Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Heat Transfer Vest, Nicholas Forsgaard

All Undergraduate Projects

The purpose of this report is to document the progression of the authors senior project. . The of that project was the research of Liquid Cooled Garment (LCG) technology, the generation of a novel LCG prototype and the testing of that prototype relative to a commercial benchmark. As such, this report is a complete narrative of the of these tasks, their execution and the underlying assumptions and commentary. The motivation for this report is to satisfy the capstone requirements of the MET program at CWU by documenting the Senior Project and its subordinate tasks. First, the student designed a LCG …

Rc Baja Car Drivetrain/Steering Assembly, Douglas Erickson

All Undergraduate Projects

ASME hosts an annual competition between students to test various abilities of RC Baja cars under certain restraints. To compete, two members must coordinate to manufacture a suitable RC Baja car according to the parameters set by ASME. The objective of this project is to design and manufacture the drivetrain and steering mechanism. The other teammate will concurrently design and manufacture the chassis and suspension assembly. The drivetrain consists of two main assemblies, the transmission and the differential. The transmission houses the initial gear reduction as well as the motor and is manufactured using ABS printed plastic. The differential mates …

Exercise Machine Generator, Duane Harbick

All Undergraduate Projects

Exercise “spinning bikes” and bicycle training stands are common ways to maintain fitness and train for cycling. This exercise necessitates the user putting work into the machine by means of pedaling. In many instances the work put into exercise bikes and training stands is not taken advantage of. The objective of this project is an attempt to make use of some of the energy that a person would usually expend during exercise by building a generator that interfaces with multiple spinning bikes and training stands. It uses a synchronous pulley system to interface with the exercise machine and spin a …

Slab Tipper, Thomas C. Durand

All Undergraduate Projects

Stone countertops are very heavy and fragile. When installing a finished countertop, up to six workers are required to lift the stone onto the countertop, risking their safety and possibly breaking the stone. The safety of both the workers and the stone are very important, so there needs to be a better way. NSI Solutions came up with an idea for a mechanism to aid in the insulation process while limiting the number of workers required, and keeping the workers safer while adequately supporting the stone to prevent it from breaking. Designing methods and calculations were done to ensure the …

Solar Tracker, Haoyu Liu

All Undergraduate Projects

The purpose of this project is to find how to maximize the amount of time that the solar panels receive direct sunlight or the nearest possible sunlight angles. The solar tracker is a device that can change the position of solar panels in both vertical and horizontal direction to increase solar energy absorption. The device uses a gear motor to drive the shaft that is fixed to the solar panel, so the solar panel can rotate in vertical direction. Based on the vertical sun position in Ellensburg, 85o E in the morning, 180o S in the noon, and 276o W …

Easy Install Outboard Motor Mount, Doug Dunbar

All Undergraduate Projects

The boating industry can be expensive for the typical weekend boater. That is, keeping, maintaining, and using a boat and all of its various accessories is a constant cost for the owner. In the Midwest and inland it is necessary to store boats and outboard boat motors out of the inclement weather and harsh conditions of seasonal change. Specifically, removing or installing an expensive and awkward outboard motor can be both dangerous financially and physically (damage or injury). It is not uncommon for motors to cost several thousand dollars.

The purpose of this project was to research, design, and implement …

Foundry Flask Punch-Out Machine, Nolan Stockman

All Undergraduate Projects

In the green sand molding process olivine sand is compacted into flasks that are used for the molding and pouring process in a foundry. These sands are difficult to remove after the pour has been made. In Central Washington University’s foundry the sands are currently being removed with handheld rams. To improve on this process a Foundry Flask Punch Out machine was designed. The machine was designed to utilize a wall mounted rack and pinion style press. The supporting elements of both the flask and press were engineered with deflection requirements in mind. The machine was made to fit into …

Rc Baja Car Suspension, Tyler Martin

All Undergraduate Projects

This year the Mechanical Engineering Technology Department at CWU is holding an R/C Baja car competition using the same rules as the ASME competition. The designed car must compete in three separate events: the slalom course, drag race, and obstacle course. By not only completing, but also being competitive in each of the events, the car will be deemed a success. Suspension and steering are two essential components of any R/C car, and was the main focus for this report. The suspension must be able to support the car in the event of impacts. In addition, the steering must be …

