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Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering

Comparative Analysis Of Injection Of Pyrolysis Oil From Plastics And Gasoline Into The Engine Cylinder And Atomization By A Direct High-Pressure Injector, Magdalena Szwaja, Jeffrey Naber, David Shonnard, Daniel G. Kulas, Ali Zolghadr, Stanislaw Szwaja Dec 2022

Comparative Analysis Of Injection Of Pyrolysis Oil From Plastics And Gasoline Into The Engine Cylinder And Atomization By A Direct High-Pressure Injector, Magdalena Szwaja, Jeffrey Naber, David Shonnard, Daniel G. Kulas, Ali Zolghadr, Stanislaw Szwaja

Michigan Tech Publications

The article discusses the results of experimental studies on the course of pyrolysis oil injection through the high-pressure injector of a direct-injection engine. The pyrolysis oil used for the tests was derived from waste plastics (mainly high-density polyethylene—HDPE). This oil was then distilled. The article also describes the production technology of this pyrolysis oil on a laboratory scale. It presents the results of the chemical composition of the raw pyrolysis oil and the oil after the distillation process using GC-MS analysis. Fuel injection tests were carried out for the distilled pyrolysis oil and a 91 RON gasoline in order to …


Machine Learning-Based Classification Of Combustion Events In An Rcci Engine Using Heat Release Rate Shapes, Radhika Sitaraman, Sadaf Batool, Hoseinali Borhan, Javad Mohammadpour Velni, Jeffrey Naber, Mahdi Shahbakhti Nov 2022

Machine Learning-Based Classification Of Combustion Events In An Rcci Engine Using Heat Release Rate Shapes, Radhika Sitaraman, Sadaf Batool, Hoseinali Borhan, Javad Mohammadpour Velni, Jeffrey Naber, Mahdi Shahbakhti

Michigan Tech Publications

Reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI) mode offers high thermal efficiency and low nitrogen oxides (NOx) and soot emissions. However, high cyclic variability at low engine load and high pressure rise rates at high loads limit RCCI operation. Therefore, it is important to control the combustion event in an RCCI engines to prevent abnormal engine combustion. To this end, combustion in RCCI mode was studied by analyzing the heat release rates calculated from the in-cylinder pressure data at 798 different operating conditions. Five distinct heat release shapes are identified. These different heat release traces were characterized based on start of combustion, …


Optimal Synthesis Of Crank-Rocker Mechanisms With Optimum Transmission Angle For Desired Stroke And Time-Ratio Using Genetic Programming, Bahman Ahmadi, Behnam Ahmadi Oct 2022

Optimal Synthesis Of Crank-Rocker Mechanisms With Optimum Transmission Angle For Desired Stroke And Time-Ratio Using Genetic Programming, Bahman Ahmadi, Behnam Ahmadi

Michigan Tech Publications

Dimensional synthesis of crank-rocker mechanisms applied to provide some desired values of stroke and time ratio, is of utmost importance for designing an efficient mechanism. In the synthesis and manufacturing of crank-rocker mechanisms, the designers are further challenged by other design criteria, such as quality of motion. In this study, a novel approach based on genetic programming (GP) is proposed for dimensional synthesis of planar crank-rocker mechanisms with optimum transmission angle over the desired stroke and time-ratio. An analytical approach is elaborated which leads to an interesting relationship of length of the coupler and rocker links. It is, therefore, advised …


Accurate Predictions Of Thermoset Resin Glass Transition Temperatures From All-Atom Molecular Dynamics Simulation, Gregory Odegard, Sagar Patil, Prashik Gaikwad, Prathamesh Deshpande, Aaron Krieg, Sagar P. Shah, Aspen Reyes, Tarik Dickens, Julia A. King, Marianna Maiaru Sep 2022

Accurate Predictions Of Thermoset Resin Glass Transition Temperatures From All-Atom Molecular Dynamics Simulation, Gregory Odegard, Sagar Patil, Prashik Gaikwad, Prathamesh Deshpande, Aaron Krieg, Sagar P. Shah, Aspen Reyes, Tarik Dickens, Julia A. King, Marianna Maiaru

