Engineering Commons^™

Cascade Control Of A Hydraulic Prosthetic Knee, Xin Hui

ETD Archive

A leg prosthesis test robot with hydraulic knee actuator is modeled and tested with closed loop control simulation. A cascade control architecture is designed for the system, the outer loop is controlled by a robust passivity-based controller (RPBC) and the inner loop is controlled by an optimization method. The control algorithm provides knee angle tracking with an RMS error of 0.07 degrees. The research contributes to the field of prosthetics by showing that it is possible to find effective closed loop control algorithm for a newly proposed hydraulic knee prosthesis. The simulations demonstrate the efficiency of RPBC's ability to control …

Pure And Binary Adsorption Of Methane And Nitrogen On Silicalite, Prahar S. Vaidya

ETD Archive

Separation processes comprise a large portion of the activity in the chemical and petrochemical industries. For the chemical, petroleum refining, and materials processing industries as a group, separation processes are considered to be critical. Almost all the applications of chemical industries involves mixtures, so innovation in separation technology not only enhances productivity and global competitiveness of U.S. industries, but is also critical for achieving the industrial energy and waste reduction goals. Traditionally, air separation to produce nitrogen and oxygen and to separate nitrogen from methane was practiced by cryogenic distillation, which involved expensive high pressure units and large requirement of …

Intelligent Voice Activated Home Automation (Iva), Mrunal Dipakkumar Bhatt

ETD Archive

This thesis presents the design of an original Intelligent Home Automation Architecture. My work was divided in two phases. The first portion was dedicated to acquiring a thorough understanding of the most successful and diffused Home-Automation commercial architectures. During this phase, I intended to gain a deep appreciation for the variety of organizations, capabilities, limitations, and potential areas of growth of the existing Home-Automation leading systems. In order to acquire this knowledge, I had to use a reverse engineering approach. The reason for using this methodology arises from the fact that all the products considered in this study are commercially …

Decitabine-Loaded Nanogel Treatment To Reverse Cancer Drug Resistance, Samantha A. Cramer

ETD Archive

Cancers in which epigenetic changes, such as hypermethylation of DNA, lead to drug resistance cause the cancer to become unresponsive to existing chemotherapeutic treatments. The epigenetic drug – 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine (decitabine, DAC) – is a potent hypomethylating agent, but its effect is transient due to its instability. Previous studies have shown that loading DAC into nanogel significantly enhances its antiproliferative effect (compared to DAC in solution) in drug-resistant breast cancer cells (MCF-7/ADR). Further, the previous studies demonstrated changes in the membrane lipid profile of resistant cells following treatment with DAC either as solution or in nanogels. The objective of the present …

Experimental Investigation Of Turbulent Flow Induced By New-Generation Wind Fences With Multi-Scale Fractal Structure, Sarah M. Mcclure

ETD Archive

Understanding and controlling atmospheric boundary-layer flows with engineered structures, such as porous wind fences or windbreaks, has been of great interest to the fluid mechanics and wind engineering community. Previous studies found that the regular mono-scale grid fence of 50% porosity and a bottom gap of 10% of the fence height are considered to be optimal over a flat surface. Significant differences in turbulent flow structure have recently been noted behind multi-scale fractal wind fences, even with the same porosity. In this study, wind-tunnel tests on the turbulent flow and the turbulence kinetic energy transport of 1D and 2D multi-scale …

Assembly Level Clock Glitch Insertion Into An Xmega Mcu, Nigamantha Gopala Chakravarthi

ETD Archive

This thesis proposes clock-glitch fault injection technique to inject glitches into the clock signal running in a microcontroller unit and studying its effects on different assembly level instructions. It focusses mainly on the effect of clock glitches over the execution, sub-execution and pre-execution cycles of the test instructions and also finds the delay between the actual position of glitch insertion and the trigger being set for the glitch insertion. The instructions used in this work are provided by Atmel which classifies them according to their type of operation. These instructions are here further grouped depending on the number of clock …

Field Observation Of Installation And Performance Of Repair Materials, Larisa Diana Susinskas

ETD Archive

The state of Ohio is in a region that commonly experiences drastic changes in weather. States with similar climates are susceptible to pavement cracking and failures due to the frequent or extreme freeze-thaw cycles. Freeze-thaw cycles, paired with de-icing chemicals that are frequently placed on roadways during the winter months will most likely lead to pavement cracks and failure. Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) routinely repairs and replaces sections of concrete roadways and bridge decks. Therefore, ODOT is seeking durable, cost-effective materials to repair smaller pavement failures.

