Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Alternative Crankshaft Mechanisms And Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems For Improved Fuel Economy Of Passenger Cars, Alberto A. Boretti, Joseph Scalzo, Houshang Masudi

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The paper presents a novel design of a variable compression ratio advanced spark ignition engine that also permits an expansion ratio that may differ from the compression ratio therefore generating an Atkinson cycle effect. the stroke ratio and the ratio of maximum to minimum in-cylinder volumes may change with load and speed to provide the best fuel conversion efficiency. the variable ratio of maximum to minimum in-cylinder volumes also improves the full load power output of the engine. Brake specific fuel consumption maps are computed for a gasoline engine 2 Liters, in-line four, turbocharged and direct injection showings significant fuel …

Negative Pressure Characteristics Of An Evaporating Meniscus At Nanoscale, Shalabh Maroo, J N. Chung

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering - All Scholarship

This study aims at understanding the characteristics of negative liquid pressures at the nanoscale using molecular dynamics simulation. A nano-meniscus is formed by placing liquid argon on a platinum wall between two nanochannels filled with the same liquid. Evaporation is simulated in the meniscus by increasing the temperature of the platinum wall for two different cases. Non-evaporating films are obtained at the center of the meniscus. The liquid film in the non-evaporating and adjacent regions is found to be under high absolute negative pressures. Cavitation cannot occur in these regions as the capillary height is smaller than the critical cavitation …

A Biomimic Self-Healing Shape Memory Polymer Based Syntactic Foam For Smart Structural Composites, Jones Nji

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored the development of a new self-healing Polystyrene Shape Memory Polymer (PSMP) based syntactic foam for service life extension in structural polymeric composites. The objective was to self-heal structural-length scale damage in an autonomous, efficient, timely and repeatable manner at the molecular-length scale. Self-healing is achieved through a novel two step close-then-heal (CTH) self-healing scheme, designed to mimic the natural biological process of wound healing in humans. A new methodology to fabricate three-dimensional (3-D) fiber reinforced shape memory polymer syntactic foam for structural applications was developed. The effect of impact energy on the ability for the 3-D fiber …

Evaluation Methods For Health Monitoring Of Aerospace Structure Rotary Joints, Sergio Armando Navarro

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In September 2007, the excessive vibrations played a significant role in the station operation since one of the rotary joints, which provides the station electrical energy, presented an anomaly. The replacement of its bearing components and re-lubrication were necessary to reduce the problem. To avoid a new anomaly, the inspection of the rotary joints performance continues by using the accelerometers data. This thesis presents three new approaches to monitor the vibrations at the International Space Station based on Root-Mean-Square, kurtosis, and Approximate Entropy (ApEn). MATLAB functions and codes were necessary to implement the three monitoring techniques results from the provided …

Application Of The Tdma Technique Toward The Size And Charge Distribution Measurement Of Graphite, Gold, Palladium, And Silver Aerosols, Matthew Paul Simones

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The knowledge of charge distributions among aerosol particles has been an important topic for many years because of the strong electrostatic interactions which can greatly influence aerosol transport and evolution. Theoretical models have been developed although experimental verification has been limited because of the difficulty in measuring charged aerosols. Recently a method utilizing a tandem differential mobility analyzer (TDMA) has been shown to be applicable toward measuring both the size and charge distributions of nanosized combustion aerosols. The goal of this work is on further exploration of this method toward the measurement of non-combustion aerosols and in particular those associated …

Perspectives On Quality Coordination And Assurance In Global Supply Chains, Ling Li, John N. Warfield

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

The 2007 recall of Berko Electric Toe-Space Heaters made in the US, the recall of backpack blowers made in Japan, the recalls of toys and pet food produced in China have exposed the potential of global supply chain disruptions. This product recall storm leads to the issue of quality assurance in global supply chain management. Product recalls indicate that manufacturing companies are particularly vulnerable to ensure quality when they source via a global supply chain with poor visibility. Obviously, a supply chain cannot afford this kind of sourcing and supply structure that threatens the supply-chain integrity. This special issue on …

Quasi-Steady Capillarity-Driven Flows In Slender Containers With Interior Edges, Mark M. Weislogel, J. Alex Baker, Ryan M. Jenson

