Pallets play a crucial role in the supply chain with approximately 2.6 billion in circulation in the United States alone. Although often overlooked, pallets can become costly for a company if not designed correctly for their specific supply chain. Durability is an essential characteristic of pallets; it defines the expected life of the pallet in the supply chain. Forklifts are the dominant mode of material handling for palletized products, and they are responsible for the majority of damages experienced by pallets. Despite the prominence of forklifts in the supply chain and their importance in pallet design, there is a lack of research focusing on the dynamic nature of forklifts in the field. The objective of this research paper was to investigate the intensity of the vibrations and shock impacts that forklifts exert during material handling. Forklifts in multiple facilities were instrumented with Lansmont SAVER 3X90 and 3D15 data loggers to measure the acceleration peak, g of shock impacts, duration of impacts, random vibration intensity and RMS (g) values during forklift handling in the field. The highest vibration levels were observed for distribution facilities with an average acceleration (peak, g) of 0.353 g. Based on the results of the vibration data collection, the vibration profile for laboratory simulation was proposed. The results of the shock measurement showed that LTL facilities recorded the highest average shock impact of all the facilities investigated, with an average acceleration value of 4.74 g with an average shock duration of 7.42 msec. The intensity of shock events measured during the FasTrack procedure was slightly greater than what was observed for the LTL facility indicating that the FasTrack simulation is slightly harsher than the field handling of pallets. Based on the results of the shock measurement, new intensity levels were recommended for the incline impact test to better represent the harshness of handling in the field. The results of this study will be used to revise the durability testing procedures used in pallet testing standards in order to better represent the current material handling processes found in modern supply chains. / Master of Science / With 2.6 billion pallets in circulation within the United States alone, pallets play a significant role in the supply chain. Pallets can become costly for a company if not designed correctly for their specific supply chain, so it is important not to overlook a pallet. Durability is an essential characteristic of pallets; it defines the expected life of the pallet in the supply chain. The forklift is the most common mode of material handling for the transportation of palletized products within a warehousing system, and they are responsible for the majority of damages experienced by pallets. Despite the prominence of forklifts in the supply chain and their importance in pallet design, there is a lack of research focusing on the dynamic shock and vibration characteristics that forklifts experience in the field. The objective of this research paper was to investigate the intensity of the vibrations and shock impacts that forklifts exert on pallets during material handling. Forklifts in multiple facilities were instrumented with Lansmont data loggers to measure the dynamic characteristics of both shock and vibration in the field. The highest vibration levels were observed for distribution facilities. Based on the results of the vibration data collection, a vibration profile for laboratory simulation was proposed. The results of the shock measurement showed that Less-than-Truckload (LTL) facilities recorded the highest average shock impact of all the facilities investigated. The intensity of shock events measured during the FasTrack procedure was slightly greater than what was observed for the LTL facility indicating that the FasTrack simulation is slightly harsher than the field handling of pallets. Based on the results of the shock measurement, new intensity levels were recommended for the incline impact test to better represent the harshness of handling in the field. The results of this study will be used to revise the durability testing procedures used in pallet testing standards in order to better represent the current material handling processes found in modern supply chains.

