Materials Science and Engineering Commons^™

A Mean Curvature Model For Capillary Flows In Asymmetric Containers And Conduits, Yongkang Chen, Noël Tavan, Mark M. Weislogel

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Capillarity-driven flows resulting from critical geometric wetting criterion are observed to yield significant shifts of the bulk fluid from one side of the container to the other during "zero gravity" experiments. For wetting fluids, such bulk shift flows consist of advancing and receding menisci sometimes separated by secondary capillary flows such as rivulet-like flows along gaps. Here we study the mean curvature of an advancing meniscus in hopes of approximating a critical boundary condition for fluid dynamics solutions. It is found that the bulk shift flows behave as if the bulk menisci are either “connected” or "disconnected." For the connected …

Capillarity-Driven Droplet Ejection, Andrew Paul Wollman

Dissertations and Theses

Drop Towers provide brief terrestrial access to microgravity environments. When used for capillary fluidics research, a drop tower allows for unique control over an experiment's initial conditions, which enables, enhances, or otherwise improves the study of capillary phenomena at significantly larger length scales than can normally be achieved on the ground. This thesis provides a historical context for the introduction of a new, highly accessible, 2.1s tower design used for capillary research and presents a variety of demonstrative experimental results for purely capillarity-driven flows leading to bubble ingestion, sinking flows, multiphase flows, and droplet ejections. The focus of this thesis …

Fundamental Properties Of Functional Zinc Oxide Nanowires Obtained By Electrochemical Method And Their Device Applications, Athavan Nadarajah

Dissertations and Theses

We report on the fundamental properties and device applications of semiconductor nanoparticles. ZnO nanowires and CdSe quantum dots were used, prepared, characterized, and assembled into novel light-emitting diodes and solar cells. ZnO nanowire films were grown electrochemically using aqueous soluble chloride-based electrolytes as precursors at temperatures below 90° C. Dopants were added to the electrolyte in the form of chloride compounds, which are AlCl₃, CoCl₂, CuCl₂, and MnCl₂. The optical, magnetic, and structural properties of undoped and transition-metal-ion doped ZnO nanowires were explored. Our results indicate that the as-grown nanowire structures have …

Plasma Levels Of Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, And Causation, Michael D. Freeman, Sean S. Kohles

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are synthetic chlorinated hydrocarbons that have extensively polluted the environment and bioaccumulated in the food chain. PCBs have been deemed to be probable carcinogens by the Environmental Protection Agency, and exposure to high levels of PCBs has been consistently linked to increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). In the present article we present a forensic epidemiologic evaluation of the causal relationship between NHL and elevated PCB levels via application of the Bradford-Hill criteria. Included in the evaluation is a meta-analysis of the results of previously published case-control studies in order to assess the strength of association between …

Ultrasonic Wave Propagation Assessment Of Native Cartilage Explants And Hydrogel Scaffolds For Tissue Engineering, Sean S. Kohles, Shelley S. Mason, Anya P. Adams, Robert J. Berg, Jessica Blank, Fay Gibson, Johnathan Righetti, Lesha S. Washington, Asit K. Saha

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Non-destructive techniques characterising the mechanical properties of cells, tissues, and biomaterials provide baseline metrics for tissue engineering design. Ultrasonic wave propagation and attenuation has previously demonstrated the dynamics of extracellular matrix synthesis in chondrocyte-seeded hydrogel constructs. In this paper, we describe an ultrasonic method to analyse two of the construct elements used to engineer articular cartilage in real-time, native cartilage explants and an agarose biomaterial. Results indicated a similarity in wave propagation velocity ranges for both longitudinal (1500-1745 m/s) and transverse (350-950 m/s) waveforms. Future work will apply an acoustoelastic analysis to distinguish between the fluid and solid properties including …

Research On Coupled Human And Natural Systems (Chans): Approach, Challenges, And Strategies, Marina Alberti, Heidi Asbjornsen, Lawrence A. Baker, Nicholas Brozović, Laurie E. Drinkwater, Scott A. Drzyzga, Claire A. Jantz, José Fragoso, Daniel S. Holland, Timothy A. Kohler, Jianguo Liu, William J. Mcconnell, Herbert D. G. Maschner, James D. A. Millington, Michael Monticino, Guillermo Podestá, Robert Gilmore Pontius Jr., Charles L. Redman, Nicholas J. Reo, David J. Sailor, Gerald Urquhart

