Supermileage Chassis Dynamometer, 2012 California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
Supermileage Chassis Dynamometer, Jose Garcia, Steve Janning, Timothy Lui, Kyla Purvis
Mechanical Engineering
This report describes the final design and analysis of a hydraulic chassis dynamometer as a testing tool for California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Supermileage Vehicle Team (CPSMV). Literature review was conducted to understand the various types of chassis dynamometers on the market as of the year 2011. After rigorous research, it was determined that a hydraulic system was the best system for a chassis dynamometer in terms of functionality, performance, and cost. Critical study of hydraulics, dynamometers, and data acquisition systems (DAQ) was followed by a complete design of a hydraulic system. The chassis dynamometer proposed in this …
California Olive Ranch Hedger, 2012 California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
California Olive Ranch Hedger, Tyler Enos, Seth Abbott, David Gamba
Mechanical Engineering
The purpose of this project is to evaluate the problems of the current KCI (Kingsburg Cultivator Incorporated) olive tree hedger in use at California Olive Ranch (COR) in Artois, CA, and then correct these problems which should yield a better performing, more efficient, and reliable machine. These problems include: the hydraulic oil temperature getting too high, the saw blades not having enough horsepower, and poor cutting performance due to operator error as well as terrain variations.
Throwing Frame For Athletes With Dissabilities, 2012 California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
Throwing Frame For Athletes With Dissabilities, Andrew Higgins, Stefan Owechko, Gabriel (Gabe) Terrasas, Kevin Crisfield
Mechanical Engineering
Team Zeus’ senior project was to design, build and test a working throwing frame system for Bridge II Sports, a nonprofit organization in North Carolina. The throwing frame is used to allow athletes and individuals with disabilities to throw shot-put, discus, and javelin using a frame to sit against. Team Zeus was specifically tasked to build a frame that is lighter weight and more transportable than products that are currently on the market. This frame also is adjustable to accommodate a wide range of athlete weights, sizes, and abilities. The final result is a 35lb aluminum frame with two different …
Benchmarking Of A Single-Cylinder Engine Toward The Development Of A Direct Fuel-Injection System, 2012 Western Michigan University
Benchmarking Of A Single-Cylinder Engine Toward The Development Of A Direct Fuel-Injection System, Michael J. Nienhuis
Masters Theses
In this study, the performance and efficiency of a single-cylinder gasoline, fourstroke cycle engine was benchmarked in support of the Formula SAE student project. The development of an engine test stand, instrumentation, data acquisition, and test plan is described in detail. Experimental results in the areas of engine performance and efficiency are discussed. Physical test data were used to refine a previous model of a single-cylinder, gasoline, direct-injection engine. Results from this effort are discussed and compared to those obtained in a preliminary study. The current work advances the development of more efficient power-train technologies for application in small displacement …
Application Of Higher Order Hamiltonian Approach To Nonlinear Vibrating Systems, 2012 Iran University of Science and Technology Tehran
Application Of Higher Order Hamiltonian Approach To Nonlinear Vibrating Systems, Hassan Askari
No abstract provided.
Formula Hybrid Drivetrain Design, 2012 California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
Formula Hybrid Drivetrain Design, Zachary (Zak) Mcfarland, Alex Pruitt, William Domhart
Mechanical Engineering
The Formula Hybrid senior project group was tasked with designing and building a drivetrain system for the Cal Poly Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Formula Hybrid (FHSAE) team. FHSAE gave customer requirements for performance and geometry for the drivetrain and the FHSAE rulebook has guidelines regarding safety requirements. The team chose to compete in the electric category of the 2012 FHSAE competition. After getting feedback from previous car performance and researching different powertrain options, the senior project team arrived at three conceptual ideas. Using a quality function deployment method, the senior project team chose the concept where two motors independently …
Viscoelastic Anisotropic Finite Element Mixture Model Of Articular Cartilage Using Viscoelastic Collagen Fibers And Validation With Stress Relaxation Data, 2012 California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Viscoelastic Anisotropic Finite Element Mixture Model Of Articular Cartilage Using Viscoelastic Collagen Fibers And Validation With Stress Relaxation Data, Matthew Alexander Griebel
Master's Theses
Experimental results show that collagen fibers exhibit stress relaxation under tension and a highly anisotropic distribution. To further develop the earlier model of Stender [1], the collagen constituent was updated to reflect its intrinsic viscoelasticity and anisotropic distribution, and integrated with an existing mixture model with glycosaminoglycans and ground substance matrix. A two-term Prony series expansion of the quasi-linear viscoelastic model was chosen to model the viscoelastic properties of the collagen fibers. Material parameters were determined by using the simplex method to minimize the sum of squared errors between model results and experimental stress relaxation data of tissue in tension. …
