Engineering Commons^™

Comparison Of Injection Molded Abs Using Conventional Steel And Novel Composite-Based Additively Manufactured Mold Plates, John Mitchell

NASA-Missouri Space Grant Consortium

Polymer injection molding processes have been used for over 100 years to create high-volume parts quickly and efficiently. Injection molding uses mold plates that are traditionally made of very hard tool steels, such as P20 steel, which is extremely heavy and has very long lead times to build new molds. In this study, composite-based additive manufacturing (CBAM) was used to create mold plates using long-fiber carbon fiber and polyether ether ketone (PEEK). These mold plates were installed in an injection molding machine, and rectangular flat plates were produced using Lustran 348 acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). Tensile testing was performed on …

Multi-Disciplinary Analysis Surrogate Based On Twin-Generator Generative Adversarial Networks For Electric Drone, Samuel Sisk

NASA-Missouri Space Grant Consortium

Multi-Disciplinary Analysis and Optimization (MDAO) plays an important role in the future of aviation, especially relating to Urban Air Mobility (UAM). MDAO for UAM effectively quantifies and maximizes system performance and safety while minimizing cost or consumption. Electric drone takeoff trajectory design aims to minimize energy consumption while fulfilling acceleration and other constraints to keep passengers comfortable. Conventional simulation-based MDAO is computationally expensive due to repeatedly evaluating physics-based models while naïvely constructing machine learning predictive models, also known as surrogate models, do not scale well with large-scale problems due to the “curse of dimensionality”. A twin-generator generative adversarial networks (Twin-GAN) …

Progress In Optimization Of Electrostatic Sieve Concept For Transport Of Lunar Regolith Using A Genetic Algorithm, Easton Ingram

NASA-Missouri Space Grant Consortium

A method for optimizing electrostatic dust transport systems using a genetic algorithm is in development. Applications to electrostatic sieving are discussed for use on the lunar surface. This simulation will allow for rapid development, testing, and optimization of electrostatic particle transport designs with large search spaces. Current progress and ongoing work for the simulation is reviewed.

Lunar In-Situ Aluminum Production Through Molten Salt Electrolysis (Lisap-Mse), Jacob Ortega, Jeffrey D. Smith, Fateme Rezaei, David Bayless, William P. Schonberg, Daniel S. Stutts, Daoru Frank Han

NASA-Missouri Space Grant Consortium

The goal of Artemis is to establish a sustained presence on the Moon. To achieve so, numerous resources are necessary. The Moon contains several essential elements needed to sustain human presence. Most of those elements are trapped in the form of minerals. To refine those minerals into useful materials, reduction methods are needed. Most reduction methods on Earth require large amounts of mass and power which is unrealistic for early stages of building a lunar base. To solve this problem, we are developing a concept of Lunar In-Situ Aluminum Production through Molten Salt Electrolysis (LISAP-MSE).

The LISAP-MSE project, if successful, …

Supersonic Wind Tunnel Improvement For Advanced Laser-Based Non-Intrusive Diagnostics, Joshua Gary

NASA-Missouri Space Grant Consortium

This work presents an approach to the design, and theoretical application, of a new test section for the Missouri S&T Supersonic Wind Tunnel to be used with advanced laserbased non-intrusive diagnostics. Supersonic wind tunnel test sections present multiple challenges. They need to ensure proper flow by avoiding jet-flow interactions and ensuring started conditions; they need to withstand large pressure loads in the case of tunnel unstart; they need to provide easy optical access for advanced diagnostics; they need to be modular and adaptable for different experiments. This work presents detailed analytical and numerical analyses of the mechanical loads. Based on …

Editorial: Disease Biomarker Analysis Based On Optical Biosensing, Tianshu Chen, Fanben Meng, Binwu Ying, Xiaoli Zhu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Disease biomarker analysis has become a crucial tool for diagnosing and evaluating disease prognosis, especially with the increasing understanding of diseases at the molecular level. Abnormalities in various biomarkers can indicate diseased states, and can be used to rapidly and specifically detect and quantify diseases using optical biosensing techniques (Gao et al., 2023). Optical biosensing techniques have several advantages over traditional methods including higher sensitivity, specificity, and faster analysis times (Plikusiene and Ramanaviciene, 2023). It also allows for non-invasive sample collection. With advancements in optical biosensing technology, many medical conditions including cancers, infectious diseases, and autoimmune disorders can be accurately …

