Engineering Commons^™

Transonic Small-Disturbance Theory/Integral Boundary Layer Airfoil Data For The Low-Fidelity Common Research Model, Jeffrey D. Taylor, Douglas Hunsaker

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Lift, Drag, and Moment Coefficient data for the Low-Fidelity Common Research Model wing airfoil sections.

Globally Optimal Passive Compliance Control For Tasks Having Multiple Homotopy Classes, Jacob J. Rice, Joseph M. Schimmels

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Redundant serial manipulators with variable stiffness actuators (VSAs) are capable of passive compliance control, in which the elastic behavior of the end-effector is controlled for robust interaction with a stiff environment. This paper addresses the problem of finding the globally optimal joint manipulation path (sequence of joint positions and compliances) that yields a desired task manipulation path (sequence of end-effector positions and compliances) when there is one degree of redundancy. The space of admissible joint paths can be very complex, with multiple bifurcations resulting in multiple homotopy classes of joint paths. Bifurcations due to singularities in the combined kinematic and …

Identifying Depressive Symptoms From Tweets: Figurative Language Enabled Multitask Learning Framework, Shweta Yadav, Jainish Chauhan, Joy Prakash Sain, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Amit P. Sheth, Jeremiah Schumm

Publications

Existing studies on using social media for deriving mental health status of users focus on the depression detection task. However, for case management and referral to psychiatrists, healthcare workers require practical and scalable depressive disorder screening and triage system. This study aims to design and evaluate a decision support system (DSS) to reliably determine the depressive triage level by capturing fine-grained depressive symptoms expressed in user tweets through the emulation of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) that is routinely used in clinical practice. The reliable detection of depressive symptoms from tweets is challenging because the 280-character limit on tweets incentivizes the …

Carbon Sequestration By Reforesting Legacy Grasslands On Coal Mining Sites, James F. Fox, J. Elliott Campbell, Peter M. Acton

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Future carbon management during energy production will rely on carbon capture and sequestration technology and carbon sequestration methods for offsetting non-capturable losses. The present study quantifies carbon sequestration via reforestation using measurements and modeling for recent and legacy surface coal mining grasslands that are re-restored through tree planting. This paper focuses on a case study of legacy coal mining sites in the southern Appalachia the United States. This five million-hectare region has a surface mining footprint of approximately 12% of the land area, and the reclamation method was primarily grassland. The results of the soil carbon sequestration rates for restored …

Global Privacy Concerns Of Facial Recognition Big Data, Myranda Westbrook

Honors Theses

Facial recognition technology is a system of automatic acknowledgement that recognizes individuals by categorizing specific features of their facial structure to link the scanned information to stored data. Within the past few decades facial recognition technology has been implemented on a large scale to increase the security measures needed to access personal information. This has been specifically used in surveillance systems, social media platforms, and mobile device access control. The extensive use of facial recognition systems has created challenges as it relates to biometric information control and privacy concerns. This concern raises the cost and benefit analysis of an individual’s …

The Use Of Nanoparticles And Electrospun Fibers For Intravaginal Delivery To Treat Viral And Bacterial Infections And Electrophysiological Measurements Of Synthetic Chloride Channels., Farnaz Minooei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Female reproductive viral and bacterial infections affect millions of women worldwide. Given the diversity and magnitude of these unmet reproductive health challenges, topical administration of antiretrovirals (ARVs) and antibiotics have emerged as promising approaches to maintain and restore reproductive health. However, currently available intravaginal dosage forms often suffer from low user adherence and the need for frequent, daily administration to achieve therapeutic effect. To address these challenges, the broad goal of this research was to focus on the development of new localized nanoparticle (NP) and electrospun fiber dosage forms to prolong the delivery and enhance the efficacy of active agents …

Impacts Of Environmental And Hydrologic Factors On Urban Stream Water Quality., Jason Patrik Ingram