Michigan Tech Publications

To enable the design and development of the next generation of high-performance composite materials, there is a need to establish improved computational simulation protocols for accurate and efficient prediction of physical, mechanical, and thermal properties of thermoset resins. This is especially true for the prediction of glass transition temperature (Tg), as there are many discrepancies in the literature regarding simulation protocols and the use of cooling rate correction factors for predicting values using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The objectives of this study are to demonstrate accurate prediction the Tg with MD without the use of cooling rate correction factors and …


Microgrid Energy Management During High-Stress Operation, Thomas Price, Gordon Parker, Gail Vaucher, Robert Jane, Morris Berman Sep 2022

Microgrid Energy Management During High-Stress Operation, Thomas Price, Gordon Parker, Gail Vaucher, Robert Jane, Morris Berman

Michigan Tech Publications

We consider the energy management of an isolated microgrid powered by photovoltaics (PV) and fuel-based generation with limited energy storage. The grid may need to shed load or energy when operating in stressed conditions, such as when nighttime electrical loads occur or if there is little energy storage capacity. An energy management system (EMS) can prevent load and energy shedding during stress conditions while minimizing fuel consumption. This is important when the loads are high priority and fuel is in short supply, such as in disaster relief and military applications. One example is a low-power, provisional microgrid deployed temporarily to …


Thermal Degradation And Organic Chlorine Removal From Mixed Plastic Wastes, Zhuo Xu, Victor Ierulli, Ezra Bar Ziv, Armando G. Mcdonald Aug 2022

Thermal Degradation And Organic Chlorine Removal From Mixed Plastic Wastes, Zhuo Xu, Victor Ierulli, Ezra Bar Ziv, Armando G. Mcdonald

Michigan Tech Publications

Plastic waste accumulation has been growing due to the increase in plastic generation and the lack of infrastructure for recycling. One of the approaches is to treat the mixed plastic waste (MPW) through thermal processes to produce feedstocks for other applications. However, the presence of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in MPW would produce HCl during processing and has negative impacts (emission, catalyst poisoning, etc.). In addition, due to the high heterogeneity of MPW, it is difficult to generate consistent experimental data. In this study, MPW was homogenized through double compounding–extrusion and then formed into a sheet to be treated at 400 …


An Algorithm For Task Allocation And Planning For A Heterogeneous Multi-Robot System To Minimize The Last Task Completion Time, Abhishek Patil, Jungyun Bae, Myoungkuk Park Jul 2022

An Algorithm For Task Allocation And Planning For A Heterogeneous Multi-Robot System To Minimize The Last Task Completion Time, Abhishek Patil, Jungyun Bae, Myoungkuk Park

Michigan Tech Publications

This paper proposes an algorithm that provides operational strategies for multiple heterogeneous mobile robot systems utilized in many real-world applications, such as deliveries, surveillance, search and rescue, monitoring, and transportation. Specifically, the authors focus on developing an algorithm that solves a min-max multiple depot heterogeneous asymmetric traveling salesperson problem (MDHATSP). The algorithm is designed based on a primal-dual technique to operate given multiple heterogeneous robots located at distinctive depots by finding a tour for each robot such that all the given targets are visited by at least one robot while minimizing the last task completion time. Building on existing work, …


Probabilistic Multi-Objective Inverse Analysis For Damage Identification Using Piezoelectric Impedance Measurement Under Uncertainties, Kai Zhou, Yang Zhang, Qi Shuai, Jiong Tang Jun 2022

Probabilistic Multi-Objective Inverse Analysis For Damage Identification Using Piezoelectric Impedance Measurement Under Uncertainties, Kai Zhou, Yang Zhang, Qi Shuai, Jiong Tang

Michigan Tech Publications

Piezoelectric impedance sensing is promising for highly accurate damage identification because of its high-frequency active interrogative nature and simplicity in data acquisition. To fully unleash the potential, effective inverse analysis is needed in order to pinpoint the damage location and identify the severity. The inverse analysis, however, may be underdetermined since there exists a very large number of unknowns (i.e., locations and severity levels) to be solved in a finite element model but only limited measurements are available in actual practice. To uncover the true damage scenario, an inverse analysis strategy built upon the multi-objective optimization, which aims at matching …


The Role Of Regional Connections In Planning For Future Power System Operations Under Climate Extremes, Ana Dyreson, N. Devineni, S. W.D. Turner, T. De Silva M, A. Miara, N. Voisin, S. Cohen, J. Macknick Jun 2022

