Digital Commons Network^™

Zip Shoes, Derek Ford, Garret Freund

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

For our honors project we intend to create a new urban mobility solution. They are called Zip Shoes; they will be a pair of shoes with built in propulsion. We plan to use our cumulative engineering knowledge to modify an existing pair of shoes such that they can safely propel the user on wheels. We hope to achieve this by adding an electric drive train and necessary structural components onto the shoes. We are pursuing this project because we have seen the popularity of other electronically driven personal transportation devices. These include the hover board, electric skateboards, and electric scooters. …

Recycled Printer Filament, Charlotte Hyland, Troy D. Molinar

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of recycling PLA filament for 3D printing on its material properties. After examining these effects, PLA and carbon fiber additives were mixed with recycled PLA pellets in different ratios to attempt to regain material properties lost in the recycling process. To complete these findings, an experiment was design and executed.

The research found that tensile strength during multiple iterations of recycling remained mostly unaffected, however, the strain degraded exponentially. In the PLA additive study, high ratios of PLA additive were able to increase the strength and strain properties of the …

Ballistic Impact Mitigation Pad, Adam Pianalto, Nathan Mayer, Wyatt Smith, Nick Green, Douglas Wild

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In our senior design project we have decided to work under Dr. Jon Gerhardt on creating a gel pad to mitigate blunt force behind bulletproof vests. Extensive research on injury, materials, manufacturing methods, and NIJ standards was completed during this project. Through the use of advanced modeling software and additive manufacturing, we prototyped a functioning pad to test and compare to a pad that is currently available in today's market. The results proved to be very successful, but there are many areas to improve upon down the road.

Golf Club Cleaner, Owen Roach, Chris Wertenberger, Michael Skerlong

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Cleaning golf clubs can be a tedious process, however a necessary one to maintain equipment. Clubs are normally cleaned by filling a bucket with soap and water, soaking all the clubs to be cleaned, then scrubbing each one individually. An automatic club cleaner would make this process much easier and more enjoyable. Using electric motors, the club cleaner would have spinning brushes in soap and water to quickly and easily clean the club head. The machine would have different sections for cleaning the club head, polishing the club face, and cleaning the grip. The cleaner should be inexpensive and easy …

Innovated Manual Wheelchair Propulsion, Jacob Eveleth, Abigail Steineman, James Murray, Garrett Best

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of this project is to provide a manual wheelchair propulsion system that provides an easier way of moving the chair for the user. Our already-defined set of constraints and goals provides a clear end-goal for our group in accomplishing this task. We plan to have a 3D CAD model of the design by the end of the Spring 2022 semester. The first half of the Fall 2022 semester will be dedicated to developing a plan for prototyping, and the second half of the semester we plan to have the prototype created for use. So far, we have utilized …

Refrigeration & Pressure Circuits For The Test Apparatus On Triaxial Properties Of Polymer Foams At Arctic Temperatures, Nathaniel Ackerman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of this project is to modify the previous testing apparatus used by Dr. M. Hoo Fatt for exploration of Crushing Behavior of Polymer Foams in Sandwich Structures Operating in Arctic Regions commissioned by the Office of Naval Research and performed under the University of Akron’s Mechanical Engineering testing facilities. To do this, it is required to design a system capable of operating at a constant temperature during a testing cycle, reaching down to -60⁰C. This apparatus must also be compatible with prior equipment, facilities, persons, samples, and media.

Primarily, a copper-tube refrigeration coil design was considered to lead …

Zips Racing Electric 2022 Brakes Subsystem Design, Nicholas Thomas

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will include the design, manufacture, and assembly of the entire brakes subsystem for the Zips Racing Electric (ZRE) 2022 car. Goals of the brakes system include a lightweight, modular, machinable, and rigid design. The project will begin in the Fall semester with the design of the pedals and rotors as well as calculations to specify master cylinders, calipers, pads, etc. Software such as SolidWorks CAD, SolidWorks FEA, and Mastercam CAM will be employed. Next, the second semester will involve manufacturing or purchasing necessary components. Prototype pedals will be manufactured for physical testing.