Asme R/C Baja Car, Torrie Large

All Undergraduate Projects

How does one build a car? Do they start with the tires and build inward or do they develop separate aspects at the same time? This remote-controlled car was designed and built with the intention of competing in the annual Baja Competition. There are three competitions: sprinting, slalom, and an obstacle course. The suspension system of this car must be designed to support the car for both the physical build and the competitiveness. It must do this without interfering with the drive train and steering mechanism designed by Doug Erickson. The suspension system employs suspension arms attached to the chassis …

Pressure Regulator For A High-Altitude Balloon, Kala Brown

All Undergraduate Projects

High altitude balloons are large latex balloons filled with gas that carry payloads to near space. They provide a convenient way to study the Earth’s atmosphere. Per Boyle’s Law, the pressure and volume of a confined gas are inversely proportional. Thus, as the balloon ascends and the atmospheric pressure decreases, the gas inside the balloon expands. This pressure difference allows the balloon to ascend, but it also causes it to continuously expand until it bursts. For some observations, one might want their balloon to remain at constant altitude for a period of time. One way to achieve this is to …

Senior Project Hauff Tree Pruner, Brian Woolery

All Undergraduate Projects

Neil Hauff, a business owner and entrepreneur from the Yakima valley challenged a team of engineering students from Central Washington University to design a motorized apple tree pruner. This report will discuss the engineering and construction that went into creating the housing of the tree pruner. The housing component needed to be able to protect the moving parts of the pruner, while withstanding the rotational torque produced by the Makita power drill used to drive the pruner. The biggest constraint in designing the housing was to keep the weight of the housing component under 1.5 lbs, while still keeping the …

H.F. Hauff Electric Pruner Drive Train, Grady Graff

All Undergraduate Projects

The H.F. Hauff Company invests a large amount of money in developing a quality pruner used in everyday agriculture. Modern electric pruners tend to be expensive while manual tree pruning is very physically demanding. A battery assisted pruner that is light-weight, ergonomic, inexpensive to build and powerful enough to cut branches that a nominal apple tree would possess is the direct affiliation that H.F. Hauff devotes its funding too. A team of engineering students from Central Washington University developed a product with consideration to each of these circumstances. Since hand drills have proven to be user friendly and of abundance …

Repurposing Carbon Fiber Composite Through Mechanical Means, Jason Morrow

All Undergraduate Projects

Composite waste from the 777 aircraft is a growing concern for Boeing and amounts to an excess of 600,000 pounds of highly valuable carbon fiber being thrown away. Reclaiming this material has been a long sought-after goal of Boeings as the current solution is ever expanding landfills. The two current methods of recycling composite waste are chemically and mechanically processing. The focus of this paper will be demonstrating the feasibility of mechanically processing composite waste to increase storage efficiency before chemically treating to reclaim the actual carbon fibers. This paper provides a two-stage solution for the recycling question. The first …

Asme Rc Baja Challenge: Suspension And Steering, Hunter W. Jacobson

All Undergraduate Projects

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) usually hosts an RC Baja challenge each year, testing a RC car in three events: slalom, acceleration and Baja. Although ASME will not be holding an event this year, CWU will be holding a similar event with three RC Baja car teams from CWU. The RC car that is tested in these events is designed and manufactured typically in teams of two. The RC car that each team submits must be able to complete these events while also remaining competitive. One part of great importance for the RC car is the suspension and …

Shearing Energy, Jason Wittig

All Undergraduate Projects

Title by Author: Shear Energy by Jason Wittig

Abstract/Artists Statement: Efficiency, function, and weight of fruit-tree pruning devices are scrutinized very closely by the purchasing end user. Efficiency, being the most valuable quality to focus on; an efficient cutting device can lead to smaller batteries and lighter materials on the tree pruner. The objective of this project was to produce a cutting head that surpassed the benchmark device by 10% in four categories: Axial cutting “green-wood,” Axial cutting “dry-wood,” Axial opening force, and Handle twisting torque. The benchmark’s use of the “scissor-type” design was changed to a double bypass anvil …

