Engineering Commons^™

Drop Test Release Mechanism, Sophie M. Getty, Matthew A. Tichenor, Nash W. Levy, Connor D. Dilloughery

Mechanical Engineering

Many boxes for shipping undergo drop tests by the manufacturer to ensure their durability. Certain constraints are necessary to successfully carry out these tests such as not damaging the box prior to the drop and maintaining consistency throughout every drop.

Our team has designed a Drop Test Release Mechanism that addresses these constraints. It provides repetitive drops for different objects that vary in shape and size such as small electronics or parts. This device utilizes a soft-clamping mechanism that can release an object with minimal force applied onto it prior to drop. A frame made of 80/20 was designed to …

Jcati Carbon Fiber Recycler: Crusher System, Devin Riley

All Undergraduate Projects

With a substantial rise in Carbon Fiber use across all industries, the need for a way to recycle the waste has grown as well. A group of Mechanical Engineering Technology students at Central Washington University funded by the Joint Center for Aerospace Technology (JCATI) have created a machine to recycle waste wing trimmings from the Boeing company’s airplanes. This machine consists of 5 different sub-assemblies being the oven, crusher, gear train, conveyor, and shredder. The purpose of this project was to decrease the deflection in the crusher caused by bulging in the housing and movement of the bearings. To decrease …

Manual Material Handling Lift-Assist System For Occupational Exoskeleton, Erik Goes, Daniel Guthrie, Trevor Ward

Honors Capstones

It is no secret that lifting heavy objects is one of the premier causes of workplace injury, and the modern worker needs help to remain healthy. Workers need something they always have with them that makes their work safer as well as easier; our solution is an active lift-assist exoskeleton. The proposed exoskeleton design includes a military backpack exoskeleton frame, on which two actuators pull cables attached to end effectors that the operator will be holding. This system can adjust to conform to a wide variety of operator sizes, without restricting any of their range of motion. This leads to …

Cal Poly Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge 2022, Sangmin Sung, Eddy Rodriguez, Travis Welch, Jeremy Baechler, Kevin Pauls

Mechanical Engineering

In this report, the Featherweight Cycles design team puts forth the scope and overview of their design project, discusses background research and competitor analysis, and presents the project’s final design and manufacturing plans. The overall goal of this project is to fabricate and compete in the Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge, hosted by the National Fluid Power Association. To better define the design process, the team researched previous year’s designs from Cal Poly, as well as winning designs from the last two years to form a baseline of knowledge about competing schools’ designs. After researching multiple design paths, Featherweight Cycles chose …

Experimental Setup Of A Rapid Compression Machine For Spark Ignition Studies, Daniel Llaguno

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main objective of this thesis is to document the design and development of a rapid compression machine (RCM). A series of tests were performed to verify the operation of the system using the compression of air. Finally, an experiment was conducted to validate the auto-ignition temperature of DME under HCCI mode. Based on the first version of the RCM, improvements were made to speed up the compression process, and to create the conditions required for the auto-ignition of a DME-air mixture. The inlet diameter of the pneumatic actuation cylinder was increased to reduce the choking effect of the air …

Parametric Design Of Flywheel For An Electric Punch Press, Prashant Dhakal

Honors Theses

Almost all designs start with a design requirement. These may be weight, volume, clearance, and even custom calculations. Finding a solution that meets these requirements often involves tedious and time-consuming iterations. Once the solution has been found, the design must be optimized to find the best possible solution. Finding the ‘best possible design’ requires substantial time and effort dedicated to iterating and analyzing the potential model solutions. This is where Parametric design comes into play. The Parametric design aids in specifying the key parameters of the design and makes changes interactively, with the model updating automatically. The purpose of this …

Jcati - Drive System, Tim Boswell

All Undergraduate Projects

Each year, Mechanical Engineering Technology students receive a grant from The Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation (JCATI) to engineer a device that is capable of breaking down carbon fiber trimmings for recycling. The students who received the grant this year have redesigned portions of the existing system in an attempt to solve issues that have kept the system from working properly in the past. Though much collaboration between group members has been needed, each member has been responsible for their own portion of the project. The purpose of this portion of the project has been to address binding and …

Hydraulic Balsa Wood Rising Bridge, Kaitlyn Greenfield

All Undergraduate Projects

What is the solution to allowing tall vessels to navigate past a vehicle bridge that is less than 10 [ft] above the water? To answer this question, a balsa wood bridge was designed, constructed, and tested. The bridge needed to articulate by mechanical means, allow for travel through the bridge, and be able to withstand ample force while the main structure only being constructed of balsa wood and glue. The project was analyzed in sections. These sections include: the bridge structure and its members, the hydraulic lift, and the pins needed for the bridge and hydraulic lift to operate. The …

