Several methods were presented to facilitate the use of tri-state gates in the design of logic networks. Special considerations for the use of tri-state gates are discussed in order that the reader might get a feel for the capability of tri-state logic and so that he will be aware of problems which may appear in the course of the design and development of a tri-state logic network. Several problems are worked, both combinational and sequential examples, and the advantages of tri-state over classical logic are discussed. Two additional examples, one of an iterative network and one of a multi-functional cell illustrate the applicability of tri-state gates to many digital designs. / Master of Science

In two-dimensional flow, the point of flow separation from the surface coincides with the point at which the skin friction vanishes. However, in three-dimensional flow, the situation is much more complex and the flow separation is rarely associated with the vanishing of the wall shear stress except in a few special cases. Though the effects of cross-plane separation are substantial and have been recognized for some time, the phenomenon of flow separation over three-dimensional bodies is still far from being completely understood. The flow is so complex that no completely satisfactory analytical tools are available at the moment. In an attempt to logically identify the various effects and parametric dependence while simultaneously minimizing configuration dependent issue, the flow over a 6 to 1 prolate spheroid, which is a generic three-dimensional body, is investigated. For the identification of the general flow pattern and better understanding of the flow field, surface-oil-flow visualization tests and force and moment tests were performed. The angle of attack effect and Reynolds number effect on the separation location are studied with natural transition. Forces and moments tests, surface pressure distribution measurements as well as the surface pressure fluctuations, and mini-tuft flow visualization tests were made to document the flow characteristics on the surface of the body with an artificial boundary layer trip. / Ph. D.

Sanafoam Vaporooter II is a trademark name for a process which uses metham sodium and dichlobenil to remove tree roots from municipal sewer and storm drain lines. One or more of the chemicals in this process, or their degradation products, have been suspected of disrupting the nitrification process in waste treatment plants downstream of the points of application. This work was undertaken to identify the chemical responsible for the disruption, and to recommend means for assuaging the problem. The impacts of the herbicides used in the Vaporooter II process were separately tested in bench scale reactors. Metham sodium was found to be the herbicide responsible for disrupting nitrification. It did so at concentrations of 4 mg/L or higher in systems which have a mixed liquor volatile suspended solids concentrations of 1800 mg/L. This corresponds to a herbicide to biomass ratio of 0.017 moles/gram. The stability of metham sodium was also tested in bench scale experiments. The compound was found to be fairly stable at the pH values, temperatures and oxygen concentrations typically found in sewage collection systems and so undergoes little degradation after application. Powdered activated carbon (PAC) is effective in absorbing metham sodium from raw sewage. In bench scale reactors, application rates of 10 mg PAC per 1 mg metham sodium reduced metham sodium concentrations to levels which did not disrupt the nitrification process. / Master of Science

Fatigue and fracture testing and analyses were performed on four engineering materials: a low-strength aluminum alloy (D16CzATWH), a high-strength aluminum alloy (Al7050-T7351), a low-strength steel (A36 steel), and a high-strength steel (9310 steel). Large-crack testing included compression precracked constant amplitude and compression precracked load reduction over a wide range of stress ratios. Single- and multiple-spike overload tests were conducted on some of the materials. Fatigue and small-crack testing were also performed at constant amplitude loading at a constant load ratio on the newly designed single edge notch bend specimen. Using the FADD2D boundary element code, two-dimensional stress analysis was performed on the new specimen to determine the stress intensity factor as a function of crack size for surface and through cracks at the edge notch. Collected fatigue crack growth rate data was used to develop a material model for the FASTRAN strip-yield crack growth code. FASTRAN was used to simulate the constant amplitude and spike overload tests, as well as the small-crack fatigue tests. The fatigue crack growth simulation results have shown that both low-cycle and high-cycle fatigue can be modeled accurately as fatigue crack growth using FASTRAN and that FASTRAN can be used to accurately predict the acceleration and retardation in fatigue crack growth rates after a spike overload. The testing has shown that the starting fatigue crack growth rate of any load-shedding test has significant influence on load history effects, with lower starting rates yielding lower crack growth thresholds and faster rates. Through inspection of fatigue surfaces, it has been shown that beveling of pin-holes in the crack growth specimens is necessary to ensure symmetric crack fronts and that the presence of debris along the fatigue surfaces can cause considerable crack growth retardation.

Terminal ballistics study multivariate behavior and aftermath of projectile and target interactions. Tests and models are often based on monolithic armors, however, layered and spaced armors are common in real world applications. Such configurations add complexities that require research to understand their effects on terminal ballistics. The ballistic limit velocity (V50) represents the speed where armor perforation probability is 50%. It is used for quantitative comparison of protection capabilities for different armors. This research studied the V50 of spaced and layered A36 steel armors against fragment simulating projectiles (FSPs). Four methods for estimating armor V50 were evaluated and compared to experimental data. The first two methods were analytical methods from literature, the third was finite element (FE) simulations in EPIC, and the fourth was a Monte Carlo method developed in this research. The Monte Carlo method using 100,000 iterations was the most accurate and efficient of all methods.

