Legacy Theses and Dissertations (1940-2009)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10657/6771
This collection gathers digitized University of Houston theses and dissertations dating from 1940.
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Browsing Legacy Theses and Dissertations (1940-2009) by Department "Engineering, Cullen College of"
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Item A similarity transformation method for the reduction of a matrix to block-companion form(1976) Gee, Ginny Won-Ngee; Denman, E. D.; McInnis, Bayliss C.; Shieh, Leang-SanA new method for reducing a matrix to the block companion form of its matrix characteristic equation is presented. The new method will transform an nr x nr matrix to the block-companion form by a sequence of similarity transformations. As the block-companion form is found, the matrix characteristic equation is simultaneously found since the n independent matrix elements in the block-companion form are the coefficients of the matrix characteristic equations. A method has also been developed to solve the matrix characteristic equation. This method is also a similarity transformation method which block-diagonalizes the block-companion matrix. Each block in the diagonalized form is a solution to the matrix characteristic equation. Several examples are given to show the outline procedures and numerical accuracyItem A study and practical evaluation of certain unorthodox methods of oil field exploration(1954) Goodearle, James Roy; Manry, Leon Vernon, Jr.; Kirkpatrick, C. V.; Houston, Carl Preston; Jones, Park J.; Prengle, Herman William, Jr.Item A study of an electron beam storage system(1976) Lin, Yi-Ching; El-Kareh, Auguste B.; Anderson, Wallace L.; Salama, KamelThe electron beam mass memory system suffers from the lack of appropriate recording materials. Thermal computations for a Gaussian beam have been carried out in this work, which indicate that the following properties are desired for the recording materials: high density, low heat capacity, low thermal conductivity, small latent heats of fusion and evaporation, low temperatures of melting and evaporation and a small difference between these two. Amorphous selenium is found to be acceptable. [...]Item A technique for the quantitative recording of precordial pulsations(1974) McConnell, James Robert; Everett, Robert L.; Paskusz, Gerhard F.; Dalton, CharlesThe recording of pulsations of the chest wall associated with cardiac causation has been used to assist in evaluating cardiac disease. These pulsations recorded at two points have had particular use. The apexcardiogram (ACG) recorded over the apex of the heart and the left parasternal cardiogram (LPC) recorded at the left lower sternal border are correlated with a large body of knowledge about cardiac pathology. A transducer has been designed which would allow displacement calibrated recordings of these pulsations, and which would load the chest insignificantly. The results of clinical trials with this transducer show that this will record these pulsations, and that the calibration in terms of deflection promises to add to the usefulness of these recordings.Item Acoustic signature processing for railroad wheel flat spot detection(1975) Dousis, Dimitrios Athan; Finch, Robert D.; Muster, Douglas F.; Mayes, Bill W., IIThis thesis is a study of the feasibility of detecting flat spots on railroad wheels. The principal method used was acoustic signature analysis of the vibrating rail. For this purpose an automatic system monitored by a mini-computer was tested. The results of tests show that the design of a detection system can be based on the periodicity of the impact of the flat spot on the rail or on the spectral analysis of the rail vibrations, or on both. At the present stage a system using the combination of the two methods was found to be most reliable. Several resonance frequencies found in the spectrum of rail vibrations are in approximate agreement with Timoshenko’s theory. The spacing between the ties appears to determine which vibrational modes are preferentially excited.Item An analysis of a class of methods to solve certain problems in nonlinear estimation theory(1970) Kirtley, Richard Patrick; Dawkins, George S.; Rhodes, Benjamin T., Jr.; Sinkhorn, Richard D.This thesis presents a class of methods for solving nonlinear least squares problems. A comprehensive study of the algorithms and related mathematical literature was undertaken and formed the subsequent development, application, and in two of the methods, modifications of the methods. Most of the theoretical work is developed. Computer programs were written to test the performance of the methods and the modifications mentioned. Some comparisons are made with results reported in the literature.Item Application of the cubic spline function to shuttle aerodynamic data(1980) Stone, William H.; McInnis, Bayliss C.; Denman, Eugene D.; Newhouse, AlbertThe objective of this study is to investigate the application of cubic spline function interpolation as applied to one, two and three dimensional orthogonal aerodynamic