Engineering Commons^™

Finite-Size Effects On Molecular Dynamics Interfacial Thermal-Resistance Predictions, Zhi Liang, Pawel Keblinski

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations, We Study the Role of Finite Size Effects on the Determination of Interfacial Thermal Resistance between Two Solids Characterized by High Phonon Mean Free Paths. in Particular, We Will Show that a Direct, Heat Source-Sink Method Leads to Strong Size Effect, Associated with Ballistic Phonon Transport to and From, and Specular Reflections at the Simulation Domain Boundary. Lack of Proper Account for These Effects Can Lead to Incorrect Predictions About the Role of Interfacial Bonding and Structure on Interfacial Thermal Resistance. We Also Show that the Finite Size Effect Can Be Dramatically Reduced by Introduction of …

Thermoelectric Properties Of Wsi2–Sixge1−X Composites, F. W. Dynys, A. Sayir, Jonathan Mackey, A Sehirlioglu

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Thermoelectric properties of the W/Si/Ge alloy system have been investigated with varying concentration levels of germanium and tungsten. The alloys were fabricated by directional solidification with the Bridgman method using boron nitride and fused silica crucibles. The effect of crucible contamination was investigated and found to result in doping the system to suitable levels for thermoelectric applications. The system has been demonstrated as a suitable high temperature p-type thermoelectric material exhibiting high power factors, >3000 μW/m K². Seebeck coefficients of the system are on the order of +300 μV/K and electrical conductivities of 2.8 × 10⁴ S/m …

Boundary Knot Method Solution Of Helmholtz Problems With Boundary Singularities, De-Jian Shen, Ji Lin, Wen Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper proposes a boundary knot method (BKM) formulation in conjunction with the singularity subtraction technique to solve Helmholtz problems with boundary singularities. The solution breaks down into the singular solution and the regular solution. The singular solution is derived analytically and satisfies the governing equation and the corresponding boundary conditions containing singularities. Then the regular solution is approximated by the BKM. Numerical results demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed technique.

Behaviors Of Large-Scale Driven Pc Piles, Shih-Tsung Hsu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study developed a numerical method for evaluating ground movements while a pile is being driven and obtained a comprehensive load-displacement curve for a driven pile. The tested pile exhibited a larger scale than those tested in previous studies, and was penetrated into a considerable depth of the stratum. Numerical results revealed that both the ground movement and residual force caused by the pile driving was able to be analyzed using the proposed numerical procedure. Although the load applied to the tested piles differed from that determined by numerically analyzing incremental pile displacement, the load-displacement behavior of the piles calculated …

Optimization Of Electrical Discharge Machining Parameters For Niti Shape Memory Alloy By Using The Taguchi Method, Saeed Daneshmand, Ehsan Farahmand Kahrizi, Ali Akbar Lotfineyestanak, Vahid Monfared

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is among the most essential nontraditional machining processes. Material removal rate (MRR) and surface roughness are the two main parameters applied in this method. A desired surface roughness can be achieved at the maximal MRR by selecting the optimal input parameters. Because of the mechanical properties and hardness of shape-memory nickel titanium (NiTi) alloy, material can be removed using an EDM method. NiTi alloy is widely used in marine science and aerospace industries. Surface roughness is a critical parameter affecting the machining of this alloy. This study examined the effect the input parameters (pulse current, gap …

Added Mass Computation For Control Of An Open-Frame Remotely-Operated Vehicle: Application Using Wamit And Matlab, You-Hong Eng, Cheng-Siong Chin, Michael Wai-Shing Lau

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this paper, numerical modeling and testing of a complexshaped remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) are shown. The paper emphasizes on systematic modeling of hydrodynamic added mass using computational fluid dynamic software WAMITTM on the open frame ROV that is not commonly applied in practice. From initial design and prototype testing, a small-scale test using a free-decaying experiment is used to verify the theoretical models obtained from WAMITTM. Simulation results have shown to coincide with the experimental tests. The proposed method is able to determine the hydrodynamic added mass coefficients of the open frame ROV.

