Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Selective Resistive Sintering: A Novel Additive Manufacturing Process, Austin Bryan Van Horn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is one of the most popular 3D printing methods that uses a laser to pattern energy and selectively sinter powder particles to build 3D geometries. However, this printing method is plagued by slow printing speeds, high power consumption, difficulty to scale, and high overhead expense. In this research, a new 3D printing method is proposed to overcome these limitations of SLS. Instead of using a laser to pattern energy, this new method, termed selective resistive sintering (SRS), uses an array of microheaters to pattern heat for selectively sintering materials. Using microheaters offers significant power savings, significantly …

Solar Car Suspension System, Alex Power, Adam O'Camb

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Revolutionized Additive Manufacturing, Matthew Walker, Winthrop Townsend, Luca Fuller

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Design And Prototyping Of An Adjustable Putter, Daulton Morgan

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Being able to demo a golf putter is essential for a golfer since the feel of the putter is critical in determining what suits the golfer best. Due to the market being primarily dominated by right-handed players, it is difficult for left-handed players to demo high quality putters since the selection is sparse.

This report is about designing and integrating an interchangeable fastening system that allows a putter to be altered between a right and left-handed orientation, while still maintaining the traditional look of a putter. The report covers the necessary design steps, the prototyping of the putter, the projected …

Design And Implementation Of A Fixture For Robotic Welding, Isaac Nathaniel Williams

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The Cal Poly IME department recently purchased a robotic welder. The faculty would like to see this robot incorporated into the welding class. The robot was capable of moving, but was not able to perform a weld prior to this project. This problem is addressed by creating a demonstration part for the welding class. The objectives that need to be complete for this to be possible is designing a part, designing a fixture, analyzing the cost of robotic welding, and implement welding the part in the class. The part is designed with specific requirements in mind. The fixture is designed …

Application Of Gearbox Drivetrains For Commuting Bicycles, Loren Sunding

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

People all over the world are beginning to ride their bicycles more often to destinations which include work, school, and local markets. Most bicycles being used for these activities have an external drivetrain exposed to the elements of the road including water, mud, dirt, and debris. External drivetrains are very fragile and when damaged, pedaling efficiency is greatly reduced and the overall riding experience diminishes.

One solution to this issue is a gearbox specifically designed for a bicycle frame. A gearbox has several mechanical mechanisms operating inside a protective housing. Since the housing is fully sealed, outside elements are not …

Development Of A Process Monitoring Tool For The Manufacturing Process Of An Electric Vehicle Battery Enclosure, Ian Lamond

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

High volume manufacturing requires process control that is responsive to manufacturing related issues. It is critical that tools and resources are implemented that gauge manufacturing performance and identify root cause issues.

This project focuses on the design and manufacturing process of an electric vehicle aluminum battery enclosure and the implementation of a production measurement system. The current problem is a lack of process control communication and out of control alarms when uncontrolled events occur for manufacturing associates at the battery enclosure manufacturing work station.

This report examines the core principles of Quality Engineering, the economic advantages of implementing a vision …

Assembly Line Kitting: Foam Mold Material Substitute, Samer Samy Saleh

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Kitting is considered an incredibly innovative and effective solution intended to aid operators within a mixed model assembly line. However, it is a non-value added procedure and one that customers may not be willing to pay for. With this project, the goal is to examine opportunities to employ lean principles and provide a solution that further eliminates non-value added procedures, while also producing the potential for a flexible, mixed model assembly line.

To achieve the aforementioned purpose, the production of foam molds, located within industrial totes and sent to the assembly line, was found to be a major waste within …

Study Of Selective Laser Remelting Of 316l S.S. To Reduce Roughness On Inclined Surface, Jafar Ghorbani

Theses and Dissertations

Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies are increasingly competing with subtractive methods, and there are promising applications for additive technologies that are hybrid with traditional manufacturing methods. Poor surface roughness of additive manufactured parts continues to be a major challenge especially for advanced functional parts. In this study, effect of processing parameters are evaluated, optimized and verified by using the Box–Behnken design of experiment method. The results, for the first time, reveal that surface remelting has the potential to become a high speed approach for improving the roughness of non-horizontal surface of additive manufactured parts.

Fiber Glass Mat Splice Automation, Max Weinstein, Charles Scott Forbes, Max Kilpatrick

Mechanical Engineering

Currently, GAF has two operators manually splice together each roll of fiberglass mat. To save money and resources, GAF wants to automate this splicing process. Our team is responsible for stage 3 of 5 in this automation process. We are responsible for ensuring that the system is able to move autonomously to the necessary positions required for splicing together the rolls of fiberglass mat. We have determined the best solution for accomplishing this movement is to use linear slide actuators. This document will describe the process by which we arrived at our solution, the details of our solution, and a …

