Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item "AMBER LEAVES" FOR SOLO SITAR AND ELECTRONICS(2012) Regulski, Thomas; Delio, Thomas; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Amber Leaves is a composition for solo sitar and live electronics. The work constitutes a fusion between Western musical composition and Indian classical music, which I have been studying simultaneously for the past seven years. The sitar's music draws heavily upon its traditional performance technique, while also introducing a number of extended techniques developed specifically for this piece. Compositionally, I rely minimally on the tonal elements of Indian music, choosing instead an approach to tonality consistent with my recent work. The instrument is amplified by four loudspeakers, which are positioned in a square around the audience. At the same time, a microphone is picking up the sound and sending it to a computer, where it is modulated in various ways. Once processed, the computer sends the sound out to the same loudspeakers. The speakers themselves play an important role in the composition, as the sound is constantly moving from one to another. A large portion of the electronic processing occurs in a patch that I programmed in Max/MSP. The patch creates a variety of musical responses based on a real-time spectral analysis of the sitar performance. This initial process establishes a fundamental relationship between the synthesized sound and the sitar's music. Furthermore, I make use of the programming language Lisp to perform a number of algorithms that aid in the generation of these sounds.Item EFFECT OF LONG-TERM AGING ON LEAD-FREE SOLDER AND SURFACE FINISH(2017) Pandian, Guru Prasad; Pecht, Michael G; Das, Diganta; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Since 2006, commercial electronics manufacturers have been banned from using lead-based materials and other toxic materials in their products due to the RoHS directive from the European Union. This led to industries transitioning to lead-free materials to be used in solder and surface finishes of their products. Although all of commercial electronics industry has transitioned to lead-free materials, some of the reliability and safety critical products used in industries such as defense, aerospace, automobile, and healthcare sectors are still exempted from the lead-free regulation. These industries are hesitant to transition to lead-free due to lack of data and hence the confidence on the long-term reliability of lead-free electronics. Known issues of tin whiskers and solder interconnect fatigue which can arise later in a products life have raised concerns related to the use of lead-free materials in electronic assemblies. To address these concerns, 10 year old lead-free systems were examined to determine the solder interconnect degradation level and tin whisker risk level.Item A particle erosion model of monocrystalline silicon for high heat flux microchannel heat exchangers(2017) Squiller, David; McCluskey, Patrick; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)As package-level heat generation pushes past 1 kW/cm3 in various military, aerospace, and commercial applications, new thermal management technologies are needed to maximize efficiency and permit advanced power electronic devices to operate closer to their inherent electrical limit. In an effort to align with the size, weight and performance optimization of high temperature electronics, cooling channels embedded directly into the backside of the chip or substrate significantly reduce thermal resistances by minimizing the number of thermal interfaces and distance the heat must travel. One implementation of embedded cooling considers microfluidic jets that directly cool the backside of the substrate. However, as fluid velocities exceed 20 m/s the potential for particle erosion becomes a significant reliability threat. While numerous particle erosion models exist, seldom are the velocities, particle sizes, materials and testing times in alignment with those present in embedded cooling systems. This research fills the above-stated gaps and culminates in a calibrated particle-based erosion model for single crystal silicon. In this type of model the mass of material removed due to a single impacting particle of known velocity and impact angle is calculated. Including this model in commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes, such as ANSYS FLUENT, can enable erosion predictions in a variety of different microfluidic geometries. First, a CFD model was constructed of a quarter-symmetry impinging jet. Lagrangian particle tracking was used to identify localized particle impact characteristics such as impact velocity, impact angle and the percentage of entrained particle that reach the surface. Next, a slurry erosion jet-impingement test apparatus was constructed to gain insight into the primary material removal mechanisms of silicon under slurry flow conditions. A series of 14 different experiments were performed to identify the effect of jet velocity, particle size, particulate concentration, fluid viscosity and time on maximum erosion depth and volume of material removed. Combining the experimental erosion efforts with the localized particle impact characteristics from the CFD model enabled the previously developed Huang et al. cutting erosion model to be extended to new parameter and application ranges. The model was validated by performing CFD erosion simulations that matched with the experimental test cases in order to compare one-dimensional erosion rates. An impact dampening coefficient was additionally proposed to account for slight deviations between the CFD erosion predictions and experimental erosion rates. The