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Understanding the complexity of human–nature interactions is central to the quest for both human well-being and global sustainability. To build an understanding of these interactions, scientists, planners, resource managers, policy makers, and communities increasingly are collaborating across wide-ranging disciplines and knowledge domains. Scientists and others are generating new integrated knowledge on top of their requisite specialized knowledge to understand complex systems in order to solve pressing environmental and social problems (e.g., Carpenter et al. 2009). One approach to this sort of integration, bringing together detailed knowledge of various disciplines (e.g., social, economic, biological, and geophysical), has become known as the …

Phase Change Materials As A Thermal Storage Device For Passive Houses, Kevin Ryan Campbell

Dissertations and Theses

This study describes a simulation-based approach for informing the incorporation of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) in buildings designed to the "Passive House" standard. PCMs provide a minimally invasive method of adding thermal mass to a building, thus mitigating overheating events. Phase change transition temperature, quantity, and location of PCM were all considered while incrementally adding PCM to Passive House simulation models in multiple climate zones across the United States. Whole building energy simulations were performed using EnergyPlus from the US Department of Energy. A prototypical Passive House with a 1500 Watt electric heater and no mechanical cooling was modeled. The …

A Feasibility Study Of Model-Based Natural Ventilation Control In A Midrise Student Dormitory Building, Steven James Gross

Dissertations and Theses

Past research has shown that natural ventilation can be used to satisfy upwards of 98% of the yearly cooling demand when utilized in the appropriate climate zone. Yet widespread implementation of natural ventilation has been limited in practice. This delay in market adoption is mainly due to lack of effective and reliable control. Historically, control of natural ventilation was left to the occupant (i.e. they are responsible for opening and closing their windows) because occupants are more readily satisfied when given control of the indoor environment. This strategy has been shown to be effective during summer months, but can lead …

Manipulation Of Suspended Single Cells By Microfluidics And Optical Tweezers, Nathalie Neve De Mevergnies, Sean S. Kohles, Shelley R. Winn, Derek C. Tretheway

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Chondrocytes and osteoblasts experience multiple stresses in vivo. The optimum mechanical conditions for cell health are not fully understood. This paper describes the optical and microfluidic mechanical manipulation of single suspended cells enabled by the μPIVOT, an integrated micron resolution particle image velocimeter (μPIV) and dual optical tweezers instrument (OT). In this study, we examine the viability and trap stiffness of cartilage cells, identify the maximum fluid-induced stresses possible in uniform and extensional flows, and compare the deformation characteristics of bone and muscle cells. These results indicate cell photodamage of chondrocytes is negligible for at least 20 min for laser …

Technical Research Needs For Sustainable Buildings: Results From A Multidisciplinary Nsf Workshop, Leidy Klotz, Vivien Loftness, Gregor Henze, David J. Sailor, David Riley

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article describes research needs for sustainable buildings as defined in a July 2009 National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop. This workshop brought together building researchers with researchers in the areas of distributed renewable energy and multifunctional materials to engage their expertise and identify overlapping research needs and opportunities. An overview of sustainable building design provided the broad context for discussion. This overview was followed by focused presentations in building control systems, advanced building envelopes, and systems and process integration. In addition, presentations on distributed renewable energy and multi-functional materials supported the participants in outlining and generating research needs that connect the …

Metamaterial Devices For The Terahertz Band, Gabriel Paul Kniffin

Center for Electron Microscopy and Nanofabrication Publications and Presentations

Terahertz (THz) and metamaterials are both hot topics in electromagnetics research. The THz band (0.1-10 THz) lies in the ‘gap’ between microwave and far infrared regions. Research is currently underway to characterize how these waves interact with matter, with potential applications including security screening, medical imaging, and non-destructive evaluation. Metamaterials are artificial materials containing sub-wavelength structures whose material properties, μ and ǫ can be ‘tuned’ to desired specifications, including simultaneously negative values, resulting in exotic properties such as a negative refractive index. Current metamaterials research includes the design of devices that operate at THz frequencies, filling a niche left wide …