The Role Of Regional Connections In Planning For Future Power System Operations Under Climate Extremes, Ana Dyreson, N. Devineni, S. W.D. Turner, T. De Silva M, A. Miara, N. Voisin, S. Cohen, J. Macknick

Michigan Tech Publications

Identifying the sensitivity of future power systems to climate extremes must consider the concurrent effects of changing climate and evolving power systems. We investigated the sensitivity of a Western U.S. power system to isolated and combined heat and drought when it has low (5%) and moderate (31%) variable renewable energy shares, representing historic and future systems. We used an electricity operational model combined with a model of historically extreme drought (for hydropower and freshwater-reliant thermoelectric generators) over the Western U.S. and a synthetic, regionally extreme heat event in Southern California (for thermoelectric generators and electricity load). We found that the …


Integrating Deep Learning And Hydrodynamic Modeling To Improve The Great Lakes Forecast, Pengfei Xue, Aditya Wagh, Gangfeng Ma, Yilin Wang, Yongchao Yang, Tao Liu, Chenfu Huang May 2022

Integrating Deep Learning And Hydrodynamic Modeling To Improve The Great Lakes Forecast, Pengfei Xue, Aditya Wagh, Gangfeng Ma, Yilin Wang, Yongchao Yang, Tao Liu, Chenfu Huang

Michigan Tech Publications

The Laurentian Great Lakes, one of the world’s largest surface freshwater systems, pose a modeling challenge in seasonal forecast and climate projection. While physics-based hydrodynamic modeling is a fundamental approach, improving the forecast accuracy remains critical. In recent years, machine learning (ML) has quickly emerged in geoscience applications, but its application to the Great Lakes hydrodynamic prediction is still in its early stages. This work is the first one to explore a deep learning approach to predicting spatiotemporal distributions of the lake surface temperature (LST) in the Great Lakes. Our study shows that the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network, …


Free-Decay Heave Motion Of A Spherical Buoy, Jacob K. Colling, Saeed Jafari Kang, Esmaeil Dehdashti, Salman Husain, Hassan Masoud, Gordon Parker May 2022

Free-Decay Heave Motion Of A Spherical Buoy, Jacob K. Colling, Saeed Jafari Kang, Esmaeil Dehdashti, Salman Husain, Hassan Masoud, Gordon Parker

Michigan Tech Publications

We examined the heave motion of a spherical buoy during a free-decay drop test. A comprehensive approach was adopted to study the oscillations of the buoy involving experimental measurements and complementary numerical simulations. The experiments were performed in a wave tank equipped with an array of high-speed motion-capture cameras and a set of high-precision wave gauges. The simulations included three sets of calculations with varying levels of sophistication. Specifically, in one set, the volume-of-fluid (VOF) method was used to solve the incompressible, two-phase, Navier–Stokes equations on an overset grid, whereas the calculations in other sets were based on Cummins and …


Non-Reacting Spray Characteristics Of Gasoline And Diesel With A Heavy-Duty Single-Hole Injector, Tom Tzanetakis, Jaclyn Johnson, Henry Schmidt, William Atkinson, Jeffrey Naber May 2022

Non-Reacting Spray Characteristics Of Gasoline And Diesel With A Heavy-Duty Single-Hole Injector, Tom Tzanetakis, Jaclyn Johnson, Henry Schmidt, William Atkinson, Jeffrey Naber

Michigan Tech Publications

Gasoline compression ignition (GCI) is a promising combustion technology that could help alleviate the projected demand for diesel in commercial transport while providing a pathway to achieve upcoming CO2 and criteria pollutant regulations for heavy-duty engines. However, relatively high (i.e., diesel-like) injection pressures are needed to enable GCI across the entire load range while maintaining soot emissions benefits and managing heat release rates. There have only been a limited number of previous studies investigating the spray characteristics of light distillates with high-pressure direct-injection hardware under charge gas conditions relevant to heavy-duty applications. The current work aims to address this issue …


Mechanobiology In The Comorbidities Of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Shaina P. Royer, Sangyoon J. Han Apr 2022

Mechanobiology In The Comorbidities Of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Shaina P. Royer, Sangyoon J. Han

Michigan Tech Publications

Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDSs) are a group of connective tissue disorders, characterized by skin stretchability, joint hypermobility and instability. Mechanically, various tissues from EDS patients exhibit lowered elastic modulus and lowered ultimate strength. This change in mechanics has been associated with EDS symptoms. However, recent evidence points toward a possibility that the comorbidities of EDS could be also associated with reduced tissue stiffness. In this review, we focus on mast cell activation syndrome and impaired wound healing, comorbidities associated with the classical type (cEDS) and the hypermobile type (hEDS), respectively, and discuss potential mechanobiological pathways involved in the comorbidities.


