Engineering Commons^™

Friction Stir Channeling: An Innovative Technique For Heat Exchanger Manufacturing, Nagarajan Balasubramanian

Doctoral Dissertations

"Friction stir processing (FSP) is an emerging processing technique based on the principles of friction stir welding (FSW), which is a relatively new solid-state metal joining process developed by The Welding Institute, UK. Some of the unique features of FSW such as the low amount of heat generated, extensive plastic deformation and controlled flow of material is being exploited to develop new material modification and manufacturing processes. Friction stir channeling (FSC) is one such adaptation of FSP that can produce continuous and stable internal channels for application in heat exchanging equipment. Friction stir channeling produces these channels if the defect …

Addressing Nonlinear Combustion Instabilities In Highly Dilute Spark Ignition Engine Operation, Brian C. Kaul

Doctoral Dissertations

"Dilute operation is a promising approach for increasing spark-ignition engine efficiency, in the form of either lean burn (air dilution) or EGR (inert dilution). High levels of charge dilution, however, lead to cyclic variability that is largely deterministic in nature. The determinism and nonlinear nature of the system indicate that it should be possible to reduce the cycle-to-cycle variations by implementing an electronic controller. Several needs arise when considering the development of such a controller. Three topics of interest are covered herein. First, a method of analysis for nonlinear dynamical systems is applied to engine data in order to estimate …

Modeling, Analysis And Experimentation For Building Ice Parts With Supports Using Rapid Freeze Prototyping, Frances D. Bryant

Doctoral Dissertations

"Rapid Freeze Prototyping (RFP) is a freeform fabrication method that freezes water droplets into ice in a layer-by-layer manner to additively create a 3-dimensional part. Each layer of a geometry is deposited and allowed to freeze before the next layer is added. Ice parts produced by RFP can be used in investment casting to replace wax patterns and in other applications which may benefit from the unconventional method of using ice as a pattern or mold. More recently, a sacrificial support material has been incorporated into RFP so that over-hung areas and complex geometries can be fabricated. The research presented …

Design And Realization Of An Electrophoretron Cycler, Celine Raymonde Ramet

LSU Master's Theses

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a powerful enzymatic reaction commonly used to amplify specific sequences of Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid (DNA). Since the introduction of the lab on a chip concept, numerous Continuous Flow PCR cyclers were realized with success at the micro scale. As reducing the reactor size and improving thermal management led to reduced sample volumes, results could be achieved much faster with these CF-PCR cyclers than with common commercial cycler. Furthermore, most of these demonstrated CF-PCRs are nowadays evolving towards high-throughput systems. However, most CF-PCR cyclers require complex manipulations and are not flexible (e.g. fixed number of cycles, …

Fabrication Of Micro Bumps For Micro Scale Thermal Management, Ajay Ashok Kardak

LSU Master's Theses

Cryopreservation is storage of biological systems at ultra low temperatures for a prolonged duration; such that they can be thawed and restored to the same living state. It is important to understand the behavior of cells when they are subjected to subzero temperatures. Research in this area has shown the occurrence of two main biophysical events; cellular dehydration and intracellular ice formation. Current techniques for characterizing the dehydration in cells as part of a tissue are not adequate for studying intracellular ice formation in tissues. An integrated device consisting of an array of thermal sensors (microthermocouples) and actuators (microthermoelectric coolers) …

Nanoclay Reinforced Polymer Composite And Its Application To Hybrid Composite Structures, Gefu Ji

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to find the optimum mixing technique that leads to maximum gain in mechanical, thermal, and fire-retardant properties of vinyl ester based nanocomposites. Specifically, five combinations of incremental mixing intensity were applied to five groups of samples that were made of vinyl ester resin reinforced by 1 wt. % of montmorillonite (MMT). Changes in mechanical properties associated with each mixing combination were examined through a variety of tests, which were low velocity impact test, bending test, compression test, and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Additionally, changes in thermal properties (e.g., thermal diffusivity, glass transition temperature) and …

Design, Fabrication, And Testing Of A Micro Fuel Injection Swirler For Lean Premixed Combustion In Gas Turbine Engines, Anthony Louis Giglio

LSU Master's Theses

Due to growing energy demands and the need for increased fuel consumption efficiency, environmental protection agencies are imposing more stringent emissions regulations on gas turbine combustion systems with emphasis on NOx emissions reduction. Emerging technological combustion schemes to reduce NOx commonly employ lean premixed combustion. Decreases in NOx are globally obtained by flame temperature decrease and locally improved by homogeneity of the reacting mixture. A new micro fuel injection swirler, capable of providing efficient and rapid mixing over a short distance, is presented in this thesis. The conception of the Micro Fuel Injection Swirler (MFIS) was motivated by the need …

