Engineering Commons^™

Development Of Deterioration Models For Street Pavement In Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Mladjan John Grujicic

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Accurate prediction of pavement deterioration is vital for an efficient and cost-effective allocation of available budgets for keeping an agency’s road networks operating at a desirable level. Currently, most cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area are using the software PAVERTM and the associated performance models to predict future conditions as they do not have available reliable prediction models. However, the problem with this type of modeling is that the models are not calibrated to local conditions. The Pavement Deterioration Prediction models that have been developed in this research will help any pavement management agencies within DFW Metroplex area to …

Transfer-To-Transfer Learning Approach For Computer Aided Detection Of Covid-19 In Chest Radiographs, Barath Narayanan Narayanan, Russell C. Hardie, Vignesh Krishnaraja, Christina Karam, Venkata Salini Priyamvada Davuluru

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic has severely impacted lives across the globe. Respiratory disorders in COVID-19 patients are caused by lung opacities similar to viral pneumonia. A Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) system for the detection of COVID-19 using chest radiographs would provide a second opinion for radiologists. For this research, we utilize publicly available datasets that have been marked by radiologists into two-classes (COVID-19 and non-COVID-19). We address the class imbalance problem associated with the training dataset by proposing a novel transfer-to-transfer learning approach, where we break a highly imbalanced training dataset into a group of balanced mini-sets and …

Polarization-Selective Modulation Of Supercavity Resonances Originating From Bound States In The Continuum, Chan Kyaw, Riad Yahiaoui, Joshua A. Burrow, Viet Tran, Kyron Keelen, Wesley Sims, Eddie C. Red, Willie S. Rockward, Mikkel A. Thomas, Andrew M. Sarangan, Imad Agha, Thomas A. Searles

Electro-Optics and Photonics Faculty Publications

Bound states in the continuum (BICs) are widely studied for their ability to confine light, produce sharp resonances for sensing applications and serve as avenues for lasing action with topological characteristics. Primarily, the formation of BICs in periodic photonic band gap structures are driven by symmetry incompatibility; structural manipulation or variation of incidence angle from incoming light. In this work, we report two modalities for driving the formation of BICs in terahertz metasurfaces. At normal incidence, we experimentally confirm polarization driven symmetry-protected BICs by the variation of the linear polarization state of light. In addition, we demonstrate through strong coupling …

Investigation On The Use Of Small Aperture Telescopes For Leo Satellite Orbit Determination, Luis R. Curiel Iii

Master's Theses

The following thesis regards the use of small aperture telescopes for space domain awareness efforts. The rapidly populating space domain was motivation for the development of a new operation scheme to conduct space domain awareness feasibility studies using small telescopes. Two 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes at the California Polytechnic State University and the Air Force Research Lab in Kirtland AFB, NM, in conjunction with a dedicated CCD camera and a commercial DSLR camera, were utilized to conduct optical observations on satellites in Earth orbit.

Satellites were imaged during August 2019, and from January 2020 to March 2020, resulting in the collection …

Field Testing The Effects Of Low Reynolds Number On The Power Performance Of The Cal Poly Wind Power Research Center Small Wind Turbine, John B. Cunningham

Master's Theses

This thesis report investigates the effects of low Reynolds number on the power performance of a 3.74 m diameter horizontal axis wind turbine. The small wind turbine was field tested at the Cal Poly Wind Power Research Center to acquire its coefficient of performance, C­_p, vs. tip speed ratio, λ, characteristics. A description of both the wind turbine and test setup are provided. Data filtration and processing techniques were developed to ensure a valid method to analyze and characterize wind power measurements taken in a highly variable environment. The test results demonstrated a significant drop in the …

Real-Time Body Tracking And Projection Mapping In The Interactive Arts, Sydney Baroya

Master's Theses

Projection mapping, a subtopic of augmented reality, displays computer-generated light visualizations from projectors onto the real environment. A challenge for projection mapping in performing interactive arts is dynamic body movements. Accuracy and speed are key components for an immersive application of body projection mapping and dependent on scanning and processing time.

