Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Design And Demonstration Of Meanderline Retarders At Infrared Frequencies, Jeffrey Scott Tharp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Meanderline structures are widely used as engineered birefringent materials for waveplates and retarders at radiofrequencies, and have been previously demonstrated at frequencies up to 90 GHz in the millimeter-wave band. In this dissertation, we present results related to the modeling, fabrication, and experimental characterization of meanderlines across the range from 30 to 100 THz, in the long-wave and mid-wave infrared bands. Specific issues addressed in these new designs include spectral dispersion and angular dependence of the retardance, as well as axial ratio and throughput. The impact resulting from the infrared properties of the metals and dielectrics is explicitly included throughout. …

Influence Of Electron Trapping On Minority Carrier Transport Properties Of Wide Band Gap Semiconductors, Olena Tirpak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Minority carrier transport properties and the effects of electron irradiation/injection were studied in GaN and ZnO containing dopants known to form acceptor states deep within the materials' bandgap. Minority carrier diffusion length and lifetime changes were investigated using Electron Beam Induced Current (EBIC) method, cathodoluminescence spectroscopy, spectral photoresponse and persistent photoconductivity measurements. It is shown that electron irradiation by the beam of a scanning electron microscope results in a significant increase of minority carrier diffusion length. These findings are supported by the cathodoluminescence measurements that demonstrate the decay of near-band-edge intensity as a consequence of increasing carrier lifetime under continuous …

Soliton Solutions Of Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations Using Variational Approximations And Inverse Scattering Techniques, Thomas Vogel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the last several decades many techniques have been developed in establishing solutions to nonlinear partial differential equations (NPDE). These techniques are characterized by their limited reach in solving large classes of NPDE. This body of work will study the analysis of NPDE using two of the most ubiquitous techniques developed in the last century. In this body of work, the analysis and techniques herein are applied to unsolved physical problems in both the fields of variational approximations and inverse scattering transform. Additionally, a new technique for estimating the error of a variational approximation is established. Note that the material …

Advances In Fire Debris Analysis, Mary Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fire incidents are a major contributor to the number of deaths and property losses within the United States each year. Fire investigations determine the cause of the fire resulting in an assignment of responsibility. Current methods of fire debris analysis are reviewed including the preservation, extraction, detection and characterization of ignitable liquids from fire debris. Leak rates were calculated for the three most common types of fire debris evidence containers. The consequences of leaking containers on the recovery and characterization of ignitable liquids were demonstrated. The interactions of hydrocarbons with activated carbon during the extraction of ignitable liquids from the …

Stability And Preservation Properties Of Multisymplectic Integrators, Tomasz Wlodarczyk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents results of the study on symplectic and multisymplectic numerical methods for solving linear and nonlinear Hamiltonian wave equations. The emphasis is put on the second order space and time discretizations of the linear wave, the Klein-Gordon and the sine-Gordon equations. For those equations we develop two multisymplectic (MS) integrators and compare their performance to other popular symplectic and non-symplectic numerical methods. Tools used in the linear analysis are related to the Fourier transform and consist of the dispersion relationship and the power spectrum of the numerical solution. Nonlinear analysis, in turn, is closely connected to the temporal …

Model Studies Of Time-Dependent Ducting For High-Frequency Gravity Waves And Associated Airglow Responses In The Upper Atmospher, Yonghui Yu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This doctoral dissertation has mainly concentrated on modeling studies of shorter period acoustic-gravity waves propagating in the upper atmosphere. Several cases have been investigated in the literature, which are focusing on the propagation characteristics of high-frequency gravity wave packets. The dissertation consists of five main divisions of which each has its own significance to be addressed, and these five chapters are also bridged in order with each other to present a theme about gravity wave ducting dynamics, energetics, and airglows. The first chapter is served as an introduction of the general topic about atmospheric acoustic-gravity waves. Some of the historical …

Development Of A High Performance Parallel Computing Platform And Its Use In The Study Of Nanostructures : Clusters, Sheets And Tubes ., S. Gowtham

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Small clusters of gallium oxide, technologically important high temperature ceramic, together with interaction of nucleic acid bases with graphene and small-diameter carbon nanotube are focus of first principles calculations in this work. A high performance parallel computing platform is also developed to perform these calculations at Michigan Tech. First principles calculations are based on density functional theory employing either local density or gradient-corrected approximation together with plane wave and gaussian basis sets.