The purpose of this study is to determine which high performance repair materials …

State Estimation Of Glucose And Insulin Dynamics, Morgan Nicholas Miller

ETD Archive

Process simulation and state estimation have very important applications in chemical engineering as well as the biomedical field. Diabetes is a rapidly growing disease in the United States with 29 million people already diagnosed. The estimation of glucose and insulin concentration in patients is necessary in order to effectively treat diabetes. The Bergman Minimal Model is a popular process model that is used to simulate glucose and insulin dynamics. A simulation of this model was created based on estimated parameters for the model from historical data. This thesis investigated the estimation of glucose concentration, insulin concentration, and effect of active …

Effects Of Digestate, Magnesium Sulfate, And Dipotassium Hydrogen Phosphate/Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate On Microalga, Scenedesmus Dimorphus, Zhuohui Joe He

ETD Archive

Digestate (D), the remaining substance after anaerobic digestion of a biodegradable feedstock, is rich in inorganic contents, which makes it a good candidate for growing algae for biofuel production. Previous studies showed digestate at around 1.25% to 1.75% (v/v) dilution is suitable for algae growth. In this study, magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) and dipotassium hydrogen phosphate/potassium dihydrogen phosphate (K-P) were added to diluted digestate growth media. Two sets of experiments were conducted in batch reactor mode to identify the digestate (D), magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) and dipotassium hydrogen phosphate/potassium dihydrogen phosphate (K-P) concentrations that would optimize the algae growth. Algae growth parameters, …

A Simulation And Experimental Study Of Active Disturbance Rejection For Industrial Pressure Control, Xiaoxu Li

ETD Archive

The quality of control loop is very important in hydraulic machineries, where pressure must be accurately regulated in the presence of various disturbances. Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control has dominated the industry for a long time and it is by far the most popular general purpose controller for pressure control. The purpose of this study is to conduct a simulation and experimental study comparing PID with an emerging new technology, namely active disturbance rejection control (ADRC). For the purpose of this study, an experimental testbed similar to those used in industry settings is used; its mathematic model is derived and used in …

The Behavior Of Simply Supported Plates Under Extreme Shear Loading, Mhd Ammar Hafez

ETD Archive

Steel plates are planar structural elements with one dimension significantly smaller than the others. These elements may fail due to either material yielding or buckling. Buckling is a sudden failure mode, which is not desirable in structural engineering applications. Buckling is called an “elastic buckling” when it happens before material yielding, and is termed as “plastic buckling” if it happens after material yielding. The focus of this thesis is on shear plates, which are plates that are primarily subjected to shear loads. Several studies were conducted to increase the elastic buckling capacity of plates by adding stiffeners to plates. However, …

Design And Production Of A Hydrogel Forming Polypeptide: Engaging High School Students In Protein Design, James K. Deyling

ETD Archive

Bioinks are a class of hydrogel that have the potential to be the ink used in the creation of printed organs, connective tissue, and other important structures within the body. One class of material that may be a suitable bioink hydrogel is elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs), which are synthetic biopolymers inspired by the naturally existing connective tissue elastin. ELPs consist of a repeat pentapeptide sequence (GXGVP)n, where X is any of the 20 naturally existing amino acids other than proline. These biomolecules are capable of exhibiting environmental responsiveness when exposed to certain stimulus such as salt concentration, temperature, and pH, depending …

Characterization Of Performance Of A 3d Printed Stirling Engine Through Analysis And Test, Julie Vodhanel

