Engineering Commons^™

Impact Of Multiple Water Temperature Structures On The Behavioral Pattern Of Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus Keta) On The Coast Of The Shiretoko Peninsula, Xinyi Li, Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Hokuto Shirakawa, Kenji Minami, Nobuhiko Sato, Yanhui Zhu, Yasuyuki Miyakoshi, Kazushi Miyashita

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

During the migration of chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) towards the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido, Japan, the convergence of coastal currents results in the formation of intricate water temperature structures. However, the impact of this phenomenon on the behavioral tendencies of chum salmon remains largely unexplored. In 2012 and 2013, we conducted a study to document the vertical water temperature profiles and uninterrupted swimming patterns of homing chum salmon in the coastal waters surrounding the Shiretoko Peninsula. The results indicated that chum salmon exhibited a preference for avoiding thermoclines characterized by rapidly decreasing water temperatures. They were predominantly observed swimming either …

Research On The Collision Risk Of Ships Off Keelung Based On Ais Data, Shih-Tzung Chen, Ming-Feng Yang, Sheng-Long Kao, Mengru Tu, Jun-Yuan Kuo, Yen-Ting Chao, Huang-Kai Hsu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In previous literature, several computational methods have been proposed to analyze collision risks for vessels navigating at sea, most of which rely on the calculation of DCPA and TCPA between two vessels. However, this study adopts an enhanced version of the Vessel Conflict Ranking Operator (VCRO) to assess vessel collision risks. This approach not only considers the relative distance and relative velocity between two vessels but also takes their relative aspect into account. This methodology was applied to real-world vessels’ dynamic data collected through AIS. From a near-collision perspective, it identifies high-risk areas near Keelung water where commercial vessels and …

Cooling Performance Analysis For Mobile Vehicles By Thermal Resistance Network, Chia-An Yang, Jung-Chang Wang, Pi-Hsia Yen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper used CFD software to simulate the cooling situation of the engine space of a mobile vehicle. We used thermal resistance network diagram to calculate the heat flux at each position of the power system, and discussed the CFD simulation results. The error between the simulation results and the experiment was 10.07%. The thermal resistance network diagram proposed in this paper can reduce the time for numerical simulation by evaluate the heat flux at each position of the power system.

Microbial Community And Genome Structure In Coastal Seawater From A Commercial Port And Nearby Offshore Island In Northern Taiwan, Chi-Yu Shih, Ching-Hsiang Chin, Shiow-Yi Chen, Chun-Ru Hsu, Lee-Kuo Kan, Wen-Shyong Tzou

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The pollution stemming from the use of petroleum by boats, the presence of deceased marine life, hazardous chemicals, and wastewater is a major issue in human-made commercial ports. This pollution poses a considerable challenge to the diverse organisms inhabiting the seawater. To comprehend the impact of this pollution on the microbiome, we conducted a study in which we collected surface water samples from a commercial port called Keelung Port, as well as a nearby offshore island known as Keelung Islet. These locations are situated in northern Taiwan, along the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. Through the use of whole-metagenome shotgun sequencing, we …

Simplified Mass And Inertial Estimates For Aircraft With Components Of Constant Density, Benjamin C. Moulton, Douglas F. Hunsaker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student Publications and Presentations

Aircraft mass and inertial properties are required for predicting the dynamics and handling qualities of aircraft. However, such properties can be difficult to estimate since these depend on the external shape and internal structure, systems, and mass distributions within the airframe. Mass and inertial properties of aircraft are often predicted using computer-aided design software, or measured using various experimental techniques. The present paper presents a method for quickly predicting the mass and inertial properties of complete aircraft consisting of components of constant density. Although the assumption of constant density may appear limiting, the method presented in this paper can be …

Outstanding Advantages, Current Drawbacks, And Significant Recent Developments In Mechanochemistry: A Perspective View, Silvina Pagola

