Engineering Commons^™

Battery Dunnage, Paul Hirsch, Alex Cox, Ben Strubbe

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Schaeffler is launching a new assembly line for a battery in 2025. As part of the project, it is necessary to design and fabricate a reusable dunnage (packaging) specialized for the battery, meant for safe domestic transportation in the United States. Through an iterative process, the team developed a final dunnage design out of steel components that had a maximum footprint of 62 in X 43.5 in X 29.25 in and a weight of 821.682 lbs. The dunnage is stackable on itself up to two high, weighing a total of 4,918.724 lbs. when loaded with four batteries. The design was …

Ambient Temperature Strength Degradation Of A Ceramic Matrix Composite Due To Solid Particle Erosion, Jonathan Clawson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Solid particle erosion (SPE) is an issue for aircraft exposed to hard, fine particles, such as sand or dust, that can be ingested into the engine at a high velocity without reaching their melting point, resulting in material removal. SPE can be attributed to the intake of particulate debris from the runway or from airborne particulates. The cumulative mass loss from SPE damage affects the structural integrity and performance of the engine; however, its effects on ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), that are being employed in the aerospace industry, are not well understood in literature. The limited SPE research studies that …

The Effects Of Relative Humidity And Valency On Water Absorption And Structure In Polyelectrolyte Brushes, Andrea Klima

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this project was to understand the relationship between relative humidity, ion valency, and the structure of water on positively (PMETAC) and negatively (PSPMA) charged polyelectrolyte brushes. The polyelectrolyte brushes were synthesized using Activators Regenerated by Electron Transfer Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ARGET ATRP) and were soaked in concentrations containing 0.1 M of the target counterion. The brushes were then exposed to humid vapor, and spectra were collected in 5% intervals between 0% and 85% for each counterion. Two trials were completed for each counterion studied to ensure agreement between datasets. In all spectra, peaks appeared for the …

Adjustable Load On Cvt Driven Project, Elijah Saxton, Colin Mcconnell, Trent Bolek, Caleb Malboeuf, Alexander Rawson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

SAE Baja, also known as Baja SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers Baja), is a series of collegiate design competitions organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). These competitions challenge teams of students to design, build, and race off-road vehicles that can withstand rough terrain and perform in various dynamic events. The objective of this Senior Design Project is to design, manufacture, and test an adjustable driven Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT) pulley to adjust the preload on the spring. This will allow easier adjustment on the CVT preload at smaller increments. This design could be used for future Zips Baja …

Development Of A Modular Solar Shingle, David Dye, Andrew Schmidt, Mitchell Cozzens

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of this research project is to design, prototype, and test an array of solar roofing shingles using print-in-place principles using an automated circuitry printer and 3D printed components. The shingle shall emphasize ease of installation, maintenance, and affordability in contrast to the current market for solar roofing. The design goal is to develop a manufacturing process to be more cost and time effective than current manufacturing techniques. The prototype will consist of a roof with this system, demonstrating the durability, assembly, and ease of installation. Finally, material/design suitability will be implemented in conjunction with postprocessing techniques to create …

Schaeffler Icvd Coating Machine, Louis Mcgrath

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) is mutual technology used to deposit thin film through a gaseous phase by vaporizing the solid materials. This conventional process usually requires high thermal stability of the materials, which is not applicable for most of the polymeric materials. Therefore, a novel process, initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition (iCVD) is developed by introducing the gaseous monument and initiator to form the thin film in-situ. By adjusting the free-radical polymerization in the vapor phase, a variety of thin and uniform polymer films can be achieved. Depending on the chemistry, iCVD has many categories. This report explains the design …

Midi Recorder And Learning Tool, Caden Dees, Saikishore Gowrishankar, Cameron Johnson, Benjamin Bolyard

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The project's goal is to create a device that can record MIDI files from any standard 88-key piano as well as teach piano learners how to play songs.

Autonomous Damage And Structure Scanning Drone, Natasha Ninan, Amber Long, Lee Nestor, Emmanuel Jensen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Remote damage analysis plays a crucial role in lowering the risk associated with human presence at dangerous sites. This project focuses on developing a system for remote structural examination using photogrammetric techniques and analysis. The system utilizes a drone equipped with cameras for photogrammetry, and LiDARs for navigation. This setup can enable efficient structural model generation with the collection of images from multiple points. A novel structural analysis is performed to detect potential damage or points of failure in the structure.

