Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Test And Evaluation Model For Midwater Docking Of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, Parker Baillon

Theses and Dissertations

This research created a Test and Evaluation (T&E) model for midwater Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) capture. The creation of this model will allow for a better assessment of the feasibility of midwater AUV capture. To achieve this, the T&E model was exposed to various flow conditions to assess stability. Capturing an AUV in midwater, the area below the wave-affected zone to the sea floor, has many benefits for an AUV and its mission. AUVs basing missions from a midwater dock will not be affected by wave motions. A midwater dock can be transported to any mission site and deployed with …

The Effect Of Extended Saltwater Absorption And Uv Cure On The Compressive Properties Of Msla 3d-Printed Photopolymer Resin Samples With Printing Variations, Suzanne Dixon

Theses and Dissertations

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) 3D printers, also known as Masked Stereolithography Apparatus (MSLA), is a type of vat polymerization printing technique that cures liquid resin into a solid object. This technique is relatively new. Consequently, there is a shortage of detailed research on the impact of long-term environmental exposure on the MSLA-printed materials. The research within this document informs engineers and scientists of resin compressive properties after extended exposure to saltwater and ultraviolet (UV) light. Saltwater absorption of the material was analyzed at atmospheric pressure, 30-psi, 60-psi, and 90-psi; the samples reached saturation in saltwater after 56 days. The variation …

Garbage Float, Gabor Papp, Max Woolverton, Scott Ulatowski, Daniel Ross, Nicholas Gayle, Bryan Merchan-Aragon, Noah Yco, Nicholas Fawcett, Jared Wright, Abdulaziz Salman G Alshahrani, Andrew Mcquire

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Student Publications

Trash pileup in our waters is an increasing problem. Removing floating plastics and debris from our ecosystem would reduce mortality rate of marine animals. Solutions for this already exist but most of them are proprietary and expensive. Therefore, an autonomous, publicly available and cheap alternative was developed to skim and clean the water surface from garbage.

Project Thetis: A Low-Cost, Low-Profile Inertial Data Logger, Braidan Duffy

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis details the design, testing, calibration, and verification of a nine degree of freedom inertial measurement data logger for use with floating bodies. The instrument was conceived to address limitations of equipment used in classes within the Ocean Engineering department at Florida Institute of Technology. By meeting with several stakeholders and end users, a series of stakeholder requirements, capabilities, and component-level requirements were de- veloped that informed the design constraints. There were several hardware iterations of the board, culminating in Revision F5 which was extensively tested and proven. The design was inspected after testing concluded to determine which capabilities …

Viscosity Of Adsorbent Slurries For Washcoating Applications, Nitish Chauhan

Theses and Dissertations

The viscosity of adsorbent slurries is pivotal in understanding their rheological behavior, yet, the research on adsorbent slurry viscosity has been limited. This study addresses this gap by analyzing porous and non-porous solutes' behavior in solvents and then applying it to the washcoating adsorbents on ceramic substrates. By examining MIL-101 (Cr), glass beads, silica nanoparticles, and Titania, the study aims to comprehend the viscosity variations of each solute in the solvents, water and ethanol. A key observation from this study was the significant role of wetting in determining viscosity, as initial results found that MIL-101 (Cr) exhibited the highest viscosity …

Analyzing The Effects Of Ultrafast Laser Processing On Mechanical Properties Of 3d-Printed Pla Parts, Darshan Pramodbhai Yadav

Theses and Dissertations

Recent advances in additive manufacturing technologies have already led to wide-scale adoption of 3D-printed parts in various industries. The expansion in choice of materials that can be processed, particularly using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), and the steady advancements in dimensional accuracy control have extended the range of applications far beyond rapid prototyping. However, additive manufacturing still has considerable limitations compared to traditional and subtractive manufacturing processes. This work addresses limitations associated with the as-deposited surface roughness of 3D-printed parts. The effects of roughness-induced stress concentrations were studied on ultimate tensile strength and fatigue life. The samples were manufactured using a …

Path Planning Development Framework For Mobile Robots, Lauren-Ann Elizabeth Graham

