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Usu Students Flourish In Society Of Women Engineers | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Utah State University’s student section of the Society of Women Engineers has expanded significantly since it first started in 1976.

Time-Of-Flight And Energy Loss Analysis On The Unm Fission Fragment Spectrometer, Shelby Fellows

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

The University of New Mexico spectrometer experimental work has been used to provide an event-by-event fission product measurement to aid in filling in the gaps in existing fission product yield data, as part of the Los Alamos National Lab Spectrometer for Ion Detection in Fission Research project (SPIDER) collaboration. This thesis examines the time-of-flight (TOF) component of the spectrometer towards improving the resolution of the system. Different thicknesses of TOF conversion foils were examined with alpha particles and fission fragments: 20, 55, and 100 µg/cm² carbon foils. For the thinnest carbon foil studied, a timing resolution of 160 ps …

Predicting Dry‐Season Flows With A Monthly Rainfall–Runoff Model: Performance For Gauged And Ungauged Catchments, Perrine Hamel, Andrew John Guswa, Jake Sahl, Lu Zhang

Engineering: Faculty Publications

Hydrologic models are useful to understand the effects of climate and land‐use changes on dry‐season flows. In practice, there is often a trade‐off between simplicity and accuracy, especially when resources for catchment management are scarce. Here, we evaluated the performance of a monthly rainfall–runoff model (dynamic water balance model, DWBM) for dry‐season flow prediction under climate and land‐use change. Using different methods with decreasing amounts of catchment information to set the four model parameters, we predicted dry‐season flow for 89 Australian catchments and verified model performance with an independent dataset of 641 catchments in the United States. For the Australian …

Distributed Manufacturing Of Flexible Products: Technical Feasibility And Economic Viability, Aubrey Woern, Joshua M. Pearce

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

Distributed manufacturing even at the household level is now well established with the combined use of open source designs and self-replicating rapid prototyper (RepRap) 3-D printers. Previous work has shown substantial economic consumer benefits for producing their own polymer products. Now flexible filaments are available at roughly 3-times the cost of more conventional 3-D printing materials. To provide some insight into the potential for flexible filament to be both technically feasible and economically viable for distributed digital manufacturing at the consumer level this study investigates 20 common flexible household products. The 3-D printed products were quantified by print time, electrical …

Investigation Of Ternary Binder Based Systems In Terms Of Calorimetry, Shrinkage And In-Situ Xrd, Anxhelina Qorllari, Elsa Qoku, Thomas A. Bier, Teuta Dilo

UBT International Conference

Ternary binders are defined in this study as compositions of Calcium Aluminate Cement (CAC), Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and Calcium Sulfate (CS̅). Several mixtures were studied, calorimetric and shrinkage technique has been used to follow the hydration during 24 hours. The XRD technique is used as support in the analysis of the hydration products. The results have shown that the initial amount of ��� and �� play a key role in the hydration of ��/���/�� mixtures and especially affect the formation of ettringite. The mechanism of reactions (hydration kinetic) and the reactions speed (acceleration or retardation) depends by the aggregates …

Reducing The Porosity And Sealing Cracks By Using Crystalline Admixture In Conventional Concrete, Visar Krelani, Liberato Ferrara

UBT International Conference

There is a continuous increase of quality on civil engineering materials in developed countries and parallel increase of need for new constructions in developing countries. Professional community should propose solutions for the durability that can resist in different severe environments. The most important factor that can affect concrete durability is represented by the pore distribution. Transport properties can take place through the porous network inside the cementitious composites and the aggregates interface, permitting the ingress of aggressive agents damaging concrete function intrinsically as a material and the wellfunctioning of the entire structure. The use of a crystalline admixture during the …

Using Of Proper Pavement Material For The Intersections With Slow-Moving Traffic, Bekim Selimi

