Engineering Commons^™

A Design And Analysis Of Computer Experiments Approach For Green Building, Marjan Sayadi

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Theses - Archive

The coming shortage of energy sources and critical environmental impacts are two major factors that have forced a change in product design processes. The shortage of energy sources is related to the limitation on non-renewable energy sources on earth and requires the development of new concepts with lower energy consumptions. Environmental impact, on the other hand, is concerned about the negative effects of products on the natural environment. In recent years, research on designing more environmentally-friendly products that consume lower of energy with lower environmental impact has been initiated to address these issues [1-3]. Designing new powertrains for vehicles [4] …

Measuring The Effects Of High-Altitude Flight And Upper Atmospheric Radiation On Muscle Cells, Annelise Dykes

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

There are several physiological barriers to long-term space travel, including the effects of launch, landing, and microgravity on muscle cells. A payload capsule was designed to maintain cell growth during a high altitude balloon flight to model some of these physiological processes. Murine muscle cells (strain C2C12) were cultured and launched in a capsule on a balloon satellite in November 2016. Cells were monitored for changes due to temperature, flight motion, radiation, and gravity differences by quantifying cell characteristics before and after the flight using physical measurements and cell viability. Instruments were selected to monitor flight data, and a payload …

Design For Manufacturability And Assembly Of An Assistive Technician Creeper, Including Single Drive Control Of A Multi-Degree Of Freedom Kinematic Mechanism, Larry T. Wilde Jr.

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In 2011, a team of engineering students at Utah State University designed and built an assistive technician creeper to assist persons with lower-extremity physical disabilities to work in low-clearance areas. In order to put this technology on the market, a complete product redesign was needed to address safety and functionality concerns. This thesis outlines the specific design needs, presents the detailed design approach, and summarizes the final creeper solution. The mechanisms of the initial prototype were modified to independently incline or recline the upper body, and raise or lower the seat surface with a single motor. This will be especially …

Computational Methods For The Analysis Of Functional 4d-Ct Chest Images., Ahmed Soliman Naeem Soliman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Medical imaging is an important emerging technology that has been intensively used in the last few decades for disease diagnosis and monitoring as well as for the assessment of treatment effectiveness. Medical images provide a very large amount of valuable information that is too huge to be exploited by radiologists and physicians. Therefore, the design of computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) system, which can be used as an assistive tool for the medical community, is of a great importance. This dissertation deals with the development of a complete CAD system for lung cancer patients, which remains the leading cause of cancer-related death …

Optimization Models And Algorithms For Demand Response In Smart Grid., Guangyang Xu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For demand response in smart grid, a utility company wants to minimize total electricity cost and end users want to maximize their own utility. The latter is considered to consist of two parts in this research: electricity cost and convenience/comfort. We first develop a system optimal (SO) model and a user equilibrium (UE) model for the utility company and end users, respectively and compare the difference of the two. We consider users' possible preference on convenience over cost-saving under the real-time pricing in smart grid, and each user is assumed to have a preferred time window for using a particular …

Energy-Efficient Management Of Mechanical Ventilation And Relative Humidity In Hot-Humid Climates, Florida Solar Energy Center, Charles Withers, Jr.

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The U.S. Department of Energy's Building America research team Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction conducted this research project to gain data and insight into these issues. The project focused on energy-efficient management of mechanical ventilation and RH during the cooling season. It consisted of eight test configurations. A particular focus evaluated how well a ductless seasonal energy-efficiency ratio (SEER) 21.5 mini-split heat pump (MSHP) could perform as the primary cooling system without a dehumidifier for supplemental dehumidification in a continuously mechanically ventilated house.

Modeling Streambank Erosion On Composite Streambanks On A Watershed Scale, A. R. Mittelstet, D. E. Storm, G. A. Fox, P. M. Allen

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Streambanks can be a significant source of sediment and phosphorus to aquatic ecosystems. Although the streambank-erosion routine in the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) has improved in recent versions, the recently developed routine in SWAT 2012 has undergone limited testing, and the lack of site or watershed specific streambank data increases the uncertainty in the streambank-erosion predictions. There were two primary objectives of this research: (1) modify and test the 2012 SWAT streambank-erosion routine on composite streambanks, and (2) compare SWAT default and field-measured channel parameters and assess their influence on predicted streambank erosion. Three modifications were made to …

Creating A Short Scale For In-Flight Experience Quality, Rian Mehta, Stephen Rice

Aeronautics Faculty Publications

Customer service and satisfaction is of great importance to aviation industry as it has an economic impact on the airlines. Customer’s in-flight experience, is tied into their satisfaction with that airline, and in turn has become an area of competition between airlines. This study seeks to develop a statistically valid and reliable scale to empirically measure the quality of the in-flight experience that a passenger would witness on a commercial airline flight within the United States. Actual consumers from the general public were used for each of the five stages of the process, along with input from aviation experts, to …