Aeroelastic Response Of Wind Turbine Rotors Under Rapid Actuation Of Flap-Based Flow Control Devices, Muraleekrishnan Menon, Fernando L. Ponta Apr 2022

Aeroelastic Response Of Wind Turbine Rotors Under Rapid Actuation Of Flap-Based Flow Control Devices, Muraleekrishnan Menon, Fernando L. Ponta

Michigan Tech Publications

The largest commercial wind turbines today are rated at powers between 12 MW to 16 MW, with rotor diameters between 220 m to 242 m, which are expected to grow beyond 250 m in the near future. Economies-of-scale factors suggest the advantages of upscaling in rotor size to effectively harvest the wind potential. An increased emphasis on studies related to improvements and innovations in aerodynamic load-control methodologies has led researchers to focus on overcoming the bottlenecks in size upscaling. Though conventional pitch control is an effective approach for long-term load variations, their application to mitigate short-term fluctuations has limitations. This …


Multisector Dynamics: Advancing The Science Of Complex Adaptive Human-Earth Systems, Patrick M. Reed, Antonia Hadjimichael, Richard H. Moss, Christa Brelsford, Casey D. Burleyson, Stuart Cohen, Ana Dyreson, David F. Gold, Rohini S. Gupta, Klaus Keller, Megan Konar, Erwan Monier Mar 2022

Multisector Dynamics: Advancing The Science Of Complex Adaptive Human-Earth Systems, Patrick M. Reed, Antonia Hadjimichael, Richard H. Moss, Christa Brelsford, Casey D. Burleyson, Stuart Cohen, Ana Dyreson, David F. Gold, Rohini S. Gupta, Klaus Keller, Megan Konar, Erwan Monier

Michigan Tech Publications

The field of MultiSector Dynamics (MSD) explores the dynamics and co-evolutionary pathways of human and Earth systems with a focus on critical goods, services, and amenities delivered to people through interdependent sectors. This commentary lays out core definitions and concepts, identifies MSD science questions in the context of the current state of knowledge, and describes ongoing activities to expand capacities for open science, leverage revolutions in data and computing, and grow and diversify the MSD workforce. Central to our vision is the ambition of advancing the next generation of complex adaptive human-Earth systems science to better address interconnected risks, increase …


Storage Minimization Of Marine Energy Grids Using Polyphase Power, Salman Husain, Gordon Parker, Wayne W. Weaver Feb 2022

Storage Minimization Of Marine Energy Grids Using Polyphase Power, Salman Husain, Gordon Parker, Wayne W. Weaver

Michigan Tech Publications

Multiple wave energy converter (WEC) buoys can be used to establish a WEC array-powered microgrid collectively forming a Marine Energy Grid (MEG). An oceanic domain with gravity waves will have significant spatial variability in phase, causing the power produced by a WEC array to have high peak-to-average ratios. Minimizing these power fluctuations reduces the demand for large energy storage by WEC array-powered DC microgrids while also reducing losses in the undersea cable to the shore. Designs that reduce energy storage requirements are desirable to reduce deployment and maintenance costs. This work demonstrates that polyphase power in conjunction with an energy …


A Note On Gradient/Fractional One-Dimensional Elasticity And Viscoelasticity, Kostas Parisis, Vlasis Dimosthenis, Leonidas Kouris, Avraam Konstantinidis, Elias C. Aifantis Feb 2022

A Note On Gradient/Fractional One-Dimensional Elasticity And Viscoelasticity, Kostas Parisis, Vlasis Dimosthenis, Leonidas Kouris, Avraam Konstantinidis, Elias C. Aifantis

Michigan Tech Publications

An introductory discussion on a (weakly non-local) gradient generalization of some one-dimensional elastic and viscoelastic models, and their fractional extension is provided. Emphasis is placed on the possible implications of micro-and nano-engineering problems, including small-scale structural mechanics and composite materials, as well as collagen biomechanics and nanomaterials.


