Engineering Commons^™

Random Trilobe Packing Using Rigid Body Approach And Local Gas-Liquid Hydrodynamics Simulation Through Cfd With Experimental Validation, Binbin Qi, Sebastián Uribe, Omar Farid, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

It is quite difficult to measure the local information of the gas/liquid flow inside random packed extrudate catalyst beds in a large scale. Obtaining the local information through computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations in such system is also difficult due to the complexity of random particle packing and two-phase flow simulation. An efficient packing scheme was implemented to randomly pack 2917 trilobe particles (10 cm in height) in a 2-inch column to represent the trickle bed reactor (TBR) based on the rigid body approach. The generated geometry was used to define the computational domain for the two-phase hydrodynamics simulation based …

Hydration Of High-Alumina Calcium Aluminate Cements With Carbonate And Sulfate Additives, Jonathan Lapeyre, Sai Akshay Ponduru, Monday Uchenna Okoronkwo, Hongyan Ma, Aditya Kumar

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study investigated the influence of limestone (LS) and calcium sulfate (C$) mineral additives on the hydration kinetics of high-α-Al₂O₃ calcium aluminate cement (CAC) utilizing experimental techniques and thermodynamic simulations. Increasing the replacement level of limestone or calcium sulfate increased the cumulative heat of the hydration reaction. The limestone exhibited limited acceleratory effects to the CAC hydration kinetics due to the coarseness of the powder. The coarse particle size distribution limited any heterogenous nucleation that would have occurred with a finer particle size as well as the intrinsic insolubility kinetically limits the formation of monocarboaluminate phases. Conversely, …

Liquid And Solids Phase Backmixing In A Bubble And Slurry Bubble Column Using A Virtual Tracer Response Methodology Based On The Trajectory Data Of The Radioactive Particle Tracking (Rpt) Technique, Lu Han, Premkumar Kamalanathan, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Virtual tracer response methodology developed based on the trajectory data of the computer aided radioactive particle tracking (CARPT) technique was demonstrated. The demonstrated virtual tracer technique has advantages of non-invasiveness, near perfect injection/sampling, and flexibility in choosing the sampling/injection boundaries in a specific spatial pattern. With the developed virtual tracer technique, liquid and solids back mixing was investigated at the conditions mimicking Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Experiments were conducted at different pressure, solids loading, and superficial gas velocity. The axial dispersion model (ADM) and recirculation and cross flow dispersion (RCFD) models were used to model the liquid mixing. Transient sedimentation dispersion model …

Review Of Biomechanical Studies And Finite Element Modeling Of Sternal Closure Using Bio-Active Adhesives, Amatulraheem Al-Abassi, Marcello Papini, Mark R. Towler

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The most common complication of median sternotomy surgery is sternum re-separation after sternal fixation, which leads to high rates of morbidity and mortality. The adhered sternal fixation technique comprises the wiring fixation technique and the use of bio-adhesives. Adhered sternal fixation techniques have not been extensively studied using finite element analysis, so mechanical testing studies and finite element analysis of sternal fixation will be presented in this review to find the optimum techniques for simulating sternal fixation with adhesives. The optimal wiring technique should enhance bone stability and limit sternal displacement. Bio-adhesives have been proposed to support sternal fixation, as …

The Growth Of Polarization Domains In Ultrathin Ferroelectric Films Seeded By The Tip Of An Atomic Force Microscope, Mohammad Zamani-Alavijeh, Timothy A. Morgan, Adrian V. Kuchuk, Gregory J. Salamo

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Piezoresponse force microscopy is used to study the velocity of the polarization domain wall in ultrathin ferroelectric barium titanate (BTO) films grown on strontium titanate (STO) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The electric field due to the cone of the atomic force microscope tip is demonstrated as the dominant electric field for domain expansion in thin films at lateral distances greater than about one tip diameter away from the tip. The velocity of the domain wall under the applied electric field by the tip in BTO for thin films (less than 40 nm) followed an expanding process given by Merz's …