Quasi-Static And Impact Characterization Of Sandwich Structures With An Iso-Grid Stiffened Syntactic Foam Core, Venkata Sandeep Chakka

LSU Master's Theses

In this study, a novel hybrid sandwich structure with an integrated, iso-grid stiffened syntactic foam core was fabricated and evaluated by impact test and static test. Sandwich beams with different grid cell areas were prepared using a pin-guided dry weaving process. Low velocity impact test on different locations (rib, node, and bay) was conducted with varying hammer weight and impact velocities by an instrumented impact testing machine. Ultrasonic C-scan was utilized before and after impact to identify the damage induced by impact. Scanning Electron Microscopy observation was also implemented to visualize the impact damage at micro- length scale. Compressions after …

Magnetic Field Effects On Diffusion Flames, Diego F. Gonzalez

LSU Master's Theses

Magnetic field effects in combustion is an area of study that has previously been overlooked. The influence of magnetic fields on flames has only recently been explored and is of interest both from a scientific and a practical standpoint. This study provides theoretical, numerical and experimental evidence that combustion can be affected with the use of suitable magnetic fields. This thesis focuses on four different types of magnetic field: homogeneous, gradient, oscillating and pre-combustion. For the homogeneous field case, the Gibbs Free Energy method was used to determine the mole fraction of product species. It was found that homogeneous fields …

Nanoclay Syntactic Foam Composites, Sameer Leo Peter

LSU Master's Theses

Syntactic foams are composite materials in which the matrix phase is reinforced with hollow particles called microballoons. They possess low moisture absorption, low thermal conductivity and high damage tolerance because of their compositions. Traditionally, syntactic foams are used in many high strength applications such as in aerospace and marine industries, thus there is a need to achieve both high compressive strength and high fracture strain with minimal increase in density. This research studies the effect of nanoclay on the high strain rate mechanical properties of syntactic foams. Nanoclay reinforced syntactic foams are fabricated by adding 1, 2 and 5% volume …

An Investigation Into Fuel Cells And Flow Cytometers Optimal Design, Etim Sunday Udoetok

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The aim of the fuel cells part of this project was to investigate the performance of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells and closely related fuel cell types like the Alkaline Fuel Cells and Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cells. The investigation involved understanding the performance of fuel cells, addressing the shortcomings of currently used designs, and finding new methods for improving the performance of fuel cells. CFD was used to study flow channels and information learned from the study was used to design a new and improved flow channel. A prototype of the new design was fabricated, tested and found to perform …

Analytical Solution To The Wave Equation With Discrete Pressure Sources: A Model For The Rijke Tube, Eduardo G. Perez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Despite of having been studied for several decades the phenomena of combustion instabilities are not well understood. Pressure waves due to the combustion instabilities can become violent being detrimental for both the performance and combustor life. A good prediction of the pressure distribution inside the combustor is important in order to prevent theoccurrence of this phenomenon. In this work a technique for solving the wave equation with discrete sources (or sinks) using the Green's functions was developed. One and two-dimensional approaches for cylindrical and Cartesian coordinates withconstant speed of sound were solved. Also the case of one-dimensional axially varying temperature …

Freezing Processes In Cell Suspensions Evaluated Using Cryomicroscopy, Tathagata Acharya

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis aims at evaluating the freezing response of three different cell types, Pacific Oyster embryos, Jurkats and Helas, using the technique of cryomicroscopy. The choice of cells was primarily based on supporting ongoing research work at the Bioengineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. On a secondary basis, the cells were chosen based on their contrasting nature. While Pacific Oyster being a favorite food in USA calls for successful techniques of cryopreservation of their embryos in order to keep up with the growing demand, Jurkat and HeLa are undesired malignant human cells that …

Experimental And Numerical Investigation Of Fluid Flow And Heat Transfer In Microchannels, Wynn Allen Phillips

LSU Master's Theses

Microchannels are of current interest for use in heat exchangers where very high heat transfer performance is desired. Microchannels provide very high heat transfer coefficients because of their small hydraulic diameters. In this study, an investigation of fluid flow and heat transfer in microchannels is conducted. A review of the literature published regarding fluid flow and heat transfer in microchannels is provided in this study. A thorough background on the theory of internal convective heat transfer is provided as well. A critical analysis of some of the published heat transfer experiments on microchannels is also given. It was found that …

Design And Analysis Of A Mach 3 Dual Mode Scramjet Combustor, Christopher Ryan Corbin