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Urban streams can be impacted by a multitude of hydrologic and environmental factors, making maintaining these water sources difficult. Urbanization can exacerbate these impacts creating new challenges in preserving suitable urban stream water quality. Urbanization is the development of city landscape and suburban living within an otherwise natural region. For this environmental impact study, the effects of city development on urban stream water quality was monitored for Mill Creek in Louisville, Kentucky. To study the effects of urbanization on Mill Creek, this project was completed utilizing the BACI method for comparing impacts. The results of the water quality monitoring were …

Automatic Target Recognition With Convolutional Neural Networks., Nada Baili

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) characterizes the ability for an algorithm or device to identify targets or other objects based on data obtained from sensors, being commonly thermal. ATR is an important technology for both civilian and military computer vision applications. However, the current level of performance that is available is largely deficient compared to the requirements. This is mainly due to the difficulty of acquiring targets in realistic environments, and also to limitations of the distribution of classified data to the academic community for research purposes. This thesis proposes to solve the ATR task using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). We …

Raman Spectroscopic Investigation Of The Speciation Of Uranyl (Vi) And Thorium (Iv) Ions In Chloride-Bearing Aqueous Solutions Under Hydrothermal Conditions, Nadib Akram

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Raman spectra were acquired for a uranyl chloride aqueous solution at temperatures ranging from 25°C to 500°C at the chloride concentration of 6M and uranium (vi) concentration of 0.05M. The measurements were taken by sealing the sample in a hydrothermal diamond anvil cell (HDAC) which enabled spectra acquisition at non-ambient conditions. The pressure inside the cell was measured by estimating the liquid-vapor homogenization temperature (T_H) and using the isochoric equation of state diagram of water. The acquired spectra were then fitted to determine the speciation distribution of the various uranyl chloride species for the mentioned concentration. The developed …

Preparation And Characterization Of Dc Magnetron Sputtered Thin Films, Al Amin

Theses and Dissertations

Plasma enhanced DC magnetron sputtering is a well-known technique for thin film deposition. Thin film has wide range of applications in many fields such as electronics, optics, communication, decoration, biosystem and medical. Among them, antibacterial and biocompatible thin film coating has attracted researcher’s attention to prevent the healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) during the surgical operations as well as the implantation of foreign devices inside human body. This research has been divided into two sections. In first section, titanium (Ti) was deposited on glass substrate at DC power of 200 W, argon-nitrogen plasma, and temperature of 25 ˚C. Later this Ti-coated glass …

A Python-Based Brain-Computer Interface Package For Neural Data Analysis, Md Hasan Anowar

Theses and Dissertations

Anowar, Md Hasan, A Python-based Brain-Computer Interface Package for Neural Data Analysis. Master of Science (MS), December, 2020, 70 pp., 4 tables, 23 figures, 74 references.

Although a growing amount of research has been dedicated to neural engineering, only a handful of software packages are available for brain signal processing. Popular brain-computer interface packages depend on commercial software products such as MATLAB. Moreover, almost every brain-computer interface software is designed for a specific neuro-biological signal; there is no single Python-based package that supports motor imagery, sleep, and stimulated brain signal analysis. The necessity to introduce a brain-computer interface package that …

Performance And Efficiency Evaluation Of Stormwater Management Lids Using Pcswmm: Numerical Modeling And Sensitivity Analysis, Abdullah Al Fatta

Theses and Dissertations

Implementation of Low Impact Development systems (LIDs) can reduce the detrimental effects of urbanization. In this study, performance of both conventional drainage system and bioretention swales LID green infrastructure was assessed. Personal Computer Storm Water Management Model (PCSWMM) was used to investigate the performance by producing runoff hydrographs. Calibration and validation were conducted with independent storm events to minimize the gap between the simulated and observed outflow. Among different sensitive parameters, saturated hydraulic conductivity, suction head, percent initially saturated, Manning’s N for impervious area, were used in calibration. Each storm event resulted coefficient of determination (R2) values of 0.656 or …

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

Theses and Dissertations

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

Tanzanian Concrete Masonry Walls, Edward J. Kaminski

Architectural Engineering

Walls that replicate masonry walls used in Tanzania are constructed and tested. The results from testing was compared with the respective predictions made using code guidelines from ASCE 7 and TMS 402.