This thesis presents a novel technique to achieve real-time body projection mapping utilizing a state of the art body tracking device, Microsoft’s Azure Kinect DK, by using an array of trackers for error minimization and movement prediction. The device's Sensor and Bodytracking SDKs allow multiple device synchronization. We combine …

Design And Validation Of An Led-Based Solar Simulator For Solar Cell And Thermal Testing, Matthew Gunther

Master's Theses

An LED-based solar simulator has been designed, constructed, and qualified under ASTM standards for use in the Cal Poly Space Environments Laboratory. The availability of this simulator will enhance the capability of undergraduate students to evaluate solar cell and thermal coating performance, and offers further research opportunities. The requirements of ASTM E927-19 for solar simulators intended for photovoltaic cell testing were used primarily, supplemented by information from ASTM E491-73 for solar simulators intended for spacecraft thermal vacuum testing. Three main criteria were identified as design goals - spectral match ratio, spatial non-uniformity, and temporal instability. An electrical design for an …

Size Dependent Hematite Nanoparticle Physiochemical Behavior Under Long-Term Aging, Laelsadat Badakhshaneian

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Iron oxides are widespread in nature and are linked to many natural biogeochemical processes. These minerals play an important role in sorption of metal(loid)s, acceptance of electrons from microbial respiration, photochemical reduction, and heterogeneous catalysis; further, they are used as engineered solutions to aqueous contamination problems. The thermodynamic and kinetic changes of small and large nanoscale hematite particles were investigated under long-term aging, relevant pHs, and ionic strength conditions. Crystallinity, particle size, surface area, pore size volume, and phase purity were analyzed by various techniques including XRD, BET, and TEM. The results indicated that thermodynamic and kinetic changes vary with …

Using Agile Methodology To Create A Working Software Application, Aaron Cuadras

Honors Theses

This thesis explains the importance of Agile in the process of writing a web application. A team of three developers worked for sixteen weeks to create a booking site able to hold important information related to customers and hotel owners. The framework used for the project is Ruby on Rails and we stress the importance of the Models-View-Controller pattern and its relation with the Agile methodology, the problem of creating a new application is the pace in which everything should be written as well as the ability to write features independent from one another. The results that we expect are …

Intelligent Roadside Unit Deployment In Vehicular Network, Xiangyu Xu

Masters Theses

Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) has been an important research area in building the foundational infrastructures of self-driving vehicles and improving traffic efficiency of future transportation systems. Scientists have been hoping to incorporate intelligence into traditional transportation systems to help reduce the risks, accident rates, traffic congestion, and even environmental emissions.

There are many research works that have been focused on the communication part of ITS, such as vehicular networks, which collect data from vehicles and send it to the cloud for analysis. In the vehicular networks, Roadside Unit (RSU) is a key infrastructure as an intermediate layer between the vehicles …

Material Model Characterization Of A Ti/Sic Metal Matrix Nanocomposite Coating Subjected To Hypervelocity Impact, Pouya Shojaei, Riccardo Scazzosi, Mohamed Trabia, Brendan Otoole, Marco Giglio, Xing Zhang, Yiliang Liao, Andrea Manes

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Titanium alloys have been extensively used in the aerospace industry because of their outstanding properties, such as high strength-to-weight ratios, high corrosion resistances, and high melting points. However, it is hypothesized that the performance of titanium alloys can be further enhanced to be more resistant to hypervelocity impact by coating them. Earlier experimental investigations showed that coating a Ti-6Al-4V substrate by Ti/SiC Metal Matrix Nanocomposite (MMNC) improved hypervelocity impact resistance of the composite. The coating had 7% SiC by volume. These experiments were simulated using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) modeling approach. Johnson-Cook material models were used for the Ti-6Al-4V …

Lead To Can Abrasion (Ltca) Test, Scott Mangin, Karthik Padmanabhan, Craig Icban

Mechanical Engineering

Pacemakers are medical devices which regulate a person’s heartbeat through electric pulses delivered via an endocardial lead attached to the heart. When a pacemaker is implanted in a patient, there is usually excess length left on the lead. Surgeons will typically wrap the excess lead length around the pacemaker device and close the wound. However, wrapping the lead around the pacemaker outer surface can open the lead to abrasion and cause the lead’s vital electrical insulation to be compromised. This is currently tested using an existing abrasion fixture at Abbott. However, the current tester does not yield consistent data results …

A.C. Moyer Eye-Cap Manufacturing, Thais Bertolus, Alexa Steidl, Hana Welsh, Jarod Kinney, Maya Willis

Mechanical Engineering

A.C. Moyer company has been making eye caps as a family business since 1947. Eye caps are a product used during the embalming process. Currently the machines being used to produce the eye caps are outdated and unsafe. We are a team of 5 mechanical engineering students tasked with either designing new machines or updating the existing machines to make the manufacturing process more efficient, automated, and safer. This document describes the design process, provides background, relevant research, establishes project objectives, and defines plans for project implementation.

