Engineering Commons^™

Differences Of Cycling Experiences And Perceptions Between E-Bike And Bicycle Users In The United States, Ziwen Ling, Christopher R. Cherry, John Macarthur, Jonathan X. Weinert

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

E-bikes are bicycles that provide pedal-assistance to aid people in cycling. Because of the potential of promoting sustainable transportation, more attention has been focused on the e-bike market. This paper investigates the differences of the cycling experience and perceptions between e-bike and conventional bicycle users, using samples drawn from independent bicycle dealer customers. A total of 806 respondents in the United States took the on-line survey, including 363 e-bike-owning respondents. The results show that e-bikes play a more important role in utilitarian travel, such as commuting and running errands, compared to a conventional bicycle. Conventional bicycle-owning respondents use their bicycles …

Reliability Of Micro Mechanical Low Frequency Energy Harvesters For Implanted Cardiac Pacemakers, Sunny Jay

Theses

The aim of this project was to develop methods to assess the suitability and reliability of silicon-based piezoelectric micro-electro-mechanicai systems (MEMS) energy harvesters to capture the kinetic energy of the heartbeat in an implanted cardiac pacemaker. The major challenges of the work were that harvesters for vibration frequencies below 100 Hz have not been widely reported and the system requires reliable operation over a long lifetime. In this work device modelling was used for harvester design assessment. Experimental test methods and equipment were developed to produce data to validate the device models and to assess device reliability. A 2D analytical …

The Impact Of Drone Technology In Surveying In Ireland: An Examination Of The Accuracy Level Of Drones., Eleni Zintiridou

Theses

Abstract The society that we are living in could unquestionably be characterised as a community of technology. One of the most recent technological inventions is the drone, of which the usage is expected to triple by 2020, worldwide. Through the development and increasing popularity of the drones, the ability of latter to affect the surveying industry in Ireland has become a contemporary subject of study in the field of surveying, which is, however, in its infant stage. The presented dissertation is dealing with the ability of drones to impact the way that surveys are being conducted in Ireland, and also …

Development Of A Novel Kalman Filter Bank Predictor To Optimally Schedule The Renewable Energy Contribution Within A Micro-Grid, Conor Lynch

Theses

This PhD thesis presents a novel Kalman Filter Bank (KFB) methodology. The novel KFB is applied to predict and optimally schedule the operation of micro-grid energy resources with a public fixed-grid connection and an auxiliary battery storage backup facility. This methodology relies on a sliding single time step forecast projection to accurately acquire the anticipated schedule for a range of time dependent parameters, stochastic by nature, that have inherent embedded cyclical patterns. The innovative feature here consists of a novel bank of hourly adjacent Kalman Filter estimators, which operate in synchronism, for accurate parameter prediction over a selected time horizon. …

Development Of A Dynamic Cfd Model For Offshore Oscillating Water Columns With Non-Linear Interactions, Ken O'Connell

Theses

This thesis focuses on the development of a state of the art modelling technique for offshore Oscillating Water Column (OWC) type Wave Energy Converters (WEC) using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Current literature indicates a limited amount of work has been completed on studying these devices containing non-linear time dependent flow phenomenon. Initially, a 2D Numerical Wave Tank (NWT) is studied to reduce discretisation error in order to reproduce accurately propagating waves. Further development into a 3D domain permits the geometrical requirements of an OWC type spar buoy to be included.

