Fast Pyrolysis And Torrefaction, Jordan Lee Klinger

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The main objective of this research was to investigate pyrolysis and torrefaction of forest biomass species using a micropyrolysis instrument. It was found that 30-45% of the original sample mass remained as bio-char in the pyrolysis temperature range of 500 - 700˚C for aspen, balsam, and switchgrass. The non-char mass was converted to gaseous and vapor products, of which 10-55% was water and syngas, 2-12% to acetic acid, 2-12% to hydroxypropanone, 1-3% to furaldehyde, and 5-15% to various phenolic compounds. In addition, several general trends in the evolution of gaseous species were indentified when woody feedstocks were pyrolyzed. With increasing …

Characterization Of The Engineering Properties And Economic Potential Of The Transitional Clay Unit Of The Ripley Formation, Northeast Mississippi, Richard Christopher Wheeler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Expansive soils, throughout Mississippi and the U.S., have long been a source of problems within the engineering and construction industries, leading to billions of dollars in damage annually. Along with being a source of problems, the clays throughout Mississippi are also of economic importance, being mined for a variety of uses. In this study, the engineering properties of the transitional clay facies of the Ripley Formation are studied, to characterize the swell potential of the transitional clay, and to assist with the evaluation of the possible commercial uses of the soil. The transitional clay is an Upper Cretaceous unit characterized …

Enhancing Wireless Security Using Relay Based Cooperative Networks., Mohammad A. Kishk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Solar Power Generation: Methods And Comparisons, Rambod Rayegan, Yong X. Tao

Early Career Technical Journal (ECTJ)

Proceedings of the ASME Early Career Technical Conference, November 4-5, 2011. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia

pp. 78-86

Influence Of Fan Operation On Fan Assessment Numeration System (Fans) Test Results, Gabriela Munhoz Morello

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The use of velocity traverses to measure in-situ air flow rate of ventilation fans can be subject to significant errors. The Fan Assessment Numeration System (FANS) was developed by the USD-ARS Southern Poultry Research Laboratory and refined at the University of Kentucky to measure air flow of fans in-situ. The procedures for using the FANS unit to test fans in-situ are not completely standardized. This study evaluated the effect of operating fan positions relative to the FANS unit for ten 1.22 m diameter fans in two types of poultry barns, with fans placed immediately next to each other and …

Bench-Scale, Multifilament Spinning Conditions Effect On The Structure And Properties Of Polyacrylonitrile Precursor Fiber, Elizabeth Ashley Morris

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Due to its unique characteristics, carbon fiber is one of the leading materials for light weight, high strength and stiffness applications in composite materials. The development of carbon fibers approaching theoretical strengths and stiffness is a continuing process which has led to improved mechanical and physical properties over the recent years. Improvements in carbon fiber properties are directly dependent on the quality of the precursor fiber. Research and development of PAN precursor fiber requires extensive experimentation to determine how processing conditions affect the structure and properties of the precursor fibers. Therefore, it is the goal of this thesis to analyze …

High Speed Continuous Thermal Curing Microfabrication System, Franklin Dibartolomeo

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Rapid creation of devices with microscale features is a vital step in the commercialization of a wide variety of technologies, such as microfluidics, fuel cells and self-healing materials. The current standard for creating many of these microstructured devices utilizes the inexpensive, flexible material poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to replicate microstructured molds. This process is inexpensive and fast for small batches of devices, but lacks scalability and the ability to produce large surface-area materials. The novel fabrication process presented in this paper uses a cylindrical mold with microscale surface patterns to cure liquid PDMS prepolymer into continuous microstructured films. Results show that this …

Optimization Of Coagulation And Syneresis Processes In Cheesemaking Using A Light Backscatter Sensor Technology, Tatiana Gravena Ferreira

