The high frequency response of a circular ring of rectangular cross section interior to a conical shell excited by a blast wave is examined. The ring supports a rigidly attached mass during excitation. It is hypothesized that the response is a function of the four excitation parameters which characterize the loading. These are: peak reflected pressure; characteristic time (pulse duration); wave engulfment time; and circumferential distribution. These parameters are varied over a range of interest in an effort to ascertain the structural sensitivity to such perturbations. A series of tests sponsored by the Department of the Army and the Martin Marietta Corporation were conducted by the Stanford Research Institute on the missile. Data acquired during these tests will be used to verify and support the hypothesis. In addition analytic correlation is presented based on parametric studies performed on a simple two degree of freedom ring model excited by a local pressure forcing function. The experimental data indicated a linear dependence of the structural response on variations in pressure, duration and engulfment. The analytic results indicated higher sensitivities by comparison, but supported the experimental results in general.

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Understand that death is a part of life and having to experience close family members and loved ones pass away is something we will all go through. The absence of architecture during this significant part of life propelled me to research and propose a space that would provide patients humane care. With counseling, therapy and palliative care the patient would ultimately be able to live out their remaining moments in comfort and tranquility. Historically death had been sudden and with little warning but with advances in medicine and technology predicting when one's life will come to an end due to illness or old age has become a reality. Currently and in the future we will live a period of time knowing when our life will end. Reaching this period in our existence, I feel that architecture should play a more significant role than it does now. In my opinion large facilities designed to accommodate as many patients as possible with long poorly lite corridors make a terminally ill patients experience an afterthought and financial stability the main objective. With my thesis I plan to explore how architecture could elevate the spirits of the patient, their loved ones and the staff guiding them through this difficult time. Located in Melvin C. Hazen Park in Washington DC, the project places all three parties in an oasis within the city. The goal of the project became to provide palliative care for the patients in a space that would allow them to experience the remainder of their lives with dignity and to seamlessly allow visitors and staff to support the patient during this time. Historically death had been sudden and with little warning but with advances in medicine and technology predicting when one's life is coming to an end is a reality. We now and in the future will live a period of time knowing when our life will end. Reaching this period in our existence I feel that architecture should play a more significant role that what we have now. Large facilities with long poorly lite corridors and rooms designed to accommodate as my patients as possible has created in my opinion places where patients and what they experience is secondary and where the bottom line is primary. My thesis was to explore how architecture could elevate the spirits of the patient, the loved one accompanying these patients in this time and the staff guiding them. Located in Melvin C Hazen Park in Washington DC the project removes all three parties and places them in an oasis within the city. The Goal of the project became to provide palliative care for the patience in a space that would allow them to experience the remainder of their lives with dignity and to seamlessly allow visitors and staff to support the patient during this time. / Master of Architecture / A hospice is a facility for terminally ill patients with less than six months to live. The patient is relocated to a hospice to refocus the medical care from finding a cure to end of life care. Caring for an individual during the end of their life requires medical care, physical care and emotional care. A hospice is sought to provide this care for the patient and the loved ones of the patient. My thesis was to explore how architecture could elevate the spirits of the patients, the loved ones of the patient and the staff guiding them. Located in Melvin C. Hazen Park in Washington DC, the project places all three parties in an oasis within the city. The Goal of the project became to provide palliative care for the patients in a space that would allow them to experience the remainder of their life’s with dignity and to seamlessly allow visitors and staff to support the patient during this time.

Rotors in fluid-film bearing supported turbomachinery are known to develop elliptical orbits as a result of rotor-bearing interactions, mass unbalance within the rotor, gravitational bending of the shaft and external excitation. In synchronous whirl, where the speed at which the shaft travels about the orbit is equal to the rotational speed of the rotor, temperature gradients may develop across the journal as a result of viscous shear in the bearing's lubricant film. This thermal gradient leads to bending of the shaft in a phenomenon known as The Morton Effect. Such thermally induced bending causes further growth of the elliptical orbit resulting in further bending leading to excessive vibration levels and premature bearing failure. This analysis examines the development of the Morton Effect in medium-speed turbochargers typical to shipboard propulsion engines and the effect that bearing clearance has on thermal stability. Floating ring and tilting pad journal bearings are considered with a single stage, overhung centrifugal compressor and an overhung axial turbine. Results indicate a correlation between bearing clearance and thermal stability in the rotor-bearing system. A model for the aerodynamic force generated as a result of interaction between air exiting a centrifugal compressor and the compressor's annulus in a turbocharger is then developed and applied to the rotor-bearing systems. Results suggest little correlation between this aerodynamic force and the development of the Morton Effect. / Master of Science