Key components include a teleoperated drone, a software pipeline for photogrammetric analysis, collision protection mechanisms, and a user interface. …

Degradable Staples And Delivery Device, Meha Elango, Jessica Cabrera, Makayla Scarpitti, Kareemat Melaiye

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The scope of this project is to design a method to secure skin grafts to healthy tissue. The ultimate goal for the proposed method is to be dissolvable in some form. Currently, skin grafts procedures utilize staples in most cases to hold a skin graft in place, but there are disadvantages that come with it. Staples are easy to place, but time consuming during the removal procedure. They also cause a lot of pain and discomfort for the patient. The goal of this project is to determine a way a secure skin grafts to healthy skin in order to reduce …

3d Printed Drone (Body And Controls), Michael Dick, Hayden Pinkelman, Tanner Henderson, Logan Prince

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective is to build a scaled down model of a 3D printed drone capable of carrying a payload scalable to 50 lbs. for a wide array of applications. Some applications of the drone could include delivering support materials during natural disasters, such as foam to put out fire or medical aid packs to provide aid to injured people, food or package delivery, or military applications. The project has been split up into two groups. One group will be focusing on the propulsion aspect of the project, such as the electric motors and airfoil. Simultaneously, this group will design the …

Assessing Co2 Capture On Amine Sorbents At Low Vacuum Swing Conditions, Brock Haas, Payton Taylor

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to Earth's atmosphere have increased rapidly in recent decades largely due to growing fossil fuel use in human-led activities The research contained in this proposal assesses a way to capture CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. The project studies the effectiveness of a vacuum swing adsorption (VSA) process for capture of CO2 from air. CO2 will first be adsorbed by introducing an amine sorbent to a CO2-rich environment for a predetermined period. The amine sorbent will be placed in a VSA unit that will operate at the desorption stage. The sorbent will then be sent to a …

Zips Racing Electric Brakes Design, Zachary Koneval, Andrew Thompson, Cory Baczkowski

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Zips electric racing team is a collegiate team full of engineering students to make a formula electric car that competes against other universities and their cars. But before the cars make it to competition they go through a series of tests to make sure the car is able to perform in all of the actual competition stages. One of the tests for the cars is the brakes test. Where the car has to lock up all four wheels at once and stop in a square that is on the ground. So in this report we have detailed out our …

Systems Engineering In Zips Aero Design, Benjamin Kemal Sabic, Mathieu Kumiega

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research project has the goal of implementing systems engineering in the Zips Aero Design team at the University of Akron at a general member level. The use of systems engineering techniques will be employed to keep every member on track throughout the competition season. The deliverables of this project are the PDR, CDR, AIAA DBF Proposal, AIAA Technical Design Report, the Prototype Aircraft, and the Competition Aircraft.

Design Of An Experimental Solid Rocket Motor, Johnathan Bettes, Andrew Fuller

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project utilizes mechanical and chemical principles to characterize propellant grains and to manufacture a custom nozzle to create experimental Solid Rocket Motors (SRMs) with a propellant called Angry Listerine. For the propellant grains, one major non-chemical factor that determines its thrust performance is the grain geometry, or the core of the grains for which hot gases flow through the propellant and out of the nozzle to further react with exposed chemical surfaces. The two kinds of grain geometries analyzed and tested in this report are called MoonBurner, an offset circular core, and Finocyl, a gear-shaped core. The nozzle for …

Custom Mobility Aid - Exoskeleton, Jenna Rentsch, Mackenzie Yu, Perry Antalek, Joseph Wisniewski

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Injuries to the spinal cord can cause major mobility deficits, paralysis, and even death. Our client is an adult male who has suffered fractures to the C4 and C5 vertebrae resulting in partial nerve damage and loss of mobility in the lower extremities, primarily on the left side. He complains of significant loss of function and frequent falls due to an inability to fully pick-up his left foot and hold his hip in flexion during swing phase of gait. He describes his walking as a "stuttered walk" and frequently complains that his left foot drags and drops during steps. The …

Nfpa Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge, Rachel Wasik, Kimberly Griggy

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of this project is to design a system which prioritizes safety and efficiency that uses human power converted to hydraulic power to drive a bicycle. This project is being done to compete with other university teams in making the best vehicle that runs on fluid power. It will help the members of the team to gain design and testing experience, learn about fluid power systems, and gain experience with working as a team and sharing/distributing responsibilities.

