Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Material Handling System For An Advanced Flexible Manufacturing Environment, Con Cronin

Theses

A Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) is a method of production that is designed to easily adapt to changes in the type and quantity of the product being manufactured. Machines and computerised systems can be configured to manufacture a variety of parts and to handle the changing levels of production that is required. The aim of this project was to investigate the current manufacturing processes of Kostal Ireland GmbH with the aim of developing a bespoke prototype material handling system to achieve flexible manufacturing. Kostal Ireland GmbH currently do not have the ability to change their manufacturing operations easily when a …

Predicting Energy And Water Consumption On Dairy Farms Through Statistical Analysis And Machine-Learning Methods, Philip Shine

Theses

With the abolishment of milking quotas across all European Union member states in April 2015, dairy farmers must adjust their farming practises to minimise milk production costs to adequately prepare for potential periods of reduced revenue. Milk production is an intense energy and water consuming process. Coupled with challenging European greenhouse gas reduction targets and legislation regarding the prevention of groundwater pollution and deterioration, increasing the production of milk in Ireland must be met with the sustainable consumption of on-farm energy and direct water resources, to ensure the future monetary and environmental sustainability of Ireland’s dairy industry. Thus, this body …

Development Of A Dynamic Cfd Model For Offshore Oscillating Water Columns With Non-Linear Interactions, Ken O'Connell

Theses

This thesis focuses on the development of a state of the art modelling technique for offshore Oscillating Water Column (OWC) type Wave Energy Converters (WEC) using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Current literature indicates a limited amount of work has been completed on studying these devices containing non-linear time dependent flow phenomenon. Initially, a 2D Numerical Wave Tank (NWT) is studied to reduce discretisation error in order to reproduce accurately propagating waves. Further development into a 3D domain permits the geometrical requirements of an OWC type spar buoy to be included.

In parallel, a single Degree of Freedom (DOF) model is …

Investigating The Parameters That Influence The Particle Mass Concentration Rates In A Grade C Cleanroom., Nazar H. Baker

Theses

The cleanroom design engineers use the guidelines tables, in which the Air Change Rates (ACHs) are determined based on the room cleanliness class. These guidelines are based on experience and do not fully address many other critical variables that influence the particulate level and particle distribution. These simplified approaches could often cause significant energy waste. In the last five decades, a number of mathematical models were developed to determine the airflow required in cleanrooms. As a consequence of the approximation of many critical variables in these models, these models can only be used as a qualitative indicator of the airflow …

Development & Validation Of An Improved Biomechanical Model For Motion Analysis, Darren Dawson

Theses

Three dimensional motion analysis systems are utilised across a number of different disciplines, including clinical gait analysis, sports performance studies and analysis of tasks of daily living. These systems utilise biomechanical models which define body segment coordinate systems and calculate kinematic and kinetic relationships about the joints between adjacent coordinate systems. In this study, a biomechanical model for general use in motion analysis was developed and validated. It was designed to improve upon the accuracy and capability of currently available models. The newly developed model utilises state of the art techniques to accurately define body segment coordinate systems. Accurate predictive …

Carbon Dioxide Absorption And Channelling In Closed Circuit Rebreather Scrubbers, Shona Cunningham

Theses

Closed Circuit Rebreathers (CCRs) are a type of Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) used predominantly by the diving community. CCR technologies have become prevalent within the commercial, military and technical diving communities over recent years. CCRs work by recycling breathing gas, by-passing the gas through a carbon dioxide (CO₂) chemical scrubber and topping the resultant scrubbed gas up with pure oxygen to maintain the oxygen content at a level which supports life. One of the main dangers currently faced by divers using this equipment is the risk of CO₂ poisoning if the scrubber fails. This failure …

The Design And Development Of A Substitution Device For The Visually Impaired., Kieran John O'Callaghan

Theses

Current sensory substitution systems for the visually impaired are limited in terms of their spatial and depth resolution capabilities. They are unable to relay real-time 3D spatial information regarding objects in the direct path of the user. Recent advances in 3D imaging technology have presented new opportunities to develop improved sensory substitution systems to compensate for visual sensory loss. The present study established the design criteria, designed, manufactured and evaluated the performance of a real-time vision substitution device called VisionRE.

