Engineering Commons^™

Brazel, Christopher S.: Fundamental Principles Of Polymeric Materials (Book Review), Jeffrey H. Glans

Chemistry & Physics Faculty Publications

Book review by Jeffrey H. Glans:

Brazel, Christopher S. and Stephen L. Rosen. Fundamental principles of polymeric materials. 3rd ed. Wiley, 2012.

ISBN 9780470505427

Urban Trail System Planning In The Western United States: An Analysis Of The Trail-Specific Planning Efforts Of Four Cities That Have Implemented Urban Trail Systems, Kenneth C. Richley

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

States in the Western United States are growing at rates outpacing the rest of the nation. This growth is placing pressure on communities to develop their current open space for residential or commercial use. As cities develop a comprehensive open space plans, several elements arise. One critical element is connectivity. This connectivity is most often realized in the form of greenways. In many cities these greenways contain urban trail systems that provide significant recreation and connectivity benefits.

This thesis investigates the current recommended models used to plan for greenway, synthesizes them into a recommended model process, and analyzes case studies …

Development & Testing Of Novel Atmospheric Chemistry Technologies, Peter Johnson Mellott

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Atmospheric aerosols play an important role in global atmospheric chemistry and climate and have a detrimental impact on human health. Advancements in measurement technologies allow for better monitoring of atmospheric composition and dynamics, creating better predictive models and understanding of atmospheric chemistry and physics. Gas and particle atmospheric oxidation is poorly understood. In order to create a better understanding of atmospheric oxidation, the following equipment was developed: 1) a Potential Aerosol Mass: PAM) flow reaction chamber was developed to create reproducible steady-state oxidation of organic species in a controlled laboratory setting, 2) a custom combustion chamber for introduction of realistic …

Labview Based Whispering Gallery Mode Microtoroid Coupling Pid Controller, Peiyao Li

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The aim of this thesis is to test the implementation of PID control algorithm for stabilization of coupling. Efficient and robust coupling is prerequisite in microcavity related applications. But surrounding environments, like temperature and airflow, could easily influence coupling condition. PID algorithm has been used for stabilization and control in industry for several decades. For this reason, the author decided to test further application, with the goal of proving the suitability for Whispering Gallery Mode coupling. The thesis first discusses the Whispering Gallery Mode microtoroid, especially its relative coupling regime. In a second stage, the LabVIEW and Arduino based real …

An Error Quantification Methodology For Hurricane Storm Surge Simulations, Bin Pei

All Theses

This thesis describes the development of a procedure to quantify errors in hurricane storm surge simulations using a decoupled wind-surge model. The state-of-the-art storm surge simulation program, ADCIRC (Advanced Circulation), and the Georgiou's wind field model were used to simulate the storm surge heights associated with 169 historical hurricanes from 1922 to 2011 along the coast of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The storm surge modeling errors were quantified by comparing the measured to the simulated annual maximum surge heights at nine water level observation stations maintained by the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS). The simulated …

Microbiologically Enhanced Mixing Across Scales During In-Situ Bioremediation Of Uranium, Reinaldo E. Alcalde

McNair Scholars Research Journal

Production of nuclear fuels for weapons and electric energy has resulted in groundwater uranium contamination at Department of Energy (DOE) sites. Reduction of uranium by dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria (DMRB) is an effective approach for in-situ bioremediation of these sites. In this process, an organic electron donor is typically delivered through a well into groundwater in order to promote the biological reduction of soluble and toxic U(VI) to insoluble and less toxic U(IV). A key challenge is mixing the organic electron donor with U(VI) in groundwater where laminar flow conditions prevail. A potential solution is to enhance reaction beyond the scale …

