Engineering Commons^™

Variable Speed Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle Using A Continuous Variable Transmission Design, Jason C. Chuang

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Flapping wing micro air vehicles (FWMAV) have very unique flight mechanics in two-wing orientation. Many challenges arise with two wing configuration: lift production, design construction, and control systems. Control surfaces used in fixed wings can be used but at low Reynolds numbers they become less effective. In order to truly mimic insects with two wings, control mechanisms must be developed. Since MAVs are designed to navigate through confined spaces they need to have many degrees of freedom in motion. One way is to use a continuous variable transmission (CVT) mechanism, by integrating its infinite gear ratios to change the flapping …

Weber River Watershed Plan, The Weber River Partnership

All In-stream Flows Material

Our watershed is defined by the people that live, work, and play within its boundaries, as well as the social, ecological, financial and societal benefits that it provides. The Weber River Watershed has experienced a long history of human-influenced changes and alterations in order to enhance human well-being. Many of these actions have enhanced water transportation and delivery, developed sources of hydropower, reduced flood hazards, and provided agricultural, municipal and industrial water supplies (National Research Council 1992), all of which are essential to our survival and quality of life. At the same time, some of those enhancements have had unforeseen …

2014 Scholarly Productivity Report, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Scholarly Productivity Reports

No abstract provided.

Doped Quantum Dots For Photovoltaics, Kevin Berwick, A S. Baimuratov, Ivan D. Rukhlenko, Vidim Turkov, A V. Fedorov

Articles

We report on a fundamental new property of level anticrossing of impurity states in semiconductor quantum dots, which can be used for fine tuning of the quantum dots’ energy spectrum for photovoltaic applications.

Its All In The Mind: Mind Controlled Prosthetics, Tziril Joselit

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

The problem with prosthetics is a longstanding problem that researchers have been working on for many years. They are attempting to create a prosthetic that acts as if it is the original limb or body part. In recent years they have discovered a technology that has assisted many of those who are greatly in need of a prosthetic, such as an amputee or someone who is “locked in”. “Locked in” refers to a person who is technically confined in his own body and has no methods of communication with the world. Brain-computer interface (BCI) has opened up a whole new …

Towards A Set Of Metrics To Guide The Generation Of Fake Computer File Systems, Ben Whitham

Australian Digital Forensics Conference

Fake file systems are used in the field of cyber deception to bait intruders and fool forensic investigators. File system researchers also frequently generate their own synthetic document repositories, due to data privacy and copyright concerns associated with experimenting on real-world corpora. For both these fields, realism is critical. Unfortunately, after creating a set of files and folders, there are no current testing standards that can be applied to validate their authenticity, or conversely, reliably automate their detection. This paper reviews the previous 30 years of file system surveys on real world corpora, to identify a set of discrete measures …

Me-Em 2013-14 Annual Report, Department Of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Annual Reports

Table of Contents

• Human-Centered Engineering
• Enrollment & Degrees
• Graduates
• Faculty & Staff
• Alumni
• Donors
• Contracts & Grants
• Patents & Publications

Soil-Bentonite Slurry Trench Cutoff Wall Proposal, Jeffrey C. Evans, Michael A. Malusis, Robert W. Jacob

NSF Soil-Bentonite Slurry Trench Cutoff Wall Documents

This is the proposal to the National Science Foundation for a soil-bentonite slurry trench cutoff wall. The proposal includes a project summary, description of the project, and the resources implemented on the project.

Bike Braking Vibration Modelling And Measurement, Rob Redfield

United States Air Force: Publications

Modern bicycle disk-brake systems often induce vibration and noise in bike components such as brake rotors, wheels, and even bike frames. When the vibration or noise are excessive, brake performance can be perceived as unsatisfactory. Previous research incorporating bike frame structural dynamics and brake friction modeling has shown that stick-slip friction is likely the cause of much of this vibration and noise. Bicycle design parameters such as brake friction behavior and bike component structural properties are central in producing and/or sustaining these vibrations. The predicted dynamics of these models has correlated reasonably well with the testing of braking systems. This …

State-Space Representation Of The Unsteady Aerodynamics Of Flapping Flight, Haithem E. Taha, Muhammad R. Hajj, Philip S. Beran

United States Air Force: Publications

A state-space formulation for the aerodynamics of flapping flight is presented. The Duhamel's principle, applied in linear unsteady flows, is extended to non-conventional lift curves to capture the LEV contribution. The aspect ratio effects on the empirical formulae used to predict the static lift due to a stabilized Leading Edge Vortex (LEV) are provided. The unsteady lift due to arbitrary wing motion is generated using the static lift curve. Then, state-space representation for the unsteady lift is derived. The proposed model is validated through a comparison with direct numerical simulations of Navier-Stokes on hovering insects. A comparison with quasi-steady models …

