Matching Items (3)
Description
This thesis evaluates the viability of an original design for a cost-effective wheel-mounted dynamometer for road vehicles. The goal is to show whether or not a device that generates torque and horsepower curves by processing accelerometer data collected at the edge of a wheel can yield results that are comparable to results obtained using a conventional chassis dynamometer. Torque curves were generated via the experimental method under a variety of circumstances and also obtained professionally by a precision engine testing company. Metrics were created to measure the precision of the experimental device's ability to consistently generate torque curves and also to compare the similarity of these curves to the professionally obtained torque curves. The results revealed that although the test device does not quite provide the same level of precision as the professional chassis dynamometer, it does create torque curves that closely resemble the chassis dynamometer torque curves and exhibit a consistency between trials comparable to the professional results, even on rough road surfaces. The results suggest that the test device provides enough accuracy and precision to satisfy the needs of most consumers interested in measuring their vehicle's engine performance but probably lacks the level of accuracy and precision needed to appeal to professionals.
ContributorsKing, Michael (Author) / Ren, Yi (Thesis director) / Spanias, Andreas (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the events surrounding the creation of the oboe and its rapid spread throughout Europe during the mid to late seventeenth century. The first section describes similar instruments that existed for thousands of years before the invention of the oboe. The following sections examine reasons and methods for the oboe's invention, as well as possible causes of its migration from its starting place in France to other European countries, as well as many other places around the world. I conclude that the oboe was invented to suit the needs of composers in the court of Louis XIV, and that it was brought to other countries by French performers who left France for many reasons, including to escape from the authority of composer Jean-Baptiste Lully and in some cases to promote French culture in other countries.
ContributorsCook, Mary Katherine (Author) / Schuring, Martin (Thesis director) / Micklich, Albie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / School of Music (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
A model has been developed to modify Euler-Bernoulli beam theory for wooden beams, using visible properties of wood knot-defects. Treating knots in a beam as a system of two ellipses that change the local bending stiffness has been shown to improve the fit of a theoretical beam displacement function to edge-line deflection data extracted from digital imagery of experimentally loaded beams. In addition, an Ellipse Logistic Model (ELM) has been proposed, using L1-regularized logistic regression, to predict the impact of a knot on the displacement of a beam. By classifying a knot as severely positive or negative, vs. mildly positive or negative, ELM can classify knots that lead to large changes to beam deflection, while not over-emphasizing knots that may not be a problem. Using ELM with a regression-fit Young's Modulus on three-point bending of Douglass Fir, it is possible estimate the effects a knot will have on the shape of the resulting displacement curve.
ContributorsSexton, Thurston Bryant (Author) / Takahashi, Timothy (Thesis director) / Jones, Donald (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2015-05