Theses and Dissertations

Planetary exploration relies on methods of path planning to achieve autonomous navigation in hazardous environments. Simulating harsh terrain, real-time varying physics, and robotics applications is vital for testing control algorithms here on Earth. Robotics Operating System (ROS) is a set of software libraries and tools that allow you to build and simulate robotic applications. Utilizing ROS, Gazebo, and Blender, a rough terrain simulation framework is created to explore and compare path planning algorithms using various desired robots and maps. ROS supports multiple path planning algorithms given its open-source abilities. This research focuses on path planning implementation of Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control …

Gpu Based Monte Carlo Estimation Of Eddy Current Losses In Electromagnetic Coil-Core System, Adwaith Ravichandran

Theses and Dissertations

A novel parallelizable probabilistic approach to model eddy currents in AC electromagnets is presented in this research. Consequently, power loss associated with the formation of these eddy currents is estimated and validated using experimental data. Furthermore, predicting the effect of ferromagnetic alternating field enhancement on power loss in the source excitation winding has been an active area of research. Unlike a stationary field, an alternating sinusoidal field diffuses partially into the ferromagnetic material leading to a predictably sub-optimal field enhancement. To model these physics, finite element techniques employ nonlinear iterative solvers which are time consuming. A novel method is developed …

Design Space Visualization And Exploration For Many Goal Problems Under Uncertainity, Niharika Balaji

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Designing a complex engineered system is challenging due to many conflicting goals, uncertainties, and multiple interactions. Traditional optimization approaches often yield single-point solutions, which may not be suitable for early design stages due to their susceptibility to changes in conditions and uncertainties. To address this challenge, a satisficing approach is employed. This approach enables designers to effectively navigate the design space and identify satisficing solutions that balance conflicting goals in the face of uncertainties and changes in conditions. From a systems design perspective, we view design as an iterative process that involves making informed decisions based on available information …

Underwater Image Enhancement: A Pipeline For Underwater Computer Visions, Humberto Lebron Rivera

Theses and Dissertations

Ocean exploration has surged in popularity and significance in recent years, including diverse areas like maritime archeology, underwater resources, and submerged structure inspection. The activities mentioned above heavily depend on vision and imagery, a challenge in the unpredictable marine world. This thesis presents a conditional generative adversarial network model for image-to-image translation problems. We designed and trained the model with the end goal of enhancing underwater images. Five metrics were employed for validation to quantify our model’s resulting enhanced images. By doing so, we aim to establish a pipeline that can leverage aerial computer vision algorithms for marine applications.

Our …

Deep Learning And Generative Ai Approaches For Automated Diagnosis And Personalized Treatment: Bridging Machine Learning, Medicine, And Biomechanics In Predicting Tissue Mechanics And Biomaterial Properties., Yasin Shokrollahi

Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning, particularly deep neural networks, has demonstrated significant potential in predicting high-dimensional tasks across various domains. This work encompasses a detailed review of Generative AI in healthcare and three studies integrating machine learning with finite element analysis for predicting biomechanical behaviors and properties. Initially, we provide a comprehensive overview of Generative AI applications in healthcare, focusing on Transformers and Denoising Diffusion models and suggesting potential research avenues to address existing challenges.

Subsequently, we addressed soccer-related ocular injuries by combining finite element analysis and machine learning to predict retinal mechanics following a soccer ball hit rapidly. The prediction errors are …

Effects Of Perforations On Internal Cathodic Protection And Recruitment Of Marine Organisms To Steel Pipes, Alexander John Paluzzi

Theses and Dissertations

Steel monopile support structures for offshore wind turbines require protection from corrosion on their external and internal surfaces. Cathodic protection (CP) works effectively to protect the external surfaces of monopiles, but internally, byproducts from aluminum sacrificial anode CP (SACP) and impressed current CP (ICCP) induce acidification that accelerates steel corrosion. This project investigated the effects of perforations on the performance of aluminum SACP and ICCP when used inside of steel pipes. Additionally, marine growth on the external and internal surfaces of the pipes was assessed to determine if CP byproducts affect marine organism development.

