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A Closed Loop Research Platform That Enables Dynamic Control Of Wing Gait Patterns In A Vertically Constrained Flapping Wing - Micro Air Vehicle, Hermanus Van Botha

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Research in Flapping Wing - Micro Air Vehicles(FW-MAVs) has been growing in recent years. Work ranging from mechanical designs to adaptive control algorithms are being developed in pursuit of mimicking natural flight. FW-MAV technology can be applied in a variety of use cases such a military application and surveillance, studying natural ecological systems, and hobbyist commercialization. Recent work has produced small scale FW-MAVs that are capable of hovering and maneuvering. Researchers control maneuvering in various ways, some of which involve making small adjustments to the core wing motion patterns (wing gaits) which determine how the wings flap. Adaptive control algorithms …

Bioluminescent Magnetic Nanoparticles As Potential Imaging Agents For Mammalian Spermatozoa, Erick Salvador Vasquez, Jean M. Feugang, Scott T. Willard, Peter L. Ryan, Keisha B. Walters

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Background: Nanoparticles have emerged as key materials for developing applications in nanomedicine, nanobiotechnology, bioimaging and theranostics. Existing bioimaging technologies include bioluminescent resonance energy transfer-conjugated quantum dots (BRET-QDs). Despite the current use of BRET-QDs for bioimaging, there are strong concerns about QD nanocomposites containing cadmium which exhibits potential cellular toxicity.

Results: In this study, bioluminescent composites comprised of magnetic nanoparticles and firefly luciferase (Photinus pyralis) are examined as potential light-emitting agents for imaging, detection, and tracking mammalian spermatozoa. Characterization was carried out using infrared spectroscopy, TEM and cryo-TEM imaging, and ζ-potential measurements to demonstrate the successful preparation of these nanocomposites. Binding …

Recalibration Methodology To Compensate For Changing Fluid Properties In An Individual Nozzle Direct Injection System, Joe D. Luck, Scott A. Shearer, Brian D. Luck, Michael P. Sama

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Limited advancement of direct injection pesticide application systems has been made in recent years, which has hindered further commercialization of this technology. One approach to solving the lag and mixing issues typically associated with injection-based systems is high-pressure individual nozzle injection. However, accurate monitoring of the chemical concentrate flow rate can pose a challenge due to the high pressure, low flow, and changing viscosities of the fluid. A methodology was developed for recalibrating high-pressure chemical concentrate injectors to compensate for fluid property variations and evaluate the performance of this technique for operating injectors in an open-loop configuration. Specific objectives were …

การลดของเสียในกระบวนการผลิตอุปกรณ์ส่งและรับสัญญาณ, กนกวรรณ บุญฤทธิ์ศักดิ์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อลดปริมาณของเสียอุปกรณ์ส่งและรับสัญญาณทางแสงที่เกิดจากค่าแรงเฉือนของการยึดติดระหว่างชิ้นส่วนเลนส์บนแผ่นประกอบวงจรไฟฟ้าชนิดยืดหยุ่น (FPCBA: Flexible Printed Circuit Board Assembly) ซึ่งมีกระบวนการผลิตเริ่มจาก (1) นำแผ่นประกอบวงจรไฟฟ้าชนิดยืดหยุ่น (FPCBA) ที่ผ่านการประกอบวงจรอิเล็กทรอนิกส์แล้วมาทำความสะอาด (2) หยอดกาวชนิด Urethane Acrylate (UA) จำนวน 8 ตำแหน่งบนแผ่น FPCBA (3) ยิงและอบด้วยแสงยูวี (4) หยอดกาวชนิดEpoxyสีดำ (5) อบด้วยความร้อน ดำเนินการวิเคราะห์หาสาเหตุโดย (1) ศึกษาความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างค่าแรงเฉือนที่ได้กับจำนวนการเกิดสีขาวขุ่นของกาวUA บนแผ่น FPCBA (2) ตรวจสอบลักษณะข้อบกพร่องของการยึดติดกาวด้วยกล้องจุลทรรศน์เล็กตรอนแบบส่องกราด (3) วิเคราะห์องค์ประกอบของชนิดคราบกาวและตรวจหาหมู่ฟังก์ชันด้วยเครื่อง FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer) (4) วิเคราะห์หาขั้นตอนที่ทำให้เกิดของเสีย โดยพิจารณาจากขั้นตอนท้ายไปหน้า (5) ดำเนินการปรับปรุง ผลการศึกษาพบว่า 1) ค่าแรงเฉือนมีค่าลดลงเมื่อมีจำนวนตำแหน่งของกาวUA เปลี่ยนสีจากใสเป็นขาวขุ่นมากขึ้น 2) ลักษณะของเสียกาวUAขาวขุ่นเกิดขึ้นที่ขั้นตอนการทำความสะอาด โดยวิธีทำความสะอาดของพนักงานมีอิทธิพลมากที่สุด ซึ่งลักษณะของเสียกาวUA ขาวขุ่นเกิดจากกาวUA ที่ไม่ยึดติดบน FPCBA ซึ่งเกิดจากการทำความสะอาดที่ไม่เพียงพอ 3) ระยะทางในการทำความสะอาดต่อก้านสำลีและการทำซ้ำที่ใช้เช็ดทำความสะอาด ส่งผลต่อการเกิดกาวUAขาวขุ่น 4) การใช้สารระเหยทำความสะอาดชิ้นงานชนิด IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) ที่มีจุดเดือด 82.6°C ซึ่งใกล้เคียงกับอุณหภูมิที่ใช้ในขั้นตอนการอบชิ้นงานเท่ากับ90±5°C ซึ่งเป็นขั้นตอนสุดท้าย เป็นสาเหตุให้กาวUA เปลี่ยนสีจากใสเป็นขาวขุ่น เนื่องจากไอระเหยที่ไล่ออกไม่หมด 5) การใช้สารระเหยชนิดเมธนอล (Methanol) ที่มีจุดเดือด 64.7°C ทดแทน IPA พบว่าของเสียจากกาวUA ขาวขุ่นลดลงจากเดิมก่อนศึกษา 33% เป็น 7% และไม่เกิดกาวขาวขุ่นอีกเลย ตามลำดับ