Concept Generation Using Morphological And Options Matrices, Dani George

All Theses

The use of morphological matrices as a tool to aid concept generation is examined. Two limitations of the method are highlighted; (1) the large number of potential combinatorial possibilities and (2) the lack of design details in the system concepts generated. An Integrated Idea Generation (IIG) method is proposed to support the generation of detailed system concepts effectively without performing a full factorial combination of the means within a morphological matrix. Pairwise functional combinations are extracted from the functions listed in the morphological matrix and explored in detail using options matrices and innovation challenges, encouraging designers to identify implicit assumptions …

The Implementation Of A Versatile Pseudodynamic Hybrid Simulation For Seismic Evaluation Of Structural Systems, Chelsea Griffith

Masters Theses

Pseudodynamic hybrid simulation technique was developed to evaluate structural seismic performance by physically testing the critical portion with the remaining structure simulated using a numerical model in the computer. An incremental approach was adopted in developing the control scheme to suit multiple testing facilities and test specimens. First the small scale, predictable specimen was utilized to investigate techniques of improving stability, slowing down the loading rate and triggering the accurate force measurement in a series of at benchmark scale experiments in the Laboratory of Earthquake and Structural Simulation at Western Michigan University (WMU). A step/hold command scheme was developed and …

Power Transmission Line Fault Classification Using Support Vector Machines, Zhuokang Jia

Masters Theses

Electrical transmission lines are prone to faults and failures. When a fault occurs, it is impossible most of the times to fix it manually. Many methods have been adopted in the past in order to serve the purpose as fault diagnosing application. In this thesis, I discuss the method of Support Vector Machine (SVM) for fault diagnosis. SVM has the edge of good generalization over other fault diagnosing applications because it is based on pattern recognize algorithms. The aim is to classify the type of fault in the lines. Furthermore, in this work, the current and voltage of each phase …

Membrane Separation Of Cu-67 For Use In Theranostics, Benjamin Fugate, Maura Sepesy, Kevin Pataroque, Christine Duval

Intersections Fall 2020

Because of its β− and γ decay routes, 67Cu is a very promising radioisotope for use in theranostic cancer treatments. Currently, 67Cu is produced through the irradiation of either 68Zn or 67Zn in a cyclotron, a traditional nuclear reactor or a linear electron accelerator. Once formed, a small amount of copper (nanograms) has to be separated from the large amount of remaining zinc (grams) and undesired byproduct isotopes such as 66Ga, 67Ga, 64Cu, 61Cu, 58Co. Currently, such separations are performed in resin-packed columns and can require 4 h to purify a 5 g target. These procedures may involve multiple columns …

3d Printability Study On Commercial Construction Adhesives, Matthew Yang, Chase Breting, Fazley Elahee, Lihan Rong, Rigoberto Advincula

Intersections Fall 2020

3D Printing, or additive manufacturing, is a novel approach to manufacturing simple and complex structures. 3D printing uses digital models and g-code to build these parts layer by layer. This method can allow for more freedom of part design with regard to complexity of shape, and can reduce material waste compared to other manufacturing methods. This project explores the 3D printability of common caulking materials, cements, adhesives, and other pastes. These materials are low-cost and present high printability. Experiments are underway to determine the thermomechanical properties of these 3D printed materials and the effects of nanomaterial additives in low loading …

Effect Of High Energy Ball Milling On Transformation Temperature Of Cr2nb, Jackson Smith

Intersections Fall 2020

The focus of this research was to determine a milling procedure to help facilitate the Cr2Nb transformation. The metric to evaluate a facilitated phase transformation was a reduction in endothermic onset temperature during Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The transformation of the Cr+Nb powder to Cr2Nb alloy is diffusion dependent, therefore by creating more intimate contact the elements will be closer together. A reduction in spatial distance for a diffusion-based reaction will lead to a reduction in total time for the reaction to complete. The design of a multi-stage milling process allows the refinement of the powder particle size so that …

Plasmas For Clean Water: Elucidation Of Radical Species In An Electrolytic Non-Equilibrium Plasma-Water System, Kevin Pataroque

