Engineering Commons^™

Exploring A Platinum Nanocatalytic Microcombustion-Thermoelectric Coupled Device, Dylan Moore Mcnally

Theses and Dissertations

This work aimed to create a first-generation power device for eventual application to portable electronics. A platinum nanoparticle catalytic substrate was employed in a microcombustion-thermoelectric coupled (MTC) device for the purpose of chemical-to-electrical energy conversion. Multiple microcombustion reactors were designed, fabricated, and investigated. Most importantly, the reactor configuration was designed to accommodate thermoelectric generators (TEGs) for power production. Temperature studies with catalytic combustion of methanol-air fuel mixtures were used to evaluate the thermal power generation performance of each reactor. The final reactor design enabled ignition at room temperature with the ability to achieve repeat catalytic cycles upon subsequent exposure to …

Efficient End-To-End Autonomous Driving, Hesham Eraqi

Theses and Dissertations

Steering a car through traffic is a complex task that is difficult to cast into algorithms. Therefore, researchers turn to train artificial neural networks from front-facing camera data stream along with the associated steering angles. Nevertheless, most existing solutions consider only the visual camera frames as input, thus ignoring the temporal relationship between frames. In this work, we propose a Convolution Long Short-Term Memory Recurrent Neural Network (C-LSTM), which is end-to-end trainable, to learn both visual and dynamic temporal dependencies of driving. Additionally, We introduce posing the steering angle regression problem as classification while imposing a spatial relationship between the …

Experimental And Modeling Of Biomass Char Gasification, Ruochen Wu

Theses and Dissertations

This investigation provides a comprehensive experimental dataset and kinetic model for biomass gasification, over a wide temperature range (1150-1350 °Ï¹) in CO2, H2O and the combination of these two reactant gases over the mole fraction ranges of 0 to 0.5 for H2O and 0 to 0.9 for CO2. The data come from a unique experimental facility that tracks continuous mass loss rates for poplar wood, corn stover and switchgrass over the size range of 6-12.5 mm. In addition, the data include char size, shape, surface and internal temperature and discrete measurements of porosity, total surface area, pore size distribution and …

Root Cause Analysis And Classification Of Single Point Failures In Designs Applying Triple Modular Redundancy In Sram Fpgas, James D. Swift

Theses and Dissertations

Radiation effects encountered in space or aviation environments can affect the configuration bits in Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) causing errors in FPGA output. One method of increasing FPGA reliability in radiation environments includes adding redundant logic to mask errors and allow time for repair. Despite the redundancy added with triple modular redundancy (TMR) and configuration scrubbing there exist some configuration bits that individually affect multiple TMR domains causing errors in FPGA output. A new tool called DeBit is introduced that identifies hardware resources associated with a single bit failure. This tool identifies a novel failure mode involving global routing …

Instructional Case Studies In The Field Of Windfarm Optimization, N. Francesco Baker

Theses and Dissertations

Wind farm layout optimization is a multidisciplinary undertaking, requiring students and researchers to integrate many skillsets in order to optimize turbine placement. There is currently a lack of useful benchmarking exercises for participants in the field to compare the efficacy of their methods. This work details the construction and completion of a set of four case studies meant to satisfy this need, with the hope of providing some insight into useful layout optimization approaches. These case studies are intended to also serve as instructive introductory exercises with which newcomers researching wind energy may incrementally practice and increase their abilities.The first …

Blast-Induced Liquefaction And Downdrag Development On A Micropile Foundation, Cameron Mark Lusvardi

Theses and Dissertations

Frequently, deep foundations extend through potentially liquefiable soils. When liquefaction occurs in cohesionless soils surrounding a deep foundation, the skin-friction in the liquefied layer is compromised. After cyclical forces suspend and pore pressures dissipate, effective stress rebuilds and the liquefied soil consolidates. When the settlement of the soil exceeds the downward movement of the foundation, downdrag develops. To investigate the loss and redevelopment of skin-friction, strain was measured on an instrumented micropile during a blast-induced liquefaction test in Mirabello, Italy. The soil profile where the micropile was installed consisted of clay to a depth of 6m underlain by a medium …

