ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
Displaying 21 - 30 of 31
Description
This study introduces a new outdoor accelerated testing method called “Field Accelerated Stress Testing (FAST)” for photovoltaic (PV) modules performed at two
different climatic sites in Arizona (hot-dry) and Florida (hot-humid). FAST is a combined
accelerated test methodology that simultaneously accounts for all the field-specific stresses
and accelerates only key stresses, such as temperature, to forecast the failure modes by 2-
7 times in advance depending on the activation energy of the degradation mechanism (i.e.,
10th year reliability issues can potentially be predicted in the 2nd year itself for an
acceleration factor of 5). In this outdoor combined accelerated stress study, the
temperatures of test modules were increased (by 16-19℃ compared to control modules)
using thermal insulations on the back of the modules. All other conditions (ambient
temperature, humidity, natural sunlight, wind speed, wind direction, and tilt angle) were
left constant for both test modules (with back thermal insulation) and control modules
(without thermal insulation). In this study, a total of sixteen 4-cell modules with two different construction types (glass/glass [GG] and glass/backsheet [GB]) and two different encapsulant types (ethylene
vinyl acetate [EVA] and polyolefin elastomer [POE]), were investigated at both sites with
eight modules at each site (four insulated and four non-insulated modules at each site). All
the modules were extensively characterized before installation in the field and after field
exposure over two years. The methods used for characterizing the devices included I-V
(current-voltage curves), EL (electroluminescence), UVF (ultraviolet fluorescence), and
reflectance. The key findings of this study are: i) the GG modules tend to operate at a higher temperature (1-3℃) than the GB modules at both sites of Arizona and Florida (a lower
lifetime is expected for GG modules compared to GB modules); ii) the GG modules tend
to experience a higher level of encapsulant discoloration and grid finger degradation than
the GB modules at both sites (a higher level of the degradation rate is expected in GG
modules compared to GB modules); and, iii) the EVA-based modules tend to have a higher
level of discoloration and finger degradation compared to the POE-based modules at both
sites.
ContributorsThayumanavan, Rishi Gokul (Author) / Tamizhmani, Govindasamy (Thesis advisor) / Phelan, Patrick (Thesis advisor) / Calhoun, Ronald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
This study uses the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to simulate and predict the changes in local climate attributed to the urbanization for five desert cities. The simulations are performed in the fashion of climate downscaling, constrained by the surface boundary conditions generated from high resolution land-use maps. For each city, the land-use maps of 1985 and 2010 from Landsat satellite observation, and a projected land-use map for 2030, are used to represent the past, present, and future. An additional set of simulations for Las Vegas, the largest of the five cities, uses the NLCD 1992 and 2006 land-use maps and an idealized historical land-use map with no urban coverage for 1900.
The study finds that urbanization in Las Vegas produces a classic urban heat island (UHI) at night but a minor cooling during the day. A further analysis of the surface energy balance shows that the decrease in surface Albedo and increase effective emissivity play an important role in shaping the local climate change over urban areas. The emerging urban structures slow down the diurnal wind circulation over the city due to an increased effective surface roughness. This leads to a secondary modification of temperature due to the interaction between the mechanical and thermodynamic effects of urbanization.
The simulations for the five desert cities for 1985 and 2010 further confirm a common pattern of the climatic effect of urbanization with significant nighttime warming and moderate daytime cooling. This effect is confined to the urban area and is not sensitive to the size of the city or the detail of land cover in the surrounding areas. The pattern of nighttime warming and daytime cooling remains robust in the simulations for the future climate of the five cities using the projected 2030 land-use maps. Inter-city differences among the five urban areas are discussed.
The study finds that urbanization in Las Vegas produces a classic urban heat island (UHI) at night but a minor cooling during the day. A further analysis of the surface energy balance shows that the decrease in surface Albedo and increase effective emissivity play an important role in shaping the local climate change over urban areas. The emerging urban structures slow down the diurnal wind circulation over the city due to an increased effective surface roughness. This leads to a secondary modification of temperature due to the interaction between the mechanical and thermodynamic effects of urbanization.
