Engineering Commons^™

Boat-Lift Design And Analysis, Nathan Schick

Honors Theses

A current in production 6000 lb. rated boat-lift is being sold at “Great Lake Lifts”. The lift was tested experimentally and proved to hold at least 8000 lb. The design team successfully modeled the current lift on Ansys to help the customer understand where the weakest points in the design were. Following the creation of the initial lift design, the design team proposed and tested modifications that could be made in order to make the lift more structurally sound. The initial lift had a maximum deflection of 0.43846 inches, a maximum stress of 15880 psi, and a safety factor of …

Low-Cost Control Engineering Experiments, Megan Arduin

Honors Theses

The disciplines found within the area of motion and controls is a vital element of each engineer’s education. The ability to understand and then control dynamic systems is a fundamental skill required for many working engineers today. The aim of this project is to further develop the tools and methods available to teach and prepare engineering students to effectively design control system architecture, and then successfully implement their design into real world systems. The main goal is to design an apparatus that can be used to teach control system methods and has an affordable price. There are few experiments where …

Finite Element Analysis Of Tibiofemoral Contact Mechanics, Erika Fojtik

Masters Theses

The effects of lateral meniscus posterior root avulsions (LMPRA) have been studied in combination with meniscofemoral ligament (MFL) deficiencies. The purpose of this study is to validate a set of biomechanical finite element analyses against previously reported experimental results to predict the contact area and peak contact pressure in the lateral tibiofemoral compartment of the knee during lateral meniscal root avulsions in combination with MFL deficiencies. Patient specific MRI data was used to develop finite element models for three distinct testing conditions: 1) intact, 2) lateral meniscus posterior root avulsion, and 3) lateral meniscus posterior root avulsion with deficient meniscofemoral …

Model Predictive Power Management Of A Hybrid Electric Propulsion System For Aircraft, Tyler J. Wall

Masters Theses

This work presents the switched optimal power flow control for an aircraft with a hybrid electric propulsion system. The propulsion system is a switched system that operates in either of two modes: (i) battery discharging and electric motor propelling and (ii) battery charging and electric motor generating. The aircraft model and components that form the hybrid propulsion system are modeled as either an algebraic power source/sink or as a dynamic model with appropriate power and state interconnections. With the system model defined, a model predictive control power management strategy is set fourth which minimizes a performance index that includes altitude …

Development Of Empirical And Virtual Tools For The Study Of Bicycle Safety, Brent Kostich

Masters Theses

Bicycles have been used as a form of non-motorized transportation for several hundred years. Recently, their use in the transportation realm has been reinvigorated because of growing population densities and efforts to improve environmental sustainability. However, a large deterrent for public use of the bicycle is concern over its level of safety in the transportation environment. The goal of this thesis is to develop two complementary research tools that advance the study of bicycle safety factors.

First, an instrumented probe bicycle (IPB) is constructed from the ground up. The bicycle is outfitted with an array of sensors that are integrated …

Atmospheric Microbial Community Sampling System For Varying Altitude Collection, Kenneth David Domingue

Masters Theses

The study of airborne microbial communities in the vertical atmosphere is an area of research in which very little data has been collected and analyzed. Developing a vehicle to house biological sampling equipment that collects, and mitigates contamination is required by a team of biology researchers to perform sampling of atmospheric microbial communities. This study uses a sampler box that is attached to aerostatic vehicles: zero pressure balloons and tethered balloon/kite structures. Zero pressure balloons are used for sampling at altitudes above 150 m above sea level, and tethered balloon/kite structures are used for sampling at 30 m and 150 …

Investigation Of Measured Cane Vibrations For Prediction Of Blind Pedestrian Performance In Surface Preview Tasks, Aaron Dean

Masters Theses

The white cane is the primary navigation tool used by many blind pedestrians, but the basic design of the cane has not changed since the 1940s. A greater understanding of the factors affecting cane performance is essential in improving the design and performance of these canes. One aspect of performance is surface texture discrimination. A study is performed to determine the effect of cane rigidity and cane swipe speed on the ability of a user to select the rougher of two surfaces with different textures. Two methods are developed to select the rougher surface using only the measured cane vibration. …

A Virtual Reality Based Powered Wheelchair Simulator, Yuliia Sergeeva

Masters Theses

Power wheelchairs provide great assistance for people with locomotion disabilities. However, for those who have tremor, operation of the wheelchair can be challenging and result in a chance to get into an accident. The focus of this research project is to create a semi-virtual reality power wheelchair driving simulator that can be used for testing a notch filter for tremors in a safe laboratory environment and obtain data on human operator movements for future mathematical modeling. The simulator incorporates a realistic and immersive virtual environment and power wheelchair movement into it. For the experiment, a physical PWC joystick was connected …

A Meta-Analysis Of Energy Savings From Lighting Programs In Michigan, Teryila Ephraim Amough

Dissertations

In order to fill the gap in aggregates savings, the challenges faced by electric utilities for the demand of lighting energy are addressed by lighting efficiency programs. The shrinking capacity and electrical grid reliability call for improved ways to evaluate energy saving programs with evaluation methods that are robust in determining the impact of lighting programs. This study employed meta-analysis as an evaluation method to determine energy savings, impact, emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), pollutants, and health effects from lighting programs in Michigan. The findings of the study showed the programs impact in Hedges’ g of 0.36 for the overall …

Design Of A Cubesat Separation Mechanism, Ross Hiller

Honors Theses

CubeSats are compact, relatively inexpensive satellites that are often used for space research. In order to perform research related to electric propulsion devices, the Western Aerospace Launch Initiative (WALI) requires a medium-sized CubeSat capable of separating into two bodies while in orbit. Intentional separation is not common in CubeSats, so two original concepts were designed and simulated using 3D CAD and finite element analysis software. These designs were compared based on factors including weight, cost, size, and their potential to fail due to creation of debris or binding between components, in order to determine which will more effectively execute the …

Reprinter, Christian Brower

Honors Theses

Additive manufacturing (3D printing) is a rapidly growing technology, though, expensive printing filament and wasted material make it less affordable and an unsustainable process. The RePrinter combats these issues by recycling scrap 3D printed plastic parts and household plastics, such as pop bottles, and creates filament for fused deposition modeling (FDM). This product is a fully automated system which grinds, extrudes, and spools the filament for immediate use in FDM. The RePrinter works to control the extrusion speeds and tensions to optimize precise filament dimensions for quality 3D printing, while delivering the product in a timely cost effective manner.

Biogas Separator And Storage Tank, Brandon Nimtz

Honors Theses

The general concept of this project is to design, simulate, and build a biogas separator system that will also store the separated methane and carbon dioxide within pressure vessels. This system is constructed of many subcomponents that will combine to separate the biogas and store the methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). The components included in the project consist of a liquid-gas separator vessel, two heat exchangers, one methane gas compressor, and one pressure vessel each to hold methane and carbon dioxide each. While the base goal in this project was to design and simulate the necessary parts to theoretically …

Effect Of Design Parameters On Thermal Performance Of A Vane Type Disc Brake Rotor, Yogesh Satish Dalal

Masters Theses

The ever-increasing need of effective transportation puts automobile manufacturers in a situation of continuous improvement and innovate the safety systems. The brake system of an automobile has always been considered as one of the most critical active safety systems. Thermal characteristics of the brake are an important aspect to consider for brake disc durability and performance. The convective cooling of a brake disc is an important factor since design changes in the brake rotor can significantly improve cooling characteristics. The focus of this research is to study and optimize the disc brake rotor for a given heat dissipation rate and …