Automated Machine Tender, Ryan A. Canfield, Samuel N. Adler, Louis S. Roseguo

Mechanical Engineering

The use of CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) machines automate production in factories through programs controlling manual operations such as milling or lathing. The manufacturing process can be automated beyond the use of CNC machines through the addition of a robotic tender capable of carrying out the same tasks as a human operator. A tender can be integrated into the CNC machine itself, or purchased separately and configured to autonomously operate a particular machine. Smaller companies making limited production runs may not find it economically feasible to purchase large scale integrated machine tenders, but would benefit from a versatile autonomous machine …

Compression Molded Composite Component, Greg Hermansen, Larsson Johnson, Joanne Medrano, Kyle Hammell

Mechanical Engineering

The following final design report outlines the design and fabrication of a carbon fiber compression molded sunglasses case. It intends to guide the development of a future lab activity for a composites undergraduate course at Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo. The activity aims to support an educational investigation in "out-of-autoclave" composites manufacturing methods, such as compression molding, which offer some key benefits over autoclave molding. The methodology behind the creation of a conceptual design, an initial prototype, and a final product is laid out in detail below.

Final Design Report: Allergen Mixing Assistant (Ama) Micro-Refrigeration Redesigning, Mitchell Parks, Minwoo (Michael) Suh

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Allergen Mixing Assistant (AMA) by Xtract Solutions is a device designed to more “effectively refrigerate, organize, and mix allergenic extracts”. Although Xtract Solutions intended the product to be fully automated, the company has decided against its automation and declared its current design as a minimum viable product whose components are too expensive, difficult to source and complex. Therefore, Cal Poly AMA design team - Mitchell Parks and Minwoo Suh - has decided to replace these expensive components with much more economical alternatives as shown below:

Stirling cooler

→

Thermoelectric (Peltier) cooler

Custom Arduino

Controller Card

→

TEC Thermostat *** …

Final Design Report: Polymer Fatigue Characterization Test Method, Wyatt Ayling, Tyler Price, Brandon Stell, Michela Upson

Mechanical Engineering

Polylogix is a team dedicated to the design, build, and testing of a fatigue machine to simulate cyclic loading on a biomedical polymer. This project is sponsored by Endologix, Inc. to provide test data characterizing mechanical material properties of various formulations of polymer used in abdominal aortic aneurysm surgeries. With this project goal, the machine must be able to test the polymer at body conditions; these include a testing temperature of 37°C and a cycling frequency ranging from 1 Hz to 10 Hz. This report proposes the following solution to this design challenge: an AC motor-driven mechanism utilizing a planetary …

Mri Upgrades At Radiology Associates, Patrick Cheung, Charlene Donlon

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Problem Statement: The MRI machines at Radiology Associates are limiting the company’s ability to expand and compete within the local market. After discussing with technicians and managers at Radiology Associates, we decided to focus on hardware and software upgrades for the MRI machines. With 2 of the 3 locations purchasing new machines in the near future, our focus was on upgrades at the Santa Maria facility. The two machines at this location needed hardware and/or software upgrades to remain on par competitively both within the company and with local scanning options. Flexible coils are beneficial in terms of size, weight, …

The Effect Of Process Parameters And Surface Condition On Bond Strength Between Additively Manufactured Components And Polymer Substrates, Bharat Bhushan Chivukula

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Additive patching is a process in which printers with multiple axes deposit molten material onto a pre-defined surface to form a bond. Studying the effect of surface roughness and process parameters selected for printing auxiliary part on the bond helps in improving the strength of the final component. Particularly, the influence of surface roughness, as established by adhesion theory, has not been evaluated in the framework of additive manufacturing (AM). A full factorial design of experiments with five replications was conducted on two levels and three factors, viz., layer thickness, surface roughness, and raster angle to examine the underlying effects …

Cold Gas Dynamic Spray – Characterization Of Polymeric Deposition, Trenton Bush

Masters Theses

When a solid, ductile particle impacts a substrate at sufficient velocity, the resulting heat, pressure, and plastic deformation can produce bonding at the interface. The use of a supersonic gas flow to accelerate such particles is known as Cold Spray deposition. The Cold Spray process has been commercialized for some metallic materials, but further research is required to unlock the exciting material properties possible with polymeric compounds. In this work, a combined computational and experimental study a) simulated and optimized the nozzle flow conditions necessary to produce bonding in a polyethylene particle, b) developed and fabricated an experimental device, and …

Fabrication Of Large Mechanically Flexible Multi-Layered Pdms Optical Devices, Robert S. Green

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mechanically flexible large area polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) optical devices are fabricated using soft-lithography techniques based on replica moulding. These non-rigid optical devices can be designed as sheets to act as either light concentrators (collectors) or diffusers (illuminators) based on the position and geometry of micro-optical structures (MOSs) embedded within the sheet or imprinted on its surface. The active surface area of the device can range from less than a sq. cm to several sq. m. The performance of the large area optical device is a function of the location and geometry of micro-optical structures, thickness and shape of the flexible waveguide, …

Parametric Design, Modeling, And Optical Evaluation Of Retroreflective Prismatic Structures, Sama Hussein

