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open access

Conceptual Framework for the Development of an Air Quality Monitoring Station in Denton, Texas

Description: Denton, Texas consistently reaches ozone nonattainment levels. This has led to a large focus of air pollution monitoring efforts in the region, with long-range transport being explored as a key contributor. For this study, the University of North Texas Discovery Park campus was chosen as a prospective location for an extensive air quality monitoring station. Sixteen years of ozone and meteorological data for five state-run monitoring sites within a 25 mile radius, including the nearest Denton A… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Boling, Robyn
open access

Cyclic Polarization of AA 3102 in Corrosive Electrolytes Containing Sodium Chloride and Ammonium Sulfate

Description: Corrosion of all aluminum microchannel heat exchangers present a challenge in automotive and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) industries. Reproducibility of Salt Water Acetic Acid Test (SWAAT) has been questioned and a need to new corrosion tests with better reproducibility has risen. Cyclic polarization, that is an electrochemical test, was explored for its suitability for the assessment of AA 3102 tube material that is currently a popular aluminum alloy used in manufacturing… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Dorreyatim, Mohammad
open access

Deleterious Synergistic Effects of Concurrent Magnetic Field and Superparamagnetic (Fe3O4) Nanoparticle Exposures on CHO-K1 Cell Line

Description: While many investigations have been performed to establish a better understanding of the effects that magnetic fields and nanoparticles have on cells, the fundamental mechanisms behind the interactions are still yet unknown, and investigations on concurrent exposure are quite limited in scope. This study was therefore established to investigate the biological impact of concurrent exposure to magnetic nanoparticles and extremely-low frequency magnetic fields using an in-vitro CHO-K1 cell line mo… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Coker, Zachary
open access

Denim Fiberboard Fabricated from MUF and pMDI Hybrid Resin System

Description: In this study, a series of denim fiberboards are fabricated using two different resins, malamine urea formaldehyde (MUF) and polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (pMDI). Two experimental design factors (1) adhesive content and (2) MUF-pMDI weight ratio, were studied. All the denim fiberboard samples were fabricated following the same resin blending, cold-press and hot-press procedures. The physical and mechanical tests were conducted on the fiberboard following the procedures described in … more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Cui, Zhiying
open access

Design of a Lower Extremity Exoskeleton to Increase Knee ROM during Valgus Bracing for Osteoarthritic Gait

Description: Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is the primary cause of chronic immobility in populations over the age of 65. It is a joint degenerative disease in which the articular cartilage in the knee joint wears down over time, leading to symptoms of pain, instability, joint stiffness, and misalignment of the lower extremities. Without intervention, these symptoms gradually worsen over time, decreasing the overall knee range of motion (ROM) and ability to walk. Current clinical interventions include offloading… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Cao, Jennifer M.
open access

Design of Bioinspired Conductive Smart Textile

Description: Electrically conductive fabrics are one of the major components of smart textile that attracts a lot of attention by the energy, medical, sports and military industry. The principal contributors to the conductivity of the smart textiles are the intrinsic properties of the fiber, functionalization by the addition of conductive particles and the architecture of fibers. In this study, intrinsic properties of non-woven carbon fabric derived from a novel linear lignin, poly-(caffeyl alcohol) (PCFA) … more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Rizvi, Syed Hussain Raza
open access

Development of a Natural Fiber Mat Plywood Composite

Description: Natural fibers like kenaf, hemp, flax and sisal fiber are becoming alternatives to conventional petroleum fibers for many applications. One such applications is the use of Non-woven bio-fiber mats in the automobile and construction industries. Non-woven hemp fiber mats were used to manufacture plywood in order to optimize the plywood structure. Hemp fiber mats possess strong mechanical properties that comparable to synthetic fibers which include tensile strength and tensile modulus. This study … more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Anthireddy, Prasanna Kumar
open access

Direct Strength Method for Web Crippling of Cold-formed Steel C and Z Sections Subjected to Interior One Flange Loading and End One Flange Loading

Description: The main objective of this research is to extend the “Direct strength method” for determining the web crippling strength of cold-formed steel C and Z sections subjected to End one flange loading and Interior one flange loading conditions. Direct strength method is applied for designing the columns and beams earlier. The existing specifications equation for calculating the web crippling strength of cold-formed steels designed by American Institute of Iron and Steel is very old method and it is b… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Dara, Martin Luther
open access