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Curd syneresis, a critical step in cheesemaking, directly influences the quality of cheese. The syneresis process is empirically controlled in cheese manufacturing plants. A sensor technology for this step would improve process control and enhance cheese quality. A light backscatter sensor with a Large Field of View (LFV) was tested using a central composite design over a broad range of cheese process conditions including milk pH, calcium chloride addition level, milk fat to protein ratio, temperature, and a cutting time factor (β). The research objectives were to determine if the LFV sensor could monitor coagulation and syneresis steps …

Partially Halogenated Acenes And Heteroacenes For Organic Electronics, Balaji Purushothaman

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Inorganic materials have dominated electronic applications such as photovoltaic cells, thin film transistors (TFTs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs). However developments in the field of organic electronics over the past three decades have enabled the use of organic materials in these devices. While significant improvements have been made to improve their electronic properties there are several road blocks towards commercial application. One of the significant obstacles is the poor charge carrier mobility associated with organic semiconductors processed by well established printing methods. The goal of my research project is to improve the charge carrier mobility of solution cast films of …

Computer Simulation Of A Hollow-Fiber Bioreactor: Heparan Regulated Growth Factors-Receptors Binding And Dissociation Analysis, Changjiang Zhang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis demonstrates the use of numerical simulation in predicting the behavior of proteins in a flow environment.

A novel convection-diffusion-reaction computational model is first introduced to simulate fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) binding to its receptor (FGFR) on cell surfaces and regulated by heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) under flow in a bioreactor. The model includes three parts: (1) the flow of medium using incompressible Navier-Stokes equations; (2) the mass transport of FGF-2 using convection-diffusion equations; and (3) the cell surface binding using chemical kinetics. The model consists of a set of coupled nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) for flow and …

Modeling And Quantitative Analysis Of White Matter Fiber Tracts In Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Xuwei Liang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique to record incoherent motion of water molecules and has been used to detect micro structural white matter alterations in clinical studies to explore certain brain disorders. A variety of DTI based techniques for detecting brain disorders and facilitating clinical group analysis have been developed in the past few years. However, there are two crucial issues that have great impacts on the performance of those algorithms. One is that brain neural pathways appear in complicated 3D structures which are inappropriate and inaccurate to be approximated by simple 2D structures, …

Development Of A Semi-Automated Tobacco Stripping Machine Utilizing String Trimmers, Robert George Sperry

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Conventional stripping of burley tobacco is labor intensive and typically requires 50 to 75 worker hours per acre (wkr•hr/ac). The goal of the project was to reduce labor by optimizing leaf removal by string trimmer heads using combinations of strings lengths and motor speeds. In tests conducted on a single grade, all leaves outside the grade were removed by hand. Plants were run through the machine for sting lengths of 5, 7 and 9 inches and associated motor speeds which were monitored and recorded. Stripping efficiencies were calculated for each plant and collectively for each set of four plants. The …

Evaluation Of Mechanical Proerties And Effective Thickness Of The Interfaces By Finite Element Analysis, Sesha Spandana Pulla

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The nanoindentation technique has been used to identify the interfaces between dissimilar materials and subsequently to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties across the interfaces. The interfaces could represent the interface (transition face) between oxidized and unoxidized polymers, the interface between rigid fiber and polymer matrix, or other similar situations. It is proposed to use a nanoindenter equipped with small spherical tip to indent across the interfaces of dissimilar materials. The proposed method has been validated by conducting a large number of virtual experiments through 3-dimensional finite element simulations, by varying the properties of the two dissimilar materials, including various …

Particulate Organic Carbon Fate And Transport In A Lowland, Temperate Watershed, William Isaac Ford Iii

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Small lowland agricultural systems promote conditions where benthic biological communities can thrive. These biogeochemical processes have significant impacts on terrestrial ecosystem processes including POC flux and fate, nutrient balances, water quality budges, and aquatic biological functioning. Limited information is available on coupled biological and hydrologic processes in fluvial systems. This study investigates the mixture of biological and hydrologic processes in the benthic layer in order to understand POC cycling in the South Elkhorn system. Further, comprehensive modeling of POC flux in lowland systems has not been performed previously and the behavior of potentially controlling variables, such as hydrologic forcing and …