Causational Analysis And Rectification Of Issues Concerning Scale Formation On Hot-Rolled Straight Bar Product And Its Effects On Ultrasonic Testing, Riley Mattix

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

At Charter Steel's NDT Processing Plant located in Cleveland, Ohio, a concern has arisen regarding the recently implemented bar straightening and UT (Ultrasonic Testing) equipment. A substantial amount of mill scale, which is typically removed during the straightening process, is persisting on the bar’s surface throughout most of the NDT procedure. This lingering scale has been observed to flake off once inside the UT equipment, introducing unwanted noise and phantom peaks into the UT readings. Additionally, thick mill scale has been identified as a source of background interference in the received data. In contrast, bars that have been subjected to …

Corrosion Inhibitors: Mitigating The Degradation Of Rebar, Jake R. Hughes

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Our conjecture was twofold: first, that two compounds historically used as food preservatives could act as environmentally friendly inhibitors against rebar corrosion, and second, that molecular properties have a quantifiable influence on inhibition efficiency (%IE). To evaluate the two compounds, cyclic potentiodynamic polarization was used to determine corrosion current density (i_corr) and %IE. The “green” inhibitor candidates included sodium metabisulfite and ascorbic acid, which yielded maximum %IE values of -123900% and 91%, respectively. Results indicated that sodium metabisulfite is not a suitable inhibitor, while ascorbic acid showed potential to extend reinforced concrete’s design life without posing health or …

Construction Composites Of Recycled Pvc And Recycled Polyolefins, Natalie Prusovic

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Current construction composites are typically only composed of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and recycled PVC (rPVC). This proposed project will investigate if recycled polyethylene (rPE) and polypropylene (rPP) can be used instead of PVC in those materials. Different compositions of rPE, rPP, and rPVC blends will be compounded and a T-peel test will be performed to test the adhesion.

Analysis Of Earthquake Resistant Structures Using Matlab, Rhett Hamilton Brodie

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper is a report for the development of MATLAB software to aid in the organization, analysis, and interpretation of results from the research and design of earthquake resistant structures.

Exploring Natural Raw Materials For The Development Of Hot Melt Adhesives For Linings Of Paintings, Erica Factor

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Natural raw materials will be explored for developing hot melt adhesives for the lining of paintings. The leading raw material is a natural resin called "Damar". This resin is obtained from the tree family Dipterocaupocea in India and Southeast Asia. This material has shown promising results from initial testing. Damar, with the potential for other natural raw materials, will be combined with synthetic ingredients to create sustainable formulations. The formulations will be tested on linen to replicate the application onto paintings. The sustainability, tackiness, texture, and overall performance of each formula will be considered. Once a formulation has been selected, …

Determination Of Spore Viability In Concrete Across Several Factors Using Most Probable Number, Samuel Boyer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

To determine the lowest concentration of spore added to polyurethane-cement composite (PUCCO) particles that can still germinate after curing in concrete. This research project is a small addition to the larger research project being undertaken by Mirza Mohammed Rashiduzzaman for his Masters. The larger project involves the use of fungal spores added in concrete to act as a self-healing component when cracks form in the concrete structure over time. These spores are suspended in a protective oil and loaded into small, hardened sponge-like PUCCO cubes to act as growth points when water and air can reach the PUCCO in the …

Removal Of Residual Stress In 3d Printed Polymers, Christian Jenkins

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project aims to investigate the relationship between stress relaxation and the reduction of dimensional shrinkage and warping in 3D printed polymers produced through fused filament fabrication. The hypothesis suggests that residual stress in 3D printed structures results from factors such as temperature differences, molecular-level contributions, and rapid cooling, causing post-printing warpage and damage. To mitigate these issues, the project proposes annealing 3D printed polymers in a hot sandbath to allow stress relaxation without warping. The study will employ a Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) machine to assess mechanical properties of relaxed and unrelaxed samples, comparing their effectiveness. The project's timeline …

Aggregation-Induced Emission Probe For Alzheimer's Detection And Treatment Screening, Gemini Ramlo

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The proposed project is to research if ROF-2, an aggregation-induced emitter, can be used to screen medications for Alzheimer's Disease and to accurately detect this disease, along with its progression. This will be done through multiple incubation periods using different identifiers that have already been solidified within Alzheimer's research to prove its ability and accuracy within screening and detection regarding this disease.

