Engineering Commons^™

Conference Program (Gpe 2016), Franco Berruti, Cedric Briens

5th International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2016)

No abstract provided.

An Electrolytic Capacitor-Less Approach To Eliminating Flicker In Led Lighting, Alex M. Kavouras Sr.

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

In today's lighting industry, there is a high demand for quality, long-lasting light bulbs. Light emitting diodes offer the means for long-life bulbs, while producing a quality output. The issue with the current state of solid-state lighting is how to drive LEDs and maintain their full potential. Many solutions offer either a long-life bulb or a high quality output. The trade-off for a long-lasting bulb typically comes with an output quality that is visibly or invisibly flickering. In order to effectively eliminate flicker from the output of the LED, a large output capacitor is needed. An electrolytic capacitor is a …

Feasibility Of Attaining Fully Equiaxed Microstructure Through Process Variable Control For Additive Manufacturing Of Ti-6al-4v, Sarah Louise Kuntz

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One of the greatest challenges in additive manufacturing is fabricating titanium structures with consistent and desirable microstructure. To date, fully columnar deposits have been achieved through direct control of process variables. However, the introduction of external factors appears necessary to achieve fully equiaxed grain morphology using existing commercial processes. This work introduces and employs an analytic model to relate process variables to solidification thermal conditions and expected beta grain morphology at the surface of and at the deepest point in the melt pool. The latter is required in order to ensure the deposited microstructure is maintained even after the deposition …

Fuzzy Control Of A Hyperloop Mass Transit System, Joseph D. Plantz

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Fuzzy logic control of a Hyperloop is carried out in this thesis. Hyperloop is being described hypothetically as a fifth mode of mass transportation and is a registered trademark of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX). To inspire others to help in its development and make it a reality, the Hyperloop is being explored as open-source technology by SpaceX. In this thesis a near friction-less track is constructed and is fixed inside a tunnel. External fans are used to produce air pressure inside the tunnel to propel the vehicle down the track. Fuzzy Logic Control is used to stop the vehicle …

Educational Methods For Inverted-Lecture Computer Science And Engineering Classrooms To Overcome Common Barriers To Stem Student Success, Kathleen Timmerman

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New educational pedagogies are emerging in an effort to increase the number of new engineers available to enter the workforce in the coming years. One of the re-occurring themes in these pedagogies is variations of the flipped classroom. Often the additional classroom time gained from flipping is used to reinforce learning objectives. It is hypothesized that it might be more beneficial to students if a portion of that time is used to address common non-cognitive barriers that prevent students from succeeding in the major. In a freshman Introductory Computer Science course, three different pedagogies are compared: a hybrid lecture-active learning …

A Hybrid Approach To Aerial Video Image Registration, Karol T. Salva

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Many video processing applications, such as motion detection and tracking, rely on accurate and robust alignment between consecutive video frames. Traditional approaches to video image registration, such as pyramidal Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi (KLT) feature detection and tracking are fast and subpixel accurate, but are not robust to large inter-frame displacements due to rotation, scale, or translation. This thesis presents an alternative hybrid approach using normalized gradient correlation (NGC) in the frequency domain and normalized cross-correlation (NCC) in the spatial domain that is fast, accurate, and robust to large displacements. A scale space search is incorporated into NGC to enable more consistent recovery …

Machine Learning In Manufacturing: Advantages, Challenges, And Applications, Thorsten Wuest, Daniel Weimer, Christopher Irgens, Klaus-Dieter Thoben

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The nature of manufacturing systems faces ever more complex, dynamic and at times even chaotic behaviors. In order to being able to satisfy the demand for high-quality products in an efficient manner, it is essential to utilize all means available. One area, which saw fast pace developments in terms of not only promising results but also usability, is machine learning. Promising an answer to many of the old and new challenges of manufacturing, machine learning is widely discussed by researchers and practitioners alike. However, the field is very broad and even confusing which presents a challenge and a barrier hindering …

N3lo Nn Interaction Adjusted To Light Nuclei In Ab Exitu Approach, A. M. Shirokov, I. J. Shin, Y. Kim, M. Sosonkina, P. Maris, J. P. Vary

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

We use phase-equivalent transformations to adjust off-shell properties of similarity renormalization group evolved chiral effective field theory NN interaction (Idaho N3LO) to fit selected binding energies and spectra of light nuclei in an ab exitu approach. We then test the transformed interaction on a set of additional observables in light nuclei to verify that it provides reasonable descriptions of these observables with an apparent reduced need for three- and many-nucleon interactions.

