Engineering Commons^™

Spatial Patterns Of Mercury In Atmospheric Deposition, Soils And Lake Biota In The Adirondack Park, New York, Xue Yu

Civil and Environmental Engineering - Dissertations

Mercury (Hg), as a trace element cycling in the environment, poses a serious health threat to both humans and wildlife due to its toxicity. Atmospheric deposition is the main source of Hg to most remote environments. The Adirondack Park in New York State of the United States receives moderate Hg deposition, and is a region characterized by relatively high concentrations of Hg in the terrestrial and especially aquatic biota. It is important to understand the mechanisms that contribute to the sensitivity of this region to Hg inputs. In my research, studies of the spatial patterns of Hg in atmospheric deposition, …

Investigation Of Out-Of-Plane Properties Of Interlocking Compressed Earth Block Walls, Nicholas Anthony Herskedal

Master's Theses

Interlocking compressed earth blocks (ICEBs) are cement stabilized soil blocks that allow for dry stacked construction. The incomplete understanding of the inelastic performance of ICEB building systems limits widespread acceptance of this structural system in earthquake prone areas. This thesis presents results from an experimental program designed to explore the behavior of ICEB walls, built according to current design practice in Indonesia and Thailand, and subjected to out-of-plane loading. A total of five reinforced and grouted ICEB walls were constructed and tested.

Results from experimentation show the current masonry design code, ACI 530, adequately predicts the yield strength of these …

Experimental Validation Of A Numerical Forward Model For Tunnel Detection Using Cross-Borehole Radar, Arvin Farid, Jose A. Martinez-Lorenzo, Akram N. Alshawabkeh, Carey M. Rappaport

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The goal of this research is to develop an experimentally validated twodimensional (2D) finite difference frequency domain (FDFD) numerical forward model to study the potential of radar-based tunnel detection. Tunnel detection has become a subject of interest to the nation due to the use of tunnels by illegal immigrants, smugglers, prisoners, assailants, and terrorists. These concerns call for research to nondestructively detect, localize, and monitor tunnels. Nondestructive detection requires robust image reconstruction and inverse models, which in turn need robust forward models. Cross-Well Radar (CWR) modality is used for experimentation to avoid soil-air interface roughness. CWR is not a versatile …

Voltage Effects On Cells Cultured On Metallic Biomedical Implants, Seyed Morteza Haerihosseini

Biomedical and Chemical Engineering - Dissertations

Electrochemical voltage shifts in metallic biomedical implants occur in-vivo due to a number of processes including mechanically assisted corrosion. Surface potential of biomedical implants and excursions from resting open circuit potential (OCP), which is the voltage they attain while in contact with an electrolyte, can significantly change the interfacial properties of the metallic surfaces and alter the behavior of the surrounding cells, compromising the biocompatibility of metallic implants. Voltages can also be controlled to modulate cell function and fate. To date, the details of the physico-chemical phenomena and the role of different biomaterial parameters involved in the interaction between cells …

PdmsStar-Peg Hydrogels Prepared Via Solvent-Induced Phase Separation (Sips) And Their Potential Utility As Tissue Engineering Scaffolds, B. M. Bailey, R. Fei, Dany J. Munoz Pinto, M. S. Hahn, M. A. Grunlan

Engineering Faculty Research

Inorganic-organic hydrogels based on methacrylated star polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS_star-MA) and diacrylated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG-DA) macromers were prepared via solvent-induced phase separation (SIPS). The macromers were combined in a dichloromethane precursor solution and sequentially photopolymerized, dried and hydrated. The chemical and physical properties of the hydrogels were further tailored by varying the number average molecular weight (M_n) of PEG-DA (M_n = 3.4k and 6k g mol^-1) as well as the weight percent ratio of PDMS_star-MA (M_n = 7k g mol^-1) to PEG-DA from 0:100 to 20:80. Compared to analogous hydrogels …

Statistical Modelling Of The Coupled Effect Of Mix Design And Rebar Spacing On Restricted Flow Characteristics Of Scc, Yahia Ammar, Khayat H. Kamal, Sayed Mohammed

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Self-consolidating concrete (SCC) is designed to exhibit high deformability and stability to maintain homogenous suspension of coarse aggregate particles in the mortar during flow to ensure adequate passing ability of the concrete through restricted areas and the filling of the formwork without any consolidation. Proper deformability and uniform suspension of coarse aggregate particles in the matrix are key parameters to ensure successful casting and adequate in situ performance. the required flow properties of concrete are affected by the rheological properties of the mixture and the characteristics of the cast element, including the level of reinforcement. the mixture proportioning of SCC …

