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Wearable sensors have garnered considerable interest because of their potential for various applications. However, much less has been studied about the Stretchsense pressure sensor characteristics and its workability for industrial application to prevent potential risk situations such as accidents and injuries. The proposed study helps investigate Stretchsense pressure sensors' applicability for measuring hand-handle interface forces under static and dynamic conditions. The BendLabs sensors - a multi-axis, soft, flexible sensing system was attached to the wrist to evaluate the wrist angle deviations. In addition, the StretchSense stretch sensors were attached to the elbow joint to help estimate the elbow flexion/extension. The research tests and evaluates the real-time pressure distribution across the hand while performing given tasks and investigates the relationship between the wrist and elbow position and grip strength. The research provides objective means to assess the magnitudes of high pressures that may cause pressure-induced discomfort and pain, thereby increasing the hand's stress. The experiment's most significant benefit lies in its applicability to the actual tool handles outside the laboratory settings.

no / Composite beams formed by connecting the concrete slabs to the supporting steel beams have been in use for many years. Much of the research into this form of construction has concentrated on the more traditional reinforced concrete and metal deck construction. In composite beam design, the strength of the shear connector is of great importance since longitudinal shear forces must be transferred across the steel-concrete interface by the mechanical action of shear connectors. The shear strength and stiffness of the connection is not only dependent on the strength of the connector itself, but also on the resistance of the concrete slab to longitudinal cracking caused by the high concentration of shear force at each connector. Present knowledge of this behaviour is limited to shear connectors in solid reinforced concrete slabs and concrete slabs with profiled sheeting, little information is given for the shear connector capacity on composite steel beam with precast hollow core slabs. A new horizontal push off test is proposed to determine the shear capacity of the connector on the composite beams with precast concrete hollow cored floor slabs. The results showed the new test is compatible with all type of floor and shear connectors, and can replace the existing vertical push off tests.

In this thesis we analyze the buckling behavior of an infinitely long, thin, uniform, inextensible, elastic plate that has a steady current flowing along its length. We are concerned with the derivation of the nonlinear equations of motion using nonlinear continuum mechanics, and subsequent analysis of the buckling behavior of the plate under electromagnetic self-forces. In particular, we concentrate on how the body-forces that result from the applied current determine the buckled configurations. We derive both analytical and numerical results, and in the process develop a novel boundary value problem solver for integro-differential equations in addition to a predictor-corrector algorithm to continue solutions with respect to the control parameters. We take a relatively complex problem in magneto-solid mechanics and elasticity theory and form a realistic model that sheds light on the bifurcation and buckling behavior resulting from the electromagnetic-field- induced self-forces that are derived in their full, exact form using Biot-Savart Law. / Ph. D.

A mathematical model for the determination of the aerodynamic forces acting on an aircraft is presented. The mathematical model is based on the generalization of the idea of aerodynamically steady motions. One important use of these results is the determination of steady (time-invariant) aerodynamic forces and moments. Such aerodynamic forces can be determined using computer simulation by determining numerically the associated steady flows around the aircraft when it is moving along such generalized steady trajectories. The method required the extension of standard (inertial) CFD formulations to general non-inertial reference frames. Generalized Navier-Stokes and Euler equations have been derived. The formulation is valid for all ranges of Mach numbers including transonic flow. The method was implemented numerically for the planar case using the generalized Euler equations. The developed computer codes can be used to obtain numerical flow solutions for airfoils moving in general steady motions (i.e. circular motions). From these numerical solutions it is possible to determine the variation of the lift, drag and pitching moment with respect to the pitch rate at different Mach numbers and angles of attack. One of the advantages of the mathematical model developed here is that the aerodynamic forces become well-defined functions of the motion variables (including angular rates). In particular, the stability derivatives are associated with partial derivatives of these functions. These stability derivatives can be computed using finite differences or the sensitivity equation method. / Ph. D.

Within a colloidal dispersion, the presence of negatively adsorbing material can produce a variety of effects on the dispersion properties and interactions. With increasing concentration, the negatively adsorbing material induces both depletion and structural forces on the dispersion, which can dramatically affect both colloidal stability and near-contact hydrodynamics. This project focused on expanding our understanding of the effects of such negatively adsorbing materials on both equilibrium and dynamic interactions between particles. The effects of charged, hard spheres (silica nanoparticle) on the hydrodynamic drag force a particle experiences as it approaches a flat plate were measured experimentally using colloid probe atomic force microscopy (CP-AFM). Deviation was found between the measured drag force and predictions for the drag force in a simple, Newtonian fluid. The measured drag force was always smaller than the predicted drag force as the particle approached contact with the plate. An effective viscosity, that approached the dispersing fluid viscosity at contact and the bulk viscosity at large separations, was determined for the system. This effective viscosity displayed similar characteristics to those predicted theoretically by Bhattacharya and Blawzdziewicz (J. Chem. Phys. 2008, 128, 214704.). The effects of both anionic and cationic micelles on the depletion and structural forces in a colloidal dispersion were studied both experimentally (with CP-AFM) and theoretically. The depletion and structural forces between a microparticle and a flat plate were measured and compared with the depletion force predicted by the force-balance model of Walz and Sharma (J. Colloid Interface Sci. 1994, 168, 485-496.). Consistent with previous work, the measured depletion force for both micelles was smaller in magnitude than that predicted by the Walz and Sharma model for hard, charged spheres. It is theorized that rearrangement of the micelle surfaces charges or physical deformation of the micelles may be responsible for the observed result. An effective surface potential for the micelles is proposed as a correction to the Walz and Sharma model. Finally, the stability of colloidal dispersions was studied macroscopically in solutions of ionic micelles. The colloidal dispersions displayed clear flocculation behavior in both cationic and anionic micelles. This flocculation behavior was compared with energy profiles determined from CP-AFM experiments between a single particle and a flat plate. A simple phase diagram was proposed for predicting the stability of colloidal dispersions based solely on the depth of the depletion energy well and the height of the repulsive energy barrier. / Ph. D.