Computer-Aided Engineering and Design Commons^™

Automation And Habitat Development For A Space Based Marine Life Environment, Logan Trimmer, Alexander Hang

Harrisburg University Other Works

This project was a cross-collaboration between the Environmental Sciences and Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics programs for the company Monolith Space.

The goal of this project was to design an autonomous system to be able to track qualities of water in an aquaculture system designed to be sent to space.

The Efficacy Of Hybrid Manufacturing For High Stress Automotive Components, Logan Trimmer

Harrisburg University Other Works

The goal of this research was to establish the viability of using hybrid manufacturing for automotive applications. By verifying that high-stress components can be created, it can be assumed that any other lower stress part could be made to match the strength requirements. A limiting factor of adoption for hybrid manufacturing is how new the technology is. Studies on time and cost were performed allowing for comparisons with traditional manufacturing technologies (casting, forging, milling) used in automotive applications. This research utilized a Haas Automation UMC750 5-axis CNC mill with a Meltio laser wire direct energy deposition attachment. Fusion 360 was …

Aerodynamics And Heat Transfer In Polymer Blown Film Processing: Experimental And Numerical Investigation, Mohammad Luqman Zulbakri, Nur Atiqah Mat. Rautin, Raa Khimi Shuib, Ku Marsilla Ku Ishak, Auratus Zuratul Ain Abdul Hamid, Mohamad Danial Shafiq, Mohamad Yusof Idroas, Muhammad Khalil Abdullah

Makara Journal of Technology

The effects of airflow dynamics, heat transfer, and mechanical properties on the HDPE blown film extrusion process were examined using a single-lip air ring with a fixed compressed-air valve opening angle of 10°. Reynolds numbers ranging from 9175 to 25911 were analyzed to understand their impact on cooling efficiency, bubble morphology, and film properties. Numerical simulations employing the Standard k−ω turbulence model in ANSYS FLUENT v2023, with mesh refinement achieving y+ ≈ 1, captured detailed flow and heat transfer behavior. Results showed that higher Reynolds numbers significantly enhanced the heat transfer coefficient, with values increasing from 1096 W/m²·K at Reynold …

Comprehensive Mechatronic Design Methodology For 6-Dof Stationary Lower Limb Rehabilitation Exoskeleton Robot With Safety-Integrated Control Architecture, Javlonbek Rakhmatillaev Mr., Nodirbek Kimsanboyev Mr., Umidjon Takabaev Mr., Zafar Juraev Dr.

Chemical Technology, Control and Management

This paper presents the mechatronic design of a proposed six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) stationary lower limb rehabilitation exoskeleton (SLLRE) robot, developed through a comprehensive mechatronic design methodology that includes mechanical design, actuator and sensor selection, and the development of a control structure based on a safety-oriented control approach. The proposed 6-DOF SLLRE mechanical design introduces a comprehensive mechanical structure comprising bilateral hip, knee, and ankle joints, degrees of freedom, joint ranges of motion, human parameters for rehabilitation training, as well as the frames and structural elements of the proposed system. Furthermore, the selection of appropriate sensors, actuators, and control architecture for the …

Virtual Process Modeling Of Metal Additive Manufacturing Basedon Direct Energy Deposition In-Situ Failure, Jachin J. Ramirez

2025 Fall Honors Capstones Projects - Archive

This study builds a mesoscale finite element simulation to examine how internal stresses form during additive metal manufacturing using directed energy deposition. The goal is to track how heat and stress develop layer by layer and determine where a failure criterion could appear during the print. The model uses temperature-dependent material properties for Inconel 718 and a moving heat source defined with custom G-code.

Thermal results are mapped into a mechanical simulation to watch stress accumulate as new layers are added. Different scan paths were tested to determine whether varying heat exposure could reduce the extent of a region exceeding …

Wind Tunnel Instrumentation And Testing, Nicholas Marek, Abraham Mezera, Laura Jin, Hayden Smith, Curtis Cook

Student Scholar Symposium

The Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering was contacted by an automotive engineering firm seeking to use the college’s wind tunnel for gathering data on the aerodynamic performance of a proprietary prototype automotive door. Specifically, the client requested the quantification of the drag coefficient of the model at extreme wind speeds. The drag coefficient, a dimensionless number that quantifies the resistance of a specific geometric shape to airflow, will be a valuable datapoint for the client’s design iteration. Due to the sensitive nature of their work, the client has wished to remain anonymous. RBJCOE professors tasked a senior design team …

Design And Development Of Evacuated Photovoltaic-Thermal Systems For Efficient Cogeneration Of Heat And Electricity, Behnam Roshanzadeh

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

In conventional PV systems, most of the solar energy is dissipated into the environment as heat. Accordingly, hybrid Photovoltaic-thermal systems have been developed to utilize the waste heat from PV cells for various thermal applications. However, most PVT systems suffer from low thermal performance compared to solar thermal collectors, as the absorber plate in PVT systems is partially or fully covered by PV cells. This dissertation focuses on improving the thermal performance of PVT systems by introducing the evacuated PVT systems.

