Engineering Commons^™

Pricing And Control In The Next Generation Power Distribution System, Gerald Thomas Heydt, Badrul H. Chowdhury, Mariesa Crow, Daniel Haughton, Brian D. Kiefer, Fanjun Meng, Bharadwaj R. Sathyanarayana

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Smart grid technologies are gaining acceptance and are being integrated into power distribution systems as a result of public and private investment and funding. However, costs of these technologies appear to be a clear obstacle in the widespread integration and maximal use of these technologies. in this paper, the utilization of dollar pricing signals is proposed and illustrated for power distribution engineering. a signal modeled after locational marginal pricing from transmission engineering is proposed to provide pricing data locally in distribution systems. the calculation, utilization, advantages, and shortcomings of the concept are presented. a main conclusion is that the use …

Sample Investigating System And Method Of Use, Martin M. Liphardt, Thomas E. Tiwald, Blaine D. Johs, Jeffery S. Hale, Craig M. Herzinger, Steven E. Green, Ping He, Ronald A. Synowicki, John A. Woollam

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

A spectroscopic system for adjusting spacing between an adjacent source/detector as a unit, and a sample, and a reflecting means for directing an incident beam which reflects from said sample back onto said sample and then into the detector along a locus which is in a plane of incidence that is offset from that of the incident beam, or directly from the reflecting means into the detector, including means for reducing reflections of a beam of electromagnetic from the back of a sample, including methodology of use.

Reconstruction /Redesign Of The I-69/I-94 Highway Interchange, Manuel A. Torreira

Honors Theses

The focus of this senior design project was to reconstruct the interchange consisting in I­94 and 1-69, which were not up to Michigan Department of Transportation's (MDOT) standards. Many problems exist throughout this interchange, including flooding issues, current ramp configurations, low design speeds, and safety considerations. As a result, three alternatives were made and a unanimous decision from the client, faculty advisor, and our group was made in order to further analyze one of those alternatives. Once a certain alternative was selected, then the geometric designs were further analyzed.

The many factors that had to be taken into account were …

Wmu Mobile 2.0 For Iphone, Nathan R. Shiff

Honors Theses

As part of Western Michigan University's College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the department of Computer Science requires that each undergraduate completes a senior design capstone project. The Lee Honors College allows the senior design project to fulfill the senior honors thesis requirement. In Computer Science, a senior design project can be a website, a desktop program, or in the case of WMU Mobile 2.0, a mobile application. Building on the work of the previous year's team, the app extends the functionality of WMU Mobile for iPhone. WMU Mobile 2.0 provides smooth support for the iPad, a redesigned visual interface, …

Hydraulic Test Cell Power Recovery System, Peter M. Kanda

Honors Theses

Wasted power during testing and development of fluid power components is a major concern due to the negative environmental impact and overall associated energy costs. This report describes a developmental hydraulic test stand and several configurations that could result in recovering wasted power. In this test stand, a hydraulic pump capable of 300 horsepower and above is in the design stages within the testing facilities at FEMA Corporation. The pump contained on this test stand will be designed to create a flow that would simulate what a customer directional control valve would see in a real-world application. The standard hydraulic …

Repairing Mixed-Conducting, Ceramic Electrolyte Films, Kevin Tolman, Izaak Williamson, Kokfoong Chan

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Ceramatec, Inc. develops ceramic-electrolyte thin films for gas separation/purification technologies. Specific ions (e.g., oxygen) can be selectively diffused through these films in order to obtain a desired product, such as syngas or pure O2. During production, residual stresses develop within the films which induce defects, such as pinholes, micro-cracks, and other sources of leaks, that allow gas contamination. To improve large-scale film production yield, four application techniques were analyzed for their feasibility of restoring the integrity of the films. Controlled, uniform defects were introduced to the films using a microindenter to enable an effective comparison of application techniques …

