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Union College

Theses/Dissertations

2014

Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Evolving Soft Robots With Vibration Based Movement, Andrew Danise Jun 2014

Evolving Soft Robots With Vibration Based Movement, Andrew Danise

Honors Theses

Creating effective designs for soft robots is extremely difficult due to the large number of different possibilities for shape, material properties, and movement mechanisms. Due to the lack of methods to design soft robots, previous research has used evolutionary algorithms to tackle this problem of overwhelming options. A popular technique is to use generative encodings to create designs using evolutionary algorithms because of their modularity and ability to induce large scale coordinated change. The main drawback of generative encodings is that it is difficult to know where along the ontogenic trajectory resides the phenotype with the highest fitness. The two …

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The Optimization Of Porosity And Pore Patterning For Patient-Specific Ti-6 Al-4v Femur Implants, Stephen Paolicelli Jun 2014

The Optimization Of Porosity And Pore Patterning For Patient-Specific Ti-6 Al-4v Femur Implants, Stephen Paolicelli

Honors Theses

Metastatic bone cancer often arises in the long bones of the body. Taking a patient specific approach by utilizing a customized implant is a superior method of treatment compared to today’s solutions, which often includes amputation. A titanium-alloy femur implant has been optimized by varying pore size, pore pattern, and porosity in order to maximize osseointegration. By maximizing osseointegration, the implant will remain firmly in place for a longer period of time because bone will grow throughout the implant, securing it. In addition, it is important for the bone to behave mechanically like bone. This requires the global elastic modulus …

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Controllable Home Coffee Roaster From A Modified Popcorn Popper, Nicholas Brenn Jun 2014

Controllable Home Coffee Roaster From A Modified Popcorn Popper, Nicholas Brenn

Honors Theses

The goal of this project is to modify a home popcorn popper with computer aided logging of the roasting profile, supported by solid state switching of the heating coil and fan to control the temperature inside of the roasting chamber, and finally, automatic control of the roasting chamber temperature through a PID algorithm. With this control over the roast of the coffee bean, an experienced roaster user is able to identify the stages of the roast where control over the temperature inside the chamber is most critical. As compared to roasting green beans in an unmodified home popcorn popper, this …

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Application Of A High-Performance Optically Enhanced Solar Thermal Collector System, Timothy H. Cameron Jun 2014

Application Of A High-Performance Optically Enhanced Solar Thermal Collector System, Timothy H. Cameron

Honors Theses

In an effort to make Union College a more environmentally friendly campus, this research project focuses on the application of Union’s liquid-based solar thermal collector system. The motivation for this research project is due to the increasing demand for renewable energy sources in order to decrease our society’s dependence on fossil fuels. The system features nine, 16-tube, evacuated tube solar modules which absorb radiant solar energy from the sun. Through a two loop system, thermal energy is stored in water within two-80 gallon storage tanks. This research project involves the design, construction, and analysis of two applications in order to …

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Design And Optimization Of The Steering Braking And Drivetrain For The Asme Human Powered Vehicle, Marjorie Chee Jun 2014

Design And Optimization Of The Steering Braking And Drivetrain For The Asme Human Powered Vehicle, Marjorie Chee

Honors Theses

The Union College Human Powered Vehicle Team has designed, built and tested Chester’s Chariot for the 2014 American Society of Mechanical Engineers Human Powered Vehicle Challenge. The goal of this year’s team was produce an efficient, sustainable, and practical human powered vehicle with a high degree of safety. The team conducted gear ratio analysis, beam bending analysis, aerodynamic analysis using computational and analytical methods. In addition, physical testing was completed to demonstrate the safety and performance of Chester’s Chariot. Chester’s Chariot has the capability of obtaining higher speeds due to an optimized gear set. Last year’s vehicle did not have …

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Asme Human Powered Vehicle Competition Frame Design, Zacarie Hertel Jun 2014