Structure-property quantification of an A36 steel alloy was the focus of this study in order to calibrate and validate a plasticity-damage model. The microstructural parameters included grain size, particle size, particle number density, particle nearest neighbor distances, and percent of ferrite and pearlite. The mechanical property data focused on stress-strain behavior under different applied strain rates (0.001/s, 0.1/s, and 1000/s), different temperatures (293 K and 573 K), and different stress states (compression, tension, and torsion). Notch tension tests were also conducted to validate the plasticity-damage model. Also, failure of an A36 I-beam was examined in cyclic loads, and the crack growth rates were quantified in terms of fatigue striation data. Dynamic strain aging was observed in the stress-strain behavior giving rise to an important point that there exists a critical temperature for such behavior.

There has long been a recognition that efficient transport plays a key role in supporting a dynamic economy and a high quality of life. However, traffic increases along with population and income, and traffic congestion and accidents are negative results of this increase, as is environmental damage. There has been a need for a methodology to evaluate user, nonuser benefits and the environmental impacts of transportation investments and policies through rational, objective scientific analysis. This research aims to develop a methodology, termed the Transportation/Development Methodology, for evaluating transportation policies and projects, and also, to clarify the relationships between transportation investment and economic productivity. Transportation/Development Methodology, or TDM, conceptualizes the role of transportation in a broad socioeconomic and environmental context and enables scenario analysis. In addition to the development of the TDM, this research comprises a critique and discussion of the primary methodologies used for evaluating transportation effects. In both transportation and development management, policy processes tend to proceed in nearly total isolation from ongoing planning activities in estimating impacts induced by transportation investments and policies. To overcome that imbalance for current models, TDM uses a system dynamics approach and adopts concepts from other methodologies, such as Input-Output analysis, the Lowry Model, and the Urban Transportation Planning Process (UTPP). Finally, this research demonstrates the TDM by applying it in an analysis of a “real-life” situation, the Interstate 81 corridor, which goes through six states of the United States as a backbone of both passenger and freight transport. Development scenarios for improving regional economies, as well as for giving better service and reducing congestion, are analyzed by the TDM im order to evaluate their effectiveness. Application of the TDM to the I-81 corridor generates significant conclusions that would not have been possible using existing methodologies. / Ph. D.

[pt] O estudo da resistência à fratura dos materiais é de grande importância para desenvolvimentos de projetos, seleção de materiais e avaliação do comportamento dos materiais perante a presença de um defeito no componente. Há inúmeras normas que envolvem geometrias padronizadas para determinação desta propriedade mecânica, no entanto nem todo componente em serviço possui as mesmas condições encontradas nas geometrias padronizadas, como é o caso de materiais dúcteis empregados em estruturas com espessuras de paredes finas e elevada pressão interna. Nesta dissertação foram estudados dois materiais com diferentes limites de escoamento confeccionados conforme geometria tipo SEN(T) de fixação por garras, a qual não é padronizada pela ASTM. Com isso, foi realizada uma pesquisa com o emprego desta geometria com variação de 0,2 a 0,8 da relação entre a dimensão idealizada inicialmente para a trinca e a largura do corpo de prova, e entalhes laterais com redução de 20 porcento foram confeccionados nos corpos de prova do material mais dúctil. Após, foi realizada a pré-trinca de fadiga e iniciado o ensaio de tenacidade à fratura. Este último foi desenvolvido adotando o método compliance, o qual permite que com apenas um corpo de prova seja realizado descarregamentos parciais permitindo assim a determinação de J e incremento de trinca em cada posição, possibilitando plotar a curva-R Os resultados obtidos determinaram que mesmo com a/W diferente daqueles indicados por norma para levantamento da curva-R, é possível obter uma curva-R para a/W=0,2. Existe uma limitação em aplicar a geometria SEN(T) que não possuem extensa ductilidade. / [en] The study of resistance to fracture of the materials is very important for developing new projects, making materials specifications and also for evaluating materials behaviour under presence of a crack in a component. There are uncountables standards which apply normalized specimens due to determine this mechanical property, however some components in service doesn t act under same conditions as the specimen chosen, for instance ductile materials applied in components with thin thickness and high intern pressure. In this dissertation was studied two diferente of materials with distinct yield limits fabricated according to SEN(T) geometry with clamped fixing, which one is not acceptable by ASTM. Thus, a research has been carried out using this geomerty with a variation of 0,2 to 0,8 of the relation between the idealized initially for the crack and the width of the proof body ratio and side-grooves with 20 percent reducted were made in the specimens with higher ductility. After that, the procedure for doing fatigue pre-crack was initialized, followed by fracture toughness test. This last one was developed adopting the unloading compliance technique, which one allows that more than one aplications of force and displacement can be realized in only one specimen then the value of J and crack extension can be calculated and the R-curve will be plotted. The results obtained showed even with a a/W ratio diferente of those indicated by standards, is possible to constructo a qualified R-curve for a/W=0,2. In additon to the results, there is a limitation in applying a SEN(T) geometry in materials that don t present extensive ductility.