Verification Of Particle Image Velocimeter For Study Of Martian And Lunar Regoliths, Kristopher Burch, Eric Wright, Jozey Mitcham, Alfredo Bravo Iniguez

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

The behavior of dust, or regolith, on Mars and the moon is critical to our understanding of the Martian and lunar environments. The dust interaction with space suits and other equipment is a major concern for long term space missions. Dust on the moon greatly deteriorated the space suits in NASA’s Apollo program. We have developed a test enclosure for the study of dust motion. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has developed a Particle Image Velocimeter (PIV) to measure the velocity and size of thousands of moving particles. The PIV was developed as a demonstration project for use on possible …

Particle Size Characterization Of Ferritic Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Alloy Powders, Sumit R. Tamrakar

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Ferritic oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloys are candidate materials for use in extreme applications due to their excellent high temperature strength. Fe₈₁Cr₁₆Mo₃ and Fe₈₁Cr₁₆Al₃ alloys were ball milled for various durations with 0.5 wt. % Y₂O₃ nanometer sized particles prior to consolidation via spark plasma sintering (SPS). The particle size characterization was completed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and laser scattering. The median particle size of Fe₈₁Cr₁₆Mo₃₊0.5 wt. % Y₂O₃ powder increased from 9µm to 31µm …

Camp Rainbow Gold: New Design, Andrew Campbell, Marcus Rasulo, Alex Nelson, Jill Pruett, Jarom Gray

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Camp Rainbow Gold is a summer camp for children diagnosed with cancer. The camp has experienced substantial growth since its inception, reaching the capacity of its current site, and is exploring alternative sites. Awesome Engineering was tasked to design a new resident camp facility to meet the needs of a growing Camp Rainbow Gold as a Civil Engineering Design project. We were given a 77-acre site located two miles south of Bellevue, Idaho, and a list of facility requirements for the camp. Our job is to design the facilities as well as investigate the required permits and codes. We will …

Versatile In-Situ Engine Lubricant Health Sensor, Sanjeev Acharya

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

Lubricants which are used in engines to reduce friction, promote engine cooling, and prevent corrosion degrade with time under harsh engine operating conditions and hence need to be changed periodically. Since degradation of oil is a result of number of mechanisms such as; engine component wear, oil oxidation, water ingress, and carbon particles, a versatile and microscopic in-situ sensor that can sense quality of wide variety of engine lubricant brands at various temperatures and pressures is of great need. This problem can be resolved by applying portable interdigitated micro-sensors to examine the impedance behavior of degraded lubricants through electrochemical tests. …

Control Of Absorption With Hyperbolic Metamaterials, T.U. Tumkur, Lei Gu, J.K. Kitur, Evgenii E. Narimanov, M.A. Noginov

Birck and NCN Publications

We show that absorption of thin dye-doped polymeric films can be tuned and enhanced ( nearly threefold) by metallic and lamellar metal-dielectric hyperbolic metamaterial substrates. The effect can be controlled by a combination of the substrate's geometry and composition. As the enhancement of absorption is sustained over large range of incidence angles, the demonstrated phenomenon can lead to a variety of important applications, including solar cell technology. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4703931]

Tunable Thermal Rectification In Graphene Nanoribbons Through Defect Engineering: A Molecular Dynamics Study, Yan Wang, Siyu Chen, Xiulin Ruan

Birck and NCN Publications

Using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics, we show that asymmetrically defected graphene nanoribbons (GNR) are promising thermal rectifiers. The optimum conditions for thermal rectification (TR) include low temperature, high temperature bias, similar to 1% concentration of single-vacancy or substitutional silicon defects, and a moderate partition of the pristine and defected regions. TR ratio of similar to 80% is found in a 14-nm long and 4-nm wide GNR at a temperature of 200 K and bias of 90 K, where heat conduction is in the ballistic regime since the bulk effective phonon mean-free-path is around 775 nm. As the GNR length increases towards …

