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Mechanical Engineering

The University of Akron

Mechanical

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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Theoretical Design Of A 360 Degree Pendulum Ride, John William Elliott Jan 2021

Theoretical Design Of A 360 Degree Pendulum Ride, John William Elliott

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project uses several areas of study: mechanical physics/design of moving parts, electrical power, and human comfort. It is based on the pendulum ride at Cedar Point called "maXair." One of the goals with this project is to create a theoretical, simpler version of a 360 Degree Pendulum Ride that operates on the same principles of a conventional pendulum rides. The velocity, forces on the shaft in the middle of the ride, the accelerations, the g force on the riders, and all the other forces associated with the pendulum ride were analyzed as well.


Tabletop Mechanical Tester, Jamie Dombroski, Brian English, Richard Leffler, Andrew Shirk Jan 2020

Tabletop Mechanical Tester, Jamie Dombroski, Brian English, Richard Leffler, Andrew Shirk

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The need for hands-on and face-to-face experiences in the engineering classroom is very great. The equations, principles, and concepts can all be learned, but without the visual and tactile application, these don’t always sink in or become concrete. A small-scale tensile test machine was designed, sourced, manufactured, and tested for the purpose of being applied in classroom settings to provide this experience to engineering students. Extensive research was performed concerning tensile machines on the market, the essential elements of which are the load cell, grips, crosshead, extensometer, motor, and frame. The raw materials for the frame were purchased and drawings …


Mini Baja Frame Analysis, Jacob Swanson Jan 2020

Mini Baja Frame Analysis, Jacob Swanson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of our senior design project is to optimize the Baja frame to reduce its weight and material cost while keeping the required rigidity. Through force analysis we will be able to determine if any rigidity is lost by removing a set of tubes (figure 1), along with the other forces seen by the frame. If it is found that the frame rigidity is still within the determined factor of safety, 2, then we will be able to reduce the frame weight and the number of tubes that make up the frame. Along with force analysis, we will use …


Reactive Archey Target Design Team "Mimic", Brandon Croyle, Jacob Boss, David Rodgers, Austin Wivell Jan 2019

Reactive Archey Target Design Team "Mimic", Brandon Croyle, Jacob Boss, David Rodgers, Austin Wivell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This design project will aim to provide archery hunters with a platform to simulate shooting at string jumping deer. String jumping refers to a spooked deer hearing the snap of a bow string and instintivly ducking up to ten inches. This often results in wounded or missed deer. We will design and build a control system that uses the sound of a bow string as a trigger to operate a mechanical target system. A sound sensor will mimic a deer’s hearing in close range hunting and then send a signal to the mechanical system to replicate the dropping motion of …


Fatigue Tester, Nicholas Fazio Jan 2019

Fatigue Tester, Nicholas Fazio

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this project is to combine all my experience, knowledge and skills that I’ve acquired over the years as a Mechanical Engineering Technology student to completely design and build a fatigue tester. This will give me valuable experience in the process of designing and assembling a product and give me a great example to add to my portfolio. The tester will be completed through a process of researching design and modeling. Once everything is properly calculated and designed the parts that can be fabricated will. The rest will be ordered and then everything will be assembled. Upon completion, …


Dynamic Mechanical Analysis Piezoelectric Design, Letia Bass, Michaela N. Mccrae, Ethan W. Goodman, Joesph W. Mazur Jan 2018

Dynamic Mechanical Analysis Piezoelectric Design, Letia Bass, Michaela N. Mccrae, Ethan W. Goodman, Joesph W. Mazur

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project is a continuation into the design and implementation of a Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) device that will be used to conduct high frequency testing on tire tread compounds. The design requirements necessary were to design a device that will produce a target frequency of 10 kHz with a 0.05% strain, while being at room temperature. The 3-D model developed by the previous year’s students was improved upon and new parts were designed as well. The assemblies (most importantly the connector piece) were 3-D modeled using Creo Parametric and analyzed with COMSOL Multiphysics. A new design involving flexures was …


Instruction Pamphlet Insertion Machine, Jim Griggs, Scott Miller, Michael Kubala Jan 2017

Instruction Pamphlet Insertion Machine, Jim Griggs, Scott Miller, Michael Kubala

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Weaver Industries in Akron, Ohio provided us with our senior design project. Weaver Industries seeks individuals with disabilities and provides them with job opportunities. One of their products is a “Kong” dog toy. As of now, the instruction pamphlet that comes with this dog toy is placed into each piece of packaging individually by hand. We are tasked with automating this process. Two years ago, a group of students worked on this project, but the reliability of their prototype was only around 60-70%. Then last year, another group of students worked on this project, but again, the reliability of their …