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2013

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Articles 1501 - 1530 of 7289

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Sustainable Bulding Materials In Mozambique, Jared Geddes, Dr. Robert Todd Aug 2013

Sustainable Bulding Materials In Mozambique, Jared Geddes, Dr. Robert Todd

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The research that I conducted this year was in the area of sustainable building materials. I worked with a team of six engineers to develop a sustainable building material that would be able to withstand the heavy monsoon rains common to the area of Beira, Mozambique. Every year, these rains destroy up to 60% of the local buildings, consisting mainly of local residences made from mud, straw, and sticks. This destruction and the resultant flooding causes an unsafe and unsanitary condition for the local residents. One of the most dangerous aspects of this flooding is the problem of the sanitation. …

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Development Of A Simple Manufacturing Process For A Prosthetic Leg, John Christiansen, Dr. Mark Colton Aug 2013

Development Of A Simple Manufacturing Process For A Prosthetic Leg, John Christiansen, Dr. Mark Colton

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project was to develop a simple process to manufacture a useful and affordable prosthetic leg to be made available to below-­‐the-­‐knee amputees in a sub-­‐ Saharan African country. This project was motivated by a desire for learning and experience and also by humanitarian and social entrepreneurship ideals. The project was carried out as a joint effort by a larger research team composed of members of the BYU Biomedical Engineering Club. As this was a joint team effort, many of the tasks detailed in this report were shared between several team members. Currently, the team has identified …

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Prosthetic Leg Project, Carl Ellingson Aug 2013

Prosthetic Leg Project, Carl Ellingson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The idea of this project was to research prosthetic leg designs in an effort to create a below-the-knee prosthetic device. The goal was to come up with a device that could be used in third world countries where the need is most considerable. In the past year we have come up with a design and are still in the process of testing the leg. We did not finish as fast as we would have liked, and we are still working on additional testing before we can present our idea to the scholarly community.

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Microcracking Of Cement-Treated Bases, Charles Hope, Dr. Spencer Guthrie Aug 2013

Microcracking Of Cement-Treated Bases, Charles Hope, Dr. Spencer Guthrie

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This study was funded in the spring of 2009 and commenced immediately afterward. The scope of the project included researching the effectiveness of microcracking of cement-treated bases (CTBs) in construction of asphalt-surfaced pavements. Microcracking is a method of reducing the amount of “block cracking” or “shrinkage cracking” that typically propagates up through the asphalt layer overlying a CTB layer. Microcracking involves making several passes over a newly constructed CTB with a heavy roller to induce a network of hairline cracks throughout the layer. Identifying equipment that can be used to determine how many passes are adequate was the focus of …

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Deep Oxide Sim—Orca Report, Alan Nelson Aug 2013

Deep Oxide Sim—Orca Report, Alan Nelson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In my ORCA grant proposal, I described a novel solid-state amplifier known as the SIM (Solidstate Impact-ionization Multiplier) that has been developed here at BYU. It is particularly useful for amplifying weak optical signals—weak such that they would require low-noise amplification in order to avoid garbling the signal with added amplifier noise. The mechanism driving amplification in the SIM—Impact-ionization—is inherently low noise. Due to it being relatively easy and inexpensive to manufacture the SIM (compared with other low-noise amplifiers such as the Avalanching photodiode), as well as many other benefits outlined in my proposal, the utility of enhancing the SIM …

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Antenna Diversity For Personal Communications Transceivers, Bruce M. Green, Dr. Michael A. Jensen Aug 2013

Antenna Diversity For Personal Communications Transceivers, Bruce M. Green, Dr. Michael A. Jensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The presence of human tissue near the antenna of a portable cellular phone reduces its range of reception and transmission. This research investigates the feasibility of antenna diversity (more than one antenna on a handset) as a means of combating the loss of received signal power to a cellular phone antenna due to the biological tissues of the operator. The Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method provides simulations of two antenna designs that accurately models both the antenna and tissue of the operator.

