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Articles 1 - 8 of 8
Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering
The Engineering Challenges Of Designing And Manufacturing A Tensegrity Cup Stand, Yaniv Goulet, Daniel Ferro
The Engineering Challenges Of Designing And Manufacturing A Tensegrity Cup Stand, Yaniv Goulet, Daniel Ferro
Honors Theses
Progressing from a simple idea into a fully developed product is one of the main goals of any engineer. Through Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence’s capstone program, the team was tasked with realizing a tensegrity cup stand. The tensegrity structure consists of a top and a bottom of some form only supporting itself by tension. The team had to research the concept, create an initial design, create a prototype of the product, improve the design after the prototype’s mistakes, apply lean principles to improve the manufacturing efficiency, and analyze all the economic impacts of the engineering decisions. In the …
Enhancing Bifacial Pv Efficiency With The Addition Of A Rear Side Reflector, Neila Watson
Enhancing Bifacial Pv Efficiency With The Addition Of A Rear Side Reflector, Neila Watson
Honors Theses
Bifacial photovoltaics are an expanding sector of solar electricity production, collecting solar energy on the front, back, and sides of the module. This increases the efficiency by around 10% to 30% over a typical mono facial cell, which only collects sunlight on the front. However, the performance of bifacial PV arrays depends on a variety of factors, including temperature, shadows, solar insolation, and set-up geometry. The geometry is affected by the tilt angle, the azimuth angle, the height from the ground to the panel, and the reflectance from the ground surface. The addition of a reflector, usually white in color …
Developing New Crutch Tip Design For Overall Increased Stability And Improved Movement On Different Terrains, Lauren Skinner
Developing New Crutch Tip Design For Overall Increased Stability And Improved Movement On Different Terrains, Lauren Skinner
Honors Theses
Crutches are a mobility assistive device that are often used in various situations, such as post- surgical rehabilitation and recovery after injury. The current crutch tip design that is used on today’s crutches are often unstable and do not provide quality movement on different terrains, such as snow, ice, mud, and wet surfaces. These problems would be solved with a new tip design that could be attached to existing crutches or manufactured with the crutch itself. The team’s solution to this problem is a crutch tip with modular parts. The tip would attach to the shaft of the crutch like …
A Computer Vision-Based Method For Bolt Loosening Detection, Savannah Burdette
A Computer Vision-Based Method For Bolt Loosening Detection, Savannah Burdette
Honors Theses
Routine bolt-loosening inspection plays an essential role in managing and preventing the degradation of our nation’s highway bridges over time. Neglecting to perform these inspections could result in public safety concerns. The study of this thesis develops a cost-effective method of bolt-loosening detection based on computer vision. To this end, two input images of the bolted connections are collected at two different inspection times. The feature points are then identified from the input images, based on which a geometric transformation matrix is applied to correct any perspective differences between the two images. Next, we select the image patches of the …
Senior Design Capstone: Using An Engineering Design Process To Create A Sawzall Wobble Fixture For Milwaukee Tools, Tyler Moore
Senior Design Capstone: Using An Engineering Design Process To Create A Sawzall Wobble Fixture For Milwaukee Tools, Tyler Moore
Honors Theses
The overall objective of this design project was to successfully design a fixture to expedite the repairs of Sawzalls at the Milwaukee Tools repairs facility in Greenwood, Mississippi. This project was executed in accordance with guidelines set forth by the Senior Capstone Design class at the University of Mississippi as well as the quality engineers sponsoring the project at Milwaukee Tools. The fixture was created utilizing an engineering design process with the goal of allowing technicians to press two Sawzall wobbles onto an angled Sawzall wobble shaft using an arbor press with just one press. By beginning with a straightforward …
Geometric Iteration Of A Knee Prosthetic And Static Stress-Bearing Capacity, Alexander Wheeler
Geometric Iteration Of A Knee Prosthetic And Static Stress-Bearing Capacity, Alexander Wheeler
Honors Theses
The purpose of this study was to improve a prosthetic knee model in terms of size, weight, and biocompatibility. Several tests were run to determine its effectiveness in supporting static and quasistatic loads. The positions in which these tests were run include static upright standing, static one-knee 90 degree kneeling, static squatting at maximum flexion, and quasistatic midstride. These simulations were conducted to find areas of high stress and strain. These patterns were used to determine the maximum body weight a physical prosthetic could support. The material used to create the prosthetic was changed from AISI 316 stainless steel to …
High Performance Thermal Insulation: Silica Aerogels In Construction Technology, Matthew Giarrusso
High Performance Thermal Insulation: Silica Aerogels In Construction Technology, Matthew Giarrusso
Honors Theses
The United States is a world leader in the production and expenditure of energy, accounting for 18% of the total global energy consumption in 2016, 40% of which was used for the heating, cooling, and lighting of commercial and residential buildings. Currently, traditional air-based insulation products are being used in thicker and more numerous layers in an attempt to keep up with contemporary codes and standards. One promising alternative to traditional insulation is silica aerogel. With a remarkably low density and thermal conductivity, silica aerogel could save energy, space, and weight in new and retrofit structures. Silica aerogels are currently …
Asme Human Powered Vehicle Competition Frame Design, Zacarie Hertel
Asme Human Powered Vehicle Competition Frame Design, Zacarie Hertel
Honors Theses
Each year, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) sponsors the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge. The purpose of the competition is to provide a continued source of research into human powered vehicles. Generally, the vehicles for this competition consist of faired recumbent tricycles and bicycles, capable of reaching high speeds in an efficient manner. The subject of this report is the design and analysis of a new vehicle frame for Union’s 2014 competition entry. The frame is the structural skeleton of the vehicle, supporting the rider and all vehicle components. The frame is what withstands the majority of the loads …