Knowledge obtained from a literature review of Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs), feedback from visually impaired focus groups and 3D electrode …

Creep Behaviour Of Hand Laminated Glass Reinforced Polymer Composites., Brain Quinn

Theses

The creep behaviour of hand laminated, glass fiber reinforced polyester composites were studied at coupon level, due to the use of similar materials in long term load bearing civil and structural engineering applications. Creep predictions were made by fitting the parameters of several viscoelastic models to experimental creep data as well as two accelerated test methods, time temperature superposition (TTS) and frequency time transformations (FTT). TTS experiments were carried out in a dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA) in three point bending mode for three types of material systems. Creep compliance master curves representing the linear viscoelastic creep response at reference temperatures …

Design Of A Smart System For Monitoring Concrete Curing And Structural Health, William Quinn

Theses

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a rapidly growing sector of the construction industry. Automated monitoring methods arc mainly limited to global monitoring and the application of local monitoring methods has not gained widespread application due to the fact that currently technology requires that the systems are wired to data acquisition devices. This thesis presents a fully embeddable wireless sensor node for the local monitoring of structural concrete. It presents the first reported wireless embedded system implementation of the electromechanical impedance method using both resonant and antiresonant sensors for this purpose.

The first section of this thesis examines the feasibility of …

The Future Of The Irish Manufacturing Industry In Relation To Global Competitiveness, Joceley Martins Wilson

Theses

This study is an examination of the challenges faced by the manufacturing sector in Ireland. As the speed of globalization intensifies, new demands are constantly being levied on the manufacturing sector. In order to maintain this very important sector in Ireland, the manufacturing industry must promote constant innovation, automation and specialization, specifically in niche areas where there is a requirement for specific specialized skills, and where the labor cost is not a prohibitive or fundamental issue.

Innovation has been a key success factor for the manufactures to date, and will continue to be an ai'ea of focus as competitive forces …

Automated Network Planning For Industrial Ethernet Networks, Holger Machens

Theses

Engineers usually use computer aided methods to ease the increasingly complex planning task of automation plants. One such computer aided method for automated planning of Industrial Ethernet networks under given network QoS requirements is presented in this thesis. The method is based on partitioning the given set of network nodes according to specified communication relationships between the nodes, thereby creating subsets of nodes which are joined using given networking algorithms. Several networking algorithms may be applicable for each subset of nodes and any complete solution is a combination of several partial solutions, one for each subset of nodes. Enumeration through …

Optimisation Of Heat Sink Design, Kevin Moore

Theses

In the field of electronics cooling and more specifically processor cooling, the ability to cool a micro-chip is becoming a major issue. Power dissipation in home and office computers has risen from 30W to over 120W in the past 10 years, forcing heat sink designers to search for new ideas in the design of their heat spreaders.

This thesis studies in detail the fundamental technical designs used for modern day processor cooling. Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), various different pin/fin shapes were analysed to determine which yielded maximum heat transfer and contact area with forced air flow. Elliptical and teardrop …

An Investigation On The Dynamic Behavior Of An Overhead Valve Actuating Mechanism, Michael Noonan

Theses

This project involves the measurement and simulation of the dynamic performance of a pushrod valvetrain, in particular that of the outer valve spring. The engine was donated by S&S Cycle Wisconsin. A motoring test rig was constructed to obtain high speed camera footage of the spring coils motion. Individual static spring coil displacement measurements were taken, and their stiffness studied. Spring and pushrod natural resonant frequencies were measured. All data acquisition and analysis was carried out with Labview programs written during the project. Programs were written to model individual static coil stiffness using the close coil, open coil, and theories …

Treatment Of Aqueous Waste Streams At Eli Lilly - Alternatives To Incineration, Barry Hennessy

Theses

The aim of this project was to investigate the potential to treat liquid waste (secondary) from production processes at Eli Lilly with the emphasis on minimising the volume of waste sent for thermal oxidation. In addition, the project aimed to investigate if the chosen technology was diverse and potentially capable of handling waste streams from different processes. Membrane technology was identified as one of the most suitable technologies and trials were carried out on secondary waste from three production processes. The literature review and practical thrials aswell as assessment of trial results ran from October 2003 to June 2005.

All …

Precision Coil Inspection, Karol Murphy

Theses

Boston Scientific produces the Guglielmi Detachable Coil in their Cork based facility. These are used in a surgical procedure to eliminate aneurysms. The first step in the process is to form a coil by wrapping a platinum wire around a mandrel. These coils have outer diameters ranging from 190 pm to 520pm. This is called the primary wind and is inspected to find any defects introduced into the coil from the winding process. These defects may be the result of wire defects in the raw material or possibly poor handling by the operators. These primary winds are processed further to …

Thermo-Mechanical Design Of A 100 Ghz Mmic Power Amplifier Using Flip Chip Technology, Sean Cremin

Theses

This thesis is concerned with the thermo-mechanical design, thermal modelling and temperature profile measurement of a 100 GHz flip chip bump bonded MMIC medium power amplifier.

