Engineering Commons^™

Sensitivity Analysis Of Hill Muscle Parameters, Janet Brelin-Fornari, Paras Shah, Mohamed El-Sayed

Mechanical Engineering Presentations And Conference Materials

A computational, rigid body model of a 50^th percentile male head and neck utilizing 15 Hill Muscle pairs is used to study the sensitivity of Hill Muscle Model parameters. A 15g linear acceleration is applied within the transverse plane at the lowest vertebral level of the neck (T1). The resultant linear acceleration of the head is analyzed. In response is minimally affected. The peak accelerations did change, and in the case of varying muscle activation, the peak acceleration changed significantly, 36%. Each of the other parameter variations affected the peak acceleration of the head by less than 5%. Overall, …

Effect Of Fullerene Containing Lubricants On Wear Resistance Of Machine Components In Boundary Lubrication, Andriy Titov

Dissertations

Fullerenes, a new form of carbon nanomaterials, possess unique physical and mechanical properties that make their use as additives to liquid lubricants potentially beneficial. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of fullerene containing lubricants on wear resistance of steel-bronze couples operating under boundary lubrication conditions. A mathematical model of deformed asperity contact was built to calculate real contact area and real contact pressure. Computer controlled wear friction testing methodology and equipment were designed, developed and implemented for obtaining reliable and objective experimental data. In addition, optical and scanning electron microscopy and standard surface texture analysis were …

Migration Of An Intruder Particle In A Boundary Driven Shear Flow, Jian Liu

Dissertations

This study reports on three-dimensional, discrete element simulations of a single large spherical intruder in a Couette shear flow composed of uniform sized particles. The simulation results are useful in providing a numerical reproduction of the experiments for size segregation and mixing. This in turn has a major importance in many industries which are concerned with handling of particles and powders, such as pharmaceutical manufacturing, agriculture, chemical and mineral processing.

Discrete element simulations are carried out using the "soft sphere" model of Walton, et. al., which provides a method for obtaining the information at a macroscopic level from multi-body collisions …

Vibration-Induced Densification Of Granule Materials, Ninghua Zhang

Dissertations

Physical experiments as well as discrete element simulations of vibration are carried out. The use of different amplitudes and frequencies are applied in the experiments to facilitate the observation of densification trends with mono-disperse acrylic spheres and multi-disperse polyethylene pellets. For mono-disperse acrylic spheres, four densification trends are found at different vibration conditions, and attaining the "maximum density" is closely related to the combination of vibration frequency and amplitude, in agreement with experiments in the literature. For multi-disperse polyethylene pellets, there is a substantial increase in solids fraction due to the effects of particle shape and surface friction. Computer simulations …

Dielectrophoretic Manipulation Of Biological And Non-Biological Analytes In A Microfluidic Channel, Dawn J. Bennett

Dissertations

Micro-total-analytical systems (μTASs) for analyzing chemical/biological substances are now used across a wide variety of applications ranging from biological warfare agent detection to the healthcare industry. The first step in the operation of a μTAS consists of concentrating and separating the analytes of interest from the background matrix and positioning them into selected locations for subsequent analysis. The use of ac electric fields was demonstrated to have promising potential for a μTAS because the application of an ac field suppresses undesirable electrolytic effects in the liquid. The main purpose of this work is to study micro-scale phenomena in a flowing …

Combustion Of Aerosolized Spherical Aluminum Powders And Flakes In Air, Binu Zacharia Eapen

Theses

Combustion rates and completeness of aerosolized spherical aluminum powders and flakes are compared using constant volume explosion experiments. The comparison of particles and flake sizes was made based on their specific surface areas determined using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method and respective "BET diameters". It is observed that the rates of pressure rise and rates of flame propagation were higher for aluminum powders with BET diameters of about 2 to 5 μm compared to aluminum flakes for which the BET diameters were under 1 μm In agreement with the flame propagation rates, the overall completeness of combustion was also higher for …

Magneto-Rheological Fluid Orthosis For Suppressing Tremor, Hyoung-Joo Yeo

Theses

Tremor is a common movement disorder that occurs with specific neurological conditions. This condition may seriously impact daily living activities. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the possibility of the development of a wearable technology that is capable of exerting torques at a user's joints for suppressing tremor.