Uv Light-Induced Aggregation Of Titania Submicron Particles, Can Zhou, Yashar Bashirzadeh, Timothy A. Bernadowsky Jr., Xiaoyu Zhang

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

In this study, aggregation of TiO₂ (rutile and anatase) submicron particles in deionized (DI) water under ultra-violet (UV) light irradiation was investigated. While no aggregation was observed in the dark, rutile and anatase submicron particles started aggregating upon application of UV light and ceased aggregation in about 2 and 8.4 h, respectively. It has been demonstrated that UV light directly mitigated the particle mobility of TiO₂, resulting in a neutralization effect of the Zeta potential. It was also observed that rutile particles aggregated much faster than anatase particles under UV radiation, indicating that the Zeta potential of …

Carinata Fame Production Process And Biofuel Oxidation, Benoit Kindo

Honors College Theses

In this experiment, the contribution of a standard production method for biofuels on their oxidative stability was investigated. Peroxide values were measured at different steps of the production process of Brassica carinata and peanut-based biofuels. The washing and drying steps in this production method showed significant increases in peroxide values for both biofuels and was identified as a major contributor of biofuel oxidation. Further analyses of the physical and thermal properties showed a more pronounced affect in the biofuel from Bassica carinata, and indicated an unusual composition much higher in saturated fatty acids much longer than those found in peanut. …

Scalability Of Microscale Fractal-Like Branching Channel Networks, James R. Miller Iii

Honors College Theses

Fractal-like branching channel networks have been shown to offer the advantages of reduced pumping power and lower maximum wall temperatures when employed in the design of microscale heat sinks. Unfortunately, previous literature has been limited to microscale flow networks. In this paper, a microscale flow network will be scaled up to result in a mesoscale flow network and a macroscale flow network. In order to compare the pressure drop across the flow networks of varying scales the results will be nondimensionalized in the form of the Euler number. For a laminar inlet Reynolds number the microscale, mesoscale, and macroscale fractal-like …

Design Optimization Of Sandwich Core, Mohammad Tauhiduzzaman

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Ultralight sandwich structures comprising of low-density core with stiff facings have attracted significant research interest for their considerable weight saving applications. The aircraft industries are focusing on decreasing the structural mass to lower the manufacturing and operating costs. Design analysis of the sandwich cores using finite element analysis has been developed as a promising concept to feature sandwich structures with maximum strength, stiffness, and reduced weight. To obtain multifunctional behavior of sandwich panels, a profound investigation of geometrical and mechanical properties in the transverse plane is required because it is very susceptible to any kind loadings. Structural optimization is one …

Creating Multi-Functional G-Code For Multi-Process Additive Manufacturing, Efrain Aguilera Jr

