Materials Science and Engineering Commons^™

Economic Potential For Distributed Manufacturing Of Adaptive Aids For Arthritis Patients N The U.S., Nicole Gallup, Jennifer Bow, Joshua M. Pearce

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

By 2040, more than a quarter of the U.S. population will have diagnosed arthritic conditions. Adults with arthritis and other rheumatic conditions earn less than average yet have medical care expenditures that are over 12% of average household income. Adaptive aids can help arthritis patients continue to maintain independence and quality of life; however, their high costs limit accessibility for older people and the poor. One method used for consumer price reduction is distributed manufacturing with 3-D printers. In order to assess if such a method would be financially beneficial, this study evaluates the techno-economic viability of distributed manufacturing of …

Micronutrient Availability In Alternative Foods During Agricultural Catastrophes, David C. Denkenberger, Joshua M. Pearce

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

Several catastrophes could block the sun, including asteroid/comet impact, super volcanic eruption, and nuclear war with the burning of cities (nuclear winter). Previous work has analyzed alternate food supplies (e.g., mushrooms growing on dead trees, bacteria growing on natural gas). This was shown to be technically capable of feeding everyone with macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and lipids) and minerals, although economics and politics remain uncertain. The present work analyzes vitamin availability in such alternative food scenarios. The vitamin content of various alternate foods is compared to the US recommended daily allowance (RDA) as well as the average requirement defined by the …

Open Source Low-Cost Power Monitoring System, Shane W. Oberloier, Joshua M. Pearce

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

This study presents an entirely open-source, low-cost power monitoring system capable of many types of measurements including both loads and supplies such as solar photovoltaic systems. In addition, the system can be fabricated using only open source software and hardware. The design revolves around the Digital Universal Energy Logger (DUEL) Node, which is responsible for reading and properly scaling the voltage and current of a particular load, and then serializing it via an on-board ATTiny85 chip. The configuration of the DUEL node allows for custom sensitivity ranges, and can handle up to 50 A and 300 V. Up to 127 …

Approaches To Open Source 3-D Printable Probe Positioners And Micromanipulators For Probe Stations, Iiro Hietanen, Ismo T. S. Heikkinen, Hele Savin, Joshua M. Pearce

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

Three types of highly-customizable open source probe positioning systems are evaluated: (a) mostly 3-D printed, (b) partially printed using OpenBeam kinematic constraints, and (c) a 3-level stack of low-cost commercial single axis micropositioners and some printed parts. All systems use digital distributed manufacturing to enable bespoke features, which can be fabricated with RepRap-class 3-D printer and easily accessible components. They are all flexible in material choice for custom components. The micropositioners can be set up for left-right use and flat or recessed configurations using either mechanical or magnetic mounting. All systems use a manual probe holder that can be customized …

Coal With Carbon Capture And Sequestration Is Not As Land Use Efficient As Solar Photovoltaic Technology For Climate Neutral Electricity Production, James Gunnar Groesbeck, Joshua M. Pearce

Michigan Tech Publications

Avoiding climate destabilization caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, requires climate-neutral electricity sources. It has been proposed that the GHG emissions from coal-fired power plants can be offset by carbon capture and sequestration or bio-sequestration. However, solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has recently declined so far in costs it now offers both technical and economic potential to offset all of coal-fired electricity use. PV only emits GHGs during fabrication and not during use. To determine which technical solution to climate-neutral electricity generation should be preferred, this study aggregates and synthesizes life cycle analysis studies for exergy, GHG emissions and land transformation …

Belt-Driven Open Source Circuit Mill Using Low-Cost 3-D Printer Components, Shane W. Oberloier, Joshua M. Pearce

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

Barriers to inventing electronic devices involve challenges of iterating electronic designs due to long lead times for professional circuit board milling or high costs of commercial milling machines. To overcome these barriers, this study provides open source (OS) designs for a low-cost circuit milling machine. First, design modifications for mechanical and electrical subsystems of the OS Distributed 3-D (D3D) Robotics prototyping system are provided. Next, Copper Carve, an OS custom graphical user interface, is developed to enable circuit board milling by implementing backlash and substrate distortion compensation. The performance of the OS D3D circuit mill is then quantified and validated …