UBT International Conference

Use of proper pavement material for some of intersections need special attention by road designers. At Camp Bondsteel-Kosovo on 2002 were built four road intersections using the concrete as pavement material. Heavy and slow-moving trucks that are turning or accelerating exposed these intersections to some of the highest stress level. After some years this intresections start deteriorating on their surface due to friction. The concrete pavements did not survive this period of usage and after eight years were removed and replaced with asphalt pavements. After more than seven years, the asphalt has shown minor distress but is still in good …

Developing A New Total Sediment Transport Formula, Davut Okeu, Sokol Xhafa, Sevdije Govori, Majlinda Daci

UBT International Conference

Sediment transport is one of the most powerful factor on river hydrology. It has vital importance for water engineering projects. There are many sediment transport formulas in the literature but most of them are derived from small data sets of natural rivers or experimental designs. Each formulation has its own restrictions, which depends on the original dataset of that study. None of them have gained universal acceptance. As a result, investigation towards the development of more accurate and simpler formulae is still necessary and should be continued.

The aim of this study is to derive a new total sediment load …

Heritage Under Pressure The Case Of The “Bypass” In Gjirokastra World Heritage Site Albania, Kreshnik Merxhani, Valmira Bozgo

UBT International Conference

The following article is an account presenting a professional movement opposing a planned and approved project for the construction of a new road known as the “Bypass”, which endangered the Historic Center of Gjirokastra. The project, consisted in the construction of a new road, with the initial aim of diverting automobile traffic from the Bazaar, turning it into a pedestrian zone. However after a few procedural problems were noted, it became clear that the project itself was not fulfilling its original aim, and further more posed a threat to the historical center. During the only public consultation session held for …

The Influence Of The Radius Of The Curve And The Lateral Slope On The Safety Of The Vehicle, Baxhuku Visar, Koca Odisea, Çekiçi Visar

UBT International Conference

The movement of the vehicle in a curve related to the construction of the road is expressed through the influence of the radius of the curve and the transversal inclination of the road. Two of these quantities are fixed quantities ever since the projection and then construction phase of the road. During the vehicle’s movement in the curve, their influence is shown through the critical slide velocity. This critical velocity is defined from the influence of the centrifugal force. For smaller values under critical velocity, this influence is expressed through the safety of the movement or the comfort of the …

Negative Impacts (Sbs) In Residential Buildings Case Studies From Kosovo, Muhamet Ahmeti, Mimoza Sylejmani

UBT International Conference

This paper presents the negative impacts on residential buildings in Kosovo, - as well as the main factors of the occurrence of sick building syndrome (SBS) in residential buildings in the case of Kosovo. It also examines the impact of different materials on this phenomenon and how many constructions in Kosovo are protected from this phenomenon.

For the assessment of the impact of materials on health and the environment, it is necessary to consider all the phases. Starting from the phase of construction, selection of materials, application from the beginning of the use of the building, including all the materials …

The Effect Of Particles Pm10 And Pm2.5 In Dust Emission Of Urban Infrastructure From Thermal Power Plant Technology Kosovo, Afrim Syla

UBT International Conference

Airborne particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 10 microns (referred to as PM10) is one of the six criteria pollutants used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as indicator of air quality. During the last decade, the health effects of urban aerosols have become a major concern for the society.

The main environmental problems in Kosovo include all issues related to water supply and sanitation system, air quality, solid waste management and urban infrastructure. The major problem remains high pollutions, energy losses and low collection efficiency. The awareness of environmental issues among the general public is poor. Air quality …

Seismic Actions Induced By Cladding Panels On Precast Concrete Frame Structures, Bruno Del Lago, Francesco Foti, Luca Martinelli

UBT International Conference

The strong earthquakes occurred in Southern Europe in the last decade pointed out a poor seismic performance of the connection system of the cladding of precast industrial structures. The cladding of these buildings usually consists of sandwich concrete panels of remarkable mass, connected to the frame structure with mechanical devices. The estimation of the out-of-plane seismic action on these connections is a key step for their correct proportioning. However, the formulation currently provided in the Eurocode 8 for the estimation of the seismic action on non-structural elements was calibrated with different objectives. Furthermore, given there is no in-plane structure-panel interaction, …

