Engineering Commons^™

Power Loss Comparison Of Dc Side And Ac Side Cascaded Modular Multilevel Inverters, Shahab Sajedi, Malabika Basu, Michael Farrell

Conference papers

High-voltage DC (HVDC) transmission systems

based on voltage source converter technology are increasingly being used for interconnecting power networks and for transporting energy from remote renewable energy sources. Modular multilevel converters (MMCs) are emerging as the technology of choice for future HVDC transmission systems. Several MMC topologies have been introduced for high power applications and among them the AC side and the DC side cascaded topologies have received most interest because of their high efficiency, low switching losses and good modularity. In high power applications, the efficiency of the converter is an important consideration. Hence it is essential converter power …

Assessment Of The Accuracy Of Cable Sheath Fault Location Device And Enhancement Of Its Performance, Niall Kennedy, Joseph Kearney, Tom Looby, Ciaran O'Leary

Conference papers

As power system networks are being constantly upgraded and extended, there is a greater importance in the reliable transmission of electrical power and fault finding techniques, especially for cables installed underground. Damage to a cable’s protective sheath can damage a cables life span and also lead to disruption of system operation and loss of supply. This study includes research into the literature and techniques used to locate these faults accurately. Bridge resistance and volt drop measurement techniques are the main methods used by sheath fault location devices to locate faults accurately. This task is made more difficult because such devices …

Review Of The Effectiveness Of Impulse Testing For The Evaluation Of Cable Insulation Quality And Recommendations For Quality Testing, Adrian Coughlan, Joseph Kearney, Tom Looby

Conference papers

Abstract— This project investigates impulse breakdown testing as a means of determining the as constructed standard of MV power cable. A literature survey is undertaken to elucidate the place of this test in an overall cable test regime and to determine the factors that impact on the performance of the test method. Testing was undertaken on ESB Networks cables to establish if a merit order ranking was feasible based on this test and to determine if the test could detect defects in the inner semiconducting layer. Based on this, conclusions and recommendations are made regarding the overall applicability and usefulness …

Data Driven Prediction Model (Ddpm) For Server Inlet Temperature Prediction In Raised-Floor Data Centers, Raymond Lloyd, Marek Rebow

Conference papers

Data centers account for approx. 1.4% of the world’s electricity consumption, of which up to 50% of that power is dedicated to keeping the actual equipment cool. This represents a huge opportunity to reduce data center energy consumption by tackling the cooling system operations with focus on thermal management. This work presents a novel Data Driven Predictive Model (DDPM) for temperature prediction of server inlet temperatures that utilises high resolution empirical temperature measurements from 52 real-life data centers. A knowledge-base of temperature data and related physical features, created via clustering techniques was used to train a series of artificial neural …

Proportional-Integral And Proportional-Resonant Based Control Strategy For Puc Inverters, Samet Biricik, Hasan Komurcugil

Conference papers

In this paper, a proportional-integral (PI) and proportional-resonant (PR) based control strategy is proposed for packed-U-cell (PUC) inverters. In the conventional PI-PI based control strategy, while the first PI regulates the DC capacitor voltage, the second PI regulates the AC load current. However, it is shown that the second PI cannot guarantee zero tracking error in the load current. The main reason of this comes from the fact that PI controllers are not able to achieve zero tracking error for the AC signals. Also, in an attempt to reduce the tracking error by tuning PI gains distorts the load current. …

A Machine Learning Management Model For Qoe Enhancement In Next-Generation Wireless Ecosystems, Eva Ibarrola, Mark Davis, Camille Voisin, Ciara Close, Leire Cristobo

Conference papers

Next-generation wireless ecosystems are expected to comprise heterogeneous technologies and diverse deployment scenarios. Ensuring a good quality of service (QoS) will be one of the major challenges of next-generation wireless systems on account of a variety of factors that are beyond the control of network and service providers. In this context, ITU-T is working on updating the various Recommendations related to QoS and users' quality of experience (QoE). Considering the ITU-T QoS framework, we propose a methodology to develop a global QoS management model for next-generation wireless ecosystems taking advantage of big data and machine learning. The results from a …

