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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Optimized Tip Cooling Using Am Process, Alberto H. Gamez, Lourdes Sarmiento Martinez, Andrew Van Bogelen Dec 2021

Optimized Tip Cooling Using Am Process, Alberto H. Gamez, Lourdes Sarmiento Martinez, Andrew Van Bogelen

Mechanical Engineering

This Final Design Review (FDR) reports on the senior design project undertaken by our team of mechanical engineering seniors at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. This project seeks to use the additive manufacturing process to improve the existing design of a Taurus 60 gas turbine injector tip. The current injector tip is owned by Solar Turbines, a designer and manufacturer of gas turbines for electric generation, propulsion, as well as natural resource transportation. The challenge at hand is to design a new injector tip that will be reliable for at least 60,000 hours and provide ease of replacement, …


Thermal Vacuum Chamber Modification, Testing, And Analysis, Jared C. Lehmann Sep 2021

Thermal Vacuum Chamber Modification, Testing, And Analysis, Jared C. Lehmann

Master's Theses

This work discusses the modification and analysis of the Blue Thermal Vacuum Chamber (TVAC) located at the Space Environments Lab at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The modified design has a cylindrical test section and can accommodate 6U Cubesats or larger for educational or research purposes. The sizing process for the modified shroud cooling system and modular heating plates is discussed. The modified cooling system uses existing nitrogen plumbing into the chamber and control systems with a new copper shroud. The modified heating system uses modular heater plates, which utilize the existing three heater strips. The modified system …


Tensile Testing Environmental Chamber – Structural, Michael Ingel, Erik Soldenwagner, Austin Marshall, Lauren Schirle Jun 2021

Tensile Testing Environmental Chamber – Structural, Michael Ingel, Erik Soldenwagner, Austin Marshall, Lauren Schirle

Mechanical Engineering

Environmental chambers for tensile testing machines are used to study how a multitude of materials behave in extreme temperatures. These chambers provide the necessary information to innovate cutting edge technology for materials in fields such as aerospace. These chambers are often heavy and expensive requiring a significant amount of time and money just in the installation process alone. This report will serve to outline and define the design and fabrication of an environmental chamber, conducted by a team of four senior mechanical engineering students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The goals of the project include a low-weight …


Consumer-Ready Insulated Solar Electric Cooker, Simon Ford, Sachin Gokhale, Brendan Lynn, Richard Nguyen Jun 2021

Consumer-Ready Insulated Solar Electric Cooker, Simon Ford, Sachin Gokhale, Brendan Lynn, Richard Nguyen

Mechanical Engineering

An insulated solar electric cooker, or ISEC, converts solar energy into electricity to cook food, boil water, provide heat or even help charge batteries. In this project, the focus is an ISEC with a phase change material (PCM) that helps store heat when the solar energy input is minimal, such as after the sun has set. Although a successful ISEC already exists that utilizes PCM, this product can be improved in many ways. The specific revisions investigated in this report are the improvement of the thermal efficiency with the implementation of a vacuum-sealed outer pot, the reduction of the overall …


Experimental Investigation Of The Effects Of Acoustic Waves On Natural Convection Heat Transfer From A Horizontal Cylinder In Air, Katherina V. Prodanov Mar 2021

Experimental Investigation Of The Effects Of Acoustic Waves On Natural Convection Heat Transfer From A Horizontal Cylinder In Air, Katherina V. Prodanov

Master's Theses

Heat transfer is a critical part of engineering design, from the cooling of rocket engines to the thermal management of the increasingly dense packaging of electronic circuits. Even for the most fundamental modes of heat transfer, a topic of research is devoted to finding novel ways to improve it. In recent decades, investigators experimented with the idea of exposing systems to acoustic waves with the hope of enhancing thermal transfer at the surface of a body. Ultrasound has been applied with some success to systems undergoing nucleate boiling and in single-phase forced and free convection heat transfer in water. However, …


Tensile Environment Chamber, Cameron Ngai, Trent Hamilton, Mitchell Carroll, Jack Molitor Jan 2021

Tensile Environment Chamber, Cameron Ngai, Trent Hamilton, Mitchell Carroll, Jack Molitor

Mechanical Engineering

This project created the heating system, cooling system, and control system for an environmental chamber for a tensile test machine in the Cal Poly Composites Lab. This chamber allows for students to test material properties under a variety of thermal conditions. This project was done in collaboration with a team working on the structural aspect of the chamber. While consumer environmental chambers are on the market, they often cost more than $50,000. Additionally, our chamber conforms to further size and weight constraints. Because of this constraint, many conventional techniques and components used for these chambers are not feasible for our …