Engineering Commons^™

The Time For Scots Has Come, Johan Leijtens, Johan Uittenhout, Alexander Los, Torsten Vogel

Small Satellite Conference

With all major European primes starting to work on programs >100 satellites in 2015 the time for Space grade Commercial Off The Shelf components has come. For many years there have been discussions on costs savings by offering COTS components and especially the cubesat community knows several vendors that offer space systems in a COTS fashion. None of these component however qualify for the extreme requirements posed by the current constellations under design as most of them have to operate above 1000 km and are preferred to have a 10 to 15 year lifetime. This leads to several megarads of …

Design Of Cubesat Solar Panels Considering Acoustic Pressure, Devin Bunce, Erik Kroeker, Alex Ghosh, Victoria Coverstone

Small Satellite Conference

CubeSats are becoming increasingly complex. New innovative technology allows for more powerful computational capabilities and more complex science instruments. With strict mass requirements CubeSats need to cut weight from structural material as much as possible while maintaining mission integrity to maximize mass to electronics and instrumentation. Once in space the system is not under much stress and does not require much structural integrity; however, during launch the rocket produces a tremendous amount of sound, averaging around 160 dB in the local area. This acoustic pressure can crack solar cells if the array wall deflects too much.

The University of Illinois …

Magnetic Substance Disturbance Torque Caused By Shape Magnetic Anisotropy And Its Applications In Small-Sized Satellites, Takaya Inamori, Nobutada Sako, Ryu Funase, Shinichi Nakasuka

Small Satellite Conference

This study presents the magnetic substance disturbance torque caused by shape magnetic anisotropy. This magnetic substance disturbance occurs in on-board unsymmetrical magnetic substances, even if the magnetic substance does not have a residual magnetic dipole moment. Although this magnetic substance disturbance torques has not been considered in previous small-sized satellites, in some cases, the strength of the disturbance is stronger than the effect of aerodynamic and solar radiation disturbances. First, this study presents the strength and effects of the magnetic substance disturbance torque in Cubesat satellites: XI-IV and PRISM in the University of Tokyo. Then, the study shows that the …

Nitesat: A People-Powered Science Mission, Ken Walczak

Small Satellite Conference

The Far Horizons space program at the Adler Planetarium is designing, building, and will operate NITESat (Night Imaging and Tracking Experiment Satellite), a 2U CubeSat mission supported by a robust education and public outreach effort. The primary science mission of NITESat is to capture high-resolution, three-color, nighttime imagery of the Midwestern United States to quantify and characterize the nature and intensity of light pollution across the region. The motto of the Adler Planetarium is “Join Us In Exploring Space,” and the NITESat mission firmly embraces this concept with students, interns, and volunteers embedded in every stage of the design, build …

The Role Of Emulation In Constellations Of Small Satellites, Randy Culver

Small Satellite Conference

Small satellites have become mainstream. New ventures are deploying constellations of small satellites that are being networked to perform remote sensing, image collection, and internet routing. This paper describes how a scalable, system-level emulation plays a key role when fielding and flying a new constellation of small satellites.

It's an understatement to say that designing, implementing, and validating a system employing a dozen, a hundred, or a thousand satellites is complex. There's inherent risk "scaling up" the number of deployed small satellites from few to many. Engineering analysis and testing cannot be deferred until there's a full constellation in orbit. …

Investigation Of Heat-Affected 304l Ss Powder And Its Effect On Built Parts In Selective Laser Melting, Caitlin S. Kriewall, Austin T. Sutton, Ming-Chuan Leu, Joseph William Newkirk, Ben Brown

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Selective laser melting (SLM) is a powder bed based additive manufacturing process in which a layer of powder is laid over the surface of a substrate and a laser with sufficient energy is employed to selectively melt particles to build a part layer by layer. During the SLM process, dark smoke was observed coming off of the powder bed surface where the laser was interacting with powder. This phenomenon resulted from heat-affected powder that was visibly different than the base powder. Since the concentration of the heat-affected powder differs throughout the build chamber as a result of the recirculating argon …

Modeling And Experimental Investigation Of Pre-Mixed Multi-Powder Flow In Fabricating Functional Gradient Material By Laser Metal Deposition Process, Wei Li, Jingwei Zhang, Sreekar Karnati, Yunlu Zhang, Frank W. Liou, Joseph William Newkirk, Karen M. Brown Taminger, W. L. Seufzer