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Although known since antiquity, mechanochemistry has remained dormant for centuries. Nowadays, mechanochemistry is a flourishing research field at the simultaneous stages of gathering data and (often astonishing) observations, and scientific argumentation toward their analysis, for which the combination of interdisciplinary expertise is necessary. Mechanochemistry’s implementation as a synthetic method is constantly increasing, although it remains far from being fully exploited, or understood on the basis of fundamental principles. This review starts by describing many remarkable advantages of mechanochemical reactions, simplifying and “greening” chemistry in solutions. This description is followed by an overview of the current main weaknesses to be addressed …

More On The Demons Of Thermodynamics, Daniel P. Sheehan, Garret Moddel, James W. Lee

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Primal Treatise Of Constant-Force Compliant Segment And Mechanism Design With Applications, Vamsi Lodagala

Doctoral Dissertations

"The evolution of compliant mechanisms propelled the development of constant-force mechanisms (CFMs) for various applications because of their unique characteristics. Many research endeavors have presented different techniques that often involve some optimization to design the CFMs. However, the mechanics of the generation of constant force at the elemental level is not well understood. This research effort theorizes and validates that simple, compliant segment with different boundary conditions, subjected to axial loading, produce near-constant force without the need for design optimization. Analytical models are developed based on the pseudo-rigid-body model (PRBM) concept to predict their force-displacement behavior, and to establish that …

Intragranular Tungsten-Titanium Carbide Composite Ceramics Via Gas-Solid Displacement Reactions, Ryan Daniel Dempsey

Doctoral Dissertations

"Research presented herein details the synthesis and characterization of nanocomposite ceramics featuring novel heterogeneous microstructures of potential interest in a variety of electrical and structural applications. Specifically, W-TiCy composite ceramics featuring tungsten nanoprecipitates located primarily within TiCy grains have been produced via sintering of intragranular nanocomposite powders produced via reaction processing-based techniques. This dissertation details the thermodynamic basis and applied kinetics of a processing scheme for fabricating nanocomposite ceramics whose morphological heterogeneity reflects that originally developed in the powder state. The first study in this series overviews the motivation for applying metallothermic displacement reactions, conducted through gaseous intermediates, to solid …

Effects Of Downwash When Measuring Gas Concentration With Uav-Mounted Gas Sensors, Jacob Lane Brinkman

Doctoral Dissertations

"This research concludes that the downwash region of a rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) does not produce pressure variations substantial enough to cause significant changes in density-based gas concentration measurements. US regulations evaluate gas concentration as a function of gas density, and accurate concentration measurements are critical for protecting health and safety, which means evaluation of actual downwash effects on measured gas concentration is essential.

During experimentation, the UAV was fixed to a stand in a sealed chamber filled with NOx (NO and NO₂) of constant concentration. The UAV rotors ran at hovering speeds, and gas concentrations were …

Fiber Optic Sensors For Liquid Identifications, Wassana Naku

Doctoral Dissertations

"The fiber optic Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) is a widely utilized sensing configuration, offering numerous advantages over conventional electronic sensors, including high accuracy, distributed sensing capabilities, immunity to electromagnetic interference, and compact size. In this study, we propose a remarkably simple fiber optic-tip sensor system combined with machine learning techniques for the identification of pure and volatile organic liquids (VOLs).

A liquid droplet forms an extrinsic FPI (EFPI), with its effective reflectance being a function of the droplet's length. As the droplet evaporates, its length decreases. We conducted immersion tests using optical fiber tip sensors and monitored the time-transient responses of …

Phosphate And Borophosphate Glasses For Optical And Biomedical Applications, Parker Tracy Freudenberger

Doctoral Dissertations

"The goal of this work was to connect the network structures of phosphate and borophosphate glasses to the compositional dependence of properties related to biomedical applications. The glasses were characterized by a variety of techniques, including phosphate ion chromatography, Raman spectroscopy, and ¹¹B and ³¹P Magic Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy, which provide qualitative and quantitative information about the phosphate and borate moieties that constitute the network structures. The systematic addition of borate to a phosphate glass initially creates tetrahedral borate sites that replace P-O-P linkages with B-O-P linkages, and the properties of the resulting borophosphate glasses …

Application Of Modeling Methodologies To Improve An Emergency Departments Workflow, Prachita Humane

Doctoral Dissertations

"The healthcare system in the United States is complex and challenging to understand, and the emergency department (ED) serves as a bridge between outpatient and inpatient care. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 130 million people visited emergency rooms in the United States in 2018. The ED is composed of multiple subunits and components that make it difficult to comprehend fully. In this study, a combination of engineering analysis methods was used to identify and understand the issues in the ED.