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the absence of significant body forces the passive manipulation of fluid interfacial flows is naturally achieved by control of the specific geometry and wetting properties of the system. Numerous 'microfluidic' systems on Earth and 'macrofluidic' systems aboard spacecraft routinely exploit such methods and the term ‘capillary fluidics’ is used to describe both length-scale limits. In this work a collection of analytic solutions is offered for passive and weakly forced flows where a bulk capillary liquid is slowly drained or supplied by a faster capillary flow along at least one interior edge of the container. The solutions are enabled by …

Numerical Study Of Drop Formation From Dripping To Jetting, Allouah Kadjo

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The formation of liquid droplet from a capillary tube has been examined using numerical simulations. The dimensions of the capillary tube and the flow velocity have been varied to observe the regimes of drop formation. There are three main regimes of drop formation, which are the periodic dripping, the dripping faucet and the jetting regimes. The mechanism of drop formation changes from one regime to another and involves different parameters. A particular emphasis has been placed on the velocity limits between the different regimes and the critical role played by instabilities in the generation of satellite drops. The algorithm used …

Numerical Modeling Of A Parallel Plate Electrowetting-On-Dielectric (Ewod) Device, Kevin Tully

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Numerical modeling and simulations have been performed in this study that focuses on modeling the fluid dynamics of an Electrowetting-on-Dielectric (EWOD) device. The case to be modeled in the present study is a droplet cutting problem where a droplet is sandwiched between two plates of Teflon and an electrical actuation will cause the droplet to cut or split into two smaller droplets. A finite difference method has been used to solve the Navier-Stokes equations, along with the continuity equation. An algorithm used for tracking the free surface is the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method. Along with using the VOF method …

Safe Power Vermont: A Look Into The Campaign To Retire The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station., Dylan M. Kreis

Capstone Collection

This case study provides an in-depth look into the campaign to retire an aging nuclear power plant located in the southeast corner of Vermont. The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (VY) began commercial operations in 1972 under a forty year operating license issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Opposition to the plant’s existence has been unwavering and has increased in intensity since the sale of the plant in 2002. The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation (VYNPC), a consortium of local and regional utilities, sold VY to an out-of-state corporation owner known as Entergy. The company was quick to apply …

Modeling Of Thermal Properties Of Fiber Glass Polyester Resin Composite Under Thermal Degradation Condition, Marvin S. Tsoi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Composites, though used in a variety of applications from chairs and office supplies to structures of U.S. Navy ships and aircrafts, are not all designed to hold up to extreme heat flux and high temperature. Fiber-reinforced polymeric composites (FRPC) have been proven to provide the much needed physical and mechanical properties under fire exposure. FRPC notable features are its combination of high specific tensile strength, low weight, along with good corrosion and fatigue resistance. However FRPC are susceptible to thermal degradation and decomposition, which yields flammable gas, and are thus highly combustible. This property restricts polymeric material usage. This study …

Ultra-Abrupt Tapered Fiber Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Sensors, B. Li, J. Lan, W. Sumei, L. Zhou, Hai Xiao, Hai-Lung Tsai

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A fiber inline Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) consisting of ultra-abrupt fiber tapers was fabricated through a new fusion-splicing method. By fusion-splicing, the taper diameter-length ratio is around 1:1, which is much greater than those (1:10) made by stretching. The proposed fabrication method is very low cost, 1/20-1/50 of those of LPFG pair MZI sensors. The fabricated MZIs are applied to measure refractive index, temperature and rotation angle changes. The temperature sensitivity of the MZI at a length of 30 mm is 0.061 nm/°C from 30-350 °C. The proposed MZI is also used to measure rotation angles ranging from 0° to 0.55°; …

Implicit Methods For Efficient Musculoskeletal Simulation And Optimal Control, Antonie J. Van Den Bogert, Dimitra Blana, Dieter Heinrich

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

The ordinary differential equations for musculoskeletal dynamics are often numerically stiff and highly nonlinear. Consequently, simulations require small time steps, and optimal control problems are slow to solve and have poor convergence. In this paper, we present an implicit formulation of musculoskeletal dynamics, which leads to new numerical methods for simulation and optimal control, with the expectation that we can mitigate some of these problems. A first order Rosenbrock method was developed for solving forward dynamic problems using the implicit formulation. It was used to perform real-time dynamic simulation of a complex shoulder arm system with extreme dynamic stiffness. Simulations …

