The GARVEE Transportation Program started by the Idaho Transportation Department has improved parts of I-84 in Boise, Idaho. These desired improvements led to the widening of a bridge over the New York Canal (NYC) in 2009. To support the wider road, additional bridge columns were installed. The new bridge columns had a larger diameter than the existing columns and raised the number of columns from 28 to 60. Construction was completed just before the irrigation season began. During the first irrigation season it was observed that waves and oscillations were occurring within the canal immediately adjacent to the bridge structure. Throughout the irrigation season, it was observed that the intensity of the oscillations would vary. It was also observed that the wave oscillations propagated upstream and downstream from the bridge structure. Both longitudinal and transverse waves were observed. The waves appeared to originate in the section of the canal that was under the I-84 Bridge. A physical model was built in 2010 at Utah State University's (USU) Utah Water Research Laboratory (UWRL) in an attempt to simulate the oscillation phenomenon and to develop potential solutions to the problem. During the original modeling work, a thorough investigation to the causes of this phenomenon was not accomplished due to time constraints. The objective of the follow-up research presented in this thesis was to qualitatively determine the causes of the oscillations. Laboratory tests were performed using the original physical model used in the original 2010 testing.

Hydraulic fracturing of transverse isotropic reservoirs is of major interest for reservoir stimulation and in-situ stress estimation. Rock fabric anisotropy not only causes in-situ stress anisotropy, but also affects fracture initiation from the wellbore. In this study a semi-analytical method is used to investigate these effects with particular reference to shale stimulation. Using simplifying assumptions, equations are derived for stress distribution around the wellbore's walls. The model is then used to study the fracture initiation pressure variations with anisotropy. A sensitivity analysis is carried out on the impact of Young's modulus and Poisson's ration, on the fracture initiation pressure. The results are useful in designing hydraulic fractures and also can be used to develop information about in-situ rock properties using failure pressure values observed in the field. Finally, mechanical and permeability anisotropy are measured using Pulse Permeameter and triaxial tests on Pierre shale.

The problems of the scattering off the perfect conductor sphere and the dielectric sphere have the exact solutions. But there are no exact solutions for the scattering off a multi-layered dielectric sphere with a metallic cap like the Lunberg lens reflectors which is used as a strong omni-directional reflector found in many microwave applications. Haruo Sakurai applied the modal expansion technique and point-matching method (PMM) to study the scattering of the Lunberg lens reflectors. The problem is eventually formulated as 2MN by 2MN simultaneous matrix equation with M regions each having 2N unknowns due to two set of coupled polarization vectors. Strictly speaking, the formulae of the mode matching method for the problem of the scattering of the dielectric sphere are not exact. Furthermore, the size of the simultaneous matrix equation is also unnecessarily too larger. In this thesis, we employ an integral equation formulation in the Frequency-domain together with the modified impedance transformation technique for the spherically layers to study the scattering of the Lunberg lens reflectors. We show that the formulae of the integral equation are exact and using an equivalent matrix equation, that the entire problem can be reduced to a N by N matrix equation where N is the number of terms of the expansion of the unknown field in the opening. To verify our formulation we compute the total field of the plane wave incident upon the multi-layered micro lenses and compared the results with those from the geometric optics. We get good agreement for the regions that both theories apply. Small discrepancy is also observed and is consistent with the theoretical prediction.

Based on the design concepts of linear induction motors, a non-contacting steel plate conveyance system for steel mill application has been constructed. To reduce the noise and friction from conventional roller conveyance system, the designed system is aimed to simultaneously provide adequate lift, propulsive, and guide forces to the steel plate. At first, the preliminary understandings of the characteristics of lift force have been gained through the simple magnetic circuit analyses, and together with other mechanical concepts develop the laboratory prototype. Then, through three-dimensional finite element analyses and state model developments, the system¡¦s static and quasi-dynamic/dynamic operational characteristics are investigated. Finally, the validity of this system has been verified by experimental measurement. Thus, the analyses and results of the experiment clearly show that the designed non-contacting steel plate conveyance system is certainly feasible.