The Impact Of Calendering On The Electronic Conductivity Heterogenity Of Lithium-Ion Electrode Films, Emilee Elizabeth Hunter

Theses and Dissertations

Advancements in Li-ion batteries are needed especially for the development of electric vehicles and stationary energy storage. Prior research has shown mesoscale variations in electrode electronic conductive properties, which can cause capacity loss and uneven electrochemical behavior of Li-ion batteries. A micro-four-line probe (μ4LP) was used to measure electronic conductivity and contact resistance over mm-length scales in that prior work. This work describes improvements to overcome the challenge of unreliable surface contact between theμ4LP and the sample. Ultimately a second generation flexible probe called the micro-radial-surface probe (μ4LP) was designed and produced. The test fixture was also optimized to obtain …

Signal Transport And Rf Over Fiber Design For Alpaca, Erich Johannes Nygaard

Theses and Dissertations

The design of the RF over fiber signal transport system for the ALPACA receiver is described, with particular attention to the strict noise requirements as well as dynamic range considerations. Also discussed are analytical tools for analyzing dynamic range in the context of RFI-rich radio astronomy observational settings, including formulas for maximum interference to noise ratios and a simulation framework for predicting distortion levels. Phase and gain stability measurements of the signal transport system are presented, including the effects of the multi-strand armored fiber optic cable. The resulting system meets design requirements, with equivalent noise temperature below 900 K in …

Development Of A Management Guide For Concrete Bridge Decks In Utah, Tenli Waters Emery

Theses and Dissertations

The objectives of this research were to 1) investigate bridge deck condition assessment methods used in the field and laboratory, methods of managing bridge decks, and methods for estimating remaining bridge deck service life using computer models through a comprehensive literature review on these subjects; 2) collect and analyze field data from representative concrete bridge decks in Utah; and 3) develop a decision tree for concrete bridge deck management in Utah. As a result of the literature review performed for objective 1, a synthesis of existing information about condition assessment, bridge deck preservation and rehabilitation, bridge deck reconstruction, and estimating …

Frameworks For Part Generation In Multiple Cad Systems And For Cad Simulation With Multiple Users, Jonathan Edwin Sadler

Theses and Dissertations

Companies often require designers to work with and operate between different computer-aided design (CAD) systems. To interoperate between these systems, a neutral design standard for CAD models is needed that allows for generation, customization, and parameterization. Current standards often fail to incorporate file history and design intent. The research proposes a simplified, neutral design format that can be used to generate models in different CAD systems. The format proposes additional functionality not yet found in existing neutral formats or scripts. The system was tested by generating models in both NX and CATIA, then comparing the models for accuracy, flexibility, and …

Effects Of Conformal Cooling Channels On Additively Manufactured Injection Molding Tooling, Tyler Blaine Whatcott

Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the cycle-averaged mold temperature of additively manufactured injection molding tooling and how it is affected by conformal cooling channels. This was done by producing a benchmark mold out of Digital ABS produced by Stratasys, an acrylic based photopolymer, which was then used to produce injection molded parts until tool failure. Another, more cost-effective material, High Temp Resin produced by Formlabs, another acrylic based photopolymer, was also tested but yielded very little success. Then the mold design was altered by adding conformal cooling channels and again tested by producing injection molded parts while tracking the mold temperature. …

Lateral Resistance Of 24-Inch Statically Loaded And 12.75-Inch Cyclically Loaded Pipe Piles Near A 20-Ft Mechanically Stabilized Earth (Mse) Wall, Addison Joseph Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Installing load bearing piles within the reinforcement zone of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining walls is common practice in the construction industry. Bridge abutments are often constructed in this manner to adapt to increasing right-of-way constraints, and must be capable of supporting horizontal loads imposed by, traffic, earthquakes, and thermal expansion and contraction. Previous researchers have concluded that lateral pile resistance is reduced when pile are placed next to MSE walls but no design codes have been established to address this issue. Full –scale testing of statically applied lateral loads to four 24”x0.5” pipe piles, and cyclically applied lateral load …