Interactive Visualization Of Grt And Biohts Data, Sara Gharabaghi, Thomas Wischgoll, Rhonda J. Vickery, Ross Smith, Leslie M. Blaha, Thomas Lamkin, Steven Kawamoto, Robert Trevino, Eric Bardes, Scott Tabar

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

The scope of this project is to provide better tools for statistical and informational visual analysis for High Throughput Screening of Biological Infectious Agents (BioHTS), General Recognition Theory (GRT) modeling, and areas where pipelines of unstructured datasets of all types must be analyzed. A parallel coordinates plot is one of the more effective visualization methods for visualizing multi variant data.

Smart Polyacrylonitrile (Pan) Nanofibers With Thermal Energy Storage And Retrieval Functionality, De’Andre James Cherry

Theses

Phase change materials (PCMs) are generally substances with a high heat of fusion in the process of solid to liquid phase change. The nature of PCMs make them efficient materials to store and retrieve large amounts of thermal energy. Presently, high efficiency thermal energy storage/retrieval in applications where flexibility and space saving are required, such as smart textiles, still remains as a challenge. In this study, lauric acid (LA) and myristic acid (MA) were combined to prepare a specific binary fatty acid eutectic (LA-MA) with a melting point near the operating body temperature of a human being and then encapsulated …

Heavy Element Doping For Enhancing Thermoelectric Properties Of Nanostructured Zinc Oxide, Priyanka Jood, Rutvik J. Mehta, Yanliang Zhang, Theo Borca-Tasciuc, Shi Xue Dou, David J. Singh, Ganpati Ramanath

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

ZnO is a high melting point, high charge carrier mobility semiconductor with potential as a thermoelectric material, but its high thermal conductivity κ is the limiting factor for increasing the thermoelectric figure of merit ZT. Here, we demonstrate that doping ZnO with heavy elements can significantly enhance ZT. Indium doping leads to ultralow κ 3 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ and a high power factor α²σ 1.230 × 10⁻³ W m⁻¹ K⁻², yielding ZT_1000K 0.45 that is 80% higher than non-nanostructured In–Zn–O alloys. Although Bi doping also yields a high Seebeck coefficient of …

Engineering Collaborations In Medical Modeling And Simulation, Frederic D. Mckenzie, Salim Chemlal, Tom Hubbard, Robert E. Kelly, Roderick C. Borgie, David A. Besachio, Michel Audette

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

Fifty years ago computer science was just beginning to see common acceptance as a growing discipline and very few universities had a computer science department although other departments were utilizing computers and software to enhance their methodologies. We believe modeling and simulation (M&S) is on a similar path. Many other disciplines utilize M&S to enhance their methodologies but we also believe that M&S fundamentals can be essential in making better decisions by utilizing the appropriate model for the problem at hand, expanding the solution space through simulation, and understanding it through visualization and proper analyses. After our students learn these …

Hfc(310) High Brightness Sources For Advanced Imaging Applications, William A. Mackie, Josh M. Lovell, Todd W. Curtis, Gerald G. Megara

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

The authors report on electron emission from HfC(310) operating in extended Schottky emission mode. Data are gathered from test stands as well as through operation in a commercial scanning electron microscope. Emitter end-form geometry consisted of rounded, via electrochemical etching, and truncated, via ion milling. The authors demonstrate high angular intensity operation of >60 mA/sr especially for the rounded end-form emitters. Advantages include robustness of the material, which is not reliant on material supply as is the case with standard ZrO/W(100) sources. Hence, operation is available over a much larger range of temperatures, fields, and potentially pressures. Operation in a …

High-Efficiency Thrust Vector Control Allocation, Jeb S. Orr, Nathan Slegers

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

A generalized approach to the allocation of redundant thrust vector slew commands for multi-actuated launch vehicles is presented, where deflection constraints are expressed as omniaxial or elliptical deflection limits in gimbal axes. More importantly than in the aircraft control allocation problem, linear allocators (pseudoinverses) are preferred for large booster applications to facilitate accurate prediction of the control-structure interaction resulting from thrust vectoring effects. However, strictly linear transformations for the allocation of redundant controls cannot, in general, access all of the attainable moments for which there is a set of control effector positions thatsatisfles the constraints. In this paper, the control …

Gust Mitigation Of Micro Air Vehicles Using Passive Articulated Wings, Adetunji Oduyela, Nathan Slegers

