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open access

Field Validation of Zero Energy Lab Water-to-Water Ground Coupled Heat Pump Model

Description: Heat pumps are a vital part of each building for their role in keeping the space conditioned for the occupant. This study focuses on developing a model for the ground-source heat pump at the Zero Energy lab at the University of North Texas, and finding the minimum data required for generating the model. The literature includes many models with different approaches to determine the performance of the heat pump. Each method has its pros and cons. In this research the equation-fit method was used … more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Abdulameer, Saif
open access

Source Apportionment Analysis of Measured Volatile Organic Compounds in Corpus Christi, Texas

Description: Corpus Christi among of the largest industrialized coastal urban areas in Texas. The strategic location of the city along the Gulf of Mexico allows for many important industries and an international business to be located. The cluster of industries and businesses in the region contribute to the air pollution from emissions that are harmful to the environment and to the people living in and visiting the area. Volatile organic compounds (VOC) constitute an important class of pollutants measured i… more
Date: May 2014
Creator: Abood, Ahmed T.
open access

Development of a Cost Effective Wireless Sensor System for Indoor Air Quality Monitoring Applications

Description: Poor air quality can greatly affect the public health. Research studies indicate that indoor air can be more polluted than the outdoor air. An indoor air quality monitoring system will help to create an awareness of the quality of air inside which will eventually help in improving it. The objective of this research is to develop a low cost wireless sensor system for indoor air quality monitoring. The major cost reduction of the system is achieved by using low priced sensors. Interface circuits … more
Date: May 2014
Creator: Abraham, Sherin
open access

Ultrafast Laser Sampling of a Plant Tissue and ion Conductivity Measurement for Investigation of Light Stress Generation Mechanisms

Description: In this study we applied ultra-short laser pulses on a biological sample (Arabidopsis), in order to cut it precisely in a square pattern and subsequently use it for studying stress generation mechanisms. For this purpose, we utilized femtosecond laser pulses at 100 fs pulse width and 80 MHz repetition rate. We took two processing parameters into consideration such as laser power, laser exposure time which is related to the stage speed. Therefore, we were able to find the laser optimum condition… more
Date: August 2010
Creator: Abtahi, Seyed Ali
open access

Ozone Pollution of Shale Gas Activities in North Texas

Description: The effect of shale gas activities on ground-level ozone pollution in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is studied in detail here. Ozone is a highly reactive species with harmful effects on human and environment. Shale gas development, or fracking, involves activities such as hydraulic fracturing, drilling, fluid mixing, and trucks idling that are sources of nitrogen oxides (NOX) and volatile organic compounds (VOC), two of the most important precursors of ozone. In this study two independent approach… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Ahmadi, Mahdi
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

Application of High Entropy Alloys in Stent Implants

Description: High entropy alloys (HEAs) are alloys with five or more principal elements. Due to these distinct concept of alloying, the HEA exhibits unique and superior properties. The outstanding properties of HEA includes higher strength/hardness, superior wear resistance, high temperature stability, higher fatigue life, good corrosion and oxidation resistance. Such characteristics of HEA has been significant interest leading to researches on these emerging field. Even though many works are done to unders… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Alagarsamy, Karthik
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

Optical Transparent Pmma Composite Reinforced By Coaxial Electrospun Pan Hollow Nanofibers

Description: Electrospinning has been recognized as an efficient technique for the fabrication of polymer fibers. These electrospun fibers have many applications across a broad range of industries. In this research, optical transparent composites were successfully fabricated by embedding polyacrylonitrile (PAN) hollow nanofibers into poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrix. The hollow PAN nanofibers were prepared by coaxial electrospinning. The PAN was used as the shell solution, and the mineral oil was us… more
Date: May 2013
Creator: Antoine, Donley

Characterization, Analysis, and Optimization of Rotary Displacer Stirling Engines