The bulk Ga₂O₃ is known to be a very good candidate for fabricating electronic devices that operate at high temperatures. To explore the properties of …

First-Principles Studies Of Boron Nanostructures, Kah Chun Lau

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Boron is an 'electron deficient' element which has a rather fascinating chemical versatility. In the solid state, the elemental boron has neither a pure covalent nor a pure metallic character. As a result, its vast structural dimensionally and peculiar bonding features hold a unique place among other elements in the periodic table. In order to understand and properly describe these unusual bonding features, a detailed and systematic theoretical study is needed. In this work, I will show that some of the qualitative features of boron nanostructures, including clusters, sheets and nanotubes can easily be extracted from the results of first …

Modeling Integrated Water User Decisions In Intermittent Supply Systems, David E. Rosenberg, Tareq Tawarneh, Rania Abdul-Khaleq, Jay Lund

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

We apply systems analysis to estimate household water use in an intermittent supply system considering numerous interdependent water user behaviors. Some 39 household actions include conservation; improving local storage or water quality; and accessing sources having variable costs, availabilities, reliabilities, and qualities. A stochastic optimization program with recourse decisions identifies the infrastructure investments and short-term coping actions a customer can adopt to cost-effectively respond to a probability distribution of piped water availability. Monte Carlo simulations show effects for a population of customers. Model calibration reproduces the distribution of billed residential water use in Amman, Jordan. Parametric analyses suggest economic and …

Probabilistic Estimation Of Water Conservation Effectiveness, David E. Rosenberg

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

An analytical method is derived to describe the distribution of water quantity saved among customers within a water-use sector who adopt a water conservation action. Analytical results tend toward lognormal distributions with long tails, quantifying a smaller subset of customers that show potential to achieve large savings. Example effectiveness distributions are shown for seven long-term conservation actions potentially implemented by urban, domestic water users in Amman, Jordan. Monte Carlo simulations verify the analytical derivations. The probabilistic outputs contrast with common methods that estimate conservation action effectiveness as a product of typical (average) characteristics for disaggregated customer groups. Implications to size …

Kinematics Of The Nicaraguan Forearc From Gps Geodesy, Henry L. Turner, Peter Lafemina, Armando Saballos, Glen S. Mattioli, Pamela E. Jansma, Timothy H. Dixon

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Campaign GPS data from a network in the Nicaraguan forearc show a strong component of arc-parallel motion indicating northwest translation of a nearly rigid forearc sliver. Our measured mean velocity for forearc sites of 15.1 mm yr⁻¹ agrees well with the arc-parallel sliver motion predicted previously by DeMets (2001) derived from closure constraints on oblique convergence between the Cocos and Caribbean plates. The lack of a northeasterly oriented arc-normal component of motion in forearc velocities indicates that there are complexities involved beyond a simple interpretation of sliver motion being driven by oblique convergence. The forearc is reasonably well-fit by …

Observation Of Glacial Isostatic Adjustment In “Stable” North America With Gps, Giovanni F. Sella, Seth Stein, Timothy H. Dixon, Michael Craymer, Thomas S. James, Stephane Mazzotti, Roy K. Dokka

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Motions of three hundred and sixty Global Positioning System (GPS) sites in Canada and the United States yield a detailed image of the vertical and horizontal velocity fields within the nominally stable interior of the North American plate. By far the strongest signal is the effect of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) due to ice mass unloading during deglaciation. Vertical velocities show present-day uplift (∼10 mm/yr) near Hudson Bay, the site of thickest ice at the last glacial maximum. The uplift rates generally decrease with distance from Hudson Bay and change to subsidence (1–2 mm/yr) south of the Great Lakes. The …

Analysis Of Finline Structures With Consideration Of Metallization Thickness And Substrate Mounting Grooves, Abderrahmane Ouadi, Hadj Bourdoucen

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

In this paper, mathematical analysis and numerical calculations of main parameters of finline structures with finite metallization thickness and substrate mounting grooves are developed based on the Method of Lines (MoL). The results obtained provide confirmation of the validity of the technique used and prove its simplicity and adequacy for treating different types of planar structures mainly finline based structures. Unilateral and bilateral finlines including practical parameters, such as metallization thickness and grooves' depths, have been investigated. The effect of these two parameters have been discussed based on realistic configurations and the results show that, at higher frequencies, the grooves …

A Vrp-Based Route Planning For A Mobile Robot Group, Osman Parlaktuna, Aydin Si̇pahi̇oğlu, Ahmet Yazici

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

In this study, a vehicle routing problem-based approach is presented to construct non-intersecting routes for the members of a mobile robot team. It is assumed that each robot starts from a central location such as the charging point, completes its route and returns to the starting location. The proposed method consists of three algorithms: a sweep algorithm determines the position of each node in clockwise (or counter clockwise) manner with respect to the starting location; savings algorithm calculates the saving obtained by adding a node to the route of a robot; Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm is used to calculate the …

A Communication Module And Tdma Scheduling For A Swarm Of Small Submarines, Ram Somaraju, Felix Schill

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Swarming algorithms usually require fast and reliable local information distribution among neighbouring nodes. Additionally, many applications also require global information distribution in the shortest possible time. We show that communication links with a range which is small compared to the size of the swarm offer many advantages. We propose a system using low frequency radio communication as a viable alternative to acoustic communication. A time division multiple access algorithm is presented together with results from simulations. The presented system can be effectively used in large scale swarms of small submersibles.