Labeling is one way consumers evaluate products for purchase. Environmental labeling is used to provide environmental information to the consumer. If a person is familiar with a particular labeling process they may be more inclined to consume such product. This study used the Tobii© T60 eye-tracking system to determine differences in gaze durations and time to first fixation between the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) label and an unsubstantiated label. Labels were placed on two different products (toilet paper and paper plates) and four locations (top-right corner, bottom-right corner, top-left corner, and bottom-left corner). Additionally, after the participants viewed the images they were asked to complete the six-question GREEN Consumer Values scale and then asked to sort eighteen different images based on label type and price. Participants did not differentiate between the two labels. Labels placed in the bottom-right corner received the least amount of attention (as measured by fixation duration) when compared to labels placed in the other three corners. Eye-tracking data was then split at the median and two groups were created: low label fixators versus high label fixators. High label fixators scored overall higher on the GREEN Consumer Values scale than low label fixators. Participants sorted the 18 products based on price, putting the lowest-labeled product first 84% of the time. Future studies could include looking at other environmental labels and broader populations. / Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of storage temperature and film oxygen transmission rate (OTR) on toxin development by Clostridium botulinum in refrigerated raw vacuum packaged croaker fillets, and to determine if toxin development precedes microbiological and/or organoleptic spoilage. Raw croaker fillets were vacuum packaged in oxygen-permeable films (OTR of 10,000 cc/m2/24hr or 3,000 cc/m2/24hr) and stored at either 4ºC or 10ºC. Type 83F, 17 Type B, Beluga, Minnesota, and Alaska nonproteolytic strains of C. botulinum were used to inoculate fish prior to vacuum packaging. At both temperatures, microbial spoilage preceded toxin production in fillets vacuum packaged in both film types. At 4ºC microbial spoilage occurred after approximately 7 days for fillets vacuum packaged in the 10,000 cc/m2/24hr OTR film and after 8 days for fillets vacuum packaged in the 3,000 cc/m2/24hr OTR film. However, toxin was not detected until day 8. At 10ºC microbial spoilage occurred after approximately 3 days for fillets vacuum packaged in the 10,000 cc/m2/24hr OTR film, while toxin production occurred on day 5. For fillets vacuum packaged in the 3,000 cc/m2/24hr OTR film microbial spoilage occurred after 4 days. However toxin production did not occur until day 6. In contrast, at both temperatures toxin production preceded or coincided with organoleptic spoilage in fillets vacuum packaged in both film types. At 4ºC organoleptic spoilage occurred after 10 days for fillets packaged in the 10,000 cc/m2/24hr OTR film and after 9 days in the 3,000 cc/m2/24hr OTR film, while toxin production occurred on day 8. At 10ºC organoleptic spoilage occurred after 6 days for fillets packaged in the 10,000 cc/m2/24hr OTR film, and toxin was detected on day 5. For fillets packaged in the 3,000 cc/m2/24hr OTR film and stored at 10ºC, organoleptic spoilage occurred after 6 days, while toxin production occurred on day 6. Although toxin production preceded or coincided with organoleptic spoilage in both film types, this may have been because samples were presented on ice, which could have masked potential odors. This study shows that there are not significant differences between these film types when it comes to microbial and organoleptic spoilage. Therefore lower OTR films, such as 3,000 cc/m2/24hr film, may be used to vacuum package Atlantic croaker. / Master of Science in Life Sciences

Power electronics is a constantly growing and demanding technical field. Consumer demand and developing technologies have made the improvement of power density a primary emphasis of research for this area. Power semiconductors present some of the major challenges for increasing system level power density due to high loss density and interconnection requirements. Advanced cooling schemes, such as double-sided, forced liquid convection or multi-phase flow, can be implemented with non-wire bond packaging to improve thermal management while maintaining proper electrical performance. Embedded power is one such packaging technology, which provides a compact structure for interface of power semiconductor to fluid flow. The objective of this work was to identify the potential of implementing embedded power packaging with double-sided forced liquid convection. Physics based, electro-thermal models were first used to predict the improvement in heat transfer of double-sided, forced liquid convection with embedded power packaging over single-sided liquid cooled wire bond based packaging. A liquid module test bed was designed and constructed based on the electro-thermal models, which could be interfaced with high power MOSFET based samples implementing various packaging technologies. Experiments were used to verify the model predictions and identify practical limitations of high flow rate, double-sided liquid cooling with embedded power. An improvement of 45% to 60% in total junction to case thermal resistance is shown for embedded power packaging with double-sided liquid cooling for water flow rates between 0.25 and 4.5 gal/min. / Master of Science

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a wide bandgap material capable of higher voltage and higher temperature operation compared to its silicon (Si) counterparts due to its higher critical electric field (E-field) and higher thermal conductivity. Using SiC, MOSFETs with a theoretical high temperature operation and reliability is achievable. However, current bottlenecks in high temperature SiC MOSFETs lie within the limitations of standard packaging. Additionally, there are reliability issues relating to the gate oxide region of the MOSFET, which is exacerbated through high temperature conditions. In this thesis, high temperature effects on current-generation SiC MOSFETs are studied and analyzed. To achieve this, a high temperature package is created to achieve reliable operation of a SiC MOSFET at junction temperatures of 300 °C. The custom, high temperature package feasibility is verified through studying trends in SiC MOSFET behavior with increasing temperature up to 300 °C by static characterization. Additionally, the reliability of SiC MOSFETs at 300 °C is tested with accelerated lifetime bias tests. / M.S. / Electrical devices that are rated for high temperature applications demand a use of a material that is stable and reliable at the elevated temperatures. Silicon carbide (SiC) is such a material. Devices made from SiC are able to switch faster, have a superior efficiency, and are capable of operating at extreme temperatures much better than the currently widely used silicon (Si) devices. There are limitations on SiC certain structures of SiC devices, such as the metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET), have inherent reliability issues related to the fabrication of the device. These reliability issues can get worse over higher temperature ranges. Therefore, studies must be made to determine the feasibility of SiC MOSFETs in high temperature applications. To do so, industry standard tests are conducted on newer generation SiC MOSFETs to ascertain their use for said conditions.

