Engineering Commons^™

Evaluation Of Phosphorous Removals By Biochar Supported Nano-Scale Zero-Valent Iron, Maria S. Rossetti

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study evaluated the effectiveness of biochar-supported nano-scale zero-valent iron (nZVI/BC) in removing phosphorus (P) from water. Samples of nZVI/BC were prepared using aqueous nanoparticles synthesis techniques, and were mixed with a stock phosphorus solution. To determine P reductions water samples were tested for P content using the ascorbic acid method. This procedure was repeated for samples of stock P solution, zero-valent iron (ZVI), biochar, and ZVI/BC. nZVI/BC reduced P content by 86% whereas ZVI, biochar, and ZVI/BC removed 6%, -23%, and 17% respectively. This suggests that nZVI/BC has the potential to be an effective method of stormwater remediation.

Induced Earthquakes And Public Safety, Lyndsey L. Dickson

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Like the number of earthquakes felt in Oklahoma, the number of media reports regarding large-magnitude earthquakes in Oklahoma has increased in recent years. News headlines that mention property damage and question who is responsible have sparked heated debated. In this document, a discussion is presented over the responsibility of engineers for the public’s safety in relation to earthquakes. Input from various groups is discussed, the action taken in Oklahoma is outlined, and ethical obligations presented by the American Society of Civil Engineers are considered. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has reported a major grievance against building-code committees, but many …

Fatigue Analysis Of The Greenup Lock Gate On The Ohio River, Maggie Langston

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes damage due to fatigue of a typical lock gate on the United States waterway transportation system. Functioning lock gates are essential for this mode of transportation because they control water levels and provide access through dams for ships. Fatigue cracking is caused by cyclic loading and corrosion. Cyclic loading on a lock gate was imitated using a finite element model. This model was used to calculate stress ranges for a cycle so that the number of cycles to failure could be calculated. The proportion of cycles to cycles to failure is known as the fatigue capacity. A …

The Effects Of Aggregate Size On Shear Dynamic Modulus From Torsion Bar, Farida Mahmud

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

PavementME Design is based on mechanistic-empirical principles, which take the properties of layer materials into account in predicting pavement responses and performance. Of these principles, dynamic modulus is one of the most important. Dynamic modulus measures strain in response to the applied stress, which mimics loads from traffic and the corresponding deformation of the asphalt pavement. The traditional test for dynamic modulus in the uniaxial configuration cannot be performed on field cores due to lift thickness. Owing to that, the Indirect Tension and torsion bar configuration were developed. This research will focus on the torsion bar, which requires specimens that …

Predicted Vs Measured Initial Camber In Precast Prestressed Concrete Girders, Luke T. Freedle

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Prestressing of concrete is the introduction of permanent internal stresses in a structure or system in order to improve its performance. Concrete is strong in compression but weak in tension. The tensile strength of concrete is approximately 10% of the concrete’s compressive strength. Prestressing strands helps counteract this by introducing compressive stress in the area that will experience tensile stress because of the service load. In precast prestressed concrete girders, strands are placed in the bottom flange of the girder. These strands are tensioned to approximately 75% of their ultimate tensile capacity. After placing the concrete and after the required …

Effects Of Wash Water On The Compressive Strength Of Concrete, Gabriel W. Cook

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Due to the scale of concrete production throughout the world, there is potential for implementing methodologies that reduce the environmental impact of concrete processes. One intriguing solution is utilizing concrete wash water as mixing water. Concrete wash water is the water created by concrete production. If wash water can be reused, this would provide a safe disposal of the water and save millions of gallons of potable water per year (Indiana, 2014). For this to become a realistic option for concrete plants, it is important that the wash water does not decrease the compressive strength of concrete, otherwise the cost …

Effectiveness Of Small Strain Shear Wave Velocity As A Property For Assessing Damage Associated With Alkali-Silica Reaction In Concrete, Dillon K. Self

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research paper details the monitoring of expansion and shear wave velocity for fifteen concrete prisms cast in accordance with ASTM C1293 utilizing five mix designs with varying levels of ASR reactivity. Jobe sand and sodium hydroxide pellets were added in various quantities to increase the reactivity of the prisms. Strain measurements of the prisms were taken according to ASTM C129 and the shear wave velocity of the prisms was measured using ASTM C215. These measurements were taken weekly, then monthly for over a year. It was determined that shear wave velocity of the prisms decrease linearly as strain in …

Applications Of Elpasolites As A Multimode Radiation Sensor, Amber Lynn Guckes

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study consists of both computational and experimental investigations. The computational results enabled detector design selections and confirmed experimental results. The experimental results determined that the CLYC scintillation detector can be applied as a functional and field-deployable multimode radiation sensor.

