Engineering Commons^™

Displacement Derived Energy Levels For Harvard Miniature Compaction, Ana Laura Errigo, Julia Loshelder

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Previously, the amount of energy provided by the Harvard Miniature tamper was adjusted by changing the number of blows per lift or the number of lifts or was not adjusted at all. However, this research was conducted to investigate the effect of adjusting the displacement of the spring (increased or decreased) to change the potential energy of the spring and therefore change the compacive effort with a specific type of soil. Thus, the objective was to match the compaction energies using the Harvard miniature method with the compaction energies obtained using the Proctor method. Specifically, the goal was to show …

Development Of A Ground-Based Aerial-Tracking Instrument For Open-Path Spectroscopy To Monitor Atmospheric Constituents, Haden Hodges

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

A ground-based aerial-tracking instrument, known as the Ground Tracker, designed to provide spectral data to quantify greenhouse gases is under development. The Ground Tracker includes an Optical System including a high power rifle scope, video camera, and spectrometer used to locate an active light source from the Emitter, and collect spectral data by utilizing an actuating mirror. The implementation of this instrument could be made low cost by utilizing existing weather balloon infrastructure to allow the Emitter to be placed into the lower stratosphere. The recovery of the emitter will be possible by tracking the GPS coordinates. Weather balloon instrument …

Action Recognition In Manufacturing Assembly Using Multimodal Sensor Fusion, Md. Al-Amin, Wenjin Tao, David Doell, Ravon Lingard, Zhaozheng Yin, Ming-Chuan Leu, Ruwen Qin

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Production innovations are occurring faster than ever. Manufacturing workers thus need to frequently learn new methods and skills. In fast changing, largely uncertain production systems, manufacturers with the ability to comprehend workers' behavior and assess their operation performance in near real-time will achieve better performance than peers. Action recognition can serve this purpose. Despite that human action recognition has been an active field of study in machine learning, limited work has been done for recognizing worker actions in performing manufacturing tasks that involve complex, intricate operations. Using data captured by one sensor or a single type of sensor to recognize …

On The Role Of Sidewalls In The Transition From Straight To Sinuous Bedforms, ‪Nadim Zgheib, S. Balachandar

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

We present results from direct numerical simulation on the transition from straight-crested to sinuous-crested bedforms. The numerical setup is representative of turbulent open channel flow over an erodible sediment bed at a shear Reynolds number of Reτ = 180. The immersed boundary method accounts for the presence of the bed. The simulations are two-way coupled such that the turbulent flow can erode and modify the bed, and in turn, the bed modifies the overlying flow. Coupling from the flow to the bed occurs through the Exner equation, while back coupling from the bed to the flow is achieved by …

Energy Harvesting Techniques To Power Onboard Railway Bearing Condition Monitoring Systems, Jacob Nathaniel Bensen

Theses and Dissertations

Limitations of the standard wayside hotbox detection system as a method to identify failing railway bearings severely inhibit the reliability and safety of rail transport. An onboard bearing condition monitoring system would address and ameliorate the issues present in the current detection system. The onboard system would provide more frequent and reliable information regarding bearing condition. For the system to succeed in reducing maintenance time and preventing bearing failure, a method of providing the system with sufficient energy to power its instrumentation is necessary. The instrumentation location environment poses a significant challenge. The device must be placed on the steel …

Evaluating Machine Learning Performance In Predicting Injury Severity In Agribusiness Industries, Fatemeh Davoudi Kakhki, Steven Freeman, Gretchen Mosher

Faculty Publications

Although machine learning methods have been used as an outcome prediction tool in many fields, their utilization in predicting incident outcome in occupational safety is relatively new. This study tests the performance of machine learning techniques in modeling and predicting occupational incidents severity with respect to accessible information of injured workers in agribusiness industries using workers’ compensation claims. More than 33,000 incidents within agribusiness industries in the Midwest of the United States for 2008–2016 were analyzed. The total cost of incidents was extracted and classified from workers’ compensation claims. Supervised machine learning algorithms for classification (support vector machines with linear, …

Iot Ignorance Is Digital Forensics Research Bliss: A Survey To Understand Iot Forensics Definitions, Challenges And Future Research Directions, Tina Wu, Frank Breitinger, Ibrahim Baggili

Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

Interactions with IoT devices generates vast amounts of personal data that can be used as a source of evidence in digital investigations. Currently, there are many challenges in IoT forensics such as the difficulty in acquiring and analysing IoT data/devices and the lack IoT forensic tools. Besides technical challenges, there are many concepts in IoT forensics that have yet to be explored such as definitions, experience and capability in the analysis of IoT data/devices and current/future challenges. A deeper understanding of these various concepts will help progress the field. To achieve this goal, we conducted a survey which received 70 …

Improving The Single Event Effect Response Of Triple Modular Redundancy On Sram Fpgas Through Placement And Routing, Matthew Joel Cannon