data. The results from the use of cubic splines is compared with linear interpolation calculations.Item Chromate ion-exchange study for cooling water(1984) SenGupta, Arup K.; Clifford, Dennis A.; Matson, Jack V.; Vestal, Marvin L.; Pollard, RichardIn spite of high chromate selectivity, the ion-exchange process for Cr(VI) recovery from cooling tower blowdown is yet to be commercially popular. Possible degradation of the ion-exchange resin by the oxidative action of Cr(VI) during ion exchange has, for long, been considered as the prime obstacle. In recent years, resins have been manufactured with fairly acceptable properties to withstand both physical attrition and chemical oxidation. Another conspicuous shortcoming which has been observed by all the previous investigators and demonstrated during the course of this research is early, gradual Cr(VI) breakthrough during fixed- bed column runs at acidic pH in the presence of competing sulfate and chloride anions. The advantage of high chromate selectivity is essentially lost due to the early Cr(VI) breakthrough because the column runs are always terminated after a pre-determined level of Cr(VI) has appeared in the treated water. Experimental results provide sufficient evidence that such early, gradual breakthrough is not due to poor column kinetics or electrolyte penetration. Furthermore, chromate/chloride and chromate/sulfate isotherms at acidic pH show positive curvature (unfavorable type) which is again unusual for a preferred component. The chromate ion-exchange mechanism has been investigated in order to explain the foregoing anomalies for the chromate-exchange process. Chromate may exist in different ionic forms in the aqueous phase and their relative predominance is governed by pH, total Cr(VI) concentration and the ionic strength of the aqueous phase. [...]Item Compartmental model of the renal function using parameter identification techniques(1974) Berkstresser, Betty K.; McInnis, Bayliss C.; Kay, Franklin J.; Everett, Robert L.A method which uses compartmental modeling and parameter identification to measure the dysfunction of the renal system indirectly and simply is presented. The method involves the single injection of a labeled tracer into the blood plasma. Blood plasma samples are taken at intervals following the injection and used with a compartmental model of the renal function. The compartmental model is presented for use with a digital computer to permit the routine fitting of data in a least squares sense in order to determine unknown parameters of the model. The unknown parameters are the constants of interchange between the two compartments and the constant of renal excretion. Identifiability of the unknown parameters using data from only one compartment is shown using the transfer function and using the concepts of observability and controllability. A review of parameter estimation techniques is presented, and three parameter identification algorithms are investigated. The three algorithms are: (1) Herbold algorithm for estimating parameters in systems of differential equations; (2) Quasilinearization algorithm for estimating parameters in systems of differential equations; and (3) Powell algorithm for estimating parameters in a multivariable nonlinear regression equation. Total central processing time for parameter identification using any one of the three algorithms is less than three seconds on a CDC 7600.Item Divergence, householder transformations, and information preservation(1975) Mayekar, Shailesh M.; Dawkins, George S.; Decell, Henry P., Jr.; Rhodes, Benjamin T., Jr.One of the major problems in the field of pattern recognition is the dimension of the feature space. The cost and efficiency of a classification technique depend upon the number of features. It is essential to develop a feature compressor that will transform the features into a space of lower dimension without significant loss in information. The major concentration, in this thesis, will be the development of a compression transformation matrix B. Householder Transformations will be utilized to construct a matrix B and the divergence criterion will be used to measure the effectiveness of transformation's ability to preserve information. Several preliminary theorems and definitions will provide a foundation for feature compression. Agricultural multispectral data will be used to demonstrate the utility of the procedure for various dimensions of the transformed space.Item Dynamics of a three-axis gyro stabilized platform(1970) Barnes, Frank N.; Schneider, William P.; Motard, Rodolphe L.; Whitaker, Thomas N.A detailed development of the equations of motion for the stable member of a three-gimbal platform is presented. These equations are combined with models of the three platform control loops to formulate a model for the system. The system model is simplified and a digital simulation is developed for studying the motion of the stable member under conditions of dynamic vehicle angular environment. Test cases are presented for a typical inertial measurement unit.Item Effects of antiorthostatic kinesia on Sprague