Dissimilar Friction Stir Welding Between Magnesium and Aluminum Alloys

Description: Joining two dissimilar metals, specifically Mg and Al alloys, using conventional welding techniques is extraordinarily challenging. Even when these alloys are able to be joined, the weld is littered with defects such as cracks, cavities, and wormholes. The focus of this project was to use friction stir welding to create a defect-free joint between Al 2139 and Mg WE43. The stir tool used in this project, made of H13 tool steel, is of fixed design. The design included an 11 mm scrolled and concav… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Reese, Gregory A
open access

Dissimilar Joining of Al (AA2139) – Mg (WE43) Alloys Using Friction Stir Welding

Description: This research demonstrates the use of friction stir welding (FSW) to join dissimilar (Al-Mg) metal alloys. The main challenges in joining different, dissimilar metal alloys is the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds (IMCs) in the stir zone affecting mechanical properties of joint significantly. In this present study, FSW joining process is used to join aluminum alloy AA2139 and magnesium alloy WE43. The 9.5 mm thick plates of AA2139 and WE43 were friction stir butt welded. Different pr… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Poudel, Amir
open access

Effect of Dispersed Particles and Branching on the Performance of a Medium Temperature Thermal Energy Storage System

Description: The main objective of my thesis is to develop a numerical model for small-scale thermal energy storage system and to see the effect of dispersing nano-particles and using fractal-like branching heat exchanger in phase change material for our proposed thermal energy storage system. The associated research problems investigated for phase change material (PCM) are the low thermal conductivity and low rate of heat transfer from heat transfer fluid to PCM in thermal energy storage system. In this st… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Hasib, A. M. M. Golam
open access

Effect of Surface Treatment on the Performance of CARALL, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Aluminum Dissimilar Material Joints

Description: Fiber-metal laminates (FML) are the advanced materials that are developed to improve the high performance of lightweight structures that are rapidly becoming a superior substitute for metal structures. The reasons behind their emerging usage are the mechanical properties without a compromise in weight other than the traditional metals. The bond remains a concern. This thesis reviews the effect of pre-treatments, say heat, P2 etch and laser treatments on the substrate which modifies the surface … more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Bandi, Raghava
open access

Effectiveness of Fillers for Corrosion Protection of AISI-SAE 1018 Steel in Sea Salt Solution

Description: Corrosion represents the single most frequent cause for product replacement or loss of product functionality with a 5% coat to the industrial revenue generation of any country in this dissertation the efficacy of using filled coatings as a protection coating are investigated. Fillers disrupt the polymer-substrate coating interfacial area and lead to poor adhesion. Conflicting benefits of increasing surface hardness and corrosion with long term durability through loss of adhesion to the subst… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Al-Shenawa, Amaal
open access

Electrodepostion of Iron Oxide on Steel Fiber for Improved Pullout Strength in Concrete

Description: Fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) is nowadays extensively used in civil engineering throughout the world due to the composites of FRC can improve the toughness, flexural strength, tensile strength, and impact strength as well as the failure mode of the concrete. It is an easy crazed material compared to others materials in civil engineering. Concrete, like glass, is brittle, and hence has a low tensile strength and shear capacity. At present, there are different materials that have been employed … more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Liu, Chuangwei
open access

Electromagnetic Shielding Properties of Iron Oxide Impregnated Kenaf Bast Fiberboard

Description: The electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of kenaf bast fiber based composites with different iron oxide impregnation levels was investigated. The kenaf fibers were retted to remove the lignin and extractives from the pores in fibers, and then magnetized. Using the unsaturated polyester and the magnetized fibers, kenaf fiber based composites were manufactured by compression molding process. The transmission energies of the composites were characterized when the composite samples were exposed… more
Date: December 2014
Creator: Ding, Zhiguang
open access

Energy Usage While Maintaining Thermal Comfort : A Case Study of a UNT Dormitory

Description: Campus dormitories for the University of North Texas house over 5500 students per year; each one of them requires certain comfortable living conditions while they live there. There is an inherit amount of money required in order to achieve minimal comfort levels; the cost is mostly natural gas for water and room heating and electricity for cooling, lighting and peripherals. The US Department of Energy has developed several programs to aid in performing energy simulations to help those interest… more
Date: December 2011
Creator: Gambrell, Dusten
open access

