Engineering Commons^™

The Effect Of Cutting Condition Selection On Tool Life In Sand Milling, Craig Ertl

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study was completed to address the problem of determining what effect selected cutting conditions have on tool wear and tool life in robotic sand milling (RSM) operations. The purpose of this study was to analyze the tool wear mechanisms and characteristics that govern the RSM process. The purpose was also to establish an experimental methodology that may be used in future studies to assess tool life when examining various tooling materials and designs, as well as additional sand workpiece materials. Completing this research allowed the machining process to be optimized by analyzing differences in tooling cost with variable values …

3d Printing Technology On Spare Parts Business Supply Chain Management: A Case Study In Appliance Industry, Salih Boysan

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study investigates the effects of using Additive Manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, to produce spare parts within the supply chain of an appliance manufacturing company.

This research is based on an analysis of the operation of a spare parts business of an appliance manufacturing company. This research study used real data to investigate the feasibility of using 3D printing to reduce complexity in the spare parts division in terms of supplier rationalization, inventory reduction, and total cost of ownership. The research method used two scenarios: one where manufacturing spare parts traditionally was the baseline model and the …

Preliminary Investigation Into The Cause Of Pinhole Porosity In Aluminum Metal Castings From Serpentine Impurities In Olivine Sand, Brodie J. Biersner

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The problem addressed in this study is how contaminates in the foundry molding aggregate olivine, affect aluminum castings during the casting process. This research will concentrate on hydrated contaminates, specifically the mineral serpentine. The purpose of this research is to better understand how hydrated minerals contribute to the generation of pinhole porosity defects during the casting process. Understanding how impurities in foundry aggregates affect the casting process would aid in the reduction of scrap caused by core and molding sands, ultimately providing savings to the casting manufacturer.

A foundry grade olivine was compared to a new source of olivine to …

An Investigation On How Operational Wind Turbines Are Used In Secondary Classrooms, James Smith

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Through a review of literature, it was found that many schools in the United States are installing operational wind turbines, but it was unclear how teachers were using them in their science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) classrooms. In order to identify how these operational wind turbines were being used and to create a list of expectations for schools with operational wind turbines, this exploratory study surveyed STEM teachers from all across the United States. A stratified random sample was created using a U.S. Department of Energy database of schools with operational wind turbines. Administrators from the selected schools identified …

Modeling And Analysis Of Grid-Connected Solar-Wind Hybrid Power System, Sultan Altamimi

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Renewable energies are considered to be a significant part of the energy mix to assist the existing electricity demand and the future of electrical generation. Electrical power simulation software is increasingly being used to answer and determine the source of potential problems in the actual power system. To have a better understanding of an electrical power system, it is essential to validate all the components through simulation within an environment that allows accurate modeling of all power system components. This research presents modeling and analysis of an actual grid-connected solar-wind hybrid system at University of Northern Iowa campus in Cedar …

Robotic Manufacturing Cell: An Analysis Of Variables Affecting Performance, Elvis Alicic

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Analyzing the performance of manufacturing cells is a well established concept. The justification for conducting thorough analyses of manufacturing cells comes from the known advantages it can provide, including performance improvement and production planning improvement, both current and future. This study focuses on assessing the variables affecting performance of a robotic manufacturing cell through the measure of throughput. Initially, simulation modeling is utilized to model an existing robotic cell and compare the output to actual production output from the same cell. Additionally, general regression modeling is employed to analyze the following variables and their effect on throughput: machine downtime, off-plan …

Coolant Fluid In A Turning Operation: Soybean Coolant Fluid In Different Concentrations Versus Petroleum Coolant Fluid, Mary Esther Eckman

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The manufacturing sector today's market felt the need to reduce costs along with the ability to be more "green."

Traditionally petroleum based fluids are used in the manufacturing industry. However they are environmentally more harmful as well as cause significant hazards to the operator. This thesis will provide a case study for this sector to become more environmentally friendly with the use of a soybean based cutting fluid. To prove the point a number of tests were performed turning 4140 steel on a CNC turning center. A number of tests were conducted to provide a comparative study of dry, petroleum …

An Investigation On In-Process Spc Sampling Frequency For Shaft Bearing Turning Process, Jiaxu Chu

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The machining processes have the uniqueness of discrete production and flexible scheduling as cellular manufacturing design. To ensure the quality of machining products, control charts for Statistical Process Control (SPC) has been implemented in the company to monitor the machining process. Sampling is an essential part of data collection for SPC control charts and sampling should be done for machining processes becomes an issue in the company.