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) is an effective process to fabricate Functionally Graded Material (FGM) from pre-mixed powders. Since the supplied multi-powder directly affects the deposited FGM’s composition, investigation on Pre-Mixed Multi-Powder (PMMP) flow during LMD is greatly needed. This paper presents a comprehensive numerical PMMP flow model. By solving discrete particle force balance equations coupled with continuity equations and momentum equations for carrier gas, the dynamic behavior of PMMP flow through powder feeder tube and out of nozzle was calculated. With this model, the particle sizes of multi-powder were optimized to obtain considered FGM composition. To verify the modeling results, …

Building A Pathway To Engineering For Our Daughters – Brick By Brick, Ali P. Gordon

UCF Forum

As a father of young elementary and middle school-aged kids, I’m also curious to know exactly how my undergrad students came to be interested in mechanical engineering. An exchange with a UCF student might go like this: “You did a great job on the exam. Congrats! By the way, how did you get interested in mechanical engineering, anyway?” I mentally log the answers for my kids’ future benefit.

A New Wiretap Channel Model And Its Strong Secrecy Capacity, Mohamed Nafea, Aylin Yener

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, a new wiretap channel (WTC) model with a discrete memoryless (DM) main channel and a wiretapper who noiselessly observes a fixed portion, of her choice, of the transmitted symbols, while observing the remaining transmitted symbols through another DM channel (DMC), is considered. The strong secrecy capacity of the model is identified. The achievability is established using the output statistics of random binning framework which exploits the duality between source and channel coding problems. The converse is derived by upper bounding the secrecy capacity of an equivalent model with the secrecy capacity of a DM-WTC. This result generalizes …

Investigation Of Tensile Properties Of Bulk And Slm Fabricated 304l Stainless Steel Using Various Gage Length Specimens, Sreekar Karnati, I. Axelsen, Frank W. Liou, Joseph William Newkirk

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The complex solidification dynamics and thermal cycling during Selective Laser Melting process is expected to result in non-equilibrium material characteristics. There is an essential need for characterization techniques which are critical towards the estimation of anisotropies. The current investigation is targeted towards establishing tensile testing methodologies and their relation to differing gage lengths. Dog-bone shaped specimen designs with gage lengths of 1”, 0.3” and 0.12” were employed in this research. The characterization was performed on hot rolled-annealed 304 stainless and SLM fabricated 304L stainless. It was theorized that smaller gage length specimens would be instrumental in mapping material property anisotropy …

A Novel Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing Process For Ceramic Parts, Amir Ghazanfari, Wenbin Li, Ming-Chuan Leu, Greg Hilmas

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An extrusion-based additive manufacturing process, called the Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) process, for producing three-dimensional ceramic components with near theoretical density is introduced in this paper. In this process, an aqueous paste of ceramic particles with a very low binder content ( < 1 vol%) is extruded through a moving nozzle at room temperature. After a layer is deposited, it is surrounded by oil (to a level just below the top surface of most recent layer) to preclude non-uniform evaporation from the sides. Infrared radiation is then used to partially, and uniformly, dry the just-deposited layer so that the yield stress of the paste increases and the part maintains its shape. The same procedure is repeated for every layer until part fabrication is completed. Several sample parts for various applications were produced using this process and their properties were obtained. The results indicate that the proposed method enables fabrication of large, dense ceramic parts with complex geometries.

Selective Laser Sintering Of Low Density, Low Coefficient Of Thermal Expansion Silica Parts, John M. Hostetler, Jonathan T. Goldstein, Augustine M. Urbas, Rodrigo E. Gutierrez, Theresa E. Bender, Charles S. Wojnar, Edward C. Kinzel

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents a study of selective laser sintering of silica-gel. The objective of this work is to investigate a technique to create free-form, low to zero coefficient of thermal expansion structures. This offers potential cost savings over the conventional casting of large pieces of glass-ceramic followed by machining lightening features. In this paper, A CO₂ laser is coupled through a gantry system and focused onto a binder-free silica-gel powder bed (15-40 μm particles). Prior to writing each layer, powder is dispensed by sifting it onto the build platform as opposed to a conventional wiper system. This avoids contacting …