Effects Of Tempering Temperature On Gas Turbine Fan Cases, Seth Utter

Honors Scholar Theses

The project aimed to investigate the effects of tempering temperature on metals used for gas turbine engine fan cases as a major relevant concern is containing blades in during blade-out events. There are three ways to accomplish this: using a thicker metal, incorporating different materials into the case, or heat treating the metal. This project focused on the third solution: reviewing the impact toughness and hardness of fractured samples and their equivalent ductile-to-brittle transition shear faces. Given its availability, 1045 steel, as opposed to aerospace grade metals, was used for in-house testing. The data obtained from these experiments were then …

Pla-S-Tech: Pla Sustainable Technology, Sean Sapper, Ryan Decarlo, Elle Whitney, Samantha Dombrowski, Dalton Prokop, Dominic Zaio, Tyler Stokes, David Deese, Blake Hengel, Yi Guo

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Student Publications

To recycle waste material produced by fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printers, a recycler was designed and manufactured to convert plastic scraps into usable filament. The device does so by breaking down plastic material to a uniform size with the shredder, melting and compressing these pieces into a cylindrical strand with the extruder, and wrapping this strand around a filament spool with the spooler. As the device is mostly made from commercially-available components, it is easily maintainable and user-serviceable, while also costing less than similar devices on the market.

Editorial: Disease Biomarker Analysis Based On Optical Biosensing, Tianshu Chen, Fanben Meng, Binwu Ying, Xiaoli Zhu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Disease biomarker analysis has become a crucial tool for diagnosing and evaluating disease prognosis, especially with the increasing understanding of diseases at the molecular level. Abnormalities in various biomarkers can indicate diseased states, and can be used to rapidly and specifically detect and quantify diseases using optical biosensing techniques (Gao et al., 2023). Optical biosensing techniques have several advantages over traditional methods including higher sensitivity, specificity, and faster analysis times (Plikusiene and Ramanaviciene, 2023). It also allows for non-invasive sample collection. With advancements in optical biosensing technology, many medical conditions including cancers, infectious diseases, and autoimmune disorders can be accurately …

Hot Spots: Quantifying Risk For Reactor Failure And A Measure For The Validity Of The Lumped Capacitance Assumption, Elijah Yoder

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Three Minute Thesis

Naphtha Characterization (Piona, Density, Distillation Curve And Sulfur Content): An Origin Comparison, Aline Pioli Silva, Juliana Otavia Bahú, Renato Soccol Jr., Leonardo Rodriguez-Urrego, William Stive Fajardo-Moreno, Hiram Moya, Jeffrey Leon-Pulido, Víktor Oswaldo Cárdenas Concha

Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

Naphtha is an important distillation product of crude oil, and is used as a raw material for first-generation products such as ethylene, propylene, gasoline, xylene (BTX), and others. However, due to the different sources of crude oil, differences in naphtha composition impact the quality of conversion processes. Parameters such as pressure, charge flow, and temperature need to be adjusted for conversion efficiency. This work aims to compare naphtha samples from different origins, through the analysis of distillation curve (ASTM D86), density (ASTM D4052), total sulfur (ASTM D4294), and n-paraffins, iso-paraffins, olefins, naphthene, and aromatics (PIONA, ASTM D5134). Among these parameters …

Implementation Of Static Rfid Landmarks In Slam For Planogram Compliance, Brennan L. Drake

Honors College Theses

Autonomous robotic systems are becoming increasingly prevalent in everyday life and exhibit robust solutions in a wide range of applications. They face many obstacles with the foremost of which being SLAM, or Simultaneous Localization and Mapping, that encompasses both creation of the map of an unknown environment and localization of the robot in said environment. In this experiment, researchers propose the use of RFID tags in a semi-dynamic commercial environment to provide concrete landmarks for localization and mapping in pursuit of increased locational certainty. With this obtained, the ultimate goal of the research is to construct a robotics platform for …

Position And Energy Controlled Impact Treatment For Increasing Strength And Ductility In Stainless Steel, Samuel Scott

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Applied

Considering The Influence Of Coronary Motion On Artery‑Specific Biomechanics Using Fluid–Structure Interaction Simulation, Nicholas A. T. Fogell, Miten Patel, Pan Yang, Roosje M. Ruis, David B. Garcia, Jarka Naser, Fotios Savvopoulos, Clint Davies Taylor, Anouk L. Post, Ryan M. Pedrigi, Ranil De Silva, Rob Krams