Tunneling Nanotubes: An Alternate Route For Propagation Of The Bystander Effect Following Oncolytic Viral Infection, Justin Ady, Venugopal Thayanithy, Kelly Mojica, Phillip Wong, Joshua Carson, Prassanna Rao, Yuman Fong, Emil Lou

Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Faculty Publications

Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) are ultrafine, filamentous actin-based cytoplasmic extensions which form spontaneously to connect cells at short and long-range distances. We have previously described long-range intercellular communication via TNTs connecting mesothelioma cells in vitro and demonstrated TNTs in intact tumors from patients with mesothelioma. Here, we investigate the ability of TNTs to mediate a viral thymidine kinase based bystander effect after oncolytic viral infection and administration of the nucleoside analog ganciclovir. Using confocal microscopy we assessed the ability of TNTs to propagate enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP), which is encoded by the herpes simplex virus NV1066, from infected to uninfected …

Conductive Inks And Films Via Intense Pulsed Light., Gabriel L. Draper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on the investigation of Earth abundant copper and carbon based nanomaterials that are subjected to Intense Pulsed Light Processing to create conductive films, as future flexible electronics and renewable energy solutions would benefit from the quick and scalable production of conductive films. Use of nanomaterials in their oxide/hydroxide forms leads to higher stability in aqueous inks for efficient large area solution deposition. IPL Processing utilized 2044 μs pulses ranging from 589 J - 2070 J over an area of 1.9 cm x 30.5 cm, with energy densities of 10.1, 12.8, 15.8, 19.2, 22.9, 26.8, 31.1 and 35.7 …

Enhancing Capacity And Managing Demand To Increase Short-Term Throughput On The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Kevin Reid Carstens

Master's Theses

While there are many proposals for fixing congestion between San Francisco and Oakland in California by adding a new bridge or tube, these solutions will take decades to implement even though a solution is needed now. This thesis assesses sixteen different strategies for reducing congestion in the short-term in the four categories of improving transit, promoting carpooling, implementing intelligent transportation systems practices, and incentivizing alternatives to using the Bay Bridge. Top priorities include HOV improvements on the West Grand Avenue and Powell Street onramps, altering WestCAT Lynx and BART transit services, partnering with rideshare apps to increase transit station accessibility …

Determination Of Seismic Earth Pressures On Retaining Walls Through Finite Element Analysis, Michael Iannelli

Master's Theses

Seismic pressures on displacing or rigid retaining or basement walls have been derived based on the original work of Mononobe and Okabe, who used a shake table to calculate dynamic pressures of displacing retaining walls existing in cohesionless soils. Since this original work was done over eighty years ago, the results of Mononobe and Okabe, colloquially known as M-O theory, have been applied to different conditions, including non-displacing basement walls, as well as changes in soil properties. Since the original work of M-O, there have been numerous studies completed to verify the accuracy of the original calculation, most notably the …

Electric Smart Load Meter, Johnny Tran

Electrical Engineering

This project details the design of an electric meter that reads the signals of any device plugged into an outlet and displays cost readings that may potentially reduce power consumption. The sensor monitors whether a plugged in device continuously consumes power after completely charging up. For a charging device, the current remains constant until the device reaches 100% charge. Once the device becomes fully charged, the current discontinues for proper power usage. A unique aspect of the meter is that it displays cost per hour, day, and year. Displaying the cost per unit of time creates awareness for customers, potentially …

Garage Door Security System, Trevor Lehr, Austin Williams

Electrical Engineering

This project focuses on the design and build of a low cost system that monitors garage doors and transmits their state to a receiver unit placed at a convenient location inside the user’s house. This provides the user with the ability to monitor their garage doors from the comfort of inside their home without having to go outside and look at the garage. The receiver unit includes a screen to display system information and LEDs to make it easy to view the garage door’s status from a distance. The system has great enough range to place the receiver at any …

The Effects Of Notch Geometry On Fracture Testing Of Asphalt Concrete, Rebekah Porter

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Asphalt concrete is commonly used as the surface layer on pavements because of its convenience, low cost, and smooth ride (Wagoner, 2005). However, there is a significant problem with the cracking and deterioration of asphalt concrete roads. The initiation of cracking in asphalt must be better understood in order to further improve pavement design. Fracture energy is the amount of energy needed to separate two surfaces. The semi circular bend (SCB) test can be used to measure the fracture energy of asphalt concrete. Currently, this method uses a semicircular specimen with a rectangular notch in a three-point bend compression test. …

Biodegradable Thermoplastic Elastomers And Smart Composites, Erin Mcmullin

Dissertations - ALL

There is a need for biodegradable thermoplastic elastomers for a variety of medical applications. This dissertation aims at (i) developing and characterizing biodegradable elastomers and (ii) developing and characterizing biodegradable smart composites, both to be used as biomaterials. First, in Chapter 1, an overview was given of the literature of relevant background information on polymers, biomaterials, and previous biodegradable elastomers and responsive elastomeric systems.