product of this research will ultimately enable high fidelity erosion predictions specifically in mission-critical military, commercial and aerospace applications.Item The Effect of Package Geometry on Moisture Driven Degradation of Polymer Aluminum Capacitors(2016) Bevensee, Helmut Manfred; Azarian, Michael H.; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Polymer aluminum electrolytic capacitors were introduced to provide an alternative to liquid electrolytic capacitors. Polymer electrolytic capacitor electric parameters of capacitance and ESR are less temperature dependent than those of liquid aluminum electrolytic capacitors. Furthermore, the electrical conductivity of the polymer used in these capacitors (poly-3,4ethylenedioxithiophene) is orders of magnitude higher than the electrolytes used in liquid aluminum electrolytic capacitors, resulting in capacitors with much lower equivalent series resistance which are suitable for use in high ripple-current applications. The presence of the moisture-sensitive polymer PEDOT introduces concerns on the reliability of polymer aluminum capacitors in high humidity conditions. Highly accelerated stress testing (or HAST) (110ºC, 85% relative humidity) of polymer aluminum capacitors in which the parts were subjected to unbiased HAST conditions for 700 hours was done to understand the design factors that contribute to the susceptibility to degradation of a polymer aluminum electrolytic capacitor exposed to HAST conditions. A large scale study involving capacitors of different electrical ratings (2.5V – 16V, 100µF – 470 µF), mounting types (surface-mount and through-hole) and manufacturers (6 different manufacturers) was done to determine a relationship between package geometry and reliability in high temperature-humidity conditions. A Geometry-Based HAST test in which the part selection limited variations between capacitor samples to geometric differences only was done to analyze the effect of package geometry on humidity-driven degradation more closely. Raman spectroscopy, x-ray imaging, environmental scanning electron microscopy, and destructive analysis of the capacitors after HAST exposure was done to determine the failure mechanisms of polymer aluminum capacitors under high temperature-humidity conditions.Item COPPER CORROSION IN THE FLOWERS OF SULFER TEST ENVIRONMENT(2015) Mahadeo, Dinesh Michael; Pecht, Michael G; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Sulfur, present in the environment in the form of sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, can produce failure in electronics. In particular, copper, which is used extensively in electronic products, is subject to corrosion in the presence of sulfur. This thesis examines the corrosion of copper under the Flowers of Sulfur (FoS) test at varying temperatures and durations. The FoS test setup, described in ASTM B809, was initially designed to evaluate surface finish porosity, but this setup may have boarder application. To expand the applicability of the FoS test, it is important to characterize the test environment. To this end, a systematic study of copper corrosion was conducted through weight gain measurements of copper coupons that were subjected to FoS test environments. From the test results, a model was developed that correlates copper sulfide thickness to temperature and time under the FoS test. This model can be used to determine test conditions given a target field environment.Item Response and Durability of Large Radius of Gyration Structures Subjected to Biaxial Vibration(2013) Ernst, Matthew Ross; Dasgupta, Abhijit; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Multiaxial vibration tests were conducted using an electrodynamic shaker capable of controlled vibration in six degrees of freedom. The test specimen consisted of six large inductors insertion mounted on a printed wiring board. Average damage accumulation rate was measured for random excitation in-plane, out-of-plane, and both directions simultaneously. Under simultaneous biaxial excitation, the damage rate was found to be 2.2 times larger than the sum of the in-plane and out-of-plane rates. The conclusion was that multiple-step single-degree-of-freedom testing can significantly overestimate the durability of some structures in a multiaxial environment. To examine the mechanics behind this phenomenon, the response of a simple rod structure was analyzed with the finite element method. Axial vibrations, which produce negligible stress on their own, were found to contribute significant additional stress when combined with transverse vibration. This additional stress contribution was found to be highly dependent on the frequency ratio and phase relationship between the two participating axes.Item IMPACT OF DUST ON THE RELIABILITY OF PRINTED CIRCUIT ASSEMBLIES(2013) Song, Bo; Pecht, Michael G; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Dust is a ubiquitous component of the environments in which we live and work. It can deposit on printed circuit assembly to act as a source of ionic contamination. Two common consequences of dust contaminations in the printed circuit boards are loss of impedance (i.e., loss of surface insulation resistance) and electrochemical migration between traces and component leads. Both failure mechanisms involve the contamination forming a current leakage path on a printed circuit board. Based on studies on ionic contaminations, researchers have argued that the impact of dust in these two failure mechanisms is dependent on its pH, its hygroscopic compositions, and the critical relative humidity of the salts in it. However, due to the lack of experimental results and the complexity of dust compositions, the argument is not substantiated. Very