Articulated Balsa Wood Bridge, Isaac Chavez Ramirez

All Undergraduate Projects

The project chosen was the challenge of designing and constructing an articulating Balsa Wood Bridge that would withstand a minimum load of 18.9 kg. The first step was to find which design will best work for the requirements; a decision matrix has been used in this decision. Analyses were completed to find the geometry of each part that will support the load. The project construction was in sequences: the first sequence was the construction of each component, then the construction of 3 subassemblies, and finally was the construction of the entire project. The last part of the project was programming …

Nrj Rc Baja Vehicle Project - Transmission, Suspension, And Body Systems, Jeffrey Ryan Harn

All Undergraduate Projects

Students of Central Washington University’s Mechanical Engineering technology program were tasked with designing, manufacturing, and testing a remote-controlled scale vehicle for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Radio-Controlled (RC) Baja Car Contest sanctioned by Remotely Operated Auto Racers (ROAR). A team of three students was assembled and responsibility over the sections of the RC vehicle were divided amongst the three students. This report focuses on the design, manufacture, testing, and evaluation of the suspension and transmission systems of the RC vehicle. A suspension tower component and transmission housing assembly were conceived to satisfy the RC suspension and transmission systems. …

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.

Vibratory Tumbling Machine, Laurence William Duclos Iii, Aaron Phillip Shein, Jared Edward Nash

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this document is to highlight the overall Vibratory Tumbling Machine project background, objectives, concept design, final design, manufacturing, and design verification. This final design review outlines the process, creation, and testing of the chosen final design for this redesign of the vibratory tumbling machine. The FDR shows the steps the team took towards completing a CAD package and a verification prototype of the final design while adapting to COVID-19 restrictions.

Hydronic Service Valve Product Development, Mark Hunsaker

Construction Management

Since the inception of modern mechanical and HVAC systems, maintenance and repairs have been prevalent in both contracting and facility operations. The average life of HVAC equipment is fractional compared to the life of buildings as construction technologies improve. Traditionally, the serviceability of heating and cooling equipment has entailed the significant amounts of labor and materials to disruptively drain or freeze hydronic systems in order to cut in means of bypassing the main system, swapping out equipment, or repair. The intent of this project is to explore alternative methods to forgo the aforementioned negative impacts of service and to improve …

Adapting To Extreme Heat: Social, Atmospheric, And Infrastructure Impacts Of Air Conditioning In Megacities - The Case Of New York City, Harold Gamarro

Dissertations and Theses

Extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and intense in most large cities. Built-up surfaces also limit cooling mechanisms, leading to warmer conditions in cities, a phenomenon called the Urban Heat Island (UHI). This presents major challenges to reduce adverse health effects of hot weather, particularly in vulnerable populations like the elderly and low-income communities. Here we explore the overall impacts of increasing air conditioning (AC) system adoption in residences as an adaptive measure to reduce human health risks under heat waves, with New York City (NYC) as a case study. This study uses AC adoption data from the 2017 …

Jcati Composite Delaminator, Payden Coffman

All Undergraduate Projects

Improvements need to be made to the existing delaminator system designed to crush proprietary Boeing 777 composite material. The current design incorporates a hydraulic system to achieve the high loads needed to separate material layers. The new system will need to be able to apply the same loads while at the same time allowing for a constant feed of material through the system. To achieve this, a “gear-like” crushing system will be implemented that will apply a high enough radial load into the material that will achieve delamination equal or greater than the previous design while at the same time …

Outrigger Project, Jose Reyna, Tyler Hoffman

All Undergraduate Projects

Outrigger Project

Author: Jose Reyna (jose.reyna@cwu.edu)

Co-Author: Tyler Hoffman (tyler.hoffman@cwu.edu)

Mentors: Neil Hauff (hfhauff@gmail.com), Dr. Choi (Jeunghwan.choi@cwu.edu), Professor Pringle (Charles.pringle@cwu.edu), Professor Bramble (Tedman.bramble@cwu.edu), Dr. J (Craig.johnson@cwu.edu)

Abstract

Agricultural areas sometimes experience cold weather in early spring and risk damage to crops due to freezing. To combat this issue, farms can employ temporary fans to keep the blossoms from freezing. The design of a 17-foot-tall wind turbine mounted on 7-foot-wide trailer can help mix the warm air that’s above the wind turbine with the colder air that’s below to keep the crop from freezing. These wind turbines can produce …

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

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 …

The Mechanical Development For An Autonomous Forest Service Robot, James P. Walker

Honors College Theses

Georgia’s forests are under threat from numerous invasive species of plant, both herbaceous and woody. A primary factor in the invasive potential of any given non-native plant is the lack of natural predators and rapid reseed and regrowth cycles. To combat invasive plants, this thesis proposes an artificial, robotic predator to provide a means of controlling invasive species. Although autonomous robots are currently being developed for similar agricultural purposes, none have emerged for forestry related tasks, such as proposed in this work. The chassis, inspired by rocker bogie and similar suspension systems, has been redesigned to have eight wheels, to …

Baja Sae Ecvt Mechanical Design, Tyler Lee Connel, Will Daniel Antes, Matt Stephen Balboni, Benjamin James Colard, Julian Edward Finburgh

Mechanical Engineering

This objective of this project was to design, manufacture, and test the mechanical systems of an electronically-controlled continuously variable transmission (eCVT) for the Cal Poly Baja SAE vehicle.