The first biodegradable elastomer developed and investigated, as presented in Chapter 2, is a novel thermoplastic polyurethane that has a biodegradable soft segment and a crystalline hard segment (POSS). By varying the composition of the poly(caprolactone)-based …

Development Of An Analytical Model For Beams With Two Dimples In Opposing Directions, Mofareh H. Ghazwani

Masters Theses

Structures such as beams and steel plates can produce potentially high levels of unwanted vibrations and noises in the environment. A method of improving the vibration and acoustic characteristics of beams based on introducing dimples on its surfaces will be presented in this study. This method focuses on creating two dimples in the same and opposite direction on beam’s surface where the effect of dimples on the change in beam’s natural frequencies is the problems of interest.

A boundary value model (BVM) is developed for a beam with two dimples and subjected to various boundary conditions using Hamilton’s Variational Principle. …

Optimal Limited-Stop Bus Routes Selection Using A Genetic Algorithm And Smart Card Data, Yongju Yi, Keechoo Choi, Young-Jae Lee

Journal of Public Transportation

In recent years, express bus service has come into the spotlight by overcoming slow bus operating speeds while maintaining its accessibility when it operates with local bus services. This study developed an optimal limited-stop bus routes selection (LSBRS) guideline as a scenario-based analysis and compared it with case study results. Smart card data and a genetic algorithm (GA) were used to develop the model with different scenarios. Then, total travel time savings as a result of implementing limited-stop bus service generated by the GA model were computed. The effectiveness of each factor was verified by multiple regression analysis, and the …

Passenger Satisfaction And Mental Adaptation Under Adverse Conditions: Case Study In Manila, Andra Charis Mijares, Mio Suzuki, Tetsuo Yai

Journal of Public Transportation

Public transportation systems in several developing cities face congestion, air pollution, and safety problems, yet many passengers use them regularly. This study examines the structure of passenger satisfaction and the role of mental adaptation under such conditions. Metro Manila MRT-3 was analyzed as a case study.

The actual and perceived conditions at the MRT-3 were assessed using surveys. Results of the waiting time and PM_2.5 monitoring surveys revealed that passengers queue for 30 minutes, on average, while being exposed to unsafe levels of PM_2.5. The questionnaire survey results show some discrepancies between actual and perceived values, suggesting …

Regularity Of Public Transport Usage: A Case Study Of Bus Rides In Lisbon, Portugal, Stefan Foell, Santi Phithakkitnukoon, Marco Veloso, Gerd Kortuem, Carlos Bento

Journal of Public Transportation

This paper presents an analysis of regularity in public transport usage based on a large-scale bus transportation data of Lisbon, Portugal. By exploring the combined information from the bus boarding history of riders and bus arrivals at each bus stop, an analysis of individual bus usage was performed. Daily and weekly patterns were extracted, from which it was observed that a rider takes, on average, 2 trips, visits 1.93 distinct stops, and uses 1.55 distinct bus lines daily. Inter-trip time analysis revealed a daily cycle, and a study of the interaction between riders and bus infrastructure explored how usage was …

Design Of Flow Control Device For Dynamic Cold Plate And Optimization Of Servers To Decrease Junction Temperature Of Heat Sinks, Kunal Atulkumar Shah

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Electronics cooling research is facing the challenges of high heat flux removal and increased pumping power. Not much attention has been focused related to server and module level cooling. The continued increase in heat fluxes at the chip level due to new and robust technology nodes following Moore’s law is starting to push the limits of air cooling and especially for high end servers. An alternative to air cooling is liquid (water and oil immersed) cooling. The optimized dynamic cold plates that use water as the cooling fluid have shown over 28 % and 52% of reduction in pumping power …

Evaluating Increasing Hospital Closure Rates In U.S: A Model Framework And A Lean Six Sigma Deployment Approach For Quality Improvement Initiatives To Prevent Further Closures In Rural And Disadvanaged Locations, Soma Sekar Balasubramanian

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Hospital Closures occur from time to time. Several rural hospitals were closed in the U.S recently in an unprecedented manner and hundreds of others are at the risk of closing. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) which was amended in 2010, has brought sea of changes in the healthcare industry right from changing the way how hospitals receive reimbursements by introducing several new programs targeting hospitals’ quality of care to expanding health insurance for millions of poor and underprivileged populations in the country. The goal of this study is to understand the closure of rural hospitals in line …