Currently, pallets are designed assuming that the load is distributed evenly on the top of the pallet. When pallets are loaded with packages such as corrugated boxes or returnable plastic containers, due to their physical shape, packages, are not capable of deforming freely with the pallet and a bridging phenomenon occurs. During this load bridging phenomenon, a portion of the vertical forces are redistributed as horizontal forces which causes the redistribution of the vertical compression stresses on the pallet towards the support. As a result, the deflection of the pallet can decrease and the load capacity of the pallet can increase significantly. The second chapter of this paper investigates the effect of package content on pallet deflection. The study concluded that package content did not have a significant effect on pallet deflection within the boundary conditions of the experiment. The third part of this paper considers how a specific pallet characteristic could affect the way a corrugated box performs. Standard box design procedures include adjustments of estimated compression strength for relative humidity, overhang on pallets, vibration, and alignment of boxes. However, there is no adjustment factor for pallet stiffness. The objective of the study described in this thesis is to find an answer for how the compression strength of a box is affected by pallet stiffness and top deckboard twist. The study concluded that the pallet stiffness and top deckboard twist do not have an effect on the compression strength of the box until less than 12% of the area box is supported. / Master of Science / Within the United States alone, there are more than 2 billion pallets in service daily. These pallets transport and store a wide variety of products. There are many factors that could effect the performance of a pallet, and it is still unknown which design factors and possible package interactions will or will not effect pallet performance. The first objective of this thesis is to investigate the effect of package content on pallet deflection. The study concludes that the package content does not have an effect on pallet deflection. With about 1300 manufacturing plants that produce corrugated in the Unites States and Canada, the industry alone provides $26 billion to economies. Corrugated paperboard boxes are used daily for distribution and packaging, allowing products to easily and safely travel the globe. A majority of the time, these boxes are transported and stored on wooden pallets. Currently, there is no safety factor for box design that takes pallet stiffness into consideration. The second objective of this thesis is to investigate the effect of top deckboard twist on box compression strength. The results from the study concluded that the pallet stiffness and top deckboard twist do not have an effect on the compression strength of the box until less than 12% of the area box is supported.

Polychlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE) and CTFE copolymeric films are being used in the electronic packaging industry as insulating dielectric layers between microwave circuits. Since these films are semicrystalline and, in this application, are being used as hot melt adhesives, the cooling rate is an important processing variable, affecting the crystallinity of the CTFE films which in turn affect many properties including dielectric characteristics and mechanical properties. In this study, the crystallinity of CTFE and CTFE copolymeric films as a function of cooling rate was characterized by WAXS and FTIR. As expected, the degree of crystallinity decreased as the cooling rate increased. Analysis of mechanical properties as a function of cooling rate by tensile testing showed that the mechanical behavior of the films became more ductile with faster COOling rates. Since the cooling rate has also been shown to significantly influence adhesion in previous studies, the effect of cooling rate on the bond strength between CTFE and a glass substrate was analyzed. Peel testing with a lab-built Polychlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE) and CTFE copolymeric films are being used in the electronic packaging industry as insulating dielectric layers between microwave circuits. Since these films are semicrystalline and, in this application, are being used as hot melt adhesives, the cooling rate is an important processing variable, affecting the crystallinity of the CTFE films which in turn affect many properties including dielectric characteristics and mechanical properties. In this study, the crystallinity of CTFE and CTFE copolymeric films as a function of cooling rate was characterized by WAXS and FTIR. As expected, the degree of crystallinity decreased as the cooling rate increased. Analysis of mechanical properties as a function of cooling rate by tensile testing showed that the mechanical behavior of the films became more ductile with faster COOling rates. Since the cooling rate has also been shown to significantly influence adhesion in previous studies, the effect of cooling rate on the bond strength between CTFE and a glass substrate was analyzed. Peel testing with a lab-builtPolychlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE) and CTFE copolymeric films are being used in the electronic packaging industry as insulating dielectric layers between microwave circuits. Since these films are semicrystalline and, in this application, are being used as hot melt adhesives, the cooling rate is an important processing variable, affecting the crystallinity of the CTFE films which in turn affect many properties including dielectric characteristics and mechanical properties. In this study, the crystallinity of CTFE and CTFE copolymeric films as a function of cooling rate was characterized by WAXS and FTIR. As expected, the degree of crystallinity decreased as the cooling rate increased. Analysis of mechanical properties as a function of cooling rate by tensile testing showed that the mechanical behavior of the films became more ductile with faster cooling rates. Since the cooling rate has also been shown to significantly influence adhesion in previous studies, the effect of cooling rate on the bond strength between CTFE and a glass substrate was analyzed. Peel testing with a lab-built apparatus was performed on CTFE/glass laminates revealing that the adhesive bond strength increased as the cooling rate was increased. Thus, optimum adhesion is achieved with faster cooling rates. This was attributed to the higher fracture energy and greater ductility of the adhesive which have been shown to be important factors in the relationship between cooling rate and adhesion. In addition to these investigations, the morphology at the interface was examined by optical microscopy since the crystallization of semicrystalline polymers adjacent to a substrate can result in a substrate-induced morphology known as transcrystallinity along the interface. These optical microscopy studies were inconclusive. / Master of Science

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1985 C525 / Master of Science

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.

Thesis (PhD (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Medisynevoubiljette (MVB’s) is bekend vir hulle gebrek aan toeganklikheid. Dit word veral dan ook ’n ernstige aangeleentheid indien talle mense siek word en selfs onnodig sterf as gevolg van nie-nakoming of wanbegrip van die instruksies wat in hierdie dokumente voorsien word. Dit is logisties onmoontlik om ’n direkte verband te bewerkstellig tussen nie-nakoming en die tekortkoming van spesifieke mediese voubiljette. Dit is in beginsel ook moontlik om die MVB uit te skakel as moontlike oorsaak van nie-nakoming. Daarom word die beoogde funksies van die voubiljet bepaal, en ondersoekmetodes toegepas om die kwaliteit daarvan te bepaal. Sodoende word tekortkominge in hierdie dokumente teen die beoogde funksie van die dokumente blootgelê en word ruimte geskep vir die herontwerp van die dokumente. Die vakgebied Dokumentontwerp erken verskillende ondersoekmetodes wat op ’n kontinuum tussen teksgerig en lesergerig geplaas word. In hierdie studie word ’n teksgerigte studie uitgevoer deur middel van ’n kontrolelys wat opgestel is om die tekortkominge in medisynevoubiljette bloot te lê. Die teoretiese raamwerk waarbinne dit geskied is die Funksionele en die Sistemies Funksionele Linguistiek. ’n Kenmerk van dié raamwerk is dat dit genre betrek as die struktuur waarbinne dokumente opgestel en evalueer kan word. Die elemente van genre, naamlik register – met inbegrip van die konsepte diskoersveld, tenoor en modus - en kommunikatiewe doelwit, speel ’n belangrike rol hier en omvat beginsels waarby dokumentontwerpstudies kan baat. Die indelingskriterium wat gebruik word vir die genreindeling is doelwit wat implikasies inhou vir die resultate van teksevaluering. Om die daadwerklike kommunikatiewe geslaagdheid van die dokument te bepaal, word ’n lesergerigte studie uitgevoer in die vorm van ’n vraelysondersoek. Hierdeur word die verband gelê tussen die uitsprake wat gelewer word na toepassing van ’n kontrolelys en hoe die leser die teks ervaar. Die kontrolelys stel praktiese kwessies op die voorgrond. Die voordeel van kontrolelyste is dat hulle “Ja”- of “Nee”-antwoorde uitlok wat die evalueerder help om die resultate te kwantifiseer. Daar is ’n magdom faktore wat inwerk op ’n evalueerder se besluit om “Ja” of “Nee” te antwoord daarom moet die antwoorde gewoonlik gekwalifiseer word. Dit is juis in die kwalisering van antwoorde dat die kwantifiseerbare aspek daarvan ondermyn word. Daarom moet die stellings wat vir die kontrolelys geld, voorskriftelik wees. Voorskriftelikheid suggereer veralgemening wat die doel van die ondersoek kan verbysteek. Daarom is daar in die stellings probeer om soveel as moontlik van die omstandighede waaronder “Ja” of “Nee” geantwoord kan word te ondervang. Dit sorg ook in ’n mate vir die kwalitatiewe aspek van die studie. Die kwalitatiewe aspek word verder akkommodeer deur ruimte vir bespreking van die faktore wat teksopstellers se keuses inperk en vir aanbevelings vir verbetering van die stellings. Die benadering neem die polisentriese aard van besluitneming deur teksopstellers in ag. Die studie is bedryfsgerig. Die farmaseutiese bedryf erken die behoefte aan kommunikasie wat spesifiek op die leek gerig is. Daarom is daar deur die bedryf ’n studie geloods waarvoor bepaalde lesergerigte pasiëntinligtingsdokumete geskep is. Die bedryfsaspek van hierdie studie is in die vergelyking tussen hierdie tekstipe, wat die PID genoem word, en die MVB. Daar is ook opsigte waarin die PID verbeter kan word. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Pharmaceutical package inserts are renowned for their lack of accessibility. This can prompt a serious situation when people become ill and even die unnecessarily as a result of noncompliance with or misunderstanding of the instructions provided in these documents. It is logistically impossible to establish a direct relationship between non-compliance and the deficiencies of any given package insert. In principle it is possible to eliminate the pharmaceutical package insert as the possible cause of non-compliance. For this reason the envisaged functions of the inserts are established and research methods applied to determine their quality. In this way deficiencies in the document are exposed against the envisaged function of the document and the ground is prepared for these documents to be redesigned. The field Document Design recognizes various research methods which occupy different positions on the continuum between text orientation and reader orientation. In this study the text orientated study is conducted by means of a checklist that has been compiled to expose the shortcomings of pharmaceutical package inserts. The theoretical framework within which the study is undertaken is Functional and Systemic Functional Linguistics. A feature of this framework is that it involves genre as the structure within which documents are compiled and evaluated. The elements of genre, namely register – including the concepts field, tenor and mode – and communicative goals, play an important role here and incorporate concepts from which document design studies can benefit. The criterion for categorizing texts into genres is goal which has implications for the results of text evaluation. In order to determine the actual communicative success of a document, a reader orientated study is conducted in the form of a questionnaire. In this way the relationship between the findings after the application of the checklist and how the reader actually experiences the text is revealed. The checklist brings practical issues to the fore. The advantage of a checklist is that it invites “Yes” or “No” answers which help the evaluator to quantify the results. There is a multitude of factors influencing the evaluator’s decision to choose “Yes” or “No” and therefore the answers usually have to be qualified. It is in this qualification of the answer that the quantification is undermined. Therefore the statements that are valid for the checklist must be prescriptive. Prescriptiveness suggests generalisation which can go beyond the objective of the study. An attempt has therefore been made to preempt the circumstances under which “Yes” or “No” would be an appropriate answer. This, to some extent, takes care of the qualitative aspect of the study. The qualitative aspect is further accommodated by allowing space for the discussion of those factors that restricted the choices of text compilers and for the recommendations for improvement of the statements. The approach takes the polycentric nature of decision making by the text compiler into account. The study is industry orientated. The pharmaceutical industry acknowledges the need for communication that is specifically aimed at the lay person. For this reason the industry launched a study for the purposes of which a Patient Information Leaflet was compiled. The industry orientated part of this study resides in the comparison between this text type, called the PIL, and the existing package insert. There are areas in which the PIL too can be improved.