Engineering Commons^™

The Effect Of Distal Core Flattening And Heat Treatment On 304 Stainless Steel Guide Wires, Andrew Spencer Yap, Bryce Eric Veit, Matthew Frederick Lopez Villena

Materials Engineering

The mechanical response of 304 stainless steel guide wires due to different temper conditions and amounts of flattening is to be explored in this project. For this specific project, there is no public literature on the mechanical properties of guide wires with the above conditions through tensile testing or Turns to Failure Testing. To address this, the project with Abbott Vascular will measure the mechanical properties of guide wires using the aforementioned factors. Due to a lack of previous literature on this research topic, there are no quantitative goals for the project, however, any new research compiled in this area …

Building B: Fire And Life Safety Analysis, Joseph Radford Sellers

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

A fire and life safety analysis was performed on Building B at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, TN. This report was completed as a fulfillment of one of the requirements for the Masters of Science in Fire Protection Engineering Program from the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obispo, CA. The analysis consisted of a prescriptive, or code-based analysis, and a performance-based analysis.

The prescriptive analysis composed of four main areas: Life Safety, Fire Alarm and Detection, Structural Fire Protection, and Fire Suppression. The prescriptive analysis was performed to determine if Building B is …

Military Maintenance Hangar, Eliot Jordan

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This report describes the building code compliance of a military aircraft hangar. The facility is evaluated for both prescriptive code compliance and for a performance-based compliance via the use of design fires analyzed with computer programs Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) and occupant egress analyzed with Pathfinder software as well as hand calculations utilizing Excel.

The prescriptive code analysis is done based upon a combination of Unified Facilities Criteria, International Building Code, and NFPA 101 codes and standards. Prescriptive compliance was checked against the building non separated occupancies of S-1 and B. The building was evaluated for building construction type IIB. …

Fire Protection Analysis: Engineering Iv, Building 192, Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo, Paul Jenkins

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This report is an analysis of the fire protection capabilities of Engineering IV (Building 192) at Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo, CA. The overall objective of this report was to assess whether the building and its fire protection systems supported the evacuation of occupants from the building in a safe manner before conditions became untenable during a fire event. The assessment was accomplished by performing a prescriptive and performance analysis.

The purpose of the prescriptive analysis was to determine whether the building egress components and fire protections systems were designed, built, and installed in compliance with all the …

Reading Robot, Gillian Watts, Andrew Myers, Sabrinna Tan, Taylor Klein, Omeed Djassemi

General Engineering

Presently, there is an insufficient availability of human experts to assist students in reading competency and comprehension. Our team’s goal was to create an improved socially assistive robot for use by therapists, teachers, and parents to help children and adults develop reading skills while they do not have access to specialists. HAPI is a socially assistive robot that we created with the goal of helping students practice their reading comprehension skills. HAPI enables a student to improve their reading skills without an educator present, while enabling educators to review the student's performance remotely. Design constraints included: physical size, weight, duration …

Raysun's Infrared Raisin Dryer, Lucas Kensinger, Saraith Aispuro, Joe Vanacore

General Engineering

The RaySuns senior project team was tasked with lowering the drying costs of raisins for River Ranch Raisins. In doing so, we explored several options for cutting costs: utilizing automation and exploring new drying technologies were our primary focus. We eventually planned a modular infrared heating mechanism which would be easy to automate in future projects. After manufacturing and testing an infrared heating mechanism, it was found that infrared drying could significantly cut costs versus the previous natural gas fired dryer tunnels while leaving room for automation. The infrared dryer was also shown to have the potential to create high-quality …

Effects Of Powder Recycling In Selective Laser Melting, Nina L. Menon

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The following report analyzes 316L stainless steel powder characteristics of new powder and powder that has been used in the selective laser melting process for 40-50 builds. A literature review was done of powder characteristics, different ways flowability can be tested, and effects of recycling other types of metal powders in Additive Manufacturing. Flowability improved over 21 reuses of the titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V and resulted in stronger printed parts. Flow of S17-4 PH steel powder was measured with a Hall flowmeter and increased significantly over the course of 10 reuses. Heavily recycled (estimated 50 reuses) 316L SS powder and brand …

Culminating Course Progress Report For The Na893 Community Support Center, Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, Kazuo Miura

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

This is the culminating project report for the Fire Project Engineering Master’s of Science at California Polytechnic at San Luis Obispo. This project will consider a project for the US military in Japan, JFY893 Community Support Facility, Yokosuka Naval Base. The subject facility consists of a library, education center, family services, and other community services. The Library shall serve as the Main Base Library, keep and store books and provide library services for active duty population, dependents and retirees. The Education Center provides services for advancing of the academic, technical, and vocational education of military personnel of all grades and …