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The endothelium in the coronary arteries is subject to wall shear stress and vessel wall strain, which influences the biology of the arterial wall. This study presents vessel-specific fluid–structure interaction (FSI) models of three coronary arteries, using directly measured experimental geometries and boundary conditions. FSI models are used to provide a more physiologically complete representation of vessel biomechanics, and have been extended to include coronary bending to investigate its effect on shear and strain. FSI both without- and with-bending resulted in significant changes in all computed shear stress metrics compared to CFD (p = 0.0001). Inclusion of bending within …

Design And Implementation Of Test Stand Upgrades For Investigating Gearset Churning Losses With Baffles, Matthew Martin

Honors Theses

The automotive industry is continually researching ways to decrease energy losses in drivetrain applications. Rotating gear sets in an oil bath suffer frictional losses due to oil churning. The Center for Advanced Vehicle Design and Simulation (CAViDS) consortium has proposed studies to understand and reduce these churning losses. The primary means to reduce these churning losses are to redirect the oil flow using baffles and/or alter the oil viscosity. To perform churning loss optimization under controlled conditions, an existing test stand was upgraded to improve safety, introduce oil temperature control, and allow for the interchange of baffle designs. For safety, …

Mechanical Characterization Of Additively Manufactured Alloys Compared To Their Wrought Counterparts, Laith A. Alqawasmi

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Additive manufacturing is a method of manufacturing based on building parts layer by layer, allowing for more control over shape of the product, therefore reducing machining costs, reducing material waste, faster production times and the ability to build complex engineering design that other manufacturing technologies won’t be able to produce. This research is on the tensile and indentation testing (following ASME standards) of 3D printed Ti-6Al-4V and Inconel 718 built by powder-based direct energy deposition technology. Ti-6Al-4V is an attractive material for the aerospace and aviation industry, and Inconel 718, a nickel-chromium based superalloy, is an attractive material for usage …

Building Rotary Fans, Admin Stem For Success, Natalie Wilson

STEM for Success Showcase

Students are challenged to build a working rotary fan

Bridge Building, Admin Stem For Success

STEM for Success Showcase

Students learn about different bridge styles and designs in this activity that challenges them to build their own successful bridge.

Rubber Band Car Activity, Admin Stem For Success, Natalie Wilson

STEM for Success Showcase

Student learn about forces and engineering by designing a car powered by rubber bands

A Threshold Helium Leakage Detection Switch With Ultra Low Power Operation, Sulaiman Mohaidat, Fadi M. Alsaleem

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Detecting helium leakage is important in many applications, such as in dry cask nuclear waste storage systems. This work develops a helium detection system based on the relative permittivity (dielectric constant) difference between air and helium. This difference changes the status of an electrostatic microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switch. The switch is a capacitive-based device and requires a very negligible amount of power. Exciting the switch’s electrical resonance enhances the MEMS switch sensitivity to detect low helium concentration. This work simulates two different MEMS switch configurations: a cantilever-based MEMS modeled as a single-degreefreedom model and a clamped-clamped beam MEMS molded using …

Dash And Dot Robots, Admin Stem For Success, Natalie Wilson

STEM for Success Showcase

Activity plan using robots to teach students engineering and technology

Experimental And Numerical Studies Of Slurry-Based Coextrusion Deposition Of Continuous Carbon Fiber Micro-Batteries To Additively Manufacture 3d Structural Battery Composites, Aditya R. Thakur, Xiangyang Dong

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Carbon Fiber Structural Battery Composites Have Recently Attracted Growing Interests Due to their Potentials of Simultaneously Carrying Mechanical Loads and Storing Electrical Energy for Lightweight Application. in This Study, We Present a Slurry-Based Coextrusion Deposition Method to Additively Manufacture 3D Structural Battery Composites from Carbon Fiber Micro-Batteries. Cathode Slurry is Coextruded Together with Solid Polymer Electrolyte-Coated Carbon Fibers in a Single Deposition. a Network of Carbon Fiber Micro-Batteries is Achieved within the Fabricated Structural Battery Composites. Electrochemical Tests Show a Stable Charge-Discharge Performance Up to 100 Cycles. the Rheological Behavior of the Cathode Slurry is Found to Govern the Coextrusion …

Bubble Wand Activity, Admin Stem For Success

STEM for Success Showcase

Students use this activity to practice their engineering skills by building a bubble wand.