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

Birds and insects naturally use passive flexing of their wings to augment their stability in uncertain aerodynamic environments. In a similar manner, micro air vehicle designers have been investigating using wing articulation to take advantage of this phenomenon. The result is a class of articulated micro air vehicles where artificial passive joints are designed into the lifting surfaces. In order to analyze how passive articulation affects performance of micro air vehicles in gusty environments, an efficient 8 degree-of-freedom model is developed. Experimental validation of the proposed mathematical model was accomplished using flight test data of an articulated micro air vehicle …

Overcoming India’S Food Security Challenges: The Role Of Intellectual Property Management And Technology Transfer Capacity Building, Stanley Kowalski, Aarushi Gupta, Ifica Mehra

Law Faculty Scholarship

The growth of the Indian economy after Independence has had little impact on the food security of the country. The paper analyses the development of advanced crop varieties through the use of agricultural technologies (hereinafter "agbiotech") within the technology transfer system, a framework which comprises of the interactions of intellectual property rights law and agricultural research and development in India. Through this, the author argues that agricultural innovation in India is failing due to the absence of connections within the technology transfer system and advocates for the creation of a national program aimed at advancing IP and tech-transfer capacity in …

A Flexible Broadband Antenna And Transmission Line Network For A Wearable Microwave Breast Cancer Detection System, Emily Porter, Gregory Walls, Yahe Zhou, Milica Popović, Joshua D. Schwartz

Engineering Faculty Research

First, we report on the design, simulation and measurement of a 2-4 GHz conformable antenna optimized for skin contact and implemented on a flexible printed circuit for integration into a wearable device. Second, we experimentally verify the suitability of appropriately long (~10 cm) microstrip traces for the wearable system signal distribution network, which features varying radii of curvature. Consequently, the contribution of the here reported work is two-fold. First, the experimental results obtained both with breast phantoms and on-body measurements, demonstrate a return loss below -10 dB in the desired frequency band. Phantom results also show a through-breast transmission coefficient …

A Forensic Overview Of The Lg Smart Tv, Iain Sutherland, Konstantino Xynos, Huw Read, Andy Jones, Tom Drange

Australian Digital Forensics Conference

The emerging Smart TV platform will likely replace traditional television sets over time as the entertainment and communication centrepiece in people’s homes. Given its expanded functionality and now, its online presence, there is a need to identify how they may become part of forensic investigations. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the area of Smart TVs and the potential forensic value these systems present in combination with their ever advancing functionality and capabilities. We provide an overview of Smart TV systems highlighting functionality and potential issues. We also take an initial look at two particular models, from the …

Forensic Examination And Analysis Of The Prefetch Files On The Banking Trojan Malware Incidents, Andri P. Heriyanto

Australian Digital Forensics Conference

Whenever a program runs within the operating system, there will be data or artefacts created on the system. This condition applies to the malicious software (malware). Although they intend to obscure their presence on the system with anti-forensic techniques, still they have to run on the victim’s system to acquire their objective. Modern malware creates a significant challenge to the digital forensic community since they are being designed to leave limited traces and misdirect the examiner. Therefore, every examiner should consider performing all the forensics approaches such as memory forensic, live-response and Windows file analysis in the related malware incidents …

Synthesis And Characterization Of High-Iron Alite-Calcium Sulfoaluminate-Ferrite Cements Produced From Industrial By-Products, Tristana Y. Duvallet, Youngmin Zhou, Thomas L. Robl, Rodney Andrews

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and calcium sulfoaluminate cement (CSAC) are well-known and commonly used construction materials. The clinker phases mainly responsible for their strength development are C3S (alite) in OPC, which hydrates to form a calcium silicate gel phase; and C4A3S ´ (calcium sulfoaluminate) in CSAC, which hydrates to rapidly form ettringite. The purpose of this work was to produce high-iron alite-calcium sulfoaluminate-ferrite cements, by combining C4AF (ferrite), from 5% to 50% by weight, to the C3S and C4A3S ´ clinker phases. Producing this alite-calcium sulfoaluminate-ferrite cement would decrease the requirement of bauxite in the raw materials, which would consequently …

Compressibility Characteristics Of Low-Plasticity Silt Before And After Liquefaction, Shuying Wang, Ronaldo Luna

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Low-plasticity silt is known to have a potential to liquefy during earthquakes. The compressibility characteristics could change before and after a dynamic event that produces liquefaction. This research investigates the liquefaction resistance and post liquefaction reconsolidation characteristics of Mississippi River Valley (MRV) silt using laboratory cyclic triaxial compression testing. The MRV silt experienced initial liquefaction under cyclic loading, and the results are presented as cyclic stress ratio versus loading cycle curve. After cyclic loading, the liquefied specimens were reconsolidated. Permeability did not change significantly as a result of liquefaction. The reconsolidation curves are more parallel to the compression line than …