Stability And Sensitivity Measures For Solutions In Complex, Intelligent, Adaptive And Autonomous Systems, Andreas Tolk

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

Simulation has become a pivotal tool for the design, analysis, and control of complex, intelligent, adaptive and autonomous systems and its components. However, due to the nature of these systems, traditional evaluation practices are often not sufficient. As the components follow adaptive rules, the cumulative events often exploit bifurcation enabling events, leading to clusters of solutions that do not follow the usual rules for standard distributed events. When using simulation for design, analysis, and control of such systems, the evaluation needs to be richer, applying bifurcation and cluster analysis to understand the distribution, applying factor analysis to understand the important …

Exploring Agricultural Production Systems And Their Fundamental Components With System Dynamics Modelling, Jeffrey P. Walters, David W. Archer, Gretchen F. Sassenrath, John R. Hendrickson, Jon D. Hanson, John M. Halloran, Peter Vadas, Vladimir J. Alarcon

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

Agricultural production in the United States is undergoing marked changes due to rapid shifts in consumer demands, input costs, and concerns for food safety and environmental impact. Agricultural production systems are comprised of multidimensional components and drivers that interact in complex ways to influence production sustainability. In a mixed-methods approach, we combine qualitative and quantitative data to develop and simulate a system dynamics model that explores the systemic interaction of these drivers on the economic, environmental and social sustainability of agricultural production. We then use this model to evaluate the role of each driver in determining the differences in sustainability …

Risk Attitudes And Global Infrastructure Technology Choices, Jessica Kaminsky, Jeffrey P. Walters

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

Past research shows that Hofstede’s cultural dimension of uncertainty avoidance explains variance in nations’ technology choice for sanitation and electricity infrastructure construction. The uncertainty avoidance dimension describes the way that nations deal with ambiguity and uncertainty. This paper is part of a larger project that links that previous national scale research to the project level that is most relevant to the construction practice. As such, this paper reviews methods from the literature that measure individual risk attitudes, including issues of measurement and risk determinants. For example, this paper discusses paid real-stakes lotteries, general risk questions, and context specific risk questions. …

Simulation Of A Doppler Lidar System For Autonomous Navigation And Hazard Avoidance During Planetary Landing, Scott E. Budge, David B. Chester

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The latest mission proposals for exploration of solar system bodies require accurate position and velocity data during the descent phase in order to ensure safe, soft landing at the pre-designated sites. During landing maneuvers, the accuracy of the on-board inertial measurement unit (IMU) may not be reliable due to drift over extended travel times to destinations. NASA has proposed an advanced Doppler lidar system with multiple beams that can be used to accurately determine attitude and position of the landing vehicle during descent, and to detect hazards that might exist in the landing area. In order to assess the effectiveness …

Ultra Light Split Board Bindings, Jared Van Putten

All Undergraduate Projects

A split board binding is used to link two halves of a theoretically cut in half snow board together and fasten an alpine touring boot used for both skiing and mountaineering in place. The binding is removable so that one can alpine tour uphill on skins and be assembled at the top so that the rider can link both halves of the board together and bind their alpine touring ski boot into place to the split board. The binding system is required to be ultra light for Alpine Touring purposes and still be strong enough to withstand the rigors of …

Conversion Casting: Adapter Hub, Joseph M. Coup

All Undergraduate Projects

The concept of conversion casting makes manufacturing major components much more efficient with regards to time and cost. The conversion cast of the adapter hub used in the Victair Mistifier is a major component that requires 8 hours to machine. The existing hub starts from steel stock and then that block of steel is placed into a CNC machine and coded in to create the adapter hub. The manufacturing method changes to a casting for the adapter hub will create a replicated part that requires 1.5 hours of post machining. The intricate design makes a conversion to casting more effective …

State-Of-The-Art Review Of Cathodic Protection For Reinforced Concrete Structures, Aimee Byrne, Niall Holmes, Brian Norton