Flip chip mounting offers superior RF performance in terms of output power, gain, noise figure and bandwidth. The thermal challenge was to dissipate approximately two watts of DC power from the GaAs MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) through Au (gold) stud bumps which equates to less then 7% of the total surface area of the die. Infrared thermographic images confirmed that the flip chip MMIC amplifier was functional with all eight FET stages on …

System Identification Of A Pasteurisation Process: A Comparison Of Direct And Indirect Methods, Niel Canty

Theses

The primary focus of this research is to identify a linear model for a direct steam injection (DSI) pasteurisation process which is a component of a large-scale pilot evaporation process widely used in the dairy industry. The pasteurisation process has been identified as a key component of the evaporation process. The author believes that no previously published work has focused on identifying models for a DSI pasteurisation process which makes this work an original contribution to the area. The pasteurisation process can be modelled as a single-input, single-output (SISO) process with a measurable disturbance. Thus two transfer functions were required …

Coupled Thermal Fluid Modelling Of A Low Embedded Energy Solar Thermal Collector, Myrrha Corcoran

Theses

Flat-plate collectors are the most economical and are popular in solar domestic heating water system since they are usually permanently fixed in position, have simple construction, and require little maintenance. The design of a solar energy system is generally concerned with obtaining maximum efficiency at minimum cost. The aim of this thesis was to develop a mathematical model, for a forced convection solar heated water system. The solar collector in this study incorporated a honeycombed extruded polycarbonate structure, for both the cover and water channels.

A very detailed thermal analysis of the flat-plate solar collector was carried out to predict …

The Evidence For A Nascent Biotechnology Cluster In Cork, John W. Hobbs

Theses

Over the past 30 years, encouraged by Ireland’s low rate of corporation tax (currently 12.5 %), and active promotion of FDI by the IDA, foreign owned pharmaceutical plants have set up and multiplied in the Cork area. To Ireland’s advantages of a low tax rate, an English speaking population, a pro-business environment and membership of EU, Cork offered the added attractions of a deepwater port and large natural harbour, good freight connections, an international airport, an educated workforce and excellent sporting and leisure facilities for sailing, golf, etc. (Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson and Schering Plough have …

Ground-Source Heat Pumps In Ireland: Heat Transfer Experimentation For The Design And Modelling Of A Sub-Slab Installation., Sarah O'Connell

Theses

Ground-source heat pump technology is currently undergoing rapid growth in Ireland. Three aspects of ground-source heat pumps have been studied in this thesis. The market expansion taking place in Ireland, heat transfer from the soil to the pipe of a ground- source heat pump collector, and the design of an innovative sub-slab ground-source heat pump system.

Initial investigations into the use of ground-source heat pumps in Ireland revealed surprising growth in the use of the technology. There have been approximately 1500 systems installed mainly since 2000. The ground-source heat pump market in Ireland has an estimated annual growth rate of …

Optimisation Of Heat Transfer And Fluid Flow In The Cooling Of Building Integrated Photovoltaic Facades., Eoin Patrick Hodge

Theses

The aim of this research was to explore the effects of mature and developing technologies from aeronautical industries such as impingement and film cooling, and electronic cooling techniques, in the setting up of different laminar and turbulent flow regimes on PV cooling duct heat transfer rates, with air flow as that brought about with natural buoyancy effects in a vertical building facade. The problem of efficiency losses in PV panels, due to overheating, is one of the factors restricting the development and use of this renewable power source. PV panels can experience very high temperatures, due to the heat input …

Magneto-Acoustic Emission Analysis Of Microstructural Change In Aisi 430 And Aisi 304 Stainless Steel, Denis O'Sullivan

Theses

Magneto-acoustic emission (MAE) is a relatively new non-destructive detection technique. Its working principle is based on Barkhausen discontinuities and magnetostriction within a ferromagnetic material that is subjected to a varying magnetic field. Magneto-acoustic emission (MAE) and magnetic Barkhausen noise (MBN) sensing techniques were developed and employed to characterise plastically deformed and heat-treated AISI 430 ferritic stainless steel and AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel samples. A new waveform measurement parameter for magneto-acoustic emission was developed called MAE (Absolute “energy”).

Both MAE and MBN were found to decrease with increasing plastic deformation of AISI 430. MAE (Absolute “energy”) and MBN (RMS) were …

Analytical And Fea Analysis Of Silicon Micro-Machined Capacitive Pressure Sensor, Eoghan O'Donoghue

Theses

This thesis is concerned with the electro-mechanical characterisation of MEMS capacitive pressure sensors and the determination of models to describe their behaviour.