The first contribution of this research involved collecting data through job shadowing of human entities …

Investigation Of Recrosslinkable Preformed Particle Gels For Natural Gas Conformance Control, Ali Abdulmohsen Al Brahim

Doctoral Dissertations

"Recross linkable Preformed Particle Gel (RPPG) is a novel type of preformed particle gel in which particles can bond together to form a strong bulk gel system after being placed in the target formation. In this research, I systematically evaluated the feasibility of using this product to improve gas flooding conformance for mature reservoirs with conduits or fractures. Two RPPG systems were used for the experiment: a CO₂- resistant RPPG (CR-RPPG) synthesized using acrylamide (AM) and 2-acrylamide-2- methylpropane sulfonate acid (AMPS), designed for CO2 flooding; and an acrylamide-co-acrylic acid-based RPPG (LT-RPPG), designed for water flooding. Different experimental apparatuses …

Sustainable Development: A Data Analysis Investigation For A New Conceptual Model, Case Study Comparison And Validation Techniques, Tiffanie Marie Toles

Doctoral Dissertations

"The three pillars model for sustainability, often represented with three intersecting circles described as economic, environmental, and social factors with sustainability being at the center is a complex and philosophically open model [1]. As society promotes efforts to reduce carbon impacts, there becomes a need to critically review the models employed for understanding. This research presents a validated methodology, an updated conceptual configuration of sustainability for overall use, as well as a sustainable development performance measurement system. Using the 2020 Sustainable Development Goals Index Data, 232 indicators from 193 countries were used to evaluate the efficacy of using more than …

Identification, Mapping, Analysis, And Dating Of Composite Mega Landslides In The Colorado Plateau, Conor Maris Watkins

Doctoral Dissertations

"This research consists of three articles focusing on landslide complexes within the Grand Canyon region of the Colorado Plateau. This is a vast and remote region of rugged topography. The landslide complexes in this study are greater than 10 million cubic meters in volume. The slides are located within different areas of the region and consist of differing geology but share multiple commonalities. Stratigraphic and structural controls tend to dictate where the slides occur. All of the landslides occur where carbonates and/or sandstones overlie over consolidated shales. The shales are susceptible to creep and strain softening where lateral confinement has …

Unsteady Flow Behaviors Generated By Three-Dimensional Lattice Geometries As Measured By Laser Doppler Velocimetry, Yi Qiao

Doctoral Dissertations

"The relation between flow stream turbulence and heat transfer has been known for a long time, that the heat transfer rate is increased if the turbulence or fluctuation level of the flow increases. Open cell foams and compact heat exchangers are two of the most common models applied for heat transfer augmentation. However, the small ligaments of open cell foams limit the heat conducted and smooth passages in compact heat exchangers cannot cause flow unsteadiness. Accordingly, new geometric models are needed to improve the heat transfer enhancement. Three-dimensional (3D) lattice geometries with a range of features and sizes can be …

Co2-Assisted Ethylene Production And Subsequent Purification: A Materials Development, Kinetic Assessment, And Process Performance Investigation, Khaled Baamran

Doctoral Dissertations

"This research focuses on the In-Situ CO₂ capture and utilization in the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane (ODHE) for ethylene production, and a subsequent ethylene purification through adsorptive separation process. In particular, several dual-function materials (DFMs) were developed, formulated into 3D-structure, and investigated for ODHE reaction to ethylene under various process conditions using CO₂ as a mild oxidant. The DFMs materials were consisted of CaO and metal oxides (e.g., Cr₂O₃ and V₂O₅) supporting H-ZSM-5. The results indicated that higher cell densities lead to better performance due to kinetic enhancement, and the optimum …

Data Analytics Of Wettability Alteration With Surfactants In Carbonate Reservoirs, Ya Yao

Doctoral Dissertations

"Wettability alteration with surfactants has been widely applied to improve oil recovery in carbonate reservoirs. An effective surfactant huff-puff application design requires comprehensive guidelines about where, how, and when this method could be applied. Besides, traditional methods to design an effective application and optimize surfactant performance are dependent on extensive experiments and are time-consuming. This study is to assist in the design of surfactant huff-puff via statistical methods and machine learning techniques.