The computational study utilized MCNP6 code to investigate the response of CLYC to various incident radiations and to determine the feasibility of its application as a handheld multimode sensor and as a single-scintillator collimated directional detection system. These simulations include:

• Characterization of the response of the CLYC scintillator to gamma-rays and neutrons;

• Study of the isotopic enrichment of …

Impacts Of Ozone Dose And Empty Bed Contact Time On Bulk Organic Removal And Disinfection Byproduct Mitigation In Ozone-Biofiltration Systems, Mayara Aquino

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In areas where water shortages have compromised water supplies, potable reuse is a promising solution. However, additional research is needed to identify and/or optimize cost-effective treatment technologies to demonstrate compliance with potable reuse regulations. Treatment trains employing reverse osmosis (RO) and advanced oxidation, a combination known as ‘full advanced treatment’ (FAT), are required by the California Division of Drinking Water (CDDW) for surface water augmentation and direct injection of recycled water into local aquifers. A maximum concentration of 0.5 mg/L of wastewater-derived total organic carbon (TOC) is also required by CDDW in all groundwater recharge applications. This appears to be …

Indian Sign Language Numbers Recognition Using Intel Realsense Camera, Sravani Mudduluru

Master's Theses

The use of gesture based interaction with devices has been a significant area of research in the field of computer science since many years. The main idea of these kind of interactions is to ease the user experience by providing high degree of freedom and provide more interactive way of communication with the technology in a natural way. The significant areas of applications of gesture recognition are in video gaming, human computer interaction, virtual reality, smart home appliances, medical systems, robotics and several others. With the availability of the devices such as Kinect, Leap Motion and Intel RealSense cameras accessing …

Refurbished And 3d Modeled Thermal Vacuum Chamber, Lauren M. Glenn

Master's Theses

Spacecraft testing includes acoustics, vibrations, and thermal vacuum. Cal Poly’s Space Environments Lab is equipped with multiple vacuum chambers, but no thermal vacuum chamber. The purpose of this thesis is to incorporate an ATS Chiller system with the HVEC vacuum chamber so students are able to experiment with a thermal vacuum chamber. The ATS Chiller had leaky pipes that needed to be refurbished and a shroud was implemented to improve thermal capabilities of the system. The full system was able to reach temperatures as low as -38ºC and as high as 58ºC at a pressure of 10-6 Torr. The ATS …

Actuator Disk Theory For Compressible Flow, Htet Htet Nwe Oo

Master's Theses

Because compressibility effects arise in real applications of propellers and turbines, the Actuator Disk Theory or Froude’s Momentum Theory was established for compressible, subsonic flow using the three laws of conservation and isentropic thermodynamics. The compressible Actuator Disk Theory was established for the unducted (bare) and ducted cases in which the disk was treated as the only assembly within the flow stream in the bare case and enclosed by a duct having a constant cross-sectional area equal to the disk area in the ducted case. The primary motivation of the current thesis was to predict the ideal performance of a …

Energy Harvesting From Exercise Machines: Comparative Study Of Ehfem Performance With Dc-Dc Converters And Dissipative Overvoltage Protection Circuit, Cameron Kiddoo

Master's Theses

Energy Harvesting from Exercise Machines (EHFEM) is an ongoing project pursuing alternate forms of sustainable energy for Cal Poly State University. The EHFEM project seeks to acquire user-generated DC power from exercise machines and sell that energy back to the local grid as AC power. The end goal of the EHFEM project aims to integrate a final design with existing elliptical fitness trainers for student and faculty use in Cal Poly’s Recreational Center. This report examines whether including the DC-DC converter in the EHFEM setup produces AC power to the electric grid more efficiently and consistently than an EHFEM system …

Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction, Kevin Carney

Master's Theses

The objective of this thesis is to explore the properties of supercritical carbon dioxide (CO₂). In addition, the feasibility of building a small-scale low cost system will be explained. A supercritical fluid is a fluid which exhibits properties between liquid and gas with liquid like densities and viscosities similar to a gas. Since the discovery of supercritical fluids in 1822, the use of supercritical fluids, specifically supercritical CO₂, has grown in popularity. The application of supercritical CO₂ has continued to grow in industrial applications since the 1970’s. Supercritical CO₂’s has many beneficial properties …

Rules Based Analysis Engine For Application Layer Ids, David Scrobonia

Master's Theses

Web application attack volume, complexity, and costs have risen as people, companies, and entire industries move online. Solutions implemented to defend web applications against malicious activity have traditionally been implemented at the network or host layer. While this is helpful for detecting some attacks, it does not provide the gran- ularity to see malicious behavior occurring at the application layer. The AppSensor project, an application level intrusion detection system (IDS), is an example of a tool that operates in this layer. AppSensor monitors users within the application by observing activity in suspicious areas not able to be seen by traditional …