Capacity Design For R/C Structures According To En 1998-1:2004, Xhemshir Mulliqi

UBT International Conference

Capacity Design is a design process in which it is decided which objects within a structural system will be permitted to yield (ductile components) and which objects will remain elastic (brittle components). Material nonlinearity need only be modeled for ductile components, while components which will not yield need only consider elastic stiffness properties. In this design philosophy the capacity design approach that is currently used in practice demands strong column/weak beam frames or wall equivalent dual frames, with beam sway mechanisms, trying to involve plastic hinging at all beam ends.This paper aims to present Capacity design procedure for reinforced concrete …

P.M. 2.5 And Air Pollution In Prishtina, Rushiti Bardh, Futko Annea, Zeka Blin, Musliu Afete

UBT International Conference

High concentration of fine particles, the primary concern of worsening air pollution in Prishtina is believed to be fast paced economic and infrastructural growth in the capital of Kosova. This study is mainly focused on measuring the fluctuations of one constituent of air pollution, P.M. 2.5 (which are particles ranging from 2.5 to 10 micro-meters suspended into the environment). The measurements were done in Prishtina, mainly in the parts more frequented by people. Exposed to mixed combustion emission from roads with traffic, construction areas, and/or burning trash are a case of peculiar concern to people near those places. However, due …

Optimal Design Of Grillage Structures With Steel Crossed Beams Using Genetic Algorithms, Ersilio Tushaj, Niko Lako, Fatjon Saliu

UBT International Conference

The optimal problem in the structural design is an important issue in the engineering design. Various authors have analyzed the optimization of steel structures using algorithmic approaches. These techniques are generally grouped in deterministic or meta-heuristic techniques. From the introduction of structural optimization in the 1960’ up to now, various methods have been proposed. A genetic algorithm, is built and applied in this study using MatLab soft R2017a to a crossed beams system. The structural analysis is done with the direct stiffness method with constraints verification based on EuroCode 3:2005 criteria. Results are reported in the study.

Beam- Column Joints For R/C Structures According To En 1998-1:2004, Xhemshir Mulliqi

UBT International Conference

Joints are crucial zones for the transfer internal forces effectively between the connecting elements like beams and columns .The behaviour of reinforced concrete moment resisting frame structures in recent earthquakes all over the world has highlighted the consequences of poor performance of beam column joints. The basic requirement of design is that the joint must be stronger than the adjoining hinging members, usually the beams or columns. This paper aims to present design approach for Beam- Column joints for reinforced concrete (R/C) structures according to the EN 1998-1:2004.

The Effect Of Elevated Temperature On The Lightweight Concrete Containing Waste Pet Aggregate, Semiha Akçaözoğlu

UBT International Conference

In this study, the effect of waste PET as lightweight aggregate (WPLA) replacement with conventional aggregate on the some physical and mechanical properties and residual compressive strength of concrete was investigated. For this purpose, five different mixtures were prepared (the reference mixture and four WPLA mixtures including 30%, 40%, 50% and 60% waste PET aggregate by volume). The fresh and dry unit weights, compressive strengths, flexural-tensile strengths, water absorption and porosity ratios of the mixtures were measured. In addition the specimens exposed to elevated temperatures at 150, 300 and 450 °C and the residual compressive strengths were measured. Test results …

The Effect Of Fine Material Amount On Optimum Water Content Of Roller Compacted Concrete, Kubilay Akçaözoğlu, Bedrettin Menemencioğlu

UBT International Conference

In this study the effect of fine material amount on the optimum water content of roller compacted concrete (RCC) was investigated. The fine aggregate was replaced with calcite which maximum particle size was 63 μ, in amount of 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 10% and 14% by weight of total aggregate. Six different mixtures were prepared in the study. The optimum water contents of the mixtures were determined by using modified proctor test. Optimum water content, maximum dry unit weight and maximum fresh unit weight of produced specimens were measured. Optimum water content of specimens decreased depending on increasing fine aggregate …

