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Departmental Research Tour (Start Tour | See all in one page | End Tour)
Number of Graduate Students: 49 Number of Faculty: 13 Total graduate degrees granted: MS: 10 PhD: 0 (2003-04) New grants and contracts received (03-04): $1,343,103 Refereed Publications: 53 Patents: 5
Major Research Areas Biosensors, Biofluids, Biomedical Engineering, Composite Materials and Solid Mechanics; System Dynamics and Vibrations; Mechanical Design; Engineering Education Research; Fluid Dynamics; Thermal Energy Systems; Microelectronic Device Thermal Management; Clean Energy Technologies; Micro and nano scale materials and systems, MEMS; Robotics; Rehabilitation Engineering Research to Aid Persons with Disabilities |
(and
possibly six in the future) brings new challenges that have not been
addressed by current design guidelines. Assembly requirements of
such designs place constraints on the hub size of the fulcrum as
well as the type of joint utilized by such fulcrum assemblies. As a
result, many of these bridges deviate from current AASHTO and FDOT
guidelines on hub geometry as well as hub assembly designs (such as
eliminating the shrink fit between the hub and the girder). it is
essential to study the impact of deviation from existing
requirements on the performance of bridges, with the aim of updating
them to provide designers with guidelines for designing the next
generation of bascule bridges.
processes to many thermal management systems. The
boiling investigation focuses on the effects of nanostructured
surface features on nucleate boiling. During nucleate boiling,
bubbles initiate in cavities on the heater surface (nucleation
sites). By changing the nucleation site geometry and distribution,
the heat flux can be increased or decreased. Using nanostructured
layers, deposited on the heater surface, nucleation site
characteristics can be modified to maximize heat flux in the
nucleate boiling regime.
g
systems while potentially increasing the sensitivity. However,
these new systems also introduce new material challenges. Many of
these processes rely on high electrical fields to manipulate drops
or materials within a drop. These high fields and sharp field
gradients can introduce new mechanisms for corrosion. These fields
apply forces on discrete drops that are dependent on the electrical
and electrochemical properties of the materials. We are using a nanoindenter with a modified tip to measure these forces and
characterize material degradation and corrosion processes.
demand. However, hydrogen losses due to
boil-off because of the heat leak from the ambient into the storage
tank is a concern. The Zero Boil-Off (ZBO) concept is employed for
tackling the situation with a balanced heat removal and forced
mixing. The study considered a cylindrical tank with elliptical top
and bottom as shown in the figure. The tank wall is made of aluminum
and a multi-layered blanket of cryogenic insulation (MLI) has been
attached on the top of the aluminum. The tank is connected to a
cryocooler via a heat pipe to dissipate the heat leak through the
insulation and tank wall into the fluid within the tank. The
condenser section of the heat pipe dissipates heat to the cryocooler
while the evaporator section picks up heat from the fluid within the
tank. The hot fluid is directed to the heat pipe using a fluid
circulation system within the tank. This system consists of a pump,
a spray head for discharge of fluid and a collector tube network
feeding to the pump. Different heat pipe sizes, different locations
of hot fluid collection and discharge, and different discharge
velocities are being investigated.
To
make the fulcrum, also called trunnion-hub-girder (THG)
assembly, of bascule bridges, a trunnion is shrink fit into
the hub, followed by cooling of the trunnion-hub assembly to
shrink fit it into the girder of the bridge. Development of
cracks on the hub was observed in one THG assembly when the
trunnion-hub assembly was cooled for insertion into the
girder. A suggestion to solve this problem was to study the
effect of radial thickness of the hub and to understand its
influence on critical stresses and crack lengths. 
There
exists a need in the silicon wafer industry for methods of
non-contact and non-destructive in-line monitoring of wafer defects
such as residual stress and cracks. Vibrations and acoustics are
being used to develop such diagnostic tools for assessing these
types of defects. Application of these tools to solar cells is
shown.
complex
motion using sensor assisted scaled teleoperation. Applications
include the design of a reconfigurable wheelchair-mounted robotic
arm (WMRA), workstation robotic arm, and joystick controlled
advanced driving systems. The design of intelligent therapeutic
systems is based on sensor-fusion technology to assist individuals
with disabilities. In therapeutically training procedures, the
learning or re-learning process of a particular task will require
less assistive response from a hybrid-deliberative system (HDS) as
therapy progresses in step with patient skills. Rehabilitation
robotic systems help mobility-impaired persons with limitations of
upper extremities to do their activities of daily living (ADL)
resulting in independent living, better employment outcomes and
improved quality of life.
outcome
measures such as joint angles, forces and moments, electromyography
and energy costs, design criteria needed for improvement may be
discovered. Path trajectories and velocity and acceleration of the
movements may also provide information to advance upper limb
prosthetic design. This research project will create a normal or
average kinematic and kinetic profile and then evaluate current
upper limb prosthetic design using similar techniques. After
gathering this information, design criteria will be established,
improvements will be made and the changes in function and weight
issues of the upper extremity prostheses will be documented.
Student
learning is enhanced by comparison of analytical techniques
with actual test results. Unfortunately, large lecture
courses cannot accommodate hands on laboratory experiences
for all students. To address these needs we are developing
a web-based interface that introduces students to basic
measurement techniques and allows students to explore
experimental data on mechanical testing. This data will be
integrated with course assignments so that students can
evaluate the accuracy of the analytical methods taught in
lectures and make informed decisions about the impact of
variation on design decisions.
receptor-ligand bonds, to the molecular rearrangement
force generated by protein phosphorylation. My research group
applies forces and precisely manipulates the mechanical properties,
surface chemistry, and arrangement of immobilized ligands in the
local microenvironment to investigate the cooperation of mechanical
and chemical signals in cell fate regulation. Current research
projects involve quantifying and modeling the mechanics of integrin
receptor-mediated cell adhesion and the structure-property
relationships of macromolecular adhesive assemblies. These advances
will help to explain the biophysics of mechanotransduction, and
improve our understanding of how mechanical forces influence the
organization, growth, maturation, and function of living tissues.