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Despite extensive research into the effects of alcohol consumption, there is no clear understanding into the mechanisms underlying human information processing impairment. The acute consumption of alcohol was investigated to determine the implications for human information processing capabilities, and to identify the extent to which these implications were stage-specific. Further aims included the investigation and quantification of caffeine-induced antagonism of alcohol impairment. Moreover, the aforementioned relationships were investigated in morning versus evening conditions. A test battery of six resource-specific tasks was utilised to measure visual perceptual, cognitive and sensory-motor performance, fashioned to return both simple and complex measures of each task. The tasks implemented were: visual perceptual performance (accommodation, visual detection, visual pattern recognition); cognition (memory recall- digit span); and motor output (modified Fitts‟ and a driving simulated line-tracking). Performance measures were recorded by the respective computer based tasks. Physiological variables measured included heart rate frequency, heart rate variability (RMSSD, High and Low Frequency Power) and body temperature. Saccade speed, saccade amplitude, pupil size and fixation duration were the oculomotor parameters measured. Three groups of participants (alcohol, caffeine+alcohol and control) n=36 were studied, split evenly between sexes in a mixed repeated/non-repeated measures design. The control group performed all test batteries under no influence. The alcohol group performed test batteries one and two sober, and three and four under the influence of a 0.4 g/kg dose of alcohol. Group caffeine+alcohol conducted test battery one sober, two under the effect of caffeine only (4 mg/kg), and three and four under the influence of both caffeine and alcohol (0.4 g/kg). The third test battery demonstrated the effects of alcohol during the inclining phase of the blood alcohol curve, and the fourth represented the declining phase. Morning experimentation occurred between 10:00 - 12: 45 and 10:30 -13:15 with evening experimentation between 19:00 - 21:30 and 19:30 - 22:00. Acute alcohol consumption at a dose of approximately 0.4 g/kg body weight effected an average peak breath alcohol concentration of 0.062 % and 0.059 % for the alcohol and caffeine+alcohol groups respectively. Task-related visual perceptual performance demonstrated significant decrements for simple reaction time, choice reaction time and error rate. Cognitive performance demonstrated no significant performance decrements, while motor performance indicated significant decrements in target accuracy only. Physiological parameters in response to alcohol consumption showed significantly decreased heart rate variability (RMSSD) in the modified Fitts‟ task only. A significant decrease in saccade amplitude in the memory task was the only change in oculomotor parameters. Prior caffeine consumption demonstrated limited antagonism to task-related alcohol impairment, significantly improving performance only in reduced error rate while reading. Caffeine consumption showed stimulating effects on physiological parameters, significantly increasing heart rate and heart rate variability when compared to alcohol alone. The design of the tasks allows for comparison between complex and simple task performance, indicating resource utilisation and depletion. Complex tasks demonstrated higher resource utilisation, however with no statistical performance differences to simple tasks. Physiological parameters showed greater change in response to alcohol consumption, than did the performance measures. Alcohol consumption imposed significant changes in physiological and oculomotor parameters for cognitive tasks only, significantly increasing heart rate frequency and decreasing heart rate variability, skin temperature and saccade amplitude. Caffeine consumption showed no antagonism of alcohol-induced performance measures. Physiological measures showed that caffeine consumption imposed stimulating effects in only the neural reflex and memory tasks, significantly increasing heart rate frequency and heart rate variability. Prior caffeine consumption significantly decreased fixation duration in the memory task only. The time of day at which alcohol was consumed demonstrated significant performance and physiological implications. Results indicated that morning consumption of alcohol imposes greater decrements in performance and larger fluctuations in physiological parameters than the decrements in evening experimental sessions. It can be concluded that alcohol consumption at a dose of 0.4 g/kg affects all stages in the information processing chain. Task performance indicates that alcohol has a greater severity on the early stages of information processing. Conversely, under the influence of alcohol an increased task complexity induces greater effects on central stage information processing. In addition, caffeine consumption at a dose of 4 mg/kg prior to alcohol does not antagonise the alcohol-induced performance decrements.