Asme Human Powered Vehicle Competition Frame Design, Zacarie Hertel

Honors Theses

Each year, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) sponsors the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge. The purpose of the competition is to provide a continued source of research into human powered vehicles. Generally, the vehicles for this competition consist of faired recumbent tricycles and bicycles, capable of reaching high speeds in an efficient manner. The subject of this report is the design and analysis of a new vehicle frame for Union’s 2014 competition entry. The frame is the structural skeleton of the vehicle, supporting the rider and all vehicle components. The frame is what withstands the majority of the loads …

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Effects Of Playing Surface And Shoe Type Of Acl Tears In Soccer Players, Melissa Mansfield Jun 2014

Effects Of Playing Surface And Shoe Type Of Acl Tears In Soccer Players, Melissa Mansfield

Honors Theses

Anterior Cruciate Ligament injuries have become more common in athletes over the past decade which is believed to result from playing on more artificial turf surfaces. This study tested the playing surface theory by building upon a previous study conducted with Albany Medical Center which tested surface samples using an axial-torsion load frame located at Union College. The motion that causes most ACL noncontact injuries is replicated by the load frame which pushes and rotates a shoe against the playing surface and measures the torque it experiences. The foot position, normal load, degree of rotation and rate of rotation were …

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Computational Model Of Pore Collapse And Densification In Aerogels Under Compression, Lutao Xie Jun 2014

Computational Model Of Pore Collapse And Densification In Aerogels Under Compression, Lutao Xie

Honors Theses

Aerogels are solid, porous and light materials that are 90-99% air by volume, with particularly small pore sizes and large specific surface areas. According to previous studies, silica aerogels have appeared to be typical fractal materials. Its microstructure can be described as a fractal network in the length scale 10-1000Å, which is considered to be the result of an aggregation mechanism. To model the behavior of this material, a non-linear finite element code was developed to determine the sequence in which elements fail under compressive load for different starting pore distributions. The 2D geometry of the brittle silica lattice was …

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2014 Sae Aero: Systems Engineering, Adam Herzog Jun 2014

2014 Sae Aero: Systems Engineering, Adam Herzog

Honors Theses

Union has participated in the annual SAE Aero Competition for the last 6 consecutive years. The aim of the competition involves the design and construction of an RC aircraft capable of carrying a maximum payload weight as consistently as possible. This report will summarize the methods used to determine shape and size of the final aircraft’s control surfaces, as well as include an analysis on the plane’s performance characteristics. The final design utilizes a 100 inch span main wing with a rear taper and an upright H-tail design. In addition, the horizontal tail has a stabilator in place of a …

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Looking For Small Changes In Heat Capacity Using A Differential Scanning Calorimeter, Will Linthicum Jun 2014

Looking For Small Changes In Heat Capacity Using A Differential Scanning Calorimeter, Will Linthicum

Honors Theses

One of the major difficulties in development of renewable energy is the lack of an adequate and economical means of energy storage. In the case of concentrated solar power a large mass of thermal fluid is required to store a reasonable amount of energy. This is primarily because the fluids tend to have a low specific heat capacity. Formulating composites of these fluids can enhance their specific heat capacity and avails opportunities to make concentrated solar power more attractive. In most cases, the specific heat capacity of composite materials is a weighted average of the individual component heat capacities. This, …

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Analyzing The Leed Certification & Energy Usage Of The Peter Irving Wold Center, Andrea Schwartz Jun 2014

Analyzing The Leed Certification & Energy Usage Of The Peter Irving Wold Center, Andrea Schwartz

Honors Theses

This report discusses the Leadership in Environmental & Energy Design (LEED) Gold certification of the Peter Irving Wold Center, located in Schenectady N.Y. The credits that the Wold Center achieved in the LEED process are discussed as well as what credits were not achieved. Each credit is described in detail and the feasibility of implementing the credits that were not achieved is considered. The feasibility of achieving Platinum certification is discussed. It is important to note that this analysis, while post-construction, is determining whether or not the building could have achieved Platinum certification during the planning and building process. A …

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