Articles

Cathodic protection (CP) limits the corrosion of a metal surface by making it the cathode of an electrochemical cell. This can be achieved either by using a more active sacrificial anode to create a driving current, or by using inert anodes and impressing a current onto the cathode surface using an external direct current (DC) source. Impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) is preferred where widespread protection is required, particularly in reinforced concrete structures. ICCP needs a constant DC power supply that is usually provided through a grid connection or independent generators. This paper presents the currently available CP systems for …

Statistical Models To Infer Gas End-Use Efficiency In Individual Dwellings Using Smart Metered Data, Ronan Oliver, Aidan Duffy, Ian Kilgallon

Articles

Residential buildings can significantly contribute to the European Union's 2020 efficiency energy targets. For this reason, energy distributors and suppliers are required to provide assistance to householders to reduce energy end-use. This paper develops statistical modelling methods that can be used by suppliers to infer the gas fuel efficiency of buildings in their residential portfolio, in order to deliver improved energy management services to consumers. The study begins by estimating individual statistical building energy models for a sample of consumers and presents the resulting distribution of independent parameters. These parameter distributions are then characterised by regression models using descriptive household …

Identifying Market Indicators And Content Quality From A Financial Micro-Blog Platform, Siobhán Mcnamara

Dissertations

Investment platforms and discussion platforms have come to change the face of finance. The stock market is open to both professional and non-professional investors via online financial channels. Information too comes via a shared domain as both professionals and non-professionals log onto online communication platforms to share, search and discuss market trends. Due to their growing role in finance, understanding online communities has become the focus of much stock market research. Determining who is influential in a network, how information spreads and what translates to buy or sell decision is potentially very lucrative. In this research paper a dataset from …

Hazardous Waste Reduction: Hexamethyldisiloxane, William Keesee, Reuben Gol, Kennet Castillo

Capstone Design Expo Posters

Waste Reduction: (1) Engineering problem - The manufacturing of a Silicone intermediate creates a flammable waste stream that must be disposed of at cost to QSI (0.48$/lb.). This stream contains two phases, which are mainly hexamethydisiloxane (HMDS) and aqueous ammonium hydroxide in roughly 50/50 ratio by volume. The HMDS phase (upper) is flammable and is thus hazardous. The clean aqueous phase (lower) can be discarded via the sewer at no cost if the flash point is above hazardous classification (60 °C). (2) Project deliverables - The Engineering solution must reduce the yearly volume of waste to under 13 tons/year and …

Method Of Mold Release From Process Equipment, Craig Paris, Jason Marshall, Trae Fuller

Capstone Design Expo Posters

Once a process cycle has been completed, glass condom molds are removed from spindles that connect them to the process equipment. Currently, glass molds are removed by destroying the glass around the spindle, resulting in safety hazards from glass shards, monetary loss due to replacement cost, and also loss of money due to the labor cost associated with time spent cleaning up the glass shards and breaking the molds. To solve the dilemma, the sponsor demanded a safe, cost efficient method or addition that would not harm the process during the cycle nor damage the spindle and glass molds at …

Prediction Device To Reduce Falls In The Elderly, Keegan Zacharie, Aaron Corbin, Joseph Switzer

Capstone Design Expo Posters

Complications arising from accidental falls are one of the leading causes of death among the elderly, with over 25,000 fatalities annually in the U.S.; a third of the elder population falls each year and a fifth of falls cause serious injury. We intended to mitigate these risks by producing a device capable of anticipating falls using biostatistical data.

Deliverables for our design included: An integrated accelerometer and pulse monitor to assess changes in motion and the physiological state of the wearer, a programmed algorithm capable of processing this data, and a mount to attach components to the patient.

Our constraints …

Iv Pole For Cardiac Surgery, Sindhu Marampudi, Natalie Noll, Madison Nowak, Rachel Wilbur

Capstone Design Expo Posters

IV lines and pumps need to be transported from the operating room to patient recovery with the patient after cardiac procedures. During this process, the weight of the IV pumps and the small wheels on the IV pole can cause the IV pole to become unbalanced and fall or bend due to the load. Due to a decrease in slack in IV lines to minimize IV line tangling, when an IV pole falls, this can result in the IV lines being torn out of the patient that can lead to blood loss and other injuries. In addition, IV bags and …

An Injection And Mixing Element For Delivery And Monitoring Of Inhaled Nitric Oxide, Andrew R. Martin, Chris Jackson, Samuel Fromont, Chloe Pont, Ira M. Katz, Georges Caillobotte

Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Publications

Background

Inhaled nitric oxide (NO) is a selective pulmonary vasodilator used primarily in the critical care setting for patients concurrently supported by invasive or noninvasive positive pressure ventilation. NO delivery devices interface with ventilator breathing circuits to inject NO in proportion with the flow of air/oxygen through the circuit, in order to maintain a constant, target concentration of inhaled NO.

