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Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering

Three Dimensional Nonlinear Simulation Of Quench Phenomenon In Superconducting Tapes Using Mesh-Free Monte-Carlo Method, Reza Bahadori Dec 2018

Three Dimensional Nonlinear Simulation Of Quench Phenomenon In Superconducting Tapes Using Mesh-Free Monte-Carlo Method, Reza Bahadori

Theses and Dissertations

Performing quench propagation simulations of full size superconducting coils is a challenging problem due to complex coil structures and internal arrangements of superconducting wires. In addition, superconducting wires and cables themselves constitute complex 3D arrangements comprised of superconductor, matrix, stabilizer, insulation and other materials. Modelling quenches in complete coils is therefore a complex multi-scale and multi-physics problem that is difficult to solve with conventional techniques like finite element or finite difference methods. Monte-Carlo methods have been successfully used to simulate various multi-scale and multi-physics problems, but to our knowledge have not been applied to quench propagation simulations. In the first …


Computational Support For Predicting Requirement Change Volatility In Complex System Design, Phyo Htet Hein Dec 2018

Computational Support For Predicting Requirement Change Volatility In Complex System Design, Phyo Htet Hein

Theses and Dissertations

Requirements play critical role in the design process as objective statements of stakeholders’ expectations. Design process is iterative, and requirements are also constantly changed and updated to reflect stakeholders’ expectations, design changes, regulations, resource limitations, etc. Managing requirement change is one of the most important requirement management tasks. Since requirements are driving factors in product development from initial concept development stage to final production, mismanaged requirement changes can adversely affect project health leading to monetary and time losses. The ability to assess a requirement change and predict its propagation early in the design process will enable engineers to make informed …


Vision-Based Navigation For Electromagnetic Formation Flight, Nasir Ghazi Hariri Dec 2018

Vision-Based Navigation For Electromagnetic Formation Flight, Nasir Ghazi Hariri

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of using Satellite Formation Flight (SFF) reveals various benefits for a space mission. However, relying on a consumable actuation system to maintain a desired relative position and orientation between flying satellites has hindered its practicality and feasibility for long duration missions. By adapting the SFF concept such that electromagnetic actuation mechanism is employed, the concept of Electromagnetic Formation Flight (EMFF) offers a great potential to validate such a technology. EMFF provides interacting forces and torques between flying satellites to maintain their relative position within a formation using its electromagnetic actuation capabilities. This dissertation demonstrates the possibilities of utilizing …


Development, Testing, Analysis, And Efficiency Of A Variable Area Dredge In Combination With A Mobile Ferrate-Based Treatment Facility, Leigh Ann Provost Dec 2018

Development, Testing, Analysis, And Efficiency Of A Variable Area Dredge In Combination With A Mobile Ferrate-Based Treatment Facility, Leigh Ann Provost

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis proposal outlines the development and testing of a mobile slurry treatment trailer coupled with a variable area suction head and further expands on results and procedures shown in Feasibility of Muck Removal in the IRL Watershed and Subsequent Ferrate Treatment to Remove Excess Nutrients. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the suction head based on the percent solids maintained during dredging. This thesis also evaluates a scaled design and associated costs for a fully scaled dredging project utilizing the suction head. Additional statistics involving further fitting sediment data to a Weibull …


The Corrosion And Biofouling Characteristics Of Sealed Vs. Perforated Offshore Monopile Interiors: Experiment Design Comparing Corrosion And Environment Inside Steel Pipe, Monica M. Maher Dec 2018

The Corrosion And Biofouling Characteristics Of Sealed Vs. Perforated Offshore Monopile Interiors: Experiment Design Comparing Corrosion And Environment Inside Steel Pipe, Monica M. Maher

Theses and Dissertations

This research addresses the need to improve on the existing methods for the corrosion control of the monopile interiors used to support wind powered turbines by incorporating a design that also enhances marine habitats and fisheries. Retrofitting monopile interiors with cathodic protection has been attempted on existing windfarms to mitigate corrosion, however, this can cause new problems including water acidification and hydrogen sulfide formation. Such chemistry changes can lead to unique localized corrosion concerns. This study investigated internal corrosion, chemistry and biofouling inside partially submerged hollow steel pipes. Watertight pipes with stagnant water inside were compared to pipes with holes …


An Experiment To Study The Gaseous Emissions Of A Gas Turbine Operated With Biodiesel As Fuel, David Lee Rochelle Nov 2018

An Experiment To Study The Gaseous Emissions Of A Gas Turbine Operated With Biodiesel As Fuel, David Lee Rochelle