On Fixed Beamforming In Sectored Mmwave Ultra Dense Networks At 73ghz, Jasmina Mcmenamy, Haris Kremo, George A. Ropokis, Adam Narbudowicz

Conference papers

We investigate the use of fixed analogue transmit beamforming for downlink communication in millimetre-wave (mmWave) band ultra-dense networks (UDNs) at 73GHz. Our simulation study is based on 3D radiation patterns using a real design of large planar antenna arrays with different horizontal beamwidths and full characterisation of interference. The effects of network densification are captured through different ratios of the number of access points (APs) to the number of users. We quantify the system's performance by evaluating outage and achievable rate. The results show that users with rates around the mean benefit more from the densification than from narrowing the …

Iact Undergraduate Certificate In Applied Creativity (Year 1 - 2018), Brian Laduca

IACT Certificate Program

At the Institute of Applied Creativity for Transformation (IACT) at ArtStreet, we seek to empower a creatively confident 21st-century student with the ability to discover, invent and innovate ambiguous ideas through a disruptive design process that will impact today’s ever-changing global world regardless of degree focus.

IACT is home to the nation’s first undergraduate certificate in Applied Creativity for Transformation. Open to undergraduate students of any major, the certificate is a first step in achieving the University of Dayton’s vision of innovation, applied creativity, entrepreneurship and community engagement for the common good.

Zwitterionic Polymer For Drug Delivery Applications, Yang Lu

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the applications of zwitterionic polymer materials in drug delivery. In one project, zwitterionic polymer was used to construct micelle surfactants. The zwitterionic micelles were found to have an ultralow critical micelle concentration (CMC). Potential mechanism for zwitterionic micelles achieving the ultralow CMC property has been studied. Based on the ultralow CMC feature, zwitterionic micelles were used to prepare a formulation of commercial antitumor drug docetaxel, and the resulting formulation showed excellent antitumor performance. In another project, zwitterionic polymer was used to modify protein drug insulin via conjugation reaction. Compared with current protein modification methods, such as …

Study Of Mri Signal In The Presence Of Discrete Spherical Magnetic Particles, Paul Kokeny

Wayne State University Dissertations

Simulating signal behavior in Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI) is often a necessary step in being able to understand how signal relates to certain physiological parameters. One such parameter of interest in the body is magnetic susceptibility since it is related to iron content. The bulk magnetic susceptibility of an object is a property that describes how magnetized it becomes when placed in an external magnetic field. When the bulk susceptibility of an object arises from the presence of discrete magnetic inclusions, the MRI phase signal inside the object can no longer be determined analytically by assuming it has a continuous …

Stresses In The End Zones Of Precast Inverted T-Beams With Tapered Webs, Ravi Siddharth Raja

Wayne State University Theses

Short to medium span composite bridges constructed with adjacent precast inverted T-beams and cast-in-place topping are intended to provide more resiliency against reflective cracking and time dependent effects compared to voided slabs and adjacent box girder systems. This thesis investigates the stresses in the end zones of such a uniquely shaped precast element. The transfer of prestressing force creates vertical and horizontal tensile stresses in the end zones of the girder. A series of 3-D finite element analyses were performed to investigate the magnitude of these tensile stresses. Hoyer effect is captured by modelling the strands as solid elements and …

Development Of Sorption Technology For Extracting Rare Earth Elements From Coal Fly Ash, Bilal Syed

Research Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates (ROEU) Program 2017-18

Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are elements with many high tech uses (e.g., smartphones, electric cars, advanced weaponry) and have been identified by the DOE to be critical to the US economy. Currently, China supplies over 85% of REEs resulting in an undiversified market and susceptibility to supply shock and economic insecurity. To address this susceptibility, this research aims to develop an economic and environmentally-friendly method of extracting REEs from nascent, plentiful sources such as coal and coal by-products like fly ash.