The project will be completed individually. …

Energy Analysis Of Heating, Ventilation, And Air Conditioning Systems, Erica Ferguson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project studied Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems for commercial buildings. I completed an energy model Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department in West Virginia. This building’s HVAC has been completed by the consulting engineering firm: Scheeser Buckley Mayfield. I intern at this company, so they allowed me to use their original design as a basis for comparison. Load calculations, utility costs, energy consumption, and carbon footprint were derived from this energy analysis. The energy model compared three systems: variable air volume (VAV) with electric reheat, variable air volume with hydronic reheat, and variable refrigerant volume (VRV). Based on the …

Sintering Of 3-D Printed Metals, Adam Shuppe, John Griffiths

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

There is a 3-D printer which prints metals such as 17-4 PH. In this project, we will learn how to use the machine to print samples, create a sintering graph for the material, and compare the properties with materials sintered using the machine. We will try to get as close as possible to the properties of the samples sintered using the machine. There will be a lot of samples made and tested, and we will learn how to use a testing machine and all other testing equipment in the department.

Chemical Clean Automated Loader, Jordyn Bryner

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

TTM Technologies (TTM) is a global printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer. The work described in this report was completed in the TTM North Jackson, Ohio location. This plant focuses primarily on the manufacturing of rigid and rigid-flex PCBs for the aerospace and defense industry. TTM North Jackson has an ongoing labor dependency issue due to the shortage of workers the nation is facing. To solve this problem, TTM has focused the efforts of their new engineers and interns on automating processes that are labor dependent. The goal is to provide design guidance to be used later by TTM to automate …

Schaeffler F-250 Bev Conversion: Power Electronics, Leslie Sawyer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This report shows the work that was done on the power electronics system in the industry sponsored Schaeffler demonstration truck project. The goal of the project was to convert a combustion Ford F250 into a battery electric vehicle, while using as much Schaeffler technology as possible. After the vehicle is converted it will be used as a demonstration vehicle to show potential investors. While this project is still in progress, the work that was done during this time was substantial to the development of this project. Progress that has been made on the power electronics system includes developments in selecting …

Npt Test Machine, Lauren Cash

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Located at the Research facility at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, the Non-Pneumatic Tire (NPT) Program is currently in the prototype phase. However, airless tire structures are quickly gaining popularity as an alternative to a traditional pneumatic tire. The NPT Test Machine is a measurement fixture that will perform a series of evaluations to determine the stiffness of an NPT; this will allow the program to expand and evolve more rapidly into a manufacturing phase. In this Senior Design Project, a complete test solution was researched, designed, built, programmed, and validated so that data can be collected, and tires …

Schaeffler E-Motor, Jenne Harasin, Zachary Zatta, Christopher Tvaroch

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will be focusing on the work accomplished at Schaeffler to convert an existing internal combustion engine, Ford F-250 truck, into a battery electric vehicle. This report focuses on the vehicle's integration with an emphasis on the bearing design, e-Axle housing's method for mounting, bus bar design, resolver design, differential options, wiring for low and high voltage, and oil pump and cooling system for e-Beam. The bearings for the differential as well as the power transmission system from the electric motor to the e-Axle will need to be specified. By late summer 2022, Schaeffler will have a working prototype …

Grinding And Super-Finishing Test Machine Project, Michael Simon

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

A research project in The University of Akron to study grinding and super-finishing of silicon nitride ceramic was initiated by Dr. Siamak Farhad and sponsored by the Timken Company, with the assistance of undergraduate students Michael Simon, Ryan Hosso and Mathew Rozmajzl. The study required analysis of forces and scratches generated during grinding processes of silicon nitride samples. A testing assembly was designed and constructed to record the forces generated during grinding and super-finishing of silicon nitride samples in a computer-numerical-control machine. Silicon nitride samples were subjected to desired grinding and super-finishing operations and all forces generated during the process …

Adjust-A-Ramp, Taylor Sharrits, Courtney Banks, Emily Beck, Jazmin Buenrostro

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Adjust-A-Ramp is a portable ramp designed to ensure the safety of consumers and prevention of damage to cars, specifically towards low profile cars. A low-profile vehicle includes any vehicle that has a clearance off the ground of 6.5 inches or less. Advantages of low-profile vehicles include improved handling, better braking, increased fuel efficiency, increased stability, and an overall luxury aesthetic. The reduced tire size increases grip on smooth surfaces with better wheel response, creating a fast, more efficient ride. The simple tire tread patterns and the stiff sidewalls allow for lower rolling resistance which increases fuel economy. The Adjust-A-Ramp can …