Intersections Fall 2020

Plasma water treatment (PWT) is an emerging water treatment technology that utilizes electrical discharges in gases to degrade aqueous contaminants. Prior work has demonstrated that PWT is capable of degrading perfluorooctanoic acid, a widespread contaminant that is unable to be degraded by denitrification or UV processes that wastewater facilities currently employ. In addition, unlike other approaches, PWT forms energetic species directly from water, eliminating the need for additional chemicals or catalysts. However, internal mechanisms within PWT treatment process, such as the production of different radical species are not well understood. Characterization of the species and their role in degradation is …

Grid Modernization Using Simulated Communication Networks And Distribution Systems, Trey Minnich, Anna Jaskoviak, Austin Subler

Intersections Fall 2020

The installation of a widespread readily available power system in the United States has been one of the number one engineering achievements of the 20th century. Now that a strong structure is in place to supply distribution electrification across the country, the next step is the modernization of these systems. Many distribution systems have not been modernized due to high costs associated with changes to the system. Modernization in the 21st century revolves around a high demand for clean energy as well as real time voltage/power flow analysis of these systems. In this project we will provide simulated models of …

Building Envelope Wind Pressure Manipulation For Application In Streamlined High-Rise Buildings, Sivaramprasad Sivakumar

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering - Dissertations

This research investigates methods of manipulating building envelope wind pressure distribution for application in the natural ventilation of high-rise buildings. CFD simulations are employed to predict the wind pressure distribution around the building envelope. First, a 2-D CFD study is conducted to explore various techniques of manipulating the building envelope wind pressure distribution. This study indicates that the use of externally mounted flow-resistance devices is an effective method of manipulating the wind pressure distribution. It is demonstrated that this technique is well suited for application to buildings of streamlined cross-section (e.g. elliptical planform). Next, a 3-D CFD study is conducted …

Characterization Of Polyacrylonitrile Carbon Fibers, Christian Burke Iversen

Biomedical and Chemical Engineering – Theses

Carbon fiber composites are a widely used, advanced material with exceedingly high strength to weight properties. In this thesis, a literature overview of carbon fiber manufacturing was provided, as well as a thorough analysis of in- house electrospun polyacrylonitrile fiber stabilization and surface modification of the resulting carbon fibers. In the first section, an overview of precursor fiber fabrication is provided, followed by an analysis of stabilization using surface and bulk composition, dimensional analysis, and functional group analysis via FTIR. The second section uses the current stabilization procedure to develop carbon nanofibers. Fibers first underwent a nitric acid oxidation time …

Dynamic Thermal Management For Microprocessors, Yang Ge

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - Dissertations

In deep submicron era, thermal hot spots and large temperature gradients significantly impact system reliability, performance, cost and leakage power. Dynamic thermal management techniques are designed to tackle the problems and control the chip temperature as well as power consumption. They refer to those techniques which enable the chip to autonomously modify the task execution and power dissipation characteristics so that lower-cost cooling solutions could be adopted while still guaranteeing safe temperature regulation. As long as the temperature is regulated, the system reliability can be improved, leakage power can be reduced and cooling system lifetime can be extended significantly.

Multimedia …

Method Of Moments Analysis Of An Aperture In A Thick Ground Plane, Ahmet Burak Olcen

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - Dissertations

The problem of electromagnetic scattering from and transmission through an arbitrarily shaped aperture is considered. The aperture is in a thick infinite perfectly conducting ground plane. The conducting walls of the cavity inside the ground plane are of arbitrary shape. The apertures at both ends of the cavity are also of arbitrary shape. The structure is illuminated by an incident plane electromagnetic wave. The Green's function for this complicated problem is almost impossible to determine. Therefore the surface equivalence principle is used to reduce this complex problem into three simpler ones. Each such problem consists of equivalent surface currents radiating …

An Unabridged Approach To Lean Implementation: Understanding The Impact Systemically And Supporting The Operational Changes, Joseph D. Wolkiewicz

