Other Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Optimization Of The Hot Embossing Parameters And Sintering Characterization For Alumina/Berea Sandstone Sintering, Justin F. Robbins

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to investigate the process of hot embossing on alumina based ceramics as a cost-efficient procedure for manufacturing microfluidic testing components. Alumina ceramics were used as an exploratory phase for the final objective of the project, manufacturing of Berea sandstone based ceramic samples. Previous research has shown potential in using hot embossing on Alumina based ceramics; however, complications with extrusion and micro-structure quality were observed. For this reason, the research performed aimed to produce Berea Sandstone based components by first improving upon the embossing quality of alumina ceramics.

The thesis first investigates changes in the …

Software For Extracting Deformation Gradient And Stress From Md Simulations: Simulations Using The Charmm Force Field, Mehrdad Negahban, Lili Zhang, Zesheng Zhang, John Jasa, Antoine Jérusalem

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Software was developed, and is provided under a general use license, to calculate continuum level deformation gradient and stress for any group of atoms in an MD simulation that uses the Charmm force fields. This software can also calculate the interaction stress applied by one group of atoms on any other group. To obtain deformation gradient and stress, the user needs to provide the selected group(s) of atoms in an atom group identification file, and provide the associated LAMMPS format files and force field parameter file. An example is included to demonstrate the use of the software.

Energy Absorbing Guardrail System, John R. Rohde, John D. Reid, King K. Mak, Dean L. Sicking

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A highway crash attenuation system having W - beam rail elements attached to a plurality of vertical posts . An impact terminal with a feeder chute guides one or more of the W - beam rail elements through the impact terminal . The feeder chute has an impact shield extending along a traffic facing side of the chute from an upstream - most end to a downstream - most end of the chute closing the traffic - facing side of the chute . The system also has an anchor cable release mechanism for releasing the cable downstream of the first …

Design, Analysis, And Verification Of An Open-Wheeled Formula-Style Race Car Suspension System, Joshua Beckerman

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This honors thesis presents the design, measurement, and analysis of an open-wheeled formula racecar suspension system. This racecar is the second iteration of Syracuse University’s Citrus Racing team student competition vehicle. The race car’s suspension system features several designs that enable geometric adjustability to impact the vehicles dynamic performance. The purpose of this research is to find an analytic approach to verifying the correlation between suspension design tunings and their effect on vehicle handling and road holding capacity. This was done by analyzing measured data obtained from a system of damper-mounted travel sensors as the vehicle drives through numerous realistic …

Shape-Adaptive Mechanism For Robotic Grasping, Carl A. Nelson

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A grapser can include a first pantograph cell and a second pantograph cell coupled with the first pantogrpah cell. The first and second pantograph cells can be coupled together at a first pivot and a second pivot. The grasper can also include a finger extendable in a direction extending between the first pivot and the second pivot. The grasper can include a support base, where one or more links of the first pantograph cell can be slidably coupled with the support base for extending the grasper. In some embodiment, the grasper can be configured to extend along a curved path. …

The Influence Of Macroscale Stress Concentrations On The Near-Resonant Thermomechanics Of Mock Energetic Materials, Lauren A. Cooper, Allison R. Range, Jeffrey F. Rhoads

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The characterization of particulate composite energetic materials, both with and without stress concentration, is currently of great interest to the defense community. This work seeks to further characterize the self-heating effect of composite energetic plates, particularly around regions of high stress, when subjected to harmonic excitation near resonance. Mock energetic plates with macroscale stress concentrations are prepared in various compositions based on the PBXN-109 formulation, and are tested near the first resonant frequency using an electrodynamic shaker. The resulting mechanical and thermal responses are recorded using a laser Doppler vibrometer and an infrared camera, respectively. Upon comparison between the regions …

Simulating Dynamic Failure Of Polymer-Bonded Explosives Under Periodic Excitation, Rachel Kohler, Camilo Duarte Cordon, Marisol Koslowski

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Accidental mishandling of explosive materials leads to thousands of injuries in the US every year. Understanding the mechanisms behind the detonation process is crucial to prevent such accidents. In polymer-bonded explosives (PBX), high-frequency mechanical excitation generates thermal energy and can lead to an increase in temperature and vapor pressure, and potentially the initiation of the detonation process. However, the mechanisms behind this energy release, such as the effects of dynamic fracture and friction, are not well understood. Experimental data is difficult to collect due to the different time scales of reactions and vibrations, so research is aided by running simulations …