Gravity Effects On Capillary Flows In Sharp Corners, Enrique Ramé, Mark M. Weislogel

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

We analyze the effect of gravity on capillary flows in sharp corners. We consider gravity perpendicular and parallel to the channel axis. We analyze both steady and unsteady flows. In the steady analysis the main result is a closed form expression for the flow rate as a function of the two gravity components. Good agreement with steady experiments is offered as support of the model. The unsteady analysis is restricted to “small” values of the two gravity parameters and is accomplished using a similarity formulation. The similarity coefficients of the gravity corrections are fully determined by the coefficients of the …

Crystallography Open Database – An Open-Access Collection Of Crystal Structures, Saulius Grazulis, Daniel Chateigner, Robert T. Downs, A. F. T. Yokochi, Miguel Quirós, Luca Lutterotti, Elena Manakova, Justas Butkus, Peter Moeck, Armel Le Bail

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Crystallography Open Database (COD), which is a project that aims to gather all available inorganic, metal–organic and small organic molecule structural data in one database, is described. The database adopts an openaccess model. The COD currently contains 80,000 entries in crystallographic information file format, with nearly full coverage of the International Union of Crystallography publications, and is growing in size and quality.

A Better Nondimensionalization Scheme For Slender Laminar Flows: The Laplacian Operator Scaling Method, Mark M. Weislogel, Yongkang Chen, D. Bolleddula

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A scaling of the two-dimensional Laplacian operator is demonstrated for certain solutions (at least) to Poisson’s equation. It succeeds by treating the operator as a single geometric scale entity. The belated and rather subtle method provides an efficient assessment of the geometrical dependence of the problem and is preferred when practicable to the hydraulic diameter or term-by-term scaling for slender fully developed laminar flows. The improved accuracy further reduces the reliance of problems on widely varying numerical data or cumbersome theoretical forms and improves the prospects of exact or approximate theoretical analysis. Simple example problems are briefly described that demonstrate …

Nano Quasicrystal Formation And Local Atomic Structure In Zr––Pd And Zr––Pt Binary Metallic Glasses, Junji Saida, Takashi Sanada, Shigeo Sato, Muneyuki Imafuku, Chunfei Li, Akihisa Inoue

Center for Electron Microscopy and Nanofabrication Publications and Presentations

Formation of the nanoscale icosahedral quasicrystalline phase (I-phase) in the melt-spun Zr₇₀Pd₃₀ and Zr₈₀Pt₂₀ binary metallic glasses were reported. Local atomic structure in the glassy and quasicrystal (QC)-formed states were also analyzed by XRD and EXAFS measurements in order to investigate the formation mechanism of QC phase. The distorted icosahedral-like local structure can be identified around Zr atom in the Zr₇₀Pd₃₀ metallic glass. In the QC formation process, a change of local environment around Zr is detected, in which the approximately one Zr atom substitutes for one Pd atom. In contrast, …

The Urban Heat Island Mitigation Impact Screening Tool (Mist), David J. Sailor, Nikolaas Dietsch

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A web-based software tool has been developed to assist urban planners and air quality management officials in assessing the potential of urban heat island mitigation strategies to affect the urban climate, air quality, and energy consumption within their cities. The user of the tool can select from over 170 US cities for which to conduct the analysis, and can specify city-wide changes in surface reflectivity and/or vegetative cover. The Mitigation Impact Screening Tool (MIST) then extrapolates results from a suite of simulations for 20 cities to estimate air temperature changes associated with the specified changes in surface characteristics for the …

Capillary Flow Analysis And Computation Of De-Wetting And Wetting Resistances In Angular Geometries, Daniel Bolleddula