few papers concerning the impact of different natural dusts on these two failure mechanisms can be found in the literature. In practice, mixtures of Arizona dust and salts are used as a substitute for dust in experiments. In this research, natural dusts were collected from four locations: natural outdoor and indoor dust samples from Massachusetts, U.S., natural outdoor dust from Tianjin, China, and the ISO standard test dust (Arizona test dust). Loss of impedance in dust contaminated printed circuit boards was investigated under controlled temperature (20ºC to 60ºC) and relative humidity (50% to 95%) ranges. The impact of dust on electrochemical migration and corrosion was evaluated under temperature-humidity-bias tests (50ºC, 90% RH, and 10 VDC). In addition to the conventional DC measurement where only resistive data can be obtained, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were adopted to obtain nonlinear equivalent circuit models of the electrochemical process, which helps to understand the underlying physics-of-failure. The variation of impedance with relative humidity exhibited a transition range. Below the range, the impedance was constant, and above it, the impedance degraded by orders of magnitude. The value of the transition range decreased with an increase of dust deposition density. The equivalent circuit modeling showed that the dominant resistive path gradually shifted from the bulk to the interfacial with the increase of temperature from 20 ºC to 60 ºC. There were big variations among different dusts, which were quantified using the degradation factor introduced in the research, the critical transition range, and time-to-failure. This result demonstrated that a single salt or a mixture of compounds can not be representative of all dusts. It also indicated that using the ISO standard test dust in place of natural dust samples for reliability evaluation could lead to inaccurate results. Dust should be collected from the field in order to evaluate its impact. It is showed in this thesis that some critical characteristics of dust can be used to classify different dusts for the failure mechanisms of interest. Moisture sorption capability of dust can be used to classify different dusts regarding the loss of impedance failure. The dust with the highest moisture sorption capability had the highest degradation factor. Ion species/concentration or conductivity of dust aqueous solution can be used to classify dust regarding the electrochemical migration related failures. Dust with the highest ion concentration and conductivity had the lowest time-to-failure. The underlying principals behind those critical characteristics were described and discussed based on the physics-of-failure.Item Detection of Interconnect Failure Precursors using RF Impedance Analysis(2010) Kwon, Daeil; Pecht, Michael G; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Many failures in electronics result from the loss of electrical continuity of common board-level interconnects such as solder joints. Measurement methods based on DC resistance such as event detectors and data-loggers have long been used by the electronics industry to monitor the reliability of interconnects during reliability testing. DC resistance is well-suited for characterizing electrical continuity, such as identifying an open circuit, but it is not useful for detecting a partially degraded interconnect. Degradation of interconnects, such as cracking of solder joints due to fatigue or shock loading, usually initiates at an exterior surface and propagates towards the interior. A partially degraded interconnect can cause the RF impedance to increase due to the skin effect, a phenomenon wherein signal propagation at frequencies above several hundred MHz is concentrated at the surface of a conductor. Therefore, RF impedance exhibits greater sensitivity compared to DC resistance in detecting early stages of interconnect degradation and provides a means to prevent and predict an important cause of electronics failures. This research identifies the applicability of RF impedance as a means of a failure precursor that allows for prognostics on interconnect degradation based on electrical measurement. It also compares the ability of RF impedance with that of DC resistance to detect early stages of interconnect degradation, and to predict the remaining life of an interconnect. To this end, RF impedance and DC resistance of a test circuit were simultaneously monitored during interconnect stress testing. The test vehicle included an impedance-controlled circuit board on which a surface mount component was soldered using two solder joints at the end terminations. During stress testing, the RF impedance exhibited a gradual non-linear increase in response to the early stages of solder joint cracking while the DC resistance remained constant. The gradual increase in RF impedance was trended using prognostic algorithms in order to predict the time to failure of solder joints. This prognostic approach successfully predicted solder joint remaining life with a prediction error of less than 3%. Furthermore, it was demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally that the RF impedance analysis was able to distinguish between two competing interconnect failure mechanisms: solder joint cracking and pad cratering. These results indicate that RF impedance provides reliable interconnect failure precursors that can be used to predict interconnect failures. Since the performance of high speed devices is adversely affected by early stages of interconnect degradation, RF impedance analysis has the potential to provide improved reliability assessment for these devices, as well as accurate failure prediction for