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- Genre: Masters Thesis
Description
Ten regional climate models (RCMs) and atmosphere-ocean generalized model parings from the North America Regional Climate Change Assessment Program were used to estimate the shift of extreme precipitation due to climate change using present-day and future-day climate scenarios. RCMs emulate winter storms and one-day duration events at the sub-regional level. Annual maximum series were derived for each model pairing, each modeling period; and for annual and winter seasons. The reliability ensemble average (REA) method was used to qualify each RCM annual maximum series to reproduce historical records and approximate average predictions, because there are no future records. These series determined (a) shifts in extreme precipitation frequencies and magnitudes, and (b) shifts in parameters during modeling periods. The REA method demonstrated that the winter season had lower REA factors than the annual season. For the winter season the RCM pairing of the Hadley regional Model 3 and the Geophysical Fluid-Dynamics Laboratory atmospheric-land generalized model had the lowest REA factors. However, in replicating present-day climate, the pairing of the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics' Regional Climate Model Version 3 with the Geophysical Fluid-Dynamics Laboratory atmospheric-land generalized model was superior. Shifts of extreme precipitation in the 24-hour event were measured using precipitation magnitude for each frequency in the annual maximum series, and the difference frequency curve in the generalized extreme-value-function parameters. The average trend of all RCM pairings implied no significant shift in the winter annual maximum series, however the REA-selected models showed an increase in annual-season precipitation extremes: 0.37 inches for the 100-year return period and for the winter season suggested approximately 0.57 inches for the same return period. Shifts of extreme precipitation were estimated using predictions 70 years into the future based on RCMs. Although these models do not provide climate information for the intervening 70 year period, the models provide an assertion on the behavior of future climate. The shift in extreme precipitation may be significant in the frequency distribution function, and will vary depending on each model-pairing condition. The proposed methodology addresses the many uncertainties associated with the current methodologies dealing with extreme precipitation.
ContributorsRiaño, Alejandro (Author) / Mays, Larry W. (Thesis advisor) / Vivoni, Enrique (Committee member) / Huang, Huei-Ping (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Climate change has been one of the major issues of global economic and social concerns in the past decade. To quantitatively predict global climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations have organized a multi-national effort to use global atmosphere-ocean models to project anthropogenically induced climate changes in the 21st century. The computer simulations performed with those models and archived by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project - Phase 5 (CMIP5) form the most comprehensive quantitative basis for the prediction of global environmental changes on decadal-to-centennial time scales. While the CMIP5 archives have been widely used for policy making, the inherent biases in the models have not been systematically examined. The main objective of this study is to validate the CMIP5 simulations of the 20th century climate with observations to quantify the biases and uncertainties in state-of-the-art climate models. Specifically, this work focuses on three major features in the atmosphere: the jet streams over the North Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the low level jet (LLJ) stream over central North America which affects the weather in the United States, and the near-surface wind field over North America which is relevant to energy applications. The errors in the model simulations of those features are systematically quantified and the uncertainties in future predictions are assessed for stakeholders to use in climate applications. Additional atmospheric model simulations are performed to determine the sources of the errors in climate models. The results reject a popular idea that the errors in the sea surface temperature due to an inaccurate ocean circulation contributes to the errors in major atmospheric jet streams.
