Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Energy Efficiency In Additive Manufacturing: Condensed Review, Ismail Fidan, Vivekanand Naikwadi, Suhas Alkunte, Roshan Mishra, Khalid Tantawi

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Today, it is significant that the use of additive manufacturing (AM) has growing in almost every aspect of the daily life. A high number of sectors are adapting and implementing this revolutionary production technology in their domain to increase production volumes, reduce the cost of production, fabricate light weight and complex parts in a short period of time, and respond to the manufacturing needs of customers. It is clear that the AM technologies consume energy to complete the production tasks of each part. Therefore, it is imperative to know the impact of energy efficiency in order to economically and properly …

Exploring The Intersection Of Biology And Design For Product Innovations, Ajay P. Malshe, Salil Bapat, Kamlakar Rajurkar, Ang Ang, Jean-Marc Linares

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Design, development, productization, and applications of advanced product concepts are pressing for higher multifunctionality, resilience, and maximization of available resources equitably to meet the growing and continuing demands of global customers. These demands have further accelerated during the recent COVID- 19 pandemic and are continuing to be a challenge. Engineering designs are one of the most effective ways to endow products with functions, resilience, and sustainability. Biology, through millions of years of evolution, has met these acute requirements under severe resource and environmental constraints. As the manufacturing of products is reaching the fundamental limits of raw materials, labor, and resource …

Scaling Cellular Agriculture Production With Photolithography: A Study On Curing And Degradation, Alexis Garrett

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

To meet the requirements for full production in cellular agriculture, a multi-disciplinary approach is required. New questions and understandings between different concepts, such as texture and cooking, need to be identified and how they correlate with cellular behavior and taste. This work focuses on understanding and developing photolithographic systems for scalable cellular agriculture. There were two specific research directions: 1) a traditional photolithography printing system was improved upon for mass manufacturing purposes and 2) mechanical analysis and degradation of key potential photolithographic biomaterials were tested for a food product. A novel digital rotational ultraviolet manufacturing (DRUM) process was developed, and …

A Novel Approach For Real-Time Quality Monitoring In Machining Of Aerospace Alloy Through Acoustic Emission Signal Transformation For Dnn, David Adeniji, Kyle Oligee, Julius Schoop

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Gamma titanium aluminide (γ-TiAl) is considered a high-performance, low-density replacement for nickel-based superalloys in the aerospace industry due to its high specific strength, which is retained at temperatures above 800 °C. However, low damage tolerance, i.e., brittle material behavior with a propensity to rapid crack propagation, has limited the application of γ-TiAl. Any cracks introduced during manufacturing would dramatically lower the useful (fatigue) life of γ-TiAl components, making the workpiece surface’s quality from finish machining a critical component to product quality and performance. To address this issue and enable more widespread use of γ-TiAl, this research aims to develop a …

A Novel Approach For Real-Time Quality Monitoring In Machining Of Aerospace Alloy Through Acoustic Emission Signal Transformation For Dnn, David Adeniji, Kyle Oligee, Julius Schoop

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Gamma titanium aluminide (γ-TiAl) is considered a high-performance, low-density replacement for nickel-based superalloys in the aerospace industry due to its high specific strength, which is retained at temperatures above 800◦C. However, low damage tolerance, i.e., brittle material behavior with a propensity to rapid crack propagation, has limited the application of γ-TiAl. Any cracks introduced during manufacturing would dramatically lower the useful (fatigue) life of γ-TiAl components, making the workpiece surface’s quality from finish machining a critical component to product quality and performance. To address this issue and enable more widespread use of γ-TiAl, this research aims to develop a real-time …

Reshaping The Landscape Of The Future: Software-Defined Manufacturing, Lei Xu, Lin Chen, Zhimin Gao, Hiram Moya, Weidong Shi

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

We describe the concept of software-defined manufacturing, which divides the manufacturing ecosystem into software definition and physical manufacturing layers. Software-defined manufacturing allows better resource sharing and collaboration, and it has the potential to transform the existing manufacturing sector.

Utilizing Vr For Manufacturing Learning And Training, Jetrin Wichienwidhtaya

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This paper looks into the world of virtual reality as seen from the manufacturing point of view, specifically inside manufacturing education. Virtual reality is growing within many industries including manufacturing and is a key piece in Industry 4.0. Every year, the capabilities of virtual reality grow as the resolution of screens progresses to the point where it can simulate near-perfect depictions of reality as processing power continues to grow. This opens a massive amount of potential into things like training. Especially in the current environment where learning virtually has become the norm, being able to have hands-on experience can help …

Design Of Versatile Feedback Control System Components For Selective Laser Sintering, Thomas Chessman

University Scholar Projects

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an additive manufacturing technique that involves using a laser to fuse powdered material together, layer by layer, in order to create a 3-D product. Despite its numerous benefits over traditional methods of manufacturing, including higher efficiency, versatility, and the ability to process many materials, selective laser sintering suffers from its propensity to generate structural errors during operation.