Micro ring-cavity, like the Fabry-Perot cavity, is an optical device that resonates at certain frequencies. It is used as a phase compensator, and filter. Easily fabricated, the micro ring-cavity can be mass-produced, the ring-cavity is becoming evermore important as integrated opto-electronic technology advances. In this thesis, we begin with a novel one-dimensional theory that considers bi-directional traffic in the micro-ring cavity. By separating the device into easily manageable regions, and employing only fundamental modes in each of the sections, we obtain a closed-form formula for the transmission and reflection coefficient of this device. Under certain circumstances, when the directional coupler length is short but its coupling strength is strong, we observed a significant amount of reflection of optical energy at some frequencies. This phenomena is currently unknown to the opto-electronic industry. To further study this, we developed a more rigorous multi-mode propagation method for two-dimensional bi-directional ring cavities. The problem at hand is first being sliced into regions of multi-layered sections. Within each section, we can express the fields in terms of the underlying waveguide modes of the structure. At the interfaces of these sections, we construct coupled integral equations, which are derived from the continuity requirement of the tangential fields. We have complete formulations for both TE and TM cases, down to the coupled matrix equation for the unknown modal coefficients at each junction.

A numerical study of the flow field generated by injection through diamondshaped orifices into a high-speed flow is presented in this document. Jet interaction flows have a wide range of applications in the field of engineering. These applications include the use of jets for fuel injection in scramjets, for reaction control of high-speed aerodynamic bodies and as cooling jets for skins of high-speed vehicles. A necessary requirement in the use of transverse jets for these and other applications is a thorough understanding of the physics of the interaction between the jet and freestream. This interaction generates numerous flow structures that include multiple shocks, vortices, recirculation regions and shear layers. This study involves diamond-shaped orifices that have the advantage of generating weaker or attached interaction shocks as compared to circular injectors. These injectors also negate the effects due to the recirculation region that is formed upstream of the injector. This study was undertaken in order to gain further understanding of the flow features generated by diamond-shaped injectors in a high-speed flow. Numerical simulations were performed using two different levels of turbulence models. Reynolds™ Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations were performed using the GASP flow solver while Detached-Eddy Simulation (DES) runs were performed using the Cobalt flow solver. A total of fifteen diamond injector simulations were performed using the RANS model for a 15 half-angle diamond injector. The fifteen simulations spanned over five different injection angles and three jet total pressures. In addition to these, two circular injector simulations were also performed. In addition, low pressure normal injection through diamond and circular orifices simulations were performed using DES. Results obtained from CFD were compared to available experimental data. The resulting flow structure and the turbulent properties of the flow were examined in detail. The normal injection case through the diamond-shaped orifice at the lowest jet total pressure was defined as the baseline case and is presented in detail. In order to study the effect of different components of the vorticity transport equation, an in-house code was used post-process the results from the RANS runs.

No description available.

<p>Research in the area of bridge design has been and still isconcentrated on the study of the strength of materials andrelatively few studies have been performed on traffic loads andtheir effects. Traffic loads have usually been assumed to begiven in codes. This is mainly because it is very difficult tomodel traffic loads in an accurate manner because of theirrandomness.</p><p>In this work, statistical evaluations of traffic loadeffects, obtained from real as well as Monte Carlo (MC)simulated vehicle data, are presented. As the dynamiccontribution of the vehicle load was filtered by the systemused for measuring vehicle weight, no attention was paid in thepresent study to the dynamic effects or the impact factor. Thedynamic contribution of the traffic load models from codes wasdeducted wherever they were compared with the result from theevaluation of the real data. First, the accuracy of thecollected data was investigated. This was done to examine theinfluence of what was most probably unreasonable data on thefinal evaluated results. Subsequently, the MC simulationtechnique, using a limited amount of the collected data, wasused to generate fictitious vehicle data that could representresults from field measurements which would otherwise have tobe recorded under a long period. Afterwards, the characteristictotal traffic loads for bridges with large spans weredetermined by probabilistic analysis. This was done using realas well as simulated data and the two were compared. Theseresults were also compared with the corresponding valuescalculated using the traffic load model from the Swedish bridgedesign code.</p><p>Furthermore, using traffic data, different load effects onbridges (girder distribution factor of slab-on-girder bridgesand the mid-span deflection as well as the longitudinal stressat critical locations on box-girder bridges) were investigated.The main task was to obtain a more accurate knowledge oftraffic load distributions on bridges as well as their effectsfor infrastructure design. The results showed that the trafficload models from codes gave considerably higher load effectscompared to the current actual traffic load effects. Theseinvestigations were based on the available data for the actualposition of the vehicles on a single bridge and might not coverall possible traffic scenarios. The results showed only how thereal traffic loads, under”normal”conditions andtheir transverse positions relate to the load model accordingto the codes.</p><p><b>KEYWORDS:</b>bridge, traffic load, load effect, transversedistribution, characteristic value,weigh in motion, MonteCarlo simulation, Rice’s formula, level crossinghistogram, vehicle queue.</p>

