Engineering Commons^™

Safety And Security Analysis Of Vver-1200 Reactor Pressure Vessel Under Pressurized Thermal Shock, Mohammed Sarim Salman Karim, Dr. Debashis Datta, Altab Hossain

International Journal of Nuclear Security

The reactor pressure vessel (RPV) is an important component of a nuclear power plant and of great concern to safety and security globally. Thus, the thermal system of an RPV should be ensured properly through an evaluation system that closely monitors and considers its integrity. This article describes the thermomechanical analyses for a pressurized thermal shock (PTS) scenario of a VVER-1200 RPV owing to a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) and activation of the emergency core cooling system (ECCS). The LOCA transient and activation of ECCS are modeled using ANSYS simulation software. From the analyses of the emergency core cooling …

Design And Development Of A Radiation Survey And Rescue Robot With Shielding Of Electronic Equipment From Radiation Damage With Image Radiation Mapping Facility, Md. Sifatul Muktadir, Md. Nazmul Hassan, Md. Saimon Siddique, Dewan Nazmun Nur, Altab Hossain, Ahnaf Tahmid Chowdhury

International Journal of Nuclear Security

The use of remote-controlled robots in emergency fields is a necessary requirement at present, which includes the nuclear engineering field because the radioactive environment creates adverse effects on human health. This work describes the development of a remotely controlled rover capable of detecting ionizing radiation, isolating radiation sources using a robotic arm, and sufficient shielding for its internal components. A custom-made Geiger–Muller counter has been used to detect ionizing radiation. The radioactive environment is not only harmful for humans but also can cause severe damage to the electronic circuit mounted on the robot. Therefore, a custom concrete material sandwiched between …

A Review And Analysis Of Nuclear Hydrogen Production In Generation Iv Reactors, Arijit Saha Ayon, Ashiqur Rahman Alif, A. S. M. Nasim

International Journal of Nuclear Security

Hydrogen is becoming increasingly vital as a chemical element in the progress of human civilization. Hydrogen finds application in the creation of ammonia, the manufacturing of nitrogen-based fertilizers, and a wide range of organic compounds, including methanol and propulsion fuel for space exploration missions. Additionally, there are ongoing experiments in the automotive industry to harness hydrogen-based fuel cells as an alternative power source. In modern technology, multiple methods and strategies for hydrogen production originate from diverse sources, such as fossil fuels, renewable energy, nuclear energy, and more. Generation IV nuclear reactors significantly affect the production of hydrogen. These reactors operate …

Bim Coordination Post Pandemic, Zachary Marshall

Honors Scholar Theses

The goal of this thesis is to utilize previous research done on virtual meetings and build upon it by conducting new research on the successes and failures of current virtual BIM meetings. This paper starts with a literature review looking into Building Information Modeling (BIM) Coordination and the effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the BIM meetings. BIM meetings started to shift virtual due to the nature of the pandemic and this has had effects on the performance and structure of the coordination. This knowledge was then expanded on by looking at virtual BIM meeting case studies. Interviews were …

Diegetic Sonification For Low Vision Gamers, Jhané Dawes

Master's Theses

There are not many games designed for all players that provide accommodations for low vision users. This means that low vision users may not get to engage with the gaming community in the same way as their sighted peers. In this thesis, I explore how diegetic sonification can be used as a tool to support these low vision gamers in the typical gaming environment. I asked low vision players to engage with a prototype game level with two diegetic sonification techniques applied, without the use of their corrective lenses. I found that participants had more enjoyment and experienced less difficulty …

Spatial Hearing In Simulated Reverberant Classroom Environments, Gabriel Seth Evan Weeldreyer

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Spatial hearing provides access to auditory spatial cues that promote speech perception in noisy listening situations. However, reverberation degrades auditory spatial cues and limits listeners’ ability to utilize these cues for segregating target speech from competing babble. Hence, spatial unmasking—an intelligibility benefit from a spatial separation between a target and masker—is reduced in reverberant environments as compared to free field. This work tests the hypothesis that interaural decorrelation, the result of increasing reverberation, will broaden the perceived auditory source width with a cascading effect of reduced auditory spatial acuity and subsequently poorer spatial unmasking. To understand the perceptual consequences of …