This thesis is based on the concept of "smart structures" which are made of Magneto-Rheological (MR) fluid that can dynamically alter its viscosity under magnetic field. The wearable tremor suppressing orthosis needs several conditions. It should be safe, light weight, simple and small in structure, and easily attachable. An …

Characterization Of Aluminum Powder Ignition, Salil Mohan

Theses

Heating rate effect and particle size effect on ignition temperature of Al powder were studied to collect data for development of a possible Al powder ignition model. Aluminum ignition is associated with a highly accelerated burn rate and high combustion enthalpy. A new ignition model, which can adequately interpret these conditions, is needed to develop better propulsion fuels, explosives and incendiaries that use Al as an additive. This experimental program was focused on preparing framework for characterization of ignition kinetics of Al powder by determining the ignition temperature for different, systematically varied, heating rates and particle size. The experimental setup …

On The Microstructural Development In Platinum-Modified Nickel-Aluminide Bond Coats, S. Darzens, Anette M. Karlsson

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

A numerical procedure for simulating the distortions exhibited by a thermally grown oxide (TGO) upon temperature cycling has been adapted to incorporate the microstructure of the bond coat. The focus is on the dual phase β/γ′ microstructure that develops upon oxidation of a system with a Pt-aluminide bond coat. The results reveal that the presence of the γ′-phase next to the TGO reduces its distortion locally, because of the superior high-temperature strength of γ′, relative to β. Conversely, in regions where the β-phase exists adjacent to the TGO, it distorts and the TGO propagates downward, while simultaneously lengthening. These results …

High Temperature Heat Exchanger Project (Hthx) Project Quarterly Report, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas. Research Foundation

Publications (NSTD)

On October 24, 2003, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) hosted an all-day HTHX Kickoff Meeting attended by all participating institutional representatives and researchers. Objectives of this meeting were to identify near-term research objectives, coordinate collaborative activities, and identify required urgent action items.

A Virtual Reality Environment For Multi-Sensor Data Integration, Scott Papson, Joseph Oagaro, Robi Polikar, John Chen, John L. Schmalzel, Shreekanth Mandayam

Mechanical Engineering

Virtual reality (VR) has typically found applications in industrial design, rapid prototyping and advanced scientific visualization. In this paper, we investigate the use of VR for multi-sensor data integration. We attempt to demonstrate that multiple data types-graphical, functional and measurement can be effectively combined inside of a VR environment. This platform allows the user to rapidly sift through large and complex data sets and isolate features of interest. Furthermore, VR environments can be made to evolve based on system data and user input-this provides the ability to develop scenarios that can be used to make informed decisions. Results demonstrating the …

Jan 2004, Tractor Museum

Lester F. Larsen Tractor Museum: Planning and Development Documents

NE Museum Budget Cuts Selling Farmall H Husker Harvest Days

Florida's Energy Future: Opportunities For Our Economy, Environment And Security - Executive Summary, Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip W. Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The future of Florida's economy, environment and security is inextricably intertwined with our energy use decisions. Our state has one of the nation's fastest growing populations, promoting rapid expansion of an energy industry that imports its fuel supplies. Florida exports approximately $32 billion per year for these energy fuels. Moreover, the Florida economy depends critically on tourism and agriculture, and the fuels and energy products that maintain them. Our pristine environment is the primary natural resource supporting this unique economic engine and the adverse effects of our rapidly growing energy use now stress it. Our State's economic well-being and security …

Florida's Energy Future: Opportunities For Our Economy, Environment And Security, Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip W. Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The future of Florida's economy, environment and security is inextricably intertwined with our energy use decisions. Our state has one of the nation's fastest growing populations, promoting rapid expansion of an energy industry that imports its fuel supplies. Florida exports approximately $32 billion per year for these energy fuels. Moreover, the Florida economy depends critically on tourism and agriculture, and the fuels and energy products that maintain them. Our pristine environment is the primary natural resource supporting this unique economic engine and the adverse effects of our rapidly growing energy use now stress it. Our State's economic well-being and security …