Dynamic Wireless Interrogation Of Antenna‐Sensor In Harsh Environment, Jun Yao

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Microstrip antenna-sensor has received considerable interests in recent years due to its simple configuration, compact size, and multi-modality sensitivity. Due to its simple and conformal planar configuration, antenna-sensor can be easily attached on the structure surface for Structure Health Monitoring (SHM). As a promising sensor, the resonant frequency of the antenna-sensor is sensitive to different structure properties: such as planar stress, temperature, pressure and moisture. As a passive antenna, antenna-sensor’s resonant frequency can be wirelessly interrogated at a middle range distance without using an on-board battery. However, a major challenge of antenna-sensor’s wireless interrogation is to isolate the antenna backscattering …

Trajectory Tracking Control Of A Quadrotor During Cooperative Operation Between Uav And Ugv, Ajibola S. Fowowe

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

In recent times, there has been an increase in the use and application of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAVs are used for various operations ranging from military applications to civilian purposes such as traffic monitoring, photography, surveillance and others. Within the UAV family, rotorcrafts take precedence over the fixed wing aircraft especially because of their unique features such as vertical takeoff and landing, increased payload, high maneuverability and more. They can be used to perform dangerous tasks and access environments that pose danger to man such as observatory wood and building fire, military purposes etc. This project focused on one …

Implementation Of A Java Processor On A Fpga, Omkar Joshi

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

Java, a programming language developed by Sun Microsystems in 1991, now managed by Oracle, has become one of the most popular computer languages for application development. This popularity can be credited to Java being architectural neutral and portable. It means that a Java program executed on any computer will yield the same result, irrespective of the underlying hardware. When a Java program is compiled it creates a Java class file. The class file contains instructions known as Bytecodes, which are executed by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). The JVM is an abstract processor, which interprets and translates the bytecodes into …

Optimal Attribute Weighting In A Nearest Neighbor Classifier, Jugal Raju Sheth

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

Nearest Neighbor algorithms are non-parametric algorithms that use distance measure techniques for classification and regressions. This thesis, first improves the traditional nearest neighbor classifier by optimizing its distance measure using a second order training algorithm. It then presents a second order method to adjust center vectors. It is shown that the distance measure weight optimization and center vector optimization, individually and together reduce the final classification error. The testing error of our algorithm is shown to be less than that of LVQ V.2.1

Accumulator Volume Sensor Final Project Report, Chris Naughton, Kinwei Yu, Michael George

Mechanical Engineering

Accumulator Volume Sensing Team has developed two sensor designs aimed at detecting the position of the piston within a 4024 accumulator. The two designs include the use of a Renishaw LMA10 magnetic encoder and a SpectraSymbol HotPot linear potentiometer. The magnetic encoder solution drastically increases the accuracy of sensing the piston position compared to the current solutions of both a string-pot and linear variable differential transformer while costing slightly less. The linear potentiometer seeks to provide a solution that drastically decreases the cost compared to the present sensing methods. Both designs call for a modification to one half of the …

Automated Machine Tender, Ryan A. Canfield, Samuel N. Adler, Louis S. Roseguo

Mechanical Engineering

The use of CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) machines automate production in factories through programs controlling manual operations such as milling or lathing. The manufacturing process can be automated beyond the use of CNC machines through the addition of a robotic tender capable of carrying out the same tasks as a human operator. A tender can be integrated into the CNC machine itself, or purchased separately and configured to autonomously operate a particular machine. Smaller companies making limited production runs may not find it economically feasible to purchase large scale integrated machine tenders, but would benefit from a versatile autonomous machine …

Photovoltaic Cooking In The Developing World, Tyler Watkins, Christopher O'Day, Omar Arriaga

Mechanical Engineering

The challenge of clean cooking is faced by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. We present a cooking technology consisting of a solar panel directly connected to an electric heater in a well-insulated chamber. Assuming continued decrease in solar panel prices, we anticipate that in a few decades Solar Electric Cooking technologies will be the most common cooking technology for the poor. Appropriate use of insulation reduces the power demand making low-power Insulated Solar Electric Cooking systems already cost competitive.

Non-Destructive Testing Of Carbon Fiber Crank Arms, Timothy Hoekstra, Grant Pocklington, Johnathan Simeroth

Mechanical Engineering

Carbon fiber components present unique challenges for detecting defects, damage, and fatigue. Nondestructive methods exist for testing and locating defects. However, most of these methods are expensive, not versatile enough for practical use on non-idealized parts, or both. Vibrothermography can be an affordable option and has shown promising results with thin rectangular panels. The goal of this senior project was to assess the feasibility of using vibrothermography to find defects in SRAM carbon fiber crank arms. Our team found vibrothermography to be a feasible method of non-destructive testing for carbon fiber crank arms, and this report discusses the development and …