Design And Optimization Of A Modular Dc-Dc Power Converter For Medium Voltage Shipboard Applications, Seyed Rasoul Hosseini

Theses and Dissertations

Power electronic converters rated for medium voltage direct current (MVDC) are promising for electrification of future ships. In shipboard electrification, due to limitation of space, energy and technical maintenance, the high-power density, high efficiency and modularity of the power electronic converters are desired. Utilizing power modules made from wide band gap (WBG) semiconductors like silicon carbide (SiC) and high frequency power transformer (HFPT) can be beneficial for obtaining the high-power density, high efficiency and isolation that is required for the power electronic converters. To provide power for the low voltage (LV) DC loads, a conversion of the power from MVDC …

Scaling And Entropic Approaches To Clusters In Materials Science And In Network, Prosun Roy

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis we have studied, is about scaling and entropic content in various networks related to the material science, colloids and biological systems. The thesis is based on two papers:⦁ Nosonovsky M.; Roy P. Allometric scaling law and ergodicity breaking in the vascular system. Microfluidics and Nanofluidic-Springer. 2020 [Chapter 2 and 3] ⦁ Nosonovsky M.; Roy P. Scaling and Entropy in colloidal and neural networks. Entropy-MPDI. 2020 [Chapter 5 to 7] In chapter 2, we investigate scaling properties of vascular networks with fractal topology. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation of blood flow through one bifurcating vessel has been illustrated to …

Numerical And Experimental Investigation Of Aeration Self Mixing By Using Pulsating And Continuous Air Flow, Ahmed Ali Alkhafaji

Theses and Dissertations

Wastewater treatment is considered one of the most common forms of pollution control in the united states. Considered as an integral part of the wastewater treatment, the aeration process is the most energy-consuming process among all the processes that take place in any wastewater treatment plant. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a wastewater treatment plant is expected to remove at least 85% of the suspended solids and dissolved organic compounds from the wastewater before discharging it to a river or a lake. The normal operation of the aeration process is by compressing air continuously to basin …

Developing Highly Reversible Li Metal Anode With Mossy/Dendritic Li Suppression In High Energy Density Batteries, Xi Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Lithium-ion battery technology has wide impact on our daily life. However, most of the commercial batteries with limited energy density are unable to meet the growing demand of electrical vehicles, portable electronic devices and other energy storage systems. Therefore, the development of new electrode materials with high energy density and reliable performance has become a critical mission for researchers. Particularly replacing graphite anode with Li metal is one of most viable approaches to break the limitation of energy density in batteries. Metallic lithium is one of the most promising anode materials, which has a high theoretical specific capacity of 3860 …

Gurethyesit Dhe Ndikimi I Tyre Ne Mjedis, Valmir Hazrolli

Theses and Dissertations

Edhe pse guroret dhe industritë e gurit përfaqësojnë një sektor të rëndësishëm industrial në Kosovë për sa i përket prodhimit dhe eksportet dhe duke përmirësuar kështu situatën ekonomike, këto operacione kanë ndikim të kundërt në mjedis dhe në njerëz shëndetin. Studimi i tanishëm zbuloi se grimcat e imëta (pluhuri) të prodhuara si rezultat i aktiviteteve të ndryshme që lidhen me të këto industri i shkaktojnë disa probleme mjedisit dhe njerëzve që jetojnë në zonë. Matjet e cilësisë së ajrit treguan se përqendrime të larta të grimcave të ndryshme janë në zonën e studimit. Në këtë drejtim, shumica e njerëzve konfirmuan …

Math Models And Heuristic Methods For Constructing Fair Political Districts, Roya Ghorashi

Theses and Dissertations

Political parties’ attempts to manipulate district boundaries in order to gain political advantages in the election system lead to huge inefficiency and unfair election results. Previously some studies have developed methods for forming political districts considering various factors such as population equality, compactness, and contiguity; but only a few recent studies have considered political fairness as an objective for redistricting political map.This study attempts to find a solution to draw political districts using political fairness as a factor in addition to integrity, population equality, contiguity, and compactness of the districts in order to prevent gerrymandering. In this research, we introduce …