Industrial Technology Theses

Lean Material Strategy (Lean) has become a governing principle for many companies. These strategies help managers identify waste within the process, and once visible, drive it from the system. One of the principal objectives of this approach is to achieve greater manufacturing efficiency. It is current practice, at a publically held automotive corporation (Company X), to employ Lean in new program launches for its manufacturing sites. While Lean served as the theoretical foundation for design of new assembly systems at Company X sites, insufficient consideration was given to developing an integrated “big picture” solution to the implementation of these new …

Energy Harvesting Of Human Kinetic Movement, David Marusiak, Julia Carrillo

Electrical Engineering

Development of kinetic energy scavenging applications from the human body necessitates additional research to assist in designating a mounting position for a potential device. A data acquisition system adequately provides a parametric average power comparison among four locations on the body (waist, upper arm, hand, and calf) for both a male and female subject. Experimentally, the hand-held device provided the highest average power. Thus, subsequent investigation at set speeds provides further analysis of the output’s characteristically linear behavior. The physical energy-harvesting device features a plastic tube casing wrapped with the stationary coiled wire through which a neodymium magnet oscillates. While …

Single-Phase High Efficiency Motor Testing, Marc Henry Perez

Electrical Engineering

A three-phase induction motor has higher efficiency than the single-phase motor counterpart. It is possible to run a three-phase motor with a single-phase source to develop a single-phase high efficiency system. The single-phase high efficiency motor, or SHE-motor, uses capacitor banks to operate at a balanced three phase induction motor using a single phase source. Unfortunately, this design has been limited, as it can only be balanced for one load configuration at a time. This provides the system to have maximum system performance. Due to this limitation in operations, it has proven to be non-ideal in commercial applications. It is …

Wide Area Monitoring Of Rotor Angle Based On Synchrophasor Measurements, P. K. Olulope, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy, K. A. Folly

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The concept of phasor is designed for steady state and phasor measurement unit (PMU) is based on this concept. Measuring rotor angle therefore during transient has become a challenging task. This paper investigates the possibility of using data from PMU to estimate the internal variables of synchronous generator such as rotor angle of large power system during transient disturbance. the rotor angle is estimated from synchro phasor such as phasor voltage and current as well as their angles. the proposed method is implemented on IEEE 68 bus system. © 2012 IEEE.

Colorimetric Oxygen Imaging And Quantification With Easily Accessible Optical Devices, Satya Achanta, Sanghan Park, Chang-Soo Kim

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Optical oxygen imaging is essential in monitoring two-dimensional analysis of oxygen distribution. Two easily accessible optical devices were used for oxygen analysis to demonstrate the feasibility of an innovatively simple method. a light panel screen with light-emitting diode (LED) backlight was used as a light source to excite a luminophore film responsive to oxygen. Meso-scale fluidic sensor platform was prepared using porphyrin complex (PtOEP) as the luminophore embedded within ethyl cellulose (EC) polymer matrix. Green LED light uniformly displayed from the light panel excited the luminophore film to exhibit two-dimensional luminescence distribution corresponding to wet gaseous oxygen. a color camera …

On Interference-Aware Precoding For Multi-Antenna Channels With Finite-Alphabet Inputs, Weiliang Zeng, Chengshan Xiao, Jianhua Lu

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper investigates the interference-aware linear precoder design with finite-alphabet inputs. It maximizes the mutual information between the transmitter and intended receiver while controlling the interference power caused to unintended receivers. for this nonconcave problem, this work proposes a global optimization approach, which is based on two key observations: 1) the interference-aware precoding problem can be reformulated to the problem minimizing a function with bilinear terms over the intersection of multiple co-centered ellipsoids; 2) these bilinear terms can be relaxed by their convex and concave envelopes. in this way, the global optimal solution is obtained by solving a sequence of …

Accurate And Efficient Computation Of Power Plane Pair Inductance, Liang Li, Albert E. Ruehli, Jun Fan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The computation of the power-plane inductance for multiple ports is an important part of the PDN design. in this paper, we present an efficient approach for the inductance computation. Since this PEEC approach is based on partial inductance computations, vias and other discontinuities can accurately be taken into account. Speed-up techniques are employed like the faster decay of the coupling due to the symmetry, sparsification and simplification of the partial mutual inductance evaluation. Also, an approximate rectangular mesh reduction method is introduced which allows a local increase in mesh density. © 2012 IEEE.