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Additive manufacturing (AM) started over thirty years ago and with it a manufacturing revolution that moves industrial production into the personal home. With recent interest shifting into multi-functional parts fabricated through AM technologies, unified systems are being developed. Merging different manufacturing technologies into one single machine is a challenge but undergoing research has shown promise in the development of multi-functional systems. Concurrent work is being done in the software, automation, and hardware aspect of multi-functional systems. An effort to use industry compatible Computer Aided Design (CAD) software to design multi-functional parts including circuits, micro-machining, and foil embedding then exporting and …

A Spatially Variant Metamaterial Design Process For Transformation Electromagnetic Devices, Eric Alan Berry

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A technique for the implementation of devices designed using transformation optics (TO) is presented using metamaterial elements arranged using spatially variant lattices. A description of transformation optics, including the design of arbitrarily shaped devices by solving Laplace's equation numerically, is discussed. Analysis of a variety of metamaterial unit cells using frequency sweeps of the unit cells with the resulting permittivity and permeability values. Metamaterial unit cells are also analyzed by the scaling of all the features of the metamaterial elements in the unit cell and calculating the permittivity and permeability. Finite- difference time domain (FDTD) and finite-difference frequency domain (FDFD) …

Adaptive Switched Capacitor Voltage Boost For Thermoelectric Generation, Rene A. Brito

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Thermoelectric generators (TEG) and other forms of energy harvesting often provide voltages that are not directly usable by traditional electronics as levels are too low from the TEG. While increasing the number of thermoelectric elements can ultimately increase the power output, there is a tradeoff between size and power. By implementing charge pumps, a proposed circuit technique is described that can boost the TEG output to levels that can be used for energy harvesting applications. Current voltage boost circuits for TEGs simply boost a voltage by a set amount. The proposed circuit consists of an analog chip, to provide several …

A Novel Approach For Evaluating The Impact Of Fixed Variables On Photovoltaic (Pv) Solar Installations Using Enhanced Meta Data Analysis Among Higher Education Institutions In The United States, Diane N. De Hoyos

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The global demand for electric energy has continuously increased over the last few decades. Some mature, alternative generation methods are wind, power, photovoltaic panels, biogas and fuel cells. In order to find alternative sources of energy to aid in the reduction of our nation's dependency on non-renewable fuels, energy sources include the use of solar energy panels. The intent of these initiatives is to provide substantial energy savings and reduce dependence on the electrical grid and net metering savings during the peak energy-use hours.

The focus of this study explores and provides a clearer picture of the adoption of solar …

A Cracking Methodology To Assess Fracture And Fatigue Properties Of Asphalt Concrete Mixtures Using Overlay Tester, Victor M. Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Several highway agencies have either implemented or considered implementing performance tests to predict the cracking potential of asphalt concrete (AC) mixtures in the laboratory setting. One such test, the Overlay Tester (OT) test, measures the number of cycles to failure of the AC specimens by simulating the opening and closing of the cracks induced by daily temperature variations and high tensile strain generated by the traffic load. The variability of the OT test results is expressed as a major concern in reliably characterizing the cracking potential of the AC mixes.

The performance of the OT test, in general, and current …

Numerical Calculation Of Spatially Variant Anisotropic Metamaterial, Asad Ullah Hil Gulib

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is rapidly evolving into a mainstream manufacturing technology that is creating new opportunities for electromagnetics and circuits. 3D printing permits circuits to fully utilize the third dimension allowing more functions in the same amount of space and allows the devices to have arbitrary form factors. 3D printing is letting us discover new physics that is not possible in standard 2D circuits and devices. However, evolving electromagnetics and circuits into three dimensions introduces some serious problems like thermal management, interference, and mutual coupling between the components which degrades performance and hurts signal integrity.

Metamaterials are engineered …

Validation Of An Error Sonification Auditory Feedback Training Program On Proper Sagittal Plane Squat Technique, Rena Hale

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common degenerative joint diseases that hinders an individual's quality of life. A large portion of knee OA instances can be correlated to previous anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Knee joint injury leading to OA is most prevalent in males aged 20-55 years old and can be caused by improper form during execution of a given task or lack of neuromuscular control. Screening protocols are used to assess deficits of an athlete, with the goal of reducing the risk of injury during both training and in competition. Neuromuscular training programs have been created to …

Liquid-Phase Exfoliation Of Two-Dimensional Graphite For Ink-Jet Printing, Monica Michel