Sustainability In Construction: Using Lean Management Principles To Reduce Waste, Matthew Waite

Theses and Dissertations

The construction industry is facing many challenges. There are growing consumer demands for sustainable building. The construction industry generates a significant portion of the waste going into landfills. The construction industry has failed to keep pace with productivity in the manufacturing industry. Through adoption of Lean management principles, the construction industry can become more sustainable while increasing productivity. The literature was evaluated for three concepts: Lean management principles interaction with sustainability, the current state of sustainability in the construction industry, and the current state of Lean management principles in the construction industry. Lean management philosophies interactions with sustainability has been …

A Parametric Evaluation Of Iot Applications To Freight Transportation Using Model-Based Systems Engineering, Paul George Crawford

Theses and Dissertations

Industrial Internet of Things or IIoT consists of computing and communication at the operational edge of a value chain. Applications span manufacturing, energy, and transportation, among others. In the transportation context, IIoT translates to connected vehicle architecture and ITS applications. Current trends in communication allow more applications and devices to contribute to functions traditionally allocated to transportation ITS infrastructure. This poses challenges to design engineers to prototype emerging technologies in the existing transportation context and reduce integration, validation, and time to market. Model-based systems engineering is crucial step for IIoT deployment since it allows for a feature-rich digital representation of …

Development Of A Deformation-Based Structural Health System With Contactless Sensors And Machine Learning For Health Characterization And Failure Prediction, Juan Camilo Avendano Arbelaez

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents the design and development of a structural health monitoring (SHM) system specifically tailored for transportation infrastructure components, such as bridges. The proposed system collects data by using contactless sensors and performs health characterization and failure prediction. It is capable of simulating multiple load conditions on structures, identifying possible failure points, and detecting and predicting failure scenarios. Both hardware and software implementations of a model of a bridge were performed as a pilot project in order to validate the proposed system. Computer simulation in ANSYS and the application of gradient boosting neural networks were performed to produce a …

Optimizing Energy Power Consumption Of Freight Railroad Bearings Using Experimental Data, Carlos Eliasar Lopez Iii

Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the railway industry, trains use systems that record total energy efficiency of a train but not energy efficiency or consumption by components. Monitoring freight bearing power consumption can support the railroad industry efforts to maintain the railroad economic competitiveness and minimize the environmental impact.

For more than a decade now, the University Transportation Center for Railway Safety (UTCRS) at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) has been collecting power consumption data for railroad bearings under various loads, speeds, ambient temperatures, bearing condition, and bearing classes. Specifically, data such as temperatures, voltages, speed, and load were collected to …

Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Effectiveness Of Interlayered Systems Containing Metal-Oxide, Conducting Polymer And Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Polymeric Composites, Shaik Merkatur Hakim Marjuban

Theses and Dissertations

The Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) Shielding Effectiveness (SE) has become one of the important requirements for the devices associated with telecommunication systems consisting of large frequency bands. The degradation of the quality of transmitting signal influenced by frequencies emitting from external sources can be reduced by covering the circuits of the devices by EMI Shielding materials like polymer composites, metal-based nanofiber mats, the metal of oxide films, etc. The investigation strives for the attenuation of EMI by introducing two composite mats from conducting polymer-based, multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) coated Nylon 6 nanofiber composites. Two other composite mats are also developed by …

Traffic Time Headway Prediction And Analysis: A Deep Learning Approach, Saumik Sakib Bin Masud

Theses and Dissertations

In the modern world of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), time headway is a key traffic flow parameter affecting ITS operations and planning. Defined as “the time difference between any two successive vehicles when they cross a given point”, time headway is used in various traffic and transportation engineering research domains, such as capacity analysis, safety studies, car-following, and lane-changing behavior modeling, and level of service evaluation describing stochastic features of traffic flow. Advanced travel and headway information can also help road users avoid traffic congestion through dynamic route planning, for instance. Hence, it is crucial to accurately model headway distribution …

Ac Electrokinetic Effect Of V-Electrode Pattern On Microfluids, Mohammad Salman Parvez