Two sealed and two perforated steel …

Construction Of A Real-Time Forecast Model With Deep Learning Techniques For Coastal Engineering & Processes: Nested In Basin Scale Suite Of Models, Md Ahsan Habib

Theses and Dissertations

The study aims to develop a robust and adaptable real-time forecasting system for coastal and estuarine regions, considering the challenges of limited or unavailable forecast data. To address the challenge of data unavailability, this study proposes the application of a deep learning model (DLM). This research involves the development of a high-resolution numerical model nested within global models. Calibration and validation are performed by comparing the model with observed data. The study explores the effects of various parameters, such as vertical resolution, wind variability, and bottom roughness, on model performance. It finds that the 10-layer model improves vertical stratification and …

An Empirical Investigation Of The Behavior And Cognition Of Engineering Designers While Describing Domains Of Design Problems, John Kochenberger

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a protocol study that examines the behavioral and cognitive patterns in human designers when they describe a problem domain of engineering interest through constructing concept maps. Understanding various design problem domains usually comes in design projects before the start of the formal design process and is crucial for discovering the pain points of given scenarios and identifying opportunities for creating value to improve them. Thus, this activity relies on the entrepreneurial aspects of engineering design that leads to identifying the right design problem to solve. While concept maps have been used to examine various research questions in …

Predicting Near-Bed Sediment Transport Through Particle Image Velocimetry, Caroline Hoch

Theses and Dissertations

Erosion and accretion are coastal processes that directly affect the safety of coastal communities. Dimensionless parameters, such as the Shields and Ursell number, have historically been used to predict sediment motion in the nearshore region based on shear stress and wave linearity. This study uses particle image velocimetry to measure the velocity field of sediment within a wave flume and calculate these parameters for various wave profiles. Five regular wave trials and five irregular wave trials were run within the wave flume at varying depths to model how net transport changes as waves approach the shoreline. An instantaneous Shields number …

Understanding The Effectiveness Between Modern Technologies And Traditional Training Methods Of E-Learning On An Individual’S Learning Curve, Content Retention, And Satisfaction, Andressa Camacho Ortiz

Theses and Dissertations

E-learning has become a widespread and valuable tool for skill development. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the necessity and adaptability of this method increased drastically. Hence, numerous studies focused on understanding the effectiveness of this method. The academic literature highlights the need to explore alternative solutions that can increase a learner’s content retention and satisfaction when learning remotely. Modern technologies can be a great solution for this need with the correct application and development. This thesis analyzes the effects of technology on content retention, satisfaction, and learning curve through the following technologies: online platform, virtual reality (VR), and hologram display. A …

Improving The Learning Efficiency Of Adaptive Optimal Control In Information-Limited Environments, Omar Ghassan Qasem

Theses and Dissertations

This work investigates the adaptive optimal control problems for continuous-time linear and nonlinear systems. A novel adaptive dynamic programming method, namely hybrid iteration (HI) is presented. Different from the existing adaptive dynamic programming methods, i.e., policy iteration (PI) and value iteration (VI), the HI does not require an initial admissible control policy compared to the PI. On the other hand, the HI converges to the optimal control policy in much less learning iterations and CPU time compared to the VI due to the ensured quadratic rate of convergence of the HI method, which is much faster than the sub-linear convergence …

Biomimicry Of Natural Reef Hydrodynamics In An Artificial Spur And Groove Reef Formation, Emilee Alaine Wissmach

Theses and Dissertations

Coral reef populations have rapidly been declining in coastal waters worldwide. Losing these ecosystems results not only in a loss of habitat and biodiversity, but also a loss of wave attenuation and subsequent coastal protection. Ongoing projects seek to rehabilitate and/or replace destroyed reefs with artificial structures like reef balls and rip-rap, but none perform as well as a healthy, natural reef. This project created scale modules mimicking the reef-crest and spur-and-groove (SAG) zones commonly found in natural reefs and used these models to support new efforts in artificial reef design. The modular structure consists of three different components including: …

Pla-S-Tech: Pla Sustainable Technology, Sean Sapper, Ryan Decarlo, Elle Whitney, Samantha Dombrowski, Dalton Prokop, Dominic Zaio, Tyler Stokes, David Deese, Blake Hengel, Yi Guo

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Student Publications

To recycle waste material produced by fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printers, a recycler was designed and manufactured to convert plastic scraps into usable filament. The device does so by breaking down plastic material to a uniform size with the shredder, melting and compressing these pieces into a cylindrical strand with the extruder, and wrapping this strand around a filament spool with the spooler. As the device is mostly made from commercially-available components, it is easily maintainable and user-serviceable, while also costing less than similar devices on the market.