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Biochar For Treating Wsu Parking Lot Runoff, Alan-Christian Thomas

Research Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates (ROEU) Program 2017-18

Various pollutants including pesticides, herbicides, automotive fluids, and excess nutrients from fertilizers are found in high concentrations in urban runoff. There are many technologies that can be used to control and redirect the water flow such as retention basins, constructed wetlands, and rain gardens; however, these methods are specifically focused on controlling water and not necessarily the nutrients and contaminants in the water. There has recently been an increased interest in the potential for using additional materials (e.g., compost, charcoal) to enhance the pollution treatment ability by either adding them to the soil or by engineering prefilters to remove pollutants …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Bioswales In Southeast Michigan, Grace Crowe

Research Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates (ROEU) Program 2017-18

Bioswales are modern storm water management structures that utilize biological components in a traditional wale to more effectively filter out contaminants. Because of its modern nature the installation and management practices for bioswales is still developing. Perfecting the practices surrounding bioswales in southeast Michigan environment can aid in the advancement of green infrastructure in the state. Wayne State installed a bioswale in one its parking lots in New Center with the help of the Detroit Biodiversity Network (DBN). We wanted to monitor the progression of this existing bioswale throughout the year, observing the system components effecting overall bioswale performance. The …

Optical Coherence Tomography Application To Alopecia In The Scalp, Elizabeth Melcher

Research Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates (ROEU) Program 2017-18

Alopecia is the loss of hair, whether it be from the scalp or other regions of the body. Current techniques used to best diagnose and track alopecia are often invasive, requiring a biopsy for results. The use of the OCT, or optical coherence tomography, could drastically improve a patient’s experience in undergoing a diagnosis while proving accurate results. The objective of this study is to develop diagnostic algorithms for the rapid, non-invasive diagnosis of alopecia with OCT. The first step is collecting OCT images of a healthy scalp to understand the anatomical structures with the imaging technique.

Cfd/Fea Of A Steam Methane Reforming Tube, Matthew Wegener

Research Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates (ROEU) Program 2017-18

Steam methane reforming is the primary method by which hydrogen is produced; increased efficiency in hydrogen production could enable hydrogen’s usage as an alternative fuel. The objectives of this project are to construct a robust CFD/FEA model of a steam methane reforming tube, and to perform CFD/FEA analysis in both steady and transient operational states, comparing thermal stresses/strains in the tube wall in the two states and relating tube stresses/strains to properties of the process controller.

Characterization Of Electroactive Nanofibers For Nerve Regeneration, Jean-Yves Azar

Research Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates (ROEU) Program 2017-18

In the event of peripheral nerve injury, loss of function may occur as the result of a severed nerve. Hollow nerve gap conduits are used to provide a protected environment for nerves to reconnect and regain function, although therapies for nerve gaps larger than 3 cm lack a stable environment for nerves to reconnect. Development of a nerve guide conduit filler has been proposed to mimic the cell’s microenvironment. This would lead to increased functional regeneration. We are aiming to create a biomaterial to act as a filler for the hollow nerve gap conduits to promote functional regeneration of the …

Design And Development Of An Emergency System For Children In A Hot Car At Risk Of Heatstroke, Nathan Kisha

Research Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates (ROEU) Program 2017-18

Since 1998, an average of 37 children have died every year due to heat-related deaths after being stuck in a vehicle, making it the leading cause of non-crash-related fatalities among children. This creates an opportunity to create a system which will be able to detect this danger and do something in order to prevent it. There are 4 main objectives for the system to be able to accomplish: 1) determine if the temperature in the car poses a risk, 2) use an alarm to provide a warning and wake up a sleeping child, 3) determine if someone is in the …

Developing Vascular Graft From Adipose-Derived Stem Cells, Ashley C. Apil

Research Opportunities for Engineering Undergraduates (ROEU) Program 2017-18

This project aims to differentiate adipose-derived stem cells into fibroblasts through the addition of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) into the culture media. Differentiation protocol will be optimized, then successful differentiation will be verified through PCR analysis. The ASC-fibroblasts will then be seeded into a ring construct as outlined by the protocol by Lam et al. The ring constructs will be tensile tested and analyzed through histology to characterize their strength and cellularity.