A Certification In The Knowledge Of Six Sigma At Texas A&M University-Commerce, Tyler Mcfarlin

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Ten Mile Road Interchange And Bridge Design, Brian Portugais, Joshua Lee, Darryl Joinol, Shelby Bittner, Alex Dow, Nicolette Villagomez, Jonathan Solano

College of Engineering Poster Presentations

The Ten Mile Road Bridge crossing I-84 in Meridian, Idaho was determined to be inadequate. A new interchange capable of accommodating traffic volumes through 2030 has been proposed. We will demonstrate through computer modeling that a Single Point Urban Interchange (SPUI) configuration is a safe and effective interchange option for managing the Ten Mile Road configuration. Design of the Single Point Urban Interchange (SPUI) will include a new six lane, composite, simple span bridge with four ramps converging on a single traffic control point. The bridge design is composed of two simple spans supported by piers and abutments. Reinforced concrete …

The Presence Of Regional Accents In Electrolarynx Speech And The Resultant Effect On Overall Intelligibility., Brian Madden, Eugene Coyle

Conference Papers

During voiced speech, the larynx provides quasi-periodic acoustic excitation of the vocal tract. In most electrolarynxes, mechanical vibrations are produced by a linear electromechanical actuator, the armature of which percusses against a metal or plastic plate at a frequency within the range of glottal excitation. In this paper, a phonological analysis of a section of results from an online perceptual intelligibility test was performed which compared speech produced using a novel hands-free electrolarynx and a commercially available electrolarynx. A portion of the test consisted of a closed-set format containing a selection of four sets of four random CVC audio samples …

Feasibility Analysis Of Solid Particles As A Thermal Energy Storage Medium Using Fluidization Process, Sebastian De La Rosa^, Arturo Sepulveda, Vinod Kumar*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Spring 2012

No abstract provided.

Estimating And Verifying Household Potential To Conserve Water, Francisco J. Suero, Peter W. Mayer, David E. Rosenberg

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Behavior and technological impacts on residential indoor water use and conservation efforts in the United States are identified. Preexisting detailed end-use data was collected before and after toilets, faucets, showerheads, and clothes washers were retrofitted in 96 owner-occupied, single-family households in Oakland, California; Seattle, Washington; and Tampa, Florida, between 2000 and 2003. Water volume, duration of use, and time of use were recorded and disaggregated by appliance for two weeks before and four weeks after appliances were retrofitted. For each appliance, observed differences in water use before and after retrofits are compared to water savings predicted by simple analytical, regression, …

Non-Equilibrium Green's Function Calculation For Gan-Based Terahertz-Quantum Cascade Laser Structures, H. Yasuda, T. Kubis, I. Hosako, K. Hirakawa

Birck and NCN Publications

We theoretically investigated GaN-based resonant phonon terahertz-quantum cascade laser (QCL) structures for possible high-temperature operation by using the non-equilibrium Green's function method. It was found that the GaN-based THz-QCL structures do not necessarily have a gain sufficient for lasing, even though the thermal backfilling and the thermally activated phonon scattering are effectively suppressed. The main reason for this is the broadening of the subband levels caused by a very strong interaction between electrons and longitudinal optical (LO) phonons in GaN. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4704389]

On The Measurement Of Gas Holdup Distribution Near The Region Of Impeller In A Gas-Liquid Stirred Rushton Tank By Means Of Γ-Ct, Li Na Kong, Wei Li, Lu Chang Han, Yue Jin Liu, He An Luo, Muthanna H. Al Dahhan, Milorad P. Dudukovic

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Three Flow Patterns of Flooding, Loading and Complete Recirculation in a Gas-Liquid Stirred Rushton Tank Were Identified based on Experimental Observation. the Gas-Liquid System Was Composed of Air and Water. under Different Operating Conditions of Gas Flow Rate and Impeller Rotating Speed, the Distribution of Gas Holdup Near the Region of Impeller Was Measured using a Γ-CT Scan Method. Both Quantitative Digital Distribution Curves of Gas Holdup and their Qualitative Color CT Images Were Obtained. at the Region of Impeller, There Was a Convex Characteristic Peak of Gas Holdup Distribution Both in Radial and in Axial Directions, and with the …