Experimental Flow Visualization For Corrugated Airfoils At Low Reynolds Number Including Development Of A Pitch And Plunge Fixture, Jeremy Ryan Sparks

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Micro Air Vehicles (MAV’s) have small size and extreme maneuverability which makes them ideal for surveillance. Propulsion mechanisms include propellers, rotors, and flapping airfoils. Flapping motions, along with biologically-inspired wing profiles, are of interest due to their use of natural physics. Corrugated airfoil structures appears to have poor aerodynamic performance at higher Reynolds numbers, but serve well at Re<10,000. Understanding flow structures around corrugated profiles and comparing them to a standard airfoil will aid in understanding how these corrugated profiles perform well and have been adopted by some of nature’s most acrobatic flyers. Motivation for this investigation is to compare static flow visualizations of corrugated profiles to a standard National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) airfoil from low to high angles of attack and further observe flow structure development of a pitching and plunging flat plate at a Re<10,000 and a Strouhal number relevant to natural fliers. The static visualization was conducted at Re=1,000 with a NACA 0012 airfoil and two corrugated models. The Pitch and Plunge Fixture (PPF) developed was constructed by simplifying flapping wings as a two degree of freedom motion in plunge (translation) and pitch (rotation). Results obtained from the PPF were compared with a numerical simulation.

An Investigation Of The Reynolds Number Dependence Of The Near-Wall Peak In Canonical Wall Bounded Turbulent Channel Flow, Bahareh Estejab

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

An experimental investigation into fully developed high aspect ratio channels was undertaken. A review of the literature reveals that there is a need for accurate measurement of the inner peak value of streamwise turbulence intensity despite the large number of studies already completed. The scattered data on this subject could be attributed either to insufficient channel size (aspect ratio or length) or to hot-wire spatial filtering.

A new, high quality, channel flow facility was designed and constructed, considering the most recent geometric limitation provided in the literature. To obtain accurate results, data were acquired using hot-wire probes with constant viscous-scale …

The Effect Of Practice On Eye Movements In The 1/D Paradigm, Will Seidelman

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Previous studies have demonstrated that observers may ignore highly salient feature singletons during a conjunction search task through focusing the attentional window (Belopolsky, Zwaan, Theeuwes, & Kramer, 2007), or by the suppression of bottom-up information (Treisman & Sato, 1990). In the current study, observers’ eye movements were monitored while performing a search task in which a feature singleton was present and corresponded with the target at a chance level. With practice, observers were less likely to make an initial saccade toward the singleton item, but initial saccades directed at the target were likely throughout. Results demonstrate that, in an effort …

Coherent Phonons In Bismuth Film Observed By Ultrafast Electron Diffraction, A. Bugayev, A. Esmail, M. Abdel-Fattah, H. E. Elsayed-Ali

Applied Research Center Publications

The generation of coherent phonons in polycrystalline bismuth film excited with femtosecond laser pulse is observed by ultrafast time-resolved electron diffraction. The dynamics of the diffracted intensities from the (110), (202), and (024) lattice planes show pronounced oscillations at 130-150 GHz. The origin of these coherent acoustic phonons is discussed in view of optical phonon decay into two acoustic phonons. Different drop times in the intensity of the diffraction orders are observed and interpreted as anisotropy in the energy transfer rate of coherent optical phonons.

The Influence Of Pressure Relaxation On The Structure Of An Axial Vortex, Robert L. Ash, Irfan Zardadkhan, Allan J. Zuckerwar

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Governing equations including the effects of pressure relaxation have been utilized to study an incompressible, steady-state viscous axial vortex with specified far-field circulation. When sound generation is attributed to a velocity gradient tensor-pressure gradient product, the modified conservation of momentum equations that result yield an exact solution for a steady, incompressible axial vortex. The vortex velocity profile has been shown to closely approximate experimental vortex measurements in air and water over a wide range of circulation-based Reynolds numbers. The influence of temperature and humidity on the pressure relaxation coefficient in air has been examined using theoretical and empirical approaches, and …

