Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Understanding Thermal Comfort Impact And Air Movement Around Open Stairs Through The Use Of Cfd Modeling, Ethan Davidson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The air exchange between two floors of a building has an impact on thermal comfort. The present research attempts to quantify this impact and identify the contributing factors disrupting the thermal comfort on and around stairs. Various heating and cooling scenarios were analyzed, using CFD modeling, in a simple two-story building separated by a single staircase. The research examines a single building layout with a fixed inlet and outlet configuration. In addition, the study investigated the short-term impact on thermal comfort. As a result, the duration of the simulations varies from two and half minutes to ten minutes, consistent with …

Modeling And Tuning Of Cvt Systems For Sae® Baja Vehicles, Sean Sebastian Skinner

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Continuously variable transmission (CVT) describes a family of transmission styles. These systems serve the same purpose as their traditional counterparts; transmitting power while offering a variable gearing ratio. The difference lies in the CVT’s ability to change ratio continuously between a minimum and maximum without halting power transfer. They offer many benefits of an automatic transmission while being significantly lighter. For this reason, CVTs are often used on Baja SAE^® vehicles to control gearing ratio.

WVU’s Baja team has used mechanical CVTs for many decades. These systems are simpler in the sense that they don’t require power to operate. …