Engineering Commons^™

Electrical And Physical Property Characterization Of Single Walled Carbon Nanotube Ink For Flexible Printed Electronics, Kristian E. Warner Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This research presents a method of characterizing single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) ink. This research also examines the results of our characterization efforts. First, the process of ink jet printing SWCNT ink onto organic and inorganic substrates is discussed. Next, the tests for measuring sheet resistance, conductance, inductance, adherence, thickness, roll-off, and S-parameters of the ink are described. Results and findings of the research are presented. The SWCNT ink created by Brewer Science © is shown to be an effective material for additive manufacturing using an aerosol jet printer, but not an inkjet printer. The ink is shown to have a …

Verification And Validation Of Monte Carlo N-Particle 6 For Computing Gamma Protection Factors, William J. Erwin

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examined the suitability of a particle simulator known as "Monte Carlo n-Particle 6" (MCNP6) to determine how well U.S. Army vehicles shield their occupants from gamma radiation. MCNP6 compared favorably to three alternate modeling approaches and another particle simulator. In a validation experiment, MCNP6 was found to produce a gamma protection factor within 5% of the experimental result with 95% confidence. Further evaluations validated MCNP6's ability to produce reliable results with simplified or approximated inputs, model different sources, and position those sources in different shielding geometries. MCNP6 is suitable for evaluating gamma protection of Army vehicles and further …

Bs News March/April

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Optimal Pavement Design And Rehabilitation Planning Using A Mechanistic-Empirical Approach, Yun Bai, Osman Erman Gungor, Jaime Alberto Hernandez-Urrea, Yanfeng Ouyang, Imad L. Al-Qadi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

This paper presents the development of a pavement design and rehabilitation optimization decision-making framework based on Mechanistic-Empirical (ME) roughness transfer models. The AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design (the software of Pavement ME Design) is used to estimate pavement deterioration based on the combined effects of permanent deformation, fatigue, and thermal cracking. The optimization problem is first formulated into a mixed-integer nonlinear programming model to address the predominant trade-off between agency and user costs. To deal with the complexity associated with the pavement roughness transfer functions in the software and to use the roughness values as input to the optimization framework, a …

A Two-Hydrophone Range And Bearing Localization With Performance Analysis, John Thomas Gebbie, Martin Siderius, John S. Allen Iii

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

An automated, passive algorithm for detecting and localizing small boats using two hydrophones mounted on the seabed is outlined. This extends previous work by Gebbie et al. [(2013). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 134, EL77 − EL83] in which a similar two-hydrophone approach is used to produce an ambiguity surface of likely target locations leveraging multipath analysis and knowledge of the local bathymetry. The work presented here improves upon the prior approach using particle filtering to automate detection and localization processing. A detailed analysis has also been conducted to determine the conditions and limits under which the improved approach can be …

Experimental And Numerical Study Of High-Speed Friction Stir Spot Welding Of Advanced High-Strength Steel, Utsab Karki

Theses and Dissertations

With the desire to lighten the frame while keeping or increasing the strength, Advanced High-Strength Steels (AHSS) have been developed for use in the automotive industry. AHSS meet many vehicle functional requirements because of their excellent strength and acceptable ductility. But joining AHSS is a challenge, because weldability is lower than that of mild steels. Friction stir spot welding (FSSW) is a solid state joining process that can provide a solution to the weldability issues in AHSS, but FSSW has not been studied in great detail for this application. In this work, Si3N4 tools were used for FSSW experiments on …

Modeling Stokes Flow Using Hierarchical Structure-Preserving B-Splines, Kendrick Monroe Shepherd

Theses and Dissertations

A new spline space, the hierarchical structure-preserving B-spline space, is introduced and implemented in the analysis of Stokes flow. The space, when properly constrained, is shown to be stable and to have at least optimal convergence rates in the velocity field and suboptimal convergence rates in the pressure field. However, results show that superoptimal convergence can often be expected in the pressure field, likely due to error reduction in the velocity field. Like other hierarchical spline spaces, these splines are shown to greatly increase accuracy and to drastically lower computation times for analyses on domains whose solution fields have singularities …

Using Remote Sensing To Explore The Time History Of Emergent Vegetation At Malheur Lake, Oregon, Zola Yaa Adjei

Theses and Dissertations

The growth patterns of emergent vegetation can be a useful indicator for factors affecting lake health. However, field data to characterize emergent vegetation at many reservoirs may not be available or may be limited to small, isolated areas. We present a case study using remotely sensed data from the Landsat satellite to generate data to represent emergent vegetation in the near-shoreline and tributary delta areas of Malheur Lake, Oregon. We selected late June images for this study as vegetation is relatively mature in late June and visible, but has not completely grown-in providing a better indication of vegetation coverage in …