Fabrication Of Composite Wick Structure Heat Spreader, Sheng-Hong Tsai, Yu-Tang Chen, Shung-Wen Kang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

A novel heat spreader was developed with its main cavity of copper tube, where copper mesh and support structure was served as the capillary constructions. The size of the support structure was 73 mm × 48.5 mm × 2.7 mm. Ceramic heater, 30 mm × 30 mm, was used as the heating source with the output power from 10 Watts to 130 Watts, and utilized the heat sink integrated with fan as the cooler. De-ion water was employed as the working fluid with the same filling charge. When heating power was 130 Watts, the temperature of heat source in heat …

Design Optimal Control Of Ship Maneuver Patterns For Collision Avoidance: A Review, Chia-Hung Shih, Po-Hsuan Huang, Saburo Yamamura, Chen-Yuan Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Although there have been lots studies about vehicular maneuvers on land or sea, maneuvers within a small area that require direction changes have rarely been discussed. Many reports on the arrival or departure of ships from ports have revealed more about what are safe and effective turning maneuvers within a narrow area. Convenient navigation systems for ship maneuvering should allow quick avoidance of obstacle to find the shortest distance in the whole seaway is important. This study proposes a review model that will satisfy optimal turning maneuvering anywhere and be applicable to any type of ship. However, the water-based environment …

The Improvement Of Heat Insulation For Roof Steel Plates By Triz Application, Ruey-Sen Chiu, Shao-Tsai Cheng

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

More and more colored plates have been used on roofs in the steel buildings in Taiwan, such as roofs of high-technology factories and offices of large-scale construction sites. Facing the impacts of global economic crisis as well as the exhaustion of natural resources, we should seriously look at the issue of energy saving and try every possible method to save energy in daily life. In architecture industry, architects have devoted themselves to green buildings. However, there should be an inventive way to upgrade heat insulation of external building structures. The studies on this topic in Taiwan mainly focus on the …

Corrosion Related Property Improvement For Cement Mortar Applied To Marine Environment, Pei-Ying Chung, Hsien Hua Lee, Meng-Syun Yu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

It is a well known fact that infrastructures in marine environments are subjected to corrosion attacks all the time. The most severe corrosion happens to the steel materials that are directly exposed in the marine environment, particularly for the portion exposed in the splash zone, where the air (oxygen) is embroiled with water causing a wet and dry alternately exerting environment. The most widely used material of marine infrastructure, such as reinforced concrete, is also subjected to deterioration damage from the marine environment. In this way, it weakens the impermeability of the material so that the sea water is allowed …

Numerical Study Of Thermophoresis On Aerosol Particle Deposition From Hiemenz Flow Through Porous Medium Onto A Stretching Surface, Jian-Sheng Huang, Ruey-Yih Tsai, Kuei-Hsun Huang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

A theoretical study of aerosol particles responding to thermophoresis, involving the particle deposition rate onto a stretching permeable surface with internal heat source is proposed. The effects on particle transport mechanisms include Brownian diffusion, thermophoresis, porosity, stretching surface, heat source, and suction/injection velocity. The governing equations of continuity, momentum, energy, and particle concentration are transformed using similarity analysis, and the solutions are obtained through appropriate numerical schemes. The predicted results show that if the thermophoretic and stretching parameters increase, the deposition velocity increases for a cold surface. However, the deposition velocity decreases rapidly for a hot surface as the thermophoretic …