Human Powered Vehicle Team Challenge, Sydney Nedlik, Spencer Brodie, Maria Griffin, William Schell, Ryan Serraglio

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Design and build a Human Powered Vehicle in a team of five. Compete at the ASME HPVC competition in March of 2022. Re-establish the Human Powered Vehicle Team at the University of Akron.

Quickcut Waterjet Cutter, Kennedy Dunn, Jacob Storrow, Benjamin Laughrey

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The QuickCut Waterjet Cutter was created in 2019 as a senior design project. This is the third iteration of the waterjet cutter. The goal of this project was to create an operable CNC waterjet cutter that is able to cut 1/16” tensile specimens consisting of nonferrous metal or plastic. This machine will be utilized in the Manufacturing Laboratory at the University of Akron to provide education to interested students on the waterjet cutting process, how it operates, and industrial application of the technology. Waterjet cutting is a subtractive manufacturing process which is recognized for its specialized applications such as cutting …

Design Of Composite Joints Using Machine Learning Approaches, Natalie Richards

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Adhesively bonded joints have an advantage in joining dissimilar engineering materials due to their high structural efficiency and being lightweight. These joints are either between two opposite laminates or between a composite laminate and a metal structure. The aerospace and automotive industries have seen an increase in utilizing these adhesive joints in their engineering applications. Joint strength along with the failure mode (adhesive, delamination, etc.) is the most important parameter to evaluate when understanding the capability of the adhesive joint. In this paper, a regression and a classification machine learning (ML) model are utilized to predict the failure load and …

Induction Brazing, Austin Squire, Scott Compton, Logan Hathaway, Michael Fleming

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Our team would like to research and explore ways of designing a portable device that uses induction heating/brazing to connect two exhaust pipes together.

Dupont Seal Mold Assembly Machine, Brett Biederman, Craig Hanchett, Matthew Chilton

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Seal Assembly Machine is a custom-built device that is designed to seat a thin polymer part between two mating pieces of metal tooling. To meet the specifications of the sponsor, the Seal Assembly machine must perform its function more quickly and accurately than manual labor at the same task. At the time of compiling this report, the machine is not yet functional due to time constraints.

Nject-3d, Kody Rinkevich, Logan Henderson, Nathaniel Anderson, James Patton, Cameron Wilson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

NJECT-3D is a student initiated design project where the utilities of a 3D printer and an injection molding machine are integrated into one cohesive unit. The goal of our project was to test the limits of rapid prototyping by utilizing printed molds. We developed an automated system where a mold can be printed on a 3D printer, translated from said 3D printer to an injection molder, then compressed and injected at said injection molder to output a finalized injection molded part.

Multi-Platform Suppressor Design Project, Wyatt A. Openshaw, Alex B. Chiples

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Multi-Platform suppressor is a design that is meant to bridge the gap in the suppressor market by being compatible and configurable with both rifle and pistol platform firearms. In the specific design and prototype referenced in this report, the Multi-Platform suppressor was designed to be used with 9mm pistol and 5.56x45mm rifle calibers with safety, effectiveness, and practicality in mind. To achieve this, the suppressor is configurable, utilizing a Nielsen device in the pistol configuration and a solid mount adapter that replaces the Nielson device piston and spring while in the rifle configuration. This allows the suppressor to retain …

Photogrammetry Booth, Chidubem Igweagu

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This is a research type project that involves design, build and simulation sponsored by a faculty member in the Mechanical Engineering department. The title of the proposed project is Photogrammetry_Booth. A photo booth to have pets immobilized by taking an attention needs to be designed and manufactured. 4-6 cameras need to be installed to take photos simultaneously to represent the front, sides, back and arbitrary sides of a pet. An Arduino board and tablet will be installed to control cameras and user interface. The booth is mainly built by T-slotted frames and many functional and decorative parts will be precisely …