Three-Dimensional Flow Measurements Around A Mechanical Flapping Wing, Eric R. Hardester

Theses and Dissertations

Man has always been fascinated by the flight of birds and insects. First attempts at flight involved flapping wings to mimic the birds and insects that had been observed in flight. Fixed wings proved to be a more practical approach and have been used for over 100 years for manned flight. Emphasis has been placed on flapping wing designs for micro air vehicles (MAVs) as research has shown that challenges arise in lift generation and stability in fixed wing flight as the scale decreases [1].This research explores the use of 3D, time-resolved, Synthetic Aperture PIV (SAPIV) in measuring flow velocities …

Deployable And Foldable Arrays Of Spatial Mechanisms, Thomas Evans

Theses and Dissertations

This work evaluates a specific origami device known as the kaleidocycle and the broad classof rigidly foldable origami. Both of these have potential for application in the design of deployableand foldable arrays of spatial mechanisms.Origami is considered a compliant mechanisms because it achieves its motion through thedeflection of paper creases. Compliant mechanisms generally do not allow for continuous rotation;however, the compliant kaleidocycle represents an exception to this generality. Along with theirability to rotate continuously, kaleidocycles may also be designed to exhibit multistable behaviorduring this rotation. These two characteristics make the kaleidocycle an interesting device withpotential for applications in engineering. This …

Shear Strength Prediction Methods For Grouted Masonry Shear Walls, Patrick Dillon

Theses and Dissertations

The research in this dissertation is divided between three different approaches for predicting the shear strength of reinforcement masonry shear walls. Each approach provides increasing accuracy and precision in predicting the shear strength of masonry walls. The three approaches were developed or validated using data from 353 wall tests that have been conducted over the past half century. The data were collected, scrutinized, and synthesized using principles of meta-analysis. Predictions made with current Masonry Standards Joint Committee (MSJC) shear strength equation are unconservative and show a higher degree of variation for partially-grouted walls. The first approach modifies the existing MSJC …

The Effect Of Microstructure On Transport Properties Of Porous Electrodes, Serena Wen Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this work is to further understand the relationships between porous electrode microstructure and mass transport properties. This understanding allows us to predict and improve cell performance from fundamental principles. The investigated battery systems are the widely used rechargeable Li-ion battery and the non-rechargeable alkaline battery. This work includes three main contributions in the battery field listed below.

Direct Measurement of Effective Electronic Transport in Porous Li-ion Electrodes. An accurate assessment of the electronic conductivity of electrodes is necessary for understanding and optimizing battery performance. The bulk electronic conductivity of porous LiCoO2-based cathodes was measured as a …

An Investigation Of The Impact Of A Flipped Classroom Instructional Approach On High School Students' Content Knowledge And Attitudes Toward The Learning Environment, Matthew R. Bell

Theses and Dissertations

The idea of the “flipped classroom” is a relatively new concept in education that has become increasingly popular. Instructors who flip their classrooms reverse the roles of school work and homework by recording video lectures for students to watch before coming to class. Students then work on their homework in the classroom while the instructor is present to help them. Very little research has been done on the effectiveness of the flipped classroom to determine if students can perform better on exams by learning in a flipped classroom environment, especially for high school demographics. The purpose of this research is …

Deformation Twin Nucleation And Growth Characterization In Magnesium Alloys Using Novel Ebsd Pattern Analysis And Machine Learning Tools, Travis Michael Rampton

Theses and Dissertations

Deformation twinning in Magnesium alloys both facilitates slip and forms sites for failure. Currently, basic studies of twinning in Mg are facilitated by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) which is able to extract a myriad of information relating to crystalline microstructures. Although much information is available via EBSD, various problems relating to deformation twinning have not been solved. This dissertation provides new insights into deformation twinning in Mg alloys, with particular focus on AZ31. These insights were gained through the development of new EBSD and related machine learning tools that extract more information beyond what is currently accessed.The first tool relating …

The Programmatic Generation Of Discrete-Event Simulation Models From Production Tracking Data, Christopher Rand Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Discrete-event simulation can be a useful tool in analyzing complex system dynamics in various industries. However, it is difficult for entry-level users of discrete-event simulation software to both collect the appropriate data to create a model and to actually generate the base-case simulation model. These difficulties decrease the usefulness of simulation software and limit its application in areas in which it could be potentially useful. This research proposes and evaluates a data collection and analysis methodology that would allow for the programmatic generation of simulation models using production tracking data. It uses data collected from a GPS device that follows …

A Constitutive Model For Entangled Polymers Incorporating Binary Entanglement Pair Dynamics And A Configuration Dependent Friction Coefficient, David W. Mead, Nilanjana Banerjee, Joontaek Park

