A need exists to develop a non-destructive testing technique that can identify
the formation and propagation of diagonal tension cracks in conventionally
steel reinforced concrete deck girder (RCDG) highway bridges in the State of
Oregon. Such a technique could be included into a structural health
monitoring (SHM) system installed on...
With the miniaturization of microelectronics and increase of processor speeds in the last few decades, thermal management is drastically affecting overall packaging and system capabilities. Due to the special needs introduced, research focusing on microscale cooling has increased. This study combines the positive characteristics of single- and two-phase flows in...
A brake-based wheel speed control system for a rear-wheel drive vehicle is developed and simulated in this thesis. The OSU mini-Baja vehicle team will use this study in the development and implementation of a similar system for upcoming competitions. Vehicle submittals must differ to a specified degree from previous year’s...
Aquatic insect population counts can be a good indicator of the health, or water quality, of rivers and streams. Stoneflies (Plecoptera) are particularly susceptible to pollution in streams. However, today’s current method for obtaining these population counts requires biologists to examine individual specimens under a microscope for identification to the...
A distinct characteristic of legged locomotion is its periodic nature. This periodic motion, in the form of a periodic orbit, has been the target of many walking and running control strategies. The spring loaded inverted pendulum (SLIP) has become a popular model of sagittal plane locomotion, exhibiting behavior characteristic of...
Normal gait of human is believed to be an adapted motor control result of optimal behavior of individual. Normal gait would be altered by aging or injury without being perceived. Subtle changes in gait which is not easy to detect, can cause many serious problems including joint pains and even...
The droplet formation process in the vicinity of the nozzle exit and the behavior of a spreading droplet during impingement on a smooth glass surface were studied. Two nozzle geometries were tested. The first case was a stiff stainless steel nozzle plate 0.787 mm thick. The second case was a...
Extending the flight time of an autonomous unmanned air vehicle by soaring is
considered. A suboptimal controller is developed and successful static soaring is
demonstrated with a 6 degree of freedom glider model. Altitude gain rates of between
¼ and ½ m/s are achieved with this simple implementation.
A hybrid...
Product design is often driven by customer needs and desires. In this case the customer is the US military, and the desire is to have a cooling unit small enough and light enough to incorporate into hazard suits for use in desert combat. The Micro technology-based Energy and Chemical Systems...
Design and preliminarily characterization of two thermally-actuated pumps is presented
in this thesis. The unique feature of both pumps is the presence of periodic asymmetrical
structures on the channel walls. Two heat transfer effects are used with surface
asymmetry to generate forces that drive the fluid in a preferential direction...