A Novel Method For Load Flow Analysis Of Unbalanced Three-Phase Radial Distribution Networks, Masoud Aliakbar Golkar

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

This paper presents a novel method for load flow analysis in radially operated 3-phase distribution networks without solving the well-known conventional load flow equations. The method can be applied for distribution systems in which the loads are unbalanced. As the size of matrix used is very small compared to those in conventional methods, the amount of memory used is very small, the speed is very high, and the relative speed of calculation increases with the size of the system. The method was applied to some practical networks and the results show the superiority of this method over the conventional ones. …

Cenozoic Extensional Processes And Tectonics In The Northern Rocky Mountains: Southwest Montana And Eastern Idaho, Susanne U. Janecke

Geosciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Pleistocene Brawley And Ocotillo Formations: Evidence For Initial Strike-Slip Deformation Along The San Felipe And San Jacinto Fault Zones, Southern California, S. M. Kirby, Susanne U. Janecke, R. J. Dorsey, B. A. Housen, K. Mcdougall, V. Langenheim, A. Steely

Geosciences Faculty Publications

We examine the Pleistocene tectonic reorganization of the Pacific–North American plate boundary in the Salton Trough of southern California with an integrated approach that includes basin analysis, magnetostratigraphy, and geologic mapping of upper Pliocene to Pleistocene sedimentary rocks in the San Felipe Hills. These deposits preserve the earliest sedimentary record of movement on the San Felipe and San Jacinto fault zones that replaced and deactivated the late Cenozoic West Salton detachment fault. Sandstone and mudstone of the Brawley Formation accumulated between ∼1.1 and ∼0.6–0.5 Ma in a delta on the margin of an arid Pleistocene lake, which received sediment from …

Water Resources Year In Review - Winter 2007, Vol. 20, No. 2, Annis Water Resource Institute

AWRI Reviews

No abstract provided.

Concept Analysis In Web Documents, Rajesh Singh

Master's Projects

A Keyword within a text/web document represents some human thought. The interaction of keywords leads to narrowing of scope of human thought by forming a more precise semantic entity called concepts. Analyzing a set of document not only requires analysis of the keywords within those documents but also their interactions within a document. In this new approach a set of documents can be analyzed where by the interactions of its keywords is also considered in finding the important concepts. These concepts can be used to cluster them into smaller subsets such that documents in each cluster will be semantically similar.

A ‘Metallic Tape’ Stabilized By An Unprecedented Μ5-Κ2,Κ2,Κ2,Κ1,Κ1-) Scorpionate Binding Mode, James R. Gardinier, Rosalice M. Silva, Chengeto Gwengo, Sergey V. Lindeman

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

The Janus scorpionate ligand, tris(mercaptothiadiazolyl)borate, exhibits extraordinary coordination capacity and versatility, binding from two up to five metal cations as demonstrated by its thallium(I) salt, a compound that serves as a model for metal–surface binding.

Preparation, Characterization And Reactivity Of (3-Methylpentadienyl)Iron(1+) Cations, Subhabrata Chaudhury, Shukun Li, Dennis W. Bennett, Tasneem Siddiquee, Daniel T. Haworth, William A. Donaldson

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

The title cations (9 and 12) were prepared by dehydration of (3-methyl-2,4-pentadien-1-ol)Fe(CO)₂L⁺ complexes. The structure of the (CO)₂PPh₃-ligated 12 was determined by single-crystal X-ray analysis. Reaction of carbon and heteroatom nucleophiles to (3-methylpentadienyl)Fe(CO)₃⁺ cations 9 and 12 proceeds either via attack at the dienyl terminus to give (3-methyl-1,3Z-diene)iron complexes or via attack at the internal carbon, followed by carbon monoxide insertion and reductive elimination to afford 3-methyl-4-substituted cyclohexenones. Cyclohexenone formation was found to be prevalent for addition of stabilized nucleophiles with strongly dissociated counterions to cation 9 …

An Exploratory Study Of The Videoblogger's Community, John Warmbrodt

Masters Theses

"Videoblogs (vlogs) have emerged as a new form of virtual community. The goal of this study was to explore and understand the videoblogger community by studying the community's structure and the motivations of vloggers"--Abstract, page iii.