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Closed-Volume Pdms Recirculation Pumps For Mems-Based Photonic Biosensors, Haobo Jack Dong, Dr. Gregory Nordin Aug 2013

Closed-Volume Pdms Recirculation Pumps For Mems-Based Photonic Biosensors, Haobo Jack Dong, Dr. Gregory Nordin

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Microfluidics is the science and technology of systems that process or manipulate small amounts of fluidics, using channels with dimensions of tens to hundreds of micrometers [1]. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a soft elastomeric material, is a popular choice in microfluidics research due to its tunable elastic properties, ability to seal with silicon and glass, low cost, forgiving and simple fabrication procedures [2]. To control and move fluids within the system, on-chip valves and pumps are needed. This paper reports a PDMS recirculation pumps device for MEMS-based biosensors.

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Strengthening The Pathway To Stem Research Leadership At Hope College, Catherine Mader Aug 2013

Strengthening The Pathway To Stem Research Leadership At Hope College, Catherine Mader

Faculty Presentations

Over the past 20 years, awards from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have supported Hope's efforts to conduct STEM research and to prepare students to pursue careers as STEM researchers. The current program is building upon prior successes to create a deliberate pathway for students as they enter Hope as novices, build STEM Researcher skills through coursework and summer research and eventually become student leaders in STEM Research groups.

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Protein Structure Validation And Identification From Unassigned Residual Dipolar Coupling Data Using 2d-Pdpa, Arjang Fahim, Rishi Mukhopadhyay, Ryan Yandle, James H. Prestegard, Homayoun Valafar Aug 2013

Protein Structure Validation And Identification From Unassigned Residual Dipolar Coupling Data Using 2d-Pdpa, Arjang Fahim, Rishi Mukhopadhyay, Ryan Yandle, James H. Prestegard, Homayoun Valafar

Faculty Publications

More than 90% of protein structures submitted to the PDB each year are homologous to some previously characterized protein structure. The extensive resources that are required for structural characterization of proteins can be justified for the 10% of the novel structures, but not for the remaining 90%. This report presents the 2D-PDPA method, which utilizes unassigned residual dipolar coupling in order to address the economics of structure determination of routine proteins by reducing the data acquisition and processing time. 2D-PDPA has been demonstrated to successfully identify the correct structure of an array of proteins that range from 46 to 445 …

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A Multi-Physics Model For Solid Oxide Iron-Air Redox Flow Battery: Simulation Of Discharge Behavior At High Current Density, Meng Guo, Xuan Zhao, Ralph E. White, Kevin Huang Aug 2013

A Multi-Physics Model For Solid Oxide Iron-Air Redox Flow Battery: Simulation Of Discharge Behavior At High Current Density, Meng Guo, Xuan Zhao, Ralph E. White, Kevin Huang

Faculty Publications

A rigorous physics-based mathematical model for a solid oxide iron-air redox flow battery system is presented in this paper. The modeled flow battery system combines a Fe-FeO redox couple as the energy storage unit and a regenerative solid oxide fuel cell as the electrical functioning unit in a 2D axial symmetric geometry. This model was developed from fundamental theories of reaction engineering in which basic transport phenomena and chemical/electrochemical kinetics are included. The model shows good agreement with the experimental data. Simulation results for the chemical, electrochemical and transport behavior of the battery are discussed.

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The Size Range Of Bubbles That Produce Ash During Explosive Volcanic Eruptions, Kimberly Genareau, Gopal K. Mulukutla, Alexander A. Proussevitch, Adam J. Durant, William I. Rose, Dork L. Sahagian Aug 2013

The Size Range Of Bubbles That Produce Ash During Explosive Volcanic Eruptions, Kimberly Genareau, Gopal K. Mulukutla, Alexander A. Proussevitch, Adam J. Durant, William I. Rose, Dork L. Sahagian

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

Volcanic eruptions can produce ash particles with a range of sizes and morphologies. Here we morphologically distinguish two textural types: Simple (generally smaller) ash particles, where the observable surface displays a single measureable bubble because there is at most one vesicle imprint preserved on each facet of the particle; and complex ash particles, which display multiple vesicle imprints on their surfaces for measurement and may contain complete, unfragmented vesicles in their interiors. Digital elevation models from stereo-scanning electron microscopic images of complex ash particles from the 14 October 1974 sub-Plinian eruption of Volcán Fuego, Guatemala and the 18 May 1980 …

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Pace Global Collaboration Race Car Project And Pace Emerging Market Engine Project, Jesse Davis, Dr. C. Greg Jensen Aug 2013

Pace Global Collaboration Race Car Project And Pace Emerging Market Engine Project, Jesse Davis, Dr. C. Greg Jensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I have been involved with Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) since January 2008. The goal of this organization involving industry sponsors and student teams is to teach and foster engineering collaboration in today’s global market. Various projects are undertaken in PACE, but the main focus is design and engineering in the automotive field. I participated in two projects during the past year.

