Engineering Commons^™

The Effects Of Varying Composition And Build Direction On Direct Metal Deposition Fabricated Inconel 718, Abigail P. Nilan, Jessica M. Fordham

Materials Engineering

Inconel 718 (IN718) is a popular wrought superalloy, and is currently being investigated for additive manufacturing (AM) applications in the aerospace industry. However, overaging and the presence of microcracks have caused a significant reduction in properties. The purpose of this study is to meet or exceed the mechanical properties of wrought IN718 by varying the composition and build direction of the AM alloy. Alternative compositions were selected with Oerlilon Metco’s Rapid Alloy Development (RAD) software, and differ in niobium content, which increases the fraction of the primary strengthening phase (γʺ). Direct metal deposition (DMD) was used to fabricate the samples, …

Roborodentia, Bryan D. Hendricks

Computer Engineering

This project is an autonomous robot, designed to perform a series of basic tasks without any human input. It’s based on the 2018 Roborodentia competition, in which teams of students design and build a small (roughly 1 square foot) robot that collects small foam spheres from vertical tubes on the edges of a table-sized arena, and shoot them into goals across the field. The more foam spheres the robot makes into the goals after a 3 minute time period, the more points they get. The challenge is doing so autonomously, without any human input after the initial timer for the …

Otd 360 Corsa Plate And Pcb Recreation, Patrick Ryan Malapira

Computer Engineering

Mechanical keyboards have a rich history alongside the development of personal computers with keyboards from leading manufacturers such as IBM and Apple, which are sought after by today’s enthusiast. As the hobby matured and hobbyist began straying from original equipment manufacturer, OEM, mechanical keyboards, enthusiasts sought to create their own keyboards.The custom mechanical keyboard hobby’s origins can be traced back to Korea on an online forum otd.kr. Custom mechanical keyboards has progressed far past the provided OEM solutions focusing on various aspects such as ergonomics, programmability, and portability. In today’s do it yourself, DIY, culture, hobbyists can play a role …

Lionfish Detection System, Carmelo Furlan, Andrew Boniface

Computer Engineering

Deep neural networks have proven to be an effective method in classification of images. The ability to recognize objects has opened the door for many new systems which use image classification to solve challenging problems where conventional image classification would be inadequate. We trained a large, deep convolutional neural network to identify lionfish from other species that might be found in the same habitats. Google’s Inception framework served as a powerful platform for our fish recognition system. By using transfer learning, we were able to obtain exceptional results for the classification of different species of fish. The convolutional neural network …

Development Of Test Methods For Measuring Fiber Misalignment And Warping In Honeycomb-Core Composite Panels, Wyatt Taylor, Haripriya Nilakantan

Materials Engineering

Zodiac Aerospace manufactures honeycomb-core composite panels to be used in aircraft cabin interior components. During the manufacturing process, some panels become warped such that they cannot be used for their designated aircraft cabin components. As a result, these panels are scrapped because they cannot be recycled. About 44 to 90% of panels become warped during manufacturing. Warping is caused by many factors, including layer misalignment, processing parameters such as temperature and pressure gradients, and fiber misalignment in the prepregs. Currently, Zodiac does not have any data on the effect of fiber misalignment on panel warpage, so a testing protocol was …

Roborodentia Final Report, Trevor James Gesell, Zeph Colby Nord, Mitchell Tyler Myjak

Computer Engineering

The Senior Project consisted of competing in Roborodentia, a competition in which groups build robots to complete a particular task. This event took place at the Cal Poly Open House on Saturday, April 12th, 2018. For the competition, the robot was to collect Nerf balls from supply tubes raised approximately 7” from the board and shoot them into nets placed along the opposite side of the course. The design, manufacture, and testing of the robot began the first week of Cal Poly winter quarter and lasted until the day of the competition.

Synthesis Of Ɣ-Cyclodextrin Metal Organic Frameworks And The Encapsulation Of Caffeine And Theophylline, Evan Noel Sommerville, Riley Andrew Harden

Materials Engineering

Nanoporous, non-toxic, ɣ-cyclodextrin metal organic frameworks (𝛾-CDMOFs) have potential applications in fields such as drug delivery and organic compound storage. The properties of many methylxanthines (alkaloids such as caffeine and theophylline) could be improved through 𝛾-CDMOF encapsulation, yet little research has been performed on the subject. In this study, 𝛾-CDMOFs were synthesized in order to 1. Determine if the vapor diffusion synthesis method can produce 𝛾-CDMOF crystals that replicate those in literature and 2. Determine if 𝛾-CDMOFs are able to encapsulate methylxanthines. The 𝛾-CDMOFs were synthesized through vapor diffusion of methanol in a solution of ɣ-cyclodextrin and potassium hydroxide (KOH). …