Heat Transfer In Triangular Ducts With Axial Conduction,Containing Porous Medium, Abhishek Banerjee

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The objective of this study is to find a numerical solution for the velocity and temperature field in a duct of triangular cross-section area. A fully saturated porous medium is considered to be present in the duct. The study reports the contribution of axial conduction in heat transfer to flow passing through triangular porous passages. The terms in x-direction are retained in the energy equation due to the presence of axial conduction. Also, because of the geometrical asymmetry, non-orthogonal boundary conditions can exist and thus make the determination of heat transfer more difficult. The problem under consideration uses H2 boundary …

Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis Of Columns, Rajkiran Muppavarapu

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

In many engineering applications structural components are considered to be beams or columns subjected to a range of external loads such as dead weight, wind, temperature changes etc.In this work a mathematical model has been developed for a sports lighting tower considering it to be a cantilever beam with large deformation. The concept of non-linear P-Delta analysis is applied to the column. Using this model, a tower analysis tool was developed in MATLAB. Using this tool various design alternatives can be examined to evaluate their suitability to a particular task.A number of example problems from the available literature were solved …

Stable Reference Trajectory Modification For Handling Actuator Failure In Control Systems, Ifeolu Olalekan Ogunleye

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The issue of rapidly reconfiguring the reference trajectory under unanticipated actuator failures in order to regain lost performance or aircraft handling qualities is explored. The failures detected in real-time are compensated for by ensuring the input to the system reflects current system conditions. This thesis will also show that only the general structure of the failed system component is needed to achieve successful failure detection and reference trajectory reconfiguration. This approach allows the nominal control structure to remain unchanged in the presence of change flight and system conditions. Acceptable system performance is recovered by detecting the actuator failures in real-time. …

Vibrational Analysis Of Soloflex Whole Body Vibration Platform, Zachary Croatt, Josh Robers

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

A Soloflex Whole Body Vibration (WBV) Platform was tested for its frequency and magnitude of vibration at multiple settings on the supplied dial. An accelerometer was used to measure the vibrations on different points mapped across the platform. The motor attached to the board was also tested for its frequency using a high-speed camera. The amplitude measurements found from the accelerometer data was compared to the readings on the supplied control module to “calibrate” the platform for medical testing.

Vibrational Analysis Of An Electromechanical Toothbrush, Mark Wager

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

The effectiveness of an electromechanical toothbrush is based entirely on its ability to remove plaque through vibrations. This paper contests that the three-dimensional motion of more inexpensive models of electromechanical toothbrushes can be accurately modeled in one-dimension so as to predict the motion of future toothbrush designs using simply the material properties, motor specifications, and grip design. Vibrational modeling, mathematical modeling, and experimentation were used in the analysis to confirm the outcome of the study and the assumptions of the model.

Viability Of A Controllable Chaotic Micromixer Through The Use Of Titanium-Nickel Shape Memory Alloy, David Ryan Lilly

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Microfluidic devices have found applications in a number of areas, such as medical analysis, chemical synthesis, biological study, and drug delivery. Because of the small channel dimensions used in these systems, most microchannels exhibit laminar flow due to their low Reynold’s number, making mixing of fluids very challenging. Mixing at this size scale is diffusion-limited, so inducing chaotic flow patterns can increase the interface surface area between two fluids, thereby decreasing overall mixing time.

One method to create a chaotic flow within the channel is through the introduction of internal protrusions into the channel. In such an application protrusions that …

Measurements In Air-Water Bubbly Flow Through A Vertical Narrow High-Aspect Ratio Channel, Benjamin R. Patrick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two-Phase bubbly flows are encountered in a wide range of industrial applications, particularly where phase changes occur as seen in high performance heat exchangers and boiling reactors for power generation. These flows have been extensively studied in channels with circular geometries using air-water flows, though little data exists for flows through narrow rectangular channels. Measurements in thin geometries are particularly challenging since large bubbles bridge the gap, and it is difficult to compare point measurements with photographic techniques. The objective of this study is to explore the abilities of hot-film anemometry and high speed photography for taking measurements in a …