Activity Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=wx0-NrAnE6c&feature=emb_logo

Energy-Specific Greenhouse Gas Emissions Measurements From 2-Stroke Marine Diesel Engine Using Liquefied Natural Gas, Kang-Ki Lee, Wilfried Hochegger, Alessandro Schonborn

Articles

This study reports the energy specific air emissions from a diesel-cycle high pressure injection dual fuel engine for operation on liquefied natural gas and heavy fuel oil. An experiment at sea was performed onboard a bulk carrier during commercial voyages, to measure the efficiency of the engine and to measure air emissions relevant to air pollution and climate impact for operation on both fuels. The measurements showed that the energy conversion efficiency of the engine was higher for operation on liquefied natural gas because its lower NOx emissions permitted the use of a higher effective compression ratio whilst meeting the …

Energy Storage Can Increase The Value And Flexibility Of A Nuclear Power Plant But Makes Plant Economics More Subject To Uncertainty In Electricity Price, Jacob Bryan

Student Research Symposium

Regional electricity markets currently rely heavily on coal and natural gas resources to meet electricity demand. Intermittent renewable resources like wind and solar power are location-dependent and are not dispatchable resources. Flexible nuclear power, achieved through the use of integrated thermal energy storage, may be able to complement these renewable resources to provide clean, predictable power in an evolving electricity grid. This study considers such a flexible nuclear plant and seeks to address a fundamental modeling question: which uncertain model inputs have a significant effect on the economics of the system, and to what degree? These questions are addressed by …

Investigation Of Different Equations Of State (Eos) To Calculate Thermodynamic Properties Of Methanol In Sub-Critical And Supercritical Regions, Md Sajedul Islam Sakir

Student Research Symposium

The Equation of State (EOS) is a relationship between pressure, volume, and temperature that describes the properties of fluids under different conditions. Fluids can exist in various phases, including gaseous, liquid, critical, and supercritical states, each with different properties. The characteristics of critical and supercritical fluids are notably different from those of sub-critical fluids, and their properties change abruptly. To determine fluid properties in different regimes, various equations of state (EOS) are utilized.This research project aims to examine the different equations of state used for specifying fluid properties in various fluid regimes. Methanol has been selected as a working fluid …

Investigation Of Different Equations Of State (Eos) To Calculate Thermodynamic Properties Of Methanol In Subcritical And Supercritical Regions, Md Sajedul Islam Sakir

Student Research Symposium

The Equation of state (EOS) is a PVT relationship that specifies the properties and characteristics of fluids in different conditions. Fluids have different phases. In the subcritical region, fluid is in a gaseous and liquid state. On the other hand, fluid is not a liquid nor a gas in the critical and the supercritical regions. The properties and characteristics of critical and supercritical fluids are different from that of subcritical regions. In critical and supercritical regions the properties of fluid change very abruptly. To specify the properties of the fluid in different regimes different equations of state (EOS) is being …

Characteristics Of Future Mobility Devices For Individuals With Paraplegia, Dan O'Crowley

Student Research Symposium

This presentation outlines wheeled exoskeleton development for individuals with paraplegia and my research to develop criteria for designs focused more on independence and social interactions. A summary of past attempts and comparable mobility devices will be outlined with their strengths and weaknesses. Another section will explain the different activities users should be able to complete independently and what features/functions need to be included for the device to have a positive impact on their social interactions. The presentation will cover the journey of a prototype attempting to meet the criteria developed and lessons learned from that experience. A financial summary will …

A Fundamental Approach In Assessing The Improvement In The Performance Of A Vehicle's Engine By Varying The Cooling Fluid And The Engine Material, Peter Okereke

Student Research Symposium

The cooling system plays a crucial role in regulating the engine's temperature. Cooling fluid is an important component of the cooling system of a vehicle. Using an untailored cooling fluid can have negative effects on an automobile's engine and shorten its lifespan. An efficient cooling system prevents the engine from overheating and enables the vehicle to operate at peak efficiency. This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of cylinder materials and various types of cooling agents in the vehicle's cooling system, which affect the engine block's life span, primarily the cylinders, in light vehicle cooling systems. The lower the …

A Fundamental Approach In Assessing The Improvement Of A Vehicle's Engine By Varying The Cooling Fluid And The Engine, Peter Okereke

Student Research Symposium

The cooling system plays a crucial role in regulating the engine's temperature. Cooling fluid is an important component of the cooling system of a vehicle. Using an untailored cooling fluid can have negative effects on an automobile's engine and shorten its lifespan. An efficient cooling system prevents the engine from overheating and enables the vehicle to operate at peak efficiency. This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of cylinder materials and various types of cooling agents in the vehicle's cooling system, which affect the engine block's life span, primarily the cylinders, in light vehicle cooling systems. The lower the …