Enhanced Coarse-Graining for Multiscale Modeling of Elastomers

Description: One of the major goal of the researchers is to reduce energy loss including nanoscale to the structural level. For instance, around 65% of fuel energy is lost during the propulsion of the automobiles, where 11% of the loss happens at tires due to rolling friction. Out of that tire loss, 90 to 95% loss happens due to hysteresis of tire materials. This dissertation focuses on multiscale modeling techniques in order to facilitate the discovery new rubber materials. Enhanced coarse-grained models o… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Uddin, Md Salah
open access

Estimating Thermal Conductivity and Volumetric Specific Heat of a Functionally Graded Material using Photothermal Radiometry

Description: Functionally graded materials (FGMs) are inhomogeneous materials in which the material properties vary with respect to space. Research has been done by scientific community in developing techniques like photothermal radiometry (PTR) to measure the thermal conductivity and volumetric heat capacity of FGMs. One of the problems involved in the technique is to solve the inverse problem, i.e., estimating the thermal properties after the frequency scan has been obtained. The present work involves fin… more
Date: December 2017
Creator: Koppanooru, Sampat Kumar Reddy
open access

Estimation of Air Emissions During Production Phase from Active Oil and Gas Wells in the Barnett Shale Basin: 2010-2013

Description: The Barnett shale basin, the largest onshore gas field in the state of Texas, mainly produces natural gas. The basin’s oil and gas productions have dramatically increased over the past two decades with the enhancement via shale fracturing (fracking) technology. However, recent studies suggest that air emissions from shale fracking have significantly contributed to the growing air pollution problem in North Texas. In this study, air emissions from the Barnett shale basin during the production ph… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Dohde, Farhan A.
open access

Estimation of Aircraft Emissions for the Corpus Christi International Airport, Corpus Christi, Texas

Description: Commercial aviation is a vital part of the United States economy. It generates over $1 trillion annually, which is more than 5% of the U.S. GDP, and produces approximately 10 million jobs. Every year there is an increase in commercial air traffic. This is attributed to expanding trade between states and other countries, which requires larger amounts of cargo aircraft in operation, and also catering to the growing number of middle and upper class passengers who travel for business and pleasure p… more
Date: May 2013
Creator: Thomas, Gregson Johann
open access

Evaluation of the Influence of Non-Conventional Sources of Emissions on Ambient Air Pollutant Concentrations in North Texas

Description: Emissions of air pollutants from non-conventional sources have been on the rise in the North Texas area over the past decade. These include primary pollutants such as volatile organic compound (VOC) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) which also act as precursors in the formation of ozone. Most of these have been attributed to a significant increase in oil and gas production activities since 2000 within the Barnett Shale region adjacent to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex region. In this study, air q… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Lim, Guo Quan
open access

Experimental Study on Fluidization of Biomass, Inert Particles, and Biomass/Sand Mixtures

Description: Fluidization of biomass particles is an important process in the gasification, pyrolysis and combustion in order to extract energy from biomass. Studies on the fluidization of biomass particles (corn cob and walnut shell), inert particles (sand, glass bead, and alumina), which are added to facilitate fluidization of biomass, and biomass/sand mixture were performed. Experiments were carried out in a 14.5 cm internal diameter cold flow fluidization bed to determine minimum fluidization velocities… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Paudel, Basu
open access

Feasibility of a New Technique to Determine Dynamic Tensile Behavior of Brittle Materials

Description: Dynamic tensile characterization of geo-materials is critical to the modeling and design of protective structures that are often made of concrete. One of the most commonly used techniques currently associated with this type of testing is performed with a Kolsky bar and is known as the spall technique. The validity of the data from the spall technique is highly debated because the necessary boundary conditions for the experiment are not satisfied. By using a technique called pulse shaping, a new… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Dean, Andrew W.
open access

Feasibility Study of Consolidation by Direct Compaction and Friction Stir Processing of Commercially Pure Titanium Powder

Description: Commercially pure titanium can take up to six months to successfully manufacture a six-inch in diameter ingot in which can be shipped to be melted and shaped into other useful components. The applications to the corrosion-resistant, light weight, strong metal are endless, yet so is the manufacturing processing time. At a cost of around $80 per pound of certain grades of titanium powder, the everyday consumer cannot afford to use titanium in the many ways it is beneficial simply because the numb… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Nichols, Leannah Marie
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