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Retroreflectors (RR) are defined as passive optical structures that redirect incident light to its originating source. Specific types of retroreflectors called inverted cubes (ICs) function through total internal reflection (TIR) and are used in various applications such as measurement tools, traffic signs and automotive rear and side lighting. This thesis aims to model, analyze, fabricate and study a novel type of IC retroreflectors called right triangular prism (RTP). A parametric approach is used to model existing IC geometries from a generic unit cube and is then implemented to model the novel RTP geometry. Those elements are then tested by optical …

Ultraprecise Single Point Inverted Cutting Strategies For Multi-Axis Fabrication Of Right Triangular Prismatic Retroreflectors, Benjamin W. Hamilton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The optical phenomenon of retroreflection (RR) is described as light rays contacting a surface and being redirected back to their originating source. While applications are many and varied, their primary focus is safety in low-light conditions, and the focus of this research is toward automotive applications. Few geometric shapes are capable of retroreflection. Among them are the lens-and-mirror, and cube corner geometry; however, the right triangular prism (RTP) has been introduced as a viable alternative. This study demonstrates a more efficient fabrication technology when compared to current industry practices.

The ultraprecise single point inverted cutting (USPIC) technology was envisioned as …

Determining The Print Accuracy Of Four Three-Dimensional Printers, Kshiteej Dalal

Master of Technology Management Plan II Graduate Projects

Rapid prototyping [RP] or 3D printing [3DP] have existed for some time now. One of the major deficiencies of 3DP is the accuracy of the printed three dimensional parts. Even beyond that is the lack of studies that have been designed to measure the 3DP components. Measuring, verifying and determining the accuracy of 3DP parts is the focus of this study. As the accuracy is measured and approaches those of CNC machined parts, it will drive the development of additional additive manufacturing [AM] machinery. In this project a component is created in a solid modeling package. A solid model of …

Design For Manufacturability: Off-Road Toyota Bumper, Drew Donlon

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The purpose of this project is to design a new off-road bumper that is improved from the stock form of a 1996-2002 Toyota 4Runner and a 1996-2004 Toyota Tacoma. The current state of the component is too weak to endure to off-road endeavors, and a kit bumper market is virtually untapped for these vehicles. The objectives of this project were met by redesigning the stock front bumper, conducting a finite element analysis on the model to test for strength, prototyping the bumper with CNC cut cardboard, and conducting a full cost analysis including the costs for waterjet and laser cutting …

El Capitán: Cal Poly Rose Float Digital Drive System, Gregory Raffi Baghdikian

Computer Engineering

In today’s world of smartphones, self-driving cars, and internet-connected coffee makers, it seems as if computers are contained in everything around us. These “embedded systems” have become critical components of our lives, improving everything about the things they control, from cost, to speed, to simplicity. One area that embedded systems has hardly gained a foothold is in the world of floatbuilding. Most of the floats in the Tournament of Roses Parade, including the one built jointly by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly Pomona, are technologically very simple, using mostly analog components and rudimentary discrete digital logic to …

Fiber Length Attrition In Additive Manufacturing, Michael Chapiro

Materials Engineering

Chopped carbon fibers are used as reinforcements in thermoplastics, but the viscous shear forces that arise in melt-processing reduces the fiber length well below its critical length resulting in only moderate strength and stiffness gains compared to the neat resin. This research project aimed to experimentally determine the effect of the melt–flow portion of a single-screw- extrusion process on carbon fiber length attrition in isolation from the immediately preceding screw–plastication step that is responsible for most of the heat needed for melting. Carbon fibers with an initial length of 2 mm were stirred into 5,000 centipoise and 10,000 centipoise silicone …

Automated Pintail Machine, Stephen Etheredge, Andrew Evans, Michael Fernicola

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Cp Ev Dynamics, Steven Montevideo, Ashlie Reott, L. Carter Price

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

4th And 5th Axis Rotary Table, Dakota Bass, Ricky Riedl, Nicole Slagle, Irene Yee

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Biomimetic Seal Flipper Test Rig, Gordon D. Belyea, Laura Kawashiri, Dylan Rinker, Kurt Beske

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Design And Testing Of A Top Mask Projection Ceramic Stereolithography System For Ceramic Part Manufacturing, Dylan Robert De Caussin

Master's Theses

Ceramic manufacturing is an expensive process with long lead times between

the initial design and final manufactured part. This limits the use of ceramic as a viable material unless there is a large project budget or high production volume associated with the part. Ceramic stereolithography is an alternative to producing low cost parts through the mixing of a photo curable resin and ceramic particles. This is an additive manufacturing process in which each layer is built upon the previous to produce a green body that can be sintered for a fully dense ceramic part.

This thesis introduces a new approach …

Inventory Tracking Software Improvement Project, Jacky Leung

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

FanimeCon’s Convention Operations department required standardized processes and controls for their inventory tracking software. On top of the current web application, new controls were put into place for checkout limitations. To allow for a continuous improvement effort, processes became standardized with a new graphical user interface where user input is recorded. These will provide processing times for further study in proposing redesigned layouts and more efficient processes.