Florida's Energy Future: Opportunities For Our Economy, Environment And Security - Appendices, Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip W. Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The future of Florida's economy, environment and security is inextricably intertwined with our energy use decisions. Our state has one of the nation's fastest growing populations, promoting rapid expansion of an energy industry that imports its fuel supplies. Florida exports approximately $32 billion per year for these energy fuels. Moreover, the Florida economy depends critically on tourism and agriculture, and the fuels and energy products that maintain them. Our pristine environment is the primary natural resource supporting this unique economic engine and the adverse effects of our rapidly growing energy use now stress it. Our State's economic well-being and security …

Modeling, Fabrication, And Optimization Of Niobium Cavities: Phase Iii Second Quarterly Report, Robert A. Schill Jr., Mohamed Trabia

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

Niobium cavities are important parts of the integrated NC/SC high-power linacs. Over the years, researchers in several countries have tested various cavity shapes. They concluded that elliptically shaped cells are the most appropriate shape for superconducting cavities. The need for very clean surfaces lead to the use of a buffered chemical polishing produce for surface cleaning to get good performance of the cavities. The third phase concludes the experimental a fluid flow study and optimization study. The first quarter and second quarter of phase three also begins the experimental set-up of secondary emission studies from niobium in superconducting mode. This …

Bar Clamp Having Ergonomic Handle, M. Susan Hallbeck, Myung-Chul Jung

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The present invention generally relates to a handle assembly for a hand operable bar clamp having a fixed jaw, a movable jaw and a drive for translating the movable jaw towards the fixed jaw. The assembly includes a handgrip and a trigger handle. The handgrip having an elongated rear portion has a generally rounded surface and being contoured to complement the natural transverse curve pf a human palm. The trigger handle is pivotal with respect to the handgrip. The trigger handle included an elongated front portion having a rounded front surface and being contoured to complement the natural palmer curve …

Snow Groomer Assembly, Philip J. Quenzi, Russell G. Alger

Michigan Tech Patents

A snow groomer includes a movable platform, a prime mover mounted to the platform and a grooming drum rotatably driven by the prime mover for rotation in a direction opposite the traveling direction of the snow groomer. The grooming drum includes axially spaced apart and radially protruding ribs that extend circumferentially around the drum. The ribs include circumferentially spaced apart apertures and the apertures of each rib are aligned with the apertures of the other ribs. Elongated cutting teeth extend through the apertures of the ribs and have a cross-sectional area that is smaller than the apertures such that the …

Experimental Investigation Of Statistical Moments Of Travel Time In Grid-Generated Turbulence, Tatiana A. Andreeva, S. B. Meleshi, William W. Durgin

Office of the Provost Scholarship

An experimental technique for investigation of the behavior of acoustic wave propagation through a turbulent medium is discussed. The present study utilizes the ultrasonic travel-time technique to diagnose a grid-generated turbulence. The statistics of the travel-time variations of ultrasonic wave propagation along a path are used to determine some metrics of the turbulence. Experimental data obtained using ultrasonic technique confirms numerical and theoretical predictions of nonlinear increase of the first-order travel time variance with propagation distance.

Microscale Polymeric Helical Structures Produced By Electrospinning, Royal Kessick, Gary C. Tepper

Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Publications

Microscale helical coils consisting of a composite of one conducting and one nonconducting polymer were produced using electrospinning. The nonconducting polymer was poly(ethylene oxide) and the conducting polymer was poly(aniline sulfonic acid). The coil structures were studied over a range of processing conditions and fiber composition. The data suggest that the helical structures are formed due to viscoelastic contraction upon partial neutralization of the charged fibers. Polymeric microcoils may find applications in microelectromechanical systems, advanced optical components, and drug delivery systems.

The Effect Of Loading On Disturbance Sounds Of The Atlantic Croaker Micropogonius Undulatus: Air Versus Water, Michael L. Fine, Justin Schrinel, Timothy M. Cameron

Biology Publications

Physiological work on fish sound production may require exposure of the swimbladder to air, which will change its loading (radiation mass and resistance) and could affect parameters of emitted sounds. This issue was examined in Atlantic croaker Micropogonius chromis by recording sounds from the same individuals in air and water. Although sonograms appear relatively similar in both cases, pulse duration is longer because of decreased damping, and sharpness of tuning (Q factor) is higher in water. However, pulse repetition rate and dominant frequency are unaffected. With appropriate caution it is suggested that sounds recorded in air can provide a useful …