Synthesis Of Novel Coo/Mnfe2o4 Heterostructured Nanoparticles And The Effects Of Variable Size And Extent Of Overgrowth On Their Magnetic Properties, Mohammad Tauhidul Islam

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

A combination of thermal decomposition and surfactant-assisted synthesis route was utilized to synthesize novel CoO/MnFe₂O₄ heterostructured nanoparticles. Four samples of varying CoO core size were synthesized with variable extent of overgrowth phase. XRD, XPS, SEM and TEM data show evidence of MnFe₂O₄ spinel phase overgrowth on CoO rock-salt structured nanoparticles. XPS and magnetic data reveal partial oxidation and formation of Co₃O₄ phase on 7 nm and 19 nm size CoO-based nanoparticles. The remaining samples having 22 nm and 34 nm dimensions show a higher percentage of FiM materials overgrowth on the …

Kinetic Monte Carlo Investigations Involving Atomic Layer Deposition Of Metal-Oxide Thinfilms, David Tyler Magness

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Atomic Layer Deposition is a method of manufacturing thin film materials. Metal-oxides such as zinc-oxide and aluminum-oxide are particularly interesting candidates for use in microelectronic devices such as tunnel junction barriers, transistors, Schottky diodes, and more. By adopting a 3D Kinetic Monte Carlo model capable of simulating ZnO deposition, the effect of parameters including deposition temperature, chamber pressure, and composition of the initial substrate at the beginning of deposition can be investigated. This code generates two random numbers: One is used to select a chemical reaction to occur from a list of all possible reactions and the second is used …

Assessing Grassed Waterway Implementation Using Acpf And Swat Models, Kirsten Schaefer

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Agriculture is the most significant contributor of nonpoint source pollutants in US waterways, with sediment being the most prevalent cause of impairments. Sediment loss mitigation occurs through Best Management Practices (BMPs), such as grassed waterways. Federal and state agencies incentivize the implementation of BMPs through cost-share programs for farmers. The investment of public funds has increased pressure to demonstrate the effectiveness and value of individual projects, necessitating the development of strategies for prioritizing projects based on the sensitivity of sites to sediment erosion and optimal locations for implementation. This study has three primary objectives: (i) document existing locations of grassed …

Analysis For Hybrid Rocket Fuel Regression Using Stereolithographic Geometry, Michael P. King

Theses and Dissertations

Hybrid Rocket Engines (HRE) have characteristically low fuel regression that limits their performance. Additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping can possibly solve some of the problems with Hybrid propulsion regression by creating geometry not possible with conventional manufacturing. This work is attempting to make geometric regression simulation of HRE easier by using STereoLithography (STL files) as the geometry. This analysis sets flow conditions, boundary conditions, propellant selection, and allows for fuel geometry to be altered to simulate geometry’s effects on regression rate and propellant performance. This model can be used for more advanced geometric analysis to improve and predict performance.

Development Of A Self-Powered Weigh-In-Motion System, Athanassios Papagiannakis, Athanassios Papagiannakis, Samer Dessouky, Sara Ahmed, Reza Khalili, Gopal Vishwakarma

Data

This report describes the development of a novel weigh-in-motion (WIM) system that utilizes piezoelectric elements for sensing load and powering an ultra-low power microcontroller unit (MCU) that serves as its data acquisition system. A system of 4 piezoelectric (PZT) stacks serves as the energy harvester, while load sensing is done via a set of 4 PZT elements connected in parallel. Two alternative MCUs were considered, with various data handling capabilities and power consumption requirements. These MCUs have very short “wake-up” times allowing vehicle sensing without the need for inductive loops commonly used in conventional WIM systems. Special electric circuits were …

Improving Tolerance Control On Modular Construction Project With 3d Laser Scanning And Bim: A Case Study Of Removable Floodwall Project, Huimin Li, Chengyi Zhang, Siyuan Song, Sevilay Demirkesen, Ruidong Chang

Faculty Publications

Quality control is essential to a successful modular construction project and should be enhanced throughout the project from design to construction and installation. The current methods for analyzing the assembly quality of a removable floodwall heavily rely on manual inspection and contact-type measurements, which are time-consuming and costly. This study presents a systematic and practical approach to improve quality control of the prefabricated modular construction projects by integrating building information modeling (BIM) with three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning technology. The study starts with a thorough literature review of current quality control methods in modular construction. Firstly, the critical quality control procedure …