Theses and Dissertations

A continually growing awareness of the finiteness of fossil fuel availability coupled with an ever better understanding of the negative effects of fossil fuel consumption has motivated a search for fuels that can be used in place of fossil fuels, but which can be derived from sustainable sources such as growable organic matter. While much work has been done to understand these substances and apply them on a larger scale (indeed, biodiesel is commonly included in commercially available diesel fuels at fuel pumps); the unique nature of the operating environment for aviation fuels has complicated the application of these substances …


The Development Of A Novel Motion Cuing Algorithm For Flight Training Simulators Employing Objective Metrics For Evaluation, Ahmad Qasim Momani Sep 2018

The Development Of A Novel Motion Cuing Algorithm For Flight Training Simulators Employing Objective Metrics For Evaluation, Ahmad Qasim Momani

Link Foundation Modeling, Simulation and Training Fellowship Reports

The value of a dynamic motion platform to the flight simulator is a controversial issue within the flight training community. The motion of the flight simulator platform has been shown to affect pilot performance and behavior. Moreover, its ability to provide the operator with the appropriate motion cues is essential for pilot training or research. Unwanted cues can cause the operator to develop inappropriate control behavior strategies that are not useful or might be dangerous in real flight. Performance studies show that the operator’s performance is enhanced when introducing motion which might indicate that the operator experiences a sensation closer …


Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Of Life Cycle Benefit Of Trimarans Using Monte Carlo Method, Lin Du Sep 2018

Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Of Life Cycle Benefit Of Trimarans Using Monte Carlo Method, Lin Du

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a methodology for multidisciplinary design and optimization (MDO) of the life cycle benefit (LCB) of trimarans. Unlike naval vessels which have a robust fire power and other capabilities which are very difficult to be quantified, the essence of a commercial ship’s construction and operation is an investment. The ship owners must consider the benefits accruing from lifelong development/deployment of a commercial vessel, taking in to account the construction time, interest rate, cost of operation, maintenance, drydocking, annual revenue, etc. Whether or not a ship design has outstanding economic potential, depends on only one standard value in the …


A Robot Fdm Platform For Multi-Plane And 3d Lattice Structure Printing, Ismayuzri Bin Ishak Jul 2018

A Robot Fdm Platform For Multi-Plane And 3d Lattice Structure Printing, Ismayuzri Bin Ishak

Theses and Dissertations

Additive manufacturing is a process to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) objects usually by joining a material layer by layer. The layer by layer joining process simplifies the fabrication method by slicing the 3D object into stacks of 2D contours. The layers are combined in a single build direction to form the 3D object. The purpose of this research is generate new knowledge in additive manufacturing process by integrate a six degree of freedom robot arm platform with a fused deposition modeling system entitled MotoMaker for additive manufacturing applications. The development of a higher degree of freedom additive manufacturing platform allows for …


Optimizing Dynamic Range For Micro-Electro-Mechanical Resonators, Douglas John Schoeller Jul 2018

Optimizing Dynamic Range For Micro-Electro-Mechanical Resonators, Douglas John Schoeller

Theses and Dissertations

The performance of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) is a topic that attracts attention from the scientific community due to their diverse applications. The use of MEMS has been applied to areas of medicine, timing, sensing, and microfluids to name a few. This work seeks to enhance the performance of a MEM resonator by optimizing its linear dynamic range (LDR) through the idea of combining the mixed nonlinear effects that stem from mechanical and electrostatic forces. The modeling procedure in this work incorporates the third-order Duffing model and includes an electrostatic effect that is expanded to the fifth order nonlinearity. When involving …


Cost Model Evaluation For Large Scale Additive Manufacturing, Andrea Piazza Jun 2018

Cost Model Evaluation For Large Scale Additive Manufacturing, Andrea Piazza

Theses and Dissertations

Additive manufacturing (AM) is becoming a valuable option in medium to large scale manufacturing operations, due to the increasing technological advances and popularization of different techniques. Product development assembly costs can be greatly reduced with additive manufacturing, producing directly consumer-usable parts without the need of always rising labor costs. Entry level companies can bridge the gap between Tier 1 suppliers and Research & Development (R&D) businesses by utilizing the lower capital and reoccurring costs of modern additive manufacturing techniques, thereby avoiding the necessity for retooling and specialized machinery. The following study both explores the advantages and quantifies the cost factors, …


Optimization Of Chemical Kinetic Mechanism For Efficient Computation Of Combustion Process In Advanced Internal Combustion Engine Configurations, Muzammil Arshad May 2018

Optimization Of Chemical Kinetic Mechanism For Efficient Computation Of Combustion Process In Advanced Internal Combustion Engine Configurations, Muzammil Arshad

