Mechanics of Materials Commons^™

System For Imaging And Measuring Rail Deflection, Shane M. Farritor

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Devices, systems, and methods for imaging and measuring deflections in structures such as railroad rail are disclosed. One exemplary embodiment relates to a vision system having a high-speed, visible-light imaging camera and an evaluation unit configured for analyzing images from the camera to detect geometric variations in the structure. In a second example, additional sensors are used to identify the wheel location(s) in the same reference frame as the mea Surement system. In analyzing structures Such as railroad track rail, the imaging camera can be coupled to a moving rail vehicle and configured for generating images of the rail as …

Effect Of Random Ethylene Comonomer On Relaxation Of Flow-Induced Precursors In Isotactic Polypropylene, Benjamin Schammé, Eric Dargent, Lucia Fernandez-Ballester

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The effect of comonomer on structure and relaxation of flow-induced precursors was investigated in a series of isotactic polypropylene and random propylene−ethylene copolymers. The polymers were subjected to flow by fiber pulling and allowed to relax above their nominal melting temperature for specific times. The type of morphology developed after cooling revealed whether flow-induced precursors were still present or the melt had fully reequilibrated. Precursors were long-lived and, at fixed temperature, decayed significantly faster with higher ethylene content. The critical time for precursor relaxation followed an Arrhenius-type dependence with temperature. The apparent energy of activation for precursor dissolution decreased with …

Rapidly Solidified Rare-Earth Permanent Magnets: Processing, Properties, And Applications, Shampa Aich, Dillip K. Satapathy, Jeffrey E. Shield

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Rapidly solidified rare-earth-based permanent magnets are considered to have better potential as permanent magnets compared to the conventional bulk materials, which can be attributed to their improved microstructure and better magnetic properties compared to rare-earth magnets synthesized by the conventional (powder metallurgy) routes. The performance (quality) of these magnets depends on the thermodynamics and kinetics of the different processing routes, such as atomization, melt spinning, and melt extraction. Here, we review the various processing routes of rapidly solidified rare-earth permanent magnets and the related properties and applications. In the review, some specific alloy systems, such as Sm–Co-based alloys, Nd–Fe–B, and …

Biodegradable Elastic Nanofibrous Platforms With Integrated Flexible Heaters For On-Demand Drug Delivery, Ali Tamayol, Alireza Hassani Najafabadi, Pooria Mostafalu, Ali K. Yetisen, Mattia Commotto, Musab Aldhahri, Mohamed Shaaban Abdel-Wahab, Zeynab Izadi Najafabadi, Shahrzad Latifi, Mohsen Akbari, Nasim Annabi, Seok Hyun Yun, Adnan Memic, Mehmet R. Dokmeci, Ali Khademhosseini

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Delivery of drugs with controlled temporal profiles is essential for wound treatment and regenerative medicine applications. For example, bacterial infection is a key challenge in the treatment of chronic and deep wounds. Current treatment strategies are based on systemic administration of high doses of antibiotics, which result in side effects and drug resistance. On-demand delivery of drugs with controlled temporal profile is highly desirable. Here, we have developed thermally controllable, antibiotic-releasing nanofibrous sheets. Poly(glycerol sebacate)- poly(caprolactone) (PGS-PCL) blends were electrospun to form elastic polymeric sheets with fiber diameters ranging from 350 to 1100 nm and substrates with a tensile modulus …

Nondestructive Testing System Design For Biological Product Based On Vibration Signal Analysis Of Acceleration Sensor, Xiaohao Li, Tao Shen

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

In order to reduce the disadvantages of current biological product quality testing methods, taking the quality testing in cocoon trade markets as an example, this paper has proposed a quality nondestructive testing method for biological products based on the analysis of vibration signal from acceleration sensors. According to the wavelet transformation analysis on the random vibration signal acquired from the acceleration sensor, the random vibration signal related to the silkworm chrysalis quality has been analyzed and reconstructed; then the characteristic values such as: mean value, variance, mean square root, waveform index, pulse factor, and so on of the quality signal …

Solution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy On A Nanostructured Diamond Chip, P. Kehayias, A. Jarmola, N. Mosavian, I. Fescenko, F.M. Benito, A. Laraoui, J. Smits, L. Bougas, D. Budker, A. Neumann, S.R.J. Brueck, V.M. Acosta

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Sensors using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond are a promising tool for small-volume nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, but the limited sensitivity remains a challenge. Here we show nearly two orders of magnitude improvement in concentration sensitivity over previous nitrogen-vacancy and picoliter NMR studies. We demonstrate NMR spectroscopy of picoliter-volume solutions using a nanostructured diamond chip with dense, high-aspect-ratio nanogratings, enhancing the surface area by 15 times. The nanograting sidewalls are doped with nitrogen-vacancies located a few nanometers from the diamond surface to detect the NMR spectrum of roughly 1 pl of fluid lying within adjacent nanograting grooves. We perform 1H …

Micro/Nanostructures Formation By Femtosecond Laser Surface Processing On Amorphous And Polycrystalline Ni60nb40, Edwin Peng, Alfred Tsubaki, Craig A. Zuhlke, Meiyu Wang, Ryan Bell, Michael J. Lucis, Troy P. Anderson, Dennis R. Alexander, George Gogos, Jeffrey E. Shield

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Femtosecond laser surface processing is a technology that can be used to functionalize many surfaces, imparting specialized properties such as increased broadband optical absorption or superhydrophilicity/superhydrophobicity. In this study, two unique classes of surface structures, below surface growth (BSG) and above surface growth (ASG) mounds, were formed by femtosecond laser surface processing on amorphous and polycrystalline Ni₆₀Nb₄₀ with two different grain sizes. Cross sectional imaging of these mounds revealed thermal evidence of the unique formation processes for each class of surface structure. BSG mounds formed on all three substrates using the same laser parameters had similar surface …

Methods , Systems , And Devices Relating To Robotic Surgical Devices , End Effectors , And Controllers, Shane M. Farritor, Thomas Frederick, Joe Bartels, Eric Markvicka, Jack Mondry

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The various embodiments disclosed herein relate to improved robotic surgical systems, including robotic surgical devices having improved arm components and/or bio metric sensors, contact detection systems for robotic surgical devices, gross positioning systems and devices for use in robotic surgical systems, and improved external controllers and consoles.

Impact Of Clip Connection And Insulation Thickness On Bracing Of Purlins In Standing Seam Roof Systems, Michael W. Seek, Daniel Mclaughlin

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The flexural strength of purlins in standing seam roof systems is highly dependent upon the extent to which the sheathing provides lateral and torsional restraint. Typical models to predict the restraint provided by the sheathing assume that the plane of lateral resistance occurs at the top flange of the purlin. In reality, depending on the configuration of the clip and the amount of insulation located between the purlin and the clip, the plane of lateral resistance and corresponding center of rotation shifts above the top flange. This distance, referred to as the effective standoff, is important to evaluate the effectiveness …

Frontal Crash Analysis Of A Conformable Cng Tank Using Finite Element Analysis, Datta Sandesh Manjunath

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The purpose of this study is to computationally model and analyze a Conformable Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fuel tank for frontal crashes using Finite Element Analysis. Researchers have developed a CNG fuel tank, which is conformable, non-conventional and non-cylindrical. This tank increases cost efficiency, volumetric efficiency and cargo efficiency in CNG vehicle applications. A lightweight pickup truck (2015 Chevrolet Silverado) has been used to integrate the CNG tanks and field-testing has been conducted to demonstrate the application.

The report mainly focuses on the effective finite element modeling of the chassis, brackets and tanks using HYPERMESH and RADIOSS. The frontal crash …