Feedback control has been shown to improve fabrication quality in other laser-based additive manufacturing techniques when implemented properly. Widespread exploration of applying feedback control in SLS might lead to significant performance improvements in this form of manufacturing.

This …

Machine Learning In Manufacturing: Review, Synthesis, And Theoretical Framework, Ajit Sharma, Zhibo Zhang, Rahul Rai

Business Administration Faculty Research Publications

There has been a paradigmatic shift in manufacturing as computing has transitioned from the programmable to the cognitive computing era. In this paper we present a theoretical framework for understanding this paradigmatic shift in manufacturing and the fast evolving role of artificial intelligence. Policy, Strategic and Operational implications are discussed. Implications for the future of strategy and operations in manufacturing are also discussed. Future research directions are presented.

Maquiladoras In Central America: An Analysis Of Workforce Schedule, Productivity And Fatigue., Jose L. Barahona

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Textile factories or Maquiladoras are very abundant and predominant in Central American economies. However, they all do not have the same standardized work schedule or routines. Most of the Maquiladoras only follow schedules and regulations established by the current labor laws without taking into consideration many variables within their organization that could affect their overall performance. As a result, the purpose of the study is to analyze the current working structure of a textile Maquiladora and determine the most suitable schedule that will abide with the current working structure but also increase production levels, employee morale and decrease employee fatigue. …

Increasing Operator Skills In A Manufacturing Environment, Bobbie Lee Hubbard

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

A plastic-injection molding facility is converting many machines into more automated systems. These complex systems require higher-level skill sets than current operators have been trained in. There is a need to increase the level of competency in most, if not all, of the operators at the Facility, and create a system of levels that engages employees and encourages learning new skills to increase their position and pay.

There is a need for a clear path of compensation based on skills and actions. The Facility is currently not optimizing or maximizing their current portfolio of machines and resources, leaving an unknown …

Process Sustainability Evaluation For Manufacturing Of A Component With The 6r Application, Ana E. Bonilla Hernández, Tao Lu, Tomas Beno, Claes Fredriksson, Ibrahim S. Jawahir

Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing Faculty Publications

Sustainability in manufacturing can be evaluated at product, process and system levels. The 6R methodology for sustainability enhancement in manufacturing processes includes: reduced use of materials, energy, water and other resources; reusing of products/components; recovery and recycling of materials/components; remanufacturing of products; and redesigning of products to utilize recovered materials/resources. Although manufacturing processes can be evaluated by their productivity, quality and cost, process sustainability assessment makes it a complete evaluation. This paper presents a 6R-based evaluation method for sustainable manufacturing in terms of specific metrics within six major metrics clusters: environmental impact, energy consumption, waste management, cost, resource utilization and …

Impact Of Hysteresis Heating Of Railroad Bearing Thermoplastic Elastomer Suspension Pad On Railroad Bearing Thermal Management, Oscar O. Rodriguez, Arturo A. Fuentes, Constantine Tarawneh

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

It is a known fact that polymers and all other materials develop hysteresis heating due to the viscoelastic response or internal friction. The hysteresis or phase lag occurs when cyclic loading is applied leading to the dissipation of mechanical energy. The hysteresis heating is induced by the internal heat generation of the material, which occurs at the molecular level as it is being disturbed cyclically. Understanding the hysteresis heating of the railroad bearing elastomer suspension element during operation is essential to predict its dynamic response and structural integrity, as well as to predict the thermal behavior of the railroad bearing …

Note On The Rate And Energy Efficiency Limits For Additive Manufacturing, Timothy Gutowski, Sheng Jiang, Daniel Cooper, Gero Corman, Michael Hausmann, Jan-Anders Manson, Timo Schudeleit, Konrad Wegener, Matias Sabelle, Jorge Ramos-Grez, Dusan P. Sekulic

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

We review the process rates and energy intensities of various additive processing technologies and focus on recent progress in improving these metrics for laser powder bed fusion processing of metals, and filament and pellet extrusion processing of polymers and composites. Over the last decade, observed progress in raw build rates has been quite substantial, with laser metal processes improving by about 1 order of magnitude, and polymer extrusion processes by more than 2 orders of magnitude. We develop simple heat transfer models that explain these improvements, point to other possible strategies for improvement, and highlight rate limits. We observe a …