Role Of Aluminum Monostearate On Heat Treated-Chitosan Sponges Properties, K. Yodkhum, T. Phaechamud

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

Heat treatment can be employed to modify properties such as biocompatibility and degradation rate of chitosan-based materials. However, heat treatment generally has effect on worsening of physical properties of the biomaterials. Our previous study indicated that fatty additive; aluminum monostearate (Alst), could improve thermal stability of chitosan sponges. Aim of this study is to investigate an effect of amount of Alst on physicochemical properties of chitosan sponges treated by different heat treatment methods. Two methods of heat treatment including moist heat (autoclave at 121°C, 15 psi for 5 minutes) and dry heat (vacuum heat at 110°C for 24 hours) were …

Estimation Of Solute Fluxes From Ungaged Headwater Catchments In The Catskill Park Of New York State, Chris Gianfagna

Civil and Environmental Engineering - Theses

Predictions of flow and subsequent solute fluxes from ungaged basins have important implications both for water resources management and ecosystem monitoring studies. The Catskill region of New York State is one such place that requires both water resources management and ecosystem monitoring due to its strategic location as the main water-supplying region for New York City. This study examines the differences in chemical mass flux estimates made in ungaged basins using three different chemistry aggregation methods for solute concentrations determined from monthly grab samples. The efficacy of area ratios for predicting flow at the upstream location of a nested pair …

Enriching Step-Based Product Information Models To Support Product Life-Cycle Activities, Mehmet Ilteris Sarigecili

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering - Dissertations

The representation and management of product information in its life-cycle requires standardized data exchange protocols. Standard for Exchange of Product Model Data (STEP) is such a standard that has been used widely by the industries. Even though STEP-based product models are well defined and syntactically correct, populating product data according to these models is not easy because they are too big and disorganized. Data exchange specifications (DEXs) and templates provide re-organized information models required in data exchange of specific activities for various businesses. DEXs show us it would be possible to organize STEP-based product models in order to support different …

Reducing In-Stent Restenosis Through Novel Stent Flow Field Augmentation, Eoin Murphy, Fergal Boyle

Articles

In-stent restenosis (ISR), manifested as a re-narrowing of the arterial lumen post-implantation of a stent, is a detrimental limitation of stent technology. Understanding and consequently devising ways of reducing the frequency of ISR has been a continuing goal of research into improved stent designs. The biological processes that can lead to ISR have been found to be partially flow dependent with the local hemodynamics at the arterial wall of crucial importance. This paper investigates these biological processes and their instigating factors. Furthermore, the history and theory behind three stent technologies which endeavour to reduce ISR rates through stent flow field …

Strider: Manufacturing Processes, Michael Warren-Angelucci

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The goal of the Strider Project is to create a mobility device that can support a person with weakened leg strength and enable them to be supported and maintain a standing position. A prototype of the Strider was created by three Mechanical Engineering students as their senior project. The topic of this senior project was to analyze and create a manufacturing process for the manufacture of the Strider that will be ergonomic and cost effective.

There were many things that needed to be accomplished in order to create the manufacturing process. The first step was to verify that the prototype …

Ole Miss Engineer 2012-2013

Ole Miss Engineer

No abstract provided.

Long-Term Integrated Studies Show Complex And Surprising Effects Of Climate Change In The Northern Hardwood Forest, Peter M. Groffman, Charles T. Driscoll, Chris E. Johnson, Lindsey E. Rustad, Pamela H. Templer

Civil and Environmental Engineering - All Scholarship

Evaluations of the local effects of global change are often confounded by the interactions of natural and anthropogenic factors that overshadow the effects of climate changes on ecosystems. Long-term watershed and natural elevation gradient studies at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest and in the surrounding region show surprising results demonstrating the effects of climate change on hydrologic variables (e.g., evapotranspiration, streamflow, soil moisture); the importance of changes in phenology on water, carbon, and nitrogen fluxes during critical seasonal transition periods; winter climate change effects on plant and animal community composition and ecosystem services; and the effects of anthropogenic disturbances and …

Assessment Of Passive Fire Protection On Steel-Girder Bridges, Michael Davidson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Bridges in the US are severely damaged or suffer collapse from fires at significant rates, even when compared to other hazards such as earthquakes. Fire-induced bridge collapses are perpetuated by the general lack of installed fire protection systems. Therefore, new materials and applications are needed to mitigate structural damage that can be caused to civil infrastructure by severe fires. Accordingly, the objective of this study is to further the development of new fire protection applications in transportation structures. Specifically, the investigation centers on the development of new applications in passive fire protection materials, within the context of shielding steel-girder bridges …