Characterization Of Shear Wave Velocity And Its Anisotropy In Uniform Granular Materials, Xin Kang, Bate Bate, Louis Ge

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Small strain stiffness of granular materials is important to many engineering applications, such as earthquake engineering, pavement, machine foundation, embankment subjected to tidal impacts, and foundations for structures under wind loads. Shear wave velocity, which is an indicator of stiffness, was measured with a newly developed bender element testing system. Test data supported that this testing system is effective in evaluating the shear wave velocity and its anisotropy of uniform spherical granular materials, including glass beads, uniform medium, and fine sands. Influencing factors on the Vs such as grain size and applied stress were studied. Two components of the soil …

Effects Of Mix Design Parameters And Rheological Properties On Dynamic Stability Of Self-Consolidating Concrete, B. Esmaeilkhanian, Kamal Khayat, A. Yahia, D. Feys

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Stability is a crucial property for successful placement and performance of self-consolidating concrete (SCC). Dynamic stability refers to the segregation resistance of concrete during flow and is not thoroughly described in literature to date. In this research, a newly developed dynamic stability test, the Tilting-box test, was employed to evaluate the effect of different mix design parameters on the dynamic segregation of SCC. Paste volume, water-to-binder ratio (w/b), maximum size of aggregate (MSA), aggregate density, and aggregate grain-size distribution were shown to affect the dynamic stability of SCC, while the coarse aggregate shape did not have a significant influence. The …

Effects Of Interaction Conditions On Internal Network Structure Of Crumb Rubber-Modified Asphalts, Mohyeldin Ragab, Magdy Abdelrahman

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Investigation of the effect of interaction conditions on the development of the internal network structure of crumb rubber-modified asphalt (CRMA) was carried out. Enhancements in the CRMA physical properties, such as stiffness, expressed in the complex modulus (G*), and elasticity, expressed in the phase angle (δ), as a result of the development of three-dimensional (3-D) entangled network structure were achieved. These results came from controlling the interaction conditions of CRMA synthesis to regulate the crumb rubber-modified (CRM) components that were responsible for the formation of the 3-1) entangled network structure. Dissolution tests and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were performed on the …

A Mobile Self-Leveling Landing Platform For Small-Scale Uavs, Stephen Austin Conyers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a semi-autonomous mobile self-leveling landing platform designed to launch, recover and re-launch VTOL UAVs without the need for human intervention. The landing platform is rugged, lightweight and inexpensive, making it ideal for civilian applications that require a base station from which a rotorcraft UAV can be launched and recovered on terrain that is normally unsuitable for UAV operations. This landing platform is capable of self-leveling on rough terrain and inclined slopes, and can autonomously operate in remote locations for extended periods of time using large onboard lithium batteries and wireless communication. This thesis discusses the unique design …

Dynamic Materials And Devices For Controlling Solar Heat Gain In Buildings, David Alie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modern technology and materials science, coupled with an understanding of our energy consumption patterns, allows for the opportunity to realize large-scale energy savings through the implementation of more efficient, adaptive technologies. More efficient heating and cooling of both commercial and residential buildings is a strong candidate for such advancements. Indeed, a significant portion of the annual US energy budget is devoted to the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) of commercial and residential buildings in order to maintain safe, comfortable internal environments.

Dynamic tint windows, both traditional electrochromic devices and reflective devices, are promising candidates to help in the effort …

Short-Term Load Forecasting Using Neural Network For Future Smart Grid Application, Jixuan Zheng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Short-term load forecasting of power system has been a classic problem for a long time. Not merely it has been researched extensively and intensively, but also a variety of forecasting methods has been raised.

This thesis outlines some aspects and functions of smart meter. It also presents different policies and current statuses as well as future projects and objectives of SG development in several countries.

Then the thesis compares main aspects about latest products of smart meter from different companies.

Lastly, three types of prediction models are established in MATLAB to emulate the functions of smart grid in the short-term …

Aging Of A Polymer Core Composite Conductor Under Combined Ozone And Temperature Conditions, James M. Middleton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The next generation High Temperature Low Sag Polymer Core Composite Conductors (HTLS PCCC) can experience harsh in-service environments including high temperature and highly concentrated ozone. In some extreme cases, it is possible that the conductors will experience temperatures of up to 180°C and ozone concentrations as high as 1% (10,000 ppm). Therefore, the primary goal of this research was to determine the most damaging aging conditions which could negatively affect the in-service life of the conductors. This included characterizing the aging in ozone and at high temperature of the HTLS PCCC hybrid composite rods and neat resin. It was found …