Economic Advantages Of Dry-Etched Black Silicon In Passivated Emitter Rear Cell (Perc) Photovoltaic Manufacturing, Chiara Modanese, Hannu S. Laine, Toni P. Pasanen, Hele Savin, Joshua M. Pearce

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

Industrial Czochralski silicon (Cz-Si) photovoltaic (PV) efficiencies have routinely reached >20% with the passivated emitter rear cell (PERC) design. Nanostructuring silicon (black-Si) by dry-etching decreases surface reflectance, allows diamond saw wafering, enhances metal gettering, and may prevent power conversion efficiency degradation under light exposure. Black-Si allows a potential for >20% PERC cells using cheaper multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) materials, although dry-etching is widely considered too expensive for industrial application. This study analyzes this economic potential by comparing costs of standard texturized Cz-Si and black mc-Si PERC cells. Manufacturing sequences are divided into steps, and costs per unit power are individually calculated …

Energy Science And Engineering: Looking Ahead, Yun Hang Hu

Michigan Tech Publications

No abstract provided.

Fused Particle Fabrication 3-D Printing: Recycled Materials’ Optimization And Mechanical Properties, Aubrey Woern, Dennis Byard, Robert B. Oakley, Matthew J. Fiedler, Samantha Snabes, Joshua M. Pearce

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

Fused particle fabrication (FPF) (or fused granular fabrication (FGF)) has potential for increasing recycled polymers in 3-D printing. Here, the open source Gigabot X is used to develop a new method to optimize FPF/FGF for recycled materials. Virgin polylactic acid (PLA) pellets and prints were analyzed and were then compared to four recycled polymers including the two most popular printing materials (PLA and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)) as well as the two most common waste plastics (polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene (PP)). The size characteristics of the various materials were quantified using digital image processing. Then, power and nozzle velocity …

Sponsored Libre Research Agreements To Create Free And Open Source Software And Hardware, Joshua M. Pearce

Michigan Tech Publications

As a growing number of companies reject intellectual property (IP) monopoly-based business models to embrace libre product development of free and open source hardware and software, there is an urgent need to refurbish the instruments of university-corporate research partnerships. These partnerships generally use a proprietary standard research agreement (PSRA), which for historical reasons contains significant IP monopoly language and restrictions for both the company and the university. Such standard research agreements thus create an artificial barrier to innovation as both companies using a libre model and universities they wish to collaborate with must invest significantly to restructure the contracts. To …

A National Pragmatic Safety Limit For Nuclear Weapon Quantities, Joshua M. Pearce, David C. Denkenberger

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

This study determines the nuclear pragmatic limit where the direct physical negative consequences of nuclear weapons use are counter to national interests, by assuming all unknowns are conservatively optimistic. The only effect considered is nuclear winter (“nuclear autumn” in the low weapons limits) and the resultant effects on the aggressor nation. First, the ability of low nuclear weapon limits is probed for maintaining deterrence in the worst-case scenario of attacking the most-populous nation. Second, the ability of aggressor nations to feed themselves is assessed without trade and industry resultant from a nuclear attack causing “nuclear autumn” (10% global agricultural shortfall). …

Effect Of Zr Additions On Thermal Stability Of Al-Cu Precipitates In As-Cast And Cold Worked Samples, Kyle Deane, Paul G. Sanders

Michigan Tech Publications

While Zr is frequently added to Al alloys to control grain size with the formation of large (>1 μm) primary precipitates, little research has been conducted on the effect of nanoscale Al₃Zr precipitates on Al alloys. By comparing the precipitation and corresponding strength evolution between Al-Cu-Zr alloys with different Zr concentrations, the effects of Zr on Al-Cu precipitation with and without primary Al₃Zr precipitates can be observed. In the absence of these large precipitates, all Al₃Zr phases can be formed, through high temperature aging treatments, as a dispersion of nanoprecipaites inside the Al …

Reprapable Recyclebot: Open Source 3-D Printable Extruder For Converting Plastic To 3-D Printing Filament, Aubrey Woern, Joseph Mccaslin, Adam Pringle, Joshua M. Pearce

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

In order to assist researchers explore the full potential of distributed recycling of post-consumer polymer waste, this article describes a recyclebot, which is a waste plastic extruder capable of making commercial quality 3-D printing filament. The device design takes advantage of both the open source hardware methodology and the paradigm developed by the open source self-replicating rapid prototyper (RepRap) 3-D printer community. Specifically, this paper describes the design, fabrication and operation of a RepRapable Recyclebot, which refers to the Recyclebot’s ability to provide the filament needed to largely replicate the parts for the Recyclebot on any type of RepRap 3-D …