Geometric Solution In Progressive Collapse Analysis Of Hull Girder, Ertekin Bayraktarkatal, Gökhan Tansel Tayyar

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper presents a calculation model for stiffened plates to determine the ultimate strength of ship hull girders from their curvatures using a geometrical approach. The present study employed Smith’s method, in which the cross-section is divided into smaller elements consisting of a stiffener(s) and attached plating. The strength of beam-columns and stiffened plates was obtained using an iterative numerical approach. The deflection curve was evaluated using the curvature values directly instead of by solving differential equations. The deflection curve was taken as an assembly of chains of circular arcs. The ultimate strength of the hull girder of a 1/3 …

Intelligent Dynamic Acquisition Learning Fuzzy Modeling Systems Design, Hsuan-Ming Feng, Ching-Yi Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Secretary General, Taiwan Group on Earth Observations, Taiwan, R.O.C

Reversing Sensitization Of Naturally Exfoliated 5456-H116 Aluminum Alloys, Ren-Yu Chen, Cheng-Chyuan Lai

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

5456-H116 Al-Mg alloy has been broadly used in the U.S. Navy in order to meet the demand of reducing ship hull weight while considering high specific strength, corrosion resistance, and weldability. A particular concern of these alloy is sensitization, which causes it to be sensitized when highly anodic β phase (Al3Mg2) is precipitated at grain boundaries especially in service exceeding 65~200°C, leading to intergranular corrosion (IGC), exfoliation and stress corrosion cracking (SCC). This study investigated the reversal of sensitization of a naturally exfoliated 5456-H116 alloy plate by planned heating treatment with a short exposure to 250°C. The properties of sensitized …

Robust Adaptive Motion Control With Environmental Disturbance Rejection For Perturbed Underwater Vehicles, Hamid Reza Koofigar

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper addresses the motion control problem of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) perturbed by unknown hydrodynamic coefficients, unmodelled dynamics and environmental disturbances. The proposed algorithm consists of an adaptive subcontroller to tackle the parametric uncertainties and a robust term to vanish the effects of unstructured uncertainties and disturbances. The resulting robust adaptive controller ensures the convergence of tracking error, without any assumption on the upper bound of perturbations in the design procedure. The closed loop stability is shown, using the Lyapunov stability theorem, and verified by various simulations.

Impact Characteristics Of Free Over-Fall In Pool Zone With Upstream Bed Slope, Shi-I Liu, Jen-Yan Chen, Yao-Ming Hong, Hung-Shin Huang, Rajkumar V Raikar

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper presents the theoretical equations for the impact characteristics of free over-fall (ICFOF) in the pool zone with sloping upstream bed. The various impact characteristics considered are the brink depth, the impact position and impact angle, the tail water depth and the depth of water pool. In order to overcome the complexity in determining the ICFOF, they were expressed in dimensionless forms as functions of upstream bed slope (UBS), upstream Froude number and Drop number. The multiple regression analysis was used to obtain the empirical expressions for the ICFOF using the laboratory experimental results. It was found that the …

Effects Of Power System Stabilizer On Inter-Area Oscillations In Vietnam Power System, Van-Dien Doan, Ta-Hsiu Tseng, Pei-Hwa Huang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The main objective of this paper is to report a preliminary study of the effects of the power system stabilizer on the small-signal stability and the damping of low-frequency oscillations of the Vietnam power system which is under fast development and has a longitudinal grid pattern. Spontaneous low-frequency oscillations are potential to occur in the exchange of regional power flow of a power system with longitudinal network structure under normal operation. The method of eigen-analysis is utilized to perform the study of the inter-area oscillations with an emphasis on the oscillation mode with low frequency and light damping. The eigenvalues, …