Dawley rat femur fracture toughness and concomitant alterations in metabolic activity(1983) Dunbar, Bonnie J.; Nerem, Robert M.; Winter, Dean C.; Hazelwood, Robert L.; Huntoon, Carolyn L.; Cowin, Stephen C.An antiorthostatic (suspended) rat model was used to assess the effects of disuse on the fracture toughness, K1c, of the cortical diaphysis of Sprague-Dawley rat femur. Concomitant metabolic data, e.g. dietary mineral balances and blood chemistry, were used to compare the model to previously published data. It was determined that 28 days of kinetic antiorthostasis results in no significant changes in fracture toughness, although there did appear to be qualitative changes in bone architecture. Further, the metabolic data indicated that the rat maintained a positive calcium balance throughout the study with increased intestinal absorption. The absence of alterations in the femur fracture toughness and the unexpected calcium balance trends were attributed to the kinesia of the animal. Data from the antiorthostatic kinetic (AOK) animal used in this study is compared to that obtained from hypokinetic and immobilized animals. It was concluded that changes in bone growth and remodeling due to disuse or removal of gravitational loads should be approached from a systems point of view with particular emphasis on the relationship(s) between bone blood flow and muscular activity.Item Feasibility study of applying dissolved air flotation to the treatment of barge cleaning waste(1974) Wybenga, Frits; Rogers, J. R.; Blumberg, Randolph; Dawkins, George S.Tank barges carrying petroleum products must be cleaned for three major reasons: 1) for inspection, 2) for hot work such as welding or burning, and 5) for a change of cargo. The use of hot water in washing the less volatile products creates a strong oil-water emulsion. This thesis studies the feasibility of treating barge cleaning wastewater with dissolved air flotation. Dissolved air flotation is a two-stage process. A coagulant is added to form floc particles which are then bouyed to the water surface through the entrapment of tiny air bubbles formed when a pressurized water stream is released to atmospheric pressure. Laboratory tests produced favorable results. The tests indicated that the wastewater pH must be controlled. Laboratory treatment of shipyard wastewater indicated the need for both alum and polyelectrolytes as coagulants. Alterations should also be made to the cleaning process to enhance effluent water quality.Item Investigation of electrode effects in the measurement of impedance of water saturated rocks at low frequencies(1982) Chowdhury, Shabbir A.; Simpson, Richard S.; Shen, Liang-Chi; Long, Stuart A.; Claridge, Elmond L.Dielectric constant measurement constitutes an important method in the investigation of the petrophysical characteristics of rocks. The dielectric constant of wet rocks has been reported to attain unusually high values at low frequencies. A semi-automated data acquisition system is designed and built to measure impedance of a sample in a five-terminal sample holder. The data are processed in a computer from which various characteristics of the sample are obtained and analyzed. Initial measurements on fresh water were found to be erroneous and the source of this anomalous behavior was traced to the effects of the electrodes used in the measurement. Several different electrodes were tried and a design was found to work well with water, but no significant rock data was obtained.Item On the wall pressure fluctuations and the flow field structure distal to a modeled stenosis(1984) Abdallah, Sanaa Abdel-Hakim; Hwang, Neddy H. C.; Chaturvedi, Mahesh C.; Kareem, Ahsan; Vobach, Arnold R.; Winter, Dean C.The flow field distal to an arterial stenosis is simulated by a confined turbulent jet under moderate Reynold's numbers. The wall pressure fluctuations are related to the momentum fluctuations in the flow field distal to the stenosis through the Poisson's equation. A mathematical derivation has been performed to obtain the Green's function that is tailored to satisfy the boundary conditions on a cylindrical rigid surface. Accordingly, the integral representation for the solution of the Poisson's equation includes only a volume integral of the fluctuating momentum, weighted by a function of the relative distance between the source and the observation point. The present experimental study is concentrated on investigating the distribution and statistical characteristics of the wall pressure fluctuations and the velocity fluctuations in the flow field. The velocity fluctuations on the centerline and at the middle of the shear layer were measured using a laser Doppler anemometer system. The wall pressure fluctuations were simultaneously detected by an array of nine wall-mounted pressure transducers in the axial direction. The frequency analysis of the laser Doppler anemometer signal has been found to exhibit peaks or corner frequencies suggesting that the flow field is dominated by large scale structures similar to that observed in the case of free turbulent jets. The cross-correlation