Mechanical Engineering Capstone: A Reflection On The Design And Prototyping Of A Portable Water Heating System, Timothy Goldsmith

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This thesis includes several documents from a Mechanical Engineering Capstone course. These include project postmortem reports written at the conclusion of each term. These reports summarize the designing and prototyping of a portable water heating system. Additionally, this thesis includes written feedback on the final presentations for six other senior design teams. In these documents, presentations and projects are evaluated and encouragement and feedback are provided for the teams. The final component of this thesis is an essay reflecting on the different leadership roles assumed during the capstone course.

Orms And Database Design, Kalim Dumas

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This thesis explores the relationship between database design and Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) design, investigating how they have evolved together and influenced each other. It addresses a theoretical discussion, a practical implementation, and some observations regarding integrating an ORM into my Senior Design project. My Senior Design project was originally built without the intention of implementing an ORM.

There are a lot of complicated discrepancies between Relational Databases (RDBs) and Object-Oriented Programming Languages (OOPLs), called the Impedance Mismatch Problem. The fact that they are both foundational pillars in software engineering means that one cannot simply change to match the other. ORMs …

Determining The Impacts Of Corn Silage Mixing Ratios On Hydrogen Production From Beef Cattle Manure, Katya Faber-Quimby

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

With global warming becoming an increasingly serious threat and a growing population requiring additional energy resources, interest in the production of clean energy from the agricultural sector has surged in popularity. Biohydrogen, also known as green hydrogen, is H₂ that has been produced using renewable energy, such as from agricultural byproducts or waste materials. It presents a promising alternative to nonrenewable resources due to its high potential for energy storage and lack of carbon emissions when used. Cattle manure has been explored as a resource for the production of biohydrogen. Selecting for hydrogen-producing microbes in the manure serves the …

Analyzing Diverse Student Experiences: The Intersection Of Equity, Inclusivity, And Biomedical Engineering Education Through A Clinical Observations And Needs Finding Course, Jacquelynn Horsey

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the field of biomedical engineering, needs identification and solution development are an important element of the design process. In our undergraduate curriculum, a course was designed to allow clinical observation and provide an opportunity for students to learn about engineering design and engage with clinicians via completing rotations in medical facilities near our campus. While this type of course is not unique, evaluating its efficacy is not simple. Given the broad range of institutional resources available- such as proximity to a medical school, or residency programs- reporting the quality of such courses within the context of such available resources …

The Determination Of Macrophage Localization In Muscle Injuries Using Spatial Transcriptomics, Julliana Renales

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The repair of traumatic muscle injury is often a long process which can in many cases be insufficient and incomplete. In such cases, scar tissue may form, leading to high risk of re-injury and the prevention of muscle regeneration. An important part of decreasing this risk is gaining a better understanding of the cellular complexities of injury repair. More specifically, macrophage cells are an important piece in the regulation of inflammation and repair. In this project, computational analysis spatial transcriptomic data was performed to examine mouse muscle injury and its development over time. This analysis was used to examine the …

Investigation Of Early Stage Wound Healing In Volumetric Muscle Loss, Sean Ong

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Volumetric muscle loss (VML) refers to the substantial removal of tissue from skeletal muscle due to surgery or lesions. This condition disrupts the normal regenerative process of injured muscles, leading to significant loss of muscle function. This study examines the progression of VML injury, approximately 20% of the muscle mass being removed, in the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle of a mouse model over a 15-day post-injury period. The injured muscles exhibited discoloration indicative of reduced blood flow and experienced a decrease in muscle mass throughout the study duration. Furthermore, the maximum force output of the injured TA was significantly lower, …

Multifunctional Surfaces By Ultrafast Laser Multiscale Surface Structuring, Kewei Li