Methods

In the present article, a NO injection and mixing element is presented. The device borrows from the design of static elements to promote rapid mixing of injected NO-containing gas with breathing circuit gases. Bench experiments are reported to demonstrate …

Test 2171: John Deere 9520rx, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

Nebraska Summary: S1075 New Holland T7.210, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

Nebraska Summary: S1122 Massey Ferguson 6715s, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

A Protocol For A Randomised Clinical Trial Of The Effect Of Providing Feedback On Inhaler Technique And Adherence From An Electronic Device In Patients With Poorly Controlled Severe Asthma, Imran Sulaiman, Martin Holmes, Shona D'Arcy, Viliam Rapčan, Desmond Michael Murphy, Gloria Crispino, Isabelle Killane, Rw Costello, Richard B Reilly, Jansen Seheult, Gregory Diette, Elaine Machale, Terence Taylor

Articles

ntroduction In clinical practice, it is difficult to distinguish between patients with refractory asthma from those with poorly controlled asthma, where symptoms persist due to poor adherence, inadequate inhaler technique or comorbid diseases. We designed an audio recording device which, when attached to an inhaler, objectively identifies the time and technique of inhaler use, thereby assessing both aspects of adherence. This study will test the hypothesis that feedback on these two aspects of adherence when passed on to patients improves adherence and helps clinicians distinguish refractory from difficult-to-control asthma. Methods This is a single, blind, prospective, randomised, clinical trial performed …

Predicting Intake Of Applications For First Registration In The Property Registration Authority, Orlaith Mernagh

Dissertations

The motivation for this dissertation is rooted in a real business need. The Property Registration Authority is the state organisation tasked with maintaining a register of land ownership on the island of Ireland. The PRA currently faces a series of challenges; a high level of staff retiring and the inherent loss of knowledge associated with this trend, a lack of recruitment in recent years and a large increase in lodgement of applications for first registration as a result of legislation. The organisation therefore requires a reliable system for predicting future intake. Prior to this project, there has also been a …

Multi-Use Fireline Handtool, Bruce W. Bernard Jr

All Undergraduate Projects

A wildland firefighter is a valuable resource to protecting public lands and managing fuels. The many hand tools used by firefighters aid in their ability to complete any required tasks effectively. Several of the tools available are specially purposed for individually grubbing, scraping, or liming. A small squad of firefighters could become a more effective resource if the tools they carried could perform several of these purposes as one single tool. To improve the effectiveness of an individual on the fireline a multi-use hand tool was designed to include an axe for liming and a heavy duty scraper for grubbing …

Bike Lock Combining Strength And Flexibility, Zachary Uhrich

All Undergraduate Projects

What can be done when someone is riding a bicycle in a large metropolitan area, and when they reach their destination they find that there either is no bike rack, or the rack is already full. For bikers who prefer the security of a standard U-lock, this means having to leave to find another rack elsewhere or leave your bike unlocked. This situation is the why there is a need for a bike lock which can combine the security of a U-lock, with the flexibility and size of a chain. This project solves the problem by using a hardened steel …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Kesterite Cu2znsns4 (Czts) Thin Films For Solar Cell Application, Mohamed M.A. Abusnina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The quaternary compound Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS) gained considerable attention in the last decade due to its potential as an active-layer semiconductor for low-cost thin-film solar cells. The material is composed of nontoxic and Earth-abundant constituents, has optical properties suitable for photovoltaic application, and can be synthesized using a wide variety of methods.

Polycrystalline CZTS was grown in this work using vacuum-based deposition to first deposit metal films (precursors) of Cu, Zn, and Sn. In a subsequent step, the precursors underwent an annealing treatment in sulfur vapor environment (sulfurization) to form CZTS. Using sputtering, a physical vapor deposition (PVD) …