The Effect Of Zonation, Biofouling, And Corrosion Products On Cathodic Protection Design For Offshore Monopiles, Caglar Erdogan

Theses and Dissertations

Cathodic protection (CP) is required to prevent corrosion of the submerged steel for offshore wind monopile foundations in the marine environment. The design of these systems depends on the environmental conditions, including temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, depth, micro- and macro-organisms, and water flow rates. The standards utilized to design cathodic protection systems consider only some of these conditions. This research identified the gaps in knowledge for the design of corrosion prevention systems for offshore wind monopile foundations and investigated the changes in cathodic current densities due to macro-galvanic cells, fouling communities and corrosion products established on uncoated vertical steel …

Thermal Design And Energy Analysis Of A Greenhouse In Microgravity Conditions, Nivedha Karigiri Madhusudhan

Theses and Dissertations

The recent progress in commercial space flights and prospects for interplanetary space missions has attracted more attention towards developing sustainable built environments in microgravity conditions. An important factor in establishing a sustainable living condition for outer space applications is the ability to produce food. The thermal design considerations in a greenhouse have a major impact on the survival, water efficiency, quantity, and quality of plants produced. The extremely low environmental temperatures necessitate the use of heaters which do consume energy. Given the scarcity of energy access, it is important to achieve proper thermal conditions with the lowest possible energy requirements. …

Tympanostomy Tubes In Children: A Fem Study Of Adverse Effects, Manuel Nicolas Jaramillo Bucheli

Theses and Dissertations

Background: The current study investigates if tympanic (myringotomy) tubes affect hearing by comparing the harmonic displacement response to sound excitation within the hearing frequency range for healthy vs. surgically-treated pediatric tympanic membranes. The use of ear myringotomy tubes has proven an effective method for combating recurrent ear infections in infants and children. These tubes are placed in the tympanic membrane through an incision and connect the middle ear to the external ear, thereby allowing fluid drainage and middle-ear ventilation. While this treatment has been proven beneficial in alleviating urgent pus accumulation in the middle ear, recent research shows that it …

Framework For The Utilization Of The Agile Methodology In Engineering Consulting Services, Cristian Daniel Nuñez

Theses and Dissertations

The guidelines that form the Agile methodology framework are developed and adapted to the engineering consulting services industry. Four tools recommended by the literature are developed and adapted for the specific case of this industry. The implementation of the use of these tools is intended to help adopt the Agile methodology more effectively. A company that performs consulting services for airports is taken as a case study. This company did not officially implement the Agile methodology at the time this research has been done. The data is obtained through a survey designed to associate the company's activities with the guides …

Design And Simulation Of Intelligent Control Algorithms For Bimanual Robot-Assisted Retinal Surgery Training System, Ali Ebrahimi

Link Foundation Modeling, Simulation and Training Fellowship Reports

Vitreoretinal surgery is among the most delicate surgical tasks in which physiological hand tremor may severely diminish surgeon performance and put the eye at high risk of injury. Unerring targeting accuracy is required to perform precise operations on micro-scale tissues of the eye. The objective of this project is to develop robotic platforms and intelligent control algorithms to provide a safe bilateral steady-hand eye manipulation for surgeons, which can potentially lead to autonomous surgical procedures. This will in tum enhance patient safety and surgical outcome which can be very beneficial to both patients and surgeons.

Nanomechanical Characterization Of Vascular Tissue Using Atomic Force Microscopy, Ana Isabel Delgado Peralta