The simulations for the five desert cities for 1985 and 2010 further confirm a common pattern of the climatic effect of urbanization with significant nighttime warming and moderate daytime cooling. This effect is confined to the urban area and is not sensitive to the size of the city or the detail of land cover in the surrounding areas. The pattern of nighttime warming and daytime cooling remains robust in the simulations for the future climate of the five cities using the projected 2030 land-use maps. Inter-city differences among the five urban areas are discussed.
ContributorsKamal, Samy (Author) / Huang, Huei-Ping (Thesis advisor) / Anderson, James (Thesis advisor) / Herrmann, Marcus (Committee member) / Calhoun, Ronald (Committee member) / Myint, Soe (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This dissertation studies two outstanding microscale fluid mechanics problems: 1) mechanisms of gas production from the nanopores of shale; 2) enhanced mass flow rate in steady compressible gas flow through a micro-conduit.
The dissertation starts with a study of a volumetric expansion driven drainage flow of a viscous compressible fluid from a small capillary and channel in the low Mach number limit. An analysis based on the linearized compressible Navier-Stokes equations with no-slip condition shows that fluid drainage is controlled by the slow decay of the acoustic wave inside the capillary and the no-slip flow exhibits a slip-like mass flow rate. Numerical simulations are also carried out for drainage from a small capillary to a reservoir or a contraction of finite size. By allowing the density wave to escape the capillary, two wave leakage mechanisms are identified, which are dependent on the capillary length to radius ratio, reservoir size and acoustic Reynolds number. Empirical functions are generated for an effective diffusive coefficient which allows simple calculations of the drainage rate using a diffusion model without the presence of the reservoir or contraction.
In the second part of the dissertation, steady viscous compressible flow through a micro-conduit is studied using compressible Navier-Stokes equations with no-slip condition. The mathematical theory of Klainerman and Majda for low Mach number flow is employed to derive asymptotic equations in the limit of small Mach number. The overall flow, a combination of the Hagen-Poiseuille flow and a diffusive velocity shows a slip-like mass flow rate even through the overall velocity satisfies the no-slip condition. The result indicates that the classical formulation includes self-diffusion effect and it embeds the Extended Navier-Stokes equation theory (ENSE) without the need of introducing additional constitutive hypothesis or assuming slip on the boundary. Contrary to most ENSE publications, the predicted mass flow rate is still significantly below the measured data based on an extensive comparison with thirty-five experiments.
The dissertation starts with a study of a volumetric expansion driven drainage flow of a viscous compressible fluid from a small capillary and channel in the low Mach number limit. An analysis based on the linearized compressible Navier-Stokes equations with no-slip condition shows that fluid drainage is controlled by the slow decay of the acoustic wave inside the capillary and the no-slip flow exhibits a slip-like mass flow rate. Numerical simulations are also carried out for drainage from a small capillary to a reservoir or a contraction of finite size. By allowing the density wave to escape the capillary, two wave leakage mechanisms are identified, which are dependent on the capillary length to radius ratio, reservoir size and acoustic Reynolds number. Empirical functions are generated for an effective diffusive coefficient which allows simple calculations of the drainage rate using a diffusion model without the presence of the reservoir or contraction.
In the second part of the dissertation, steady viscous compressible flow through a micro-conduit is studied using compressible Navier-Stokes equations with no-slip condition. The mathematical theory of Klainerman and Majda for low Mach number flow is employed to derive asymptotic equations in the limit of small Mach number. The overall flow, a combination of the Hagen-Poiseuille flow and a diffusive velocity shows a slip-like mass flow rate even through the overall velocity satisfies the no-slip condition. The result indicates that the classical formulation includes self-diffusion effect and it embeds the Extended Navier-Stokes equation theory (ENSE) without the need of introducing additional constitutive hypothesis or assuming slip on the boundary. Contrary to most ENSE publications, the predicted mass flow rate is still significantly below the measured data based on an extensive comparison with thirty-five experiments.