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Over the last decade, the study of two-dimensional (2D) materials has seen an incredible growth due to their unique thermal, mechanical and electronic properties. Solution phase manufacturing offers a way in which they can be produced at large scale by creating dispersions from the exfoliated material. Once created, different options for assembling devices exist. One technique for large scale manufacturing of materials in this form is ink-jet printing, which is a form of additive manufacturing that has proven to be attractive for the printed electronics industry. One challenge that ink-jet printing still faces is the shortage of inks with appropriate …

Design Of A 500 Lbf Liquid Oxygen And Liquid Methane Rocket Engine For Suborbital Flight, Jesus Eduardo Trillo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Liquid methane (LCH4)is the most promising rocket fuel for our journey to Mars and other space entities. Compared to liquid hydrogen, the most common cryogenic fuel used today, methane is denser and can be stored at a more manageable temperature; leading to more affordable tanks and a lighter system. The most important advantage is it can be produced from local sources using in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) technology. This will allow the production of the fuel needed to come back to earth on the surface of Mars, or the space entity being explored,making the overall mission more cost effective by enabling …

Fiberglass Goes Green: Developing Phosphate Glass For Use In Biodegradable Composites, Christina Lee Arendt

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Composite materials, such as the glass fiber reinforced polyester thermosets known as "fiberglass," are used in many applications. However, recycling processes for these materials are inefficient and not widely available. Specially engineered degradable polymers offer an opportunity to redesign these composites. Additionally, the composite could be tailored to be multi-use, such that upon degradation, the resulting products could be used as part of a zeoponic substrate (artificial soil) for growing plants. Such a material would be beneficial for long-duration space missions, terraforming, or in other agricultural applications.

The research presented in this Dissertation focuses on developing phosphate glass for use …

Effects Of Citric Acid Coated And Uncoated Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles In Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum) Plants, Ana Cecilia Barrios

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This research was performed to examine the physiological and biochemical effects of bare (nCeO2) and citric acid coated (nCeO2+CA) cerium oxide nanoparticles in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Plants were germinated and grown to full maturity in soil amended with 0-500 mg/kg and periodically analyzed using ICP-OES/MS and other spectroscopic and biochemical techniques. Although Ce in tissues increased as the external nCeO2 increased, there were no visible signs of toxicity. In mature plants, nCeO2 induced developmental changes and altered nutritional quality (essential elements) in fruits. On the other hand, nCeO2+CA affected fruit carbohydrate composition (sugars and starch). This study gives insights on …

Blind Image Deconvolution Based On Sparsity: Theoretical Justification And Improvement Of State-Of-The-Art Techniques, Fernando Cervantes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Observed signals and images are distorted by noise and blurring. In precise terms, blurring is a convolution of the original image with some blurring function. From this viewpoint, to reconstruct the original image, we need to reverse the effects of this convolution, i.e., to ``deconvolve'' the image. Many efficient methods for image deconvolution are known. However, most of these methods assume that we know the blurring function -- or at least that we have some partial information about the blurring function. In some practical situations, however, we do not have this information. In such situations, we need to perform, blind …

Minimizing Environmental Impacts For Hub And Spoke Distribution Network Problems Through The Use Of Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms, Ileana Delgado

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

While transportation is crucial to our economy and our personal lives, as a sector it is also a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The AASHTO report states, "America's transportation system has served us well, but now faces the challenges of congestion, energy supply, environmental impacts, climate change, and threatens the economic, social, and environmental future of the nation". With respect to the environment, transportation is the most visible aspect of supply chains. Transportation emissions can be reduced by implementing approaches that contribute to GHG emissions reduction, for example, the use of low-carbon fuels, new and improved vehicle technologies, …

Yttria Rich Tbcs As Candidates For Cmas Resistant Top Coats, Juan Jose Gomez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

State of the art thermal barrier coatings (TBC) commonly made of 7-8 wt. % yttria stabilized zirconia (7YSZ) are used in modern gas turbines to generate a thermal protection to the underlying super alloy components. TBCs allow higher operating temperatures for hot gas path components, thus, generating higher engine efficiency. The infiltration of molten glassy mineral deposits composed of CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 (CMAS) represents one of the major threats in reducing performance and service life in aero and land based gas turbine engines. The CMAS deposits are ingested into the engine carried commonly in sand, runways debris, fly ash and volcanic ash. …

Synthesis, Device Fabrication, And Characterization Of Two-Dimensional Molybdenum Disulfide, Gustavo Alberto Lara Saenz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The miniaturization of electronic devices according to Moore's Law has been propelled by the continuous demand for faster and smaller devices which continue to advance technology. One recent contribution to this trend was the isolation and characterization of one atom thick of graphite, known as graphene, which led to the Nobel Prize in physics in 2010 being awarded to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov. Graphene and its related nanocarbon derivatives have exceptional mechanical, thermal, optical and electronic properties, making them a potential candidate for electronics and optoelectronics applications. However, this material has no intrinsic bandgap and complicated processes are required …