between the wall pressure fluctuations and the axial velocity fluctuations revealed that the fluctuations in the pressure signal were mostly imposed by the passage of the turbulent eddy with a convection velocity that is a function of the jet exit velocity. The Strouhal number formed with the frequency passage of the large-scale structure is a function of the initial conditions only very close to the nozzle exit. Further downstream, the effect of the initial condition is lost, leading to a constant Strouhal number irrespective of the jet Reynold's number. The contribution of the sources in the close vicinity of the nozzle exit to the wall pressure fluctuations near the reattachment is rather weak due to the fast decaying distance function in the axial direction. On the other hand, for sources located within one nozzle diameter from the observation point, the cross-spectral density function has a higher magnitude with its coherence function maxima at a lower frequency range. This frequency range coincides with the frequency domain at which the pressure fluctuation spectrum changes its slope to form a corner frequency that scales with the nozzle diameter and the jet exit speed resulting in a constant Strouhal number equal to 0.1 - 0.2 irrespective of the jet Reynold's number.Item Petroleum refinery liquid wastes: environmental, energy & economic impacts(1975) Finelt, Stanley; Crump, J. R.; Motard, Rodolphe L.; Owen, G.; Griffiths, B. T.; Rogers, Jerry R.; Dawkins, George S.; Richardson, James T.Analysis of the operation of a petroleum refinery in terms of environmental, energy and economic terms has led to the development of mathematical models which simulate liquid waste generation and treatment. One model is based on a module concept whereby a refinery system is broken down into its smallest elements contributing to the liquid waste generated by the total system. In this way it was possible to account for the many variables associated with petroleum refining and liquid waste generation such as (1) variation in cru.de oils used, (2) sulfur levels. (3) process configurations, (4) product slate, (5) raw water used, and other significant parameters. Liquid wastes are characterized as to (1) sewer segregation, (2) quantity, (3) analysis in terms of the most common parameters and (4) various manners of refinery operations. The data from this liquid waste generation model has been applied to develop a characteristic factor similiar to Nelson's Complexity, for descriping refinery configurations in terms of liquid waste generation from the various processing components of the refinery. A second model has been developed which simulates treatment of the liquid wastes generated by the refinery model. This model considers treatment to produce acceptable effluents suitable for discharge to the environment. Costs associated with the waste treatment system are generated from this model. The combination of the two simulation models permits one to predict the economics of water reuse and recycle, and an example is given showing the application of water reuse to refinery operations in terms of economic incentives. The manner of developing the models permits easy updating and provides a great deal of flexibility which makes it possible to apply the models to many other chemical processing operations aside from petroleum refining. New data can be easily incorporated into the model thereby making it a valuable tool for future study in the general area of chemical processing and liquid waste generation.Item Probabilistic sequential machine modeling of computer systems and its application to error detection(1975) Asai, Hitohisa; Lee, Samuel C.; Paskusz, Gerhard F.; Chen, Chih-Fan; Johnson, Olin G.; Huang, Jung-Chang; Barr, Betty J.The problems of computer system modeling and of error detection in a computer system are investigated in this research. Probabilistic sequential machine modeling of a computer system is proposed by considering input/output flexibilities on the probabilistic sequential machine theory. With the model, a theoretical approach and a practical approach to error detection are presented. In the theoretical approach, a two-state isolated machine, which contains the well-known completely isolated machine as a subset, is constructed, and a decomposition method of a probabilistic sequential machine into two-state probabilistic sequential machines is studied. Based on the isolated machine and the decomposition method, properties of the isolated machine (which consists of states more than two), such as input traceability, past subsystem activity distribution, and the initial state distribution independence, etc., are discussed. Traceback properties of the machine are used for error detection. From distribution of input types to and output channel activities from a computer system, the probability of subsystem activities in a steady state is determined in the practical approach by an optimization of a non-linear programming problem. The nonlinear programming problem is formulated with two phases, a calibration and a monitoring of the computer system. Next, the