Microglia Control Vascular Architecture Via A Tgfβ1 Dependent Paracrine Mechanism Linked To Tissue Mechanics, Tejasvi Dudiki, Julia Meller, Gautam Mahajan, Huan Liu, Irina Zhevlakova, Samantha Stefl, Conner Witherow, Eugene Podrez, Chandrasekhar R. Kothapalli, Tatiana V. Byzova

Chemical & Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

© 2020, The Author(s). Tissue microarchitecture and mechanics are important in development and pathologies of the Central Nervous System (CNS); however, their coordinating mechanisms are unclear. Here, we report that during colonization of the retina, microglia contacts the deep layer of high stiffness, which coincides with microglial bipolarization, reduction in TGFβ1 signaling and termination of vascular growth. Likewise, stiff substrates induce microglial bipolarization and diminish TGFβ1 expression in hydrogels. Both microglial bipolarization in vivo and the responses to stiff substrates in vitro require intracellular adaptor Kindlin3 but not microglial integrins. Lack of Kindlin3 causes high microglial contractility, dysregulation of ERK …

Proportional Voting Based Semi-Unsupervised Machine Learning Intrusion Detection System, Yang G. Kim, Ohbong Kwon, John Yoon

Publications and Research

Feature selection of NSL-KDD data set is usually done by finding co-relationships among features, irrespective of target prediction. We aim to determine the relationship between features and target goals to facilitate different target detection goals regardless of the correlated feature selection. The unbalanced data structure in NSL-KDD data can be relaxed by Proportional Representation (PR). However, adopting PR would deny the notion of winner-take-all by attracting a majority of the vote and also provide a fairly proportional share for any grouping of like-minded data. Furthermore, minorities and majorities would get a fair share of power and representation in data structure …

Atherosclerosis: Pathology, Role Of Sd-Ldl, Particle Size Characterization Of Sd-Ldl With Multiangle Light Scattering, Akshay Sudhakar Ukey

Masters Theses

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease due to the accumulation of lipids in the inner wall of arteries. As per the report of Center of Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in every 4 deaths is due to heart diseases each year. Atherosclerosis occurs when artery walls harden by the buildup of cholesterol, forming multiple atherosclerotic plaques within the aorta (4). Out of the modern medicines available to control cholesterol, statin is amongst the foremost widely used because it is both safe and effective in lowering high risk patients (9). However, usage of high statins dosage typically leads to some mild …

Fluid Modeling And Analysis Of A Mash Tl-6 Vehicle Model, Elisa Vasquez

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

The objective of this research project was to replicate the dynamic behavior of a truck-tank trailer combination vehicle using representative dimensions, properties, and inertias of the trailer/fluid ballast combination. A literature review was completed describing techniques for modeling fluids and fluid-container interactions using finite element analysis. Various fluid modeling techniques were identified, and parameters associated with those models were archived. Next, researchers utilized the tank geometry of the elliptical straight-frame 5949 trailer produced by LBT Inc. to generate a finite element mesh using finite element analysis preprocessors HyperMesh and LS PrePost. Material properties were taken from reference guides, research papers, …

Dc-Dc Buck-Boost Converter Design For Energy Harvesting From Exercise Equipment, Nicholas Serres

Electrical Engineering

This project aims to improve energy harvesting efficiency from an exercise machine. Exercise machine energy harvesting has a small immediate impact but can eventually have an immense impact. An elliptical exercise machine energy converter outputs 5V-60V whereas the microinverters require approximately 36V. The buck boost DC-DC converter bridges the gap between the microinverter and the elliptical machine. Increasing the buck-boost controller efficiency increases power production. Greater power efficiency gives the whole system more financial viability, and additionally makes it a greater sustainable energy source.

Programmable Battery Management System, Jason Erbert

Electrical Engineering

Lithium batteries provide excellent energy storage capabilities at a relatively high density; however, precautions must be taken with these high energy devices to ensure safe operation. A battery management system (BMS) provides protection by monitoring cell and pack voltage levels and maintaining them in a specific range. They limit the output current and disable the output in extreme conditions. Most devices in the targeted power range (<1000W) do not allow the user to manipulate the values for maximum current, cut-off voltage, or other limits. This project introduces the Programmable BMS (PBMS), which instead allows the user to select these values through a physical interface. The interface displays measurements including pack voltage and output current, and it reports additional characteristics of interest such as the battery’s temperature, state of charge, and cumulative number of charge cycles. This level of access and control permits users to receive the maximum performance and safety from common lithium battery packs.

