Manufacturing Commons^™

A Qualitative Look Into Repair Practices, Jumana Labib

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

This research poster is based on a working research paper which moves beyond the traditional scope of repair and examines the Right to Repair movement from a smaller, more personal lens by detailing the 6 categorical impediments as dubbed by Dr. Alissa Centivany (design, law, economic/business strategy, material asymmetry, informational asymmetry, and social impediments) have continuously inhibited repair and affected repair practices, which has consequently had larger implications (environmental, economic, social, etc.) on ourselves, our objects, and our world. The poster builds upon my research from last year (see "The Right to Repair: (Re)building a better future"), this time pulling …

Development Of A Wireless Telemetry Load And Displacement Sensor For Orthopaedic Applications, William Anderson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Due to sensor size and supporting circuitry, in vivo load and deformation measurements are currently restricted to applications within larger orthopaedic implants. The objective of this thesis is to repurpose a commercially available low-power, miniature, wireless, telemetric, tire-pressure sensor (FXTH87) to measure load and deformation for future use in biomechanical applications. The capacitive transducer membrane of the FXTH87 was modified, and a relationship was reported between applied compressive deformation and sensor signal value. The sensor package was embedded within a deformable enclosure to illustrate potential applications of the sensor for monitoring load. Finite element analysis was an effective tool to …

Metallization Process For 3d Printed Electronics: From I3dp Ii To 3d Co-Printing Technology, Junfeng Xiao

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

3D printing has emerged as a powerful additive manufacturing technique and becomes as a viable alternative to conventional manufacturing processes in an increasing number of applications. Thus, the development of printable materials also continues to expand, while polymers are still the most utilized materials in 3D printing. There is a great advance for developing polymers with versatile mechanical and chemical properties. However, the end-use products are demanding various functions. It is imperative to develop functional 3D printed polymeric materials to achieve enhanced functionalities.

Usually, one polymer can meet one specific application. This has considerably limited the capability of 3D printing …

Finite Element Analysis Of Assembly For Warped Composite Automotive Components, Theogenes De Oliveira Maia

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

One of the most used processes in the automotive industry is the moulding of parts made of thermoplastics filled with glass fibres. This research focused on a specific material: long fibre thermoplastics (LFT). On the one hand, the performance gain, in terms of lightweight and the strength of final components, justifies its wide use. On the other hand, due to the intrinsic characteristics of part manufacturing, warpage is evident and can influence or even compromise subsequent stages of production.

This research has three main objectives: recreate in the most faithfully way, in Abaqus^TM environment, the conditions that precede the …

Parametric Study Of The Cutting Process And Surface Formation During Elliptical Vibration Assisted Single Point Cutting, Nikolai D. Farrus

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Elliptical vibration cutting has enabled the fabrication of numerous functional surfaces such as optical quality surface finishes, micro/nano surface texturing, and improved cutting force reduction on ferrous and other hard‑to‑cut materials. This wide range of capabilities comes from the high‑frequency elliptical vibrations produced at the tool tip, ultimately introducing discontinuous contact between the cutting tool and workpiece. However, despite the relative use of this technology, there has been limited investigation on the overarching parametric influence that its cutting parameters have on process outcomes such as cutting forces and surface roughness formation.

The current thesis addresses this research gap with the …

Strategies For Ultraprecise Single Point Cutting Of V-Grooves, Delfim A C Joao

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

V-groove microstructures have found numerous functionalization applications in mechanical, electronic, photonic, biomechanical and optical components. However, despite their wide use, the manufacturing processes associated with their fabrication are limited to axial strategies with a constant depth of cut that do not allow the control of the cutting force and cutting time, and therefore leading to significant micro-burrs as well as an inability to fabricate high aspect ratio grooves. The current thesis addresses this problem with the development of three cutting strategies that make use of a single point cutting process. The study to be detailed herein includes analytical, numerical and …

Thermo-Physical Modelling And Experimental Analysis Of The Laser-Material Interactions During Cw Laser Polishing, Shirzad Mohajerani

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Laser polishing (LP) represents one of the finishing/superfinishing technologies that has experienced a rapid growth over the past two decades. However, while undeniable progress has been achieved on the experimental and/or practical side, the development of the mathematical models continue to be somewhat slower and still dominated by significant simplifying assumptions.