Next Generation Protocol: Innovating A Resilient Future, Andrew Steven Rudnick, Jamie Cannady, Joe Decesaro, Juan A. Ortiz Salazar

Materials Engineering

Conventional practices do not account for product life beyond end-of-sale – these practices are not sustainable. We have developed an end-of-life protocol that includes a metric that we call the Recovery Rating. The objectives of this Next Generation Protocol, beyond supporting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, are to encourage the production of goods designed for recovery and to promote the collaboration between consumers, the public, and the private sector to recover goods at their end-of-life. The Recovery Rating that we propose evaluates and quantifies recovery potential of products. The Recovery Rating, which is normed against embodied energy from the …

Investigation Of Narloy-Z Yield Strength In Response To Changes In Ingot Processing And Heat Treatment, Stanley C. Goto, Sarah E. Wattenberg

Materials Engineering

This study investigates the effect of cooling rate on the yield strength of NARloy-Z. NARloy-Z is a copper-based alloy with 3 wt.% silver and 0.5 wt.% zirconium. The types of NARloy-Z were classified by the ingot processing (old or new) and the material lot (old or new). There were three variations of NARloy-Z in this study: old processing and material (Old/Old); old processing and new material (Old/New); and new processing and material (New/New). NARloy-Z undergoes a braze thermal cycle and age (BTCA) heat treatment for its application, and a single cooling rate within the BTCA was manipulated in this study. …

Upgrading The Sr-30 Miniature Turbojet For Adaptable Exhaust, Shannon Ferreira, Erin Mcmurchie, Peter Pratt

Mechanical Engineering

The California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly, SLO) Aerospace Department is requesting a variable nozzle adaptation for their SR-30 turbojet engine. The nozzle is intended for laboratory use in sophomore and junior level courses to supplement instruction on the effects that exhaust behavior has on the performance of propulsion technologies. Topics covered during a performance study of the SR-30 turbojet engine will include, but are not limited to: Brayton Cycle analysis, turbojet operation in ideal and non-ideal test conditions, instrumentation limitations, and basic nozzle operation. The SR-30 turbojet engine is similar in design and operation to engines …

Prove Endurance Car Front Suspension, Lauren A. Williams, Logan Simon, Justine G. Kwan

Mechanical Engineering

This document details the collaborative Mechanical Engineering Senior Project with Cal Poly PROVE Lab on PROVE Lab’s Project 2; an electric vehicle designed to travel 1000 miles on a single charge. Logan Simon, Justine Kwan, and Lauren Williams are given the challenge of designing an innovative proof of concept front suspension suspension for this vehicle.

After detailed research of new suspension systems, it was determined that the innovative nature could be in the form of unique manufacturing methods, materials use, or mechanical design. At this point in time, this vehicle is a purely conceptual design with no concrete requirements. Therefore …

Developing An Integrated Model For The Corn, Ethanol, And Beef Systems Using A Loosely Coupled Web Framework, Ryan Anderson

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

With the global population approaching 9 billion people by the year 2050, the world’s food, energy, and water (FEW) resources must be used more intelligently to provide for everyone. While we understand how individual FEW systems behave using modeling, we cannot understand the full environmental and production impacts of decisions in each system without understanding how they are all linked together. An approach to coupling these systems is starting with identifying a few highly interconnected FEW systems. The corn, ethanol, and beef systems are large economic and agricultural drivers in the Midwest United States and are highly linked. Many individual …

Elucidating The Mechanisms Of Two Unique Phenomena Governed By Particle-Particle Interaction Under Dep: Tumbling Motion Of Pearl Chains And Alignment Of Ellipsoidal Particles, Yu Zhao, Jozef Brcka, Jacques Faguet, Guigen Zhang

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Particle-particle interaction plays a crucial role in determining the movement and alignment of particles under dielectrophoresis (DEP). Previous research efforts focus on studying the mechanism governing the alignment of spherical particles with similar sizes in a static condition. Different approaches have been developed to simulate the alignment process of a given number of particles from several up to thousands depending on the applicability of the approaches. However, restricted by the simplification of electric field distribution and use of identical spherical particles, not much new understanding has been gained apart from the most common phenomenon of pearl chain formation. To enhance …

Incorporating Diegetic Elements To Increase Engagement In Games For Engineering Education, Katherine Smith, Yuzhong Shen, Anthony W. Dean

VMASC Publications

One of the difficulties in developing educational games is maintaining player engagement. This engagement is critical for games to provide effective learning experiences. One way to increase engagement in games is to limit interruptions during game play. In educational games, this can be accomplished by incorporating learning or problem-solving elements diegetically. Diegetic elements are those that are part of the game scene. With this in mind, a series of games for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education has been developed focusing on content in courses that are prerequisites to the engineering curriculum. These games cover topics in pre-calculus, calculus, …