All Dissertations

Surface structures are crucial for regulating surface functions, including self-cleaning, surface coloration, and anti-fouling, which are of significance in various applications such as prolonging the lifetime of the solar cells, anti-counterfeiting marking, and enhancing the vessel’s performance. Ultrafast laser technology emerges as a revolutionary approach for surface structuring, distinguished by its exceptional precision, high throughput, versatility across materials, and remarkable processing efficiency. Despite the intensive study in the ultrafast laser surface structuring area, the fundamental mechanisms accounting for the ultrafast laser-induced surface structures are still not well understood. The correlation among laser processing parameters, surface structures, and surface functions remains …

High Bandwidth Hybrid Current Sensor Readout Interface For Power Applications, Asma Mahar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

High-density and power-efficient circuits have become realizable with the advent of wide bandgap semiconductor devices due to their high switching speed and lower conduction/switching losses. The operation of these circuits requires current information for protection, monitoring, and control. For the realization and a further boost in the efficiency of such power circuits, small size, non-invasive, high bandwidth current sensors with noise immunity, accuracy, and linearity are required. Various hybrid sensors have been reported to meet the requirements of emerging power circuits. A combination of a magneto resistor or Hall sensor and a coil is used to cover a wide frequency …

Dynamic Compressive Properties Of Heat-Treated And Pre-Stressed Cement Mortar Specimen Subjected To Cyclic Impact Loading, Ronghua Shu, Guang Xu, Lijinhong Huang

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

By carrying out the cyclic dynamic compressive experiment, the dynamic compressive properties of heat-treated and pre-stressed cement mortar subjected to cyclic impact loading were obtained. The results show that under static and cyclic impact loading, the peak stress shows a nonlinear decrease trend with the increasing dynamic impact number, and the failure strength decreases as heated temperature increases. The strain rate shows a linear increase trend as impact number increases. The relationship among the strain rate, temperature and impact number obey exponential relations, which could be expressed as ε˙ = 0.64E0.00854T+4.93 X 10−3tn+0.77N+18.70. The strain rate increase factor could be …

The Interplay Of Casing Material And Detonation Wave Shock Parameters In Steel Witness Plate Dent Formation, Emily M. Johnson, Catherine E. Johnson

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This Study Uses Both Experimentation and Simulation to Investigate How Varying Casing Material Around Cylindrical Composition-B Charges Affects Witness Plate Response and Diagnoses the Cause of the Differences in the Dents Produced. through Experimentation, It Was Found that Consistent Dents Are Produced from Repeated Tests and Characteristically Different Dents Are Produced by Charges with Different Casing Material. Charges Cased in Viscoelastic Materials Produced Shallower Dents Than Those Without Casing. Simulation Was Validated Against the Experimental Dents, and the Detonation Wave Parameters Were Measured for 25 Differently Cased Charges: 15 Metals and 10 Polymers. Regression Fit Relationships Were Derived Relating Dent …

Effects Of Process-Induced Defects On The Corrosion Of Additively Manufactured Stainless Steel 304l, Leila Saberi, Frank W. Liou, Mehdi Amiri

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This Study Investigates the Impact of Process-Induced Defects Such as Gas Pores, Lack of Fusions, and Surface Roughness on Corrosion Behavior of Stainless Steel 304L (SS304L) Fabricated by Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing. Specimens Are Printed with Optimized Process Parameters but Selected from Different Locations on the Build Plate. Parallel and Perpendicular Surfaces to the Build Direction Are Investigated and Compared with Corrosion Properties of Wrought SS304L in 5 Wt% NaCl. the Results Reveal Significant Difference in Corrosion Behavior among Specimens Due to Variations in their Defect Features. Pitting Potential, Pit Initiation, and Growth Rates Are Found to Be …

Quantification Of Age-Related Changes In The Structure And Mechanical Function Of Skin With Multiscale Imaging, Alan E. Woessner, Nathan J. Witt, Jake D. Jones, Edward A. Sander, Kyle P. Quinn