In this study, a dataset including 402 effective surfactant imbibition tests is established by collecting information from nearly 50 publications. The dataset provides a foundation for further data …

Design, Modeling And Analysis Of An Ac-Ac Dual Active Bridge Converter, Kartikeya Jayadurga Prasad Veeramraju

Doctoral Dissertations

"The Solid-State Transformer (SST) is gaining attention as an alternative to conventional iron-core transformers in the power electronic community. The power industry's increasing demands for smaller size, higher efficiency, and greater energy density have made the SST an attractive option. Among various power electronic converter topologies, the Dual Active Bridge (DAB) has become popular for its bidirectional power flow capability and galvanic isolation, primarily in the DC application space. Advancements in semiconductor technologies have introduced new bidirectional switches, opening avenues for novel SST topologies. This research investigates the application of the DAB as a single-stage SST and focuses on advancements …

Introduction Of A Variable Inductance Transformer For The Design Of Resonant Power Converters, Angshuman Sharma

Doctoral Dissertations

"Magnetic integration is a hot topic in power electronics that concerns the use of a transformer's leakage and magnetizing inductances purposefully in isolated power electronic converters, thereby giving the opportunity to save the cost and footprint of any additional inductor. This is of prime interest, especially in CLLLC resonant converters which require up to three inductors. For a complete integration of these inductances, the concept of a variable inductance transformer (VIT) is introduced in this thesis. A VIT is an adaptive magnetic structure that facilitates an easy adjustment of both magnetizing and leakage inductances to meet their desired values. However, …

Investigating The Impact Of Demographic Factors On Contactless Fingerprint Interoperability, Aeddon David Berti

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Improvements in contactless fingerprinting have resulted in contactless fingerprints becoming a faster and more convenient alternative to contact fingerprints. The interoperability between contactless fingerprints and contact fingerprints and how demographic factors can change interoperability has been challenging since COVID-19; the need for hygienic alternatives has only grown because of the sudden focus during the pandemic. Past work has shown issues with the interoperability of contactless prints from kiosk devices and phone fingerprint collection apps. Demographic bias in photography for facial recognition could affect photographed fingerprints. The paper focuses on evaluating match performance between contact and contactless fingerprints and evaluating match …

Longitudinal Oxygen Imaging In 3d (Bio)Printed Models, Ryan Curtis O'Connell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and its molecular imaging modality, is a powerful tool to noninvasively map various biological and chemical markers within objects of interest. Reliable data acquisition is a major impeding factor for longitudinal hands-off measurements. Measurements are especially challenging in biomedical applications, as live objects are not static. Frequent changes occur that require constant fine recalibration of the EPR detection system, called the resonator. To enable longitudinal imaging, a technology permitting automatic digital control of resonator coupling, tuning, and EPR data acquisition was developed. Automation was achieved through the utilization of a microcontroller and digital peripheral components such …

Blowdown Wastewater Co-Treatment With Produced Water For Resource Recovery: Moving Towards Zero Liquid Discharge And Sustainable Waste Management, Mohammad Hafez Ahmed

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Cooling of low-pressure steam and flue gas desulfurization (FGD) process at coal-fired powerplants often require large quantities of freshwater and can generate waste streams from the blowdown (BD) operations. Treating these wastewaters for reuse can offset the freshwater demand, which is beneficial especially in semiarid and arid regions. However, the traditional treatment (i.e., chemical softening and evaporation) of cooling BD water (BDW) is chemical- and energy-intensive and adds to the overall costs of water management for powerplants. Furthermore, the updated Effluent Limitation Guidelines and Standards for powerplants set forth by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) …

Framework For Data Acquisition And Fusion Of Camera And Radar For Autonomous Vehicle Systems, Clay Edward Vincent