current and future electronics.Item DEVELOPMENT OF DIAGNOSTIC AND PROGNOSTIC METHODOLOGIES FOR ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS BASED ON MAHALANOBIS DISTANCE(2009) Kumar, Sachin; Pecht, Michael; Reliability Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Diagnostic and prognostic capabilities are one aspect of the many interrelated and complementary functions in the field of Prognostic and Health Management (PHM). These capabilities are sought after by industries in order to provide maximum operational availability of their products, maximum usage life, minimum periodic maintenance inspections, lower inventory cost, accurate tracking of part life, and no false alarms. Several challenges associated with the development and implementation of these capabilities are the consideration of a system's dynamic behavior under various operating environments; complex system architecture where the components that form the overall system have complex interactions with each other with feed-forward and feedback loops of instructions; the unavailability of failure precursors; unseen events; and the absence of unique mathematical techniques that can address fault and failure events in various multivariate systems. The Mahalanobis distance methodology distinguishes multivariable data groups in a multivariate system by a univariate distance measure calculated from the normalized value of performance parameters and their correlation coefficients. The Mahalanobis distance measure does not suffer from the scaling effect--a situation where the variability of one parameter masks the variability of another parameter, which happens when the measurement ranges or scales of two parameters are different. A literature review showed that the Mahalanobis distance has been used for classification purposes. In this thesis, the Mahalanobis distance measure is utilized for fault detection, fault isolation, degradation identification, and prognostics. For fault detection, a probabilistic approach is developed to establish threshold Mahalanobis distance, such that presence of a fault in a product can be identified and the product can be classified as healthy or unhealthy. A technique is presented to construct a control chart for Mahalanobis distance for detecting trends and biasness in system health or performance. An error function is defined to establish fault-specific threshold Mahalanobis distance. A fault isolation approach is developed to isolate faults by identifying parameters that are associated with that fault. This approach utilizes the design-of-experiment concept for calculating residual Mahalanobis distance for each parameter (i.e., the contribution of each parameter to a system's health determination). An expected contribution range for each parameter estimated from the distribution of residual Mahalanobis distance is used to isolate the parameters that are responsible for a system's anomalous behavior. A methodology to detect degradation in a system's health using a health indicator is developed. The health indicator is defined as the weighted sum of a histogram bin's fractional contribution. The histogram's optimal bin width is determined from the number of data points in a moving window. This moving window approach is utilized for progressive estimation of the health indicator over time. The health indicator is compared with a threshold value defined from the system's healthy data to indicate the system's health or performance degradation. A symbolic time series-based health assessment approach is developed. Prognostic measures are defined for detecting anomalies in a product and predicting a product's time and probability of approaching a faulty condition. These measures are computed from a hidden Markov model developed from the symbolic representation of product dynamics. The symbolic representation of a product's dynamics is obtained by representing a Mahalanobis distance time series in symbolic form. Case studies were performed to demonstrate the capability of the proposed methodology for real time health monitoring. Notebook computers were exposed to a set of environmental conditions representative of the extremes of their life cycle profiles. The performance parameters were monitored in situ during the experiments, and the resulting data were used as a training dataset. The dataset was also used to identify specific parameter behavior, estimate correlation among parameters, and extract features for defining a healthy baseline. Field-returned computer data and data corresponding to artificially injected faults in computers were used as test data.Item Some mechanics challenges and solutions in flexible electronics(2009) Tucker, Matthew Brody; Li, Teng; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Flexible electronics is an emerging field with potential applications such as large area flexible displays, thin film solar panels, and smart prosthesis, to name a few. Promising future aside, there are challenges associated with flexible electronics including high deformability requirements, needs for new manufacturing techniques and high performance permeation barriers. This thesis aims to explore possible solutions to address these challenges. First, a thin stiff film patterned with circular holes is proposed as a deformable platform to be used in flexible electronics in either component and circuit level. Second, we explore possible pathways to improve the quality of transfer printing, a nanofabrication technique that can potentially enable roll-to-roll printing of flexible devices. Third, we investigate the failure mechanism of multilayer permeation barriers for flexible electronics and offer an improved design to achieve better mechanical reliability.