Bubble Formation In Additive Manufacturing Of Borosilicate Glass, Junjie Luo, Theresa Bender, Douglas A. Bristow, Robert G. Landers, Jonathan T. Goldstein, Augustine M. Urbas, Edward C. Kinzel

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Entrapped bubbles are an important problem in conventional glass manufacturing. It is also a significant factor determining the quality of glass products produced using additive manufacturing (AM). This paper reports on the bubble formation and entrapment in filament-fed AM printing of borosilicate glass. This process involves maintaining a local molten region using a CO₂ laser. A 2 mm filament is fed continuously into the molten region while CNC stages position the workpiece relative to the laser and filament feed. Two different bubble regimes are identified in experiments with borosilicate glass. These regimes can be related to different physical phenomena, …

3d Printing Of A Polymer Bioactive Glass Composite For Bone Repair, Caroline Murphy, Krishna C. R. Kolan, M. Long, Ming-Chuan Leu, Julie A. Semon, D. E. Day

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A major limitation of synthetic bone repair is insufficient vascularization of the interior region of the scaffold. In this study, we investigated the 3D printing of adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) with polycaprolactone (PCL)/bioactive glass composite in a single process. This offered a three-dimensional environment for complex and dynamic interactions that govern the cell’s behavior in vivo. Borate based bioactive (13-93B3) glass of different concentrations (10 to 50 weight %) was added to a mixture of PCL and organic solvent to make an extrudable paste. AD-MSCs suspended in Matrigel was extruded as droplets using a second syringe. Scaffolds measuring …

Designed Extrudate For Additive Manufacturing Of Zirconium Diboride By Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion, Devin Mcmillen, Wenbin Li, Ming-Chuan Leu, Greg Hilmas, Jeremy Lee Watts

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This work describes a process by which zirconium diboride (ZrB2) parts may be fabricated using the Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) process. An oxide-carbide-nitride system consisting of ceramic powders and pre-ceramic organics, designed to yield ZrB₂ after reaction sintering, has been developed to produce an aqueous-based extrudate for subsequent processing in the CODE system. Pressurelessly sintered test specimens containing 1 wt% PVA binder achieve high relative density ≥ 99%. The viscoelastic response of the extrudate was characterized via spindle rheometry with a small sample adapter. Batches with 1 wt% PVA and 0.5 wt% Methocel show strong shear thinning characteristic, under …

Effect Of Sparse-Build Internal Structure On Performance Of Fused Deposition Modeling Tools Under Pressure, S. Meng, L. Mason, Gregory Taylor, X. Wang, Ming-Chuan Leu, K. Chandrashekhara, Mike Matlack, James Castle

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Two different approaches to design a sparse-build tool for fabrication by the fused deposition modeling (FDM) process are compared. One approach uses a 2D lattice structure and the other approach is inspired by topology optimization. Ultem 9085 is used as the material, and the amount of material used to build the tool is kept constant to ensure a fair comparison. A solid tool is also included in the comparison. The performance of the tool under uniform pressure is simulated using finite element analysis (FEA) and the accuracy of the FEA results is verified by comparing them with experimentally measured data …

Effects Of Build Parameters On Compression Properties For Ultem 9085 Parts By Fused Deposition Modeling, Krishna P. Motaparti, Gregory Taylor, Ming-Chuan Leu, K. Chandrashekhara, James Castle, Mike Matlack

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

It has been observed by various researchers that parts fabricated by the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) process have anisotropic properties. The research presented in the present paper was aimed to study the compression properties of FDM parts and to comprehend their dependence on build parameters. In this study Ultem 9085 was used as the material to fabricate both solid and sparse-build coupons with variations in build direction, raster angle and air gap. A full factorial experimental design was used to study the individual and combined effects of these build parameters on the mechanical properties of the coupons. The mechanical properties …

Novel Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing Process For Ceramic Parts, Amir Ghazanfari, Wenbin Li, Ming-Chuan Leu, Greg Hilmas

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An extrusion-based additive manufacturing process, called the Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) process, for producing three-dimensional ceramic components with near theoretical density is introduced in this paper. In this process, an aqueous paste of ceramic particles with a very low binder content (< 1 vol%) is extruded through a moving nozzle at room temperature. After a layer is deposited, it is surrounded by oil (to a level just below the top surface of most recent layer) to preclude non-uniform evaporation from the sides. Infrared radiation is then used to partially, and uniformly, dry the just-deposited layer so that the yield stress of the paste increases and the part maintains its shape. The same procedure is repeated for every layer until part fabrication is completed. Several sample parts for various applications were produced using this process and their properties were obtained. The results indicate that the proposed method enables fabrication of large, dense ceramic parts with complex geometries.