Cp Check Valve Design, Alec B. Der Matoian, Jessica M. Dent, Skylar M. Tusting

Mechanical Engineering

This report is to serve as a final design review and update to the project sponsors at Zurn Wilkins for the Check Valve Design Senior Project. The senior project team was tasked with improving upon the design of Zurn Wilkins’ backflow prevention assembly for small diameter pipes by reducing the pressure loss created by the check valves within the double check backflow assembly. The information contained in this report builds off the information contained in the Critical Design Report (CDR), as well as feedback and further investigation suggested during an Intermediary Design Review. Based on conclusions from the CDR, our …

Mug For Tremors, Logan J. Smith, Allen Tecson, Jaret Wedow, Kai Workman

Mechanical Engineering

Melissa Oliver, an occupational therapist at McGuire VA Medical Center, works extensively with veterans who struggle with certain daily activities due to their hand tremors. Hand tremors caused by essential tremor, Parkinson’s Disease, or other physical or neurological impairments can greatly affect an individual’s ability to perform daily tasks. One of these tasks include the ability to handle beverages, as hand tremors can cause excessive sloshing and spilling of liquid. Melissa reached out to find a way to help veterans with hand tremors easily consume liquids. Our team, consisting of Logan Smith, Allen Tecson, Jaret Wedow, and Kai Workman, was …

Atmospheric Water Harvester, Justin K. Lam, Jacob David, Jessica Mabry, Ben Brough

Mechanical Engineering

Atmospheric water harvesting uses the vapor-compression cycle to collect water from the moisture in the air. The system’s components include an evaporator, condenser, compressor, fan, and several expansion valves. Condensate from the air is then funneled into a receptacle, which determines the efficiency of the water harvesting system. For this senior project, the goal is to increase the efficiency of an existing atmospheric water harvester.

Electromagnetic Actuator For Camless Engines, Nicholas Olesh, Charlie Thomas Glenwright, Tim Wills De Tone, Darya Daniel Darvish

Mechanical Engineering

This document summarizes the research, objectives, project plan, and design for developing an electromagnetic actuator valve for use in a camless internal combustion engine. While electromagnetic valve actuators have not been implemented into a working product to date, there have been many attempts to research and develop working prototypes. Similar products have been developed, but they do not use purely electromagnetic actuation. This research is significant because it shows the challenge that must be overcome and outlines potential design solutions to the problem. The objectives section highlights the problem statement and what is aimed to be achieved in this project. …

Atmospheric Water Harvester, Adam C. Goldstein, Scott Seno, Kristen E. Dentici

Mechanical Engineering

Access to potable water is a global issue that has yet to be adequately solved. In regions with limited access to electricity and ground or surface water, it is not always possible to provide clean water requiring external power or extensive infrastructure to implement. This Final Design Report document will outline the background, design and manufacturing plan involved in the development of a passive atmospheric water harvester. This report builds on the earlier Preliminary Design Review and Critical Design Review documents to reflect further research, analysis, comments from reviewers, and detailed design documentation. While a final design was decided on …

Composite Lattice Tooling, Rachel Greene, Isaiah De Leon, Patrick O'Donnell, Alec Fuoti

Mechanical Engineering

Composite lattice structures allow for a high strength to weight ratio which is favorable in the aerospace industry where mass is a driving design consideration. Maxar Technologies has tasked the senior project team with creating a process and subsequent tooling to effectively manufacture their patented composite lattice structure as shown in United States patent #10326209B2. The only current industry solution to manufacture similar structures is Isotruss’s utilization of filament winding. The project team was asked to deliver a two-cube-by-four-cube lattice structure manufactured for properties testing and proof of a working manufacturing process. They also required that the process is well …

Safran Seat Attachment System, Craig John Kimball, Tyler Bragg, Lynette Cox

Mechanical Engineering

This final design review (FDR) document outlines the senior design project being carried out by a team of mechanical engineering undergraduate students attending California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo for Safran Seats in Santa Maria, CA. The project originally was to design, build, and test a universal attachment to secure a widebody business class seat to seven aircraft models with different seat track geometry. The goal was to design, document, and create a finished product that fits design, weight, and manufacturing requirements, as well as passes static 9G FWD testing. Structural analysis, manufacturing analysis, FEA, and CAD assemblies will …

Optical Filter Selector, Camaryn Chambers, Joel Pitzer, Matthew Allen, Callen Schwefler