Research On System Communication By Using Unified Registry Model & Elements, Kujtim Gashi, Atdhe Buja, Fatos Idrizi

UBT International Conference

Trends of Development of Information Society in the Republic of Kosovo must fit the criteria and standards of the EU. The main objective of the paper is the identification of individual IT systems used by the Republic of Kosovo public institutions related to the trade and working out analysis and recommendations for optimizing their communication (interoperability), eventual unification in the hardware & software level and increase the efficiency of the entire economic system information. The analytical analysis outlined these points, as it follows: current technologies used by public administration of the Republic of Kosovo, risk analysis, analysis of data structures …

Smia: Improving Kosovo's Education Management System, Lazar Adjijgogov, Dejan Stamenov, Edmond Jajaga

UBT International Conference

Successful management of today’s education systems requires effective policy-making and system monitoring through data and information. To this end, countries around the world have invested significant resources into collecting, processing, and managing more and better data through education management information systems (EMIS). SMIA is a modern EMIS, which offers easier management of educational process in Kosovo. It facilitates decision-making, resource planning, strategy building, monitoring and evaluation of educational system through a rich set of analytical and statistical tools. For over six years of activity, the system has efficiently tracked and thus helped the development of the educational process for every …

Superconductivity At Т≈200 K In Bismuth Cuprates Synthesized Using Solar Energy, J. Chigvinadze, Juana Acrivos, S. Ashimov, D. Gulamova, G. Donadze

Faculty Publications, Chemistry

When investigating low-frequency (0.1 Hz) oscillations of multiphase high-temperature cuprate superconductors (HTCS) Bi1,7Pb0,3Sr2Ca(n-1)CunOy (n=2-30), a wide attenuation peak (ΔT~100 К) with a maximum at Т≈200 К was detected. This peak was particularly pronounced in field cooling (FC) experiments, i.e. after abrupt cooling of the sample in the external magnetic field at the temperature Т<Тс with subsequent slow warming up to room temperature with invariance of the applied field. The attenuation peak height depended on the preliminaryorientation (before cooling) of the samples θ in the measured permanent magnetic field Н. On the one hand, it is well known that, after the FC procedure and subsequent slow warming up, at the temperatures close to the critical temperature Тс, the attenuation peak associated with “melting” of the Abrikosov frozen vortex structure and its disappearance at Т >Тс is detected in monophase samples. At the same time, in most multiphase bismuth HTCS samples, synthesized using solar energy and superfast quenching of the melt, the attenuation peak with the maximum at Т≈200 К was observed.Depending on the conditions of synthesis, the attenuation peak could …

Special Issue On Supercapacitors, Xiao-Gang Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

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Strategies To Enhance Energy Density For Supercapacitors, Jun-Wei Lang, Xu Zhang, Ru-Tao Wang, Xing-Bin Yan

Journal of Electrochemistry

The biggest advantage of supercapacitor lies in not only the excellent pulse and fast charging-discharging performance, but also the characteristics of long cycle life and wide operating temperature window with no pollution. However, the energy density of supercapacitor is low. In this paper, the working principle, the development status, defects and improvement method of supercapacitors are introduced. Based on the research workes of the supercapacitors with high energy density in our group, combined with the literature reports in recent years, the strategies to promote the energy density of supercarpacitors will be focused. The strategies for the enhancement of energy density …

Porous Carbon Materials Produced By Koh Activation For Supercapacitor Electrodes, Jiang-Lin Ye, Yan-Wu Zhu

Journal of Electrochemistry

Porous carbon materials with high specific surface area and excellent conductivity have wide applications in supercapacitor electrodes. Much effort has been made to synthesize and tailor the microstructures of porous carbon materials via various activation procedures (physical and chemical activations). In particular, the chemical activation using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as an activating reagent is promising because of the well-defined micropore size distribution and ultrahigh specific surface area up to 3000 m²·g^-1 of the resulting porous carbons. Based mainly on the previous works taken by the authors and collaborators in the field, we have summarized the activation mechanism …