Properties Of Partially Stabilized Zirconia Components Fabricated By The Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion Process, Wenbin Li, Amir Ghazanfari, Devin Mcmillen, Ming-Chuan Leu, Greg Hilmas, Jeremy Lee Watts

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) process is a novel additive manufacturing process for fabricating dense ceramic components from aqueous pastes of high solids loading. In this study, 3 mol% Y₂O₃ stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (3Y-TZP) parts were fabricated using the CODE process. The parts were then dried in a humidity controlled environmental chamber and sintered under atmospheric pressure. Mechanical properties of the sintered parts were examined using ASTM standard test techniques, including density, Young’s modulus, flexural strength, Weibull modulus, fracture toughness and Vickers hardness. The microstructure was analyzed, and grain size was measured using scanning electron microscopy. …

Laser Line Scan Characterization Of Geometric Profiles In Laser Metal Deposition, Michelle L. Gegel, A. Nisbett, Douglas A. Bristow, Robert G. Landers

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) is an additive manufacturing process in which material is deposited by blowing powdered metal into a melt pool formed by a laser beam. When fabricating parts, the substrate is subjected to motion control such that the melt pool traces a prescribed path to form each part layer. Advantages of LMD include relatively efficient powder usage, the ability to create functionally-graded parts and the ability to repair high-value parts. The process, however, is sensitive to variations in process parameters and a need for feedback measurements and closed-loop control has been recognized in the literature [1, 2]. To …

Effect Of Powder Particle Size On The Fabrication Of Ti-6al-4v Using Laser Metal Deposition From Elemental Powder Mixture, Xueyang Chen, Lei Yan, Wei Li, Frank W. Liou, Joseph William Newkirk

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Direct Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) was used to fabricate thin-wall Ti-6Al-4V using the powder mixture of Ti-6 wt.%Al-4 wt.%V. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optical microscopy (OM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were employed to examine the chemical composition and microstructure of the as-deposited sections. Vickers hardness tests were then applied to characterize the mechanical properties of the deposit samples which were fabricated using pre-mixed elemental powders. The EDS line scans indicated that the chemical composition of the samples was homogenous across the deposit. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used for the phase identification. After significant analysis, some differences were observed among …

Proposed Hybrid Processes For Part Building Using Fusion Welding And Friction Stir Processing, Megan A. Gegesky, Frank W. Liou, Joseph William Newkirk

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

It has been shown that a hybrid laser additive manufacturing and friction stir processing can deposit components with forged-like structures. This paper reports a hybrid fusion welding and friction stir process to create parts with quality structures. Combining traditional fusion welding and friction stir processing techniques for non-weldable aluminum alloys could facilitate the joining of difficult geometries in manufactured parts. This research illustrates mechanical property changes for non-weldable and weldable aluminum alloys. The Vickers hardness, and microhardness in the case of AA5052-H32, tensile strength and corrosion resistance of four processing states: base material, fusion welded material, friction stir welded material, …

Powders For Additive Manufacturing Processes: Characterization Techniques And Effects On Part Properties, Austin T. Sutton, Caitlin S. Kriewall, Ming-Chuan Leu, Joseph William Newkirk

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Powder-bed based Additive Manufacturing is a class of Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes that bond successive layers of powder by laser melting to facilitate the creation of parts with complex geometries. As AM technology transitions from the fabrication of prototypes to end-use parts, the understanding of the powder properties needed to reliably produce parts of acceptable quality becomes critical. Consequently, this has led to the use of powder characterization techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), laser light diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and differential thermal analysis (DTA) to both qualitatively and quantitatively study the effect of powder characteristics on part …

A Hybrid Technique Of Energy Harvesting From Mechanical Vibration And Ambient Illumination, M Shafiqur Rahman