ContributorsShen, Di (Author) / Chen, Kangping (Thesis advisor) / Herrmann, Marcus (Committee member) / Huang, Huei-Ping (Committee member) / Calhoun, Ronald (Committee member) / Lopez, Juan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
The increasing availability of experimental data and computational power have resulted in increasingly detailed and sophisticated models of brain structures. Biophysically realistic models allow detailed investigations of the mechanisms that operate within those structures. In this work, published mouse experimental data were synthesized to develop an extensible, open-source platform for modeling the mouse main olfactory bulb and other brain regions. A “virtual slice” model of a main olfactory bulb glomerular column that includes detailed models of tufted, mitral, and granule cells was created to investigate the underlying mechanisms of a gamma frequency oscillation pattern (“gamma fingerprint”) often observed in rodent bulbar local field potential recordings. The gamma fingerprint was reproduced by the model and a mechanistic hypothesis to explain aspects of the fingerprint was developed. A series of computational experiments tested the hypothesis. The results demonstrate the importance of interactions between electrical synapses, principal cell synaptic input strength differences, and granule cell inhibition in the formation of the gamma fingerprint. The model, data, results, and reproduction materials are accessible at https://github.com/justasb/olfactorybulb. The discussion includes a detailed description of mechanisms underlying the gamma fingerprint and how the model predictions can be tested experimentally. In summary, the modeling platform can be extended to include other types of cells, mechanisms and brain regions and can be used to investigate a wide range of experimentally testable hypotheses.
ContributorsBirgiolas, Justas (Author) / Crook, Sharon M (Thesis advisor) / Gerkin, Richard C (Committee member) / Smith, Brian H. (Committee member) / Neisewander, Janet (Committee member) / Calhoun, Ronald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
An airborne, tethered, multi-rotor wind turbine, effectively a rotorcraft kite, provides one platform for accessing the energy in high altitude winds. The craft is maintained at altitude by its rotors operating in autorotation, and its equilibrium attitude and dynamic performance are affected by the aerodynamic rotor forces, which in turn are affected by the orientation and motion of the craft. The aerodynamic performance of such rotors can vary significantly depending on orientation, influencing the efficiency of the system. This thesis analyzes the aerodynamic performance of an autorotating rotor through a range of angles of attack covering those experienced by a typical autogyro through that of a horizontal-axis wind turbine. To study the behavior of such rotors, an analytical model using the blade element theory coupled with momentum theory was developed. The model uses a rigid-rotor assumption and is nominally limited to cases of small induced inflow angle and constant induced velocity. The model allows for linear twist. In order to validate the model, several rotors -- off-the-shelf model-aircraft propellers -- were tested in a low speed wind tunnel. Custom built mounts allowed rotor angles of attack from 0 to 90 degrees in the test section, providing data for lift, drag, thrust, horizontal force, and angular velocity. Experimental results showed increasing thrust and angular velocity with rising pitch angles, whereas the in-plane horizontal force peaked and dropped after a certain value. The analytical results revealed a disagreement with the experimental trends, especially at high pitch angles. The discrepancy was attributed to the rotor operating in turbulent wake and vortex ring states at high pitch angles, where momentum theory has proven to be invalid. Also, aerodynamic design constants, which are not precisely known for the test propellers, have an underlying effect on the analytical model. The developments of the thesis suggest that a different analytical model may be needed for high rotor angles of attack. However, adding a term for resisting torque to the model gives analytical results that are similar to the experimental values.