Electronic Fingerprint Safe, Bryton Flecker, Carlos Bucheli, Tristan Arias

Mechatronics Final Projects

The objective for this project was to create a lockbox storage solution which used a fingerprint sensor (3) as the mechanism for locking and unlocking the device. A user of the device would have the ability to add or remove up to four fingerprints from the device while it is unlocked. As a backup measure for the event that a fingerprint is no longer recognized, the lockbox will have a preprogrammed PIN assigned to the device which the user can enter to unlock it. User input was implemented via a series of buttons (5) on the front panel of the …

A Remote-Controllable Robotics Platform Based On The Pic16f88 Microcontroller, Clyde Johnson, Matthew Roche, Max Ulmer

Mechatronics Final Projects

The goal of this mechatronics system design project is to create a simple robotics control and interface platform using a Microchip PIC processor. The intent is for this platform to be able to host a wide variety of simple sensors, displays, and outputs that can be carried around by its drive. The platform will be able to take in and interpret 2.4GHz remote-control signals.

For a novel twist on remote-control robotics, we have designed this robot to be encapsulated within an acrylic sphere. It is platformed on a 3D-printed chassis that holds upright its two geared DC motors that rest …

Vinyl Player, Cooper Adams, Joshua Geer, Drew Gray

Mechatronics Final Projects

The goal for our final project was to design and manufacture a record player capable of producing music using a 12 inch LP or 7-inch single vinyl record. When powered, the record player spins the vinyl at a specific speed, and using the needle sound vibrations are sent to an audio amplifier to output sound. A motor is used to control the desired speed and rotate the plate which the vinyl record is placed on. Figure 1 shows a simplified sketch of the needle cartridge system; the system consists of a needle and an attached magnet that is placed near …

The Effects Of Microgravity On Human Endothelial Cells In Relation To Deep Vein Thrombosis, Allie Burgess

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a condition where blood clots form in one or more of the deep veins of the body, causing leg pain and/or swelling, potentially leading to pulmonary embolism and/or stroke. The incidence of DVT among astronauts serving on the International Space Station has been shown to be greater than that of the general population, calling into question the effects of microgravity on human thrombolytic processes. Additionally, microgravity conditions have been shown to cause muscular atrophy and a decrease in muscle strength and mobility. Because collagen composes a large portion of muscle tissue, this study also assessed …

Hydrogel Drug Delivery Platform Integrity And Utilization Analysis, Joshua Carson Adams

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) generally results in permanent sensorimotor dysfunction. This is due to failed axonal regeneration at the site of injury. Recent studies have highlighted the use of stem-cell based therapies embedded in hydrogel to treat SCI. Embedding cell therapies in hydrogel provides a platform that increases the survival of both integrated grafted cells and stem cells/stem cell progeny. There are a variety of drug delivery agents for treating SCI such as neuro-regenerative cells and Schwann cells, however, single agents are not promising for functional regeneration. We propose a combinatorial approach using sciatic nerve (SN) extracellular matrix (ECM), …

Determination Of Tissue-Level Changes In Tumors That Are Indicative Of Metastasis Using Optical Spectroscopy, Sanidhya D. Tripathi

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Breast cancer, accounting for 12% of all new cancer cases, is one of the leading causes of death in women worldwide. Although patient survival has improved over the years, metastatic spread to other organ sites and not due to the primary tumor is the most common form of tumor recurrence, accounting for 90% deaths. Hypoxia is a common hallmark of solid tumors and is linked with metastasis, therapeutic resistance, and poor patient survival. Defined as a state of decreased oxygen availability, cells under hypoxia have an increased rate of genetic mutation, local invasion, and resistance to treatment such as radiation …

Characterizing The Expression Pattern And Function Of Tartan During Drosophila Development, Alaina Baggett

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The development of complex structures and organs by multicellular organisms relies on the ability of epithelial cells to self-organize. Epithelia are sheets of connected cells, and compartment boundaries are formed between certain epithelial cells to create distinct tissue compartments. Compartment boundaries are specialized cell-cell interfaces that are enriched for the cytoskeletal proteins actin and myosin, leading to straight cell edges under relatively high tension that act as fences keep cells from moving between compartments. In the model organism Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly), compartment boundaries in the early embryo are established in response to the non-uniform striped expression of the cell-surface …