ContributorsKulkarni, Sujay (Author) / Huang, Huei-Ping (Thesis advisor) / Calhoun, Ronald (Committee member) / Peet, Yulia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Aluminum alloys and their composites are attractive materials for applications requiring high strength-to-weight ratios and reasonable cost. Many of these applications, such as those in the aerospace industry, undergo fatigue loading. An understanding of the microstructural damage that occurs in these materials is critical in assessing their fatigue resistance. Two distinct experimental studies were performed to further the understanding of fatigue damage mechanisms in aluminum alloys and their composites, specifically fracture and plasticity. Fatigue resistance of metal matrix composites (MMCs) depends on many aspects of composite microstructure. Fatigue crack growth behavior is particularly dependent on the reinforcement characteristics and matrix microstructure. The goal of this work was to obtain a fundamental understanding of fatigue crack growth behavior in SiC particle-reinforced 2080 Al alloy composites. In situ X-ray synchrotron tomography was performed on two samples at low (R=0.1) and at high (R=0.6) R-ratios. The resulting reconstructed images were used to obtain three-dimensional (3D) rendering of the particles and fatigue crack. Behaviors of the particles and crack, as well as their interaction, were analyzed and quantified. Four-dimensional (4D) visual representations were constructed to aid in the overall understanding of damage evolution. During fatigue crack growth in ductile materials, a plastic zone is created in the region surrounding the crack tip. Knowledge of the plastic zone is important for the understanding of fatigue crack formation as well as subsequent growth behavior. The goal of this work was to quantify the 3D size and shape of the plastic zone in 7075 Al alloys. X-ray synchrotron tomography and Laue microdiffraction were used to non-destructively characterize the volume surrounding a fatigue crack tip. The precise 3D crack profile was segmented from the reconstructed tomography data. Depth-resolved Laue patterns were obtained using differential-aperture X-ray structural microscopy (DAXM), from which peak-broadening characteristics were quantified. Plasticity, as determined by the broadening of diffracted peaks, was mapped in 3D. Two-dimensional (2D) maps of plasticity were directly compared to the corresponding tomography slices. A 3D representation of the plastic zone surrounding the fatigue crack was generated by superimposing the mapped plasticity on the 3D crack profile.
ContributorsHruby, Peter (Author) / Chawla, Nikhilesh (Thesis advisor) / Solanki, Kiran (Committee member) / Liu, Yongming (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
ABSTRACT Electronics especially mobile electronics such as smart phones, tablet PCs, notebooks and digital cameras are undergoing rapid development nowadays and have thoroughly changed our lives. With the requirement of more transistors, higher power, smaller size, lighter weight and even bendability, thermal management of these devices became one of the key challenges. Compared to active heat management system, heat pipe, which is a passive fluidic system, is considered promising to solve this problem. However, traditional heat pipes have size, weight and capillary limitation. Thus new type of heat pipe with smaller size, lighter weight and higher capillary pressure is needed. Nanofiber has been proved with superior properties and has been applied in multiple areas. This study discussed the possibility of applying nanofiber in heat pipe as new wick structure. In this study, a needleless electrospinning device with high productivity rate was built onsite to systematically investigate the effect of processing parameters on fiber properties as well as to generate nanofiber mat to evaluate its capability in electronics cooling. Polyethylene oxide (PEO) and Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) nanofibers were generated. Tensiometer was used for wettability measurement. The results show that independent parameters including spinneret type, working distance, solution concentration and polymer type are strongly correlated with fiber morphology compared to other parameters. The results also show that the fabricated nanofiber mat has high capillary pressure.
ContributorsSun, Tianwei (Author) / Jiang, Hanqing (Thesis advisor) / Yu, Hongyu (Committee member) / Chen, Kangping (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The increased emphasis on the detrimental effects of the production of construction materials such as ordinary portland cement (OPC) have driven studies of the alkali activation of aluminosilicate materials as binder systems derived from industrial byproducts. They have been extensively studied due to the advantages they offer in terms of enhanced material properties, while increasing sustainability by the reuse of industrial waste and reducing the adverse impacts of OPC production. Ground granulated blast furnace slag is one of the commonly used materials for their content of calcium and silica species. Alkaline activators such as silicates, aluminates etc. are generally used. These materials undergo dissolution, polymerization with the alkali, condensation on particle surfaces and solidification under the influence of alkaline activators. Exhaustive studies exploring the effects of sodium silicate as an activator however there is a significant lack of work on exploring the effect of the cation and the effect of liquid and powder activators. The focus of this thesis is hence segmented into two topics: (i) influence of liquid Na and K silicate activators to explore the effect of silicate and hydroxide addition and (ii) influence of powder Na and K Silicate activators to explore the effect of cation, concentration and silicates. Isothermal calorimetric studies have been performed to evaluate the early hydration process, and to understand the reaction kinetics of the liquid and powder alkali activated systems. The reaction kinetics had an impact on the early age behavior of these binders which can be explained by the compressive strength results. It was noticed that the concentration and silica modulus of the activator had a greater influence than the cation over the compressive strength. Quantification of the hydration products resultant from these systems was performed via thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). The difference in the reaction products formed with varying cation and silicate addition in these alkali activated systems is brought out. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to investigate the degree of polymerization achieved in these systems. This is indicative of silica and alumina bonds in the system. Differences in the behavior of the cation are attributable to size of the hydration sphere and polarizing effect of the cation which are summarized at the end of the study.