In parallel, a single Degree of Freedom (DOF) model is …

Development & Validation Of An Improved Biomechanical Model For Motion Analysis, Darren Dawson

Theses

Three dimensional motion analysis systems are utilised across a number of different disciplines, including clinical gait analysis, sports performance studies and analysis of tasks of daily living. These systems utilise biomechanical models which define body segment coordinate systems and calculate kinematic and kinetic relationships about the joints between adjacent coordinate systems. In this study, a biomechanical model for general use in motion analysis was developed and validated. It was designed to improve upon the accuracy and capability of currently available models. The newly developed model utilises state of the art techniques to accurately define body segment coordinate systems. Accurate predictive …

Semiconductor Materials And Devices For 2 Micron Generation, Dzianis Saladukha

Theses

In the last century, semiconductor research has led to significant changes in the fields of communication, medicine, the environment, and many others. Semiconductor devices provide a relatively simple and effective way to convert electrical energy to light and vice versa. Devices based on semiconductor materials of various kinds provide interaction of an electromagnetic signal in the range of wavelengths with a medium. Examples of such devices are LED lamps, photovoltaic cells, thermometers, gas sensors, cameras, and many others. The study of various semiconductors broadens the range of application of photonics. This work is based on the study of materials which …

A Quartz Crystal Microbalance Study Of Thiol:Ene Poly(Ionic Liquid) Polymerization And Gas Absorption, Yueming Wu

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The polymerization process of, and gas absorption by, imidazolium-containing thiol:ene poly (ionic liquid)s (PILs), prepared from bisallylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethyl sulfonyl)imide [NTf₂^-] and pentaerythritoltetrakis(3 mercaptopropionate), was studied. The thiol:ene PILs examined were recently reported by groups at Murray State University. The advantage of thiol:ene PILs over other reported PILs is that thiol:ene polymers are made rapidly by UV exposure and exhibit high mechanical and thermal stability due to high cross-linking. The properties of interest for the thiol:ene PILs were studied using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). QCM techniques are based on the piezoelectric effect, where certain crystals (e.g., …

Microfluidic Enhanced Fabry-Perot Etalon Based Optical Biosensor For The Detection Of Biological Substances In Liquid With Refractive Index Measurement, Nezam Uddin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A new microfluidic optical biosensor was demonstrated for refractive index measurements with high sensitivity and accuracy in the range of few micrometers liquid channels utilizing a Fabry-Perot cavity formed between two reflective semitransparent surfaces. The transmitted light through the cavity forms interference peaks in the transmission spectrum which is dependent upon the refractive index of the fluid in the microfluidic channel. We demonstrate the biosensor using Fabry-Perot to provide high accuracy and sensitivity with real-time measurement. The sensor can resolve refractive index changes with the shift of peak wavelength of transmitted spectrum. In our Fabry- Perot etalon based biosensor, two …

Identification, Calculation And Warning Of Horizontal Curves For Low-Volume Two-Lane Roadways Using Smartphone Sensors, Shaohu Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Smartphones and other portable personal devices that integrate global positioning systems, Bluetooth Low Energy, and advanced computing technologies have become more accessible due to affordable prices, product innovation, and people’s desire to be connected. As more people own these devices, there are greater opportunities for data acquisition in Intelligent Transportation Systems, and for vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. Horizontal curves are a common factor in the number of observed roadway crashes. Identifying locations and geometric characteristics of the horizontal curves plays a critical role in crash prediction and prevention, and timely curve warnings save lives. However, most states in the US face a …

Control Of Pore Characteristics Of Porous Silicon Using Non-Toxic Electrochemical Etching For Photovoltaics And Supercapacitor Applications, Utpal Saha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Porous silicon has exhibited lower reflectance and higher surface area than the pristine silicon. This property of porous silicon can be applied to photovoltaic (PV) application for more efficient silicon solar cells and for higher performance of supercapacitors. NH4Fl electrolytic etching solution has been used to fabricate porous silicon, but the control of pore morphology of silicon is achieved only by controlling the time. Therefore, it is urgently required to use other etching parameters such as voltage and current to achieve flexible control of pore properties. Porous silicon can also be used to fabricate supercapacitors. An established approach to make …