most likely subsystem which contains an error is determined. A probabilistic sequential machine model of a computer system is built. The advantages of the practical approach are demonstrated on the model which is simulated in a normal computer operation.Item Reaction mechanisms and chromatographic behavior of polyprotic acid anions in multicomponent ion exchange(1983) Horng, Liou-Liang; Clifford, Dennis A.; Symons, James M.; Matson, Jack V.; Tiller, Frank M.; Deming, Stanley N.; Hsu, Thomas T. C.The arsenic existing in ground and surface waters should be removed to obtain potable water. The maximum contaminant level for arsenic is 50 [microgram]/L. Arsenate can be removed by ion exchange using strong-base anion exchange resins typically in the chloride form. The major ions competing for ion exchange sites include sulfate, chloride, and bicarbonate. Arsenate exists as a trace component (ppb level) two or three orders of magnitude less than the major anions. Both arsenic and carbonic acids are polyprotic with pKa's of 2.2, 7.0, and 11.5 for H3AsO4 and 6.33 and 10.35 for H2CO3. The adsorption mechanisms of polyprotic arsenic and carbonic acids in the commercially available strong-base anion exchange resins (16 - 32 mesh) were studied. Both binary and multicomponent ion exchange reactions can reach equilibrium within five minutes. The polyprotic acids, arsenic and carbonic, and their anions were found to react with the strong-base anion exchange resins, to produce a relatively greater fraction of the divalent and trivalent anions in the resin phase compared to the aqueous phase. [...]Item Scanning electron microscope video chain(1975) Hakim, Ramzi Saba; El-Kareh, A. B.; Schneider, William P.; Cook, Bill D.A collection system consisting of a channel electron multiplier and of a video electronic chain is designed, constructed, and tested in the Cambridge Scanning Electron Microscope (S.E.M.). This system is then compared to the scintillator-photomultiplier amplifier widely used in S.E.M.'s. The advantages and disadvantages of the new collection system are discussed. Moreover, a detailed theoretical analysis of the noise generated by the specimen and the collection chain is done to point out the importance of the signal-to-noise ratio as it relates to the balance between contrast and resolution in scanning electron microscopy.Item Selenium oxidation and removal by ion-exchange(1984) Boegel, Joan V.; Clifford, Dennis A.; Symons, James M.; Bernal, Ivan; O'Neill, Michael W.Strong-base anion-exchange was evaluated as a process for the removal of trace quantities of selenium from groundwater. The efficiency of the process was found to be dependent on the oxidation state of selenium, with the selenate anion (Se(VI)) having a greater affinity for the anion-exchange resin than selenite or biselenite anions (Se(IV)). Ion chromatography experiments showed that the selectivity sequence for several anions including selenate and selenite is as follows: SeO4=/>SO4=/>NO3-/>Br-/>HPO4=/>SeO3=/>NO2-/>Cl-/>F-. Bench-scale ion-exchange column run experiments compared the effluent concentration histories for synthetic groundwater solutions containing 4 meq/L sulfate, 3 meq/L chloride, and 3 meq/L bicarbonate and contaminated with 100 ppb of either Se(IV) or Se(VI). Se(IV) concentration in the column effluent reached the 10 ppb maximum contaminant level (MCL) after only 152 bed volumes throughput, whereas Se(VI) broke through at 235 bed volumes. In addition, since it is less- preferred than the major groundwater anion sulfate, Se(IV) was eluted from the column with a chromatographic concentration peak 5.4 times its feed concentration. Se(VI) concentration in the effluent never exceeded its feed concentration. An analytical method which measures the concentrations of Se(IV) and Se(VI) (i.e., determines the speciation of selenium) at trace concentration in groundwater was developed. The method utilizes anion- exchange at pH 1.5 to separate undissociated selenious acid (Se(IV)), which passes through the column, from selenate and biselenate anions (Se(VI)), which are retained by the resin. Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (GFAA) is used to measure total selenium in an aliquot of the original groundwater sample and Se(IV) in the anion- exchange column effluent. Se(VI) is determined by difference. Using this new analytical method as a tool, the oxidation of Se(IV) to Se(VI) at trace concentration in groundwater was studied. It was found that free chlorine can oxidize Se(IV) to Se(VI) in groundwater. Ammonia was shown to be a suitable quenching agent for the oxidation reaction with chlorine and its use enabled determination of the reaction kinetics. The reaction was found to be first order in both Se(IV) and free chlorine concentrations. With greater than twenty-fold stoichiometric excess of chlorine, the overall oxidation was pseudo- first order in Se(IV). Kinetics experiments run at three chlorine dosages (1, 2, and 5 mg/L) allowed the calculation of the pseudo-first order rate constants for each concentration and the true rate constant for the reaction. [...]