Engineering Commons^™

Introduction To Volume 6, Michael Sherr

Journal of Adolescent and Family Health

Introduction to Volume 6

Jamming Rheology Of Model Cementitious Suspensions Composed Of Comb-Polymer Stabilized Magnesium Oxide Particles, Lisa R. Murray, Kendra Erk

School of Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The colloidal microstructure of concentrated suspensions containing anionic comb- polymer-stabilized magnesium oxide (MgO) particles in water was analyzed by shear rheometry for indications of changes in particle microstructure based on particle size and comb-polymer usage. As the suspensions were sheared at different rates, jamming in the sheared MgO suspensions was observed as shear stress overshoots. The shear-induced evolution of the suspension’s microstructure was strongly related to the perceived interactions between neighboring MgO particles in the suspension. In the jammed state, interactions are believed to be enhanced by the formation of entanglements between opposing comb-polymer side-chains. Steric repulsion between side-chains was …

The Santa Clara, 2014-01-09, Santa Clara University

The Santa Clara

No abstract provided.

Dynamical Heterogeneity In Periodically Deformed Polymer Glasses, Nikolai V. Priezjev

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The dynamics of structural relaxation in a model polymer glass subject to spatially homogeneous, time-periodic shear deformation is investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. We study a coarse-grained bead-spring model of short polymer chains below the glass transition temperature. It is found that at small strain amplitudes, the segmental dynamics is nearly reversible over about 104 cycles, while at strain amplitudes above a few percent, polymer chains become fully relaxed after a hundred cycles. At the critical strain amplitude, the transition from slow to fast relaxation dynamics is associated with the largest number of dynamically correlated monomers as indicated by the …

Electronic Properties Of Inp (001)/Hfo2 (001) Interface: Band Offsets And Oxygen Dependence, Santosh Kc

Faculty Publications

Using ab-initio methods, atomic structures and electronic properties of InP (001)/HfO2 (001) interface are studied within the framework of density functional theory. We examine the InP/HfO2 model interface electronic structures under varying oxidation conditions. The effects of indium and phosphorous concentrations on interfacial bonding, defect states, band offsets, and the thermodynamic stability at the interface are also investigated. The origin of interfacial gap states in InP (001)/HfO2 (001) interface are proposed, mainly from the P-rich oxides, which is validated by our experimental work. This highlights the importance of surface passivation prior to high-κ deposition based on the in situ spectroscopic …

A Fast Algorithm For The Inversion Of Quasiseparable Vandermonde-Like Matrices, Sirani M. Perera, Grigory Bonik, Vadim Olshevsky

Publications

The results on Vandermonde-like matrices were introduced as a generalization of polynomial Vandermonde matrices, and the displacement structure of these matrices was used to derive an inversion formula. In this paper we first present a fast Gaussian elimination algorithm for the polynomial Vandermonde-like matrices. Later we use the said algorithm to derive fast inversion algorithms for quasiseparable, semiseparable and well-free Vandermonde-like matrices having O(n2) complexity. To do so we identify structures of displacement operators in terms of generators and the recurrence relations(2-term and 3-term) between the columns of the basis transformation matrices for quasiseparable, semiseparable and well-free polynomials. Finally we …

Quantification Of Transhumeral Prosthetic Socket Residual Limb Interface Movement Using Motion Capture And A Slip Detection Sensor, Matthew Wernke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Current literature focusing on the prosthetic socket is limited by measurement techniques and modeling assumptions, leading to a limited understanding of the forces and motions occurring between the residual limb and prosthesis and how they can be used to influence socket design and fitting. Prosthetic socket fitting and prescription would benefit from an elegant method for comparing socket designs. This dissertation focuses on the development and implementation of a 3D motion capture model and a Slip Detection Sensor to quantify rotations and translations at the prosthetic socket-residual limb interface. The 3D motion capture model defines the residual limb bone position …

Divy: A Website For Facilitating The Sharing And Purchasing Of Digital Content, Aidan Crosbie, Lauren Falzarano, Nicole Pal