Image-Based Compression Method Of Three-Dimensional Range Data With Texture, Xia Chen, Tyler Bell, Song Zhang

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Recently, high speed and high accuracy three-dimensional (3D) scanning techniques and commercially available 3D scanning devices have made real-time 3D shape measurement and reconstruction possible. The conventional mesh representation of 3D geometry, however, results in large file sizes, causing difficulties for its storage and transmission. Methods for compressing scanned 3D data therefore become desired. This paper proposes a novel compression method which stores 3D range data within the color channels of a regular 2D output image. Our method encodes the 3D range data’s respective normalized phase map, generated by a virtual stereovision system, into two of the output image’s color …

Development Of Portable Hyperspectral Imaging Device, Chenxi Li, Youngkee Jung, Iyll-Joon Doh, Euiwon Bae

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Most of the conventional hyperspectral imaging devices require sophisticated optical components, occupy a large footprint, and requires an initial capital investment for laboratories which mostly suits for laboratories benchtop system. The requirement of shipping the sample and waiting an extended period of time to get the results are the main downsides of this traditional approach. Capitalize in many specific field applications and diagnosis, portable devices provide both convenience and on-site results which are desirable for government agencies and food safety inspectors. This project was aimed to develop a low-cost, portable hyperspectral device for food safety applications. A smartphone was used …

Analytical Solution Of Microbes Interacting With Surfaces, Junyuan Li, Arezoo M. Ardekani

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Nowadays, there is a rising interest in studying the behavior of microbes and their interactions with flow and surfaces. In order to explore the velocity field, pressure and forces around the microbes, the solution of Stokes equations, which is called a Stokeslet, is used. This solution represents a singular velocity field due to a concentrated external force acting on fluid at a single point. This singularity could cause the expression of velocity not integrable. We use the Regularized Stokeslet Method and Method of Images to deal with this problem. The expression of force is replaced by a radially symmetric function, …

Thermoelectric System Modeling And Design, Buddhima Pasindu Gamarachchi

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) convert heat to electricity by way of the Seebeck effect. TEGs have no moving parts and are environmentally friendly and can be implemented with systems to recover waste heat. This work examines complete thermoelectric systems, which include the (TEG) and heat exchangers or heat sinks attached to the hot and cold sides of the TEG to maintain the required temperature difference across the TEG. A 1-D steady state model is developed to predict the performance of a TEG given the required temperatures and device dimensions. The model is first validated using a 3-D model and then is …

Meniscus-Assisted Solution Printing Of Largegrained Perovskite Films For High-Efficiency Solar Cells, Ming He, Bo Li, Xun Cui, Beibei Jiang, Yanjie He, Yihuang Chen, Daniel O'Neil, Paul Szymanski, Mostafa A. El-Sayed, Jinsong Huang, Zhiqun Lin

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Control over morphology and crystallinity of metal halide perovskite films is of key importance to enable high-performance optoelectronics. However, this remains particularly challenging for solution-printed devices due to the complex crystallization kinetics of semiconductor materials within dynamic flow of inks. Here we report a simple yet effective meniscus-assisted solution printing (MASP) strategy to yield large-grained dense perovskite film with good crystallization and preferred orientation. Intriguingly, the outward convective flow triggered by fast solvent evaporation at the edge of the meniscus ink imparts the transport of perovskite solutes, thus facilitating the growth of micrometre-scale perovskite grains. The growth kinetics of perovskite …

Investigation Of Lattice Structures And Analysis Of Strut Geometry., Zachary D Denzik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study involves the evaluation of lattice specimens fabricated using additive manufacturing as well as investigation of the influence of unit cell connection geometry. Lattice topologies of face-centered cells and body-centered cells were modeled, investigated using finite element analysis (FEA) for each specimen, manufactured using direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) with maraging steel powder, and mechanically tested. The strut diameter of each topology was altered to yield four different mass reductions from a solid cube, ranging from 55%-90% mass reduction. Three iterations of 1000mm³ lattice specimens were investigated. The first iteration consisted 0.5mm plates on the top and bottom …

A Study In The Use Of Elastic Materials In Expandable Containment Units, Andrew J. Eisenman, Joby Anthony Iii, David Satagaj