Development Of A 2-Dof Robotic Uterus Manipulator, Jeremiah Eggleston, Nicole Pishnery, Siddharth Navaneetha Raj

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective for our senior design project was to design a better uterus manipulator to assist with hysterectomies. We worked with our advisor Dr. Sam Song from the university’s Mechanical Engineering department. There are a variety of uterus manipulators on the market currently, each with unique design features to make the manipulator safer and more effective (van den Haak et al, 2015). Our group’s design modifies and sets itself apart from manipulators currently on the market. Going off others’ attempts to make a better manipulator (Fournelis, 2022), the key modifications our design incorporates are an additional degree of freedom (for …

Application Of Conductivity Techniques For Interlayer Discontinuity Detection In Additively Manufactured Metal Materials, Joshua D. Newell, Riley R. Myers

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Additive manufacturing is becoming increasingly more popular and efficient. One drawback is the possibility of interlayer discontinuities forming in the material. A non-destructive technique utilizing the changing resistivity of the material as discontinuities appear was used to detect those discontinuities and was verified through additional testing of manually added through-thickness discontinuities. This technique has been proven to be useful in understanding fatigue crack growth of conventional metal and composite structures. Experimental investigation of fatigue in steel with an edge notch has been performed using these techniques to understand source and location of crack formation and growth in conventional material. Application …

Ion Current Analysis And Misfire Prediction During Cold Start In A Compression Ignition Engine, Manan Jyotin Trivedi

Wayne State University Dissertations

In future, compression ignition engines are anticipated to continue powering heavy-duty trucks and certain machinery, while passenger vehicles and light-duty vehicles will increasingly be battery powered. However, compression ignition engines face challenges such as combustion instability, misfiring, and high unburnt hydrocarbon emissions when started under severe cold conditions. These issues can be mitigated through the use of real-time feedback to the engine's control module.

The ion current signal, reflective of combustion and emissions characteristics, has proven to be a reliable feedback signal under warmed-up conditions. In this dissertation, the potential of the ion current signal as a feedback mechanism during …

Autonomous Robot For Indoor Enhanced Living (Ariel), Prabhjot Kaur

Wayne State University Dissertations

The global population is aging rapidly, with the total percentage of older adults (65 years and older) projected to increase from 10\% of the total population in 2022 to 16\% by 2050, according to the World Population Prospectus 2022 issued by the United Nations. For certain parts of the world such as Europe and North America, this translates to 1 in every 4 persons is projected to be 65 years or older by 2060. This trend raises concerns about providing quality long-term care for the older population. Moreover, according to the 2021 survey by the American Association of Retired Persons …

Security Information And Event Management Optimization Using Deep Federated Learning In Cloud-Based Autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems, Mohamed Mounir Moussa

Wayne State University Dissertations

The integration of cloud-based technologies into Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) is reshaping the field by combining Deep Federated Learning (DFL), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), and cloud-dew computing. This solution leverages cloud-based resource provisioning, which is crucial for allocating scalable and efficient computational resources in a dynamic manner. These resources are essential for managing the intricate data and computing requirements of distributed systems, especially in the intelligent vehicle sector. This provisioning facilitates the efficient control of route mapping and cybersecurity in Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs), guaranteeing the ability to process and make decisions in real-time.The research evaluates the …

Development Of Advanced Multi-Nozzle Multi-Material 3d Printing, Mohammed Al Ali

Wayne State University Dissertations

Extrusion-based 3D printing methods, such as Direct Ink Writing, are extensively utilized across sectors like biomedical, energy, and electronics, employing a diverse range of materials. However, the lengthy printing times associated with single-nozzle systems limit their application in complex mass production and rapid prototyping. While multi-nozzle systems have attempted to address this issue, they often result in costly, and bulky setups with limited material options. This research introduces a novel multi-nozzle multi-material system that allows for simultaneous 3D printing using bent nozzles. The system is cost-effective, simple in design, and capable of printing a wide range of materials. Its universal …