Seismic Performance Of Chevron-Configured Special Concentrically Braced Frames With Yielding Beams, Hayato Asada, Andrew D. Sen, Tao Li, Jeffrey W. Berman, Dawn E. Lehman, Charles W. Roeder

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Current seismic design requirements for special concentrically braced frames (SCBFs) in chevron configurations require that the beams supporting the braces be designed to resist the demands resulting from the simultaneous yielding of the tension brace and degraded, post-buckling strength of the compression brace. Recent research, including large-scale experiments and detailed finite-element analyses, has demonstrated that limited beam yielding is not detrimental to chevron braced frame behavior and actually increases the story drift at which the braces fracture. These findings have resulted in new expressions for computing beam demands in chevron SCBFs that reduce the demand in the tension brace to …

Quantification Of Nitric Oxide Via Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes, Jakob Meier

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Nitric oxide (NO), a free radical present in biological systems, can have many beneficial and detrimental effects on the body. Due to NO’s short half-life, its detection and quantification is difficult. This inability to quantify NO has hindered researchers that are trying to understand NO’s impact in healthy and diseased conditions. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT), can become selective to various analytes when wrapped in specific single-stranded DNA strands. The presence of the analyte of interest can change the wavelength and/or intensity of the SWNT’s fluorescence, allowing the SWNT to be used as a sensor. One type of SWNT sensor, 6,5 …

Impact Of Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Participation And Mobilization Cost On Highway Project Performance, Shristy Maharjan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Construction practitioners have their goals to complete projects within time without exceeding the allocated budget. However, studies have shown many projects overrun their allocated budget and face delays due to numerous reasons. Some of the main reasons are lack of efficient construction and financial resource management, lack of proper planning, and unavailability of new construction technologies, as well as ineffective supervision and communication, design changes, and unskilled workers. In some studies, mobilization costs, along with the participation of Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) in projects were identified as factors affecting the cost and schedule performance of construction projects. However, no statistical …

Fighter Aircraft Guidance And Control, Kaushik Raj

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Aircraft technology has undergone momentous improvements over the decades due to the growing demand and competition among industries. The performance requirement and stability of fighter aircraft is a major factor due to the ever-increasing flight envelope. Advanced fighter aircraft are expected to be highly maneuverable. To achieve extreme maneuverability a very good aircraft design with multiple redundant control actuators having static instabilities in certain modes, near accurate nonlinear aircraft mathematical model, and suitable nonlinear control design technique is required. Conventionally, training aircrafts such as Cessna and Piper aircraft are built for static and dynamic stability, making them easy to trim …

Constitutive Modeling Of Force-Controlled Fatigue Testing In Human Meniscus Tissue, Bradley Scott Henderson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The meniscus is a wedge-shaped fibrocartilaginous tissue located between the femur and tibia that helps stabilize the knee and protect the underlying cartilage. There are 2.5 million reported knee injuries each year, making it the most injured joint in the human body. Nearly twenty percent of these injuries are due to a torn meniscus, leading to over half a million meniscus surgeries performed in the United States annually. Therefore, it is critical to understand the failure modes of meniscus tissue to prevent these debilitating injuries. A failure mode that accounts for one-third of all meniscus injuries is repeated exposure to …

Additive Manufacturing Of Graphene-Based Devices For Flexible Hybrid Electronics, Twinkle Pandhi

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In this work, I investigate and enhance the fundamental sensing properties of printed electronic nanomaterials (e.g., graphene) in real-world environments while decreasing weight, cost, and power consumption. The dissertation addresses this issue with the following foci in mind: (1) developing a straightforward and repeatable process to synthesize graphene ink which is also compatible with Inkjet-printing (IJP) and Aerosol Jet printing (AJP). (2) Tuning additive manufacturing printing (IJP and AJP) parameters to establish a repeatable manufacturing process and print high performing (graphene-based) electrodes and interconnects, compatible with the underlying substrate. (3) Investigate power dissipation and electrical breakdown in AJP printed graphene …