ETD Archive

This thesis involves the fusion of two technologies, Stirling engines and additive
manufacturing. The project began by building a Stirling engine primarily out of 3D printed parts. Methods to measure the power output were designed and built with a combination of 3D printed and off the shelf parts. The Stirling engine was tested to see if there was a correlation to analysis results, and a regenerator was installed to determine the effect on performance for this relatively low temperature engine. Finally, variations in test operation and the use of heat sinks were used to find a combination that will allow …

What Is The Effect Of Mandatory Pasteurisation On The Biogas Transformation Of Solid Slaughterhouse Wastes?, Niamh Power, Aidan Ware

Publications

The effect of mandatory pasteurisation on Category 3 offals, according to the Animal By-Products Regulation (ABPR 1069/2009/EC), was determined using Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) assays as well as kinetic and statistical analysis. Pasteurised and unpasteurised offals sampled from cattle, pig and chicken slaughterhouses were characterised and their specific methane yields (SMYs) and their bioavailability was assessed. The resultant SMYs were high (465–650 mLCH₄ gVS⁻¹) with no statistically significant increase in methane production identified due to pasteurisation. However, the kinetics of the biogas transformation processes highlighted increased bioavailability of the organics due to pasteurisation. This was brought to …

Steam Girls Activities: Flandreau Indian School, Flandreau, Sd, 2016, Joanita M. Kant, Suzette R. Burckhard, Richard T. Meyers

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty and Student Publications

This booklet includes tribally relevant, fun activities designed to increase interest in STEM studies and careers, particularly among Native American girls and women in South Dakota and the northern Great Plains. It is suitable for anyone to use in homes and schools, although adult supervision is recommended.

Temperature-Dependent Helium Ion-Beam Mixing In An Amorphous Sioc/Crystalline Fe Composite, Qing Su, Lloyd Price, Lin Shao, Michael Nastasi

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Temperature dependent He-irradiation-induced ion-beam mixing between amorphous silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) and crystalline Fe was examined with a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and via Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS). The Fe marker layer (7.2 ± 0.8 nm) was placed in between two amorphous SiOC layers (200 nm). The amount of ion-beam mixing after 298, 473, 673, 873, and 1073 K irradiation was investigated. Both TEM and RBS results showed no ion-beam mixing between Fe and SiOC after 473 and 673 K irradiation and a very trivial amount of ion-beam mixing (~2 nm) after 298 K irradiation. At irradiation temperatures higher than 873 …

Expanded 3d Nanofiber Scaffolds: Cell Penetration, Neovascularization, And Host Response, Jiang Jiang, Zhuoran Li, Hongjun Wang, Yue Wang, Mark A. Carlson, Matthew J. Teusink, Matthew R. Macewan, Linxia Gu, Jingwei Xie

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Herein, a robust method to fabricate expanded nanofiber scaffolds with controlled size and thickness using a customized mold during the modified gas-foaming process is reported. The expansion of nanofiber membranes is also simulated using a computational fluid model. Expanded nanofiber scaffolds implanted subcutaneously in rats show cellular infiltration, whereas non-expanded scaffolds only have surface cellular attachment. Compared to unexpanded nanofiber scaffolds, more CD68+ and CD163+ cells are observed within expanded scaffolds at all tested time points post-implantation. More CCR7+ cells appear within expanded scaffolds at week 8 post-implantation. In addition, new blood vessels are present within the expanded scaffolds at …

Comparison Between Direct And Reverse Electroporation Of Cells In Situ: A Simulation Study, Leila Towhidi, Delaram Khodadadi, Nataly Maimari, Ryan M. Pedrigi, Henry Ip, Zoltan Kis, Brenda R. Kwak, Tatiana W. Petrova, Mauro Delorenzi, Rob Krams

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The discovery of the human genome has unveiled new fields of genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics, which has produced paradigm shifts on how to study disease mechanisms, wherein a current central focus is the understanding of how gene signatures and gene networks interact within cells. These gene function studies require manipulating genes either through activation or inhibition, which can be achieved by temporarily permeabilizing the cell membrane through transfection to deliver cDNA or RNAi. An efficient transfection technique is electroporation, which applies an optimized electric pulse to permeabilize the cells of interest. When the molecules are applied on top of seeded …