Theses and Dissertations

Triple modular redundancy (TMR) with repair is commonly used to improve the reliability of systems. TMR is often employed for circuits implemented on field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to mitigate the radiation effects of single event upsets (SEUs). This has proven to be an effective technique by improving a circuit's sensitive cross-section by up to 100x. However, testing has shown that the improvement offered by TMR is limited by upsets in single configuration bits that cause TMR to fail.This work proposes a variety of mitigation techniques that improve the effectiveness of TMR on FPGAs. These mitigation techniques can alter the …

Development Of A Novel Bioprinting System:Bioprinter, Bioink, Characterizationand Optimization, Chandler Alan Warr

Theses and Dissertations

The use of 3D printing in biological applications is a new field of study given that 3D printing technology has become more available and user friendly. Possible uses include using existing 3D printing polymers to use in extracorporeal or in vitro devices, like Lab-on-a-Chip, and the development of new biologically derived materials to print cell-containing constructs. The latter concept is what is more commonly known as bioprinting. Our research had the goal of developing a bioprinting system including the printer, a bioink, and a feedback system for printing parameter optimization which could be done cheaply and within the reach of …

Probabilistic Analysis Of Slide-Rocking Structures Under Earthquake Loads, Taylor J. Knickerbocker

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

Estimates of rare seismic hazard are essential for the resilience of critical infrastructure and facilities. However, these estimates are highly uncertain at long return periods due to the lack of observed earthquake records. Several ground motion prediction equations have been proposed to close this gap and estimate rare seismic demands; however, these models were developed based on more moderate earthquake records and can yield physically unrealizable ground motions when extrapolated to long return periods. For this reason, seismologists have proposed using precariously balanced rocks (PBRs) as a way to constrain rare seismic hazard. PBRs are a type of fragile geologic …

Design And Evaluation Of Sensor Housing For Atmospheric Boundary Layer Profiling Using Multirotors, Ashraful Islam

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

Traditional configurations for mounting Temperature–Humidity (TH) sensors on multirotor Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) often suffer from insufficient radiation shielding, exposure to mixed and turbulent air from propellers, and inconsistent aspiration while situated in the wake of the UAS. Consequently, atmospheric boundary layer profiles that rely on such configurations are bias-prone and unreliable in descent. This thesis describes the evolution of a novel sensor housing design over three iterations. The sensor housing is designed to shield airborne sensors from artificial heat sources and artificial wet-bulbing while pulling air from outside the rotor wash influence. The housing is mounted above the propellers …

Measuring Risks Of Interdependencies In Enterprise Systems: An Application To Ghana’S Salt Enterprise, Yaw Mensah

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation describes the use of Functional Dependency Network Analysis (FDNA) for modeling risks resulting from dependencies among elements of enterprise systems with application to salt processing enterprise in Ghana. FDNA was developed to model dependencies among members of enterprise systems by highlighting two dimensions of dependency: strength and criticality. Nonetheless, the concepts and analytics for these two dimensions of dependencies needed further development and generalization in the context of project management and systems development in developing countries.

Managing risks within the interdependency in enterprise systems through integration will help improve global economic growth. Coherent theory for enterprise integration must …

Varying Class Schedules And Learning Effectiveness At Far Part 147 Aviation Maintenance Training Schools (Amts), Kristen Hammer

Student Works

Of the three learning styles, kinesthetic (hands-on) learning is the most common for individuals (Dinkel, 2011). This is especially relevant for people who work in technical, skill-based fields, such as aircraft maintenance. The hands-on learning style, coupled with a job that requires a great depth of systems knowledge, tool, equipment, and component manipulation, and a multitude of other physical job-related skills, requires that the student maximize his or her knowledge and skill retention while in training. The purpose of this research was to determine if FAR Part 147 Aviation Maintenance Technician School (AMTS) students would achieve more success, as measured …

Digital Marketing In The Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning Age, Z. Ruan, Keng Siau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We are living in a period of profound change driven by digitization, information and communication technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics (Gupta, Keen, Shah, and Verdier, 2017; Wang and Siau, 2019). Traditional marketing is shifting to digital marketing enabled by AI and machine learning. Customer consumption behavior has changed from traditional in-store shopping to online shopping (Thiraviyam, 2018). The large volume of transaction and demographic data enables business analytics, AI, and machine learning to analyze and predict customer behavior to improve customer satisfaction and enhance sales (Siau and Wang, 2018). For example, predictive analytics uses different algorithms to predict …

Control Of Infectious Diseases In A Metapopulation, Ceyda Best

All Dissertations

With the motivation of the complex infectious disease control problem, we provide two different approaches to model the resource allocation problem to control an epidemic in a metapopulation. All of our models utilize a detailed stochastic simulation model that is validated with the data from the 2014 Ebola epidemic. This simulation model provides a tool for comparing the performance of different policies.