Phonetic Algorithm Performance, Aaron Schneidereit

Senior Honors Projects

AARON SCHNEIDEREIT (Computer Science BS) Phonetic Algorithm Performance Sponsors: Noah Daniels (Computer Science and Statistics) Phonetic Algorithms are used for classifying words based on their pronunciation. These algorithms are used in many text-to-speech technologies and spell-checkers to ensure that a word can be correctly recognized despite minor spelling/pronunciation errors. The process of encoding a word to its phonetic surname is known as Phonetic Matching. Since 1918, there have only been a handful of phonetic algorithms that have been created. The main three algorithms that other phonetic algorithms are built from are Soundex, New York State Identification and Intelligence System (NYSIIS), …

Quenched And Tempered High Strength Steel:A Review, Gadadhar Sahoo, Krishna Kumar Singh, Vinod Kumar

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

Quenched and tempered steel are broadly classified as low alloy conventional grades with C contentof 0.15-0.40% and tool steels with C content as high as 2% alloyed with strong carbide forming elementssuch as Cr, V, Mo etc. in the range of 1-12%. In both the cases, steels are used in hardened/quenchedand tempered or auto tempered condition for improved toughness, strength and wear resistance. The C content and tempering temperature are optimized based on desired application. However, achieving high strength/hardness along with adequate toughness is a challenge. The chemistry designis one of the important parts of developing these grades. The judicious …

Characterization Of Tio2-Activated Carbon Onto Adsorption And Photocatalytic Propertiesand Its Application, Mark Chobchun, Pasakorn Jutakridsada, Puttiporn Thiamsinsangwon, Pornnapa Kasemsiri, Khanita Kamwilaisak, Prinya Chindaprasirt

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

This study investigates the characterization of TiO2in conjunction with activated carbon(AC) on its adsorption and photocatalytic properties. TiO2in theabsence and presence of AC were preparedby the sol-gel method. TiCl4was used as a precursor to reduce using acidic solution during preparationprocess. The effects of the amount of AC on the characteristics of composites were investigated. TGA technique was used to evaluate the amount of TiO2and AC in TiO2/AC composite. The adsorptionproperties of TiO2/AC were characterized using XRD, TEM, N2adsorption/desorption, FTIR and UV - Visdiffuse reflectance spectroscopy techniques. The photocatalytic activitiesof the composites were investigated by measuring the removal of acid dye. …

Screen Printed Textile Electrodes Using Graphene And Carbon Nanotubes With Silver For Flexible Supercapacitor Applications, Norawich Keawploy, Radhakrishnan Venkatkarthick, Panyawat Wangyao, Jiaqian Qin

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

The eco-friendly conductive cotton textile is promising alternatives for the flexible substrates in wearable devices since the cotton is as an inexpensive natural fabric material and compatible in modern portable electronics with adequate electrical conductivity. In this work, flexible conductive cotton-based electrodes areprepared via a screen-printing method using the carbonaceous nanomaterialssuch as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene with an additional component of conductive silver (Ag) powder and textile ink. The prepared conductive cotton electrodes exhibit lower sheet resistance (<10Ω) along with superior mass loading (20-30mgcm-2). On the basis of the performance of cottonelectrodes prepared, an all-solid-state flexible supercapacitor device was successfully fabricated whichexhibits a high specific areal capacitance of 677.12 mFcm-2at 0.0125 mAcm-2 for a suitable electrodecomposition (60% of Ag and 40% CNTs) using a PVA-KOH gel electrolyte. The flexible device endures a stable electrochemical performance under severe mechanical deformation using differentbending angles (0, 30, 45, 60and 90) of the device and possesses excellent cyclic stability with the capacitance retention of ~80% even after 3000 CV cycles.

The Usage Of Coal−Layered Double Oxide For Removal Of Toxic Dye Fromaqueous Solution, Pornnapa Tongchoo, Sonchai Intachai, Prakaidao Pankam, Chomponoot Suppaso, Nithima Khaorapapong

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

CoAl−layered double oxide derived from calcination of CoAl−layered double hydroxide at400Cfor 120 min, delivered the change in microstructure with increasing surface area. Spinel Co3O4was the majority in the product as confirmed by X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared andUV-visible spectroscopies. The calcined product, CoAl−layered double oxide resulted in significantadsorption capacity on dye removal superior to that of CoAl−layered double hydroxide. The adsorbed amounts of the diverse dyes increased as follows: methylene blue phenolphthaleinmethyl orange orange II. The adsorption affinity between adsorbent and dyes relied on electrostatic interaction and physical adsorption.