Dissertations and Theses

Capillary flows in containers or conduits with interior corners are commonplace in nature and industry. The majority of investigations addressing such flows solve the problem numerically in terms of a flow resistance coefficient (friction factor) for cases where spontaneous liquid spreading along the corner occurs for contact angles below the Concus-Finn critical wetting condition for the particular conduit geometry of interest. This research effort provides missing numerical data for the flow resistance function F_i for partially wetting systems above the Concus-Finn condition. In such cases the fluid spontaneously de-wets the interior corner and often retracts into corner-bound drops. A …

Capillary-Driven Flows Along Rounded Interior Corners, Yongkang Chen, Mark M. Weislogel, Cory L. Nardin

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The problem of low-gravity isothermal capillary flow along interior corners that are rounded is revisited analytically in this work. By careful selection of geometric length scales and through the introduction of a new geometric scaling parameter Tc, the Navier–Stokes equation is reduced to a convenient∼O(1) form for both analytic and numeric solutions for all values of corner half-angle α and corner roundedness ratio λ for perfectly wetting fluids. The scaling and analysis of the problem captures much of the intricate geometric dependence of the viscous resistance and significantly reduces the reliance on numerical data compared with several previous solution methods …

Dynamic Matrix Composition In Engineered Cartilage With Stochastic Supplementation Of Growth Factors, Asit K. Saha, J. (Jagannath) Mazumdar, Sean S. Kohles

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Dynamic extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis is explored in a hypothesized engineered cartilage construct. Growth (α) and decay (β) rate parameters are developed from a previous engineered cartilage model. The presented mathematical model was constructed from the parameterized experimental data using a deterministic and stochastic examination of ECM synthesis based on a negative feedback control mechanism. A growth factor supplementation is incorporated in a probabilistic mathematical approach. The growth factor component modified an initial deterministic model through a Gaussian white noise fluctuation. As the primary constituents of ECM, the mathematical tool is intended to characterize the probable steady state distribution of …

Capillary Flow In Interior Corners: The Infinite Column, Mark M. Weislogel

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Capillary flow of a sinusoidally perturbed liquid column in an interior corner of infinite extent is solved using lubrication theory. Due primarily to the length scales selected to nondimensionalize the momentum equation, an analytic time scale governing the settling of the perturbation is determined. The time scale, which is shown to be independent of a steady base state flow, proves useful in rapidly predicting transients for surface settling in certain liquid-bearing tanks of spacecraft employing interior corners for fluids management purposes. The asymptotic analysis is extended to address flows along interior corners whose faces are slightly nonplanar. The generalized formulation …

Application Of Tree-Structured Regression For Regional Precipitation Prediction Using General Circulation Model Output, Xiangshang Li, David J. Sailor

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study presents a tree-structured regression (TSR) method to relate daily precipitation with a variety of free-atmosphere variables. Historical data were used to identify distinct weather patterns associated with differing types of precipitation events. Models were developed using 67% of the data for training and the remaining data for model validation. Seasonal models were built for each of 2 US sites: San Francisco, California, and San Antonio, Texas. The average correlation between observed and simulated daily precipitation data series is 0.75 for the training set and 0.68 for the validation set. Relative humidity was found to be the dominant variable …

Capillary Surfaces In An Exotic Container: Results From Space Experiments, Paul Concus, Robert Finn, Mark M. Weislogel

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Experimental results from the Interface Configuration Experiment (ICE) performed aboard the Space Shuttle and the Mir Space Station are reported. The experiment concerns fluid interfaces in certain ‘exotic’ containers in a low-gravity environment. These containers are rotationally symmetric and have the property that for given contact angle and liquid volume, a continuum of distinct rotationally symmetric equilibrium configurations can appear, all of which have the same mechanical energy. These symmetric equilibrium configurations are unstable, in that deformations that are not rotationally symmetric can be shown mathematically to yield configurations with lower energy. It is found experimentally, in confirmation of mathematical …

Neutron-Scattering Study Of Librations And Intramolecular Phonons In Rb_{2.6}K_{0.4}C_{60}, D. Reznik, W. A. Kamitakahara, D. A. Neumann, J. R. D. Copley, J. E. Fischer, Robert M. Strongin, M. A. Cichy, Amos B. Smith Iii