ContributorsHota, Piyush (Author) / Wells, Valana L. (Thesis advisor) / Calhoun, Ronald (Committee member) / Garrett, Frederick (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Autonomic closure is a recently-proposed subgrid closure methodology for large eddy simulation (LES) that replaces the prescribed subgrid models used in traditional LES closure with highly generalized representations of subgrid terms and solution of a local system identification problem that allows the simulation itself to determine the local relation between each subgrid term and the resolved variables at every point and time. The present study demonstrates, for the first time, practical LES based on fully dynamic implementation of autonomic closure for the subgrid stress and the subgrid scalar flux. It leverages the inherent computational efficiency of tensorally-correct generalized representations in terms of parametric quantities, and uses the fundamental representation theory of Smith (1971) to develop complete and minimal tensorally-correct representations for the subgrid stress and scalar flux. It then assesses the accuracy of these representations via a priori tests, and compares with the corresponding accuracy from nonparametric representations and from traditional prescribed subgrid models. It then assesses the computational stability of autonomic closure with these tensorally-correct parametric representations, via forward simulations with a high-order pseudo-spectral code, including the extent to which any added stabilization is needed to ensure computational stability, and compares with the added stabilization needed in traditional closure with prescribed subgrid models. Further, it conducts a posteriori tests based on forward simulations of turbulent conserved scalar mixing with the same pseudo-spectral code, in which velocity and scalar statistics from autonomic closure with these representations are compared with corresponding statistics from traditional closure using prescribed models, and with corresponding statistics of filtered fields from direct numerical simulation (DNS). These comparisons show substantially greater accuracy from autonomic closure than from traditional closure. This study demonstrates that fully dynamic autonomic closure is a practical approach for LES that requires accuracy even at the smallest resolved scales.
ContributorsStallcup, Eric Warren (Author) / Dahm, Werner J.A. (Thesis advisor) / Herrmann, Marcus (Committee member) / Calhoun, Ronald (Committee member) / Kim, Jeonglae (Committee member) / Kostelich, Eric J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Drainage flow of a viscous compressible gas from a semi-sealed narrow conduit is a pore-scale model for studying the fundamental flow physics of fluid recovery from a porous reservoir without using fluid injection. Thermal effect has been routinely neglected for these flows in the traditional petroleum engineering literature. Since the motion is entirely driven by volumetric expansion, temperature change always accompanies the density change. This thesis examines such thermal effects on the drainage flow.
Thermal drainage flow is first studied by simultaneously solving the linearized continuity, momentum and energy equations for adiabatic walls. It is shown that even in the absence of an imposed temperature drop, gas expansion induces a transient temperature decrease inside the channel, which slows down the drainage process compared to the isothermal model and Lighthill’s model. For a given density drop, gas drains out faster as the initial-to-final temperature ratio increases; and the transient density can undershoot the final equilibrium value. A parametric study is then carried out to explore the influence of various thermal boundary conditions on drainage flow. It is found that as the wall transitions from adiabatic to isothermal condition, the excess density changes from a plane wave solution to a non-plane wave solution and the drainage rate increases. It is shown that when the exit is also cooled and the wall is non-adiabatic, the total recovered fluid mass exceeds the amount based on the isothermal theory which is determined by the initial and final density difference alone. Finally, a full numerical simulation is conducted to mimic the channel-reservoir system using the finite volume method. The Ghost-Cell Navier-Stokes Characteristic Boundary Condition technique is applied at the far end of the truncated reservoir, which is an open boundary. The results confirm the conclusions of the linear theory.
Thermal drainage flow is first studied by simultaneously solving the linearized continuity, momentum and energy equations for adiabatic walls. It is shown that even in the absence of an imposed temperature drop, gas expansion induces a transient temperature decrease inside the channel, which slows down the drainage process compared to the isothermal model and Lighthill’s model. For a given density drop, gas drains out faster as the initial-to-final temperature ratio increases; and the transient density can undershoot the final equilibrium value. A parametric study is then carried out to explore the influence of various thermal boundary conditions on drainage flow. It is found that as the wall transitions from adiabatic to isothermal condition, the excess density changes from a plane wave solution to a non-plane wave solution and the drainage rate increases. It is shown that when the exit is also cooled and the wall is non-adiabatic, the total recovered fluid mass exceeds the amount based on the isothermal theory which is determined by the initial and final density difference alone. Finally, a full numerical simulation is conducted to mimic the channel-reservoir system using the finite volume method. The Ghost-Cell Navier-Stokes Characteristic Boundary Condition technique is applied at the far end of the truncated reservoir, which is an open boundary. The results confirm the conclusions of the linear theory.