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Analysis Of Prosthetic Leg Shock Absorption And Structure, David Williams, Russell Dibb, Dr. Mark Colton Aug 2013

Analysis Of Prosthetic Leg Shock Absorption And Structure, David Williams, Russell Dibb, Dr. Mark Colton

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of the prosthetic leg project was to research and design a below-the-knee prosthetic leg that could be used in developing countries. Many prosthetic legs that are currently on the market are very expensive and difficult to manufacture in undeveloped areas of the world. The engineering challenges that the prosthetic leg design addressed include a device that is 1) capable of being manufactured at a low cost ($100-$500), 2) simply and easily reproducible in a developing country, 3) durable enough to hold up to the vigorous conditions that exist in a developing country, and 4) able to effectively modeling …

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Mechanical Characterization Of Accelerated Human Lumbar Disc Degeneration, John Sessions, Dr. Anton Bowden Aug 2013

Mechanical Characterization Of Accelerated Human Lumbar Disc Degeneration, John Sessions, Dr. Anton Bowden

Journal of Undergraduate Research

It is reported by the American Academy of Orthopeadic Surgeons that in 2005, 24% of the population sought treatment for back pain [1]. Additionally, Americans spent over $85.9 billion (2005) on health treatment costs related to back problems with the vast majority being connected to disc degeneration [1]. Despite the vast sum of money being spent on treatment of disc degeneration, the leading surgical treatments for disc degeneration (spinal fusion, total disc replacement) have been shown to increase degeneration at the discs in adjacent levels to the surgery [2].

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High-Speed, Three-Dimensional Quantification Of Ladybug (Hippodamia Convergens) Flapping Wing Kinematics During Takeoff, Ryan B. George, Dr. Scott L. Thomson Aug 2013

High-Speed, Three-Dimensional Quantification Of Ladybug (Hippodamia Convergens) Flapping Wing Kinematics During Takeoff, Ryan B. George, Dr. Scott L. Thomson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Ladybug wing and body kinematics during takeoff is explored using high-speed stereoscopic imaging. Recordings of the specimens during flight are acquired at a rate of 3000 frames per second. A direct linear transformation algorithm is performed using custom implementation in Matlab to quantify positions of selected locations on the body, forewings (elytra), and hindwings. Design and setup of instrumentation and analysis procedures are explained. Flapping frequency is reported. Significant motion of the elytra and other findings are presented and their applications are discussed.

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Transtibial Suspension, Peter Jepsen, Dr. Anton Bowden Aug 2013

Transtibial Suspension, Peter Jepsen, Dr. Anton Bowden

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Amputees in developing countries struggle to find employment because of their disabilities, but also struggle to afford the artificial limbs that are available to them. Further compounding the problem is the lack of comfortable fitting prosthetics, which are hard to find and design even in advanced nations. I researched, designed and tested suspension systems that could be made for a transtibial (below the knee) prosthetic leg that would be both comfortable and inexpensive.

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Characterization Of Biomass Fuel Properties Based On Functional Groups, Richard B. Reid, Dr. Larry Baxter Aug 2013

Characterization Of Biomass Fuel Properties Based On Functional Groups, Richard B. Reid, Dr. Larry Baxter

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The search for sustainable energy sources and technologies is one of the world’s primary concerns in the 21st century. Biomass energy is projected to be an important component of a diverse and sustainable energy portfolio. In order to utilize this source effectively there must be accurate composition data and predictive correlations for material properties. Though the literature provides some empirical correlations of fuel properties such as heating value [Jenkins et al 1996], fundamental chemical and structural analyses have not been explicitly correlated with such properties. This project has sought to establish relationships between fuel properties and chemical functional group contributions …

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Optical Fiber To Integrated Waveguides: Bridging The Gap, Mallory Phillips, Dr. Aaron R. Hawkins Aug 2013