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

We report the results of inelastic neutron-scattering measurements on Rb_2.6K_0.4C₆₀. Librational modes were observed as broad peaks with maxima between 4.1 and 4.7 meV, as the temperature is lowered from 300 to 12 K. As in K₃C₆₀, no change in the width or position of the librational peak was observed when the sample was cooled through the superconducting transition. Thus any coupling of the librations to electronic states is small. The magnitude of the orientational potential barrier was estimated from the librational peak frequency. A flat background observed in the …

The Influence Of Halloysite Content On The Shear Strength Of Kaolinite, Reka Katalin Gabor

Dissertations and Theses

The objective of this thesis is to determine the relative shear strengths of halloysite, kaolinite, synthetic mixtures, and local soils, to investigate the influence of halloysite content on the shear strength of kaolinite, and to explore the possibility that the strength properties of soil clays might be controlled by the relative content of their component minerals.

A Feasibility Analysis Of A Directly Sun-Pumped Carbon Dioxide Laser In Space, Seiichi Morimoto

Dissertations and Theses

The possibility of using sunlight to pump a CW carbon dioxide laser has been analyzed. Such a laser could be of interest for such applications as space communication and power transmission. In order to optically pump CO₂ using sunlight, the intense vibrational-rotational absorption bands of CO₂ in the 4.3 micron spectral region would have to be utilized. The total pumping power from sunlight can be calculated from the known data of the solar spectral irradiance outside the atmosphere and the infrared absorption by carbon dioxide at 4.3 microns. The pumping power is proportional to the collector area of …

Assessment Of Feasibility Of Proposed Bolted Connections For Tubular Structures, John Henry Tausch

Dissertations and Theses

The search for new and additional sources of energy -- from sun, wind, waves, and ocean currents -- is necessitating the development of structures in the open environment of the oceans as well as on land. The advantages of round or tubular members for use in such structures are shown; and to avoid the uncertainties of welded joints, two bolted connections are proposed and their feasibility explored.

An Automatic Rinse Tank Controller For Industrial Applications, Aliasghar Emami

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis describes an automatic Rinse Tank Control System used in detection and removal of contaminating agents from industrial plating rinse tanks. It automatically monitors the purity of the rinse water in sixteen separate rinse tanks, and permits fresh water to enter the tanks only when the conductivity of the rinse water in each tank exceeds a predetermined level. Its use will result in large savings in consumption of fresh water and the subsequent reduction in discharge of effluent to the treatment plants.

Recent Developments In The Use Of Precast Concrete Units For Buildings In The United States And Iran, Khosrow Ebadi Farshchi

Dissertations and Theses

The object of this study was to investigate the recent developments in the use of precast prestressed concrete members for buildings in the United States and Iran. In the United States, the study was concerned with developments in the usage of members such as slabs, wall panels, beams and columns. The latest technical and engineering reports, along with personal interviews, were used, and a number of case studies were conducted on recently built structures. The author also studied the newest developments in the precast concrete industry in Iran. A questionnaire was formulated in both Persian (native language of Iran) and …

Direct Design Of A Portal Frame, Angel Fajardo Ugaz

Dissertations and Theses

This investigation was undertaken to develop plastic design aids to be used in the direct design of optimum frames. It uses the concept of minimum weight of plastically designed steel frames, and the concept of linear programming to obtain general solutions. Among the special characteristics of this study are: A. The integration of both gravity and combined loading conditions into one linear programming problem. B. The application of the revised simplex method to the dual of a parametric original problem. C. The application of A and B above in the development of design aids for the optimum design of symmetrical …

Comparative Study Of Lightweight And Normal Weight Concrete In Flexure, Mohammad Zareh

Dissertations and Theses

This investigation represents a comparative study of the flexural behavior of lightweight and normal weight concrete. Both theoretical and experimental moment-curvature characteristics of the tested specimens were used to study the flexural behavior.

A generalized computer program to determine the moment-curvature relationships of a singly reinforced rectangular concrete beam was developed.

For this limited study it was observed that lightweight concrete beams when compared to normal concrete beams achieve comparable moment capacity (about 92% of normal weight concrete) but exhibit higher deflections (about 40% more than normal weight concrete).