To address this research gap, after identification of underlying thermo-physical processes during LP through a comprehensive literature review, two CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) models are developed to simulate the laser-material interactions and eventually predict the final geometry of the irradiated surface. In this context, a 3D CFD model is …

Development Of A Laser-Based Technique For The Assessment Of High Quality Automotive Surfaces, Navraj Heer

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The quality of painted surfaces plays an important role in the overall aesthetics of the automotive products. Although a number of quantitative techniques have been developed for this particular type of quality assessment, the solutions proposed so far remain costly and proprietary such that industry continues to rely primarily on qualitative, error-prone human evaluations. To address this, the primary objective of this thesis was to explore the possibility to develop a laser-based technique for the non-tactile quantification of defects in reflective painted surfaces. For this purpose, analytical solutions were formulated to predict the reflection of a laser beam from a …

Fabrication Of 3d Conjugated Polymer Structures Via Vat Polymerization Additive Manufacturing, Andrew T. Cullen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Conjugated polymers are a class of electromechanically active materials that can produce motion in response to an electric potential. This motion can be harnessed to perform mechanical work, and therefore these materials are particularly well suited for use as sensors and actuators in microelectromechanical systems. Conventional methods to fabricate conjugated polymer actuators result in planar morphologies that limit fabricated devices to simplistic linear or bending actuation modes. To overcome this limitation, this work develops a conjugated polymer formulation and associated additive manufacturing method capable of realizing three-dimensional conductive polymer structures. A light-based additive manufacturing technique known as vat polymerization is …

Surface Topography Formation And Thermographic Analysis In Laser Polishing Of H13 Tool Steel, Joshua D. Miller

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Laser polishing, in its simplest form, is the melting of a small layer of material via laser radiation. This creates a small molten pool which is re-distrusted across the surface, resulting in a much smoother finished surface. Although this process has been around for decades now, there has been a recent insurgence into industrial applications. Despite this, the phenomena that occur during the process are still not fully understood. Therefore, increasing the knowledge surrounding the process would be ideal.

To accomplish this, various input parameters of the process are altered to analyze the effect on the finished polished surface. Through …

3d Printing Of Functional Materials: Surface Technology And Structural Optimization, Dongxing Zhang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

There has been a surge in interest of 3D printing technology in the recent 5 years with respect to the equipment and materials, because this technology allows one to create sophisticated and customized parts in a manner that is more efficient regarding both material and time consumption. However, 3D printing has not yet become a mainstream technology within the established manufacturing routes. One primary factor accounting for this slow progress is the lack of a broad variety of 3D printable materials, resulting in limited functions of 3D printed parts.

To bridge this gap, I present an integrated strategy to fabricate …

Ultraprecise Single Point Inverted Cutting Of Right Triangular Prismatic Retroreflectors: Process Enhancements And Cutting Mechanics, Nicolas Milliken

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Automotive lighting industry relies on retroreflective components to increase driver awareness in low-light conditions since their primary functionality is to return incident light back to the source and/or observer with minimal scatter.

Presently, industry makes use of conventional pin-bundling techniques for the fabrication of the retroreflective components. This method is time consuming, labour intensive, and restrictive with respect to the design process. For these reasons, the ultraprecise single point inverted cutting (USPIC) technology was developed as an efficient alternative for manufacturing novel right triangular prismatic (RTP) retroreflective structures.

This thesis outlines a number of enhancements that improve both the quality …

Additive Manufacturing Process Of 3d Polyaniline Transducers Via Direct Ink Writing, Frederick Benjamin Holness

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Electroactive polymers exhibit a change in properties, typically size or shape, in response to electrical stimuli. One class of electroactive polymer of particular interest are the conjugated polymers, whose conjugated backbone structure imparts electrical conductivity. However, this structure imposes processing limitations restricting their form to 2D structures. To overcome this, we develop specially formulated polyaniline- based blends via counter-ion induced thermal doping for the fabrication of 3D conductive structures via direct ink writing. This approach employs multi-material extrusion for the production of structures with passive and active features, rapid device fabrication, and improved design freedom. A model of the thermal …

Fabrication Of Large Mechanically Flexible Multi-Layered Pdms Optical Devices, Robert S. Green

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mechanically flexible large area polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) optical devices are fabricated using soft-lithography techniques based on replica moulding. These non-rigid optical devices can be designed as sheets to act as either light concentrators (collectors) or diffusers (illuminators) based on the position and geometry of micro-optical structures (MOSs) embedded within the sheet or imprinted on its surface. The active surface area of the device can range from less than a sq. cm to several sq. m. The performance of the large area optical device is a function of the location and geometry of micro-optical structures, thickness and shape of the flexible waveguide, …

Parametric Design, Modeling, And Optical Evaluation Of Retroreflective Prismatic Structures, Sama Hussein

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Retroreflectors (RR) are defined as passive optical structures that redirect incident light to its originating source. Specific types of retroreflectors called inverted cubes (ICs) function through total internal reflection (TIR) and are used in various applications such as measurement tools, traffic signs and automotive rear and side lighting. This thesis aims to model, analyze, fabricate and study a novel type of IC retroreflectors called right triangular prism (RTP). A parametric approach is used to model existing IC geometries from a generic unit cube and is then implemented to model the novel RTP geometry. Those elements are then tested by optical …

Ultraprecise Single Point Inverted Cutting Strategies For Multi-Axis Fabrication Of Right Triangular Prismatic Retroreflectors, Benjamin W. Hamilton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The optical phenomenon of retroreflection (RR) is described as light rays contacting a surface and being redirected back to their originating source. While applications are many and varied, their primary focus is safety in low-light conditions, and the focus of this research is toward automotive applications. Few geometric shapes are capable of retroreflection. Among them are the lens-and-mirror, and cube corner geometry; however, the right triangular prism (RTP) has been introduced as a viable alternative. This study demonstrates a more efficient fabrication technology when compared to current industry practices.