Optical Fiber To Integrated Waveguides: Bridging The Gap, Mallory Phillips, Dr. Aaron R. Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Optoelectronics are made on the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material by attaching light-sensitive polymers to the surface, then removing patterns generated in the polymer. Waveguides can be made on the same substrate to interface directly with optoelectronics. They are made from raised channels running along the substrates surface and guide light through total internal reflection, much like optical fibers [1]. Optical fibers are used for internet and cable connections, in order for information to be successfully used, that information must make a transition from the optical fiber to integrated waveguides [2]. The engineering challenge associated with this …

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Optimizing Cvt Performance For A Sae Mini-Baja Application, Jisang Sun, Dr. Robert H. Todd Aug 2013

Optimizing Cvt Performance For A Sae Mini-Baja Application, Jisang Sun, Dr. Robert H. Todd

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) is a mechanical device that transfers power from an engine to another device such as a gear box or reducer. It mainly consists of three major parts; a speed sensitive drive pulley, a torque sensitive driven pulley and a V-belt. A CVT has the ability to adjust the gear ratio between the engine and the gear box automatically based on engine RPM and the torque needed to drive the driven pulley. CVT’s are widely used in special purpose vehicles such as all terrain vehicles (ATV’s) and snowmobiles. CVT’s are also used for the national Mini-Baja …

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Mathematical Model Of Friction Stir Welding, Jeremy D. Webb, Dr. Russell Daines Aug 2013

Mathematical Model Of Friction Stir Welding, Jeremy D. Webb, Dr. Russell Daines

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a semi-solid state joining process. The process utilizes a threaded pin tool “stirring” two aluminum plates together as it “sews” the seam together. One application of this process would replace the use of rivets to join aluminum paneling on commercial aircraft.

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Analysis Of A Compliant Centrifugal Clutch Using Computeraided Engineering Tools, James D. Baker, Dr. Larry L. Howell Aug 2013

Analysis Of A Compliant Centrifugal Clutch Using Computeraided Engineering Tools, James D. Baker, Dr. Larry L. Howell

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Contemporary engineering has received the benefits of computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools that automate and simplify the design of mechanical systems. However, such tools do not provide direct support for the specific field of compliant mechanisms, whose behavior can require difficult techniques for design and synthesis. Compliant mechanisms utilize flexible segments instead of joints, to achieve their motion. It was proposed that two CAE tools, namely Pro/ENGINEER and ADAMS/View, along with a method for analyzing compliant mechanisms known as the pseudo-rigid-body model, could greatly reduce the time and effort required to generate accurate results in the analysis of a compliant centrifugal …

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The Design And Synthesis Of A Compliant Bicycle Derailer, Matthew Christensen, Dr. Larry L. Howell Aug 2013

The Design And Synthesis Of A Compliant Bicycle Derailer, Matthew Christensen, Dr. Larry L. Howell

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Compliant mechanisms are those which gain part or all of their motion from the flexibility of their parts. For example, the motion of a hinge can be alternatively provided by a pin (like a hinge on a door), or by a thin flexible member (like a hinge in the cover of a book). The door hinge is easily designed by selecting brackets and a pin with adequate strength to support the loads. The book hinge is more difficult to design. The book has additional considerations like designing the material thin enough to bend, thick enough to bear the load, and …

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Char Combustion And Late Burnout Reactivity, Rhett Brewer, Dr. William Hecker Aug 2013

Char Combustion And Late Burnout Reactivity, Rhett Brewer, Dr. William Hecker

Journal of Undergraduate Research

To study the effects of the carbon structure on coal reactivity during the late stages of combustion, it was necessary to be able to know what effect mineral content had on the reactivity. Two coals, dietz (high mineral content) and pitt 8 (low mineral content), were chosen for the experiment so that their behavior during the late stages of combustion could be compared.

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Instrumentation Of Rebar For Use In The Structural Analysis Of A Culvert And Data Reduction For A Pile Study, Paul W. Richards, Dr. Kyle M. Rollins Aug 2013

Instrumentation Of Rebar For Use In The Structural Analysis Of A Culvert And Data Reduction For A Pile Study, Paul W. Richards, Dr. Kyle M. Rollins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Pheonix Gunite is an engineering firm responsible for the ongoing construction of several culverts (underground tunnels) in the Las Vegas area. These reinforced culverts serve a variety of purposes including pedestrian walkways and water transportation. My proposed project was to instrument the rebar going into one of these culverts and then obtain stress data while the completed culvert experienced a loading sequence. I then intended to reduce the data and use it to aid in optimizing the design of future culverts.