Mechanical Engineering

One of the many challenges with launching projectiles into space is predicting how the environment in space will affect the trajectory. One way to do this is to look at optical emissions, also known as airglow, which can only be seen from earth with sensitive equipment. By taking measurements of the light from the airglow, properties about the upper atmosphere can be inferred. This is important because variability in the atmosphere can cause variability in space that can affect astronauts and satellites. In order to accomplish this task, optical filters must be used to observe different bands of wavelengths of …

Miniaturized Ultraviolet Imager Phase Iii, Bradley D. Albright, Nicolas A. Armenta, Colin W. Harrop

Mechanical Engineering

This document details the work to date, June 9, 2020, done by the Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering senior project team, Miniaturized Ultraviolet Imager: Phase III (MUVI III), sponsored by the University of California, Berkeley – Space Sciences Laboratory (UCB SSL). MUVI III is the third senior project team of an ongoing design, MUVI: the prototype of a 2U sized CubeSat intended to capture aurora images in the ionosphere. The first team, MUVI I, finished development of the UV imager. The second team, MUVI II, designed the mirror mounting and deployable door mechanisms. The goal of MUVI phase III is to …

Fox Factory Bearing Assembly Rundown And Torque Automation Project, David Ethan Daley, Eric Michael Forrester, Christopher Enrique Hansen, Riley Jacob O'Connor

Mechanical Engineering

A machine design was created to partially automate the rundown and torque of a Fox Factory shock bearing housing. This machine is needed at the factory to keep line associates safe by reducing ergonomic strains associated with this stage in the shock assembly process. Due to the lack of applicable torque drivers for this operation, an open ended, geared drivetrain was designed to allow for engagement of the bearing housing while allowing clearance for the shock shaft that the bearing rides on. This open drivetrain is held by a structure of linear rails and bearings to allow the line associate …

Prosthetic Foot Shell, Ql+, Kathryn Victoria Versteeg, Jackson A. Tucker, Ethan William Frey

Mechanical Engineering

This final design review includes an overview of our project and the steps we have taken to create our final product. We discuss the background research conducted, including various products like the foot shell we are trying to design and its related patents, along with similar past senior projects. As our product is considered a medical device, there are also certain standards that we must comply with. After determining our problem statement, we established what we believe to be the wants and needs of our user. These wants and needs were converted into specifications for our design, with durability as …

Sub-Lunar Tap-Yielding Explorer, Styx, Alexander J. Krenitsky, Ryan J. Locatelli, Aaron B. Erickson, Christoopher B. Boone, Westin R. Mchaney

Mechanical Engineering

To diversify the idea pool that NASA has to draw from for future manned and unmanned missions to the Moon and Mars, a design/build competition has been posed to collegiate teams across the country. The challenge is to reach, extract, and purify underground ice reserves in a setting analogous to mars. Along the way, teams will be collecting telemetry to mimic prospecting objectives on the moon.

The Sublunar Tap-Yielding eXplorer, STYX, is the team’s proposed design for the 2020 NASA RASC-AL competition. Some novel design features STYX will use are a rotary tool changer with swappable tools, a sleeve driving …

The Effect Of Orientation On The Ignition Of Solids, David Morrisset

Master's Theses

The ignition of a solid is an inherently complex phenomenon influenced by heat and mass transport mechanisms that are, even to this day, not understood in entirety. In order to use ignition data in meaningful engineering application, significant simplifications have been made to the theory of ignition. The most common way to classify ignition is the use of material specific parameters such as such as ignition temperature (T_ig) and the critical heat flux for ignition (CHF). These parameters are determined through standardized testing of solid materials – however, the results of these tests are generally used in applications …

Preconstruction Plan For A Pedestrian Pathway Rehabilitation Project, Sean R. Stratton

Construction Management

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed to enforce improvements of public commodities to fill the gaps in our nation's civil rights inequalities for people with disabilities. Public pedestrian pathways are required by federal and state law to comply with ADA guidelines to allow ease of access to individuals with disabilities. Many existing sidewalks and pedestrian pathways have been renovated and modernized to comply with these ADA guidelines. This paper outlines the preconstruction plan for a rehabilitation project of a problematic pedestrian pathway on the campus of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and highlights the need for …

San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden Children’S Garden Shed, Javier Santiago

Construction Management

The San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden (SLOBG) is located on the California’s Central Coast. The garden consists of a total of 150 acres within El Chorro Regional National Park. This project arose because of a shortage of storage within the Botanical Garden grounds. This project specifically aimed to improve the children’s garden section’s storage space. Before the project took place, there was no storage space located within the children’s garden. Preconstruction coordination started in the Fall of 2019. Shortly after, design of the storage space began. Before construction of the storage shed could start, the project site was graded to …