New Approaches To Chalcogenide Materials For Thermoelectrics: Lead Telluride-Based Nanostructures And Facile Synthesis Of Tetrahedrite And Doped Derivatives, Derak Justin James

Wayne State University Dissertations

The overall purpose of this work is to address several of the roadblocks to use of thermoelectric materials for generation of electricity, namely inefficient processing of materials and low performance, commonly rated by the figure of merit, ZT=T2/tot. The ZT includes  as the Seebeck coefficient,  as electrical resistivity, T as the average temperature, and tot as total thermal conductivity. tot is the sum of electronic charge carrier (C) and lattice (L) contributions to thermal conductivity. Attempts to increase ZT in the literature to values >1 have focused on decreasing the thermal conductivity via nanostructuring or optimizing the electrical …

Computational Modeling Approaches For Task Analysis In Robotic-Assisted Surgery, Mahtab Jahanbani Fard

Wayne State University Dissertations

Surgery is continuously subject to technological innovations including the introduction of robotic surgical devices. The ultimate goal is to program the surgical robot to perform certain difficult or complex surgical tasks in an autonomous manner. The feasibility of current robotic surgery systems to record quantitative motion and video data motivates developing descriptive mathematical models to recognize, classify and analyze surgical tasks. Recent advances in machine learning research for uncovering concealed patterns in huge data sets, like kinematic and video data, offer a possibility to better understand surgical procedures from a system point of view. This dissertation focuses on bridging the …

Technology Decisions In New Product Development, Amir Sanayei

Wayne State University Dissertations

Selecting the right technology is one of the most important and challenging decisions in new product development (NPD) process that can greatly affect all downstream design activities which have a great impact on product success in the market place. Although new technologies may bring more competitive advantage by offering higher performance to price, they also make the NPD process more risky and challenging. We model the technology selection problem of a firm that is defining its new product in the presence of the technology uncertainty. At each review stage, firm has the options: select and commit to any technology alternatives …

Engineering Gold Nanoparticles And Their Use To Control Nucleation, Pedram Jahanian

Wayne State University Dissertations

This study focuses on fabrication of hybrid nanostructures using gold nanoparticles (AuNP) as seeds and partially oxidized potassium tetracyanoplatinate, known as Krogmann’s salt (KCP), and later this method will be employed to manufacture a prototype sensor for detecting different vapors. Nanocrystals are synthesized using electrochemical method with the aim to have more control over the size and shape of the charge transfer salt based on the seed mediated nucleation method. AuNP seeds are prepared on highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrate by the electrocrystallization method. An aqueous solution of 0.05 to 1 mM Hydrogen tetrachloroaurate (HAuCl4) with 0.1 mM (Potassium …

Development Of Novel Radiotracers For Pet Imaging Of Hdac-Mediated Epigenetic Regulation, Robin Edwards Bonomi

Wayne State University Dissertations

Over the past two decades, epigenetic regulation has become a rapidly growing, highly innovative and influential field of biology and medicine. Protein acetylation and deacetylation, two key epigenetic regulatory mechanisms, are mediated by histone acetylase transferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs), respectively. To date, the vast majority of studies on epigenetic regulation have been conducted in cell cultures and tissue samples using conventional methodologies of molecular and cellular biology, which contain inherent limitations for monitoring therapy and disease. Therefore, there is a growing need for novel, advanced methodologies that allow for non-invasive detection and monitoring of HDAC–mediated epigenetic regulatory processes …

Dendrimer Nanoconjugates And Their Oral Inhalation Formulations For Lung Cancer Therapy, Qian Zhong

Wayne State University Dissertations

Lung cancers are leading cause of cancer death for both men and women in the world. Lungs are also one of the primary organs to which almost all cancer can spread. Chemothepray plays a crucial role in the fight against both primary lung cancers and lung metastases. Doxorubicin (DOX) is a potent anticancer drug that has been approved for treating many cancers including lung cancers. However, only a few percent of systemically administered DOX can be found in the lungs. The issue is further complicated by dose-limiting toxicity of DOX. Another major challenge in the use of DOX is its …

Nano-Structured Electrocatalysts For High Performance Lithium Sulfur Batteries, Negar Mosavati

