Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/733
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Item The influence of transformational leadership and diversity climate on using TRIZ to generate ideas: a case study from UAE companies(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2019) AlDhaheri, Abdulla Saeed Obaid Saeed; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Bill SchellThe rapidly changing dynamics in global industry are forcing companies to continually improve methods for harnessing the creativity of their employees and to use that creativity to drive innovation. Frequently, projects to develop new products fail at the end of the development process or during commercialization. These failures often have their origin at the very beginning of the development process, during the pre-development phase called the Fuzzy Front End (FFE). To manage this phase, there is a need to focus on idea and concept generation, for instance by using new techniques like the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ). To improve the pre-development activities in the FFE phase, there is a further need to understand how TRIZ methods interact with transformational leadership behaviors and team make-up to improve the effectiveness of the FFE. Prior work has shown that transformational leadership has positive impacts on organizational outcomes, including improved performance of research and development (R&D) functions. This research applied TRIZ problem-solving in several semi-government companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and investigated the influence of leadership, diversity climate, knowledge management practices and organizational change variables, to measure participants' perception of being able to apply TRIZ in problem-solving. Measures of team performance during a two-day TRIZ session were also made using organization-specific challenges. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) was utilized to understand the relationships between the measured factors. Hypothesis analysis showed that transactional leadership did not support knowledge management practices while group and organizational diversity climates positively impacted knowledge management practices and particpants' perception on being able to apply TRIZ. Transformational leadership, knowledge management practices, and organizational change positively impact participants' perception of being able to apply TRIZ. The implications are as follows: the full range of the leadership model along with group and organizational diversity climate strongly effect the relationship between knowledge management practices and particpants' perception of being able to apply TRIZ. The presence of transformational leadership improved the particpants' perception of being able to apply TRIZ in problem-solving. Workers' knowledge converted information into a general solution based on TRIZ training outcomes.Item Run-time optimization of a radiation driven crown fire model(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 1997) Call, Patrick TimothyItem Experimental validation of finite element techniques for buckling and postbuckling of composite sandwich shells(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 1999) Sears, Aaron ThomasItem Haptic and auditory interfaces as a collision avoidance technique during roadway departures and driver perception of these modalities(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2006) Stanley, Laura Michelle; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Robert J. MarleyRoadway departure fatalities accounted for 55 percent of all roadway fatalities in the United States in 2003. In an effort to reduce the number of roadway departures, many transportation agencies have introduced static rumble strips using physical alterations of the roadway surface in shoulder and/or centerline sections of the roadway. Recently, more advanced technology has been developed in the form of in-vehicle advanced lane departure warning systems that automatically detect the vehicle's lane position and warn of possible roadway departures. These systems are currently showing their value in some commercial trucks in Europe, and are now available in some U.S. passenger cars. Two critical factors will govern their ultimate success; (1) their ability to warn the driver in an effective and timely manner to make the correct action, and (2) their success in gaining driver trust and acceptance. The primary goal of this research was to better understand basic human factors principles of haptic and auditory interfaces as a collision avoidance technique during run-off-road and head-on collisions and driver perception of these modalities. In this simulator study, fifteen participants received alerting cues in three sensory modalities; haptic (seat vibration), auditory ("rumble strip" sound), and combined auditory and haptic sensory warnings. A preliminary psychophysical study was conducted to determine appropriate and comparable intensities of the warning modalities. The results of this study determined that the haptic modality produced significantly faster reaction times than both the auditory and combination modalities. The auditory modality produced significantly more maximum steering response than the haptic and combination condition. Drivers perceived the haptic modality to be the least annoying with least interference, while the combination modality was the most preferred in benefit of driving, most likely to purchase, level of trust, level of appropriateness, level of urgency, and overall preference. Haptic (seat vibration) warnings demonstrate promise as an alerting strategy over auditory and combination modalities in reducing roadway departures. With a decrease in reaction time, less erratic steering responses, and relatively advantageous perceptions from drivers, haptic warnings have the potential to better assist drivers in returning to the lane more quickly and safely.Item Design and evaluation of compact heat exchangers for hybrid fuel cell and gas turbine systems(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2005) Lindstrom, Joel David; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: M. Ruhul AminHybridized Carbonate and Solid Oxide fuel cell power plants are currently under investigation to fulfill demands for high efficiency and low emissions. Selection and design of high performance heat exchangers are essential for such applications. In this work, various compact heat exchanger (CHEX) technologies pertinent to gas-gas recuperative duties are presented. The CHEX types considered include brazed plate-fin, fin-tube, microchannel, primary surface and spiral. Based on a comparative rating procedure, two CHEX designs namely, plate-fin and microchannel were chosen for further review. Plain, strip, louver, wavy and semicircular surface geometries were then evaluated with a numerical CHEX sizing procedure. The brazed plate-fin CHEX having the louver fin geometry was determined the most conducive with hybrid fuel cell and gas turbine systems. Multiple numerical modeling efforts were carried out to develop plate-fin heat exchanger design recommendations. A model was created for the transient thermal simulation of counterflow heat exchanger partition plates. For this analysis, an alternating direction implicit finite difference scheme was written in the Java programming language to model temperature in the working fluids and partition plate.Item Robust copper braze for hermetic sealing of solid oxide fuel cells(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2008) Ator, Danielle Elizabeth; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Stephen W. SofieSolid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are becoming of increasing interest as a primary power source in today's industrial market. The voltage of a single cell under load is approximately 0.7 volts necessitating the use of many cells in series to generate useful electrical potentials, which gives rise to the SOFC stack. One of the key technical challenges in improving the long term performance and reliability of stacks is in the effective sealing of stack interfaces, particularly in planar stacks for which a hot seal (700-900°C) is required. SOFC stack seals must be: resistant to oxidation/volatilization in oxidizing and reducing atmospheres, must wet and bond to the joining members (both ceramic and metal), form a hermetic seal to prevent hydrogen leakage, and have a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) close to that of the adjoining components to limit thermally induced stresses. Active metal copper-based brazes present a novel approach to sealing SOFCs by means of robust mechanical/thermal properties providing strong, hermetic braze-interconnect and braze-YSZ interfaces. A commercially available active braze alloy utilizing no precious metal additives was tested and compared to custom synthesized braze compositions fabricated and tested at MSU. Two testing configurations were evaluated for this sealing study, utilizing dense YSZ substrates joined to 25.24mm, 430SS coupons as well as 25mm 440SS pressure test fixtures. Active braze alloys require a protective atmosphere to facilitate chemical bonding with YSZ and results show excellent performance in moderate vacuum (10-4 to 10-5 mbar) and argon atmosphere. Sample characterization was performed by electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, pressurized rupture and leak tests, differential thermal analysis, thermal gravimetric analysis and thermodynamic evaluation. Robust copper-based brazes show potential for the use of sealing in SOFC applications. The brazes display desirable characteristics for sealing applications including the formation of chemically bonded braze joints, formation of a protective oxide barrier and high strength properties. Evidence of silicon diffusion into the YSZ may be problematic for long-term SOFC operation, however, development of a siliconfree braze has yielded excellent performance near that of the commercially available brazing powder.