Rodeo Arena Observation Deck, Ryan B. Fiorio

Construction Management

This report details the process that brought about a large deck that was built at the Cal Poly Rodeo Arena by two students, Timothy Smith and Ryan Fiorio. The project itself was over a year in the making, starting from an idea of Ben Londo, the Cal Poly rodeo coach, to a lengthy approval process and lots of time to fundraise the required money. The project was completed in June of 2020. This project used TimberTech composite decking per the request of Ben Londo. It was also built extremely rigid with the use of pony walls instead of posts to …

Septal Closure Device, Olivia N. Welch, Hillal H. Jarrar, Kai Harrison

Biomedical Engineering

The septal closure device was designed to seal defects in the atrial septum. To fully seal an atrial defect, the device was designed to consist of two circular seals to cover the defect in both the right and left atria, attached with a central rod. The materials were chosen for compressibility (for ease of insertion), biocompatibility, and tissue ingrowth. A CAD model was drafted in SolidWorks. Key customer requirements include ease of implantation (specifications: adjustable sizing and clear directions for use), physician controlled (specifications: short implantation time and compatibility with current catheter/scope techniques), and a long lifetime (specifications: materials that …

Three Axis Attitude Control System Design And Analysis Tool Development For The Cal Poly Cubesat Laboratory, Liam T. Bruno

Master's Theses

The Cal Poly CubeSat Laboratory (CPCL) is currently facing unprecedented engineering challenges—both technically and programmatically—due to the increasing cost and complexity of CubeSat flight missions. In responding to recent RFPs, the CPCL has been forced to find commercially available solutions to entire mission critical spacecraft subsystems such as propulsion and attitude determination & control, because currently no in-house options exist for consideration. The commercially available solutions for these subsystems are often extremely expensive and sometimes provide excessively good performance with respect to mission requirements. Furthermore, use of entire commercial subsystems detracts from the hands-on learning objectives of the CPCL by …

A Study Of The Utilization Of Panel Method For Low Aspect Ratio Wing Analysis, William Barton D. Newey

Master's Theses

This study demonstrates the applicability of using a modified application strategy of panel method to analyze low aspect ratio wings at preliminary design phases. Conventional panel methods fail to capture the leading edge vortex (LEV) that is shed by wings with low aspect ratios, typically below 2 depending on planform. This aerodynamic phenomenon contributes to a significant amount of the lift of these wings and the result is a drastic underestimation of the lift characteristics when analyzed by conventional panel method. To capture the effect of the leading edge vortex, a panel method code was used with an extended definition …

A Comparative Study On Seismic Analysis Methods And The Response Of Systems With Classical And Nonclassical Damping, Noah G. Bleichner

Master's Theses

This thesis investigated the application of seismic analysis methods and the response of idealized shear frames subjected to seismic loading. To complete this research, a Design Basis Earthquake (DBE) for a project site in San Luis Obispo, CA, and five past earthquake records were considered. The DBE was produced per the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures (ASCE 7-10) and used for application of the Equivalent Lateral Force Procedure (ELFP) and Response Spectrum Analysis (RSA). When applying RSA, the modal peak responses were combined using the Absolute Sum (ABS), Square-Root-of-the-Sum-of-Squares (SRSS), and Complete …

Design Of A Martian Communication Constellation Of Cubesats, Scott J. Pirkle

Master's Theses

Spacecraft operating on the Martian surface have used relay satellites as a means of improving communication capabilities, mainly in terms of bandwidth and availability. However, the spacecraft used to achieve this have been large spacecraft (1000s of kilograms) and were not designed with relay capability as the design priority. This thesis explores the possibility of using a CubeSat-based constellation as a communications network for spacecraft operating on the Martian surface. Brute-force techniques are employed to explore the design space of possible constellations. An analysis of constellation configurations that provide complete, continuous coverage of the Martian surface is presented. The stability …

Flexible Fault Tolerance For The Robot Operating System, Sukhman S. Marok

Master's Theses

The introduction of autonomous vehicles has the potential to reduce the number of accidents and save countless lives. These benefits can only be realized if autonomous vehicles can prove to be safer than human drivers. There is a large amount of active research around developing robust algorithms for all parts of the autonomous vehicle stack including sensing, localization, mapping, perception, prediction, planning, and control. Additionally, some of these research projects have involved the use of the Robot Operating System (ROS). However, another key aspect of realizing an autonomous vehicle is a fault-tolerant design that can ensure the safe operation of …