Worldwide Optimal Pics Search, Ruchira Tabassum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pseudo Invariant Calibration Sites (PICS) have proven to be a dependable calibration source for determining degradation of visible and infrared sensor response due to their temporal stability and spatial uniformity. One limit of PICS is that only a handful have been identified, primarily in desert areas of North Africa, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere. A large number of PICS would not only facilitate calibration of existing and future sensors, but also provide an alternative to internal on-board calibrator data, resulting in significant cost savings and simplification in sensor design. As a result, the process to efficiently identify additional PICS is highly …

Development Of Highly Sensitive And Selective Breathing Sensors Using Molecular Imprinted Filtering For Diabetic And Alcoholic Patients, Md. Saleh Akram Bhuiyan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wellness sensor technology is an emerging diagnostic test research field, which mostly deal with the point of care of the patients in the recent days. Due to the lack of awareness from the patients, most diseases cannot be detected in due time. This led to worse conditions, such as diabetic and alcoholic syndrome. Therefore, many research groups have been working to develop portable sensor devices that can track serious diseases. These include diabetic and alcoholic biomarkers in breathing. These devices have very high selectivity and reliability. However, the major limitation of biomarkers is that it deals with the bio-molecular based …

Modeling Streamflow And Water Quality Impacts Of Grassland Establishment, Conversion, And Management In Skunk Creek Watershed, Jiyeong Hong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Grassland is a valuable natural resource with many environmental benefits, which include erosion control, wildlife habitat promotion, water quality protection, and flood prevention. Conversion of grassland to cultivated cropland has been linked to environmental quality concerns. The goal of this study was to model the impacts of grassland establishment, depletion, and management on hydrology and water quality in Skunk Creek watershed in eastern South Dakota. The specific objectives are to quantify the impacts of grassland conversion and selected management regimes on streamflow and water quality, and explore the optimum grassland establishment location within a watershed to achieve water quality benefits. …

Bio Inspired Lightweight Composite Material Design For 3d Printing, Kaushik Thiyagarajan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lightweight material design is an indispensable subject in product design. The lightweight material design has high strength to weight ratio which becomes a huge attraction and an area of exploration for the researchers as its application is wide and increasing even in every day-to-day product. Lightweight composite material design is achieved by selection of the cellular structure and its optimization. Cellular structure is used as it has wide multifunctional properties in addition to the lightweight characteristics. Applications of light weight cellular structures are wide and is witnessed in all industries from aerospace to automotive, construction to product design. In this …

Using Remote Sensing To Estimate Crop Water Use To Improve Irrigation Water Management, Arturo Reyes-Gonzalez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Irrigation water is scarce. Hence, accurate estimation of crop water use is necessary for proper irrigation managements and water conservation. Satellite-based remote sensing is a tool that can estimate crop water use efficiently. Several models have been developed to estimate crop water requirement or actual evapotranspiration (ETa) using remote sensing. One of them is the Mapping EvapoTranspiration at High Resolution using Internalized Calibration (METRIC) model. This model has been compared with other methods for ET estimations including weighing lysimeters, pan evaporation, Bowen Ratio Energy Balance System (BREBS), Eddy Covariance (EC), and sap flow. However, comparison of METRIC model outputs to …

Enhanced Breast Cancer Classification With Automatic Thresholding Using Support Vector Machine And Harris Corner Detection, Mohammad Taheri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Image classification and extracting the characteristics of a tumor are the powerful tools in medical science. In case of breast cancer medical treatment, the breast cancer classification methods can be used to classify input images as benign and malignant classes for better diagnoses and earlier detection with breast tumors. However, classification process can be challenging because of the existence of noise in the images, and complicated structures of the image. Manual classification of the images is timeconsuming, and need to be done only by medical experts. Hence using an automated medical image classification tool is useful and necessary. In addition, …