Smart Feedback Control For Fiber-Optics Acoustic Emission Sensor System, Xiangyu Luo

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Optical fiber sensors for ultrasonic detection have become a subject of much research in recent years. In this thesis, a fiber-optic acoustic emission (AE) sensor system that is capable of performing AE detection, even when the sensor is experiencing large quasi-static strains, is first described. The system consists of a smart selection of a wavelength notch to which a distributed feedback (DFB) laser is locked for high sensitivity AE signal demodulation. A smart feedback control unit for the DFB laser, which is the focus of this thesis, is designed and investigated. The smart control ensures that the AE signal is …

Bird's Eye View: Cooperative Exploration By Ugv And Uav, Shannon Hood

Theses and Dissertations

This paper proposes a solution to the problem of cooperative exploration using an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) and an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). More specifically, the UGV navigates through the free space, and the UAV provides enhanced situational awareness via its higher vantage point. The motivating application is search and rescue in a damaged building. A camera atop the UGV is used to track a fiducial tag on the underside of the UAV, allowing the UAV to maintain a fixed pose relative to the UGV. Furthermore, the UAV uses its front facing camera to provide a birds-eye-view to the remote …

Dynamic Model And Control Of Quadrotor In The Presence Of Uncertainties, Courage Agho

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis considers the control of quadrotor using a linear PID control and ℒ1 adaptive control. In a justifiable concept, PID controller can be used to control a quadrotor, but in the presence of uncertainties or disturbance, the quadrotor can’t be automatically adjusted to control the changing dynamics of the quadrotor. To solve the problem associated with uncertainties, various control methodology can be used for controlling the changing dynamic of quadrotor, but in this thesis, ℒ1 adaptive control is used because it allows for fast and robust adaptation for desired transient performance in the presence of matched and unmatched uncertainties. …

A Study On Human Evacuation Behavior Involving Individuals With Disabilities In A Building, Nirdosh Gaire

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The individuals with disabilities are disproportionately vulnerable to hazards. However, there is very little research inquiry focused on evacuation environments and the behavior of individuals with disabilities. The most widely applied computational method used to study how effective the built environment facilities emergency evacuations in individuals-based modeling. Current pedestrian evacuation models rarely include individuals with disabilities in their simulated populations due to there being very few empirical studies of the evacuation behavior of individuals with disabilities. As a result, the models do not replicate accurate patterns of pedestrian or evacuation behavior of a heterogeneous population, which results in the evacuation …

Platform Development And Path Following Controller Design For Full-Sized Vehicle Automation, Austin D. Costley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss the design and development of a platform used to automate a stock 2013 Ford Focus EV. The platform is low-cost and open-source to encourage collaboration and provide a starting point for fellow researchers to advance the work in the field of automated vehicle control. This thesis starts by discussing the process of obtaining control of the vehicle by taking advantage of internal communication protocols. The controller design process is detailed and a description of the components and software used to control the vehicle is provided. The automated system is tested and the …

A Survey And Performance Analysis Of Orbit Propagators For Leo, Geo, And Highly Elliptical Orbits, Simon P. Shuster

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

On-orbit targeting, guidance, and navigation relies on state vector propagation algorithms that must strike a balance between accuracy and computational efficiency. To better understand this balance, the relative position accuracy and computational requirements of numerical and analytical propagation methods are analyzed for a variety of orbits. For numerical propagation, several differential equation formulations (Cowell, Encke-time, Encke-beta, and Equinoctial Elements) are compared over a range of integration step sizes for a given set of perturbations and numerical integration methods. This comparison is repeated for two numerical integrators: a Runge-Kutta 4th order and a NLZD4/4. For analytical propagation, SGP4, which relies on …

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Tracking System With Out-Of-Sequence Measurement In A Discrete Time-Delayed Extended Kalman Filter, Roque Lora

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The goal of this thesis is to extend the delayed Kalman filter so it can be used with non-linear systems and that it can handle randomized delays on the measurements. In the particular case of this study, the filter is used to estimates the states of an unmanned aerial system. The outputs of the filter are used to point an antenna and a camera towards a UAS. Different scenarios are simulated for the purpose of comparing the efficiency of this technique in various situations.

Impact Of Using Spatially Distributed Soils Information On Flood Hydrograph Simulation With Hec-Hms, Matthew J. Nelson

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Hydrologic rainfall-runoff models employ numerical equations to simulate the soil absorption of rainfall and resulting runoff. A number of methods have been developed to model these processes, but the parameters used to define these methods can be difficult to directly measure due to the variable nature of soil properties. They often rely on estimation of hydraulic and hydrologic parameters and calibration to produce accurate results.