Influencing Factors On The Dynamic Properties Of Organobentonites, Bate Bate, Susan Burns

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The dynamic responses of soils are important engineering properties, especially for soils with high organic contents, because these soils can underlie critical support structures such as highway bridges or levees. Consequently, the initial tangent shear modulus (Gmax), secant shear modulus ratio (G/Gmax), and damping ratio (D) are important parameters in evaluating the dynamic soil behavior for soils subjected to earthquake, wind, waves, traffic, and equipment vibration. in this study, these dynamic properties of organ bentonites were quantified experimentally using resonant column tests. the results from this study were evaluated in terms of the effect of shear strain, organic content, and …

51st Conference On Senior Engineering Design, College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences

Senior Engineering Design Conference

The 51st Conference on Senior Engineering Design Projects was held on December 4, 2012 at the College of Engineering and applied Sciences on the Parkview Campus of Western Michigan University. The college sponsors the conference to showcase the work of its graduating seniors, who are required to complete a capstone project that puts into practice what they have learned. Many of the projects are sponsored by business and industry.

Creating Tomorrow, Fall 2012, College Of Engineering

College of Engineering Magazines

Annual magazine for the College of Engineering at Utah State University.

Soil Erosion And Surface Water Quality Impacts Of Natural Gas Development In East Texas, Usa, Matthew W. Mcbroom, Todd Thomas, Yanli Zhang

Faculty Publications

Due to greater demands for hydrocarbons and improvements in drilling technology, development of oil and natural gas in some regions of the United States has increased dramatically. A 1.4 ha natural gas well pad was constructed in an intermittent stream channel at the Alto Experimental Watersheds in East Texas, USA (F1), while another 1.1 ha well pad was offset about 15 m from a nearby intermittent stream (F2). V-notch weirs were constructed downstream of these well pads and stream sedimentation and water quality was measured. For the 2009 water year, about 11.76 cm, or almost 222% more runoff resulted from …

An Experimental Investigation On The Trailing Edge Cooling Of Turbine Blades, Zifeng Yang, Hui Hu

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

An experimental study was conducted to quantify the flow characteristics of the wall jets pertinent to trailing edge cooling of turbine blades. A high-resolution stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (PIV) system was used to conduct detailed flow field measurements to quantitatively visualize the evolution of the unsteady vortices and turbulent flow structures in the cooling wall jet streams and to quantify the dynamic mixing process between the cooling jet stream and the mainstream flows. The detailed flow field measurements were correlated with the adiabatic cooling effectiveness maps measured by using pressure sensitive paint (PSP) technique to elucidate underlying physics in order …

Flight Physician - December, 2012, Civil Aviation Medical Association

Browse all Civil Aviation Medical Association Newsletters

A sixteen page newsletter of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. The newsletter provided news about civil aviation medicine and information related to the organization.

Prestress Losses In Lightweight Self-Consolidating Concrete, Jared Bymaster

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While much research has been performed on lightweight concrete and self-consolidating concrete (SCC), the knowledge of prestress losses in lightweight self-consolidating concrete (LWSCC) is still limited. LWSCC has the benefits of increased flowability, reduced placement labor, and decreased shipping cost compared to conventional concrete. This research program included the study of 14 SCC beams cast with expanded clay, expanded shale, and limestone aggregates. Strains in the beams were measured with vibrating-wire strain gages, and the measured prestress losses were compared with current AASHTO methods for calculating prestress losses. The AASHTO approximate method better predicted actual losses than did the AASHTO …

Silica Nanoparticle-Based Coatings With Superhydrophilic And Superhydrophobic Properties, Robert Andrew Fleming

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces have potential for implementation into a variety of fields, including self-cleaning surfaces, anti-fogging transparent materials, and biomedical applications. In this study, sandblasting, oxygen plasma treatments, silica nanoparticle films, and a low surface energy fluorocarbon film were employed to change the natural surface wettability of titanium, glass, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates, with an aim to produce superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic behavior. The effects of these surface modifications are characterized by water contact angles (WCAs), surface wetting stability, surface morphology and roughness, surface elemental composition, and optical transmittance measurements. The results show that stable superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces …

Development Of Mems-Based Corrosion Sensor, Feng Pan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research is to develop a MEMS-based corrosion sensor, which is used for monitoring uniform, galvanic corrosion occurring in infrastructures such as buildings, bridges. The corrosion sensor is made up of the composite of micro/nano metal particles with elastomers. The mechanism of corrosion sensor is based on the mass transport of corrosive species through the sensor matrix. When the metal particles in the matrix corrode, the electrical resistivity of the material increases due to increasing particle resistances or reduction of conducting pathways. The corrosion rate can be monitored by detecting the resistivity change in sensing elements. The life span of …