An evacuated-tube PVT system was designed and simulated for domestic hot water supply. The evacuated-tube PVT system demonstrated 40% …

Advancing Sustainable Co2 Mitigation: Experimental And Computational Analysis Of Thermal Carbon Chitosan Sorbent For Automotive Exhaust Capture, Dalia A. Ali Dr., Amir Ahmed Elgamal Eng., Rania Rushdy Moussa Dr.

Chemical Engineering

This study investigated the efficiency of thermal carbon chitosan (TCCS) sorbent for CO2 capture from vehicle exhaust emissions within a designed adsorption system. TCCS was synthesized and meticulously characterized using a series of analytical techniques, including Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Ther- mogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), and Differential Scanning Calo- rimetry (DSC). The TCCS adsorbent showed high thermal stability and a heating value (HHV) of 23.5 MJ/kg. Adsorption isotherm study demonstrated that the maximum capacity of CO2 adsorption is 0.084 kg.CO2/kg. TCCS, as well …

Thermal Heterogeneity And Lithium Plating During Fast Charging Of Lithium-Ion Battery., Ayodeji Avis Adeniran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Presently, widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is hindered by challenges associated with XFC, including heat generation, lithium plating, and accelerated battery degradation. This dissertation addresses these barriers through two coordinated themes—lithium plating and thermal management—spanning four manuscripts that integrate operando diagnostics, physics-based simulation, and module-level design optimization. The first theme seeks a fundamental investigation into the dynamic interplay between temperature heterogeneity and lithium plating during fast charging, a phenomenon that poses significant limitations on the performance of graphite-based anodes. Firstly, a custom operando cell with a sapphire window was designed to enable synchronized MWIR thermography and optical imaging of …

Experimental And Numerical Study On The Influence Of Carbon Fiber Reinforcement On The In-Plane Compressive Properties Of 3d Printed Hexagonal Honeycomb Core Structures, Deon Wallace

All Theses

There is difficulty with numerically replicating the behavior of composite honeycomb core structures numerically due to the trouble of gathering material properties from a hollow structure. Also, complex part geometries and carbon fiber reinforcement strategies can lead to unwanted structural weaknesses and variance in material properties that may not be reflected in numerical analysis when the part is additively manufactured. In this study, edgewise compressive testing is used to characterize the mechanical behavior and performance characteristics of these structures. The experimental results indicate an increase in the Young’s moduli of the honeycomb core structures as carbon fiber concentration increases. However, …

Tradespace Exploration For Multiple Collaborative Vehicles, Mrunal Deshmukh

All Theses

Modern military operations demand systems that adapt to uncertain, rapidly changing missions across diverse terrains. Traditional single-platform vehicle design is insufficient for such complexity. This research introduces a hierarchical tradespace exploration framework for designing and evaluating families of heterogeneous ground vehicles under a System-of-Systems (SoS) architecture. The framework treats vehicle design as a co-optimization problem, where a “parent” vehicle (e.g., a Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport) coordinates specialized “child” vehicles for reconnaissance, amphibious tasks, terrain traversal, and stealth missions. Unlike conventional approaches that optimize vehicles individually, this study emphasizes collaborative performance, resource sharing, and adaptability at the family level. Central to …

Origami-Inspired Pneumatic Soft Robotic Gripper, Conor J. Schott

Master's Theses

This thesis presents the design and evaluation of a vacuum-actuated, origami-based soft robotic gripper. A custom Sea Urchin crease pattern forms a lightweight folding skeleton that collapses radially under vacuum. The system emphasizes low cost and accessibility through laser cutting, 3D printing, and silicone molding. The Sea Urchin geometry was selected after digital and physical screening of candidate crease patterns for smooth folding, low strain concentration, and uniform inward motion. The folding skeleton is laser cut from 4 mil drafting film and folded into a compliant core. Four membrane configurations were developed: an origami gripper with a 36-inch balloon (Design …

Universal Systems Simulation Via Constraint Hypergraphs With Applications To Digital Twins, John Morris

All Dissertations

The characterization of systems encompasses a variety of modeling frameworks designed to capture specific behaviors and components of various system domains. Whatever the framework, the core elements of a system representation are the information of the system and a description of how that information is related. The relations in deterministic systems are functions, which, when composed to form executable processes, can be used to simulate system data. A declarative modeling framework is one that encodes mechanisms for preparing these simulations within the model structure, allowing an external agent to form the execution processes required for a given context. To date, …