The ultraprecise single point inverted cutting (USPIC) technology was envisioned as …

Development Of An Autonomous Robotic Mushroom Harvester, Nikita Alexeevich Kuchinskiy

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The process of development of a new robot is one of the modern technological arts. This process involves multiple complex steps and recursive approach. In this project, a solution for automatic harvesting of mushrooms is developed. In order to design an effective solution, it is necessary to explore and take into consideration the limitations of grasping very soft and fragile objects (particularly mushrooms). We will elaborate several strategies of picking and analyze each strategy to formulate the design requirements, develop a solution, and finally, evaluate the efficiency of the proposed solution in actual farm conditions for real mushrooms. The mushroom …

Studies Of Periodic And Quasiperiodic Gold Nanohole Arrays And Their Applications, Zhaoliang Yang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Wavelength to refractive index sensitivity and resonance wavelength position are two very important performance characteristics for nanohole array based surface plasmon resonance sensors while these characteristics are mostly researched on periodic nanohole arrays, instead of quasiperiodic nanohole arrays. This thesis deduces theoretical equations about the wavelength to refractive index sensitivity and resonance wavelength position of quasiperiodic nanohole arrays. Theoretical analysis shows that wavelength to refractive index sensitivity is not associated with geometry pattern, hole size or pitch but with the wavelength. A novel surface plasmon resonance platform is built by transferring gold films patterned with quasiperiodic nanohole arrays to the …

The Effect Of Cutting Blade Geometry And Material On Carbon Fiber Severing As Used In High-Volume Production Of Composites, Michael Francis Anthony Adamovsky

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Automotive manufacturers have started to actively look into weight savings options for mass production of vehicles that meet new government regulations. Falling prices of carbon fibers have made carbon fiber composites a promising material to be used. The study has focused on the fiber-severing unit incorporated in a high-volume composite production line in an attempt to better define the impact of blade geometry and material on the wear as experienced while cutting carbon fiber. A method to quantify the effect of usage on the cutting ability of a blade has been developed, as well as methods to measure blade wear. …

Characterization Of High-Pressure-Die-Cast Magnesium Alloy Am60, Hooman Baghaei Anaraki

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The primary goal of this study is the characterization of high pressure die cast magnesium alloys AM60 so that the failure model which is proposed by J.Weiler can be validated for two new castings. The input variables of failure model can be determined by characterization of different regions within the castings. Based on the location of gate system, the desired regions are identified across both castings and tensile specimens are extracted from various regions. Therefore the local mechanical properties are determined, and fracture strain of samples ranges from 1.2 to 9.5%. The area fraction of porosities and skin fraction of …

Methods For Fabricating Printed Electronics With High Conductivity And High Resolution, Tengyuan Zhang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Flexible and printable electronics are attractive techniques which are believed to be widespread and occupy huge market. However, low conductivity, nozzle clog because of the accumulation of nano-particles and relative high cost (expensive silver/copper nanoparticle inks) limit its appeal. In this thesis, two new effective and convenient methods of fabricating copper patterns with high conductivity and strong adhesion on flexible photopaper and polymer substrates (PET) are demonstrated, solving all those problems. Functional photopaper and PET substrate was prepared with inkjet printing of a palladium salt solution and hyperthermal hydrogen induced cross-linking (HHIC) polyelectrolytes onto its surface respectively, followed by electroless …

Numerical Modeling Of Solidification Process And Prediction Of Mechanical Properties In Magnesium Alloys, Mehdi Farrokhnejad

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A formulation used to simulate the solidification process of magnesium alloys is developed based upon the volume averaged finite volume method on unstructured collocated grids. To derive equations, a non-zero volume fraction gradient has been considered and resulting additional terms are well reasoned. For discretization the most modern approximations for gradient and hessians are used and novelties outlined. Structure-properties correlations are incorporated into the in-house code and the proposed formulation is tested for a wedge-shaped magnesium alloy casting. While the results of this study show a good agreement with the experimental data, it was concluded that a better understanding of …

Micro-Mechanical Assessment Of The Local Plastic Strain Invoked During A Splined Mandrel Flow Forming Operation, Meysam Haghshenas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Splined Mandrel Flow Forming (SMFF) is a metal spinning operation that involves the application of high multiaxial compressive stress states to invoke large plastic flow in the work piece. This allows for essentially one-step fabrication of complex internally-splined shapes. In this research project, the equivalent plastic strain, invoked throughout bcc (1020 steel) and fcc (5052 and 6061 aluminum alloys, pure copper, and 70/30 brass) samples, that were made by SMFF, was measured. The objective of the research were to measure the to obtain data on the effect of microstructure and mechanical parameters on the flow formability of ductile bcc and …