Designing Autonomous Drone For Food Delivery In Gazebo/Ros Based Environments, Hrishitva Patel

Computer Science and Engineering Research

There has been a growing global trend towards convenience, speed, and ease in delivery services, and this has been further accelerated by the COVID pandemic. With the everincreasing demand for easily accessible deliveries and expanded delivery service coverage, it has become critical that innovations in this space be developed to further ensure the industry’s smooth operation. With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the inadequacies became more apparent, emphasizing the need to revolutionize and accelerate the trend in order to meet the increased demand. Drone delivery systems are of particular interest in this context because they can enable faster and …

Cu And Ni Co-Sputtered Heteroatomic Thin Film For Enhanced Nonenzymatic Glucose Detection, Brianna Barbee, Baleeswaraiah Muchharla, Adetayo Adedeji, Abdennaceur Karoui, Kishor Kumar Sadasivuni, Mizaj Shabil Sha, Aboubakr M. Abdullah4, Gymama Slaughter, Bijandra Kumar

Bioelectrics Publications

In this work, we report a wafer-scale and chemical-free fabrication of nickel (Ni) and copper (Cu) heteroatomic Cu–Ni thin films using RF magnetron sputtering technique for non-enzymatic glucose sensing application. The as-prepared wafer-scale Cu–Ni thin films exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity toward glucose oxidation with a 1.86 μM detection limit in the range of 0.01 mM to 20 mM range. The Cu–Ni film shows 1.3- and 5.4-times higher glucose oxidation activity in comparison to the Cu and Ni electrodes, respectively. The improved electrocatalytic activity is attributed to the synergistic effect of the bimetallic catalyst and high density of grain boundaries. The …

Flow Characteristics Through Granular Soil Influenced By Saline Water Intrusion: A Laboratory Investigation, Sudip Basack, Ghritartha Goswami, Hadi Khabbaz, M Karakouzian

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

The coastal geoenvironment initiates saline water intrusion into the freshwater aquifers, producing a geohydraulic problem. Such intrusion not only contaminates the fresh groundwater resources, making them unsuitable for human use, but also alters the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer materials, which affects the coastal groundwater flow, influencing the water resources planning and management. Past investigations reveal that the groundwater flow can be linear or nonlinear depending upon the hydraulic gradient. Thus, the coefficients of nonlinear hydraulic conductivities are affected by saltwater intrusion. The present study focuses on an in-depth laboratory investigation into the influence of saltwater submergence on the nonlinear …

Implementation Of An Extended Kalman Filter Using Inertial Sensor Data For Uavs During Gps Denied Applications, Sky Seliquini

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are widely used across the industry and have a strong military application for defense. As UAVs become more accessible so does the increase of their applications, now being more limited by one’s imagination as opposed to the past where micro electric components were the limiting factor. Almost all of the applications require GPS or radio guidance. For more covert and longer range missions relying solely on GPS and radio is insufficient as the Unmanned Aerial System is vulnerable to malicious encounters like GPS Jamming and GPS Spoofing. For long range mission GPS denied environments are common …

Optimization Of 8-Plate Multi-Resonant Coupling Structure Using Class-E2 Based Capacitive-Wireless Power Transfer System, Yashwanth C. Bezawada

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Capacitive-wireless power transfer (CPT) effectively charges battery-powered devices without a physical contact. It is an alternative to inductive-wireless power transfer (IPT) which is available in the present market. Compared with IPT, CPT offers flexibility in designing the coupling section. Because of its flexibility, CPT utilizes various coupling methods to enhance the coupling capacitance. Misalignment is a common issue in any WPT system. Among IPT and CPT, IPT has better performance for misalignments, but it requires bulk and expensive ferrite core to attain a high coupling coefficient. This work focuses on designing a CPT system to minimize the impact of misalignments. …

Frequency Agile Ofdm System For Radio Communication In High Frequency Bands, Erin E. Hill