Multisector Dynamics: Scientific Challenges And A Research Vision For 2030, A Community Of Practice Supported By The United States Department Of Energy's Office Of Science, Patrick M. Reed, Antonia Hadjimichael, Richard H. Moss, Erwan Monier, Sequoia Alba, Christa Brelsford, Ana Dyreson, Et. Al. Jan 2022

Multisector Dynamics: Scientific Challenges And A Research Vision For 2030, A Community Of Practice Supported By The United States Department Of Energy's Office Of Science, Patrick M. Reed, Antonia Hadjimichael, Richard H. Moss, Erwan Monier, Sequoia Alba, Christa Brelsford, Ana Dyreson, Et. Al.

Michigan Tech Publications

No abstract provided.


Experimental Studies Of Low-Load Limit In A Stoichiometric Micro-Pilot Diesel Natural Gas Engine, Vinicius Bonfochi Vinhaes, Gordon Mctaggart-Cowan, Sandeep Munshi, Mahdi Shahbakhti, Jeffrey Naber Jan 2022

Experimental Studies Of Low-Load Limit In A Stoichiometric Micro-Pilot Diesel Natural Gas Engine, Vinicius Bonfochi Vinhaes, Gordon Mctaggart-Cowan, Sandeep Munshi, Mahdi Shahbakhti, Jeffrey Naber

Michigan Tech Publications

While operating at light loads, diesel pilot-ignited natural gas engines with lean pre-mixed natural gas suffer from poor combustion efficiency and high methane emissions. This work investigates the limits of low-load operation for a micro-pilot diesel natural gas engine that uses a stoichiometric mixture to enable methane and nitrogen oxide emission control. By optimizing engine hardware, operating conditions, and injection strategies, this study focused on defining the lowest achievable load while maintaining a stoichiometric equivalence ratio and with acceptable combustion stability. A multi-cylinder diesel 6.7 L engine was converted to run natural gas premix with a maximum diesel micro-pilot contribution …


Mechanical Properties And Characterization Of Epoxy Composites Containing Highly Entangled As-Received And Acid Treated Carbon Nanotubes, Aaron Krieg, Julia A. King, Gregory M. Odegard, Timothy Leftwich, Leif K. Odegard, Paul D. Fraley, Ibrahim Miskioglu, Claire Jolowsky, Matthew Lundblad, Jin Gyu Park, Richard Liang Sep 2021

Mechanical Properties And Characterization Of Epoxy Composites Containing Highly Entangled As-Received And Acid Treated Carbon Nanotubes, Aaron Krieg, Julia A. King, Gregory M. Odegard, Timothy Leftwich, Leif K. Odegard, Paul D. Fraley, Ibrahim Miskioglu, Claire Jolowsky, Matthew Lundblad, Jin Gyu Park, Richard Liang

Michigan Tech Publications

Huntsman–Merrimack MIRALON® carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a novel, highly entan-gled, commercially available, and scalable format of nanotubes. As-received and acid-treated CNTs were added to aerospace grade epoxy (CYCOM® 977-3), and the composites were characterized. The epoxy resin is expected to infiltrate the network of the CNTs and could improve mechanical properties. Epoxy composites were tested for flexural and viscoelastic properties and the as-re-ceived and acid treated CNTs were characterized using Field-Emission Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, and Thermogravimetric Analysis. Composites containing 0.4 wt% as-received CNTs showed an increase in flexural strength, from 136.9 MPa for neat epoxy …


Synthesis And Biomedical Applications Of Functional Polymers, Jianxun Ding, Di Li, Jingxiao Chen, Chao Zhao, Parisa Pour Shahid Saeed Abadi Aug 2021

Synthesis And Biomedical Applications Of Functional Polymers, Jianxun Ding, Di Li, Jingxiao Chen, Chao Zhao, Parisa Pour Shahid Saeed Abadi

Michigan Tech Publications

No abstract provided.