Recent Advances On Carbon And Transition Metallic Compound Electrodes For High-Performance Supercapacitors, Dun Lin, Xi-Yue Zhang, Yin-Xiang Zeng, Ming-Hao Yu, Xi-Hong Lu, Ye-Xiang Tong

Journal of Electrochemistry

Supercapacitors (SCs) have stimulated intensive interests for their promising applications in electric vehicles and portable electronics, etc. Electrode material is the most important key component of SCs, which vastly determines the performance of SCs. Carbon and transition metallic compound materials have attracted considerable attention and been widely explored as electrode materials. However, the insufficient capacitance of carbon materials and unsatisfactory conductivity and cyclic stability of transition metallic compounds severely limit their implementation as robust SC electrodes. Herein, we highlight our recent efforts to boost the capacitive performance of carbon and metal oxide/nitride electrodes by rationally structural and componential design. The …

Lithium Ion Hybrid Capacitor With High Energy Density, Xian-Zhong Sun, Xiong Zhang, Kai Wang, Yan-Wei Ma

Journal of Electrochemistry

Lithium ion hybrid capacitors are electrochemical energy storage devices combining the advantages of both Li-ion battery and electrochemical capacitor. They can be extensively used in many fields. However, the commercialization of lithium ion hybrid capacitor has been encountered several problems, e.g., the device structure design, the screening of materials, the pre-lithiation process, and the interface between electrolyte and electrode, etc. This review summarizes the recent research advances in lithium ion hybrid capacitor with high energy density, including the selection of the active materials in cathode/anode and the separator, the pre-lithiation method using the three-electrode structure, the high- and low-temperature performances, …

Template Induced Fabrication Of Nitrogen Doped Carbon Sheets As Electrode Materials In Supercapacitors, Tao Huang, Guang-Zhi Tao, Chong-Qing Yang, Deng Lu, Lie Ma, Dong-Qing Wu

Journal of Electrochemistry

Due to the good electrical conductivity, high specific surface area, and excellent chemical/mechanical stability, carbon nanomaterials with two-dimensional morphology have gradually become the hot topic of the research on supercapacitors. Herein, we report for the first time the fabrication of nitrogen doped carbon sheets (NCSs). In our approach, the sheet-like magnisum aluminum (MgAl) layered double hydroxide was used as the hard template, which was mixed with o-phenylene diamine and iron chloride. The following thermal treatment could render the polymerization and carbonization of o-phenylene diamine. The NCSs with ordered hexagonal architectures were formed by final etching process of the thermally treated …

Preparation And Characterization Of Cellulose Acetate-Based Separator For Lithium-Ion Batteries, Hua-Feng Luo, Yuan-Dong Qiao

Journal of Electrochemistry

To improve the electrolyte wettability and thermal resistance of separators used for lithium-ion battery, a novel cellulose acetate (CA)-based separator is facilely prepared by non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) wet-process and investigated in lithium-ion batteries. Systematical investigations including morphological characterization, electrolyte wettability and thermal resistance testing were carried out. The results demonstrated that the CA-based separator exhibited well developed three-dimensional porous structures with porosity up to 65%, which is 1.5 times higher than that of PE separator. The CA separator also showed excellent electrolyte uptake (285%) and thermal stability at 150 ^oC for 30 min. Compared with the commercial …

Evaluation Of Physical - Chemical Contaminants In Lumbardhi River In Prizren For The Period May - June 2017, Gashi Sami, Bajmaku Ymerr, Besar Veseli, Drini Petrit

UBT International Conference

This paper covers the monitoring of water pollution in the river basin from the source to the White Drin flow monitoring the river flow both in the rural and urban areas of water quality. The biggest problem in environmental protection is the quality of surface water. The results from the analysis of the study will serve to know the pollution from these physical-chemical parameters and at the same time to manage the eco-status in order to prevent negative trends and create a desirable balancing of so important the ecosystem as it is the system consist of Lumbardhi River, with biodiversity …