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

For our senior design project, we designed and built software that allows people to easily sell and share digital content with others. Our system was implemented as a website where users may upload any kind of digital content of their own creation, and specify the price for which other users can download it. A user can upload up to three gigabytes of data for free; however, if they wish to charge money for downloads, our site will take a percentage of the downloads/downloads sale price. A number of technologies were used in order to accomplish this, including PHP, HTML5, CSS, …

Digital Display With Integrated Computing Circuit, Ronald S. Cok, John W. Harmer, Michael E. Miller

AFIT Patents

A digital display device includes a display substrate; an array of pixels formed on the display substrate; an array of driving circuits located on the display substrate, each driving circuit electrically connected to one or more pixels for controlling a pixel current provided to each pixel; an array of computing circuits located on the display substrate, each computing circuit including circuits for signal or image processing and for communicating with neighboring computing circuits; a plurality of electrical conductors formed on the display substrate and connected to each of the driving circuits and digital computing circuits, wherein each computing circuit is …

Method And System For Optimal Coordination Control And Soft Repair Of Multiple Rooftop Heating And Cooling Units, Haorong Li

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Techniques are described that may be implemented in an adaptive control device to regulate multiple zone environmental units based upon multiple temperature values and multiple airflow values, where each temperature value and each airflow value is related to the temperature and the airflow in a specific zone. In an implementation, the input interface of the adaptive control device is configured to receive multiple temperature values and multiple air flow values from multiple zone sensors. The adaptive control device may calculate multiple operational values based on the multiple temperature values and the multiple air flow values. An operational value indicates a …

Spatial Frequency Analysis Of Anisotropic Drug Transport In Tumor Samples, Stewart Russell, Kimberley S. Samkoe, Jason R. Gunn, P Jack Hoopes, Thienan A. Nguyen, Milo J. Russell, Robert R. Alfano, Brian W. Pogue

Dartmouth Scholarship

Directional Fourier spatial frequency analysis was used on standard histological sections to identify salient directional bias in the spatial frequencies of stromal and epithelial patterns within tumor tissue. This directional bias is shown to be correlated to the pathway of reduced fluorescent tracer transport. Optical images of tumor specimens contain a complex distribution of randomly oriented aperiodic features used for neoplastic grading that varies with tumor type, size, and morphology. The internal organization of these patterns in frequency space is shown to provide a precise fingerprint of the extracellular matrix complexity, which is well known to be related to the …

Biomechanical Model For Evaluation Of Pediatric Upper Extremity Joint Dynamics During Wheelchair Mobility, Alyssa J. Schnorenberg, Brooke A. Slavens, Mei Wang, Lawrence Vogel, Peter Smith, Gerald F. Harris

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Pediatric manual wheelchair users (MWU) require high joint demands on their upper extremity (UE) during wheelchair mobility, leading them to be at risk of developing pain and pathology. Studies have examined UE biomechanics during wheelchair mobility in the adult population; however, current methods for evaluating UE joint dynamics of pediatric MWU are limited. An inverse dynamics model is proposed to characterize three-dimensional UE joint kinematics and kinetics during pediatric wheelchair mobility using a SmartWheel instrumented handrim system. The bilateral model comprises thorax, clavicle, scapula, upper arm, forearm, and hand segments and includes the sternoclavicular, acromioclavicular, glenohumeral, elbow and wrist joints. …

Expressing The Joint Moments Of Drop Jumps And Sidestep Cutting In Different Reference Frames – Does It Matter?, Eirik Kristianslunda, Tron Krosshauga, Kam-Ming Mok, Scott Mclean, Antonie J. Van Den Bogert

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Joint moments help us understand joint loading and muscle function during movement. However, the interpretation depends on the choice of reference frame, but the different reference frames have not been compared in dynamic, high-impact sporting movements. We have compared the magnitude and the resulting ranking of hip and knee joint moments expressed in the laboratory coordinate system, the local system of the distal segment and projected or decomposed to the Joint Coordinate System (JCS) axes. Hip and knee joint moments of drop jumps and sidestep cutting in 70 elite female handball players were calculated based on recordings from an eight-camera …

Updating And Revising Star Camera For Future Flights Of Balloon Borne Experiment, Krystle N. Sy, Seth Hillbrand