A challenge with runoff method parameterization is the need for oversimplification using a lumped modeling approach. While distributed hydrologic modeling techniques are now available, distributed runoff methods are limited in use due to the tradition …

Safer Sweep Auger Operation Using Robotics, Nathan A. Wulf

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis presents a remotely controlled robotic solution for those who must sometimes enter agriculturally confined spaces in attempts to assist with grain bin cleanout, particularly by manipulating the sweep auger. In 2015 alone, there were at least 47 documented incidents that occurred in agriculturally confined spaces, of which more than half were fatal. While there have been several advancements in the quality and effectiveness of sweep augers, there have been very few that offer the safety and adaptability of the robotic solution proposed. This robotic solution is a four-wheeled, skid-steering style robot with camera and lighting attachments that allow …

Peridynamic Models For Fatigue And Fracture In Isotropic And In Polycrystalline Materials, Guanfeng Zhang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

To improve design and reliability, extensive efforts has been devoted to understanding damage and failure of materials and structures using numerical simulation, as a complement of theory and experiment. In this thesis, peridynamics is adopted to study fatigue and dynamic failure problems.

Fatigue is a major failure mode in engineering structures. Predicting fracture/failure under cyclic loading is a challenging problem. Classical model cannot directly be applied to problems with discontinuities. A peridynamic model is adopted in this work because of important advantages of peridynamics in allowing autonomous crack initiation and propagation. A recently proposed peridynamic fatigue crack model is considered …

Applications Of Femtosecond Laser Processed Metallic Surfaces: Leidenfrost Point And Thermal Stability Of Rare Earth Oxide Coatings, Anton Charles Hassebrook

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this thesis, micro/nano structured surfaces were created through the use of Femtosecond Laser Surface Processing (FLSP). In the first part of the thesis, an experimental investigation of the effects of droplet diameters and fluid properties on the Leidenfrost temperature of polished and nano/microstructured surfaces has been carried out. Leidenfrost experiments were conducted on a stainless steel 304 polished surface and a stainless steel surface which was processed by a femtosecond laser to form Above Surface Growth (ASG) nano/microstructures. Surface preparation resulted in a root mean square roughness (R_rms) of 4.8 µm and 0.04 µm on the laser …

Development Of Peritoneal Microbubble Oxygenation As An Extrapulmonary Treatment For Hypoxia, Nathan Legband

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Patients affected by a respiratory disease or injury experience a substantially impaired respiratory system and as a consequence are unable to obtain a sufficient amount of oxygen. Hypoxia can quickly result in developing permanent tissue damage or death. Currently, the medical methods of treating hypoxia are mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. However, these treatments are ineffective in certain cases and possess significant additional risks including barotrauma, infection, hemorrhage, and thrombosis.

The extrapulmonary method of peritoneal oxygenation has been investigated by other research groups as a potential alternative to providing supplemental oxygen in hypoxic animals. In peritoneal oxygenation, the peritoneum, …

On The Wetting States Of Low Melting Point Metal Galinstan And Wetting Characteristics Of 3-Dimensional Nanostructured Fractal Surfaces, Ethan Allan Davis

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Exergy, or the availability of energy for useful work, is a critical issue that must be addressed to accommodate growing energy demands of society. Increasing population and steady advancement of technology necessitates novel approaches to the management, conversion, and storage of energy. Per the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, approximately 60 percent of the energy used by the United States in 2015 was rejected as waste [1]; a large quantity of which can be assumed to be in the form of heat. Therefore, novel thermal management methods for waste heat are critical to increasing energy efficiency and sustainability in the future. …

Near-Field Thermal Radiation For Solar Thermophotovoltaics And High Temperature Thermal Logic And Memory Applications, Mahmoud Elzouka

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation investigates Near-Field Thermal Radiation (NFTR) applied to MEMS-based concentrated solar thermophotovoltaics (STPV) energy conversion and thermal memory and logics. NFTR is the exchange of thermal radiation energy at nano/microscale; when separation between the hot and cold objects is less than dominant radiation wavelength (~1 μm). NFTR is particularly of interest to the above applications due to its high rate of energy transfer, exceeding the blackbody limit by orders of magnitude, and its strong dependence on separation gap size, surface nano/microstructure and material properties.

Concentrated STPV system converts solar radiation to electricity using heat as an intermediary through a …

Design And Validation Of An In Vivo Long-Term Attachment Capsule Robot, Wanchuan Xie

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The invention of capsule endoscopy (CE) made the non-invasive monitoring of the entire small bowel possible and became the primary means for diagnosing small bowel pathology. In the last decade, capsule robots have been transformed from diagnostic devices into a widely studied biomedical platform with the potential for active locomotion, drug delivery and therapeutic capabilities. To perform accurate on-site drug release and therapy, it is necessary for a capsule robot to be able to attach to the intestinal tissue and maintain its position long-term. Design challenges derive from the task of long-term mucosal adhesion which requires firm, quick-response attachment without …