Applied Mechanics Commons^™

The Potentials Of Faecal Sludge Treatment Using Local Conditioners In Tanzania: A Review, Doglas Benjamin1

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Worldwide, every day human beings generate millions of tons of Faecal Sludge (FS), which is rich in water, nutrients, energy, and organic compounds. Yet FS is not being managed in a way that permits us to derive value from its reuse, while at the same time, millions of farmers struggle with depleted soils and lack of water. In most of the developing countries, energy for cooking is mainly derived from cutting of trees, either as wood or charcoal. Resource recovery and reuse from FS can create livelihoods, enhance food security, support green economies, reduce waste and contribute to cost recovery …

Failure Of High Strength Concrete Under Dynamic Uniaxial Compression, Colin Loeffler

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

The failure strength of concrete materials has been widely shown to be dependent on experimental parameters such as specimen geometry and strain-rate. The effects of specimen geometry have been shown both theoretically and experimentally to be a result of the quasi-brittle nature of concrete. While the failure strength of concrete has been widely reported to increase significantly when deformed at high strain-rates, the physical mechanisms driving this phenomenon remain the source of debate amongst researchers. This means that constitutive models designed to predict this rate dependent behavior are not based on the real physical mechanisms that drive this behavior but …

Measurement Of Stresses And Their Effect On Transport In Thin Film Battery Electrodes, Subhajit Rakshit

Dissertations

At the moment, there is a significant push towards environmentally friendly energy production and gasoline-free transportation technologies. As a result, there is a renewed interest in energy storage devices such as lithium-ion batteries which will play a key role in providing energy storage capability for these applications. However, the current battery technology is reaching its limits and may not meet future energy storage demands. The increased demand and the limited lithium reserves in geographically remote areas of the earth will lead to higher cost of Li. The alternative battery technologies, such as sodium-ion batteries, are promising due to their low …

General Nonlinear-Material Elasticity In Classical One-Dimensional Solid Mechanics, Ronald Joseph Giardina Jr

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

We will create a class of generalized ellipses and explore their ability to define a distance on a space and generate continuous, periodic functions. Connections between these continuous, periodic functions and the generalizations of trigonometric functions known in the literature shall be established along with connections between these generalized ellipses and some spectrahedral projections onto the plane, more specifically the well-known multifocal ellipses. The superellipse, or Lam\'{e} curve, will be a special case of the generalized ellipse. Applications of these generalized ellipses shall be explored with regards to some one-dimensional systems of classical mechanics. We will adopt the Ramberg-Osgood relation …

Microextrusion 3d Printing Of Optical Waveguides And Microheaters, Edidiong Nseowo Udofia

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The drive for smaller and more compact devices presents several challenges in materials and fabrication strategies. Although photolithography is a well-developed method for creating microdevices, the disparate requirements in fabrication strategies, material choices, equipment and process complexities have limited its applications. Microextrusion printing (μEP) provides a promising alternative for microfabrication. Compared to the traditional techniques, the attractions lie in the wide range of printable material choice, greater design freedom, fewer processing steps, lower cost for customized production, and the plurality of compatible substrates. However, while extrusion-based 3D printing processes have been successfully applied at the macroscale, this seeming simplicity belies …

Baja Sae Ecvt Mechanical Design, Tyler Lee Connel, Will Daniel Antes, Matt Stephen Balboni, Benjamin James Colard, Julian Edward Finburgh

Mechanical Engineering

This objective of this project was to design, manufacture, and test the mechanical systems of an electronically-controlled continuously variable transmission (eCVT) for the Cal Poly Baja SAE vehicle.

