This project examines the portrayal of the life and times of Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich (Empress Elisabeth of Austria) in the popular Austrian musical "Elisabeth das Musical" (Elisabeth the Musical), written by Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay. "Elisabeth" was first performed in Vienna in 1992 and has since become the...
This study is a comparison to establish similarities between the funding resources of college and university athletic bands. The secondary objective is to determine the funding potential that exists as a result of alumni relations. In order to obtain funding information for a variety of athletic band programs, a survey...
A study was conducted to determine the heat transfer characteristics
of pin finned heat sinks in natural convection. Three pin
diameters were studied: 0.238 cm, 0.318 cm and 0.396 cm. The pins
were attached to the base in two arrangements, triangular and
rectangular, forming a horizontal array. Pin spacing was...
Three approaches for evaluating mode I interlaminar strain energy release rates in graphite/epoxy composites were compared using experimental data from double cantilever beam specimens. Expressions for evaluating strain energy release rates were arrived at based on assumptions regarding specimen geometry and material behavior. The calculations included the direct method of...
The potential of red blood cell (RBC) and platelet damage was studied for a novel microfluidic hemoperfusion device currently in development at Oregon State University for use in treating sepsis. COMSOL 4.4's computational fluid dynamics (CFD) module was used to examine shear rate profiles in laminar, Newtonian blood flow throughout...
It is desirable for complex engineered systems to perform missions efficiently and economically, even when these missions' complex, variable, long-term operational profiles make it likely for hazards to arise. It is thus important to design these systems to be resilient so that they will actively prevent and recover from hazards...
A computational model for a resonantly coupled alpha free-piston Stirling cooler
is presented. The cooler consists of two isothermal working spaces for compression and
expansion connected by a regenerator consisting of a stack of narrow parallel channels.
The regenerator is assumed to have a linear temperature distribution along its axial...
Significant reductions in the number of defects in parts
produced by investment casting can be obtained by improving
the flow of the molten metal during pouring. Studies have
been done at Oregon State University with simulated casting
techniques to determine optimal mold configurations.
Better mold layouts have been shown to...
In current practice, design documentation often fails
to support the activities of design understanding,
communication, and redesign. A Design History Tool has been
developed to improve current design documentation. This
tool is a computerized design history that represents and
plays back important information generated during the
process of designing a...
Much like wind energy in its early years, marine energy has vast potential, and wave energy converter (WEC) concepts are constantly in development. Consequently, wave energy faces many challenges for expansion and has a wide-ranging design space of WEC concepts. The large design space demands new methods for understanding the...
Since the Industrial Revolution, automated systems have increasingly become a part of everyday life. Automated systems range in scale and scope from simple assists to complete robotic replacements. Inexpensive integrated circuits, sensors and microprocessors have allowed automated systems to become smaller, cheaper and more prevalent. Identifying appropriate opportunities for automation,...
Past research has shown that automobile exhaust is composed
of a mixture of many different hydrocarbons and that some of these
hydrocarbons contribute more to the smog problem than others.
Natural gas has been proposed as an alternative to gasoline as a
motor fuel, and it was desired to confirm...
Marching band activities consist of both physically and cognitively demanding tasks. The demands that this activity has on players has largely been unstudied. The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of players’ experience level, role, and gender on the workload of marching band players via a field...
The transfer of air travelers with disabilities between a mobility aid and an aircraft seat is a major source of injury for both the travelers and the airline personnel assisting in the transfer. The risk to both parties might be reduced through the biomechanical study of the transfer task. Such...
As modern systems continue to increase in size and complexity, they pose significant safety and risk management challenges. System engineers and much of the government research efforts are focused on understanding the attributes and characteristics that emerge from the interactions of components and subsystems. As a result, the objective of...
Most accidents and malfunctions in complex engineered systems are attributed to human error. However, a closer inspection would reveal that such mishaps often emerge as a result of poor design and human- and component-related vulnerabilities acting together. To fully understand and mitigate potential risks, the effects of such interactions between...
An open area of research in complex systems is to move reliability and failure assessments earlier in the engineering design process. When compared to later design, early decisions are cost effective and have a large impact on the system. Standard methods are limited by the availability of data and often...
Chain saws are a common tool used by large logging corporations and family homesteads to manage forests, limb trees and buck lumber. A significant cost of operation is the continuous required supply of bar and chain oil. Consumers and logging corporations desire a lubricant with a high performance to cost...
Computation of offset curves is an operation critical to many computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) applications. Though simple on the surface, differences between the straightforward mathematical definition and the demands of CAD/CAM environment in the formulation and expression of an offset curve create a problem for which only complicated, approximate...