The Natural Aging Effect On Hardenability In Al-Mg-Si: A Complex Interaction Between Composition And Heat Treatment Parameters, Alex Poznak, Violet Thole, Paul G. Sanders

Michigan Tech Publications

The technological relevance of Al-Mg-Si alloys has been rapidly growing over the last decade. Of particular interest to current and future applications is the problematic negative effect of prior natural aging on subsequent artificial age hardening. The influence of natural aging is dependent on both processing and compositional variables and has origins that are far from well-understood. This work examines the hardenability of 6000 series alloys under a wide range of conditions, paying particular attention to the natural aging effect. Experimental variables include alloy composition (Mg + Si, Mg/Si), cooling rate after solutionization, and duration of prior natural aging. Hardenability …

Design Optimization Of Polymer Heat Exchanger For Automated Household-Scale Solar Water Pasteurizer, David C. Denkenberger, Joshua M. Pearce

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

A promising approach to reducing the >870,000 deaths/year globally from unsafe water is flow-through solar water pasteurization systems (SWPs). Unfortunately, demonstrated systems have high capital costs, which limits access for the poor. The most expensive component of such systems is the heat exchanger (HX). Thus, this study focuses on cost optimization of HX designs for flow-through SWPs using high-effectiveness polymer microchannel HXs. The theoretical foundation for the cost optimization of a polymer microchannel HX is provided, and outputs are plotted in order to provide guidelines for designers to perform HX optimizations. These plots are used in two case studies: (1) …

Applications Of Open Source Gmaw-Based Metal 3-D Printing, Yuenyong Nilsiam, Paul G. Sanders, Joshua M. Pearce

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

The metal 3-D printing market is currently dominated by high-end applications, which make it inaccessible for small and medium enterprises, fab labs, and individual makers who are interested in the ability to prototype and additively manufacture final products in metal. Recent progress led to low-cost open-source metal 3-D printers using a gas metal arc welding (GMAW)-based print head. This reduced the cost of metal 3-D printers into the range of desktop prosumer polymer 3-D printers. Consequent research established good material properties of metal 3-D printed parts with readily-available weld filler wire, reusable substrates, thermal and stress properties, toolpath planning, bead-width …

Development Of A Resilient 3-D Printer For Humanitarian Crisis Response, Benjamin L. Savonen, Tobias Mahan, Maxwell W. Curtis, Jared W. Schreier, John K. Greshonen, Joshua M. Pearce

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

Rapid manufacturing using 3-D printing is a potential solution to some of the most pressing issues for humanitarian logistics. In this paper, findings are reported from a study that involved development of a new type of 3-D printer. In particular, a novel 3-D printer that is designed specifically for reliable rapid manufacturing at the sites of humanitarian crises. First, required capabilities are developed with design elements of a humanitarian 3-D printer, which include, (1) fused filament fabrication, (2) open source self-replicating rapid prototyper design, (3) modular, (4) separate frame, (5) protected electronics, (6) on-board computing, (7) flexible power supply, and …

The Suitability Of Zn–1.3% Fe Alloy As A Biodegradable Implant Material, Alon Kafri, Shira Ovadia, Jeremy Goldman, Jaroslaw W. Drelich, Eli Aghion

Michigan Tech Publications

Efforts to develop metallic zinc for biodegradable implants have significantly advanced following an earlier focus on magnesium (Mg) and iron (Fe). Mg and Fe base alloys experience an accelerated corrosion rate and harmful corrosion products, respectively. The corrosion rate of pure Zn, however, may need to be modified from its reported ~20 µm/year penetration rate, depending upon the intended application. The present study aimed at evaluating the possibility of using Fe as a relatively cathodic biocompatible alloying element in zinc that can tune the implant degradation rate via microgalvanic effects. The selected Zn–1.3wt %Fe alloy composition produced by gravity casting …

Measurement Of Planar Fault Probabilities In Austempered Ductile Iron And 304l Stainless Steel, Nathan Peterson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