STAR Program Research Presentations

The BLAST (Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope) experiment surveys the galaxy from altitudes of 100,000 ft in order to answer important cosmological questions, such as how stars are formed. This experiment is conducted above Antarctica to minimize unwanted noise. Two star cameras are used in the navigation systems to identify known stars. The cameras take pictures and match stars in the image to known star positions from a catalog stored in the star camera's computer. This is done using code written in C++, a computer programming language. In order to modernize the system, the code needs to be updated. A …

Groundwater Challenges, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

There are some old lessons that continue to repeat themselves throughout the history of irrigation. For example, it has become a common understanding that accumulated salinity from irrigation spelled the doom of some ancient civilizations in the Middle East. Despite this ancient knowledge, today we still have numerous irrigated basins in which there is no outlet for high-salinity drainage flows.

Likewise, groundwater is something that traditionally has not been well understood, and is often treated as an ever-present back-up plan for irrigation. The “water rights” laws in the western US and elsewhere almost exclusively formalized rules about and concentrated on …

Flow Measurement Options For Canal Turnouts, Kyle Feist, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Volumetric record-keeping, billing, and allocations at irrigation district delivery points (turnouts) are the norm, rather than the exception for most California irrigation districts. However, many older districts are just beginning these efforts, and other districts are trying to improve existing hardware and procedures. Volumetric accounting with high accuracy and a reasonable price presents unique engineering challenges for irrigation districts because of the variety of existing structures and configurations at irrigation delivery points. Because it is likely that irrigation districts will attempt to utilize existing devices, or slightly modify them, there is a need for standardized installation and/or calibration. This paper …

Irrigation System Regulating (Buffer) Reservoirs, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Regulating reservoirs (also known as "balancing" or "buffer" reservoirs) are very commonly used in western US irrigation district modernization projects with canal systems. Some districts have a dozen or more reservoirs within total service areas of 20,000 – 40,000 ha. This paper presents details of sizing and control of flows into and out of the reservoirs.

Groundwater Nitrate In California: What Should Be Done?, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Charle's Burt PowerPoint presentation discusses current issues concerning nitrates in groundwater in California, as well as recommendations made to the State Water Board by the Nitrate Task Force.

2014 Civil And Environmental Engineering Department News, Department Of Civil And Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering Newsletters

Table of Contents

• Student Awards
• Research Awards
• Faculty News
• Alumni News
• Department News
• Academy of Civil and Environmental Engineers
• CEE Donor Recognition

Impact Of Plug-In Electric Vehicles And Wind Generators On Harmonic Distortion Of Electric Distribution Systems, Ritam Misra

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Harmonic distortion on voltages and currents increases with the increased penetration of Plug-in Electric Vehicle (PEV) loads in distribution systems. Wind Generators (WGs), which are source of harmonic currents, have some common harmonic profiles with PEVs. Thus, WGs can be utilized in careful ways to subside the effect of PEVs on harmonic distortion. This work studies the impact of PEVs on harmonic distortions and integration of WGs to reduce it. A decoupled harmonic three-phase unbalanced distribution system model is developed in OpenDSS, where PEVs and WGs are represented by harmonic current loads and sources respectively. The developed model is first …

Svpwm Switching Pattern For Z-Source Inverter, Simulation And Application, Zhe Huang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The voltage source inverter (VSI) and current voltage source inverter (CSI) are widely used in industrial application. But the traditional VSIs and CSIs have one common problem: can’t boost or buck the voltage come from battery, which make them impossible to be used alone in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV/EV) motor drive application, other issue is the traditional inverter need to add the dead-band time into the control sequence, but it will cause the output waveform distortion.

This report presents an impedance source (Z-source network) topology to overcome these problems, it can use one stage instead of two stages (VSI or …

Household Solar Power System, He Jiang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Photovoltaic power has become one of the most popular research area in new energy field. In this report, the case of household solar power system is presented. Based on the Matlab environment, the simulation is built by using Simulink and SimPowerSystem. There are four parts in a household solar system, solar cell, MPPT system, battery and power consumer. Solar cell and MPPT system are been studied and analyzed individually. The system with MPPT generates 30% more energy than the system without MPPT. After simulating the household system, it is can be seen that the power which generated by the system …