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The mechanical properties of skin change during aging but the relationships between structure and mechanical function remain poorly understood. Previous work has shown that young skin exhibits a substantial decrease in tissue volume, a large macro-scale Poisson’s ratio, and an increase in micro-scale collagen fiber alignment during mechanical stretch. In this study, label-free multiphoton microscopy was used to quantify how the microstructure and fiber kinematics of aged mouse skin affect its mechanical function. In an unloaded state, aged skin was found to have less collagen alignment and more non-enzymatic collagen fiber crosslinks. Skin samples were then loaded in uniaxial tension …

Text-To-Speech Animation: Generating Visuals Based On Phonetic Spelling, Colin Tomcak

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Speech is a complex field, and remarkably difficult to master. There exist many groups who could use more tools to help improve their pronunciation of English words. The goal of this project was to create a text-to-speech animation program as an addition to our group capstone, Pronunciation Pal. Pronunciation Pal is a web-based application meant to assist those who are deaf or hard of hearing in improving their pronunciation, likely as an addition to therapy with a speech pathologist. This application uses tools like diagrams and references to help users better understand how to pronounce a word. The goal of …

Investigation On The Effects Of Biofouling On The Boundary Layer, Adam N. Bacon

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study is an investigation of the effect of biofouling on the boundary layer of a flat plate and a NACA 4-digit series foil. Three identical hydrofoils made of resin were placed in the Gulf of Mexico at Grand Isle, Louisiana, and observed and analyzed by marine biologists at the University of New Orleans for their species composition. The resulting biofouling that grew was primarily made up of barnacles and bryozoans. The foils were submerged in an open channel flume at zero incidence and subjected to a series of experiments whose arc-length Reynolds numbers ranged from approximately 13000 to 32000. …

Developing Relationships Between Macroporosity And Tensile Strength By Imaging Failure Planes, James C. Mazzagotte Iii

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Porosity, which measures the empty spaces within rock structures, is crucial for determining properties like density, hydraulic conductivity, and mechanical strength, covering both microporosity and macroporosity. While many studies have explored how porosity affects compressive strength and stiffness in different rock types, less attention has been paid to its influence on tensile strength, especially in extrusive igneous formations like vesicular basalt. This research aims to fill this gap by investigating the relationship between macroporosity and tensile strength in vesicular basalt.

The study employed non-destructive techniques, including machine learning and manual image analysis, to calculate porosity, dividing it into specimen porosity …

Data Analysis Of Twitter’S Nasdaq100 Sentiments And Topics As Indicators For News Articles Retrieval: Fine-Tuning Roberta And Rag, Kagan Timur

ICT

This study explores the combination of sentiment analysis with vader-lexicon and semantic analysis with latent dirichlet allocation to identify real-life events, particularly in the context of Twitter datasets. While sentiment analysis alone may not provide accurate guidance, the inclusion of semantic analysis enhances the research process by helping to identify relevant news articles and comprehend brand perception on social media. Furthermore, the study fine-tunes the RoBERTa model specifically for question-answering tasks

Cultural Awareness Application, Bharat Gupta

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In an increasingly interconnected global landscape, cultural awareness and competency have become indispensable skills for individuals and organizations alike. This paper introduces a pioneering cultural awareness application, grounded in the Cultural Orientation Model—a comprehensive framework devised by Dr. Walker [8]to guide individuals in understanding, appreciating, and effectively engaging with diverse cultures. The application encompasses ten primary dimensions, each representing fundamental aspects of social life shared by members of any socio-cultural environment. Through a combination of cultural education, interactive learning, guidance on cultural etiquette, and integration of cultural events, the application aims to foster empathy, tolerance, and effective cross-cultural communication skills. …

Effectiveness Of Cnn-Lstm Models Used For Apple Stock Forecasting, Ethan White

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This culminating experience project investigates the effectiveness of convolutional neural networks mixed with long short-term memory (CNN-LSTM) models, and an ensemble method, extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), in predicting closing stock prices. This quantitative analysis utilizes recent AAPL stock data from the NASDAQ index. The chosen research questions (RQs) are: RQ1. What are the optimal hyperparameters for CNN-LSTM models in stock price forecasting? RQ2. What is the best architecture for CNN-LSTM models in this context? RQ3. How can ensemble techniques like XGBoost effectively enhance the predictions of CNN-LSTM models for stock price forecasting?