Wayne State University Dissertations

Ni nanoparticles has been investigated as a carbon-free cathode material for dissolved polysulfide Li-S battery. A series of Ni nanoparticles with nominal particle size of 20, 40, and 100 nm have been used as electrocatalysts, and the effect of particle size on Li-S battery performance has been investigated. In addition, graphene has been chosen as a support to anchor the Ni nanoparticles, and the synergetic effect of carbon material and Ni nanoparticles on Li-S battery electrochemical performance has been studied. The results indicated there is a strong particle size effect. Ni/graphene electrode exhibits a capacity of 753 mAh g-1 sulfur …

Fe3o4 Nanoparticles For Magnetic Hyperthermia And Drug Delivery: Synthesis, Characterization And Cellular Studies, Maheshika Palihawadana Arachchige

Wayne State University Dissertations

In recent years, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), especially superparamagnetic Fe3O4nanoparticles, have attracted a great deal of attention because of their potential applications in biomedicine. Among the other applications, Magnetic hyperthermia (MHT), where localized heating is generated by means of relaxation processes in MNPs when subjected to a radio frequency magnetic field, has a great potential as a non-invasive cancer therapy treatment. Specific absorption rate (SAR), which measures the efficiency of heat generation, depends on magnetic properties of the particles such as saturation magnetization (Ms), magnetic anisotropy (K), particle size distribution, magnetic dipolar interactions, and the rheological properties of the target medium.We …

Design And Optimization Of Lithium Ion Battery For High Temperature Applications, Khalid Abdullitife Ababtain

Wayne State University Dissertations

With massive commercial success of lithium ion batteries, the ability to operate at

and above 70 °C still a crucial issue and a safety concern to combat ever-increasing

global warming and to extend applications beyond portable electronics. Among various

components of battery, anode and electrolyte and the passivation layer formed between

them is crucial towards the development of Li-ion batteries for extendable temperature

range. In this regard, room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) have the capability to

tackle thermal stability issues of lithium ion batteries but their poor compatibility with

traditional graphite anodes limits their practical application. Towards addressing this

issue, …

Toward A Better Estimation Of Shear Capacity And Structural Reliability Of Prestressed Concrete Girders, Alaa Ibrahim Chehab

Wayne State University Dissertations

The main objectives of this study are to evaluate the adequacy of the current AASHTO methods for shear design of prestressed concrete (PC) bridge girders, determine the reliability of PC bridge girders in shear based on the current LRFD General Procedure, determine the most accurate and consistent method for predicting the shear capacity of AASHTO “I” shape PC bridge girders, and recalibrate the AASHTO LRFD code for shear as necessary. These objectives were achieved through lab testing of two full scale Type II girders, finite element modeling for more than 330 PC girders, parametric analysis, regression analysis, and structural reliability …

Novel Approaches For Assessment Of Copper Toxicity: Fast Scan Cyclic Voltammetry And Optical Bioassays, Annette R. Tremonti

Wayne State University Dissertations

Anthropogenic activities negatively impact fresh water ecosystems through toxic contaminants that are released into the environment. Copper (Cu) is a water contaminant that is fundamentally persistent once introduced into the environment that has the potential for bioaccumulation. Although Cu toxicity has been studied for decades, there is still a continuing problem with new sources and pathways. New approaches are needed to understand distribution and transport of Cu and its potential for complex biological impacts beyond the simple assessment of lethality. Several novel approaches were used in this research project to advance our understanding of Cu toxicity, including fast scan cyclic …

Novel Design And Synthesis Of Structured Iron Oxides For Battery Applications, Jian Zhu

Wayne State University Dissertations

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are currently the dominant powder source for personal computers and portable electronics. LIBs also play important roles in larger-scale applications, including electric drive vehicles (EVs, HEVs) and grid-energy storage. To meet the increasing demand for energy storage, it is very urgent and crucial to develop next-generation LIBs using alternative electrode materials. For example, carbon is still exclusively used as anode materials in current LIBs. However, the theoretical capacity of graphite (372 mA h g–1 based on LiC6) has almost been achieved, and it becomes one of the bottlenecks to further increase the energy density of LIBs based …