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Low speed operation of a dual mode scramjet engine is important to the development of a two stage to orbit reusable launch vehicle. This study investigates the Mach 3 operation of a dual mode scramjet engine. SRGULL, a one-dimensional cycle code for scramjet engines, and VULCAN, a computational fluid dynamics code capable of solving reacting flows, are used in this study. Staged injection is investigated to allow more heat release at a low flight Mach number condition so that more thrust can be achieved and inlet unstart is avoided. The nominal case has one injector located 1.067 meters downstream of …

Risk Based Analysis And Design Af Stiffened Plates, Heather B. Dwire

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The traditional Risk Based Design (RBD) process involves designing a structure based on risk estimates obtained during several iterations of an optimization routine. This approach is computationally expensive for large-scale aircraft structural systems. The main objective of this research is to establish a RBD algorithm and produce RBD plots for stiffened plates. Basic steps to check functionality will be done by first analyzing a flat plate for which closed formed equations are available and then moving to more complex geometries like stiffened plates.

Therefore, the concept of RBD plots that can be used for both structural sizing and risk assessment …

Effect Of A Graded Layer On The Plastic Dissipation During Mixed-Mode Fatigue Crack Growth On Plastically Mismatched Interfaces, Craig M. Baudendistel

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Recent work has proposed a dissipated energy theory of fatigue crack growth in layered materials under mixed-mode loading. An inherent assumption of this prior work is that a perfect crack exists along the interface joining the top and bottom layers. The current work extends the approach of previous studies to incorporate a grading of plastic properties between the two layers through parametric finite element modeling with ABAQUS. An elastic-plastic 2D model using 8-node biquadratic elements was used to map the plastic dissipation of a two layer specimen with a grading of plastic properties parallel to the crack face. This property …

The Effect Of Variable Gravity On The Cooling Performance Of A 16-Nozzle Spray Array, Levi J. Elston

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis was to investigate the cooling performance of a 16-nozzle spray array, using FC-72 as the working fluid, in variable gravity conditions with additional emphasis on fluid management and flow stability. A flight test experiment was modified to accommodate a 16-nozzle spray array, which was then tested in the parabolic flight trajectory environment of NASA's C-9 reduced gravity aircraft. The 16-nozzle array was designed to cool a 25.4 x 25.4 [mm] area on a thick film resistive heater used to simulate electronic components. Data was taken and reduced as a result of flight tests conducted over …

Global Optimization Of An Aircraft Thermal Management System Through Use Of A Genetic Algorithm, Christopher T. Allen

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Optimization algorithms utilize known information about the system to identify solutions that are more efficient and meet the requirements of the user. The algorithms require an objective function, or formula (linear or nonlinear) that models what the user is looking to optimize, in order to begin the search for a more feasible solution. Because optimization problems can involve either linearor non-linear functions, various algorithms have been created that can locate optimum solutions faster depending on the type of objective function being optimized.

This research focuses on optimizing an aircrafts thermal management system by using one such algorithm. This was performed …

Experimental Investigation Of Active Control Of Bluff Body Vortex Shedding, Ilteris Koc

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Mean and fluctuating forces acting on a body are strongly related to vortex shedding generated behind it. Therefore, it is possible to obtain substantial reductions of at least the unsteady forces if vortex shedding is controlled or its regularity is reduced. While conventional active flow control methods are mainly concerned with direct interaction with, and alteration of, the mean flow about a body, modern techniques involve altering existing flow instabilities using relatively small inputs to obtain large-scale changes of mean flows. Aerodynamic flow control may be intended to delay or suppress boundary layer separation through creation of a boundary layer …

Computational And Experimental Investigations Into Aerospace Plasmas, William Thomas Bennett

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Investigations into two different fields of plasma research are presented here. These include the study of ion engine performance and the use of plasma discharges for flow control. In the area of ion engine performance, optimizing electron confinement is the primary goal of this work. The work of prior researchers was expanded through the study of the cathode emission location and the energy of the primary electrons. Cathode position was shown to have minimal effect on confinement length. For electron energy values greater than 20eV the effect on confinement length was also found to be very small. The strength of …

The Effect Of Dissolved Air On The Cooling Performance Of A Partially-Confined Fc-72 Spray, Rebekah Lee Puterbaugh

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to investigate the heat transfer performance of a partially-confined FC-72 spray with varying dissolved air concentrations. An experimental test rig consisting of a spray chamber coupled to a fluid delivery loop system was used to obtain temperature, pressure, and critical heat flux (CHF) data. A downward facing nozzle within the spray chamber allowed the FC-72 fluid to be sprayed onto an upward facing, thick-film, resistor heater. The heater was mounted onto a glass post, with a sump system to allow removal of excess fluid. Type-E thermocouples were imbedded in the post to obtain temperature …