Designing And Evaluating Of Mimo Systems For Millimeter-Wave Communications, Mojtaba Ahmadi Almasi

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The fifth generation (5G) of wireless communications will integrate all existing technologies while bringing its own to the system. Amongst these technologies, millimeter-wave (mmWave) is emerging as a promising solution for 5G systems. However, to fully harness the potential of mmWave communications, obstacles such as severe path loss, channel sparsity, and hardware complexity should be overcome. The existing cost-effective systems can considerably reduce the hardware complexity and partially severe path loss, while channel sparsity still remains a main problem. Other factors such as transmission reliability and coverage area should be considered in 5G mmWave communications. Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is …

In-Situ Fluid Injections To Achieve Bio-Stimulated Calcite Precipitation In Expansive Soils, Anish Pathak

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Expansive soils undergo vast changes in volume when subject to change in water contents and cause damages to infrastructures across the world. Traditional methods of tackling the problem of expansive soils using cement or lime are environmentally unfriendly and expensive. Microbial Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP) is a new method which uses bacteria in the soil to precipitate CaCO3 (calcite) and improve the engineering properties of soils. Various laboratory studies have shown that this method can be applied successfully to treat expansive soils, but the field application of the method have barely been studied.

To study the applicability of MICP in …

Large Displacement J-Integral Double Cantilever Beam (Dcb) Test Method For Mode I Fracture Toughness, Joshua Gunderson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The J-integral is used to develop an alternative double cantilever beam (DCB) test method for the Mode I fracture toughness suitable for both small and large displacements. The current focus is the experimental determination of the Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness of composite materials, but the method is generally applicable to other similar tests and material systems, such as to the Mode I fracture toughness of adhesives. A series of five identical specimens are tested to compare the linear-elastic fracture mechanics method recommended by ASTM, which makes use of linear beam theory with root rotation, large displacement, and end …

A Resilience Metric For Modern Power Distribution Systems, Tyler Bennett Phillips

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Modern society has become increasingly reliant on the functioning of critical infrastructure. It is considered so vital that its incapacitation or destruction would have debilitating effects on the global economy, national security, and public health and safety. The electrical power system is uniquely positioned, as it is essential for all other sectors of critical infrastructure to operate as intended. However, it is constantly at risk due to factors such as natural disasters, climate change, aging infrastructure, and cyber threats. Thus, ensuring the efficient and continuous supply of electricity is of utmost importance and the topic of this dissertation.

The work …

Novel Memristor Based True Random Number Generator, Scott Stoller

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Random numbers are an important, but often overlooked part of the modern computing environment. They are used everywhere around us for a variety of purposes, from simple decision making in video games such as a coin toss, to securing financial transactions and encrypting confidential communications. They are even useful for gambling and the lottery.

Random numbers are generated in many ways. Pseudo random number generators (PRNGs) generate numbers based on a formula. True random number generators (TRNGs) capture entropy from the environment to generate randomness. As our society and our devices become more connected in the digital world, it is …

Understanding Mesoscopic Chemo-Mechanical Distress And Mitigation Mechanisms Of Concrete Subject To Asr, Md Asif Rahman

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is one of the common sources of concrete damage worldwide. The surrounding environment, namely, temperature and humidity greatly influence the alkali-silica reaction induced expansion. Global warming (GW) has caused frequent change in the climate and initiated extreme weather events in recent years. These extreme events anticipate random change in temperature and humidity, and convey potential threats to the concrete infrastructure. Moreover, external loading conditions also affect the service life of concrete. Thus, complex mechanisms of ASR under the impact of seasonal change and global warming require a precise quantitative assessment to guide the durable infrastructure materials design …

"You Can Tell They Care": A Phenomenographic Study Of Student Experiences With Empathic Concern Expressed By Professors In Engineering, Kate Youmans