A Study Of A Landslide In Birmingham, Alabama, Caitlin L. Bukovitz

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

In 1988 a landslide occurred at a construction site in Birmingham, Alabama in which a portion of the construction site required excavating a rock slope with a group of apartments that were located at the top of the slope. During construction, two separate landslides occurred causing one and half of the apartment buildings to collapse downslope. The slope failure was investigated by two firms. One firm investigated the site conditions and the second firm investigated the design of the cut slope. The main concerns in the investigation were (1) the lack of consideration for the existing joint system, (2) using …

Rapid Space Trajectory Generation Using A Fourier Series Shape-Based Approach, Ehsan Taheri

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

With the insatiable curiosity of human beings to explore the universe and our solar system, it is essential to benefit from larger propulsion capabilities to execute efficient transfers and carry more scientific equipment. In the field of space trajectory optimization the fundamental advances in using low-thrust propulsion and exploiting the multi-body dynamics has played pivotal role in designing efficient space mission trajectories. The former provides larger cumulative momentum change in comparison with the conventional chemical propulsion whereas the latter results in almost ballistic trajectories with negligible amount of propellant. However, the problem of space trajectory design translates into an optimal …

Development Of An Ionic Liquid Ferrofluid Electrospray Source And Mode Shape Studies Of A Ferrofluid In A Non-Uniform Magnetic Field, Edmond Joseph Meyer Iv

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

An electrospray source has been developed using a novel new fluid that is both magnetic and conductive. Unlike conventional electrospray sources that required microfabricated structures to support the fluid to be electrosprayed, this new electrospray fluid utilizes the Rosensweig instability to create the structures in the magnetic fluid when an external magnetic field was applied. Application of an external electric field caused these magnetic fluid structures to spray. These fluid based structures were found to spray at a lower onset voltage than was predicted for electrospray sources with solid structures of similar geometry. These fluid based structures were also found …

Multi-Wavelength Speckle Reduction For Laser Pico-Projectors Using Diffractive Optics, Weston H. Thomas

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Personal electronic devices, such as cell phones and tablets, continue to decrease in size while the number of features and add-ons keep increasing. One particular feature of great interest is an integrated projector system. Laser pico-projectors have been considered, but the technology has not been developed enough to warrant integration. With new advancements in diode technology and MEMS devices, laser-based projection is currently being advanced for pico-projectors. A primary problem encountered when using a pico-projector is coherent interference known as speckle. Laser speckle can lead to eye irritation and headaches after prolonged viewing. Diffractive optical elements known as diffusers have …

Water Transport Through Porous Media And In Flow Channels Of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell, Mehdi Mortazavi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell has been known as a promising power source for different applications such as automotive, residential and stationary. During the operation of a PEM fuel cell, hydrogen is oxidized in anode and oxygen is reduced in the cathode to produce the intended power. Water and heat are inevitable byproducts of these reactions. The water produced in the cathode should be properly removed from inside the cell. Otherwise, it may block the path of reactants passing through the gas channels and/or gas diffusion layer (GDL). This deteriorates the performance of the cell and eventually can cease …

Development Of Precipitation Hardenable Al-Sc-Zr-Hf Quaternary Alloys Through Thermodynamic Modeling, And Room-Temperature And Elevated Temperature Hardness, Matthew J. Wong

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Aluminum alloyed with small atomic fractions of Sc, Zr, and Hf has been shown to exhibit high temperature microstructural stability that may improve high temperature mechanical behavior. These quaternary alloys were designed using thermodynamic modeling to increase the volume fraction of precipitated tri-aluminide phases to improve thermal stability. When aged during a multi-step, isochronal heat treatment, two compositions showed a secondary room-temperature hardness peak up to 700 MPa at 450°C. Elevated temperature hardness profiles also indicated an increase in hardness from 200-300°C, attributed to the precipitation of Al₃Sc, however, no secondary hardness response was observed from the Al …

Engineering Research 2014, College Of Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Michigan Tech Engineering Magazine

Table of Contents

• Health
• Sensing & Imaging
• Semiconductors
• Innovation
• People

Undergraduate Education 2014, College Of Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Michigan Tech Engineering Magazine

Table of Contents

• Design
• Research
• International
• Society of Women Engineers