Contrast Enhancement And Visual Effects Based On Gray-Level Grouping, Yen-Ching Chang, Chun-Ming Chang, Li-Chun Lai, Liang-Hwa Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Contrast enhancement plays a crucial role in the field of image processing. Histogram equalization is a simple and automatic method for contrast enhancement. Conventional contrast-enhancement techniques, such as histogram specification and contrast stretching, require manual parameters to achieve satisfactory results. To automatically produce enhanced results for low-contrast images, a new histogram-based optimized contrast-enhancement technique, called gray-level grouping (GLG), was proposed. GLG performs satisfactorily in dark and low-contrast images and always increases the contrast values to a maximum. Extravagant contrast enhancement typically means sacrificing the visual effects of an image. Through scrutinizing the GLG procedure, we discovered potential limitations and observed …

An Image Display Device Without A Concrete And Definitive Screen, Junewen Chen, Jing-Bin Duan, Li-An Chiu, Chuan-Sheng Hong, Ya-Ping Kang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

We present a novel and practical hardwareless display system that was developed for the 3-D projection of real objects in the absence of a concrete screen. In this report, the design and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the display of 360°-viewable objects. Images that are projected on an annular stream of aerosol or fluid can penetrate the layerlike aerosols, thereby displaying a 3-D image. Software can be used to normalize the image data to display life-like images of any model, including customers, and various outfits can be added. Moreover, the images can be visualized in full 360°, and the …

Theoretical Investigation Of Heterogeneous Catalysis At The Solid–Liquid Interface For The Conversion Of Lignocellulosic Biomass Model Molecules, Muhammad Faheem

Theses and Dissertations

Catalytic conversion of biomass-derived oxygenates to fuels and value-added chemicals is a promising strategy in the search for renewable and sustainable energy sources. Most relevant catalytic processes are carried out in an aqueous environment using supported transition metal catalysts. The reaction network consists of multiple series and parallel pathways leading to formation of hydrogen, alkanes, and lighter oxygenates. The final product distribution ultimately depends on the sequence and competition of C−C, C−O, C−H, and O−H bonds scissions. Ethylene glycol (EG) is the simplest model molecule of various biomass-derived polyols that has a C:O stoichiometry of 1:1 and contains all relevant …

Turbulent Circular Culvert Flow: Implications To Fish Passage Design, Amin Mohebbi

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Culverts are popular conveyance structures in America and Canada to be used as a fish passage or in sewage collection and disposal systems. Fish passage design criteria is based on biological capabilities of fish whereas it should satisfy hydraulic and hydrological constraints as well. Failing to provide enough low velocity regions for aquatic organisms may result in their mass extinctions. Currently, proper road crossing design depends on either model studies or numerical simulations via Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) packages, both of which are expensive and time consuming. Further, although the design procedures released by FHWA recently ensures safe fish migration …

Optical Resonators And Fiber Tapers As Transducers For Detection Of Nanoparticles And Bio-Molecules, Huzeyfe Yilmaz

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

In recent years, detection of biological interactions on single molecule level has aspired many researchers to investigate several optical, chemical, electrical and mechanical sensing tools. Among these tools, toroidal optical resonators lead the way in detection of the smallest particle/molecule with the real time measurements. In this work, bio-sensing capabilities of toroidal optical resonators are investigated. Bio-sensing is realized via measuring the analyte-antigen interaction while the antigen is immobilized through a novel functionalization method.