Constructing The Comprehensive Subsurface Structure Of Lanyang Plain, Chih-Hao Hsu, Sao-Jeng Chao, Shuh-Gi Chern, Howard Hwang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study presents an integral approach to construct a comprehensive subsurface structure of Lanyang Plain. It is well known that geophysicists and engineers use different techniques to investigate the subsurface structure, and each of these techniques has its own advantages. Therefore, in this study, the excellent results from these two fields are selected and combined to provide a comprehensive profile of the subsurface structure of Lanyang Plain. In this study, the subsurface information on nine recording stations and digital boundary lines of Lanyang Plain based on the digital geologic map published by the Central Geological Survey are utilized to create …

Slamming Induced Dynamic Response Of A Floating Structure, Mohammad Ali Lotfollahi-Yaghin1, Mehdi Rastgar, Hamid Ahmadi

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Study of the slamming phenomenon is one of the most important branches of the floating structure dynamics. Experimental study of the floating structure dynamics can be very expensive because it requires a long wave flume and a moving model. Hence, numerical methods are considered to be very useful and efficient tools for modeling and dynamic analysis of floating structures. In the present paper, slamming induced impulsive loads are investigated firstly. Afterwards, dynamic response of a barge under the slamming excitation is studied, and the natural frequencies and mode shapes are determined, using the FE software package, ANSYS. Critical cross sections …

Effects Of Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion Fly Ash On The Properties Of Alkali-Activated Slag Cement Mortars, Hui-Mi Hsu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper illustrates the result of a study on the influence of circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) fly ash, sodium hydroxide (NaOH), sodium silicate (Na2SiO3), sodium phosphate (Na3PO4), and sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) as activators on the workability, bleeding, setting time, compressive strength, shrinking, and absorption of the alkali-activated slag (AAS) cement mortars. The addition of CFBC fly ash, Na3PO4, and Na2CO3 shows decrease of workability. But with Na2SiO3, the workability increase was observed. The setting time of Na3PO4, NaOH, Na2SiO3, and Na2CO3 activated slag cement mortars was found to be much faster than the setting time of slag cement mortars. …

Extending The Quikscat Data Record With The Oceansat-2 Scatterometer, Joshua P. Bradley

Theses and Dissertations

Originally designed for wind velocity estimation over the ocean, scatterometers have since been applied to climate studies of the Earth's cryosphere and bioshere. As an integral part of climatological studies of the planet, the NASA Scatterometer Climate Record Pathfinder (SCP) supplies scatterometer-based products designed to aid researchers in climatological studies of the planet. In this thesis, necessary steps are taken to facilitate data from the Oceansat-2 Ku-band scatterometer (OSCAT) to be used in extending the Ku-band SCP dataset of conically scanning pencil-beam scatterometers begun by the Seawinds scatterometer flown on the QuikSCAT mission 1999-2009. As a standard SCP product, a …

11th Annual Undergraduate Student Symposium, Farquhar Honors College

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The Undergraduate Student Symposium, sponsored by the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, presents student projects through presentations, papers, and poster displays. The event serves as a “showcase” demonstrating the outstanding scholarship of undergraduate students at NSU. The Symposium is open to undergraduate students from all disciplines. Projects cover areas of student scholarship ranging from the experimental and the applied to the computational, theoretical, artistic, and literary. They are taken from class assignments as well as from independent projects. The projects do not have to be complete; presentations can represent any stage in the concept’s evolution, from proposal and literature …

Tuning Entanglement And Ergodicity In Two-Dimensional Spin Systems Using Impurities And Anisotropy, Gehad Sadiek, Qing Xu, Sabre Kais

Birck and NCN Publications

We consider the entanglement in a two-dimensional XY model in an external magnetic field h. The model consists of a set of seven localized spin-1/2 particles in a two-dimensional triangular lattice coupled through nearest-neighbor exchange interaction J. We examine the effect of single and double impurities in the system as well as the degree of anisotropy on the nearest-neighbor entanglement and ergodicity of the system. We have found that the entanglement of the system at the different degrees of anisotropy mimics that of the one-dimensional spin systems at the extremely small and large values of the parameter lambda = h/J. …