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Hybrid energy harvesting is a concept applied for improving the performance of the conventional stand-alone energy harvesters. The thesis presents the analytical formulations and characterization of a hybrid energy harvester that incorporates photovoltaic, piezoelectric, electromagnetic, and electrostatic mechanisms. The initial voltage required for electrostatic mechanism is obtained by the photovoltaic technique. Other mechanisms are embedded into a bimorph piezoelectric cantilever beam having a tip magnet and two sets of comb electrodes on two sides of its substructure. All the segments are interconnected by an electric circuit to generate combined output when subjected to vibration and solar illumination. Results for power …

Sustainable Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System, Poojitha Aleti

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Deterioration of air quality is a growing concern in the world. Air pollution causes serious health problems and also can sometimes result in death. In order to assess air quality, long term and continuous monitoring of pollutant levels in ambient air are needed, such monitoring is often expensive, cumbersome, and resource intensive and so the monitoring programs often fail to succeed.

This research focused on designing an ambient air monitoring system by integrating (1) low-cost sensor with a battery, (2) repurposed materials to fabricate all-weather housing for air monitors, and (3) electronics needed to download the data to an on-site …

Analysis Of Optimization Methods In Multisteerable Filter Design, Philip Zanco

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to study and investigate a practical and efficient implementation of corner orientation detection using multisteerable filters. First, practical theory involved in applying multisteerable filters for corner orientation estimation is presented. Methods to improve the efficiency with which multisteerable corner filters are applied to images are investigated and presented. Prior research in this area presented an optimization equation for determining the best match of corner orientations in images; however, little research has been done on optimization techniques to solve this equation. Optimization techniques to find the maximum response of a similarity function to determine how …

Spice: A Software Tool For Studying End-User’S Insecure Cyber Behavior And Personality-Traits, Anjila Tamrakar

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Insecure cyber behavior of end users may expose their computers to cyber-attack. A first step to improve their cyber behavior is to identify their tendency toward insecure cyber behavior. Unfortunately, not much work has been done in this area. In particular, the relationship between end users cyber behavior and their personality traits is much less explored. This paper presents a comprehensive review of a newly developed, easily configurable, and flexible software SPICE for psychologist and cognitive scientists to study personality traits and insecure cyber behavior of end users. The software utilizes well-established cognitive methods (such as dot-probe) to identify number …

Experimental Study And Numerical Simulation Of Methane Oxygen Combustion Inside A Low Pressure Rocket Motor, Mine Kaya

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, combustion processes in a laboratory-scale methane based low pressure rocket motor (LPRM) is studied experimentally and numerically. Experiments are conducted to measure flame temperatures and chamber temperature and pressure. Single reaction-four species reacting flow of gaseous methane and gaseous oxygen in the combustion chamber is also simulated numerically using a commercial CFD solver based on 2-D, steady-state, viscous, turbulent and compressible flow assumptions. LPRM geometry is simplified to several configurations, i.e. Channel and Combustion Chamber with Nozzle and FWD. Flow in a Bunsen burner is simulated inside Channel geometry in order to validate the reaction model. Grid …

Elevated Temperature Microstructure Stability Of Slm 304l Stainless Steel, Tarak Amine, Joseph William Newkirk

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

With time at temperature, changes in metallurgical structure can be expected for almost any steel or alloy. In stainless steels, the changes can be grain growth, carbide precipitation, ferrite decomposition, or embrittlement. These phenomena can significantly effect the properties of the steel and would potentially change the functionality of the component. Therefore, to determine component stability, the elevated temperature microstructure stability of additive manufacturing materials was studied. This work investigates the influence of different aging times of additive material stainless steels (304L) fabricated with the Selective Laser Melting (SLM) process on microstructure and mechanical properties. Microstructure and mechanical properties were …

Simulation Of Cooling Rate Effects On Ti-48al-2cr-2nb Crack Formation In Direct Laser Deposition, Lei Yan, Wei Li, Xueyang Chen, Yunlu Zhang, Joseph William Newkirk, Frank W. Liou, David Dietrich

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Transient temperature history is vital in direct laser deposition (DLD) because it reveals the cooling rate at specific temperatures, which directly relates to phase transformation and types of microstructure formed in deposit. FEA simulation was employed to study the transient temperature history and cooling rate at different experimental setups in Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb DLD process. In this paper, an innovative model was described, which combines a moving Gaussian distribution heat source and element birth and death technology in ANSYS, help to analysis cooling rate control method and guide crack-free deposits build process.