ContributorsHuang, Wei (Author) / Chen, Kangping (Thesis advisor) / Huang, Huei-Ping (Committee member) / Herrmann, Marcus (Committee member) / Calhoun, Ronald (Committee member) / Baer, Steven (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Desorption processes are an important part of all processes which involve utilization of solid adsorbents such as adsorption cooling, sorption thermal energy storage, and drying and dehumidification processes and are inherently energy-intensive. Here, how those energy requirements can be reduced through the application of ultrasound for three widely used adsorbents namely zeolite 13X, activated alumina and silica gel is investigated. To determine and justify the effectiveness of incorporating ultrasound from an energy-savings point of view, an approach of constant overall input power of 20 and 25 W was adopted. To measure the extent of the effectiveness of using ultrasound, the ultrasonic-power-to-total power ratios of 0.2, 0.25, 0.4 and 0.5 were investigated and the results compared with those of no-ultrasound (heat only) at the same total power. Duplicate experiments were performed at three nominal frequencies of 28, 40 and 80 kHz to observe the influence of frequency on regeneration dynamics. Regarding moisture removal, application of ultrasound results in higher desorption rate compared to a non-ultrasound process. A nonlinear inverse proportionality was observed between the effectiveness of ultrasound and the frequency at which it is applied. Based on the variation of desorption dynamics with ultrasonic power and frequency, three mechanisms of reduced adsorbate adsorption potential, increased adsorbate surface energy and enhanced mass diffusion are proposed. Two analytical models that describe the desorption process were developed based on the experimental data from which novel efficiency metrics were proposed, which can be employed to justify incorporating ultrasound in regeneration and drying processes.
ContributorsDaghooghi Mobarakeh, Hooman (Author) / Phelan, Patrick (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Liping (Committee member) / Wang, Robert (Committee member) / Calhoun, Ronald (Committee member) / Deng, Shuguang (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
The phase change process of freezing water is an important application in several fields such as ice making, food freezing technologies, pharmaceuticals etc. Due to the widespread usage of ice-related products, process improvements in this technology can potentially lead to substantial energy savings. After studying the freezing process of water, the supercooling phenomenon was found to occur which showed a negative effect. Therefore, ultrasound was proposed as a technique to reduce the supercooling effect and improve the heat transfer rate. An experimental study was conducted to analyze the energy expenditures in the freezing process with and without the application of ultrasound. After a set of preliminary experiments, an intermittent application of ultrasound at 10W & 3.5W power levels were found to be more effective than constant-power application, and were explored in further detail. The supercooling phenomenon was thoroughly studied through iterative experiments. It was also found that the application of ultrasound during the freezing process led to the formation of shard-like ice crystals. From the intermittent ultrasound experiments performed at 10W and 3.5W power levels, percentage energy enhancements relative to no ultrasound of 8.9% ± 12.4% and 11.9% ± 24.6% were observed, respectively.
ContributorsSubramanian, Varun (Author) / Phelan, Patrick (Thesis advisor) / Calhoun, Ronald (Committee member) / Rykaczewski, Konrad (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Large amplitude westward propagating long waves in midlatitudes of Northern Hemisphere occasionally sustain coherent phase propagation over multiple weeks. Owing to the large amplitude and the life cycle of these waves previous studies have speculated their influence on extended-range weather forecasts but have not quantified them. The primary aim of this study is to establish an updated long-term catalog of Retrograde events which can then be used to investigate the statistics and structure of these waves. Guided by the newly created catalog the dynamics of these waves are further explored. A preliminary look into the dynamics of these waves reveal a sequence of poleward extrusion, westward migration and vortex shedding occurring frequently during certain strong Retrograde wave events. A strong connection between the westward moving low PV structures and the East Asian cold air outbreak is uncovered. Also, the initiation of the sequence of low PV extrusion and vortex shedding is found to be linked with the phase of propagating Wave-1 zonal component. Enhanced predictability of global midlatitude Geopotential Height at 500mb is noted during active period of strong Retrograde wave activity in comparison to inactive period. Skilled forecasts were produced almost (on an average) 12 days in advance during the active period of one of the winters (1995/96) as compared to 9 days during the inactive period of the season.
ContributorsRaghunathan, Girish Nigamanth (Author) / Huang, Huei-Ping (Thesis advisor) / Chen, Kangping (Committee member) / Calhoun, Ronald (Committee member) / Herrmann, Marcus (Committee member) / Kostelich, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021