Hysteresis Heating Of Railroad Bearing Thermoplastic Elastomer Suspension Element, Oscar O. Rodriguez, Arturo A. Fuentes, Constantine Tarawneh, Robert E. Jones

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE’s) are increasingly being used in rail service in load damping applications. They are superior to traditional elastomers primarily in their ease of fabrication. Like traditional elastomers they offer benefits including reduction in noise emissions and improved wear resistance in metal components that are in contact with such parts in the railcar suspension system. However, viscoelastic materials, such as the railroad bearing thermoplastic elastomer suspension element (or elastomeric pad), are known to develop self-heating (hysteresis) under cyclic loading, which can lead to undesirable consequences. Quantifying the hysteresis heating of the pad during operation is therefore essential to predict …

Open Source Multi-Head 3d Printer For Polymer-Metal Composite Component Manufacturing, J. Laureto, Joshua M. Pearce

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

As low-cost desktop 3D printing is now dominated by free and open source self-replicating rapid prototype (RepRap) derivatives, there is an intense interest in extending the scope of potential applications to manufacturing. This study describes a manufacturing technology that enables a constrained set of polymer-metal composite components. This paper provides (1) free and open source hardware and (2) software for printing systems that achieves metal wire embedment into a polymer matrix 3D-printed part via a novel weaving and wrapping method using (3) OpenSCAD and parametric coding for customized g-code commands. Composite parts are evaluated from the technical viability of manufacturing …

Metal Cutting And Manufacturing Economics Project For Freshmen, Hüseyin Sarper, Nebojsa I. Jaksic, Linda Vahala

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper describes a laboratory experiment and a team project to teach manufacturing concepts to new students. This project is one of two team projects of 1.5 credit portion of a two-credit course in exploration of engineering and technology. This course teaches students skills they need late and teamwork is a major skill that they acquire. They organize into a group with specialized responsibilities for the purpose of calculating the total production time and cost of a manufactured part using turning, drilling, and milling operations. Students also learn or improve spreadsheet skills while performing data entry and necessary machining calculations. …

Eliminating The Illusion Of Learning From Engineering Courses, Jason Weaver

Faculty Publications

This paper describes the efforts of the author to incorporate tools into an undergraduate engineering course to help facilitate better learning and assess proficiency more effectively by avoiding the illusion of learning. Several techniques are used, including suggestions from the recent book Make It Stick by Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel. Student feedback and instructor observations are discussed, and future recommendations for the course are given

Heat Generation In The Railroad Bearing Thermoplastic Elastomer Suspension Element, Oscar O. Rodriguez, Juan Carbone, Arturo A. Fuentes, Robert E. Jones, Constantine Tarawneh

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The main purpose of this ongoing study is to investigate the effect of heat generation within a railroad thermoplastic elastomer suspension element on the thermal behavior of the railroad bearing assembly. Specifically, the purpose of this project is to quantify the heat generated by cyclic loading of the elastomer suspension element as a function of load amplitude, loading frequency, and operating temperature. The contribution of the elastomer pad to the system energy balance is modeled using data from dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) of the specific materials in use for that part. DMA is a technique that is commonly used to …

The Relationship Of Corporate Financial Performance And Innovation Among Manufacturing Industries, Charlaine T. Chong, Samantha R. Chua, Ma. Catrina S. Dy, Antonio Miguel E. Villavicencio

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

Innovation is becoming a critical determinant of the survival and advancement of firms. Despite this realization, there is a dearth of literature that tackles the subject matter and its specific role in corporate settings remains vague. Using corporate data on East and Southeast Asian manufacturing firms from 2008 to 2013, this study aims to identify the impact of corporate financial performance on research and development (R&D) expenditure as a measure of innovation. On the whole, the researchers utilized random effects (REM) and fixed effects (FEM) models to establish the relationship between R&D and corporate performance. The researchers, then, identified the …

Size Effects In Human Visual Inspection For Micro/Meso Scale Parts, Sri Harsha Kavuri

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Visual inspection has been a major method of quality control in conventional manufacturing processes for the last fifty years. Utilizing trained human inspectors to perform this visual inspection has been the most effective means of maintaining quality control. Extensive research has been performed to understand the factors that influence the human inspection process.