Integrating Statistical Methods In Engineering Technology Courses, Sanjeevi Chitikeshi, Jake Hildebrant, Otilia Popescu, Orlando M. Ayala, Vukica M. Jovanovic

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Statistical methods and procedures are very important in engineering applications. In most of the engineering fields electronic devices are used as sensing and controlling components. Lack of proper calibration of these devices and of performance analysis using different statistical methods may lead to erroneous measurements and results. In medical or manufacturing areas such errors in the experimental results could be catastrophic. Applying different statistical tests and procedures enhance the quality of engineering work. Traditionally, most engineering curricula have at least one required course in applied statistics in engineering, but that is not generally the case in engineering technology programs. Most …

A Systematic Process For Implementing Mass Customization In Residential Preconstruction, Spencer J. Blaylock

Theses and Dissertations

According to production process theory, customization is directly related to cost and inversely related to volume, efficiency, and productivity. However, customers generally desire products that are individually tailored to their wants and needs. For this reason, as residential contractors grow, they struggle to meet customers' demands for flexibility. This struggle to increase customization is not unique to the construction industry and many other industries have studied this problem in depth. While the inverse relationship between customization and cost is generally true, mass customization can enable increased customization with limited or no increased cost. The residential construction process employs many mass …

Real-Time Feedback For In-Class Introductory Computer Programming Exercises, Ariana Dawn Sellers

Theses and Dissertations

Computer programming is a difficult subject to master. Introductory programming courses often have low retention and high failure rates. Part of the problem is identifying if students understand the lecture material. In a traditional classroom, a professor can gauge a class's understanding on questions asked during lecture. However, many struggling students are unlikely to speak up in class. To address this problem, recent research has focused on gathering compiler data from programming exercises to identify at-risk students in these courses. These data allow professors to intervene with individual students who are at risk and, after analyzing the data for a …

Test Method For Predicting Failure Modes In Protective Films, Aubrey Jeanette Decker

Theses and Dissertations

In the business of packaging engineering, a large consumption of time is placed on evaluating new materials to provide cost savings to a company. This evaluation is made by using test methods such as those found in ASTM D4169-16, which helps to simulate shipping and distribution conditions. A key problem is that this test method can take up to multiple months, and sometimes years to complete. The apparatus created in this study allows for a comparison to be made between currently used films and prospective films in approximately ten hours. This allows for a prescreening of new films to be …

Hardware And Software Improvements To A Low-Cost Holographic Video Monitor, Andrew August Henrie

Theses and Dissertations

The "Mark V" Holographic Video Monitor ("HoloMonitor") is a continuation of effort and accomplishments to produce a low-cost device capable of reproducing true full-color horizontal-parallax-only computer-generated holograms at typical video frame-rates. While other devices around the world may have greater capabilities, these devices are currently confined to laboratory settings due to their sheer complexity and expense. The aim of this project is to provide researchers and "tinkerers" with a device capable of recreating holographic effects in full color, respectable resolution, in real time, and at a comparatively low cost. The "Mark V" HoloMonitor is a closer representation of a consumer …

Crash Severity Distributions For Life-Cycle Benefit-Cost Analysis Of Safety-Related Improvements On Utah Roadways, Conor Judd Seat

Theses and Dissertations

The Utah Department of Transportation developed life-cycle benefit-cost analysis spreadsheets that allow engineers and analysts to evaluate multiple safety countermeasures. The spreadsheets have included the functionality to evaluate a roadway based on the 11 facility types from the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) with the use of crash severity distributions. The HSM suggests that local agencies develop crash severity distributions based on their local crash data. The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Brigham Young University worked with the Statistics Department to develop crash severity distributions for the facility types from the HSM.The primary objective of this research was to …

High Throughput Fpga Configuration Using A Custom Dma Configuration Controller, Peter William Zabriskie

Theses and Dissertations

SRAM-based Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) must be programmed with configuration data every time they are powered on. In addition to initially programming an FPGA, there are many other applications that require access to FPGA configuration memory such as partial reconfiguration, fault injection, and memory scrubbing. This thesis describes a system that provides high-speed, programmable configuration management for Xilinx FPGAs through external interfaces. This system is an improvement upon the JTAG Configuration Manager (JCM) previously created at BYU. The JCM consists of a custom I/O board paired with a MicroZed development board which includes a Xilinx ZYNQ SoC. This platform …

Using Quantitative Mri To Measure Cartilage Health, Laurel Jane Hales

Theses and Dissertations

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the leading causes of disability world-wide. It affects 12% of all Americans ages 25-74 [1]. One of the challenges with OA, is that there are currently no clinically viable methods to measure the health of the cartilage before cartilage loss. There are no ways to replace or heal the cartilage after it has been lost. It is known that the early stages of OA involve a decrease in the amount of glycosaminoglycans (GAG), one of the main molecules in cartilage. This decrease in GAG leads to a change in the fixed charge density of the …