Not long ago, detection of single nanoparticles using optical resonators has been accomplished however the need for cost-effective and practical transducers demands simpler tools. A tapered …

Single Cuo Nanowires Electrical Properties And Application On Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting, Junnan Wu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Charge transport in single crystal, p type copper oxide (CuO) nanowires (NWs) was studied through temperature based (120 K – 400 K) current-voltage (I-V) measurements of 2-terminal single NW devices. Individual CuO NWs with an average diameter of 220 nm were attached to Au electrodes 2.5 µm apart, using a dielectrophoresis method. I-V curves showed a transition from linear behavior at low bias to strong power law dependence (I ~ V^a) at high bias, which can be attributed to space charge limited current (SCLC) mechanism. At low electrical fields (< 0.89 × 10³ V·cm^-1), the number of …

Detection Of Parkinson Disease Rest Tremor, Matthew J. Johnson

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Parkinson Disease (PD) is a debilitating and progressive movement disorder that is estimated to affect over six million worldwide. One of the most characteristic symptoms of PD is resting tremor, which involves unintentional and rhythmic muscle oscillations of an afflicted extremity while the muscles of said extremity are relaxed. This study involved measuring the rest tremor of 10 PD subjects, 10 Essential Tremor subjects, and 10 healthy control subjects using two devices. One device was an FDA approved accelerometry system to measure human tremor known as the Tremorometer^TM and the other was a consumer three-dimensional camera known as the …

Three Dimensional Transient Asymmetric Flowfields In Physical Vapor Transport, Joseph Dobmeier

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Physical Vapor Transport is a manufacturing process used to produce single crystals of semiconductor materials such as mercurous chloride (Hg2Cl2). In the past this time-varying process has been studied with numerical simulation by considering three dimensional flow using an axi-symmetric two dimensional model or by restricting the simulation to asymmetric two dimensional flow and dropping the assumption of axi-symmetry from the model. It is generally agreed that neither of these methods accurately represent the true behavior of the process. The purpose of this research was to extend the asymmetric two dimensional model to three dimensions thereby obtaining a solution which …

Assessment Of Similarity In Chemically Complex Samples, Jessica Elise Brown

Dissertations and Theses

Concern within the public health community is mounting regarding what some deem as "candy-flavored tobacco". A recent study by King et al. (2014) found that >40% of middle and high school student smokers use flavored cigarettes or flavored little cigars. This study investigated the validity of the "candy-flavored tobacco" designation by comparing flavor profiles of 18 flavored tobacco products with 15 candy and Kool-Aid products using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Significant compositional overlap was found; nearly 75% of the compounds detected were present in at least one flavored tobacco and one candy or Kool-Aid product. Benzaldehyde and or benzyl …

Analysis And Detection Of Heap-Based Malwares Using Introspection In A Virtualized Environment, Salman Javaid

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Malware detection and analysis is a major part of computer security. There is an arm race between security experts and malware developers to develop various techniques to secure computer systems and to find ways to circumvent these security methods. In recent years process heap-based attacks have increased significantly. These attacks exploit the system under attack via the heap, typically by using a heap spraying attack. The main drawback with existing techniques is that they either consume too many resources or are complicated to implement. Our work in this thesis focuses on new methods which offloads process heap analysis for guest …

Efficient Fpga Architectures For Separable Filters And Logarithmic Multipliers And Automation Of Fish Feature Extraction Using Gabor Filters, Arjun Kumar Joginipelly

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Convolution and multiplication operations in the filtering process can be optimized by minimizing the resource utilization using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) and separable filter kernels. An FPGA architecture for separable convolution is proposed to achieve reduction of on-chip resource utilization and external memory bandwidth for a given processing rate of the convolution unit.

Multiplication in integer number system can be optimized in terms of resources, operation time and power consumption by converting to logarithmic domain. To achieve this, a method altering the filter weights is proposed and implemented for error reduction. The results obtained depict significant error reduction when …

Steady State Voltage Stability Enhancement Using Shunt And Series Facts Devices, Jahnavi Lakkireddy

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

It is specifically important to focus on voltage stability analysis of the power system to avoid worst case scenarios such as voltage collapse. The purpose of this thesis is to identify methods for enhancing the steady-state voltage stability using FACTS devices and determining their impact on real and reactive power losses, improvement of bus voltage magnitude, and transmission line loadability. To achieve this, FACTS devices such as Static VAR Compensator (SVC), Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM), and Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitor (TCSC) are used in the test system as three separate test cases. The results obtained assist in drawing conclusions on …

