Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Design, Fabrication, And Testing Of A High-Speed, Low-Cost Atomic Force Microscope Housing And Distance Measurement System, Jonathan Menke

All Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Advances to the state-of-the-art in fields like biology and material science often stand on the foundation of improved imaging. Here a low-cost Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) housing and distance measurement system was designed, fabricated, and tested. The instrument was developed around an Optical Pickup Unit (OPU) and designed for use as part of a high-speed AFM system. A structure to align the OPU with the probe holder was designed to ensure the beam of the OPU is positioned above the probe in addition to accommodating space, manufacturability, and cost constraints by using cost effective components. The designs were fabricated and …

Pore Microstructure Impacts On Lithium Ion Transport And Rate Capability Of Thick Sintered Electrodes, Ziyang Nie, Rohan Parai, Chen Cai, Charles Michaelis, Jacob M. Lamanna, Daniel S. Hussey, David L. Jacobson, Dipankar Ghosh, Gary M. Koenig Jr.

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Increasing electrode thickness is one route to improve the energy density of lithium-ion battery cells. However, restricted Li⁺ transport in the electrolyte phase through the porous microstructure of thick electrodes limits the ability to achieve high current densities and rates of charge/discharge with these high energy cells. In this work, processing routes to mitigate transport restrictions were pursued. The electrodes used were comprised of only active material sintered together into a porous pellet. For one of the electrodes, comparisons were done between using ice-templating to provide directional porosity and using sacrificial particles during processing to match the geometric density …

A Geometric Description Of The Set Of Stabilizing Pid Controllers, Keqin Gu, Qian Ma, Huiqing Zhou, Mahzoon Salma, Xingzi Yang

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

This article developed a new method to described the set of stabilizing PID control. The method is based on D-parameterization with natural description of the set. It was found that the stability crossing surface is a ruled surface that is completely determined by a curve known as discriminant. The discriminant is divided into sectors at the cusps. Corresponding to the sectors, the stability crossing surface is divided into positive and negative patches. A systematic study is conducted to identify the regions with a fixed number of right half-plane characteristic roots. The crossing directions of characteristic roots for positive patches and …

Localization Of Stationary Source Of Floor Vibration Using The Steered Response Power Method, Mohammad Royvaran

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

If the generated vibration in a building exceeds the acceptable limit design for a floor system, it is necessary to identify the source of vibration, a process known as localization. The objective of this study is the localization of stationary vibration sources, and the approach used is the steered response power (SRP) method. This method has already been shown to work well for wireless and acoustical applications to locate transmitter and sound sources, respectively. To the writer’s knowledge, this study is the first application of the SRP method to locate vibration sources using floor vibration measurements. However, because waves behave …

Measurements Of Wind Turbine Wake Evolution And Trajectory During Morning Boundary Layer Transition And Under Wake Steering Conditions Via Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Stewart Nelson

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

In July of 2019, a flight campaign was conducted using semi-autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) at the Port Alma Kruger Energy wind farm in Ontario, Canada, to study various aspects of wind turbine wake evolution. Horizontal transects across the wakes were measured using modified fixed-wing aircraft fitted with a five-hole probe to measure the wind velocity vector. Reference boundary layer conditions were measured by an octocopter with an assortment of mounted sensors flying vertical profiles upstream of the turbines. Three experiments were conducted during the campaign, which consisted of a study on wake behavior during the morning boundary layer transition, …

Electromagnetic Formation Control Using Frequency Multiplexing, Zahra Abbasi

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

This dissertation addresses control of relative positions and orientations of formation flying satellites using magnetic interactions. Electromagnetic formation flight (EMFF) is implemented, in which each satellite is equipped with a set of electromagnetic coils to generate an electromagnetic field. Traditional EMFF technique applies DC magnetic fields which lead to a nonlinear and highly coupled formation dynamics that allow for only position or orientation control of the satellites. We present a new frequency multiplexing method, which is a technique that uses multi-frequency sinusoidal controls, to approximately decouple the formation dynamics and to provide enough controls for both position and orientation control. …