The finite element software package ANSYS is validated as a tool for the examination of the electro-mechanical behaviour of capacitive pressure sensors. It is then used to incorporate the effects of applied load, voltage and residual stress into a model of the sensor structure. The capacitive pressure sensor is modelled both in 3D and also in 2D axis-symmetric modes. The error between the 2D and 3D models is quantified.

The behaviour of structures under electrostatic actuation is investigated. …

Finite Element Analysis And Testing Of An Inkjet Cartridge Die, Dylan Ryan

Theses

This project investigates the application of finite element and experimental analysis in the design and testing of silicon based semiconductor components. In a thermal inkjet printer the ink cartridge contains a print head (or die), the head fires numerous droplets simultaneously to form pixels and letters. The inkjet cartridge die consists of a thin film layer, containing the integrated circuits that make up the thennal inkjets, mounted on a polysilicon substrate structure.

A number of incremental changes to the design and manufacturing processes related to the manufacture of these inkjet cartridge dies is made. In past instances when changes were …

Thermal Assessment Of Silicon-Based Composite Materials Used In Photovoltaics, Pavlos K. Bataglannis

Theses

Photovoltaics are devices that convert sunlight directly to electricity. It is well established that the conversion efficiency of mono and poly-crystalline silicon-based photovoltaic modules is inversely related to their temperature. Substantial improvements in operational performance can thus be achieved if the thermal energy accumulating in the material can be effectively dissipated.

Accurate modelling of modules would allow possible methods of thermal dissipation to be evaluated, and as a crucial component of the model, the thermal properties of the constituent materials of PV modules needed to be known. Special consideration needed to be given to the interfaces between dissimilar materials and …

Active Noise Control Using Adaptive And Advanced Control Techniques, Michael O'Brien

Theses

The theory and application of Active Noise Control to remove irritating acoustic pollution from a variety of sources has and continues to receive significant attention from both theoreticians and practitioners.

While a classical acoustic noise problem is the rejection of acoustic tonal disturbances with the most common solution employed being the celebrated filtered-X LMS algorithm, this thesis shows that the presence of non-linearly induced harmonics at multiple frequencies of the original tone often results in poor performance of this algorithm. It is further found that the noise reduction at these problematic harmonics can be improved in a number of ways, …

To Research, Analyse And Install An Optimised Maintenance Management System For A Medium Sized Manufacturing Company: A Textile Company Case Study, Christopher O'Donoghue

Theses

Modern manufacturing is continually striving to ensure that products are made to higher levels of quality with faster lead times and at the lowest possible costs. Manufacturing production has never been more reliant on machines and automated processes than it is today. This thesis investigates the management philosophies that are in existence, which cater specifically for maintenance and maintenance related issues. Management philosophies such as Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Profit Centred Maintenance (PCM), asset management (AM), Predictive Maintenance (PdM), Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) and World Class Maintenance (WCM) have increased company profits by drastically reducing maintenance …

The Development Of Design And Test Methodologies For Hovercraft, John Cronin

Theses

This project is concerned with the development of design and test methodologies for hovercraft.

Full-scale hovercraft field-testing is to be achieved through the dedicated re-design and re-construction of the ABl11Crossbow hovercraft. The Crossbow hovercraft is an experimental craft, which was built in England in the early seventies. The Crossbows re-design focuses on the production of a versatile craft, which is capable of modification to produce a variety of different operating conditions. The re-design and re-construction comprises several distinct areas. An improved and adjustable lift and thrust system is designed. The design and manufacture of a new more stable and versatile …

Virtual Reality Modelling Of A Cnc Machine, Damian O'Sullivan

Theses

The increasing importance of training and upgrading skills has led to the use of new interactive technologies in the development of more effective training tools. Previous techniques for training Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine operators, while excellent for their time, varied from brief inexpensive tutorials to expensive on the job training. A CNC machine uses a computer to perform the functions of the machine using a part program stored in the memory of the computer. This thesis describes a Virtual Reality (VR) model of a CNC milling machine, implemented within a VR environment representing a CNC workshop. Its development and …

An Investigation Using The Finite Element Method Into Bowing & Lean Of The 3rd Stage Turbine Blade Of The Pratt & Whitney Jt8d Gas Turbine Engine, Kevin O'Donoghue

Theses

Following a recent series of failures of overhauled third stage turbine blades in the JT8D- 15A gas turbine engine, new inspection criteria have been introduced by the engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney. One such inspection checks for airfoil bowing and lean. A blade will bow or lean towards the suction face of the airfoil as a result of creep during engine operation. Third stage turbine blades from the JT8D low pressure turbine have been observed with as much as two millimetres of deflection measured at mid-span. In a geometrically correct T3 blade, the tensile centrifugal load due to engine rotation …