Dynamic Aeroelastic Response Of Stall-Controlled Wind Turbine Rotors In Turbulent Wind Conditions, Sara Jalal, Fernando L. Ponta, Apurva Baruah, Anurag Rajan Jul 2021

Dynamic Aeroelastic Response Of Stall-Controlled Wind Turbine Rotors In Turbulent Wind Conditions, Sara Jalal, Fernando L. Ponta, Apurva Baruah, Anurag Rajan

Michigan Tech Publications

With the current global trend of the wind turbines to be commissioned, the next generation of state-of-the-art turbines will have a generating capacity of 20 MW with rotor diameters of 250 m or larger. This systematic increase in rotor size is prompted by economies-of-scale factors, thereby resulting in a continuously decreasing cost per kWh generated. However, such large rotors have larger masses associated with them and necessitate studies in order to better understand their dynamics. The present work regarding the aeroelastic behavior of stall-controlled rotors involves the study of the frequency content and time evolution of their oscillatory behavior. A …


Early-Stage Gas Identification Using Convolutional Long Short-Term Neural Network With Sensor Array Time Series Data, Kai Zhou, Yixin Liu Jul 2021

Early-Stage Gas Identification Using Convolutional Long Short-Term Neural Network With Sensor Array Time Series Data, Kai Zhou, Yixin Liu

Michigan Tech Publications

Gas identification/classification through pattern recognition techniques based on gas sensor arrays often requires the equilibrium responses or the full traces of time-series data of the sensor array. Leveraging upon the diverse gas sensing kinetics behaviors measured via the sensor array, a computational intelligence-based meta-model is proposed to automatically conduct the feature extraction and subsequent gas identification using time-series data during the transitional phase before reaching equilibrium. The time-series data contains implicit temporal dependency/correlation that is worth being characterized to enhance the gas identification performance and reliability. In this context, a tailored approach so-called convolutional long short-term memory (CLSTM) neural network …


A Simple Gas-Kinetic Model For Dilute And Weakly Charged Plasma Micro-Jet Flows, Shiying Cai, Chunpei Cai Jul 2021

A Simple Gas-Kinetic Model For Dilute And Weakly Charged Plasma Micro-Jet Flows, Shiying Cai, Chunpei Cai

Michigan Tech Publications

This paper presents a simple model for slightly charged gas expanding into a vacuum from a planar exit. The number density, bulk velocity, temperature, and potential at the exit are given. The electric field force is assumed weaker than the convection term and is neglected in the analysis. As such, the quasi-neutral condition is naturally adopted and the potential field is computed with the Boltzmann relation. At far field, the exit degenerates as a point source, and simplified analytical formulas for flow and electric fields are obtained. The results are generic and offer insights on many existing models in the …


Wetting Simulations Of High-Performance Polymer Resins On Carbon Surfaces As A Function Of Temperature Using Molecular Dynamics, Swapnil S. Bamane, Prashik S. Gaikwad, Matthew Radue, S. Gowtham, Gregory M. Odegard Jun 2021

Wetting Simulations Of High-Performance Polymer Resins On Carbon Surfaces As A Function Of Temperature Using Molecular Dynamics, Swapnil S. Bamane, Prashik S. Gaikwad, Matthew Radue, S. Gowtham, Gregory M. Odegard

Michigan Tech Publications

Resin/reinforcement wetting is a key parameter in the manufacturing of carbon nanotube (CNT)-based composite materials. Determining the contact angle between combinations of liquid resin and reinforcement surfaces is a common method for quantifying wettability. As experimental measurement of contact angle can be difficult when screening multiple high-performance resins with CNT materials such as CNT bundles or yarns, computational approaches are necessary to fa-cilitate CNT composite material design. A molecular dynamics simulation method is developed to predict the contact angle of high-performance polymer resins on CNT surfaces dominated by aromatic carbon, aliphatic carbon, or a mixture thereof (amorphous carbon). Several resin …


Multiscale Modeling Of Epoxy-Based Nanocomposites Reinforced With Functionalized And Non-Functionalized Graphene Nanoplatelets, Hashim Al Mahmud, Matthew Radue, Sorayot Chinkanjanarot, Gregory M. Odegard Jun 2021

Multiscale Modeling Of Epoxy-Based Nanocomposites Reinforced With Functionalized And Non-Functionalized Graphene Nanoplatelets, Hashim Al Mahmud, Matthew Radue, Sorayot Chinkanjanarot, Gregory M. Odegard