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The primary contribution is the development of the data collection testing methodology for autonomous driving systems of a hybrid electric passenger vehicle. As automotive manufacturers begin to develop adaptive cruise control technology in vehicles, progress is being made toward the development of fully-autonomous vehicles. Adaptive cruise control capability is classified into five levels defined by the Society of Automotive Engineering. Some vehicles under development have attained higher levels of autonomy, but the focus of most commercial development is Level 2 autonomy. As the level of autonomy increases, the sensor technology becomes more advanced with a sensor suite which includes radar, …

Multimaterial, Core-Shell Direct Ink Writing Of Flexible Strain Sensors For Pneumatically-Actuated Soft Robotic Hinge Joints, John Michael Burke

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Direct ink writing (DIW) provides for an expansive material library and the ability to print multiple materials with tailored functionalities in a controllable and single-step process. Particularly beneficial is the net shape printing under ambient conditions of a wide range of materials normally incompatible with one another. Coaxial DIW is a 3D printing technique that allows for two dissimilar inks to be extruded simultaneously in a co-flow manner. In this work, custom-designed coaxial nozzles were 3D-printed using a stereolithography printer. Composite inks comprised of thermoplastic polyurethane and silver were developed and studied. The coaxial nozzles were then used to co-extrude …

Accessing The Relative Sustainability Of Point-Of-Use Water Disinfection Technologies Through Costs And Environmental Impacts, Bright C. Elijah

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

According to the World Health Organization, 785 million people lack access to basic drinking water facilities, and 144 million people rely on surface water which is prone to microbial contamination. Point-of-use (POU) water disinfection technologies can be adopted to help address these issues by treating water at the household level; however, navigating various POU disinfection technologies for a given water source or location can be difficult. While numerous conventional POU technologies exist (e.g., boiling water, POU chlorination), new emerging POU technologies (e.g., using novel materials or advanced processes) have been coined by developers to be lower cost with higher treatment …

Owasp Zap Vs Snort For Sqli Vulnerability Scanning, Christopher Kalaani

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Web applications are important to protect from threats that will compromise sensitive information. Web vulnerability scanners are a prominent tool for this purpose, as they can be utilized to find vulnerabilities in a web application to be rectified. Two popular open-source tools were compared head-to-head, OWASP ZAP and Snort. The performance metrics evaluated were SQLi attacks detected, false positives, false negatives, processing time, and memory usage. OWASP ZAP yielded fewer false positives and had less processing time. Snort used significantly fewer memory resources. The internal workings of ZAP’s Active Scan feature and Snort’s implementation of the Boyer-Moore and Aho-Corasick algorithms …

Cardiomyocyte-Specific Modified Mrna For Myocardial Regeneration In A Porcine Myocardial Infarction Model, Jiacheng Sun

All ETDs from UAB

The inability of adult mammalian cardiomyocytes (CMs) to undergo cell renewal following ischemic injury stands as a major impediment to heart function recovery and contributes to heart failure (HF). Current therapeutic approaches do not offer an effective approach of reactivating CM cell division to prevent HF in humans. Recognizing this challenge, gene therapy has emerged as a promising approach to promote CM proliferation and enhance cardiac repair. A particularly notable approach is the utilization of modified mRNA (modRNA), which provides a safe, controlled, transient, non-viral, and clinically relevant means of gene delivery. The study was conducted using a novel cardiomyocyte …

Moment-Based Reinforcement Learning For Ensemble Control, Yao-Chi Yu, Vignesh Narayanan, Jr-Shin Li

Publications

Problems involving controlling the collective behavior of a population of structurally similar dynamical systems, the so-called ensemble control, arise in diverse emerging applications and pose a grand challenge in systems science and control engineering. Owing to the severely under-actuated nature and the difficulty of placing large-scale sensor networks, ensemble systems are limited to being actuated and monitored at the population level. Moreover, mathematical models describing the dynamics of ensemble systems are often elusive. Therefore, it is essential to design broadcast controls that excite the entire population in such a way that the heterogeneity in system dynamics are robustly compensated. In …