R/C Mini Baja: Drivetrain, Kyle Aitken

All Undergraduate Projects

A device is needed that can power the back wheels of R/C car and allow it to drive smoothly. This drivetrain also has to transmit power to the axles in an acceptable height range to comply with the frame and suspension. The project was supported by a team member who designed the frame and suspension. The design of this project consists of two sub-assemblies that make up the drive train assembly. The transmission assembly uses gears to convert the rotational speed from the motor to the drive shaft. The gearbox assembly also uses gears and converts the rotational speed from …

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, …

Remotely Controlled Industrial Robotic Arm And Simulation Of Automated Thermal Furnace, Prince Mehandi Ratta

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The right execution of controllers ensures the correct analysis of information, generating efficient results and better optimizing the system. In this report, two controllers were designed. Firstly, a remotely controlled robotic arm, since there are no such type commercially available controllers. Moreover, robotic platforms are costly, so students and researchers are often unable to learn the concepts of programming industrial robots. This project makes a non-destructive, remotely-controlled robotic arm to better teach students and researchers about programming and control of robotic arms. Secondly, simulation of an automated thermal furnace for ArcelorMittal on SIMULINK, which is used for the annealing process …

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 …

Design Of A Robotic Cownose Ray, Mark Marzotto

Honors Theses

Nature often inspires advances in science and technology and a promising example of this is mimicking locomotion of underwater animals. The main ways in which manmade aquatic vehicles propel themselves are water jets and propellers, which are inconsistent with how underwater animals swim. The cownose ray displays very efficient thrust with low frequency strokes by using a combination of oscillations and undulations with its pectoral fins. The goal of this paper is to mechanically replicate the actual fin motion of the cownose ray in order to capture these attractive features. The design will account for both the oscillations by designing …

Frugal Clay Press For Nicaragua: Design Of A Human-Powered Clay Brick Press For Rural Application, Rafael Delfin C. Guerrero, Milan O. Copic, Kevin A. Ellis, L. Isaac Marcia

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

This team was connected to a brick-making social entrepreneurship in Ciudad Darío, Nicaragua. Travel to Nicaragua in March of 2018 determined that the entrepreneurship wanted a manual brick press to increase the mechanical properties of bricks while decreasing the time needed for the bricks to dry before being baked. Fabrication of a semi-functional beta prototype was completed in May of 2018. Prototype operational tests showed that one cycle of brick compression and retrieval took roughly 3.5 minutes to produce a single double-sized brick. Water absorptivity tests determined that compressed bricks of red art clay experienced a percent absorptivity of 20.5%, …

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 …

Structural Health Monitoring Using Ultrasonic Guided Waves And Piezoelectric Wafer Active Sensors, Faisal Haider Mohammad

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is organized in three major parts covering ardent and challenging research topics in structural health monitoring (SHM). Part I focuses on the theoretical and numerical analysis of acoustic emission (AE) guided waves in both Cartesian coordinates (2D) and cylindrical coordinates (3D) system using energy approach, which, to the best of our knowledge, has not been yet reported elsewhere. AE guided waves appear due to sudden energy release during incremental crack propagation in a plate. The Helmholtz decomposition approach is applied to the inhomogeneous elastodynamic Navier-Lame equation for both the displacement field and body forces. For the displacement field, …

Effect Of Weak Adhesion Interface On Mechanical And Dielectric Properties Of Composite Materials, Prashant Katiyar

Theses and Dissertations

Interfaces are often the most critical part of the heterogeneous materials and their structures. Such interfaces appear a multiple length scales and significantly affect bulk properties in different material systems. Fiber reinforced composite materials are one such example of heterogeneous materials with interfaces at constituent scale (fiber-matrix interface and interphase) to laminate scale (secondary adhesive joints). Manufacturing induced defects and subsequent in-service damage at these interfaces can severely affect the durability of fiber reinforced laminated composite materials and their joints. In addition to lamination process, defects can also form during secondary joining process (e.g., adhesive bonding and repair) which can …

Self-Powered Ankle Prosthetic, Corina M. Espelien, Kelsey Pietzsch, Anna Sullivan

Mechanical Engineering

Originating from QL+'s customer requirements, the main technical specifications were to have 80% physiological range of motion, elastic energy return, impact absorption, and no external power sources. Based on the background research conducted and the discussions with experts in the field, the project team decided to focus on designing a prosthetic that focused on plantarflexion and dorsiflexion for a more comfortable gait. The main components of the final design are a hydraulic shock absorber, cam, torsion springs, heel, stopper, and separated keel. The heel, front and back keels, and stopper were manufactured out of carbon fiber. The link, lever, attachment …