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

High Frequency (HF) radio communication existed as the primary source of over-the-horizon communication for decades prior to the wide implementation of satellite and cellular networks. Even today, should satellite communication become unavailable, the robust backup of HF vitally supports long distance data transmission without the need of a cellular infrastructure. This capability is of particular importance to naval applications while at sea. Frequency choice, however, becomes critical in supporting reliable HF communication as too high of a frequency will not return to earth and too low of a frequency will result in high absorption rates within the atmosphere. A potential …

Deep Learning Object-Based Detection Of Manufacturing Defects In X-Ray Inspection Imaging, Juan C. Parducci

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Current analysis of manufacturing defects in the production of rims and tires via x-ray inspection at an industry partner’s manufacturing plant requires that a quality control specialist visually inspect radiographic images for defects of varying sizes. For each sample, twelve radiographs are taken within 35 seconds. Some defects are very small in size and difficult to see (e.g., pinholes) whereas others are large and easily identifiable. Implementing this quality control practice across all products in its human-effort driven state is not feasible given the time constraint present for analysis.

This study aims to identify and develop an object detector capable …

Finding Core Members Of A Hedonic Game, Daniele M. Vernon-Bido

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a frequently used paradigm for social simulation; however, there is little evidence of its use in strategic coalition formations. There are few models that explore coalition formation and even fewer that validate their results against an expected outcome. Cooperative game theory is often used to study strategic coalition formation but solving games involving a significant number of agents is computationally intractable. However, there is a natural linkage between ABM and the study of strategic coalition formation. A foundational feature of ABM is the interaction of agents and their environment. Coalition formation is primarily the result of …

Machine Learning Classification Of Digitally Modulated Signals, James A. Latshaw

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Automatic classification of digitally modulated signals is a challenging problem that has traditionally been approached using signal processing tools such as log-likelihood algorithms for signal classification or cyclostationary signal analysis. These approaches are computationally intensive and cumbersome in general, and in recent years alternative approaches that use machine learning have been presented in the literature for automatic classification of digitally modulated signals. This thesis studies deep learning approaches for classifying digitally modulated signals that use deep artificial neural networks in conjunction with the canonical representation of digitally modulated signals in terms of in-phase and quadrature components. Specifically, capsule networks are …

Chen-Fliess Series For Linear Distributed Systems, Natalie T. Pham

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Distributed systems like fluid flow and heat transfer are modeled by partial differential equations (PDEs). In control theory, distributed systems are generally reformulated in terms of a linear state space realization, where the state space is an infinite dimensional Banach space or Hilbert space. In the finite dimension case, the input-output map can always be written in terms of a Chen-Fliess functional series, that is, a weighted sum of iterated integrals of the components of the input function. The Chen-Fliess functional series has been used to describe interconnected nonlinear systems, to solve system inversion and tracking problems, and to design …

Data-Driven Framework For Understanding & Modeling Ride-Sourcing Transportation Systems, Bishoy Kelleny

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Ride-sourcing transportation services offered by transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft are disrupting the transportation landscape. The growing demand on these services, along with their potential short and long-term impacts on the environment, society, and infrastructure emphasize the need to further understand the ride-sourcing system. There were no sufficient data to fully understand the system and integrate it within regional multimodal transportation frameworks. This can be attributed to commercial and competition reasons, given the technology-enabled and innovative nature of the system. Recently, in 2019, the City of Chicago the released an extensive and complete ride-sourcing trip-level data for …

Design And Analysis Of Electrical Power And Communication Systems For 3u Sealion Cubesat Mission, Joseph D. Siciliano

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Old Dominion University (ODU) Space Systems students in conjunction with the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) are designing and developing a 3U Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) CubeSat mission aptly named SeaLion. This work specifically details the design of the Electrical Power System (EPS) and Communication System of the satellite. Electrical power in orbit is a precious commodity and must be carefully regulated and distributed to ensure the satellite’s operational health. Commonly, CubeSat electrical power is retained in orbit via outward facing solar cells and stored in onboard rechargeable batteries. This thesis proposes using non-rechargeable primary battery cells and …