ContributorsDakhane, Akash (Author) / Neithalath, Narayanan (Thesis advisor) / Subramaniam, Dharmarajan (Committee member) / Mobashar, Barzin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
As robots are increasingly migrating out of factories and research laboratories and into our everyday lives, they should move and act in environments designed for humans. For this reason, the need of anthropomorphic movements is of utmost importance. The objective of this thesis is to solve the inverse kinematics problem of redundant robot arms that results to anthropomorphic configurations. The swivel angle of the elbow was used as a human arm motion parameter for the robot arm to mimic. The swivel angle is defined as the rotation angle of the plane defined by the upper and lower arm around a virtual axis that connects the shoulder and wrist joints. Using kinematic data recorded from human subjects during every-day life tasks, the linear sensorimotor transformation model was validated and used to estimate the swivel angle, given the desired end-effector position. Defining the desired swivel angle simplifies the kinematic redundancy of the robot arm. The proposed method was tested with an anthropomorphic redundant robot arm and the computed motion profiles were compared to the ones of the human subjects. This thesis shows that the method computes anthropomorphic configurations for the robot arm, even if the robot arm has different link lengths than the human arm and starts its motion at random configurations.
ContributorsWang, Yuting (Author) / Artemiadis, Panagiotis (Thesis advisor) / Mignolet, Marc (Committee member) / Santos, Veronica J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The objective of this research is to develop methods for generating the Tolerance-Map for a line-profile that is specified by a designer to control the geometric profile shape of a surface. After development, the aim is to find one that can be easily implemented in computer software using existing libraries. Two methods were explored: the parametric modeling method and the decomposed modeling method. The Tolerance-Map (T-Map) is a hypothetical point-space, each point of which represents one geometric variation of a feature in its tolerance-zone. T-Maps have been produced for most of the tolerance classes that are used by designers, but, prior to the work of this project, the method of construction required considerable intuitive input, rather than being based primarily on automated computer tools. Tolerances on line-profiles are used to control cross-sectional shapes of parts, such as every cross-section of a mildly twisted compressor blade. Such tolerances constrain geometric manufacturing variations within a specified two-dimensional tolerance-zone. A single profile tolerance may be used to control position, orientation, and form of the cross-section. Four independent variables capture all of the profile deviations: two independent translations in the plane of the profile, one rotation in that plane, and the size-increment necessary to identify one of the allowable parallel profiles. For the selected method of generation, the line profile is decomposed into three types of segments, a primitive T-Map is produced for each segment, and finally the T-Maps from all the segments are combined to obtain the T-Map for the given profile. The types of segments are the (straight) line-segment, circular arc-segment, and the freeform-curve segment. The primitive T-Maps are generated analytically, and, for freeform-curves, they are built approximately with the aid of the computer. A deformation matrix is used to transform the primitive T-Maps to a single coordinate system for the whole profile. The T-Map for the whole line profile is generated by the Boolean intersection of the primitive T-Maps for the individual profile segments. This computer-implemented method can generate T-Maps for open profiles, closed ones, and those containing concave shapes.