Theses and Dissertations

Cardiovascular morphogenesis and pathophysiology have been associated with the mechanical properties of the vessel wall. In this work, nanomechanical properties of diseased arteries and control groups were quantified using the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Both tip sizes of 20nm and 5µm were used for examining the local and global stiffness. First, we measured the stiffness as a potential index factor of the mice’s aortic aneurysm. Results have shown the stiffness of mice aortic aneurysm is 58.84 ± 30.26 kPa, which is significantly different (P < 0.05) from the stiffness of the control group of 4.70 ± 17.41 kPa. This was attributed to the degradation of elastin fibers and increment of collagen deposition in the vessel as observed in the histological analysis. The lesion heterogeneity was illustrated by the stiffness gradient from 40 kPa to 1.2 MPa within a 2µm2 region. We also examined the stiffness of the diabetic rat aorta as a potential biomarker for disease progression. Results have shown a significantly higher stiffness of 70.25 ± 14.10 kPa in diabetic rat aorta, compared with 54.19 ± 14.15 kPa in the control group. Lastly, we characterized the human aortic calcifications to fill the knowledge gap of scarce datasets for calcification stiffness. Results have demonstrated the calcification stiffness as 61.5 ± 35 kPa, which is significantly larger than the stiffness of the control group of 12.0 ± 4.4 kPa. The stiffness variation was attributed to the percentage of calcium deposits, observed from the histological analysis. These nanomechanical characterizations could be further used for a better understanding of arterial adaptation and to provide insights for effective vascular therapies.

Precision Landing Of A Quadcopter Drone By Smartphone Video Guidance Sensor, Nicolas Bautista Holguin

Theses and Dissertations

This study describes the deployment, integration, and demonstration of the Smartphone Video Guidance Sensor (SVGS) as novel technology for autonomous 6 DOF proximity maneuvers and precision landing of a quadcopter drone. The proposed approach uses a vision-based photogrammetric position and attitude sensor (SVGS) to estimate the position of an illuminated landing target after video capture. A visual inertial odometry camera (VIO) is used to provide position estimates of the UAV in a ground coordinate system during flight on a GPS denied environment. The integration of both SVGS and VIO sensors enables the accurate update of position setpoints during landing maneuvers, …

Development And Characterization Of Low-Cost Out Of Autoclave Fiber Metal Structures, Codrington Edward Barzey Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Fiber metal structures are structures formed by combining fiber reinforced plastics and metallic sheets. The most widely used fiber metal structure is GLARE®. GLARE® is solely used in the aerospace industry, due to its unmatched weight, crack propagation resistance, and inflated cost. Its inflated cost is attributed to the high-performance requirements of the industry that can only be achieved with high-cost materials and manufacturing processes. Unlike the aerospace industry, there are other industries that have far lower performance requirements but can still benefit by using fiber metal structures to reduce weight while improving performance. Traditionally, fiber metal structures are fabricated …

Evaluating Mixed Reality Training For Calibrating Operators’ Mental Models Of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, Ganesh Pai Mangalore

Link Foundation Modeling, Simulation and Training Fellowship Reports

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) offer safety benefits by handling active driving tasks. However, due to limited operational design domain, these systems may require driver intervention, making drivers’ mental models about system limitations and capabilities an important factor when operating them. Literature suggests most drivers are uninformed or unaware of their systems (McDonald et al, 2018), lacking complete or accurate mental models. Mental models (MM) are described as reflections of operators’ knowledge of system’s purpose and various functioning states (Seppelt & Victor, 2020). Incomplete MM of systems’ limitations may also adversely affect drivers’ hazard avoidance behavior.

Charged Particle Environment Testing Of A Deep Space Radiation Shield With Associated Fabrication And Calibration Of Pulsed Power Systems, Mark Bedford Moffett

Theses and Dissertations

Space radiation is one of the primary dangers faced outside of the protective magnetosphere of Earth. Despite the persistent radiation threat to self-contained human habitation and the risk of increased exposure during long-duration missions, reliable long-term radiation protection is not well-developed. Active shielding is an avenue of preventative radiation protection that could be deployed to protect astronauts and biological life from the effects of radiation. This dissertation explores the design scalability of an active magnetic shield for protecting against isotropic radiation in deep space. Each shield is composed of two concentric, elliptical layers of circular conducting coils, each arranged like …

A Comparative Study On The Application Of Intelligent Algorithms As The Solution Of Inverse Heat Conduction Problems, Dominic Allard

Theses and Dissertations

A critical component necessary for the safety and survival of space vehicles are the thermal protection systems (TPS). Especially when subject to atmospheric re-entry, the heating loads subject to the space vehicle requires the implementation of extensive protection. The TPS commonly used currently are passive ablative materials which burn away under extreme heat flux. Due to the nature of the material and the incident heat flux, it is not feasible to attain accurate, real-time measurements for the boundary conditions with sensors placed on the surface of the space vehicle. The ability to do such would allow opportunities to implement active …