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Mechanical Engineering Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering

Dual-Axis Solar Tracker, Bryan Kennedy Jan 2020

Dual-Axis Solar Tracker, Bryan Kennedy

All Undergraduate Projects

Renewable energies, and fuels that are not fossil fuel-based, are one of the prolific topics of debate in modern society. With climate change now becoming a primary focus for scientists and innovators of today, one of the areas for the largest amount of potential and growth is that of the capturing and utilization of Solar Energy. This method involves using a mechanical system to track the progression of the sun as it traverses the sky throughout the day. A dual-axis solar tracker such as the one designed and built for this project, can follow the sun both azimuthally and in …


Development Of An Excel® Rocket Simulator For Application In Middle School, High-School, And University Stem Education, Melvin Lee Hortman Jan 2017

Development Of An Excel® Rocket Simulator For Application In Middle School, High-School, And University Stem Education, Melvin Lee Hortman

All Master's Theses

Water rocket activities are one of the most popular STEM activities used in primary, secondary, and higher education yet are void of engineering, though engineering is heavily implied in the STEM acronym. This study investigated the amount of engineering present in water rocket activities, and options for emphasizing engineering more in water rocket activities using an open-platform flight simulator for use by educators to enable students to predict flight parameters of a water rocket they designed, and test those predictions against experimental data. The simulator was constructed in Excel® with many functions, but the function validated in this study was …


Machine Design Lab: Using Automotive Transmission Examples To Reinforce Understanding Of Gear Train Analysis, Roger A. Beardsley, Charles O. Pringle Jun 2011

Machine Design Lab: Using Automotive Transmission Examples To Reinforce Understanding Of Gear Train Analysis, Roger A. Beardsley, Charles O. Pringle

Engineering Technologies, Safety, and Construction Faculty Scholarship

In studying mechanical gear train analysis, some students struggle with relatively simple gear design concepts, and virtually all have difficulty with the complexities of planetary gear sets. This paper describes two labs developed for an undergraduate senior level machine design course. One lab uses a three-speed manual synchromesh transmission with parts of the case cut away to demonstrate the operation of the gears, shifting mechanism, bearings, and other aspects of the design. Students then count teeth and analyze the gear ratios using standard gear train analysis methods. The other lab uses a 1924 Ford Model T planetary transmission to observe …