Microfluidic Gasketless Interconnect Sealed By Superhydrophobic Surfaces, Xiaoxiao Zhao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Lab-on-a-chip technologies are widely applied in the field of life sciences and potentially in clinical diagnostics. There is a high demand for standardized, efficient interconnects between components in modular microfluidic systems. Chip-to-chip contactless, microfluidic interconnects, that allow fluid flow between chips, were designed and evaluated. The interconnects are 'gasketless' without the need for O-ring’s or fillers. Specifically, two microfluidic chips are assembled face-to-face and the fluidic ports on each chip were accurately aligned to allow the passage of fluids, through liquid bridges spanning the gap. Formation of the liquid bridges was governed by superhydrophobic films coating the surface around the …

Investigation Of Fundamental Principles Of Rigid Body Impact Mechanics, Khalid Alluhydan

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

In impact mechanics, the collision between two or more bodies is a common, yet a very challenging problem. Producing analytical solutions that can predict the post-collision motion of the colliding bodies require consistent modeling of the dynamics of the colliding bodies. This dissertation presents a new method for solving the two and multibody impact problems that can be used to predict the post-collision motion of the colliding bodies. Also, we solve the rigid body collision problem of planar kinematic chains with multiple contacts with external surfaces.

In the first part of this dissertation, we study planar collisions of Balls and …

Reducing The Noise Impact Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles By Flight Control System Augmentation, Matthew B. Galles

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The aim of this thesis is to explore methods to reduce the noise impact of unmanned aerial vehicles operating within acoustically sensitive environments by flight control system augmentation. Two methods are investigated and include: (i) reduction of sound generated by vehicle speed control while flying along a nominal path and (ii) reduction of acoustic exposure by vehicle path control while flying at a nominal speed. Both methods require incorporation of an acoustic model into the flight control system as an additional control objective and an acoustic metric to characterize primary noise sources dependent on vehicle state. An acoustic model was …

Experimental And Theoretical Evaluation Of The Effect Of Panel Geometry On The Failure Of Corrugated Board Panel, Takashi Takayama, Katsuhiko Saito, Akira Higashiyama

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

McKee’s formula is widely used to predict the compression strength (CS) of corrugated boxes and panels. It can accurately estimate the compression strength of boxes that are within a practical size range, but recently, larger and smaller corrugated boxes than before have been extensively developed. Therefore, there is a need for a CS prediction formula that works beyond the application range of McKee’s formula. Recent researches consider the failure mode as a combination of collapsing and buckling failure and remove the constraints and the assumptions associated with McKee’s formula. This makes it possible to more accurately estimate the CS of …

Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge - The Incompressibles - Final Design Report, Nicholas Gholdoian, Russell Posin, David Vitt, Alex Knickerbocker, Kyle Franck, Julian Rodkiewicz

Mechanical Engineering

This report provides a comprehensive description of the research, analysis and design work that The Incompressibles have completed thus far in the senior project process. This document includes all the work that The Incompressibles have completed for the team’s Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), the work leading up to the 2019 FPVC competiton and the competition results. This report includes the initial research that the team completed for the fluid power competition, first iterations of designs, final iterations of designs, manufacturing results and processes, and finally testing and results from competition. With a new design for the …

Fracture Control Modeling With The Finite Element Method, Jorge A. Pluma Reyes

Master's Theses

This thesis investigates the feasibility and usability of the finite element method approach in the design of crack arresting devices. Current design and manufacturing practices are improving structures' susceptibility to fracture, in particular brittle fracture; however, cracks in structures are still observed within their lifespans due to severe unexpected service conditions, poor designs, or faulty manufacturing. Crack arrester systems can be added during service to prolong the longevity of structures with sub-critical or critical flaws. Fracture properties of different specific structures under specific services can be obtained experimentally, however, experiments are expensive and of high complexity. Alternatively, the finite element …

Nano Fab Lab 63, Brian K. Deemer, Josh Clemons, Nick Brodine, Delaney Fitzsimmons

Mechanical Engineering

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL) has several steps in the production process for ceramic nanofiber tubes that they would like to improve - electrospinning, cutting, rolling, sealing and heat treating. We undertook the challenge to deliver LLNL with a semi-automated process that efficiently integrates the steps of cutting, rolling, and sealing to save time and improve control over end dimensions. In this document, we discuss the technical background of the manufacturing steps currently followed to create nanofiber tubes, identify which steps are incorporated in our prototype and explain how they will interface with one another, define the design requirements, present …

Adapted Trailer Hitching System, Joseph Neil Hearn, Maxwell M. Selna, Maximilian D. Cossalter, Eric B. Ringsrud