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Following recent work [e.g., J. Park et al., J. Rheol. 56, 1057-1082 (2012); T. Yaoita et al., Macromolecules 45, 2773-2782 (2012); and G. Ianniruberto et al., Macromolecules 45, 8058-8066 (2012)], we introduce the idea of a configuration dependent friction coefficient (CDFC) based on the relative orientation of Kuhn bonds of the test and surrounding matrix chains. We incorporate CDFC into the "toy" model of Mead et al. [Macromolecules 31, 7895-7914 (1998)] in a manner akin to Yaoita et al. [Nihon Reoroji Gakkaishi 42, 207-213 (2014)]. Additionally, we incorporate entanglement dynamics (ED) of discrete entanglement pairs into the new Mead-Banerjee-Park (MBP) …

Meme Representations For Game Agents, Yoan Miche, Meng Hiot Lim, Amaury Lendasse, Yew Soon Ong

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Advancement in Game Technology Has Served to Enrich Player's Gaming Experience in a Substantial Way. Nowadays, it is Common to Have Blockbuster Quality Games, with Realistic Graphics and Engaging Stories. Despite This, the Progress Made in Incorporating Artificial Intelligence Has Been Slow, and Realistic Human-Like Intelligence in Games is Hardly to Be Found. There Have Been Some Attempts to Use Machine Learning in Games, But Such Attempts Often Ended Up Impractical or Affecting the Players Enjoyment Due to Several Constraining Factors. in This Paper, We Describe Meme War as a Proof-Of-Concept for Practical Usage of Machine Learning in Games. …

A Computational Intelligence Approach To System-Of-Systems Architecting Incorporating Multi-Objective Optimization, David M. Curry, Cihan H. Dagli

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A computational intelligence approach to system-of-systems architecting is developed using multi-objective optimization. Such an approach yields a set of optimal solutions (the Pareto set) which has both advantages and disadvantages. The primary benefit is that a set of solutions provides a picture of the optimal solution space that a single solution cannot. The primary difficulty is making use of a potentially infinite set of solutions. Therefore, a significant part of this approach is the development of a method to model the solution set with a finite number of points allowing the architect to intelligently choose a subset of optimal solutions …

2015 Directory Of Indiana State, County, City And Town Officials Responsible For Road And Street Work, Indiana Ltap

Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Directory

Contact information for local agency officials and employees responsible for Indiana’s local road infrastructure.

Geometry Optimization Of Uncoated Silicon Microcantilever-Based Gas Density Sensors, M. T. Boudjiet, J. Bertrand, F. Mathieur, L. Nicu, L. Mazenq, T. Leïchlé, Stephen M. Heinrich, C. Pellet, I. Dufour

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

In the absence of coating, the only way to improve the sensitivity of silicon microcantilever-based density sensors is to optimize the device geometry. Based on this idea, several microcantilevers with different shapes (rectangular-, U- and T-shaped microstructures) and dimensions have been fabricated and tested in the presence of hydrogen/nitrogen mixtures (H₂/N₂) of various concentrations ranging from 0.2% to 2%. In fact, it is demonstrated that wide and short rectangular cantilevers are more sensitive to gas density changes than U- and T-shaped devices of the same overall dimensions, and that the thickness does not affect the sensitivity …

Reducing Drifts In Buckling Restrained Braced Framesthrough Elastic Stories, Jennifer Lorraine Craft

Theses and Dissertations

It is possible to reduce residual and maximum drifts in buildings by adding “elastic stories” that engage gravity columns in seismic response. An elastic story is a story wherein the buckling restrained brace frame (BRBF) size is increased to prevent yielding when an earthquake occurs. Buildings ranging from 4–16 stories were designed with various elastic story brace sizes and locations to determine the optimal combination to best reduce drifts. Gravity column stiffnesses were also varied in elastic story buildings to determine the effects on drifts. Computer models were used to analyze these buildings under a suite of earthquakes. Adding elastic …

Density Based Data Clustering, Rayan Albarakati

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Data clustering is a data analysis technique that groups data based on a measure of similarity. When data is well clustered the similarities between the objects in the same group are high, while the similarities between objects in different groups are low. The data clustering technique is widely applied in a variety of areas such as bioinformatics, image segmentation and market research.