Quadrotors are unique among Micro Aerial Vehicles in providing excellent maneuverability (as opposed to winged flight),while maintaing a simple mechanical construction (as opposed to helicopters). This mechanical simplicity comes at a cost of increased controller complexity. Quadrotors are inherently unstable, in the sense that they are essentially unflyable by a...
This thesis addresses a common knowledge gap that was identified amongst the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) competition design teams at Oregon State University. Students that join the SAE teams at Oregon State University typically do not have experience using physically collected data during a design process. This leads to...
A model is developed that allows the prediction of the stress-strain
distribution in a mixed carbide sphere pac fuel pin during
irradiation. The model is coupled with a previously developed model
for the thermal behavior of the pin. The one-dimensional (radial at
various axial locations) solution is for quasi-steady pin...
The respiratory tract is lined with a mucous blanket which is
motivated by a ciliated epithelium. This blanket includes a lower
serous layer of fluid through which the cilia beat and an upper viscid
layer into which particulates from the inhaled air are deposited.
The movement of the mucous blanket...
For control of a flexible manipulator, the assumed- mode method is applied to the mathematical model of the model reference adaptive system. In the assumed-mode method, the flexible, continuous manipulator is described by a limited number of degrees of freedom. A modified model reference adaptive system is studied for direct...
Given the current abundant supply and cheap price of natural gas (NG) in the United States, there is a significant opportunity to use this fuel for transportation. However, there are few fueling stations for consumers. To address this need, a dual-mode engine has been developed where in one mode all...
The competitiveness level of Formula Student is consistently increasing. Teams must allocate resources to develop new innovative designs to gain a competitive edge. Managing team resources effectively is critical to a team’s success. Reducing the resources required to manufacture specific components can be used to allocate resources to other beneficial...
Innovation is a key element for a product to achieve market success, but identifying it within product or even defining the term is a difficult task. Identifying innovation has been approached in many different ways. Experts in design engineering may identify innovative designs based on an analysis of a product's...
Multiphase flow dynamics are important in many naval and turbomachinery applications, where bubble interaction with low pressure, vortical structures can lead to undesirable cavitation effects. To better understand the underlying phenomena, a multiscale numerical framework is developed to simulate bubble laden flow in dynamic hydro propulsion systems. Several subproblems in...
Recent work has shown humanoid robots with spinal columns, instead of rigid torsos, benefit from both better balance and an increased ability to absorb external impact. Similarly, snake robots have shown promise as a viable option for exploration in confined spaces with limited human access, such as during power plant...
Design of commercial aircraft structure, composed of composite material, requires the
prediction of failure loads given large scale damage. In particular, a fuselage of
graphite/epoxy lamination was analyzed for damage tolerance given a standard large
crack that severed both skin and internal structure. Upon loading, a zone of damage is...
The matrix compression behavior is assumed similar to tension, and many material's elastic and damage parameters are considered equal in tension and compression but experimentally not explored. This assumption leads to unrealistic or very far from the actual behavior of the matrix under compression. Moreover, the pre-existing implemented Abaqus models...
A model of an exhaust plume was developed and programmed
on a digital computer. The purpose of the model was to predict the
concentration and size distribution of ice particles produced from
automobile exhaust during arctic conditions. The model accounted
for the nucleation, growth, and freezing of the condensed water...
Droplet formation from a rigid and a vibration nozzle driven by a pulsing pressure is simulated. Droplet formation is simulated by using one-dimensional model. For the case of droplet formation from a vibration nozzle, the nozzle vibration is simulated by large deflection plate vibration equation. Droplet formation from a rigid...
In this work, flow through synthetic arrangements of contacting spheres is studied
as a model problem for porous media and packed bed type flows. Direct numerical
simulations are performed for moderate pore Reynolds numbers in the range,
10 ≤ Re ≤ 600, where non-linear porescale flow features are known to...
Coal continues to be burned by direct combustion in packed or moving bed in
small size domestic furnaces, medium size industrial furnaces, as well as small power
stations. Recent stringent restrictions on exhaust emissions call for a better
understanding of the process of combustion of coal in beds.
The present...
Lake Kinneret is Israel's only fresh water lake (unless you count the Dead Sea). It spans roughly 20km from north to south, and about 12km at its widest east west extent. It is not quite 50m deep at its deepest point. In late spring, the lake stratifies significantly and remains...
Chainsaws, an indispensable tool for modern forestry operations, rely on bar lubricant to prevent rapid wear of the chain and bar. Choice of bar lubricant must balance performance, cost, and biological impact. Many bar lubricants are available, but little published work exists that conclusively ranks the performance of these choices....
Renewable energy sources are becoming increasingly important due to their low environmental impact and limitless nature. This thesis explores the design of a 250 mW permanent magnet linear generator wave energy converter to power ocean sensors. While many wave energy converters exist, this is a unique application because the wave...