Mechanical Engineering

This report highlights the entire design process of an adapted trailer hitching system for Taylor Morris: a navy veteran and quadruple amputee. This begins with problem definition through customer and product research. Objectives are generated after the problem is defined and the boundary of the project is set. This outcome of the project focuses on modifications/improvements to the vehicle side of the problem and leaves the trailers untouched. Engineering specifications are developed to constrain the concept design direction, which ultimately dictates the outcome of the final design. The final design is used as a basis to manufacture a structural prototype …

Uav Catapult, Sean Drew Huxley, Benjamin Richard Lacasse, David Matthew Garcia, Jordan Joseph Cearns

Mechanical Engineering

This document outlines the Senior Design Project proposed by Dr. Aaron Drake that was assigned to a team of Mechanical Engineering students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The purpose of this project was to design, build, test, and finalize a launching system for two small, fixed wing, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) owned by Dr. Drake and Cal Poly. The goal was to create a system that was both portable and reliable to use, only requiring a two-person team to use effectively in the field. The most important design requirements were determined to be the launch speed, assembly …

Transferring Power Through A Magnetic Couple, Nickolas Cruz Villalobos Jr.

Senior Theses

Properties of several working magnetic coupled rotors have been measured and their performance compared to theoretical models. Axial magnetic couplers allow rotors to work within harsh environments, without the need for seals, proper alignment, or overload protection on a motor. The influence of geometrical parameters, such as distance from the center of the rotors, polarity arrangement, and the number of dipole pairs were experimentally tested. These results can be used to improve rotor designs, to increase strength and efficiency.

Predicting The Mechanical Properties Of Nanocomposites Reinforced With 1-D, 2-D And 3-D Nanomaterials, Scott Edward Muller

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Materials with features at the nanoscale can provide unique mechanical properties and increased functionality when included as part of a nanocomposite. This dissertation utilizes computational methods at multiple scales, including molecular dynamics (MD) and density functional theory (DFT), and the coupled atomistic and discrete dislocation multiscale method (CADD), to predict the mechanical properties of nanocomposites possessing nanomaterials that are either 1-D (carbyne chains), 2-D (graphene sheets), or 3-D (Al/amorphous-Si core-shell nanorod).

The MD method is used to model Ni-graphene nanocomposites. The strength of a Ni-graphene nanocomposite is found to improve by increasing the gap between the graphene sheet and a …

Motor Control Systems Analysis, Design, And Optimization Strategies For A Lightweight Excavation Robot, Austin Jerold Crawford

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis entails motor control system analysis, design, and optimization for the University of Arkansas NASA Robotic Mining Competition robot. The open-loop system is to be modeled and simulated in order to achieve a desired rapid, yet smooth response to a change in input. The initial goal of this work is to find a repeatable, generalized step-by-step process that can be used to tune the gains of a PID controller for multiple different operating points. Then, sensors are to be modeled onto the robot within a feedback loop to develop an error signal and to make the control system self-corrective …

Silicone Tadpole: Research Into Soft Bodies, Danielle Fernandez

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this thesis, research is conducted in the area of soft robotics by building a soft tadpole that can deform with a specific air pressure. The goal is to mimic the motion of an organic tadpole in respect to its S-shaped tail movement. The angle of deformation, derived from material mechanic theories, ranges from 45 to 80 degrees for this type of movement. The design includes a head compartment which acts as a tank to transfer nitrogen pressure and a tail section that receives the said pressure and bends as a result. The tail section was designed with two rows …

Final Design Report For Human Powered Vehicle Drivetrain Project, Derek Fromm, Luke Opitz, Michael Juri, Olivier Côté

Mechanical Engineering

The Cal Poly Human Powered Vehicle Club is building a bike to surpass 61.3 mph in 2019. The club and their mentor, George Leone, have proposed a senior project to design, build, and test the drivetrain for this year’s human powered vehicle. Research into human powered vehicles and their drivetrains has shown that the power that a rider can output and the efficiency at which the rider can pedal depend extensively on the design of the drivetrain. Despite the existence of standard bicycle drivetrain designs, the senior project team has found that the best design to meet the club’s requirements …