The first model defines a dynamic allocation problem, which is modeled by a Markov Decision Process, and aims to find feasible and effective quarantine policies to control an epidemic with limited resources. We assume that the populations share …

Radiation Pattern Reconfigurable Horn Antenna Based On Parasitic Layer Concept, Mehmet Tanagardi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In recent years, multi-functional reconfigurable antennas (MRA) has attracted much attention in wireless communication. The reconfigurable antenna can adapt itself with changing system conditions, and it can provide different multi-functionalities which can give better system performances. Instead of using multiple antennas, a single reconfigurable antenna can provide the same performance and occupy less space. By using the parasitic layer technique, an antenna can be turned into a reconfigurable antenna. The main objective of this thesis is to study radiation pattern reconfiguration of the horn antenna by using the parasitic layer concept. The MRA consists of a single horn, dielectric loaded …

Full-Pose Estimation And Tracking Control For A Multi-Rotor Aircraft Package Exchange, Trent P. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In this work, research to develop algorithms for a package exchange maneuver between two quad-rotor aircraft is presented. First, the development of tools used for this research is discussed. Second, a controller is designed that synchronizes the flight paths and motion of two quad-rotor robots. The controller is used to guide a designated follower quad-rotor to follow a leader aircraft’s position and orientation. The follower aircraft is equipped with a simple mechanical manipulator to compensate for limitations in the aircrafts maneuverability. finally, a sensor architecture study for relative navigation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) is presented. The architecture study presents …

Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis Of Inverted, Multi-Element Airfoils In Ground Effect, Michael Grabis, Ramesh K. Agarwal

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Formula SAE cars are formula-styled race cars designed to race on an autocross circuit. The autocross circuit is mostly comprised of turning sections as well as a limited amount of straight sections for passing other cars. Highly competitive cars in the competition implement aerodynamic devices to generate negative lift for the race car. This negative lift, or downforce, increases the amount of traction between the race car’s tires and the ground ultimately allowing the drivers to turn at faster speeds. Commonly used aerodynamic devices are a front and rear wing; the wing cross sections are defined by configurations of multiple …

Microstructural Effects On Photocatalytic Performance In Ag3po4/Bi2moo6 Z-Scheme Photocatalyst Systems, Kaleab Mengesha Ayalew

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As the world population continues to grow and access to modern industry become increasingly common, humanity finds itself amid an environmental and energy crisis. Natural resources, such as clean water are getting scarce. Currently, the development of high efficiency, green energy sources, and eco-friendly methods for water treatment have become a nonelective task. As a result, photocatalysis, as one of the most promising technologies in utilizing solar energy and pollutant removal, has attracted considerable attention.

However, the practical application of photocatalysis is still elusive because of the difficulty of finding an individual material that can satisfy all the requirements for …

Investigation Of Efficiency Loss Of Distributed Solar Power Due To Soiling And Efficiency Recovery By Rainfall, Amanda Mayumi Tanaka

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As the concern with global warming increases causing the need for CO2 reduction, renewable energy is of great interest as it has lower carbon footprint when compared to conventional sources (natural gas, coal, oil and nuclear). Solar energy has been drawing worldwide attention since it can transform sunlight directly into electricity with the use of photovoltaic (PV) cells. However, this technology has some drawbacks that need to be addressed including dust deposition on solar panels, also known as soiling. Soiling can decrease PV panel’s efficiency thereby resulting in less energy production. The soiling rates are very site specific and depend …

The Effect Of Implant Conformity On Muscle Force Requirements In The Implanted Knee, Grace Mcconnochie

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Implant geometry is a significant factor in determining knee stability and patient satisfaction following total knee replacement (TKR). Ineffective muscle recruitment, impaired joint functionality and increased implant wear are consequences of an unstable knee replacement. Current knee laxity evaluation techniques are limited in their ability to account for the muscular response to knee instability. This study utilizes a subject specific lower-body musculoskeletal finite element (FE) model with dynamic muscle loading to evaluate implant laxity during activities of daily living. The effect of varying implant conformity on the muscle forces required to maintain a target kinematic profile during simulated laxity testing …

Understanding Self-Assembly And Charge Transport In Organic Solar Cells Through Efficient Computation, Evan Miller

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Organic solar cells capable of sustainably generating electricity are possible if: (1) The structures assembled by photoactive molecules can be controlled, and (2) The structures favorable for charge transport can be determined. In this dissertation we conduct computational studies to understand relationships between organic solar cell compounds, processing, structure and charge transport. We advance tools for encapsulating computational workflows so that simulations are more reproducible and transferable. We find that molecular dynamic simulations using simplified models efficiently predict experimental structures. We find that the mobilities of charges through these structures—as determined by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations—match qualitative trends expected with …