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Barrette Foundations, Richard Christensen, Dr. Richard Balling Aug 2013

Barrette Foundations, Richard Christensen, Dr. Richard Balling

Journal of Undergraduate Research

During the past 60 years, ever since the discovery of mass produced steel, the world has used this steel to produce buildings that touch the sky. These skyscrapers have become a point of competition and interest throughout the world. Each country tries to outdo the next in building height and beauty.

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Digital Filter Design, Ruth Bell, Dr. Doran Wilde Aug 2013

Digital Filter Design, Ruth Bell, Dr. Doran Wilde

Journal of Undergraduate Research

A number of approaches to constructing high performance recursive digital filters have been attempted. An approach using piplelined multiply-accumulate blocks in which computations are performed most significant digit (msd) first has demonstrated important benefits. A recent computer journal article describes 1 msd first multiply accumulation and presents the basis for a systematic method of deriving VLSI architectures for low latency, pipelined recursive systems.

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Yscat—Byu’S Dock Based Scatterometer, Brett T. Walkenhorst, Dr. David V. Arnold Aug 2013

Yscat—Byu’S Dock Based Scatterometer, Brett T. Walkenhorst, Dr. David V. Arnold

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Scatterometry is a method used today to track and predict global warming, storms, and other important factors in the earth’s climate. NASA currently has a scatterometer in orbit around earth called QuikScat. There are many useful applications of scatterometry, but there are still many environmental factors that interfere with the scatterometer’s data that we don’t completely understand and can’t account for yet. For this reason, NASA is funding a research project called YSCAT, BYU’s own scatterometer. YSCAT will be deployed on a dock off the coast of southern California and will be used to collect data from the ocean waves. …

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Temperature Induced Birefringence Change In D Fibers, Idris El Bakri, Dr. Richard H. Selfridge Aug 2013

Temperature Induced Birefringence Change In D Fibers, Idris El Bakri, Dr. Richard H. Selfridge

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The project was an experimental and theoretical research effort to determine the effect of temperature on the birefringence of optical D fibers. Such fibers have a D shaped cross section, hence their name, and consist of a three major regions: the light guiding core, the cladding and the super cladding. Different components of light waves traveling in this kind of fiber travel at different velocities, and such a fiber is said to have high birefringence (HB). HB fibers are very useful as temperature sensors.

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Modification And Testing Of A Simplified Field-Wise Optimization Algorithm For Use In Wind Scatterometry, Charles G. Brown, Dr. David Long Aug 2013

Modification And Testing Of A Simplified Field-Wise Optimization Algorithm For Use In Wind Scatterometry, Charles G. Brown, Dr. David Long

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Wind scatterometry is the science of estimating speed and direction of near-surface ocean wind using radar measurements from satellite scatterometers. 1 Satellite scatterometers transmit microwave pulses to the ocean’s surface and record the power of the backscattered radiation. Estimates of ocean wind speed and direction can be obtained by inverting a geophysical model function, which relates wind speed and direction to microwave backscatter.

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Few-View Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (Spect) Reconstruction Based On A Blurred Piecewise Constant Object Model, Paul Arthur Wolf, Jakob S. Jørgensen, Taly Gilat Schmidt, Emil Y. Sidky Aug 2013

Few-View Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (Spect) Reconstruction Based On A Blurred Piecewise Constant Object Model, Paul Arthur Wolf, Jakob S. Jørgensen, Taly Gilat Schmidt, Emil Y. Sidky

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

A sparsity-exploiting algorithm intended for few-view single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) reconstruction is proposed and characterized. The algorithm models the object as piecewise constant subject to a blurring operation. To validate that the algorithm closely approximates the true object in the noiseless case, projection data were generated from an object assuming this model and using the system matrix. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to provide more realistic data of a phantom with varying smoothness across the field of view and a cardiac phantom. Reconstructions were performed across a sweep of two primary design parameters. The results demonstrate that the …

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