Adaptive Audio Classification Framework For In-Vehicle Environment With Dynamic Noise Characteristics, Haitham Alsaadan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With ever-increasing number of car-mounted electric devices that are accessed, managed, and controlled with smartphones, car apps are becoming an important part of the automotive industry. Audio classification is one of the key components of car apps as a front-end technology to enable human-app interactions. Existing approaches for audio classification, however, fall short as the unique and time-varying audio characteristics of car environments are not appropriately taken into account. Leveraging recent advances in mobile sensing technology that allows for an active and accurate driving environment detection, in this thesis, we develop an audio classification framework for mobile apps that categorizes …

Cathode Interface Engineering For High Performance Planar Perovskite Solar Cells, Md Nazmul Hasan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have already improved their power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 3.9% to ~22.1% at present. This demonstrated that PSCs can be a promising alternative to conventional silicon solar cells. PSCs have been marked as one of the most favorable next-generation solar cells due to their high extinction coefficient, broad light absorption range and ambipolar charge transport properties, low production cost, and simple fabrication processing. Various device architectures have been designed and investigated for constructing high performance PSCs consisting of different electron transport layers (ETL) and hole transport layers (HTL). In general, PSCs are fabricated in …

Intelligent Learning Control System Design Based On Adaptive Dynamic Programming, Naresh Malla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) controller is a powerful neural network based control technique that has been investigated, designed, and tested in a wide range of applications for solving optimal control problems in complex systems. The performance of ADP controller is usually obtained by long training periods because the data usage efficiency is low as it discards the samples once used. Experience replay is a powerful technique showing potential to accelerate the training process of learning and control. However, its existing design can not be directly used for model-free ADP design, because it focuses on the forward temporal difference (TD) information …

Impact Of Subsurface Drainage On Water Yield For Typical Soil And Weather In Eastern South Dakota, Govinda Karki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Subsurface drainage in agricultural land changes the field water balance by providing an alternate pathway for subsurface water. Determining the effects of subsurface drainage on downstream hydrology requires quantifying the components of the water balance. A number of studies have looked at the hydrological impacts of subsurface drainage. However, the effects are complex and difficult to generalize. The complex interaction involves the interrelation among variables such as soil type and properties, climate (rainfall and evapotranspiration), and drainage design configuration (drainage intensity and drainage coefficient), which all are local in nature. Additionally, most studies have been conducted in humid climates, whereas …

Monopile Foundation Offshore Wind Turbine Simulation And Retrofitting, William A. Schaffer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Offshore wind turbines (OWT) provide a renewable source of energy with great proximity to many large cities. This has caused a major increase in OWT development and implementation, primarily in Europe, but spreading throughout the world. There are a multitude of different foundation options, each with their own benefits. The most common types are: monopile, jacket, TLP, Semi-Submersible, and SPAR. The monopile foundation OWT has been proven to be the most economic selection for water depths up to approximately 25m. This thesis has analyzed strictly monopile foundations due to their previous success and popularity. Three different chapters have been created …

Advanced Carbon Materials Based Electrodes For High Performance Symmetric Supercapacitors, Keliang Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Supercapacitors have received considerable attention due to their high energy density, long life time, rapid charge/discharge rate, and because they are environmental friendly technology. Electrode materials play a key role in the final performance of supercapacitors. Carbon, usually used as symmetric supercapacitors electrode materials, exhibit extraordinary stability in harsh electrolyte and electrochemical performance owing to its physical and chemical properties. In addition, porous structure originated from activation, excellent electrical conductivity, sustainability, wide availability and low cost further offering the improvement in electrochemical performance and make it to be a promising electrode material for symmetric supercapacitors. Considering the factors affected electrochemical …

Rehabilitation Of Longitudinal Joints In Double-Tee Girder Bridges, Lucas Michael Bohn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prefabricated bridge elements have become an essential part of accelerated bridge construction (ABC), which is an emerging technology to expedite bridge construction. Among several bridge girder types, precast double-tee girders are common on county bridges in South Dakota because of the ease of construction, the reduced construction time, and the potentially lower overall cost. However, the longitudinal joints of these bridges are rapidly deteriorating with many needing replacement before the expected 75- year service life. Research was conducted at South Dakota State University (SDSU) to develop, construct, and evaluate the performance of rehabilitation methods on this type of bridge. Current …