Description: This work focuses on an innovative Rotary Displacer SE (RDSE) configuration for Stirling engines (SEs). RDSE features rotary displacers instead of reciprocating displacers (found in conventional SE configurations), as well as combined compression and expansion spaces. Guided by the research question "can RDSE as a novel configuration achieve a higher efficiency compared to conventional SE configurations at comparable operating conditions?", the goal of this study is to characterize, analyze, an… more
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Date: December 2019
Creator: Bagheri, Amirhossein
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

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

Use of Bio-Product/Phase Change Material Composite in the Building Envelope for Building Thermal Control and Energy Savings

Description: This research investigates the bio-products/phase change material (PCM) composites for the building envelope application. Bio-products, such as wood and herb, are porous medium, which can be applied in the building envelope for thermal insulation purpose. PCM is infiltrated into the bio-product (porous medium) to form a composite material. The PCM can absorb/release large amount of latent heat of fusion from/to the building environment during the melting/solidification process. Hence, the PCM-b… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: Boozula, Aravind Reddy
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

Loading Mode Dependent Effective Properties of Octet-truss Lattice Structures Using 3D-Printing

Description: Cellular materials, often called lattice materials, are increasingly receiving attention for their ultralight structures with high specific strength, excellent impact absorption, acoustic insulation, heat dissipation media and compact heat exchangers. In alignment with emerging additive manufacturing (AM) technology, realization of the structural applications of the lattice materials appears to be becoming faster. Considering the direction dependent material properties of the products with AM, … more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Challapalli, Adithya
open access

Microchannel Radiator: an Investigation of Microchannel Technology with Applications in Automotive Radiator Heat Exchangers

Description: Microchannels have been used in electronics cooling and in air conditioning applications as condensers. Little study has been made in the application of microchannels in automotive heat exchangers, particularly the radiator. The presented research captures the need for the design improvement of radiator heat exchangers in heavy-duty vehicles in order to reduce aerodynamic drag and improve fuel economy. A method for analyzing an existing radiator is set forth including the needed parameters for … more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Checketts, Gus Thomas
open access

Sustainable Ecofriendly Insulation Foams for Disaster Relief Housing

Description: Natural disasters are affecting a significant number of people around the world. Sheltering is the first step in post-disaster activities towards the normalization of the affected people's lives. Temporary housing is being used in these cases until the construction of permanent houses are done. Disposal of temporary housing after use is leading to a significant environmental impact because most of them are filled with thermally insulative polymer foams that do not degrade in a short period. To … more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Chitela, Yuvaraj Reddy
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

Thermal Characterization of Austenite Stainless Steel (304) and Cnt Films of Varying Thickness Using Micropipette Thermal Sensors

Description: Thermal transport behavior of austenite stainless steel stripe (304) and the carbon nano-tubes (CNTs) films of varying thickness are studied using a micropipette thermal sensor. Micropipette sensors of various tip sizes were fabricated and tested for the sensitivity and reliability. The sensitivity deviated by 0.11 for a batch of pipette coated under same physical vapor deposition (PVD) setting without being affected by a tip size. Annealing, rubber coating and the vertical landing test of the … more
Date: May 2013
Creator: Dangol, Ashesh
open access

Laminar Natural Convection From Isothermal Vertical Cylinders

Description: Laminar natural convection heat transfer from the vertical surface of a cylinder is a classical subject, which has been studied extensively. Furthermore, this subject has generated some recent interest in the literature. In the present investigation, numerical experiments were performed to determine average Nusselt numbers for isothermal vertical cylinders (103 < RaL < 109, 0.5 < L/D <10, and Pr = 0.7) with and without an adiabatic top in a quiescent ambient environment which will allow for plu… more
Date: August 2012
Creator: Day, Jerod
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

Analysis of Sources Affecting Ambient Particulate Matter in Brownsville, Texas

Description: Texas is the second largest state in U.S.A. based on geographical area, population and the economy. It is home to several large coastal urban areas with major industries and infrastructure supporting the fossil-fuel based energy sector. Most of the major cities on the state have been impacted by significant air pollution events over the past decade. Studies conducted in the southern coastal region of TX have identified long range transport as a major contributor of particulate matter (PM) pol… more
Date: May 2012
Creator: Diaz Poueriet, Pablo
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
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