Adjustment Of Rapidscat Backscatter Measurements For Improved Radar Images, Garrett Scott Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations

RapidScat is a spaceborne wind scatterometer mounted on the International Space Station (ISS). The RapidScat mission lasted from September 2014 to November 2016. RapidScat enables the measurement of diurnal patterns of sigma-0 measurements. This capability is possible because of the non-sun-synchronous orbit of the ISS, in which the local time of day (LTOD) of sigma-0 measurements gradually shifts over time in any given location. The ISS platform is a relatively unstable platform for wind scatterometers. Because of the varying attitude of the ISS, RapidScat experiences a constant variation of its pointing vector. Variations of the pointing vector cause variations in …

Parametric Study On Multi-Story, Partially Grouted, Perforated, Masonry Shear Walls By Finite Element Analysis, Kyle Henry Chavez

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, parameters related to material properties, geometry, and external stimuli were examined individually to determine their influence on multi-story, partially grouted, perforated (openings), masonry shear walls using a finite element software FormWorks. The parameters studied were: the strength of grouted masonry prisms f'_m,grouted; the strength of un-grouted (hollow) masonry prisms f'_m,ungrouted; the ratio of mortar shear strength to masonry compressive strength; vertical and horizontal reinforcement ratios in terms of size and spacing of reinforcement; axial load; aspect ratio; and openings that were vertically and horizontally altered. To perform this study, finite element models were …

Resilient Civil Infrastructure Under Dynamic Loadings, Xing Ma, Nawawi Chouw, Mohamed Elgawady, Songye Zhu

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A resilient infrastructural system is an important component of a modern city. The main principles are safety, sustainability, functionality, maintainability, and fast recoverability following natural and/or man-made hazards. This special issue addresses new research developments in resilient infrastructural systems under dynamic loadings, for example, wind, traffic, tsunamis, and earthquakes.

Formation Of Chromium-Iron Carbide By Carbon Diffusion In Alₓcocrfenicu High-Entropy Alloys, Mohsen Beyramali Kivy, Caitlin S. Kriewall, Mohsen Asle Zaeem

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Effect of the addition of carbon on phase formations in Al_xCoCrFeNiCu (x = 0.3, 1.5, 2.8) high-entropy alloys (HEAs) was studied. Free diffusion of carbon from graphite crucible resulted in the partitioning of the entire Cr from the matrix and the formation of the (Cr,Fe)₂₃C₆ phase in all HEAs. No other metal-carbide phase was detected. The formation of (Cr,Fe)₂₃C₆ enhanced the overall hardness of the HEAs. By increasing the amount of Al, the Cr amount decreased resulting in the reduction of carbon diffusion and volume fraction of the (Cr,Fe)₂₃C_{6 …}

A Retention Model For Community College Stem Students, Jennifer Snyder, Elizabeth A. Cudney

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The number of students attending community colleges that take advantage of transfer pathways to universities continues to rise. Therefore, there is a need to engage in academic research on these students and their attrition in order to identify areas to improve retention. Community colleges have a very diverse population and provide entry into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs, regardless of student high school preparedness. It is essential for these students to successfully transfer to universities and finish their STEM degrees to meet the global workforce demands. This research develops a predictive model for community college students for degree …

Carbon Sequestering Bio Concrete As A Solution To Growing Atmospheric Concentrations Of Co2, Connor Cech, Jackson Walker

Construction Management

High levels of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions into the atmosphere are propelling climate change, which has been proven to be highly detrimental to the planet. Cement production for the construction industry is a leading cause of these harmful carbon emissions. This project introduces a potential solution to this issue in the form of a new biological concrete that is treated with carbon sequestering bacteria of the Bacillus family to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. The consolidated research presented in this project will explain the biology behind this process, and how it can be implemented in construction …

Implementation Of Industry Technology Into The Construction Management Department, Kristen D. Forster

Construction Management

With technology being one of the fastest growing items in the construction industry it is important to keep on top of what is utilized most commonly. To fully prepare graduates for the work force, the Construction Management Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo needs to focus efforts on supplying students with the most commonly used industry technologies. Utilizing these programs in the current curriculum will ensure that graduates from the Construction Management Department are prepared to take on the work force with the most relevant software under their belts. Students who understand how to use these industry sanctioned technologies …

Value Analysis Of Cm Professional Certifications For Newly Graduated Cm Students, Christopher J. Coglianese

Construction Management

The construction industry has a staggering amount of professional certifications available to those who want to prove experience and expertise. There is usually a financial reason behind this. The more certifications a person has, the more likely he will be promoted and be paid more. As Cal Poly seniors entering the job market, they share these same incentives, and luckily there are plenty of certifications available to them. However, there are too many to choose from and some are too expensive. The question then lies, which certifications should graduating seniors spend their resources on? To answer this simple question, an …