Electrochemical Sensor For Metal Ions And Phosphate Ion Detection For Biomedical And Agriculture Application, Md Faisal Kabir

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this work was to develop electrochemical sensors for heavy metal ions (e.g., Cd²⁺, Hg²⁺, Pb²⁺) and phosphate detections in fertilizers with high sensitivity, high detection range, repeatability and portability. The heavy metal electrochemical sensors were made using novel graphene oxide/silver nanowire (GO/AgNWs) composite as working electrode. The phosphate electrochemical sensors were fabricated using ammonium molybdate tetrahydrate/silver nanowires (AMT/AgNWs) modified screen printed electrode. Most of the heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, and arsenic have dangerous effects on human body. These ions can enter human body system via agriculture food chain …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Carbon Doped Tio2 Photocatalysts Supported On Stainless Steel Mesh By Sol-Gel Method, J. O. Tijani, O. O. Fatoba, T. C. Totito, W. D. Roos, L. F. Petrik

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study synthesized pure anatase carbon doped TiO₂ photocatalysts supported on a stainless-steel mesh using a sol-gel solution of 8% polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/dimethylformamide (DMF)/TiCl4. The influence of the pyrolysis temperature and holding time on the morphological characteristics, particle sizes and surface area of the prepared catalyst was investigated. The prepared catalysts were characterized by several analytical methods: high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The XRD patterns showed that the supported TiO2 nanocrystals are typically anatase, polycrystalline and body-centered tetragonal in structure. The EDS and XPS results …

Retarding Field Energy Analyzer For High Energy Pulsed Electron Beam Measurements, J. Hu, Joshua L. Rovey, W. Zhao

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Green Synthesis Of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles In Aqueous Medium As A Potential Efficient Catalyst For Catalysis Applications, Waad Mohsen, M. A. Sadek, Hany A. Elazab

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this research, we have developed a reliable green method for the synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles as a potential efficient catalyst for several catalysis applications. In our experimental approach, microwave-assisted synthesis technique was used in order to perform chemical reduction of copper salt using hydrazine hydrate as a strong reducing agent. The prepared catalyst was characterized using various techniques showing the formation of well dispersed copper oxide nanoparticles. The synthesized Copper oxide catalyst shows many advantages including the use of environmentally benign solvent systems, green synthetic approach, and mild reaction conditions.

Resilient Control Of Active-Passive Networked Multiagent Systems In The Presence Of Persistent Disturbances, Dzung Tran, Tansel Yucelen, John Daniel Peterson

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An active-passive networked multiagent system consists of agents subject to inputs (active agents) and agents without any inputs (passive agents). Specifically, this class of networked multiagent systems utilizes a novel form of dynamic consensus filters, where the states of all agents converge to the average of the exogenous inputs applied only to the active agents, and it has broad practical applications including, for example, real-time situational awareness and data gathering using sensor networks and distributed control of multirobot systems. In this paper, we focus on active-passive networked multiagent systems that are subject to constant and/or harmonic exogenous disturbances. In particular, …

Robust Airfoil Design Optimization Using Stochastic Expansions And Utility Theory, Xiaosong Du, Leifur Leifsson, Slawomir Koziel

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Efficient and effective robust airfoil design optimization is proposed by integrating stochastic expansions and utility theory. In this work, the stochastic expansions are generated efficiently using non-intrusive polynomial chaos (NIPC) expansions. The robust design problem is formulated using utility functions which transfer a targeted response using a prescribed mathematical function to represent the designers' risk preferences. The proposed approach is demonstrated using examples of lift-constrained airfoil drag minimization in transonic viscous flow using the Mach number as an uncertain variable in the range of 0.70 to 0.75. The results are compared with the common problem formulation for robust design of …