In the recent years, there has been a significant emphasis on manufacturing at the smaller end of the size-spectrum such as Micro and Meso scale manufacturing. Quality control at becomes a challenging task due to the extremely small sizes. Several automated visual inspection techniques have been proposed …

Process Capability In A Computer Integrated Manufacturing Cell, Andrew Austin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

With the rise of automation in traditional manufacturing processes, more companies are beginning to integrate computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) cells on their production floors. Through CIM cell integration, companies have the ability to reduce process time and increase production. One of the problems created with CIM cell automation is caused by the dependency the sequential steps have on one another. Dependency created by the previous step increases the probability that a process error could occur due to previous variation. One way to eliminate this dependency is through the use of an in-process measuring device such as a Renishaw spindle probe …

A Novel Microgrid Demand-Side Management System For Manufacturing Facilities, Terance J. Harper, William J. Hutzel, James C. Foreman, Aaron L. Adams, Athula Kulatunga

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

Thirty-one percent of annual energy consumption in the United States occurs within the industrial sector, where manufacturing processes account for the largest amount of energy consumption and carbon emissions. For this reason, energy efficiency in manufacturing facilities is increasingly important for reducing operating costs and improving profits. Using microgrids to generate local sustainable power should reduce energy consumption from the main utility grid along with energy costs and carbon emissions. Also, microgrids have the potential to serve as reliable energy generators in international locations where the utility grid is often unstable.

For this research, a manufacturing process that had approximately …

Factors Impacting Technology Transfer: The Maquiladora Industry In Yucatan, Mexico, Ana Maria Canto, Carlos Blanco, Pilar Pazos

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Technology transfer and knowledge transfer are the building blocks for innovation, efficiency and increased competitiveness. The topic of technology transfer in the context of multinational companies has been the focus of technology management researchers for well over two decades. Developing countries housing twin plans have been exposed to technology transfer from very diverse countries with different approaches to the technology transfer process and different levels of success. This cultural and national diversity adds an additional level of complexity to the technology transfer domain that has been largely unexplored. This paper will explore critical factors that had an impact in successful …

Agenda: 2010 World Energy Justice Conference: Emerging Solutions For The Energy Poor: Technological, Entrepreneurial And Institutional Challenges, University Of Colorado Boulder. Center For Energy & Environmental Security, Colorado Journal Of International Environmental Law And Policy

2010 World Energy Justice Conference (November 5)

This conference is a sequel to the 2009 World Energy Justice Conference (WEJC 2009) which began examining ways of mainstreaming safe, clean, and efficient energy for the world's Energy Poor (EP). The EP number two and a half billion people living on less than $1-2 a day who have no access to modern energy services. WEJC 2010 more fully develops these themes. WEJC 2010 will explore how the next round of global warming meetings in Cancun could design new flexibility mechanisms that give credits, for example, for the reduction of black carbon by the adoption of cookstoves, and embrace small …

A Scientific Foundation Of Collaborative Engineering, S. C.-Y. Lu, W. Elmaraghy, G. Schuh, R. Wilhelm

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Collaborative engineering is the practical application of collaboration sciences to the engineering domain. In today’s highly connected technology-driven economy, the production industry must rely on the best practices of collaborative engineering to stay competitive when designing, manufacturing, and operating complex machines, processes, and systems on a global scale. Despite its importance, collaborative engineering is currently more of a practiced art than a scientific discipline. A better understanding of how engineers should collaborate with all stakeholders to accomplish complex tasks that fulfill our increasing social responsibilities is a grand challenge. However, because we currently lack well-defined sciences of human collaboration, we …

Electronic Commerce Negotiation In A Supply Chain Via Constraint Evaluation, R. Wilhelm, B. Chu, R. Sun

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Negotiation is of critical importance in e-commerce applications where the supply chain is dynamic and reconfiguring. In this research supply chain negotiation problems are addressed as constraint-satisfaction problems. In general each negotiation is handled in the largest scope possible to avoid the suboptimality that can result from many local solutions. This global approach, however, must be balanced with time constraints that apply in e-commerce supply chain execution. In this paper, we describe a new approach for e-commerce supply chain negotiation via constraint evaluation. As well, results from prototype software, distributed across the internet, are discussed. Beyond the general formulation, we …

Running With The Pack: Jit & Automation For Small Manufacturers, Thomas E. Phillips, John R. Ledgerwood

Publications

While both just in time (JIT) concepts and automation programs have been widely implemented and highly successful in large manufacturing companies, many smaller manufacturing companies have wondered whether it would be economically feasible to utilize these same techniques and derive these same benefits. When JIT is adopted by small manufacturers, it provides them with advantages over traditional manufacturing systems, such as lower cost, quality improvements, higher productivity, and less working capital tied up in inventory. Small US manufacturers must understand the basic principles and philosophy of JIT and update their production equipment if they are to be competitive in today's …