Examining A Hate Speech Corpus For Hate Speech Detection And Popularity Prediction, Filip Klubicka, Raquel Fernandez

Other resources

As research on hate speech becomes more and more relevant every day, most of it is still focused on hate speech detection. By attempting to replicate a hate speech detection experiment performed on an existing Twitter corpus annotated for hate speech, we highlight some issues that arise from doing research in the field of hate speech, which is essentially still in its infancy. We take a critical look at the training corpus in order to understand its biases, while also using it to venture beyond hate speech detection and investigate whether it can be used to shed light on other …

Fatigue And Damage Of Porcine Pars Interarticularis During Asymmetric Loading, Colin Bright, Stephen Tiernan, Fiona Mcevoy, Pat Kiely

Articles

If the articular facets of the vertebra grow in an asymmetric manner, the developed bone geometry causes an asymmetry of loading. When the loading environment is altered by way of increased activity, the likelihood of acquiring a stress fracture may be increased. The combination of geometric asymmetry and increased activity is hypothesised to be the precursor to the stress fracture under investigation in this study, spondylolysis. This vertebral defect is an acquired fracture with 7% prevalence in the paediatric population. This value increases to 21% among athletes who participate in hyperextension sports. Tests were carried out on porcine lumbar vertebrae, …

Electrochemical And Spectroscopic Study Of Peptide-Template Melanins, Daniel Courter, Olivia Rossi, Zhen Tian

Honors Theses and Capstones

Melanins are organic polymers made up of 5,6-dihydroxyindole carboxylic acid (DHICA) and 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI). Biochemical systems synthesize melanins through a complex reaction pathway. Previous research exhibited that naturally-occurring melanins (NatMel) and their synthetic analogues (SynMel) can potentially serve as electrode materials for aqueous charge storage devices. Small surface area creates technical challenges for these melanins as charge storage materials. This research herein demonstrates that the structure of melanins can affect the charge storage capacities of monovalent Na⁺cations and divalent Mg²⁺ cations. 2-D sheet-like peptide melanins (PepMel) were synthesized into tripeptides consisting of aspartic acid (D), phenylalanine (F), …

Data-Driven Predictive Framework For Modeling Complex Multi-Physics Engineering Applications, Arturo Schiaffino Bustamante

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Computational models are often encountered in multiple engineering application, such as structural design, material science, heat transfer and fluid dynamics. These simulations offer the engineers the capability of understanding complex physical situations before putting them to practice, either through experimentation or prototyping. The current advances in computational sciences, hardware architecture, software development and big data technology, have allowed the construction of sturdy predicting frameworks for analyzing a wide array of natural phenomena across different disciplines, either through the implementation of statistical methods, such as big data, and uncertainty quantification, or through high performance computing of a numerical model. The objective …

Parallelization And Scalability Analysis Of The \\[1pc] 3d Spatially Variant Lattice Algorithm, Henry Roger Moncada Lopez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to design a faster implementation of an algorithm to generate 3D spatially variant lattices (SVL) and improve its performance when it is running on a parallel computer system. The algorithm is used to synthesize a SVL for a periodic structure. The algorithm has the ability to spatially vary the unit cell, the orientation of the unit cells, lattice spacing, fill fraction, material composition, and lattice symmetry. The algorithm produces a lattice that is smooth, continuous and free of defects. The lattice spacing remains strikingly uniform even when the lattice is spatially varied. This is …

An Integrated Study Towards Curing Neurodegenerative Disorders Using Materials Science And Stem Cell-Based Tissue Engineering Approaches, Nishat Tasnim

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Neurodegenerative diseases affect around one billion people globally that are characterized by irreversible degeneration of brain tissues. These diseases cause serious effects on patients degrading their brain functions and causing enormous physical and mental health issues. Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorder affecting millions of people worldwide which results from loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the mid-brain. Unfortunately, no medical treatment is effective to date for these significant brain disorders, except some symptomatic therapies only focusing on improving the quality of patient's life.

