Manufacturing Commons^™

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 …

Improving Manufacturing Processes Through Energy Monitoring, Andrew Grzelak

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

Energy efficiency and sustainability are very popular topics in the current field of manufacturing. With the increase in use of automation technology as well as the recent growth in the area of energy management, there is much focus on the overall improvement of manufacturing processes. For this research a project was completed to create a system that could improve both process efficiency as well as decrease energy consumption. By taking a look at the machine level energy consumption of an automated piece of manufacturing equipment, by eliminating waste in process, both energy efficiency and operational efficiency can be improved.

Using …

Acoustic Emission Detection Of Metals And Alloys During Machining Operations, Jameson K. Nelson

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

Nelson, Jameson K. M.S., Purdue University, May 2012. Acoustic Emission Detection of Metals and Alloys During Machining Operations. Major Professor: Rodney G. Handy.

Practical correlation between material deformation attributes and theoretical concepts of machining has proven difficult to attain. The purpose of this study was to further explore trends and relationships using acoustic emission detection of materials undergoing single-point lathe turning machine processes. The majority of machining experiments that incorporate acoustic emissions focuses on tool degradation for the purposes of optimizing consumables required to manufacture mechanical devices. Experiments were implemented varying recording location, mechanical barrier condition, and machine parameters. The …

Automating The Fret Slotting Process Using A Plc Controlled 1.5 Axis Mill, James Stratton

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

Stratton, James A. M.S., Purdue University, August 2011. Automating the Fret Slotting Process Using a PLC Controlled 1.5 Axis CNC Mill. Major Professor: Richard Mark French.

Can automation assist small job shops and hobbyists in the production of stringed instruments? This research set out to answer the question using a quantitative approach to determine if an economical CNC machine could be produced in such a fashion as to seamlessly join the workshop as an affordable, yet precise instrument to aid in the production of stringed instruments. The key was to incorporate common industrial automation equipment into the operation of the …

Mechatronics Application To Solar Tracking, Danny L. Rodriguez Jr

Purdue Polytechnic Directed Projects

The purpose of this was to design and implement a two-axis solar tracking system utilizing the National Instruments C-Rio real time controller. In order to accomplish this a prototype was modeled in CAD. This prototype used two 12 V DC motors to change a solar panel's rotation and tilt based on feedback data from three cadmium sulfide photoresistors. This configuration was chosen for its ability to create both a left-right rotational and an up/down tilt differential. In Addition this approach uses National Instruments Labview to control a solar tracking system. Using Labview add uniqueness to this project by adding a …