This study focused on the investigation of SPC sampling frequencies for shaft bearing turning process using the technique of Average Production Length (APL). The purpose of the study was to identify the SPC …

Ergonomics Evaluation Of Task Demands Among Kitchen Staff, Jaqueline Pereira Da Silva

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the workplace demands faced by a group of kitchen staff at six dining centers and to survey musculoskeletal complaints among this sample of workers. The dining centers were located in six different public elementary and middle schools in a city in the south of Brazil. This research was developed following qualitative research design, and the researcher made use of the “Activity Oriented Ergonomics (AOE) methodology.

The AOE focuses on the work analysis that evaluates real work situations that allows a reassessment of work demands. In this case the chosen methodology was a …

The Design And Evaluation Of Wireless Sensor Networks For Applications In Industrial Locations, Hameed Madwar

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In manufacturing industries, there exist many applications where Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN's) are integrated to provide wireless solution for the automated manufacturing processes. It is well known that industrial environments characterized by extreme conditions such as high temperature, pressure, and electromagnetic (EM) interference that can affect the performance of the WSN's. The key solution to overcome this performance issue is by monitoring the received Signal Strength Index (RSSI) at the received sensor of the WSN device and track frame error rate of wireless packets.

ZigBee is a wireless sensor network (WSN) standard designed for specific needs of the remote monitoring …

Using Metarules To Integrate Knowledge In Knowledge Based Systems. An Application In The Woodworking Industry, Alvaro Villavicencio

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The current study addresses the integration of knowledge obtained from Data Mining structures and models into existing Knowledge Based solutions. It presents a technique adapted from commonKADS and spiral methodology to develop an initial knowledge solution using a traditional approach for requirement analysis, knowledge acquisition, and implementation. After an initial prototype is created and verified, the solution is enhanced incorporating new knowledge obtained from Online Analytical Processing, specifically from Data Mining models and structures using meta rules. Every meta rule is also verified prior to being included in the selection and translation of rules into the Expert System notation. Once …

The Integration Of Wind Energy In The Electrical Grid During The Contingencies, Islam Ali

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

As wind energy expansion develops, there are also many problems and challenges to connect the wind farms to the grid. There are many different interactions during the connection like the voltage flicker, harmonics, transient, short circuit current, frequency, and safety protection. Those problems may affect the performance of the grid and may cause serious problems. This study investigates the grid-connection problems for the wind turbines and offers appropriate solutions. This study provides a simulation for the power system during the faults. The electrical grid in the simulation contains generators and wind turbines which are connected to the grid. It also …

An Occupational Analysis Of Prepress In The Des Moines And Eastern Iowa Regions, Lee John Geisinger

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

It is important that educators use a relevant, up-to-date curriculum when educating on a specific occupation. Job task analysis is an effective way for educators to understand an occupation and provide students with valuable information. This study analyzed prepress technicians' duties and tasks.

This research used the occupational analysis method called the DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) process. The DACUM process uses an expert worker panel to identify the duties and tasks of an occupation. This study found that there are 9 duties and 55 tasks for a prepress technician. After identifying the duties and tasks, the study confirmed those duties …

Quality Costing Knowledge, Attitudes, And Perceptions In A Small Manufacturing Company, Adam M. Benner

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this research was to identify and assess employee knowledge, attitude, and perception of quality costing in a manufacturing company. The company selected for this research was a small manufacturer of agricultural processing equipment with an undeveloped quality management program. A quality costs questionnaire was discovered from a review of the literature and was slightly modified to gather data from a sample of company employees. The following information was collected from employees: knowledge of common quality costing terminology, attitude towards quality and non-quality concepts, and perception of departments associated with quality costs and the scale of quality costs …

Detecting The Process' 1.5 Sigma Shift: A Quantitative Study, James R. Stevenson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Process behavior can change with time. In this study an attempt was made to discover whether the Six Sigma™ claim of changes in the process mean stayed within +/- 1.5 sigma units. Several process groups were examined for a particular firm that made metal castings, machined parts, tested major components and assembled these into a vehicle that was a product sold to the customer. As the assembly progressed, deficiencies were identified and recorded. Analyses employed cumulative sum (CUSUM) sequence charts, Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) time series analyses, minimum mean square error (MMSE) exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA), Shewhart control …

Preliminary Investigation Of Metallurgical Structure And Mechanical Properties Of Cast Iron With High Aluminum Content, Pavel Bizyukov

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The problem addressed in this study analyzed various properties of cast iron with high aluminum content. This grade of cast iron was projected for use in the automotive industry. The benefits provided with high aluminum content are lower specific gravity and relatively inexpensive source materials with the potential of achieving high temperature properties.

