Engineering Commons^™

Harbor Security System, Timothy Jonathan Brown, Matthew Birkebak

Honors Theses and Capstones

Harbors and ports provide the infrastructure for commercial trade and naval facilities. It is vital to ensure the safety of these locations. The Harbor Security System provides an optical ‘gate’ using underwater lasers and photodetectors. This system allows monitoring of both surface and submarine vessels traveling into and out of the harbor. Also, the system provides real time alerts when unauthorized vessels enter the harbor. This project provides a proof of concept for a Harbor Security System to be implemented in Portsmouth Harbor. A scaled model of the detection system was constructed and tested. This detection system is capable of …

Nanoindentation Of A Zinc Metal Soap Mixture For Use In A Laser Printer, George A. Nimick

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

At the start of this project, the possible choices of metal soaps had already been narrowed to include some of the zinc soaps used in this project. These zinc soaps are mixtures of zinc stearate and zinc palmitate of varying ratios purchased from a supplier. Zinc soap was chosen as result of its common use in various industries as a lubricant and mold release, which implied potential benefits in an electrophotographic printing system. These potential benefits include, but are not limited to, a more efficient transfer from a photoconductive drum and protection of the drum from mechanical and chemical degradation. …

A Study To Evaluate Non-Uniform Phase Maps In Shape Memory Alloys Using Finite Element Method, Naren Motte

Theses and Dissertations

The unique thermo-mechanical behavior of Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs), such as their ability to recover the original shape upon heating or being able to tolerate large deformations without undergoing plastic transformations, makes them a good choice for actuators.

This work studies their application in the aerospace and defense industries where SMA components can serve as release mechanisms for gates of enclosures that have to be deployed remotely. This work provides a novel approach in evaluating the stress and heat induced change of phase in a SMA, in terms of the transformation strain tensor. In particular, the FEA tool

ANSYS has …

The Use Of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Aluminum To Stiffen A Portaledge Structure, Jacob Palmer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Increased stiffness will be achieved through a unidirectional carbon fiber tube that will encase the aluminum tubing. This will give the structure the stiffness it needs to resist bending enabling the elimination of the spreader bar, while still maintaining the ductile material properties of the 6061 T-6 aluminum.

A Planar Pseudo-Rigid-Body Model For Cantilevers Experiencing Combined Endpoint Forces And Uniformly Distributed Loads Acting In Parallel, Philip James Logan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation describes the development and effectiveness of a mathematical model used to predict the behavior of cantilever beams whose loading conditions include parallel combinations of evenly distributed loads and endpoint forces. The large deflection of cantilever beams has been widely studied. A number of models and mathematical techniques have been utilized in predicting the endpoint path coordinates and load-deflection relationships of such beams. The Pseudo-Rigid-Body Model (PRBM) is one such method which replaces the elastic beam with rigid links of a parameterized pivot location and torsional spring stiffness. In this paper, the PRBM method is extended to include cases …

Composite Tie Rod Research, Design And Testing For Sae Baja, Amanda M. Nauman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Composite materials have become increasing popular in recent years. For the Baja SAE team, composites are typically only used for body panels. To grow as a team and to earn additional points in design competition, it was decided to explore composite use in mechanical applications, specifically for the tie rods. Research was conducted, looking into composite materials basics, types, and material properties. Additionally, manufacturing was explored, including a few projects separate from the tie rod application. 3D models were created after the materials were selected, and FEA analysis was conducted on the parts. Once theoretical testing was finished, the physical …

Oil Filter Wrench Attachment, Steven J. Greenbank

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose for this report is to outline the design process for an oil filter remover/installer intended to be used with a ratcheting socket wrench. The goal of this project was to design an attachment for a socket wrench that could be used to remove or install oil filters in a vehicle. This report will discuss design criteria for the new design, a few current designs for similar tools and their problem areas, initial design ideas, the design process of the chosen design, and the prototype building and testing for the project.

The University Of Akron 2015 Sae Zips Baja Off-Road Racing Team 2015 Suspension System Design, Ryan W. Timura

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Baja SAE has been an important part of the University of Akron for the last 20 years. In the early stages, Zips Baja won many races and was one of the best Baja teams around. In more recent years, the teams have not been able to keep up the high place finishes. The 2015 Baja team aims to start a new trend of high place finishes for the years to come. With many design leaders returning from the previous year, passed down knowledge, and experience from last year, it should be an attainable goal.

Fsae Electric Vehicle Cooling System Design, Jeff Lamarre

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

No abstract provided.

Magnus Effect In Duct Flow, Jesse S. Batko, Cameron W. Clarke, Kenneth W. Smith Jr.

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The following research paper details the preliminary research carried out by this team. The project was originally conceived to determine if Magnus Lift could be utilized in an unconventional way to assist rockets during takeoff. Several conceptual designs were proposed, but the idea was scrapped when it became apparent that the team would not be able to generate the desired lift without inducing significant amounts of drag and additional weight on a rocket. Instead, the team focused on researching an interesting topic that hasn’t been previously explored: Magnus lift on a cylinder within a duct.

An experimental procedure that could …

Magnus Effect In Duct Flow, Cameron W. Clarke, Jesse S. Batko, Kenneth W. Smith Jr.

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The following research paper details the preliminary research carried out by this team. The project was originally conceived to determine if Magnus Lift could be utilized in an unconventional way to assist rockets during takeoff. Several conceptual designs were proposed, but the idea was scrapped when it became apparent that the team would not be able to generate the desired lift without inducing significant amounts of drag and additional weight on a rocket. Instead, the team focused on researching an interesting topic that hasn’t been previously explored: Magnus lift on a cylinder within a duct. An experimental procedure that could …

Design Of An Sae Baja Racing Off-Road Vehicle Powertrain, Eric T. Payne

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

No abstract provided.

Design Of The Structural And Propulsion Systems For The 2015 University Of Akron Rocket Team, Kyle W. Dehoff, Nicholas J. Hrusch

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

No abstract provided.

Ultrafine Particle Generation And Measurement, Qiaoling Liu

Theses and Dissertations

Ultrafine particles (UFPs) with diameters smaller than 100 nm are omnipresent in ambient air. They are important sources for fine particles produced through the agglomeration and/or vapor condensation. With their unique properties, UFPs have also been manufactured for industrial applications. But, from the toxicological and health perspective, ultrafine particles with high surface-to-volume ratios often have high bio-availability and toxicity. Many recent epidemiologic studies have evidence UFPs are highly relevant to human health and disease. In order to better investigate UFPs, better instrumentation and measurement techniques for UFPs are thus in need. The overall objective of this dissertation is to advance …

Generation And Delivery Of Charged Aerosols To Infant Airways, Landon T. Holbrook

Theses and Dissertations

The administration of pharmaceutical aerosols to infants on mechanical ventilation needs to be improved by increasing the efficiency of delivery devices and creating better ways of evaluating potential therapies. Aerosolized medicines such as surfactants have been administered to ventilated infants with mixed results, but studies have shown improvement in respiratory function with a much lower dose than with liquid instillation through an endotracheal tube (ETT). An aerosolized medicine must be transported through the ventilation tubing and deposit in the lungs to have the desired therapeutic response.

This work has taken a systematic approach to (i) develop new devices for the …