Comparison Of Nonlinear Filtering Methods For Battery State Of Charge Estimation, Klaus Zhang

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In battery management systems, the main figure of merit is the battery's SOC, typically obtained from voltage and current measurements. Present estimation methods use simplified battery models that do not fully capture the electrical characteristics of the battery, which are useful for system design. This thesis studied SOC estimation for a lithium-ion battery using a nonlinear, electrical-circuit battery model that better describes the electrical characteristics of the battery. The extended Kalman filter, unscented Kalman filter, third-order and fifth-order cubature Kalman filter, and the statistically linearized filter were tested on their ability to estimate the SOC through numerical simulation. Their performances …

Verification Of Costless Merge Pairing Heaps, Joshua Vander Hook

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Most algorithms’ performance is limited by the data structures they use. Internal algorithms then decide the performance of the data structure. This cycle continues until fundamental results, verified by analysis and experiment, prevent further improvement. In this paper I examine one specific example of this. The focus of this work is primarily on a new variant of the pairing heap. I will review the new implementation, compare its theoretical performance, and discuss my original contribution: the first preliminary data on its experimental performance. It is instructive to provide some background information, followed by a formal definition of heaps in 1.1. …

Improvements To Uhmwpe, Brooke Mckelvogue

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is a material used in artificial implants for articular joint replacements. However, these implants have a limited lifespan in which the patient will be pain-free due to the wear of the UHMWPE components. Recently crosslinking, or exposing the material to radiation, has been used to extend the wear resistance of UHMWPE. Crosslinking introduces another set of drawbacks; mainly the reduction of the fracture toughness of UHMWPE and the generation of free radicals, which leave the polymer vulnerable to damage from oxidation. Currently, research is being conducted on other methods to increase the wear resistance …

Work In Progress - Peer Directed Learning In A Project Based Model, Andrew Mcnally

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Iron Range Engineering is a new, unique, undergraduate program using problem-based learning. One guiding principle is student responsibility for learning. In order to facilitate learning, faculty and students alike have come up with several learning methods. Learning modes may include self-directed learning, peer-directed learning, one-on-one faculty directed learning, or industry mentored learning. Peer directed learning often manifests in the form of learning groups (a group of students learning similar competencies), led by either a faculty member or a student who has previously excelled in that competency and has taken an interest in pursuing advanced credit. Recently, Iron Range Engineering has …

Computational Model Of A Left Ventricle: Showing The Effects Of Inertia On Cardiac Dyssynchrony, Andrew Mcnally, Matthew Korpela, Erin Lamke, Matthew Hudson

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

In an effort to research heart failure, a leading cause of death in the industrialized world, this research team has developed a segmented lumped parameter model of the left ventricle. The computations model developed focuses on dyssynchrony, a heart condition where some regions of the heart vary significantly in properties like internal muscle resistance, mass, or elastance. Inertial effects are often assumed as negligible by cardiovascular models. One primary function of this model is to investigate inertial effects as they relate to mechanical cardiac dyssynchrony. An added dimension of this analysis is to observe the thermodynamics of the cardiac cycle …

Optimization Of Reactive Ion Etching (Rie) Parameters For Selective Removal Of Mosfet Gate Dielectric And Evaluation Of Its Physical And Electrical Properties, Hojoon Lee, Samuel Wood

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

The integrated circuit (IC) is dominated by technology using Complementary Metal-oxide-Semiconductor Field-effect Transistor (CMOSFET). In order to put over 300 million transistors on silicon chip requires selective removal of material by Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) which ensures vertical cut thereby increasing packing density of devices on the chip. The gate insulator of CMOS devices plays a crucial role in its electrical performance. In this research gate insulator of MOSFET has been etched by state-of-art technique RIE and its physical and electrical properties have been measured. The gate insulator etching by RIE give rise to charge accumulation on the gate dielectric …