Theses and Dissertations

For the development and optimization of future fuels and automotive engines, computer modeling and simulation has proved itself as an inseparable, efficient and cost effective tool to experimental studies. The traditional reliance of computer models on simplified global reaction steps to simulate the combustion and engine performance parameters, such as in-cylinder pressure, heat release rate and pollutant formation could reduce credibility of the predictions as the global reaction steps depend on arbitrary adjustment of model parameters. This study has incorporated detailed chemistry by augmenting the combustion model of a three dimensional unsteady compressible turbulent Navier-Stokes solver with liquid spray injection …


Design And Optimization Of A Passive Magnetic Thrust Bearing, Thomas Matthew Lasko May 2018

Design And Optimization Of A Passive Magnetic Thrust Bearing, Thomas Matthew Lasko

Theses and Dissertations

High-speed turbomachines present a number of unique challenges and problems. Large centrifugal forces create high stresses in rotating components, friction leads to elevated temperatures and component failure, and rotordynamic instability makes control difficult. The weak link in these high-speed systems is often the bearings because they provide the interface between the rotating and stationary components. Traditional bearings often fail in these conditions, especially when relatively large force capacities are required. In miniature gas turbines for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications, traditional bearings exhibit a typical lifetime of only 25 hours due to excessive axial loading. This research presents a passive …


Development Of Recyclability Index: A Design For Assembly And Disassembly Approach, Darshan Yadav May 2018

Development Of Recyclability Index: A Design For Assembly And Disassembly Approach, Darshan Yadav

Theses and Dissertations

Designing products for recyclability is driven by environmental and economic goals. Several Design for Assembly(DFA) rules and parameters can be used to gauge the recyclability index of product designs. These indices can be used for comparative analysis of the recyclability of different products. This assists the designer in making design choices related to the product’s end of life. However, many of the existing recyclability indices are only available after design and manufacturing decisions are made. If such design decisions could be made earlier in the design process, when the design space is less bound, recyclability could be considered earlier. A …


Effect Of Cavitation Regimes On Stepped Diesel Injectors, David Michael Sykes May 2018

Effect Of Cavitation Regimes On Stepped Diesel Injectors, David Michael Sykes

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this work was to determine the effects of different cavitating flow regimes on a stepped orifice geometry relevant to diesel injectors. Conventional diesel orifice geometries consist of a single tapered or straight circular passage. The geometry used in this work had two circular passages in series: a first orifice that was similar to conventional geometries and a second larger orifice immediately downstream that induced cavitation. The large orifice served to stabilize the flow, allowing for different flow regimes to exist at the exit plane of the large orifice (single-phase, intermittent bubbly, bubbly, annular, etc.). A series of …


Cfd Analysis Of Resistance For Stepless And Stepped Planing Hulls, Bhanu Prakash Valtheru May 2018

Cfd Analysis Of Resistance For Stepless And Stepped Planing Hulls, Bhanu Prakash Valtheru

Theses and Dissertations

It is the endeavour of naval architects to design hull forms with the least amount of power consumption. In this respect, Naval Architects have been obsessed with the design of various hull forms optimized for a particular service requiring the lowest amount of fuel consumption keeping in mind effects on the climate change and sustainability. Regardless of the way that a considerable measure of research has been done around this area, there remains a level of uncertainty in the reasonably accurate resistance prediction of stepped hull forms in the early design stage. Model tests and full-scale tests are still the …


Towards Net Zero Energy Buildings: A Parametric Study On Building Energy Performance For Different Us Climate Zones, Owen Geraldo Betharte Apr 2018

Towards Net Zero Energy Buildings: A Parametric Study On Building Energy Performance For Different Us Climate Zones, Owen Geraldo Betharte

Theses and Dissertations

A Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) can produce as much energy as it requires over an annual basis. This research investigated the building energy performance of different parameters over six US climate zones to ascertain which passive and active strategies would be most effective in each climate zone. Six cities were chosen to represent different climate zones. The focus of this study is for the Alumni House at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL to achieve NZE through retrofitting energy efficient measures (EEMs). An implementation of all active and passive strategies, also referred to Energy Efficiency Measures (EEM), …


Multimodal Fusion Detection System For Autonomous Vehicles, Michael Person Apr 2018

Multimodal Fusion Detection System For Autonomous Vehicles, Michael Person

Theses and Dissertations

In order for autonomous vehicles to safely navigate the road ways, accurate object detection must take place before safe path planning can occur. Currently there is a gap between models that are fast enough and models that are accurate enough for deployment. We propose Multimodal Fusion Detection System (MDFS), a sensor fusion system that combines the speed of a fast image detection CNN model along with the accuracy of a LiDAR point cloud data through a decision tree approach. The primary objective is to bridge the trade-off between performance and accuracy. The motivation for MDFS is to reduce the computational …