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In order to address the increasingly complex challenges of the 21st century, there is a need to continue to grow the technical workforce by improving graduation rates of engineering students. To accomplish this, the culture of engineering programs must shift from demanding or intimidating to more inclusive and supportive. Professors can play a critical role in creating these cultures by building relationships with students. Empathic concern is essential in building relationships that can encourage student growth and development. This form of empathy, sometimes referred to as care or concern, is expressed through actions of understanding, compassion, and non-judgement. While research …

Exploring The Feasibility Of Introducing Alternative Fuel Vehicles Into Fleet, Samia Rubaiat

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Transportation is one of the most significant contributing sectors to emissions and consequently air pollution in the United States. Many state and private fleet agencies have announced their visions of zero-emission fleet programs. Adopting alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) is a viable option for achieving this objective. AFVs offer lower emissions along with low operating and maintenance costs, and higher fuel economy. The advancement of technologies has provided several AFV options, such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), electric vehicles (EV), compressed natural gas vehicles (CNGV), and liquefied petroleum gas vehicles (LPGV). The main challenges in adopting AFVs are the high purchasing …

3d Printed Microporous Collagen Constructs Using The Freeze-Fresh Methodology, Thais Sousa Senzano

Theses and Dissertations

Scaffold microporosity is known to play a critical role in governing cellular response including cell migration, proliferation, and tissue-specific differentiation. While fabrication approaches such as solvent leaching and freeze-casting are commonly used for the generation of microporous biomaterial scaffolds, these methods provide little control over scaffold geometry and creation of complex tissue structures. Extrusion-based 3D printing, an additive manufacturing method, is a highly versatile layer-by-layer printing approach that allows for the fabrication of easily customizable 3D scaffolds with complex architecture using a vast selection of polymeric bioinks. These 3D printed constructs are porous at the macroscale, but achieving microporosity (i.e., < 100 μm) in printed constructs is challenging due to the sub-optimal resolution of the extrusion-based printing method. A recent study using alginate inks introduced a new fabrication technique termed Freeze-FRESH(FF)that combines extrusion printing and freeze-casting approaches to generate 3D constructs with hierarchical microporosity. However, the porosity of the resultant alginate constructs was comparable despite changing the freezing temperature. In the current study, the FF method was modified to print collagen constructs with greater control of microporous architecture. Highly concentrated collagen type I ink was used to 3D print collagen constructs using the freeform reversible embedding of suspended hydrogels (FRESH)approach. Modification of the FF technique entailed melting of the FRESH bath post printing via incubation at 37 °C followed by freezing and lyophilization to allow for collagen gelation and better heat transport during the freezing process. The effect of freezing temperature on micropore size, swelling degree, degradation, and mechanical properties of printed constructs was assessed. Finite element (FE) models were generated to predict the mechanical properties of microporous scaffolds. In addition, the effect of microporosity on Saos-2 cell morphology, proliferation, infiltration, and ALP activity was evaluated. Results from the study showed that freezing temperature effectively modulated micropore size and that constructs with larger micropore size were more stable. Microporosity had no effect on swelling ratio yet caused a decrease in mechanical properties of collagen constructs; FE models confirmed experimental results. Cell metabolic activity and infiltration was enhanced in microporous constructs with larger pore size, yet there was no effect on cell morphology, and ALP activity. In conclusion, the modified FF technique can be effectively used to fabricate hierarchically porous 3D collagen constructs.

Development Of A Design Method For Bonded Concrete Pavement Overlays, Ahmed Alsabbagh

Theses and Dissertations

Several asphalt pavements prematurely reached the end of their design life due to wheel loading has dramatically increased on highways. Therefore, transportation and highways agencies often endeavor to provide high-performance pavement to ensure the longest life with low maintenance required. Although asphalt pavement overlay (APO) can provide a quick and low-cost option for pavements rehabilitation, it frequently exhibits excessive rutting especially at highway pavement subjected to stop-and-go traffic conditions. Hence, concrete pavement overlays (CPO) is one of the alternative options for rehabilitating deteriorated pavements. The ultra-thin white topping (UTW) is one type of concrete overlay types and is considered a …