The research questions were answered through a thorough …

Assessment Of Success Factors And Comparative Analysis Of Public Private Partnership (P3) Project Performances Against Design-Build And Design-Bid-Build Project Delivery, Bandana Shrestha

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Public-private partnerships (P3s) projects have gained widespread popularity in both developed and developing countries due to their ability to access new financing sources and shift specific project risks to the private sector. P3s has been an active area of research with a particular focus on the concept of Critical Success Factors (CSF). The growing interest and the diverse outcomes associated with P3s emphasize the need for a thorough investigation into the factors that contribute to successful P3 projects. This study focused on identifying the CSFs for P3 highway and building projects towards project objectives of achieving cost efficiency and schedule …

Heat Transfer Enhancement In Heat Exchangers Using Compound Enhancement, Mouhsine Benmbarek

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research will try to investigate the enhancement of heat transfer in a heat exchanger that is made of a corrugated tube that has a twisted plate inserted in it, the corrugation, and twisted plate are expected to increase the amount of heat transfer since the plate is acting as a connection between the center of the flow and the edges of the tube. The turbulence will cause an increase in pressure drop along the channel length, so the investigation will try to find the best compromise between the gain in heat transfer and loss of hydraulic energy by using …

Evaluation, Rating, And Numerical Modeling Of A Shock Mitigation Seat For High-Speed Craft Based On Laboratory Single Impact Testing, Darren Benn

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

High-speed craft (HSC) are utilized in military and para-military maneuvers that are usually conducted in harsh environments. The Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen (SWCC), a sub-unit of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command (NAVSOC), use an advanced HSC, known as the Combatant Craft Assault, to conduct coastal patrol and interdiction, and for infiltration and exfiltration of Navy SEALs. The United States Coast Guard, and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), employ HSC for maritime patrol and to pursue ‘go-fast’ boats operated by contraband runners. In most of these intense applications, the mode of operation of the HSC results in planing. Planing …

Experiment Development And Validation Of A Granular Jamming Robotic Gripper, Jacob R. Dowd

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A granular jamming gripper (GJG) is widely known as a Universal Gripper because of the wide range of objects that it can grasp and the simplicity of control, design, and manufacturing. Despite multitude of research improving the GJG, here, we focus on the base version of the GJG and attempt to glean the range of objects that it may reliably grasp. Despite the limited range of objects, which were a sphere, rectangular prism, and cylinder, we gleaned geometric properties as it relates to successful and unsuccessful grasping. This was based on the two types of testing: push and pull testing …

Remote Detection Of Leaks In High Level Waste Storage Tanks, Hunter Frey

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this research was to characterize three devices potentially capable of remotely detecting signatures of a leak from high-level waste (HLW) storage tanks, specifically ones found at the Savannah River Site and the Hanford Site. The hazard HLW found within these tanks include ¹³⁷Cs, a gamma-ray emitter, and ⁹⁰Sr, an electron emitter leading to heat generation. These pose health risks to the personnel and maintenance problems and environmental safety issues if released to the environment. Additionally, pinpointing the location of a leak is a task that could lead to the mitigation of excess waste leaking from …

Predicting The Response Of An Underactuated, 3d Printed Prosthetic Hand, Lucas Gallup

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The continuing need for hand prostheses has led to incredible developments in this area. However, due to the cost of the most sophisticated models, it is vital to develop simpler, low-cost, underactuated prostheses that can be produced rapidly. 3D printing is an important tool to achieve this goal. In particular, the 3D printed Flexy-Hand 2 has been one of the most common low-cost designs. A key feature of the Flexy-Hand 2 is its use of tendons and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) for joints that are strong and flexible. TPUs, however, lack a thorough understanding of their mechanical behavior, which makes it …