Agent-Based Modeling Of Emergency Building Evacuation, 2012 University of Connecticut - Storrs
Agent-Based Modeling Of Emergency Building Evacuation, Vi Q. Ha
Master's Theses
Panic during emergency building evacuation can cause crowd stampede, resulting in serious injuries and casualties. Agent-based methods have been successfully employed to investigate the collective human behavior during emergency evacuation in cases where the configurational space is extremely simple - usually one rectangular room - but not in evacuations of multi-room or multi-floor buildings. This implies that the effect of the complexity of building architecture on the collective behavior of the agents during evacuation has not been fully investigated. Here, we employ a system of self-moving particles whose motion is governed by the social-force model to investigate the effect of …
Mechanical Instability Of Thin Solid Film Structures, 2012 The University of Western Ontario
Mechanical Instability Of Thin Solid Film Structures, Masoud Noroozi
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Instability of thin film structures as buckling and wrinkling are important issues in various fields such as skin aging, mechanics of scars, metrology of the material properties of thin layers, coating of the surfaces and etc. Similar to the buckling, highly ordered patterns of wrinkles may be developed on the film‒substrate due to compressive stresses. They may cause a failure of the system as structural damage or inappropriate operation, however once they are well understood, it is possible to control and even use them properly in various systems such as the gossamer structures in the space, stretchable electronics, eyelike digital …
Advanced Design Optimization For Composite Structure: Stress Reduction, Weight Decrease And Manufacturing Cost Savings, 2012 University of Connecticut
Advanced Design Optimization For Composite Structure: Stress Reduction, Weight Decrease And Manufacturing Cost Savings, Shayan Ahmadian
Master's Theses
An injection moldable chopped fiber composite actuator with detailed drawing and tolerances was designed within one year. A vendor was selected and a quote for injection molding tooling cost for production was obtained and the first prototype was built in addition of six months. The risks are identified and material characterization tests are proposed.
The objective of this project was redesigning an aluminum made actuator with a continuous fiber composite for weight saving purposes. After searching the literature and consulting with experts in the field it was concluded that manufacturing costs associated with continuous fiber composite are 3 times as …
An Investigation Of Fraxinus Americana Branch Sway Using A 3 Dimensional Motion Capture System, 2012 University of Connecticut - Storrs
An Investigation Of Fraxinus Americana Branch Sway Using A 3 Dimensional Motion Capture System, Anna T. Campiformio
Master's Theses
Abstract
Wind is a dominant abiotic factor that a tree experiences throughout its lifetime and can cause severe tree damage, resulting in risk of injury to humans, and economic and ecological losses. It is thought that trees develop structural properties and architectures that help withstand loading conditions by dissipating wind energy through damping mechanisms. The role of branch motion in reducing potential dangerous wind loads has been the focus of relatively few studies. Even fewer studies have examined tree sway response to natural wind loaded conditions. In this investigation, branch frequencies were calculated for three Fraxinus americana using a three-dimensional …
A Conductivity Testing System Coupled With A Tensile Testing Machine To Measure The Surface Properties Of Polymer Specimens, 2012 University of Nebraska-Lincoln
A Conductivity Testing System Coupled With A Tensile Testing Machine To Measure The Surface Properties Of Polymer Specimens, Nguyen T. Nguyen
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Polymers play an essential role in our everyday life due to their employment in a widespread range of applications. Polymers are used in industries such as space, biomedical, electronics, etc. in which their electrical and mechanical properties are major aspects which need to be investigated prior to implementation. When subjected to mechanical stimulations, polymers may exhibit changes in electrical conductivity which can vary locally within the specimens, especially in those of conducting polymers. In mechanical investigations a tensile testing machine is used to understand polymers’ strength, elasticity or other mechanical properties. In electrical analysis, using a four-point probe to examine …
Us Patent 8,149,079: Magnetically Levitated Mount, 2012 Selected Works
Us Patent 8,149,079: Magnetically Levitated Mount, Sanza Kazadi
Sanza Kazadi
Design And Implementation Of A Z-Axis Mems Gyroscope With A Symmetric Multiple-Mass Mechanical Structure, 2012 Old Dominion University
Design And Implementation Of A Z-Axis Mems Gyroscope With A Symmetric Multiple-Mass Mechanical Structure, Yujie Zhang