The purpose of the study was to select suitable source materials and determine an effective melting technique, to investigate metallurgical structure and mechanical properties at given chemical composition, and, finally, to provide elaborate results.

The design of the experiment included the following steps: (a) selection and preparation …

An Analysis Of The Effect Of Supply Chain And Manufacturing Parameters On Inventory Cost Reduction For Push Type Manufacturing Systems, Mehmet Emre Bahadir

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In the global network of businesses, supply chain and order fulfillment managements are the most critical functional departments to determine the winner of the global competition. In this research a network of companies that are flowing information, product and services between providers and a receiver is investigated in order to gain a better insight of the current situation. Analyses, explanations and solutions were developed through responding to the following research questions:

(1) What are the most important variables that affect the quality and delivery performances of a supply chain?

(2) What are the most important variables that affect the service …

Analysis Of Factors Causing Failure Mode For Automotive Hitch Control System Calibration In Agriculture Equipment, Setordji Yao Abotsi

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Traditionally, agricultural tractors have used hydro-mechanical draft control systems to mechanically sense implement draft. Technological development of low cost, reliable microprocessors has contributed to allowing greater flexibility in designing agricultural tractor control systems (Rutkowski & Welchens, 1986). To successfully control the depth of which an implement penetrates the ground, it has become imperative to incorporate a draft control system on agricultural tractors. The control system operates by responding to the draft load or force acting on the tractor. Increasing the draft load or force allows the implement to be raised and decreasing the draft load or force allows the implement …

Guidelines For Deploying Wireless Sensor Network In Manufacturing: Star Topology Study Using The Rssi To Test The Network Performance, A. Hameed Madwar

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are varying in kinds and can be used for many purposes. It can be extensively used in monitoring, reporting, and decision routines. Therefore, WSNs are very important to integrate with manufacturing since they can help not only in monitoring and decision making but also they can increase productivity and decrease the wiring costs. However, WSNs are facing some challenges in manufacturing as they need to resist the interferences that could be generated by the electrical and mechanical fields created during the manufacturing processes. Some of these interferences could be due to the high temperatures, blocks of …

Machining Process Changes As A Function Of Surface Roughness, Specific To Machining Cylindrical Bores, Thomas Patrick Olsen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Manufacturing professionals are challenged everyday to produce products to higher quality standards in a way that is economical and efficient. Manufacturing needs to minimize non value added costs such as reducing inventory, (non machined and finished goods), reduce work in process, and most of all eliminate waste. To exist, customers must be satisfied at the time of purchase and throughout the products lifecycle. To be competitive and remain a world class manufacture, companies must be flexible and be willing to change. Single point flexible manufacturing versus fixed spindle rigid machining greatly improves the ability to make changes. If a process …

An Investigation Into Microwave Energy To Soften Scrap Tire Rubber Aiding Existing Mechanical Separation Processes, Russell Jon Lucas

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research was performed to soften scrap tires to aid in their transformation from whole tires to valuable streams of rubber and steel for reuse in industry. Actual shredded scrap rubber was used in this experiment to determine if this highly variable material could yield consistent results if subjected to volumetric heating from a magnetron emitting microwave energy.

A consumer microwave oven was used to heat this material. This oven had its control circuitry modified by using a programmable logic controller to operate the energy exposure time. The sample's surface temperature was measured utilizing a non contact infrared thermometer. All …

Effects Of The Use Of Soybean Oil As Cutting Fluid On The Surface Finish For Turning Operations, Carlos Alberto TeráN Yengle

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Concerns about the long term supply of petroleum, the instability of its prices, and growing environmental issues have led to a variety of legislative and public support for the use of agricultural commodities in industrial applications. This study is of importance because of environmental and health hazards concerns, and the possibility of reducing operating costs with the elimination of disposal of used cutting oil that the use of biodegradable oil offers to the metal-cutting operations.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the use of an experimental soybean-based oil as a cutting fluid on surface finish …

Inventory Simulation And Optimization Using System Dynamics, Structural Modeling Equations And Genetic Algorithms In The Drivetrain Division Of An Automotive Manufacturer, Marco Sisfontes-Monge

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Strategic planning and control are among the most critical activities that modern enterprises require to succeed in the global economy. This research is an original study that investigated the combination of tools and methodologies in order to apply them to a midwestern tractor manufacturer. The current study identified the constraints applicable to a polishing line in the Drivetrain Division of a major tractor manufacturer interested in exploring alternative techniques to improve its worldwide manufacturing operations.

