published_or_final_version / Mechanical Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

This thesis presents the designs of Ultra-wideband (UWB) monopole antennas, textile monopole antennas and transparent UWB textile antennas using planar technology for body-centric wireless communications (BCWC). A planar antenna designed using offset-fed and slotted ground plane to extend the operating bandwidth for the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM)band and UWB is proposed. Results show that the antenna can achieve a bandwidth from 2.38 to 14.5 GHz with omni-directional radiation patterns in the E-plane. Agroup of nine planar UWB monopole antennas using different radiator shapes such as triangle, rectangle, square, annual ring, circle, horizontal ellipse, vertical ellipse, pentagon and hexagon for BCWC is studied using computer simulation and measurement. Results show that the monopole antenna having a vertical-elliptical-shape radiator has a relatively better performance than other monopole antennas. Three textile antennas fabricated on fabric materials are studied. The first design is a triple-band textile antenna for wireless-local-area network (WLAN) and worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) wireless communication applications. The radiator is composed of two branches and a short stub to generate the resonances at about 2.45, 3.5 and 5.5 GHz, respectively. Simulated and measured results show that the three frequency bands can be set independently. The second design is an UWB antenna consisting of a circular radiator, a tapered feed line and a slotted ground plane. Results show that the antenna can achieve a bandwidth of 3 to 12 GHz. The third design is a compact belt-loop UWB antenna with microstrip-fed. The antenna has a simple elliptical-shaped radiator, a three-step staircase on both sides of the feed line and a slot on the ground plane. It has a very compactsize of 11×40=440 mm2and can still achieve a bandwidth of 3.1 to 12.8 GHz. To emulate the on-body conditions, the two UWB antennas are studied in the bending and crumpling conditions due to the curvature of human body. Results show that both UWB textile antennas have quite stable performances throughout the UWB band. The two UWB textile antennas are re-designed using a transparent conductive film (TCF)as the radiator and ground plane on fabric substrate. Results show that the measured reflection coefficients of transparent antennas agree well with the simulated results. However, the measured radiation patterns have large discrepancies with the simulated results, which are mainly due to the uncertain electric properties of TCF in radio frequency. Results show that the antennas have a better performance, in terms ofbandwidth, peak gain and radiation efficiency ,than those of other transparent antennas studied before, making our proposed antennas suitable for body-centric wireless communications. / published_or_final_version / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

As the demand for compact, portable communication electronics increases, the technology of miniaturization has made great progress. A beneficiary of that progress has been research into new concepts for the antenna, one of the essential components in wireless communications. As the size of an antenna becomes smaller, however, the antenna suffers from high Q and low radiation resistance. The results are narrow bandwidth, poor matching, low efficiency, and, more generally, poor performance throughout the communication system. First, the design of a small antenna for HF/VHF communications is described. As the operating frequency of an antenna decreases, for example, into the HF and low VHF regions, the physical size of the antenna becomes a critical issue. It is desirable to design a truly electrically small antenna by reducing the ground plane size. Moreover, when the antenna size is very small, the bandwidth of the antenna is extremely narrow, which is critical to various deployment variances and propagation effects such as multi-path fading. The new design, which is an inductively coupled, top-loaded, monopole structure optimized by a genetic algorithm (GA), maximizes transmission of HF/VHF waves. Electrically small, spiral ground planes for the monopole and the electrically small antenna are designed for HF ground-wave transmission. In addition, a tunable small antenna is investigated that overcomes the narrow-bandwidth limitation of electrically small antennas. Second, new design methodologies for electrically small antennas are discussed. Use of an inductively coupled feed is one of the well-known methods for boosting input resistance. As the antenna size becomes smaller, however, it is found that the efficiency of an antenna using an inductively coupled feed is lower than an antenna using multiple folds. After a comparison of the two methods, the design of a thin, multiply folded, electrically small antenna is proposed for achieving high efficiency in a physically compact size. The GA is used to assess the effect of geometry on the performance (in terms of efficiency and bandwidth) of the electrically small antennas, including the folded conical helix and folded spherical helix. Finally, the prospects of using the new Yagi antennas to achieve small size are explored. Yagi antennas are used widely to obtain high gain in a simple structures. The antenna is composed of the driven element and the parasitic elements, which include a reflector and one or more directors. Typically, sufficient spacing on the order of 0.15[lambda] to 0.4[lambda] between the driven element and the parasitic elements is needed for the Yagi antenna to operate well. For some applications, however, it is desirable to reduce the spacing and the length of the elements to achieve a physically more compact size. In this dissertation, closely spaced, folded Yagi antennas in both three dimensions and two dimensions are investigated, and a design for an electrically small Yagi antenna is suggested. / text

M. Tech. Industrial Engineering / The Reconfigurable Vibrating Screen is a newly designed beneficiation machine to be used for mineral particle separation in mines and quarries with adjustable screen capacity and structure in order to respond to changes in production and quantity demand required by the customers. In order to increase the durability, availability, reliability and maintainability of a reconfigurable vibrating screen, an effective method is required to functionally appraise and improve its working condition. The aim of this study is to develop a tool for functionally assessing reconfigurable vibrating screens and existing vibrating screens.

A high-temperature x-ray diffraction furnace for use with the General Electric Model XRD-3 x-ray diffraction unit has been developed. The furnace, which was designed and constructed by the author, has an angular range of 0-165° 20. A constant temperature or continuously increasing temperature may be programmed through the temperature range of 20°C to 1000°C. Data on the high-temperature modifications of illite obtained with the high-temperature x-ray diffraction furnace indicate a contraction of the (110) spacing at 300°C and expansions at 725°C and 880°C which were not identifiable using the quench method. The existence of interlayer water in the illite structure to temperatures over 800°C is indicated, based upon the continuous decrease of the (002) basal periodicity with increasing temperature. A skeleton illite structure or a high-temperature illite phase with a d-spacing of 9.87A survives the third endothermic reaction observed by differential thermal analysis and forms a phase which is stable at 900°C. / text

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

No description available.

No description available.

A dynamic phantom for use in investigating hyperthermia heating systems has been designed, constructed, and tested. A computer controlled the flow rate of 80% Ethanol to each of 4 preserved in vitro canine kidneys which acted as the phantom material. The flow rates were regulated with stepper motor controlled valves and measured with flow meters by the computer. This provided a flexible system for adjusting the perfusion as desired. The system was tested with step and ramp changes in perfusion under constant power ultrasound and with a temperature controlled perfusion algorithm, all of which yielded repeatable results. The dynamic phantom developed in this work shows potential for expediting investigations of hyperthermia controllers, temporal blood flow patterns, and inverse problems. Its computer based nature gives it great flexibility which would lend itself well to automated testing procedures.