Michigan Tech Publications

The impact on the mechanical properties of an epoxy resin reinforced with pristine graphene nanoplatelets (GNP), highly concentrated graphene oxide (GO), and functionalized graphene oxide (FGO) has been investigated in this study. Molecular dynamics (MD) using a reactive force field (ReaxFF) has been employed in predicting the effective mechanical properties of the interphase region of the three nanocomposite materials at the nanoscale level. A systematic computational approach to simulate the reinforcing nanoplatelets and probe their influence on the mechanical properties of the epoxy matrix is established. The modeling results indicate a significant degradation of the in-plane elastic Young’s (decreased by …


Open Source Vacuum Oven Design For Low-Temperature Drying: Performance Evaluation For Recycled Pet And Biomass, Benjamin R. Hubbard, Lindsay I. Putman, Stephen Techtmann, Joshua M. Pearce May 2021

Open Source Vacuum Oven Design For Low-Temperature Drying: Performance Evaluation For Recycled Pet And Biomass, Benjamin R. Hubbard, Lindsay I. Putman, Stephen Techtmann, Joshua M. Pearce

Michigan Tech Publications

Vacuum drying can dehydrate materials further than dry heat methods, while protecting sensitive materials from thermal degradation. Many industries have shifted to vacuum drying as cost-or time-saving measures. Small-scale vacuum drying, however, has been limited by the high costs of specialty scientific tools. To make vacuum drying more accessible, this study provides design and performance information for a small-scale open source vacuum oven, which can be fabricated from off-the-shelf and 3-D printed components. The oven is tested for drying speed and effectiveness on both waste plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and a consortium of bacteria developed for bioprocessing of terephthalate wastes …


Solid–Liquid Interface Temperature Measurement Of Evaporating Droplet Using Thermoresponsive Polymer Aqueous Solution, Hyung Ju Lee, Chan Ho Jeong, Dae Yun Kim, Chang Kyoung Choi, Seong Hyuk Lee Apr 2021

Solid–Liquid Interface Temperature Measurement Of Evaporating Droplet Using Thermoresponsive Polymer Aqueous Solution, Hyung Ju Lee, Chan Ho Jeong, Dae Yun Kim, Chang Kyoung Choi, Seong Hyuk Lee

Michigan Tech Publications

The present study aims to measure the solid–liquid interface temperature of an evaporating droplet on a heated surface using a thermoresponsive polymer. Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) was used owing to its sensitive optical and mechanical properties to the temperature. We also measured the refractive index variation of the pNIPAM solution by using the surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi). In particular, the present study proposed a new method to measure the solid–liquid interface temperature using the correlation among reflectance, refractive index, and temperature. It was found that the reflectance of a pNIPAM solution decreased after the droplet deposition. The solid–liquid interface temperature, estimated …


Open Source 3d-Printable Planetary Roller Screw For Food Processing Applications, Marcello C. Guadagno, Jacob M. Loss, Joshua M. Pearce Apr 2021

Open Source 3d-Printable Planetary Roller Screw For Food Processing Applications, Marcello C. Guadagno, Jacob M. Loss, Joshua M. Pearce

Michigan Tech Publications

Historically, open source agriculture (OSA) was based on grassroots technology generally manufactured by hand tools or with manual machining. The rise of distributed digital manufacturing provides an opportunity for much more rapid lateral scaling of open source appropriate technologies for agriculture. However, the most mature distributed manufacturing area is plastic, which has limited use for many OSA applications. To overcome this limitation with design, this study reports on of a completely 3D-printable planetary roller screw linear actuator. The device is designed as a parametric script-based computer aided design (CAD) package to allow for the easy adaption for a number of …


Mars Reconnaissance: Civil Engineering Advances For Human Exploration, Laurent Sibille, Robert W. Moses, Robert P. Mueller, Michelle A. Viotti, Michelle M. Munk, Paul J. Van Susante, Et. Al. Mar 2021

Mars Reconnaissance: Civil Engineering Advances For Human Exploration, Laurent Sibille, Robert W. Moses, Robert P. Mueller, Michelle A. Viotti, Michelle M. Munk, Paul J. Van Susante, Et. Al.

Michigan Tech Publications

No abstract provided.