Nebraska Summary: S508 Challenger Mt545b, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

Me-Em 2004 Annual Report, Department Of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Annual Reports

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Mission, Vision, and Strategic Plan
• Enrollment and Expenditure Data
• Faculty & Staff
• Industrial Advisory Committee
• Students
• Academic Programs
• Alumni
• Donations
• Contracts & Grants
• Graduates
• Publications

A Supply Chain Management Tool For Linking Courses In Manufacturing Engineering , Daniel Waldorf, Sema E. Alptekin

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

A Recent Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) grant received by Manufacturing Engineering Program at Cal Poly has provided funds to strengthen its curricular focus on supply chain management, flexibility, business skills, quality, and process controls. New courses and laboratories are developed in electronics manufacturing, information technology, and supply chain management. A functioning supply chain environment has been developed to provide vertical integration among several courses. A software tool being developed in-house integrates the activities of the students who play the roles of customers and suppliers. Details of the various components of this comprehensive project are presented in this paper.

Ole Miss Engineer 2004

Ole Miss Engineer

No abstract provided.

Engineering Mechanics Department Newsletter -- Winter 2004

Department of Engineering Mechanics: Information

Engineering Mechanics Hosts National Conference
Dzenis Awarded McBroom Professorship
EM Faculty News
EM Faculty Earn College Awards
EM Blackshirts
EM Mourns the Loss of Two Emeriti: Ralph Ekstrom 1923-2003 and Walter Erbach 1919-2003

Planetary Cliff Descent Using Cooperative Robots, Erik Mumm, Shane Farritor, Paola Pirjanian, Chris Leger, Paul Schenker

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Future robotic planetary exploration will need to traverse geographically diverse and challenging terrain. Cliffs, ravines, and fissures are of great scientific interest because they may contain important data regarding past water flow and past life.
Highly sloped terrain is difficult and often impossible to safely navigate using a single robot. This paper describes a control system for a team of three robots that access cliff walls at inclines up to 70°. Two robot assistants, or anchors, lower a third robot, called the rappeller, down the cliff using tethers. The anchors use actively controlled winches to first assist the rappeller in …

A Helical Tow Model And Numerical Simulation Of On-Line Thermal Curing Of Thermoset Composites In Filament Winding, Xuefeng Wang, David Y.S. Lou, Negli Zhang`

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A helical tow model of on-line curing of thermoset composites in winding is developed and solved numerically. Actual shape of tow in winding process is considered, and consequently, the modeling of the on-line curing process is more realistic. A numerical grid generation method is developed for the complicated geometry. Transformations of three-dimensional energy equation and its boundary conditions from physical domain to computational domain are performed, which are crucial in numerical grid generation method when an anisotropic medium is involved. A set of concise and regular equations is obtained. The numerical simulation results show that the helical tow model, in …

Joining Challenges In The Packaging Of Biomems, Hans Herfurth, Reiner Witte, S. Heinemann, Golam Newaz, Ahsan Mian, Daniel Georgiev, Greg Auner

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Micro-joining and hermetic sealing of dissimilar and biocompatible materials is a critical issue for a broad spectrum of products such as micro -electronical, micro -optical and biomedical products and devices. Novel implantable microsystems currently under development will include functions such as localized sensing of temperature and pressure, electrical stimulation of neural tissue and the delivery of drugs. These devices are designed to be long-term implants that are remotely powered and controlled. The development of new, biocompatible materials and manufacturing processes that ensure long-lasting functionality and reliability are critical challenges. Important factors in the assembly of such systems are the small …

Cfd Analysis Of Unsteady Separated Transonic Oscillation Cascade Aerodynamics, Xuedong Zhou, J. Mitch Wolff

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

With an improved algebraic mesh-deforming algorithm, STAR-CD, a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver is employed for the numerical analysis of a transonic oscillating linear cascade of advanced design blades. The center blade oscillates 0.6-degrees about the middle cord. The numerical simulation is conducted for a frequency range from 200 Hz to 500 Hz. A hybrid grid, which utilizes a structured O-grid around the airfoil and an unstructured grid everywhere else is employed. The Spalart-Allmaras (S-A), one equation turbulence model, along with other two equation k-ε models, are also utilized for the steady state simulation. The S-A turbulence …