Electromagnetic Modeling Of A Wind Tunnel Magnetic Suspension And Balance System, Desiree Driver

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Wind tunnels are used to study forces and moments acting on an aerodynamic body. While most results involve some interference from the mechanical supports used to hold the model, a Magnetic Suspension and Balance System (MSBS) is void of these interferences and presents an ideal test scenario. To further investigate the feasibility of dynamic stability testing at supersonic speeds using a MSBS, a preliminary design idea is currently being developed using an existing MSBS in a subsonic wind tunnel. This review focuses on the development of a mathematical model to more accurately portray the capabilities of the 6 inch Massachusetts …

A Preventive Medicine Framework For Wearable Abiotic Glucose Detection System, Saikat Banerjee

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In this work, we present a novel abiotic glucose fuel cell with battery-less remote access. In the presence of a glucose analyte, we characterized the power generation and biosensing capabilities. This system is developed on a flexible substrate in bacterial nanocellulose with gold nanoparticles used as a conductive ink for piezoelectric deposition based printing. The abiotic glucose fuel cell is constructed using colloidal platinum on gold (Au-co-Pt) and a composite of silver oxide nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes as the anodic and cathodic materials. At a concentration of 20 mM glucose, the glucose fuel cell produced a maximum open circuit voltage …

Failure Mode, Effects And Criticality Analysis Of A Very Low Earth Orbit Cubesat Mission, Robb Christopher Borowicz

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

When space programs launch vehicles into orbit, multiple failures could arise throughout the mission and corrective actions are often not an option. Applying reliability engineering approaches during the design phase focuses on analyzing risk by anticipating potential failures and mitigating uncertainties in the design. Old Dominion University, in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology designed and developed a 3U CubeSat mission to validate on-orbit, three space technology payloads. Mission SeaLion will fly as a secondary payload on stage two of Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket and will be deployed in a very …

Mechanics Of Preimpregnated Fiber Tow Deposition And Compaction, Virginia Meredith Rauch

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In additive manufacturing, such as Automated Fiber Placement (AFP), defects often develop during the deposition and compaction of preimpregnated composite material, which reduce the strength of the resultant material. It is necessary to reduce defects and have good adhesion between plies to optimize the laminate performance and reduce delamination between composite layers. The aim of this work is to study the adhesion and deformation of preimpregnated (prepreg) composite material during the deposition and compaction stage in the composite forming process and how material parameters can be used to increase laminate strength. Two types of experimentation were performed on thermoset IM7/8552 …

Solid-State Formation Mechanisms Of Core–Shell Microstructures In (Zr,Ta)B2 Ceramics, Anna N. Dorner, Frédéric Monteverde, William Fahrenholtz, Gregory E. Hilmas

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Transition metal diborides with core–shell microstructures have demonstrated excellent mechanical properties at elevated temperatures. Previous studies concluded that core–shell microstructures were formed by liquid-assisted mass transport mechanisms, but in this study, we propose a solid-state formation mechanism for core-shell microstructures in (Zr,Ta)B2 ceramics produced by reaction hot pressing and in ZrB2-TaB2 diffusion couples. Diffusion couple experiments demonstrated that core–shell microstructures developed as a result of Ta diffusion along ZrB2 grain boundaries, which occurred concurrently with lattice diffusion of Ta into ZrB2. These findings suggest that with optimization of batching and processing parameters, core–shell diboride materials may be formed through solid-state …

The Environmental And Nutritional Dilemma Of Beef Production And Consumption, Hannah A. Swilling, Stefano De Rosmini, Brooke Lovan

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Based on previous studies, it has been stated that beef production and consumption in the United States is detrimental to the environment. However, in depth studies analyzing the change of beef production and consumption, the environmental impacts, the external costs, the lifestyle implications as well as the nutritional, the social and the cultural aspects of beef have not been conducted. The goal of this study is to analyze the multiple aspects of the dilemma over beef production and consumption. This was done through an analysis of beef production and consumption data over the past 60 years to determine how it …