This project conducted an in-depth study on data clustering with focus on density-based clustering methods. The latest density-based (CFSFDP) algorithm is based on the idea that cluster centers are characterized by a higher density than their neighbors and …

Multimodal Internal Waves Generated Over A Subcritical Ridge: Impact Of The Upper-Ocean Stratification, Xie Jieshuo, Jiayi Pan, David A. Jay

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Interaction of barotropic tides with subsurface topography is vital to ocean mixing. Yet the behavior of large-amplitude, nonlinear, internal solitary waves (ISWs) that can cause strong mixing remains poorly understood, especially that of higher-mode and multimodal internal waves. Therefore, a 2.5-dimensional, nonhydrostatic model with adjustable vertical resolution was developed to investigate effects of upper-ocean stratification on tidally induced multimodal internal waves and to show how they are generated by the subcritical ridge where only upward-propagating internal wave beams (IWBs) are present. The effects of the stratification on properties and characteristics of the excited IWBs and on the energy partition of …

Assessment Of Multi-Story Building Seismic Design Factors With Structural Irregularity, El Sayed Abdel Naby Abdel Aziz Abou Khalifa

Theses

Many high-rise buildings are practically irregular as a result of the architectural and service requirements in the design process, errors and modifications during the construction phase, and changes of the building use throughout its service life. Structural irregularities could increase the uncertainties related to the ability of the building to meet the design objectives. This study is thus devoted to assess the safety margins and calibrate the seismic design response factors of modern high-rise buildings with different vertical irregularity features. A brief survey of the most common vertical irregularities in reinforced concrete multi-story buildings is conducted to select reference structures. …

Click-Boosting Multi-Modality Graph-Based Reranking For Image Search, Xiaopeng Yang, Yongdong Zhang, Ting Yao, Chong-Wah Ngo, Tao Mei

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Image reranking is an effective way for improving the retrieval performance of keyword-based image search engines. A fundamental issue underlying the success of existing image reranking approaches is the ability in identifying potentially useful recurrent patterns from the initial search results. Ideally, these patterns can be leveraged to upgrade the ranks of visually similar images, which are also likely to be relevant. The challenge, nevertheless, originates from the fact that keyword-based queries are used to be ambiguous, resulting in difficulty in predicting the search intention. Mining useful patterns without understanding query is risky, and may lead to incorrect judgment in …

Assessment Of Multi-Story Building Seismic Design Factors With Structural Irregularity, El Sayed Abdel Naby Abdel Aziz Abou Khalifa

Theses

Many high-rise buildings are practically irregular as a result of the architectural and service requirements in the design process, errors and modification during the construction phase, and changes of the building use throughout its service life. Structural irregularities could increase the uncertainties related to the ability of the building to meet the design objectives. This study is thus devoted to assess the safety margins and calibrate the seismic design response factors of modern high-rise buildings with different vertical irregularity features. A brief survey of the most common vertical irregularities inn reinforced concrete multi-story buildings is conducted to select reference structures. …

Aircraft De-Icing System Using Thermal Conductive Fibers, Min Soon Park

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The accumulation of ice on the leading edges of aircraft wing poses complications for flight control as drag is increased with a tendency for higher relative turbulence over the wing. Pre-emptive and reactive ice removal techniques have been employed in the past by electromechanical, thermal, chemical and pneumatic methods. In this thesis, a carbon fiber fabric is utilized as a heating de-icer for composites aircraft wing surface structures. Two prototypes are constructed, tested to generate temperature profiles, and an appropriate heating voltage is selected for effective de-icing via distinct avenues of heating system configurations. The heat transfer efficiency of the …

Fire And Life Safety Analysis- Building 310- The Landing, Tyler Paller

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

The purpose of this report is to analyze Building 310 with regards to fire and life safety. Analysis was done both prescriptively and from a performance based design standpoint. The prescriptive based analysis includes review of the building’s design with regards to egress, fire alarm systems, suppression systems, and structural fire protection. The building was reviewed against current NFPA codes and the International Building Code to examine compliance. The performance-based analysis consists of two different fire scenarios that were examined. The goal was to show that the building met safety criteria and does not pose undue risk to occupants. This …

Fire Protection And Life Safety Engineering Analysis- Center For Science And Mathematics, Orelvis Gonzalez Cruz

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

The Life Safety and Fire Protection systems in Cal Poly’s Center for Science and Mathematics (CSM) were analyzed and evaluated in this project, according to the requirements of the applicable codes and pertinent standards. The evaluation was conducted through a prescriptive-based approach, in conjunction with a performance-based approach. On one hand, the prescriptive-based approach considered the analysis of the Structural Fire Protection and Means of Egress in the building and the existing Fire Detection/Alarm and Fire Suppression Systems. On the other hand, the performance-based approach included an Egress Analysis, which assessed the Required Safe Egress Time (RSET) and the Available …

Wine Club Shipment Package Redesign, Emily E. Prescott

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This report shows the design, manufacturing, and testing process for the product development of a wine club shipment package for Niner Wine Estates. Niner has two different shipment sizes, 4 bottles and 6 bottles, and wishes to improve their current package by giving it a more “high-class” feel. After the new package was designed and prototyped, it went through standardized quality testing to be cleared for commercial use. This testing is intended to simulate the distribution cycle the package will experience and subject it to potential hazards such as being dropped and vehicle vibration during transportation.

After the package passed …