Improving The Engineering Properties Of Pla For 3d Printing And Beyond, Carmen R. Rocha

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Additive manufacturing (AM), now more commonly known as 3D printing, has been classified as efficient, fast, and practical in the prototyping sector of product development. In the work presented here, we will use one of the AM techniques known as Material extrusion 3D printing (ME3DP), which has all the advantages of AM. However, one of the biggest challenges facing ME3DP technologies is the limitation of the range of materials used by this technique. Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and poly-lactic acid (PLA) are currently the most common thermoplastics materials used in ME3DP because of their ability to melt and be reprocessed. …

Computational Modeling Of A 60kw Oxy-Methane Direct Power Extraction Combustor, Omar Daniel Vidana

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ANSYS Fluent was used to optimize components of a direct power extraction combustor. This includes the fuel injector, nozzle, and cooling units. Changes in the injector's inlet location impacted pressure and velocity distribution. An angle of 115 degrees with respect to the x-axis was found to increase distribution efficiency. Temperature and velocity data from the combustor and nozzle were calculated using NASA CEA and Fluent. Magnitudes of temperature and velocity for CEA and Fluent matched within 9% and 4%, respectively. For the cooling system it is expected that cavitation will not occur since the saturation temperature of water is not …

The Impact Of Traffic Incident Locations On A Metropolitan Evacuation, Karzan Bahaaldin, Ryan N. Fries, Michael R. Williamson, Mashrur Chowdhury

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Modeling emergency evacuations can help engineers, planners, and emergency managers identify the approximate time it would take for evacuees to leave a disaster area. Unfortunately, many evacuation studies do not account for traffic incidents. This study examined the effect of traffic incidents during a no notice emergency evacuation in the eastern St. Louis metropolitan area road network. The roadway network was modeled using traffic micro-simulation software VISSIM, which utilized the expected traffic volumes that were determined by the regional planning agency, and guided by input from the transportation engineers at the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). Because traffic speeds are …

Complex System Governance For Acquisition, Joseph Bradley, Polinpapilinho Katina, Charles Keating

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

As acquisition processes have become more complex, they appear to no longer be governable by traditional approaches. Missed budgets, delayed deliveries, and expensive canceled systems appear to becoming more prevalent. Numerous investigations have been conducted attempting to elicit the factors that prevented success. Those systems that succeed in terms of usability, budget, and delivery schedule are the rarity and often become case studies themselves as we try to extract the characteristics that differentiate success from failure. A different viewpoint is to look at the acquisition system from the perspective of Complex Systems Governance (CSG). Recent developments in the field of …

Sparse Encoding Of Binocular Images For Depth Inference, Sheng Y. Lundquist, Dylan M. Paiton, Peter F. Schultz, Garrett T. Kenyon

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Sparse coding models have been widely used to decompose monocular images into linear combinations of small numbers of basis vectors drawn from an overcomplete set. However, little work has examined sparse coding in the context of stereopsis. In this paper, we demonstrate that sparse coding facilitates better depth inference with sparse activations than comparable feed-forward networks of the same size. This is likely due to the noise and redundancy of feed-forward activations, whereas sparse coding utilizes lateral competition to selectively encode image features within a narrow band of depths.

Structural Health Monitoring Of Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels, Luca Letizia

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This work is focusing to study the structural behavior of Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels (COPVs). These COPVs are found in many engineering applications. In the aerospace field, they are installed onto spaceships and aid the reorientation of the spacecraft in very far and airless, therefore frictionless, orbits to save energy and fuel. The intent of this research is to analyze the difference in performance of both perfectly intact and purposely damaged tanks. Understanding both the source and location of a structural fault will help NASA engineers predict the performance of COPVs subject to similar conditions, which could prevent failures of …

Smart Material Actuation And Morphing For Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Caio H. Da Silva Lima

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to outline the design, analysis, and characterization of an axially compressed piezocomposite actuator and, in particular, to determine the correlation and accuracy of two models used to predict deflection of an axially compressed piezocomposite bimorph. Restrictions in material properties lead to vehicle inefficiencies caused by the discontinuous geometry of deflected control surfaces in unmanned aircraft systems. This performance disadvantage in discrete control surfaces is caused in part by the sharp edges that are formed when the surface is pivoted. Flow continuity over the body of a vehicle is important in minimizing the effects of …