Pade Approximants And One Of Its Applications, Tame-Kouontcho Fowe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is concerned with a brief summary of the theory of Pade approximants and one of its applications to Finance. Proofs of most of the theorems are omitted and many developments could not be mentioned due to the vastness of the field of Pade approximations. We provide reference to research papers and books that contain exhaustive treatment of the subject. This thesis is mainly divided into two parts. In the first part we derive a general expression of the Pade approximants and some of the results that will be related to the work on the second part of the …

A Mathematical Study Of Two Retroviruses, Hiv And Htlv-I, Dana Ali Baxley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we examine epidemiological models of two different retroviruses, which infect the human body. The two viruses under study are HIV or the human immunodefiency virus and HTLV-I, which is the human T lymphotropic virus type I. A retrovirus is a virus, which injects its RNA into the host, rather than it's DNA. We will study each of the different mathematical models for each of the viruses separately. Then we use MATLAB-SIMULINK to analyze the models by studying the reproductive numbers in each case and the disease progression by examining the graphs. In Chapter 1, we mention basic …

Emergence Of Singular Structures In Oldroyd-B Fluids, Becca Thomases, Michael Shelley

Mathematics Sciences: Faculty Publications

Numerical simulations reveal the formation of singular structures in the polymer stress field of a viscoelastic fluid modeled by the Oldroyd-B equations driven by a simple body force. These singularities emerge exponentially in time at hyperbolic stagnation points in the flow and their algebraic structure depends critically on the Weissenberg number. Beyond a first critical Weissenberg number the stress field approaches a cusp singularity, and beyond a second critical Weissenberg number the stress becomes unbounded exponentially in time. A local approximation to the solution at the hyperbolic point is derived from a simple ansatz, and there is excellent agreement between …

A Theory And Practice Of Website Engagibility, Ronan Fitzpatrick

Doctoral

This thesis explores the domain of website quality. It presents a new study of website quality - an abstraction and synthesis, a measurement methodology, and analysis - and proposes metrics which can be used to quantify it. The strategy employed involved revisiting software quality, modelling its broader perspectives and identifying quality factors which are specific to the World Wide Web (WWW). This resulted in a detailed set of elements which constitute website quality, a method for quantifying a quality measure, and demonstrating an approach to benchmarking eCommerce websites. The thesis has two dimensions. The first is a contribution to the …

Development Of A Novel Modular Mid-Infrared Sensor For The In-Situ Detection Of The Btex Compounds In Water, Raymond Mccue

Doctoral

This research thesis describes the design, construction and testing of a novel modular mid-infrared fibre optic sensing system for the detection of hydrocarbons in water. It is the adverse effects to these hydrocarbon pollutants on flora and fauna that has led to the development of sensing systems for their detection and quantification. The key sensor design feature, its modularity, utilises simple low cost commercially available optical components, which are inherently suited to construct compact rugged sensing systems to perform in-situ measurements which are ideally preferred for environmental sensing. The various laboratory-based prototypes constructed weee calibrated for two target analytes over …

Incompressible And Compressible Boundary Layers On A Fibre In The Melt Spinning Process, John Harding

Doctoral

This thesis seeks to investigate shear stress on and heat transfer from the surface of a fibre in the industrial process of melt spinning. Melt spinning is the process whereby molten polymer materials are extruded through the holes of a device known as a spinneret to create continuous filaments of polymer. Fibres manufactured in this way are used in applications as diverse as fashion and clothing, to telecommunications. The magnitude ofthe shear stress on the fibre surface, and also the rate of heat transfer from the fibre to the surrounding environment are of major importance to the overall quality of …

Integrated Geophysical Data Processing And Interpretation Of Crustal Structure In Ethiopia With Emphasis On The Ogaden Basin And Adjacent Areas, Ketsela Tadesse

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The combined effects of magmatism and stretching due to asthenosphere upwelling modifies the crustal structure of the Earth as seen in the Ethiopian rift and adjacent areas. The Ethiopian rift provides unique opportunities to understand the nature of rifted crust and the intensity of its modification by magmatic processes. I used geological and geophysical data to conduct an integrated study in and around the Ethiopian rift including the northern Kenyan rift and the northern part of the Kenyan dome. New gravity, controlled source seismic, and teleseismic data from the EAGLE (Ethiopia-Afar Geoscientific Lithospheric Experiment) were used as additional constraints in …