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

The rigidity of materials in conjunction with the aspect of elasticity has been a concern of modern technologies and construction in recent centuries because of the advantages that expandable storage would bring to the fields of containment units with respect to population growth and space exploration. The world population is currently growing at an exponential rate, and as our population grows, the more important it will become to have containment units that can both contain large volumes of material as well as minuscule amounts of material without wasting space. In order accomplish this, we will need a new type of …

Dissipative Elastic Metamaterial With A Lowfrequency Passband, Yongquan Liu, Jianlin Yi, Zheng Li, Xianyue Su, Wenlong Li, Mehrdad Negahban

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

We design and experimentally demonstrate a dissipative elastic metamaterial structure that functions as a bandpass filter with a low-frequency passband. The mechanism of dissipation in this structure is well described by a mass-spring-damper model that reveals that the imaginary part of the wavenumber is non-zero, even in the passband of dissipative metamaterials. This indicates that transmittance in this range can be low. A prototype for this viscoelastic metamaterial model is fabricated by 3D printing techniques using soft and hard acrylics as constituent materials. The transmittance of the printed metamaterial is measured and shows good agreement with theoretical predictions, demonstrating its …

Multiple Scattering Theory For Heterogeneous Elastic Continua With Strong Property Fluctuation: Theoretical Fundamentals And Applications, Huijing He

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Scattering of elastic waves in heterogeneous media has become one of the most important problems in the field of wave propagation due to its broad applications in seismology, natural resource exploration, ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation and biomedical ultrasound. Nevertheless, it is one of the most challenging problems because of the complicated medium inhomogeneity and the complexity of the elastodynamic equations. A widely accepted model for the propagation and scattering of elastic waves, which properly incorporates the multiple scattering phenomenon and the statistical information of the inhomogeneities is still missing. In this work, the author developed a multiple scattering model for heterogeneous …

A Strategy To Optimize Recovery In Orthopedic Sports Injuries, Michael P. Sealy, Ziye Liu, Chao Li, Yuebin Guo, Ben White, Mark Barkey, Brian Jordon J, Luke N. Brewer, Dale Feldman

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

An important goal for treatment of sports injuries is to have as short a recovery time as possible. The critical problem with current orthopedic implants is that they are designed to be permanent and have a high complication rate (15%) that often requires removal and replacement with a second surgery; and subsequently a second rehabilitation cycle. This study was designed to test the feasibility of having a device that could provide the needed mechanical properties, while promoting healing, for a specified amount of time and then degrade away, to shorten the recovery time. The specific strategy was to create a …

Balancing Of Production Line In A Bearing Industry To Improve Productivity, Sudharsan Sridhar, Balthilak Anandaraj, Santhosh B

The Hilltop Review

Line balancing addresses the issues of balancing production or assembly line and it generally minimizes the idle time for all the events and the combinations of workstations. Factors such as lack of materials, design changes in the product, labor position may also be needed for line balancing. We approached the industry and proposed a heuristic solution solving in two different platforms, by rearranging the existing tasks over the work stations, so that the idle time of the machines are reduced to minimum and the other is by using Timer Pro software where grouping of similar kind of activities are to …

Measurement And Analysis Of The Physical And Climatic Distribution Environment For Air Package Shipment, David Guadagnini

Master's Theses

The modern air parcel distribution industry has significantly grown to become one of the most commonly employed methods to quickly transport goods throughout the world. Although it comes with many benefits, including higher speed, greater reliability, and tighter security, the multimodal transport system within it can expose packages to a wide variety of climatic and physical distribution hazards. In a single route of transportation, packages could be included in different types of small delivery vans, large commercial semi trucks, cargo dollies, feeder aircraft, and high altitude commercial jetliners. The varying hazard level presented during distribution could directly weaken the packaging …

Bear Minimum: Ultralight Composite Bear Canister, Rama B. Adajian, Adam C. Eisenbarth

Mechanical Engineering

The ultralight backpacking community needs a strong, easy to use, safe bear canister that is lighter than current market products for trekking in the backcountry. A full design of the lid for the bear canister is to be completed. This includes the locking mechanism to ensure it is bear proof, the interface between the lid and the canister, and the structure of the lid so it passes the strength and weight specifications. The lid, along with the already designed canister body, is to be manufactured with formal documentation. The lid will initially be tested separately and then with the canister …