Asme Rc Baja Car Drive-Train And Differential, Maverick Reddaway

All Undergraduate Projects

Every year, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers holds a RC Baja Car Competition. Students from the region are required to design, build, and compete in the annual competition. The purpose of this project and the focus of this report was to build a drivetrain for an RC car, following the guidelines outlined by ASME, to compete in their annual competition. The drivetrain must convert power from a brushed electric motor to the wheels of the car. Gear analysis was used to calculate the power reduction required by the gears in the drive train. The drive train must reduce the …

Cassette Lockring Removal Tool, Kyle Wright

All Undergraduate Projects

Removal of a bicycle cassette requires additional tools to hold the cassette in place while loosening the cassette lockring. Typically a tool called a chain whip is used to stabilize the cassette, but is difficult to quickly and correctly apply to the cassette. Due to the need for an additional tool to hold the cassette, the user is faced with utilizing both hands while still needing to somehow hold the wheel in place. The lockring is torqued relatively tight and the overall combination of force, ergonomics, and number of tools required makes the task difficult to perform quickly. The objective …

Yz250 Lhrb, Ethan Di Loreto

All Undergraduate Projects

YZ250 LHRB

A Left Hand Rear Brake (LHRB) means that a motorcycle can not only have the rear brake operated by the foot pedal that comes standard on all bikes, but it can be actuated by a lever located on the handlebar as well. The purpose of this engineering project is to design a bracket that can hold two brake calipers while not hindering stock handling. It should also add braking usability and power.

The device is to be made of mild steel for the first models, this will allow for ease of prototyping, fitment testing, and finalized design testing. …

Plastic Injection Mold, Ryan Heaton

All Undergraduate Projects

The engineering department at Central Washington University is equip with three different plastic injection presses. Two of which are not being used because of various reasons, one being a lack of quality molds. This project’s purpose was to design and fabricate a quality mold that could be used in one of the injection presses as a teaching aid. The design for this project is based off of existing molds that are currently being used in the plastic injection industry along with many analyses such as; calculating speeds and feeds for machining, calculating tolerances, material strength, and a material’s heat conduction …

H.F. Hauff Pruner Cutting Blades, Wyley Stewart

All Undergraduate Projects

Apple orchards are a critical component of agriculture in the United States, and keeping the apple trees in the best shape for optimum growth and production is hard work. Neil Hauff, an agriculture industry expert, challenged students at CWU to engineer a power assisted tree pruner. Across the country, apple orchards need pruned every season. The pruning of the trees is strenuous manual labor that requires many man hours. The proposed solution is to create a power assisted tree pruner that would minimize the amount of work needed to trim each tree branch. This project has been separated into three …

Composite Cutting Device, Mikhail Minasyan

All Undergraduate Projects

Title and Author: Composite Cutting Device by Misha Minasyan (Mechanical Engineering Technology)

As the aerospace industry innovates, so does the material that is being used. No longer are airplane manufacturers like Boeing depending on only various metals for making their wings. A transition over the past few years has been made to using composite materials because of there light weight and strength. The issue that composite material brings is that it cannot be recycled without processing. The current 777X made by Boeing has transitioned to used composite to manufacture their airplane wings.

A two student team developed two separate processes …

Cwu Bottle Opener Manufacturing, Austin Sanford

All Undergraduate Projects

Previous students from the Mechanical Engineering Technology program came up with a method to help raise funds and awareness for the program. The idea was to manufacture and sell CWU bottle openers. However, a more efficient manufacturing method was needed. The aspect of the process that would have the most impact on the manufacturing time and material efficiency was the CNC machining of the parts. There were many potential variables to change to improve the process, but the main changes were to the cutter speeds and stock material size. Consequently, the changes made to stock material size reduced the number …

Seawater Distiller (Solar Collector For Heating Seawater), Ali Alismail

All Undergraduate Projects

Many people in the world globally have limited or no access to clean drinking water. Unclean drinking water is a major cause of deadly diseases such as typhoid, cholera, and other water-borne diseases. The motivation of this report aims to document a senior project to satisfy for the award of MET by CWU. The aim was to design and manufacture a solar thermal collector capable of heating water using solar energy. The solar collector was developed by designing and fabricating a parabolic reflective surface. The reflective surface was manufactured from a reflective stainless-steel sheet. The advantages of using a parabolic …