Locomotion And Balance Control In A Biped Robot With Continuum Legs And A Kangaroo-Inspired Tail, Gavin A. Platt

All Theses

This thesis work presents the design, testing, and validation of a continuum-legged biped robot equipped with a kangaroo inspired tail for enhanced stability and adaptability. Unlike traditional rigid link robots, this one expands on soft-legged robots and utilizes tendon-driven continuum robots to mimic octopus and kangaroo behavior for locomotion. The robot uses a hierarchical hybrid control framework to implement walking, obstacle avoidance, vaulting, and push recovery behaviors. To test the performance of the robot four sets of experiments were conducted to validate these systems and evaluate how they performed. The results demonstrate stable walking with rhythmic tail load transfer, effective …

Exploration Of Physics-Informed Grid Generation Technique For Wall-Modeled Les Using Eagle3d, Dominic Schneider

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Wall-Modeled Large Eddy Simulation (WMLES) is an area of interest due to its ability to lower computational costs of LES. Even with the application of wall models, LES still proves to have practicality issues when it comes to use in industry, due to the expertise, time, and computational resources required. A novel technique for generating a lean, physics based WMLES grid is described.

The technique utilizes a RANS solution to extract turbulence information, user-specified values related to resolution of turbulent energy levels, acoustics waves, and shock waves, to generate a point cloud for producing a lean WMLES grid with in-house …

Active Measurement Of A Micron-Order Gap Under High-Speed And High-Temperature Conditions, Andrew Becker

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The hypersonic regime poses numerous challenges that researchers face in the development of hypersonic flight vehicles. Due to their excellent thermomechanical properties, ultra-high-temperature ceramics (UHTCs) have risen as a promising solution to act as a protective barrier between the harsh environment and surface materials of these flight bodies. The mechanical operation of a portable hypersonic simulation device was developed in-house and tested at Argonne National Laboratories (ANL) to gather in-situ material response of prospective UHTC samples when exposed to a hypersonic regime. An edge detection-based algorithm was developed and used in LabVIEW to monitor the health and operation of the …

Design Of A 10-Ton Capacity Solar-Powered Cold Storage At The Cituis Fish Auction Site, Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia, Wardi Wardi, Muhammad Arif Budiyanto

Journal of Materials Exploration and Findings

This study presents the design of a 10-ton capacity solar-powered cold storage system for the Cituis Fish Auction Site (TPI) in Tangerang, Indonesia, as a sustainable solution to support the coastal fisheries sector. The system comprises two temperature zones: an anteroom at 5°C and a freezer room at -30°C, both integrated with a hybrid system utilizing solar panels and batteries. The total power consumption of the cooling system reaches 27.51 kW. The simulation results, obtained using HOMER Pro software, indicate that the hybrid PV system can reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 16,754 kg per year. From an economic …

Development Of A Homogenized Material Model For Carbon Fiber–Aluminum Transition Joints Using Fea And Optimization, Nicholas M. Couch

All Theses

The integration of metals and composites in automotive structures improves manufacturability and overall structural performance. The proposed Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM) joint provides a promising solution for joining aluminum and carbon fiber; however, modeling its behavior across an entire vehicle can be computationally expensive. To address this challenge, a homogenized material card is developed to efficiently capture the joint’s mechanical response while maintaining computational efficiency. A novel characterization method is implemented, employing implicit simulations and optimization techniques to determine the effective material properties of the UAM transition joint. This approach enables rapid iteration of material parameters, facilitating the efficient evaluation …

Shape Memory Behavior In Medium To High Entropy Shape Memory Alloys: Design, Prediction, And Experimental Analysis, Hatim Raji

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation provides a data-driven system integrating synthetic data generation and machine learning (ML) techniques to create multicomponent SMA compositions with specific transformation temperatures (TTs). Models were trained to represent the nonlinear dependencies influencing martensitic transformation behavior by using elemental, thermodynamic, and process-related aspects. The capacity of the ML models on medium entropy NiTiHfPd and high entropy NiTiHfZrCu systems accuracy was confirmed by experimental validation showing TTs closely matched with model outputs.

Is There A More Effective Design For Quadrat To Increase Ease Of Use And Vegetation Density?, Scott M. Burke Jr., Kristen M Bellisario

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

Quadrats are a special tool in the ecology field that allows the measurement of vegetation density for further data analysis of a habitat. The larger the quadrat cross-sectional area, the better the results of the data, which in turn can make the quadrat hard to carry through field sites. In wildlife corridor research, quadrat surveys provide a quantitative metric for habitat suitability. In this work, we consider the efficiency and ease-of-use benefits for field work in the design of a collapsible version of a quadrat using a House of Quality (standard metric for new design requirements) to assess the customer …