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations
This thesis presents a z-axis MEMS gyroscope with a symmetric mechanical structure. The multiple-mass design prioritizes the sense-mode Quality Factor (Q) and thus improves its scale factor. The proposed mechanically coupled, dynamically balanced anti-phase sense-mode design minimizes energy dissipation through the substrate in order to maximize the Q. Numerical simulation is implemented in a finite element analysis software, COMSOL, to identify the two operation modes of the gyroscope: drive-mode and sense-mode. The multiple-mass gyroscope design is further fabricated using a one-mask process. Experimental characterization of frequency response in both drive-mode and sense-mode of the device are conducted, proving the design …
Sr2Fe1.5Mo0.5O6-Δ – Sm0.2Ce0.8O1.9 Composite Anodes For Intermediate-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, 2012 University of South Carolina - Columbia
Sr2Fe1.5Mo0.5O6-Δ – Sm0.2Ce0.8O1.9 Composite Anodes For Intermediate-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Beibei He, Ling Zhao, Shuxiang Song, Tong Liu, Fanglin Chen, Changrong Xia
Faculty Publications
Sr2Fe1.5Mo0.5O6−δ (SFM) perovskite is carefully investigated as an anode material for solid oxide fuel cells with LaGaO3-based electrolytes. Its electronic conductivity under anodic atmosphere is measured with four-probe method while its ionic conductivity is determined with oxygen permeation measurement. Samaria doped ceria (SDC) is incorporated into SFM electrode to improve the anodic performance. A strong relation is observed between SDC addition and polarization losses, suggesting that the internal SFM-SDC contacts are active for H2 oxidation. The best electrode performance is achieved for the composite with 30 wt% SDC addition, resulting …
Life-Cycle Cost Analysis Of Alternative Reinforcement Materials For Bridge Superstructures Considering Cost And Maintenance Uncertainties, 2012 Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Life-Cycle Cost Analysis Of Alternative Reinforcement Materials For Bridge Superstructures Considering Cost And Maintenance Uncertainties, Christopher D. Eamon, Elin A. Jensen, Nabil F. Grace, Xiuwei Shi
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research Publications
A life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) was conducted on prestressed concrete bridges using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) bars and strands. Traditional reinforcement materials of uncoated steel with cathodic protection and epoxy-coated steel were also considered for comparison. A series of deterministic LCCAs were first conducted to identify a range of expected cost outcomes for different bridge spans and traffic volumes. Then, a probabilistic LCCA was conducted on selected structures that included activity timing and cost random variables. It was found that although more expensive initially, the use of CFRP reinforcement has the potential to achieve significant reductions in life …
Analytical Approximate Solutions For The Generalized Nonlinear Oscillator, 2012 Iran University of Science and Technology Tehran
Analytical Approximate Solutions For The Generalized Nonlinear Oscillator, Hassan Askari
No abstract provided.
Peridynamic Models For Dynamic Brittle Fracture, 2012 University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Peridynamic Models For Dynamic Brittle Fracture, Wenke Hu
Department of Engineering Mechanics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Damage and failure in composite materials under dynamic loading has been extensively studied in experiments for several decades. Composite materials exhibit various damage and failure patterns under different loading rates, such as splitting and branching. Classical models cannot directly be applied to problems with discontinuous fields. A new nonlocal continuum model, peridynamics, has been proposed with the goal of solving dynamic fracture problems.
The J-integral has the physical significance of energy flow into the crack tip region. We present a rigorous derivation for the formulation of the J-integral in peridynamics using the crack infinitesimal virtual extension approach. We …
A New Approach For The Preparation Of Variable Valence Rare Earth Alloys From Nano Rare Earth Oxides At A Low Temperature In Molten Salt, 2012 University of South Carolina - Columbia
A New Approach For The Preparation Of Variable Valence Rare Earth Alloys From Nano Rare Earth Oxides At A Low Temperature In Molten Salt, Milin Zhang, Yongde Yan, Wei Han, Xing Li, Zhiyao Hou, Yang Tian, Ke Ye, Lihong Bao, Xiaodong Li, Zhijian Zhang
Faculty Publications
The solubility of RE2O3 (RE = Eu, Sm, and Yb) with variable valence in molten salts is extremely low. It is impossible to directly obtain variable valence metals or alloys from RE2O3 using electrolysis in molten salts. We describe a new approach for the preparation of variable valence rare earth alloys from nano rare earth oxide. The excellent dispersion of nano–Eu2O3 in LiCl–KCl melts was clearly observed using a luminescent feature of Eu3+ as a probe. The ratio of solubility of nano-Sm2O3/common Sm2O3 …
A Relationship Between Three Analytical Approaches To Nonlinear Problems, 2012 Iran University of Science and Technology Tehran
A Relationship Between Three Analytical Approaches To Nonlinear Problems, Hassan Askari
No abstract provided.