Cytoskeletal Strains In Modeled Optohydrodynamically Stressed Healthy And Diseased Biological Cells, Sean S. Kohles, Yu Liang, Asit K. Saha

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Controlled external chemomechanical stimuli have been shown to influence cellular and tissue regeneration/degeneration, especially with regards to distinct disease sequelae or health maintenance. Recently, a unique three-dimensional stress state was mathematically derived to describe the experimental stresses applied to isolated living cells suspended in an optohydrodynamic trap (optical tweezers combined with microfluidics). These formulae were previously developed in two and three dimensions from the fundamental equations describing creeping flows past a suspended sphere. The objective of the current study is to determine the full-field cellular strain response due to the applied three-dimensional stress environment through a multiphysics computational simulation. In …

Rotor Model Updating And Validation For An Active Magnetic Bearing Based High-Speed Machining Spindle, Adam C. Wroblewski, Jerzy T. Sawicki, Alexander H. Pesch

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents an experimentally driven model updating approach to address the dynamic inaccuracy of the nominal finite element (FE) rotor model of a machining spindle supported on active magnetic bearings. Modeling error is minimized through the application of a numerical optimization algorithm to adjust appropriately selected FE model parameters. Minimizing the error of both resonance and antiresonance frequencies simultaneously accounts for rotor natural frequencies as well as for their mode shapes. Antiresonance frequencies, which are shown to heavily influence the model’s dynamic properties, are commonly disregarded in structural modeling. Evaluation of the updated rotor model is performed through comparison …

Handitrike - Recumbent Tricycle, Sean Higginson, Kevin Howie, Vinay Patel

Mechanical Engineering

This report covers the design and construction of the recumbent racing tricycle for Mr. Robert T. Kelly, a disabled veteran. Unfortunately Rob’s right leg is five inches shorter than his left one and therefore is unable to properly operate standard cranks. Our team HandiTrike is composed of Sean Higginson, Kevin Howie, and Vinay Patel and our project requires us to come up with a design that is feasible to complete within the given three quarters, as well as allow Rob to gain full use of his tricycle. Currently Rob ‘s trike uses the standard crank set up found on most …

A.C.E. Lift: Assisted Cab Entry Lift System For Heavy Equipment Vehicles, Michael Berry, Eric Imazumi

Mechanical Engineering

The A.C.E. is a lift system to allow users with above-knee prosthetics to access the cab of heavy machinery. It is being designed as a senior project for California Polytechnic State University’s mechanical engineering curriculum with support from Quality of Life Plus (QL+) and sponsored by Jon Monett. In accordance with QL+’s mission of helping wounded veterans integrate into the workforce, the A.C.E. lift will allow disabled individuals to obtain jobs in the construction, agriculture, and waste management industries.

As a continuation of a previous senior project that focused on a Caterpillar excavator, the new design will be applicable to …

Formula Sae Turbocharger Engine Development, Eric Griess, Kevin Mccutcheon, Matthew Roberts, William Chan

Mechanical Engineering

This project, Formula SAE Turbocharger System Development, was sponsored by the Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Formula SAE team. The team proposed this project in order to have a powerful yet lightweight engine so they can be extremely competitive at their competition. The baseline output of the single cylinder 450cc engine (2006 Yamaha WR450F) was 46 horsepower and 27 ft-lb of torque. The goal of this project was to increase the output of that engine to 60 horsepower and 35 ft-lb through the use of a turbocharger.