Two current approaches hold great promise in targeting PD as well …

Surface Water Flooding, Groundwater Contamination, And Enteric Disease In Developed Countries: A Scoping Review Of Connections And Consequences, L. Andrade, J. O'Dwyer, E. O'Neill, Paul Hynds

Articles

Significant volumes of research over the past four decades has sought to elucidate the social, infrastructural, economic, and human health effects of climate change induced surface flooding. To date, epidemiological and public health studies of flooding events have focused on mental health effects, vector-borne diseases, and infectious enteric disease due to floodwater contact (i.e. typically low consumption rates). The inherent nature of groundwater (i.e. out of sight, out of mind) and the widely held belief that aquifers represent a pristine source of drinking water due to natural attenuation may represent the “perfect storm” causing direct consumption of relatively large volumes …

Problem-Based Learning: Student Perceptions Of Its Value In Developing Professional Skills For Engineering Practice, Una Beagon, Dervilla Niall, Eabhnat Ni Fhloinn

Articles

This study explores students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) design project, taken as part of a first-year engineering module, in developing professional skills needed for engineering practice. Students completed surveys before and after the PBL group project, and produced personal reflections on the process. The closed survey questions were analysed quantitatively and the main themes from the reflections outlined using General Inductive Analysis. Students rated themselves as having improved across a range of professional skills as a result of the project, with particular emphasis on teamwork, communication skills, understanding of the design process and self-directed learning. …

High Sensitivity Optical Fiber Sensors For Simultaneous Measurement Of Methanol And Ethanol, Dejun Liu, Rahul Kumarb, Fangfang Wei, Wei Han, Arun Kumar Mallik, Jinhui Yuanc, Shengpeng Wan, Xingdao He, Zhe Kange, Feng Li, Chongxiu Yu, Gerald Farrell, Yuliya Semenova, Qiang Wu

Articles

High sensitivity volatile organic compounds (VOCs) sensors based on a tapered small core single mode fiber (TSCSMF) and a microfiber coupler (MFC) are reported. The TSCSMF had a waist diameter of ~5.1 μm and the MFC had a waist diameter of ~1.9 μm each and both were fabricated using a customized microheater brushing technique. Silica based materials containing immobilized Nile red prepared by sol-gel method with two different recipes (recipe I and recipe II) are investigated. Initially recipe I based coating materials were applied to the surfaces of the TSCSMF and MFC. The experimental results show that the sensor based …

Investigation Of Temperature Dependence Of Microfibre Coil Resonators, Yu Yin, Jibo Yu, Yuxuan Jiang, Shi Li, Jing Ren, Gerald Farrell, Elfed Lewis, Pengfei Wang

Articles

The temperature-sensitive performance of a microfiber coil resonator (MCR) is thoroughly investigated. The MCR is fabricated by wrapping a microfiber on a PMMA rod coated with a UV-curable low refractive index epoxy. The temperature sensitivity is measured by investigating the correlation between the shift of the resonant wavelength and the surrounding temperature. It is determined that a range of parameters of the MCRs, including the gap between two adjacent rings, the diameter of the supporting rod, the number of rings, and the diameter of the microfiber, have a great influence on the temperature sensitivity of the MCRs. By optimizing the …

Investigation Of A Novel Sms Fiber Based Planar Multimode Waveguide And Its Sensing Performance, Xianfan Wang, Jiquan Zhang, Ke Tian, Shunbin Wang, Libo Yuan, Elfed Lewis, Gerald Farrell, Pengfei Wang

Articles

A novel, MMI-based all-fiber structure, which consists of two single-mode fibers and a multimode fiber polished on both sides, is described. The light propagation characteristics of this fiber structure, as well as its superior sensing performance, are analyzed theoretically by using the beam propagation method (BPM). This fiber structure demonstrates a significant spectral response to changes of the surrounding refractive index (RI), and the measured results exhibit good agreement with the predicted data. The measured average RI sensitivity is as high as 151.29 nm/RIU over an RI range from 1.3450 to 1.4050, when the polished depth is 30 µm on …