The specific questions that this project tried to respond are stated as follows:

1. What were the most important variables that affected inventory levels of an …

Design And Evaluation Of A Pdf Print Estimating System, Mengtsung Tai

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research consisted of designing and evaluating portable document format (PDF) print estimating system to commercial systems. Taking into account functionality, reliability, standardization, and integration, the conventional design method (Pressman, 1997) was used to develop the print estimating system. Considering the printer's viewpoint, added features make the system function online and offline and compatible with all common computer platforms. After the system was developed, experts and entry-level users evaluated the system for software usability (Nielsen, 2000; Shneiderman, 1998). A total of 26 experts and 38 entry-level users responded to 14 questions about usability in a personal interview survey. Statistical analysis …

Application Of Artificial Neural Networks To Sensitivity Analysis And Modeling Of Small Office Buildings, Quan Tang

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Sensitivity analysis and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) are the most extensively used techniques in studying the input-output relationship in building thermal systems. However, both MLR and most methods for sensitivity analysis do not account for nonlinear components embedded in building energy systems. Thus, their results might be distorted.

In this study, the Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) technique was applied to sensitivity analysis and modeling of an imaginary small office in order to (a) examine how the annual energy consumption responded to 40 building design parameters and evaluate relative contributions of these parameters to the variation of the building energy performance, …

Use And Effectiveness Of Decision Support Systems (Dss): Study Of The Saudi Private Sector, Ibrahim A. Alhunaishel

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In the industrialized world today, management is characterized by extensive use of computers to manage rapid change, information overload, and complex decision-making. Literature suggests that Decision Support Systems, computer packages offering information retrieval, problem-structuring models, decision alternatives, and other types of decision support, are effective extensions of human decision-making and offer substantial benefits to organizations utilizing them.

In spite of overwhelmingly positive reviews for DSS, empirical literature has produced inconsistent results regarding DSS effectiveness, and definitions of “effectiveness” and of DSS itself are varied and sometimes contradictory. Distinguishing DSS from MIS (management information systems) and other types of managerial computer …

Attitudes And Perceptions Regarding Internet-Based Electronic Data Interchange In A Public Organization In Saudi Arabia, Abdulrahman S. Al-Zumaia

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study examined the attitudes and perceptions of staff members and administrators in the General Directorate for Private Institutes & Centers (GDPI&C), Training institutes, and Centers in Saudi Arabia toward Internet-based Electronic Data Interchange (I-EDI) in a public organization. A survey was conducted of a group of GDPI&C members and randomly selected Institutes and Centers. The 339 respondents participated anonymously by providing demographic information and completing the attitudes and perceptions section of I-EDI questionnaire. The survey response rate was 82.6%.

An attitude survey was distributed to staff members, administrators, and faculty members in the Saudi Arabian GDPI&C, Training Institutes, and …

Pre-Inoculation Effect Of Sic In Production Of Thin Wall Ductile Iron Castings, Nikolay Y. Laukhin

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Pre-inoculation effect of SiC additions and its effect on castability, microstructure, and magnesium recovery in thin wall ductile iron plates have been studied. Experimental results were compared with alternative FeSi75 furnace pre-inoculation additions.

The first series of experiments aimed to set the baseline of iron quality, when using FeSi75 pre-inoculant

In the second series of experiment, different methods of introduction of Sic into liquid iron were studied. It was established that Sic added into the stream during the tapping into the flow-through chamber or added directly into the flow-through chamber produced lower Si recovery. The most effective method of introduction …

An Analysis Of Manufacturing Facility Characteristics And Four-Year Manufacturing Engineering Technology Competencies For Abet Accredited Programs In North Carolina, Richard Eugene Temple

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of correlation between four-year ABET/MET competencies and company demographics of plant location and plant size and usage of manufacturing technologies, and to determine the overall rating per SIC classification of validated MET competencies. This purpose is reflective of the literature, which indicated that there is a need for further development of manufacturing engineering technology competencies to meet the industry needs of a region or state.

A questionnaire was used to collect data. It was mailed to 440 randomly selected practicing manufacturing engineers in North Carolina. The sample size was 50. …

The Factors That Affect The Implementation Of Enterprise Resource Planning (Erp) In The International Arab Gulf States And United States Companies With Special Emphasis On Sap Software, Saud Al-Sehali

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate and determine the factors affecting the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) in companies in the Arab Gulf States and the United States, using SAP software as an example.

A random sample was selected of 150 companies in the Arab Gulf States and in the United States that had implemented an ERP system using SAP software. Of the 150 respondents, 30 were companies from the Arab Gulf States and 120 from the United States. A total of 67 questionnaires were returned, a return rate of 44.7%.

The Statistical Package for the …