The purposes of this dissertation were to determine: 1) the relationship betweenmuscle thickness change (MTC) as measured by rehabilitative ultrasound imaging(RUSI) and EMG activity in the lumbar multifidus (LM), 2) if motor control changesproduced by experimentally induced pain are measurable with RUSI, 3) if a differenceexists in MTC between subjects with low back pain (LBP) classified in the treatmentbasedclassification system (TBC) system and controls, 4) if MTC improves followingintervention.Current literature suggests sub-groups of patients with LBP exist and responddifferently to treatment, challenging whether the majority of LBP is "nonspecific". TheTBC system categorizes subjects into one of four categories (stabilization, mobilization,direction specific exercise, or traction). Currently, only stabilization subjects receive anintervention emphasizing stability. Because recent research has demonstrated that motorcontrol impairments of lumbar stabilizing muscles are present in most subjects with LBP,it is hypothesized that impairments may be present across the TBC classifications.Study 1: Established the relationship between MTC as measured by RUSI andEMG in the LM. Study 2: Assessed MTC of the LM during control and painfulconditions to determine if induced pain changes in LM and transverse abdominis (TrA)are measurable with RUSI. Study 3: Measured MTC of the LM and TrA in subjects withLBP classified in the TBC system and 20 controls. Subjects completed a stabilizationprogram and were re-tested.The inter-tester reliability of the RUSI measurements was excellent (ICC3,3 =.91,SEM=3.2%). There was a curvilinear relationship (r = .79) between thickness changeand EMG activity. There was a significant difference (p andlt; .01) between control andpainful conditions on 4 of the 5 LM tasks tested and on the TrA task. There was adifference in MTC between subjects and controls on the loaded LM test which varied bylevel and category. All categories were different from control on the TrA. Followingintervention the TrA MTC improved (p andlt; .01). The LM MTC did not (p values from .13-.86).These findings suggest MTC can be clinically measured and that deficits existwithin TBC system. Significant disability and pain reduction were measured.

Transverse-integrated nodal di usion methods currently represent the standard in full core neutronic simulation. The primary shortcoming of this approach is the utilization of the quadratic transverse leakage approximation. This approach, although proven to work well for typical LWR problems, is not consistent with the formulation of nodal methods and can cause accuracy and convergence problems. In this work, an improved, consistent quadratic leakage approximation is formulated, which derives from the class of higher-order nodal methods developed some years ago. In this thesis a number of iteration schemes are developed around this consistent quadratic leakage approximation which yields accurate node average results in much improved calculational times. The most promising of these iteration schemes results from utilizing the consistent leakage approximation as a correction method to the standard quadratic leakage approximation. Numerical results are demonstrated on a set of benchmark problems and further applied to realistic reactor problems for particularly the SAFARI-1 reactor operating at Necsa, South Africa. The nal optimal solution strategy is packaged into a standalone module which may be simply coupled to existing nodal di usion codes, illustrated via coupling of the module to the OSCAR-4 code system developed at Necsa and utilized for the calculational support of a number of operating research reactors around the world. / Thesis(PhD (Reactor Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013