Dynamic Modeling Of A Suspended And Shock Isolated System In Seismic Loading, Emilie Murphy

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

A dynamic model for a suspended and shock isolated system is derived and implemented in MATLAB’s Simulink software. The purpose of this implementation is to create a design tool which is modularized to be able to accommodate any configuration of a similar system in any kind of loading. The design tool is used to compute the level of acceleration experienced at specific points in space within the system in the presence of seismic events, as typified by the dynamic displacement caused by the Sumatra, Indonesia earthquake of 2007. It is determined that under this 8.4 magnitude earthquake, accelerations within the …

Incremental Processing For Improving Conversational Grounding In A Chatbot, Aprajita Shukla

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Current Digital Personal Assistants can be quite efficient while performing routine tasks like setting up reminders and looking up information. However, they do not attempt to establish common ground–the process of establishing and building mutual understanding–and require a significant amount of initial data to learn how to understand user intent. In this thesis, an incremental processing framework is leveraged through a chatbot interface which updates its understanding state at each inputted word, asks the user to clarify input when the system is unsure and prompts user to give feedback several times during an interaction, all of which are instrumental in …

Parameter Estimation And Dynamic State Observer Design For Vapor Compression Systems, Travis D. Pruitt

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Between cooling our house, our workplace, and keeping our food cold both in home and commercially (among other uses), the vapor compression cycle (VCC) is a common method for removing heat from various environments and it accounts for a significant amount of the energy used throughout the world. Therefore, with an ever-growing demand for more efficient processes and reduced energy consumption, improving the ability to accurately model, predict the performance of, and control VCC systems is beneficial to society as whole.

While there is much information available regarding the performance for some of the components found in VCC systems, much …

Development Of A Statistical Shape-Function Model Of The Implanted Knee For Real-Time Prediction Of Joint Mechanics, Kalin Gibbons

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Outcomes of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are dependent on surgical technique, patient variability, and implant design. Non-optimal design or alignment choices may result in undesirable contact mechanics and joint kinematics, including poor joint alignment, instability, and reduced range of motion. Implant design and surgical alignment are modifiable factors with potential to improve patient outcomes, and there is a need for robust implant designs that can accommodate patient variability. Our objective was to develop a statistical shape-function model (SFM) of a posterior stabilized implant knee to instantaneously predict output mechanics in an efficient manner. Finite element methods were combined with Latin …

Oxidation Behavior Of Zirconium Alloys In Transient Conditions, Jordan Lee Vandegrift

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The effect of sample geometry, welding strategies, atmosphere, plastic deformation, and rapid heating on the oxidation behavior of zirconium alloys has been investigated in this work. The goal of this work was to determine which zirconium alloy would be best suited as nuclear fuel cladding material in the Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) facility at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), which has unique operating conditions compared to typical reactors. TREAT is air-cooled, operates at high temperatures (400-600 °C), and produces rapid transients (≤ 700 ^°C/_s). Additionally, TREAT’s cladding geometry is unique in that it has chamfers and welds. …

Exploring The Use Of Data From Newer Technologies In Road Design, Mahamudul Hasan

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The use of Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) is widespread currently all over the world including the United States. Though on-the-ground surveying and photogrammetric surveying are the more common methods to acquire terrain information, Lidar data is being increasingly used for this purpose due to its various advantages. Various research indicates that the accuracy of Lidar data has increased enough to make its use suitable for diverse applications. One potential application that is explored in this research is the use of terrain models generated from Lidar data in road design. To make such use possible we need to be assured …

Minos: Unsupervised Netflow-Based Detection Of Infected And Attacked Hosts, And Attack Time In Large Networks, Mousume Bhowmick

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Monitoring large-scale networks for malicious activities is increasingly challenging: the amount and heterogeneity of traffic hinder the manual definition of IDS signatures and deep packet inspection. In this thesis, we propose MINOS, a novel fully unsupervised approach that generates an anomaly score for each host allowing us to classify with high accuracy each host as either infected (generating malicious activities), attacked (under attack), or clean (without any infection). The generated score of each hour is able to detect the time frame of being attacked for an infected or attacked host without any prior knowledge. MINOS automatically creates a personalized traffic …

Effect Of Subgrade Conditions On Pavement Analysis And Performance Prediction: A Study For Idaho Conditions, Md Jibon

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The Mechanistic-Empirical (M-E) pavement design approach detailed in the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG), and subsequently implemented through AASHTOWare^® Pavement ME Design relies extensively on detailed material properties that ultimately govern the analysis and performance prediction results. For unbound materials like soils and aggregates, Resilient Modulus (M_R) is the most critical input parameter affecting layer response under vehicular and environmental loading. Representing a material’s ability to ‘recover’ after loading, resilient modulus is determined in the laboratory through repeated load triaxial testing. Although the original test protocol to measure the resilient modulus value of a soil or aggregate …