Controlled Intake Area Dredging For Fine Sediment Removal To Improve Water Quality In The Indian River Lagoon, Hannah Christine Grisanti Apr 2018

Controlled Intake Area Dredging For Fine Sediment Removal To Improve Water Quality In The Indian River Lagoon, Hannah Christine Grisanti

Theses and Dissertations

This study is an investigation of hydraulic dredging specifically designed to remove muck and other fine sediments from local water systems in Brevard County, Florida. The goal of the project is to improve water quality in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) and create positive environmental impacts. Dredging is an excavation activity that takes place underwater in shallow seas or freshwater environments to remove material from the bottom surface. Typically, dredging techniques are implemented to keep waterways such as canals, inlets, and harbors navigable for boats and barges. Dredging is also commonly used to move sand from offshore sources to beaches …


Comparative Analysis Of Designing Solar And Geothermal Power Plants: A Case Study, Roberto Venegas, Sarada Kuravi, Krishna Kota, Mary Helen Mccay Mar 2018

Comparative Analysis Of Designing Solar And Geothermal Power Plants: A Case Study, Roberto Venegas, Sarada Kuravi, Krishna Kota, Mary Helen Mccay

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Geothermal and solar thermal are renewable, clean energy sources with immense potential for electricity generation. Concentrating Solar Power can achieve very high temperatures and high efficiencies compared to geothermal power plants. However, it is intermittent and must be coupled with thermal storage or another source for continuous power generation. Geothermal resources exist in varying temperatures but are too small for economic power production; however, it is not intermittent. This paper briefly summarizes the location-specific design considerations for geothermal and solar thermal plants. The performance of both these types of power plants is analysed in terms of capacity factor, thermal energy …


Development Of Product Recyclability Index Utilizing Design For Assembly And Disassembly Principles, Darshan P. Yadav, Deep N. Patel, Beshoy W. Morkos Mar 2018

Development Of Product Recyclability Index Utilizing Design For Assembly And Disassembly Principles, Darshan P. Yadav, Deep N. Patel, Beshoy W. Morkos

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Designing products for recyclability is driven by environmental and economic goals. Several design for assembly (DFA) rules and parameters can be used to gauge the recyclability index of product designs. These indices can be used for comparative analysis of the recyclability of different products. This assists the designer in making design choices related to the product's end of life. However, many of the existing recyclability indices are only available after design and manufacturing decisions are made. If such design decisions could be made earlier in the design process, when the design space is less bound, recyclability could be considered earlier. …


Flow Energy Harvesting Based On Oscillating Passively-Deforming Airfoils, Firas F. Siala Jan 2018

Flow Energy Harvesting Based On Oscillating Passively-Deforming Airfoils, Firas F. Siala

Link Foundation Energy Fellowship Reports

The rising global trend to reduce dependence on fossil fuels has provided significant motivation toward the development of alternative energy conversion methods and new technologies to improve their efficiency. Recently, the idea of using oscillating airfoils has been gaining a wider scope of attention as a means of extracting kinetic energy from streams, rivers, tidal flows and wind (Xiao & Zhu 2014). A large contribution to the existing knowledge has come through the studies of animal flight and swimming (Drucker & Lauder 1999; Triantafyllou et al. 2000; Sane 2003; Ho et al. 2003), where the oscillatory/flapping motion of wings or …


Evaluating Augmented Reality For Space Telerobotics Training, John Karasinski Jan 2018

Evaluating Augmented Reality For Space Telerobotics Training, John Karasinski

Link Foundation Modeling, Simulation and Training Fellowship Reports

Despite the extensive previous research into manual tracking, to the author’s knowledge there exists no study in the literature addressing human performance or workload changes in manual tracking tasks between traditional computer monitors and mobile, augmented reality headsets. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of several factors on human performance and workload in a three-axis manual tracking task. Recent advances in computing hardware have enabled a new generation of augmented reality stereoscopic devices, such as the Microsoft HoloLens, which have yet to be evaluated in the literature. The Microsoft HoloLens provides depth cues to the user …


Nonlinear Ocean Energy Harvester, Dane Sequeira Jan 2018

Nonlinear Ocean Energy Harvester, Dane Sequeira

Link Foundation Ocean Engineering and Instrumentation Fellowship Reports

The scientific community has worked to extend communication networks, human safety programs, and environmental monitoring systems across continents, but has struggled to accomplish these same goals beyond the shoreline. Lack of offshore power is the greatest barrier restricting us from exploring the ocean because it is difficult to operate sensors without a reliable power source. Wave energy harvesting has been investigated as a solution; however, current methods have many shortcomings. Traditional ocean energy harvesters (e.g. buoys) extract energy from ocean waves by capturing the change in potential energy as the buoy travels vertically along the wave. A linear design, this …