Simulation And Visualization Enhanced Engineering Education- Development And Implementation Of Virtual Experiments In A Laboratory Course, Sushil K. Chaturvedi, Kaustubh A. Dharwadkar

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents results from a National Science Foundation grant titled "Simulation and Visualization Enhanced Engineering Education", funded by the EEC division. Although the scope of the project is quite broad, embracing a wide range of courses in three engineering disciplines, the present work describes the results obtained from application of simulation and visualization for development and implementation of web-based virtual engineering laboratories. The present work leverages the advancement in hardware and software technologies to map physical experiments into web-based virtual experiments that can be used to enrich student's laboratory experience. Four physical experiments in the thermo-fluids laboratory course have …

Nebraska Summary: S813 New Holland T7.185, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

Test 1984: John Deere 6100d, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

Test 1996a: Case Ih Puma 225, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

Test 2012: Case Ih Farmall 55a, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

A Computational Tool For Estimating Off-Target Application Areas In Agricultural Fields, Rodrigo S. Zandonadi, Joe D. Luck, Timothy S. Stombaugh, Michael P. Sama, Scott A. Shearer

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

A computational method for estimating off-target application areas based on the machine-controlled section width and the field shape was developed and implemented in software with a graphical user interface written in the MatLab environment. The program, which is called the Field Coverage Analysis Tool (FieldCAT), includes three modules: data import, data preparation, and coverage analysis. Nine field boundaries were evaluated to test the software using controlled section widths from 0.5 to 27 m and various swath orientations. The estimated off-target application area from the widest section width varied from 9% to 24% depending on the shape and size of the …

The Equivalence And Generalization Of Optimization Criteria, Surachai Charoensri

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

In this dissertation we first show that existing optimization criteria are equivalent to the maximization of a real-valued function in a one-dimensional Euclidean space. The criteria are said to be scalar equivalent. All solutions and only solutions to an optimization problem involving the original criterion can be obtained by scalarization without the typical convexity or concavity assumptions on the original objective functions and feasible region. Examples include Pareto (including the scalar case), satisficing, maximin, and cone-ordered optimization, as well as the more general notion of set-valued optimization in abstract spaces. Moreover, equivalences between various different optimization criteria are also established …

Material And Energy Flow Analysis Of The Irish Construction Sector, Rachel Woodward

Theses

A national flow model for concrete was developed using the framework of material and energy flow analysis. Using this framework, the Irish concrete material and energy cycles for the year 2007 were constructed by firstly analysing the material life cycle of concrete which consists of the three phases of production (including extraction of raw materials and manufacture of cement), usage into stock (ready-mix and other concrete products), and waste management. In this year, approximately 35Mt of raw materials were extracted to produce both 5Mt of cement and 33Mt of concrete, with 4.5Mt of cement going into the production of concrete. …

Power Cable Fault Finding Using Pseudo Random Binary Sequences, Holger Geisler

Theses

The work that is presented in this thesis documents the results obtained from the pseudo random binary sequence (PRBS) cable testing method which utilises a pseudo noise (pN) sequence as a test stimulus to localise faults on a transmission line. The work targets the proof of concept of the PRBS method in a Coaxial cable as well as its eventual evaluation for fault testing accuracy and performance on a real-world underground steel wired armour (SWA) cable. Further, a novel hardware implementation of the method utilising a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is presented. The theory of the PRBS test method …

Design Of A Smart System For Monitoring Concrete Curing And Structural Health, William Quinn

Theses

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a rapidly growing sector of the construction industry. Automated monitoring methods arc mainly limited to global monitoring and the application of local monitoring methods has not gained widespread application due to the fact that currently technology requires that the systems are wired to data acquisition devices. This thesis presents a fully embeddable wireless sensor node for the local monitoring of structural concrete. It presents the first reported wireless embedded system implementation of the electromechanical impedance method using both resonant and antiresonant sensors for this purpose.

The first section of this thesis examines the feasibility of …