Distribution Map Of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes In A Refrigerant/Oil Mixture Within A 2.5 Ton Unitary Air-Conditioner, Warren Russell Long

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, nanoparticles have received considerable attention as a potential additive to heat transfer fluids (i.e. refrigerant) in order to increase the heat transfer capabilities of these fluids. The potential of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to exit the compressor, migrate throughout a vapor compression air conditioning system, and possibly foul the components of such a system was experimentally investigated in this research. Six grams of CNTs were dispersed in the polyol ester oil used by a 2.5 ton (8.79 kW) unitary air conditioning system, which was continuously operated for 168 hours. After this time, the unit was shut down and …

Design, Fabrication, Testing Of Cnt Based Isfet And Characterization Of Nano/Bio Materials Using Afm, Zhuxin Dong

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A combination of Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) and Ion Selective Field Effect Transistor (ISFET) is designed and experimentally verified in order to develop the next generation ion concentration sensing system. Micro Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) fabrication techniques, such as photolithography, diffusion, evaporation, lift-off, packaging, etc., are required in the fabrication of the CNT-ISFET structure on p-type silicon wafers. In addition, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) based surface nanomachining is investigated and used for creating nanochannels on silicon surfaces. Since AFM based nanomanipulation and nanomachining is highly controllable, nanochannels are precisely scratched in the area between the source and drain of the FET where …

Performance And Cost Analysis Of A Structured Concrete Thermocline Thermal Energy Storage System, Matt Nicholas Strasser

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increasing global energy demands and diminishing fossil fuel resources have raised increased interest in harvesting renewable energy resources. Solar energy is a promising candidate, as sufficient irradiance is incident to the Earth to supply the energy demands of all of its inhabitants. At the utility scale, concentrating solar power (CSP) plants provide the most cost-efficient method of harnessing solar energy for conversion to electrical energy. A major roadblock to the large-scale implementation of CSP plants is the lack of thermal energy storage (TES) that would allow the continued production of electricity during the absence of constant irradiance. Sensible heat TES …

Comprehensive Drainage Study Of The Upper Reach Of College Branch In Fayetteville, Arkansas, Kathryn Lea Mccoy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

College Branch is a stream with headwaters located on the University of Arkansas campus. The stream flows through much of the west side of campus, gaining discharge and enlarging its channel as it meanders to the south. College Branch has experienced erosion and flooding issues in recent years due to increased urbanization of its watershed and increased runoff volume.

The purpose of this project was to develop a comprehensive drainage study of College Branch on the University of Arkansas campus. Storm runoff and flood flow patterns were evaluated in order to understand the hydraulics and hydrology of the watershed and …

Implementing Conductive Concrete With Photovoltaic Energy To Develop Anti-Icing Airfield Runways, Adam Benjamin Osweiler

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Snow and ice accumulation on airport runways force airports to cancel or significantly delay flights. Winter weather can also drastically affect airport safety during times of aircraft takeoff and landing. During these times, countless dollars are used to remove snow and return airports to their functional conditions. In this thesis, a conductive concrete solar energy system will be examined in order to prevent snow and ice accumulation. The objective of this research is to implement a conductive concrete overlay system on airport runways in conjunction with photovoltaic energy so that no frost precipitation accumulates on the runway surface.

Applications Of Cobb-Douglas Production Function In Construction Time-Cost Analysis, Ashkan Hassani

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Cobb-Douglas Production Function was widely used in economics and productivity studies across many sectors. The function’s quantitative modeling of resource inputs and production outputs is appealing to the research domain of construction management. In this thesis we explored this function’s application in construction schedule crashing and project risk analysis related to duration of construction projects. Existing research on construction time-cost tradeoff issues rarely explore the origin of the crashing cost which is defined as the cost needed to shorten the project to the desired duration. In the existing literature crashing cost function was either assumed without much justification, or came …

Three-Dimensional Indoor Rfid Localization System, Jiaqing Wu

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an information exchange technology based on radio waves communication. It is also a possible solution to indoor localization. Due to multipath propagation and anisotropic interference in the indoor environment, theoretical propagation models are generally not sufficient for RFID-based localization. In fact, the radio frequency (RF) signal distribution may not even be monotonic and this makes range-based localization algorithms less accurate. On the other hand, range free localization algorithms, such as k Nearest-Neighbor (kNN), require reference tags to be spread throughout the whole three-dimensional (3D) space which is simply not practical. In this work, a hybrid …