During plastic deformation both stacking and twin faults can be generated in face-centered cubic materials, including iron-based metals that contain thermally stable austenite. These planar faults are a critical component of the austenite to martensite transformation, forming shear bands that can act as nucleation sites. The measurement of these faults via x-ray diffraction has been long established, however it has not been applied widely to austempered ductile irons. The ability to measure these faulting probabilities could give insights into the transformation as a function of deformation. In this work both planar fault densities were measured in austempered ductile iron to …

Mse Annual Report 2018, Department Of Materials Science And Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Annual Reports

Table of Contents

• Faculty and Staff News
• STEM Feature
• Student News
• Senior Design Teams
• Graduate Student News
• Outreach
• Alumni News
• By the Numbers
• Michigan Tech Foundry Fund

Nondestructive Evaluation Of Salvage White Spruce, Tyler Hovde

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Knowledge of wood quality in dead standing trees is an important topic with recent increases in defoliation across North America. Obtaining wood quality information for defoliated trees would help stakeholders in the timber products industry sort and sell salvaged material for the highest possible value. This research investigates the ability to measure wood quality of white spruce (Picea glauca) after spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) attack using acoustic nondestructive evaluation. We compared stress wave velocities measured on standing trees to trees’ visual appearance. After harvest and processing of selected trees into bolts, standing-tree stress wave velocities were compared to bolt acoustic …

Effect Of Hierarchical Structure And Orientation On Water-Repellent Legs Of Water-Walking Insects, Georgia Hurchalla

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Some insects have the ability to walk on water surface due to hierarchical leg structure and wax coating. This work presents studies of water strider and fire ant leg immersion force profiles to measure resistance of legs to submersion and show orientation effects. A high-sensitivity microbalance measured force during immersion of insect legs at various angles into water droplets. Legs oriented parallel to water surface could support three to five times as much force before immersion, compared to legs in a perpendicular orientation. Water pressure affects the setae structure differently at parallel and perpendicular approaches, and complete wetting is more …

Effects And Limitations Of Residual Alloying Elements In Silicon Solid Solution Strengthened Ferritic Ductile Iron, Julia Scruton

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Transitioning from traditional grades of ductile iron to solution strengthened ferritic ductile iron (SSFDI) grades can be difficult because of the need to reduce the amount of pearlite promoting elements, particularly copper and manganese, which are used in traditional grades. Knowing the acceptable threshold of residual alloying elements will allow for more cost-effective tailoring of the charge stream. Data were generated from a series of casting trials with the target grade of EN-GJS-500-14 where the levels of copper and manganese were varied from 0.05% to 0.3% and 0.15% to 0.4% respectively while maintaining silicon in the 3.8%-4.3% range. The pearlite …

An Injectable Thermosensitive Biodegradable Hydrogel Embedded With Snap Containing Plla Microparticles For Sustained Nitric Oxide (No) Delivery For Wound Healing, Nikhil Mittal

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

After injury, wound healing is a complex sequential cascade of events essential for the proper recovery of the wound without the scar formation. Nitric oxide (NO) is a small, endogenous free-radical gas with antimicrobial, vasodilating and growth factor stimulating properties. NO has wide biomedical application especially in wound healing however, its usability is hindered due its administration problem as it is highly unstable.

In this work, poly (l-lactic acid) microparticles encapsulated with NO donor S-nitroso-N-acetyl-D-penicillamine (SNAP) were prepared using water-in-oil-water double emulsion solvent evaporation method for controlled delivery for NO at the specific site. The NO release from SNAP-PLLA microparticles …

Studying Mass And Mechanical Property Changes During The Degradation Of A Bioadhesive With Mass Tracking, Rheology And Magnetoelastic (Me) Sensors, Zhongtian Zhang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In this research, the degradable polymer 4-arm poly (ethylene glycol)-glutaric acid-dopamine (PEG-GA-DM₄) was synthesized. The degradation behavior of crosslinked PEG-GA-DM₄ bioadhesive was studied with mass tracking, oscillatory rheology, and magnetoelastic (ME) sensors. Changes in mechanical properties were correlated with both dry mass and wet mass changes during the degradation. The results indicate that the loss of mechanical property in the bioadhesive can take place without losing the dry mass. The mass loss profile cannot describe the degradation behavior completely. In addition to studying the degradation of PEG-GA-DM₄, this research also confirms the application of ME …