Theses and Dissertations

Electrokinetics has been used for guiding, pumping, and manipulating microfluidic particles for many years in the field of Biomedical, Microbiology, Chemistry, Medicine, and other fields of research, which makes it a ubiquitous tool for the multidisciplinary research on microfluidics. Between these two Alternating Current (AC) Electrokinetics have been proven to be more feasible for the researcher than the other one. In this research, we have investigated AC Electrokinetics and s effect on a new electrode configuration called V-electrode pattern. The V-electrode has been inspired and modified from the previous research work on the Orthogonal Electrode Pattern. In this research, this …

Water-Soluble Polymers With Ceramic/Metal Nanoparticles For Use As Anode Materials In Lithium-Ion And Sodium-Ion Batteries, Roberto Orrostieta Chavez

Theses and Dissertations

Aqueous solutions of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) with 20, 25, and 28 wt.% concentrations were successfully spun into fibers by centrifugal spinning. The pristine PVP fibers were annealed and carbonized to produce flexible carbon fibers for use as binder-free anodes in lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries. These flexible carbon fibers were prepared by developing a novel three-step heat treatment to reduce the residual stresses in the pristine PVP precursor fibers and to prevent fiber degradation during carbonization. The average diameters of the pristine, annealed, and carbonized fibers were obtained using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which showed that the average diameter of the carbon …

Mono And Multi-Objective Optimization And Modeling Of Machining Performance In Face Milling Of Ti6al4v Alloy, Al Mazedur Rahman

Theses and Dissertations

Titanium alloys are extensively used in numerous industries like aerospace, automotive, military, etc., due to their exclusive characteristics. But machining these alloys has always been challenging for manufacturers. This research investigates the effect of radial depth of cut on cutting forces, tool life, surface roughness (Ra), and material removal rate (MRR) during face milling of Ti6Al4V alloy. It also aims to perform mono and multi-objective optimization of response characteristics to determine the optimal input parameters, namely cutting speed, feed rate, and radial depth of cut. Taguchi method and analysis of variance (ANOVA) have been used for mono-objective optimization, whereas Taguchi-based …

A Study On The Triaxial Shear Behavior Of Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil By Discrete Element Method, Md Wasif Zaman

Theses and Dissertations

A 3D DEM model using Particle Flow Code (PFC3D) software was developed utilizing a bonded-ball flexible membrane approach to study cohesionless soil as a discontinuous discrete material. The 3D model was calibrated and verified with experimental data, and a sensitivity analysis was carried out for the microparameters. Triaxial tests were simulated to observe the stress-strain curves and volumetric changes, as well as the strength parameters of soils consisting of spherical particles with different gradations but the same porosity. One important finding is that the relationships between particle size and deviatoric stress, internal friction angle, and dilatancy angle were found to …

Microsoft’S Surface Pro 4 Performance Under Denial Of Service Attack, Adrian Guerrero

Theses and Dissertations

Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (SP4) is a new device in the line of hybrid computers today. It aims to work as both as table and laptop computer. There are multiple versions of SP4 that include devices equipped with i3, i5 and i7 core processors.

This makes SP4 a great addition for hospital, clinics or schools for its portability and features. As these locations can be prone to cyber-attacks, we plan to test this computer’s reliability and performance under cybersecurity attacks. The device tested is built with Intel Core i7-6650U 2.21 GHz processor with automatic overclocking capabilities up to 3.4 GHz, …

Security Evaluation Of Microsoft’S Windows Under Cyber-Flood Attacks, Christina Y. Navarro

Theses and Dissertations

Cyberattacks are quite common occurrences today as such can compromise entire networks producing collective vulnerabilities. As shown herein, manifold experimental findings exhibit ramifications for a cyberattack victim during multiple simulations. All experiments were conducted with Apple’s iMac, the victim system, and different editions of Microsoft Windows 10 and Windows 8.1.

Cyberattacks herein categorize as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks including Smurf, Ping Flood, Transmission Control Protocol-Synchronize (TCP-SYN) Flood, and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) Flood attacks. Experimental results from each cyberattack are recordings of computer activities such as memory consumption, disk utilization, and overall processor utilization.

DDoS attack simulations include …