ContributorsHe, Yifei (Author) / Davidson, Joseph (Thesis advisor) / Shah, Jami (Committee member) / Herrmann, Marcus (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
As more and more stadia structures nowadays are being built by making use of new high strength building materials which tend to be lighter than the "old" ones, composite systems and also the fact that engineers, contractors and clients want their structures as optimized as possible, in terms of minimal materials used, there is an inevitable side effect that comes with this. The result is that structures are more flexible, and thus they become susceptible to undergone vibration problems due to the action of dynamic loading. Pop/rock concerts, exhibitions, boxing matches, and so forth are staged to supplement the football/sport seasons. Consequently, stadia structures must resist not only static loading, but also dynamic loading, such as the human induced loads from various activities of the spectators which include, standing, jumping, stamping, clapping and dancing, particularly in response to touchdowns (in football matches) or musical beats (during concerts). Active and passive models of humans are studied to see how they influence the response in TCF Bank Stadium for different ranges in excitation frequencies, by performing dynamic analyses and comparing the results with the ones obtained from static analysis. Parameter estimation and system identification in mechanical sciences and structural engineering have become increasingly important areas of research in the last three decades. Many nondestructive testing methods are based on the concepts of system identification and parameter estimation. In this document, two parameter estimation algorithms are studied, namely the Equation Error Estimator and the Output Error Estimator, through the simulation of modal data obtained from a computer structural analysis program and comparisons of their results are presented so that future researchers are better informed about the two and therefore can decide which one would give the best results for their application.
ContributorsAldaco Lopez, Manuel (Author) / Hjelmstad, Keith D. (Thesis advisor) / Rajan, Subramaniam D. (Committee member) / Fafitis, Apostolos (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
ABSTRACT Enzyme-Induced Carbonate Precipitation (EICP) using a plant-derived form of the urease enzyme to induce the precipitation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) shows promise as a method of stabilizing soil for the mitigation of fugitive dust. Fugitive dust is a significant problem in Arizona, particularly in Maricopa County. Maricopa County is an EPA air quality non-attainment zone, due primarily to fugitive dust, which presents a significant health risk to local residents. Conventional methods for fugitive dust control, including the application of water, are either ineffective in arid climates, very expensive, or limited to short term stabilization. Due to these limitations, engineers are searching for new and more effective ways to stabilize the soil and reduce wind erosion. EICP employs urea hydrolysis, a process in which carbonate precipitation is catalyzed by the urease enzyme, a widely occurring protein found in many plants and microorganisms. Wind tunnel experiments were conducted in the ASU/NASA Planetary Wind Tunnel to evaluate the use of EICP as a means to stabilize soil against fugitive dust emission. Three different soils were tested, including a native Arizona silty-sand, a uniform fine to medium grained silica sand, and mine tailings from a mine in southern Arizona. The test soil was loosely placed in specimen container and the surface was sprayed with an aqueous solution containing urea, calcium chloride, and urease enzyme. After a short period of time to allow for CaCO3 precipitation, the specimens were tested in the wind tunnel. The completed tests show that EICP can increase the detachment velocity compared to bare or wetted soil and thus holds promise as a means of mitigating fugitive dust emissions.
ContributorsKnorr, Brian (Author) / Kavazanjian, Edward (Thesis advisor) / Houston, Sandra (Committee member) / Zapata, Claudia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The presented work in this report is about Real time Estimation of wind and analyzing current wind correction algorithm in commercial off the shelf Autopilot board. The open source ArduPilot Mega 2.5 (APM 2.5) board manufactured by 3D Robotics is used. Currently there is lot of development being done in the field of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAVs), various aerial platforms and corresponding; autonomous systems for them. This technology has advanced to such a stage that UAVs can be used for specific designed missions and deployed with reliability. But in some areas like missions requiring high maneuverability with greater efficiency is still under research area. This would help in increasing reliability and augmenting range of UAVs significantly. One of the problems addressed through this thesis work is, current autopilot systems have algorithm that handles wind by attitude correction with appropriate Crab angle. But the real time wind vector (direction) and its calculated velocity is based on geometrical and algebraic transformation between ground speed and air speed vectors. This method of wind estimation and prediction, many a times leads to inaccuracy in attitude correction. The same has been proved in the following report with simulation and actual field testing. In later part, new ways to tackle while flying windy conditions have been proposed.
ContributorsBiradar, Anandrao Shesherao (Author) / Saripalli, Srikanth (Thesis advisor) / Berman, Spring (Thesis advisor) / Thanga, Jekan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014