Quality Assurance Of Lightweight Structures Via Phase-Based Motion Estimation, Ikenna E. Ifekaonwu

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In recent years, lightweight structures have become mature and adopted in various applications. The importance of quality assurance cannot be overemphasized hence extensive research has been conducted to assess the quality of lightweight structures. This study investigates a novel process that exploits motion magnification to investigate the damage characteristics of lightweight mission-critical parts. The goal is to assure the structural integrity of 3D printed structures and composite structures by determining the inherent defects present in the part by exploiting their vibration characteristics. The minuscule vibration of the structure was recorded with the aid of a high-speed digital camera, and the …

Physics-Based Modeling Of Lithium-Ion Batteries For Control And Estimation Applications, Brody J. C. Riemann

Masters Theses

“Lithium-ion batteries are extensively used in many application areas like consumer electronics, electric vehicles, and microgrids. As the world moves towards further electrification of vehicles and more widespread use of renewable energy sources, the need for large-scale battery storage systems will grow. To effectively replace conventional methods, batteries will need to be charged quickly while accounting for degradation to maximize lifetime. Further, larger batteries require more detailed safety monitoring, which is implemented using a battery management system (BMS). A BMS is responsible for state of charge (SOC) estimation, state of health (SOH) estimation, cell balancing, regulating voltage and current according …

Theoretical Study Of Magnetic Particles In A Shear Flow Subjected To A Uniform Magnetic Field, Christopher A. Sobecki

Doctoral Dissertations

"Magnetic manipulation of non-spherical magnetic microparticles is important for applications in shape-based and magnetic-based separations such as waste management, disease diagnostics, drug delivery, and mining. Manipulations of magnetic microparticles also include chain formation to assemble compositions for electronics, drug loading designs, and magnetorheological fluids for smart armor, hydraulic brakes, and dampers. In microfluidic devices, separation-formation-effectiveness depends on the shape of the channel, the shear rate, and the magnetic field strength and direction.

Particle separation and chain formation involved highly complex and computational expense-demanding studies in microfluidic devices, magnetic fields, and particle- particle/wall interactions. This research took complex experimental studies and …

Towards Systems On Cloth: The Design, Manufacturing, And Validation Of Open-Source Embroidered Resistors, Somerset Schrock

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This thesis is focused on advancing embroidered wearable electronics and textile electronics by creating open-source flexible resistors. Advancements in textile electronics could usher a new generation of smart devices that are entirely flexible. Current systems on cloth primarily use rigid components, which limits the flexibility and comfort of using the fabric devices. To advance this field, I propose a novel method of creating flexible electrical resistors with embroidery. To realize this technology, I created an open-source tool to create embroidery files for machine fabrication. This thesis details the methods and tools created for resistor fabrication. The resistors were tested to …

Digital Twins For Manufacturing And Logistics Systems: Is Simulation Practice Ready?, Francesco Longo, Antonio Padovano, Letizia Nicoletti, Mohaiad Elbasheer, Rafael Diaz

VMASC Publications

This article provides a theoretical contribution to the state-of-the-art of digital twins for manufacturing and logistics systems. The primary goal of this paper is to draw attention to the gap between the theoretical framework of digital twins in manufacturing and supply chain and their practical implementation from a simulation modeling point of view. Therefore, highlighting the recent innovations in the simulation practice that could provide the basis for digital twins with high levels of data integration, automation, and smart capabilities. This study follows a comparative approach to analyzing theoretical and technical readiness for developing digital twins with high fidelity and …

Door Barricade, Alex Cerino

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

My senior capstone project will be a door barricade. The main idea for the use of the door barricade is for schools in the case of an intruder. The barricade that I will be designing is a solution to the inefficient barricades that I saw at my high school. It could also be used at businesses and homes. My design would be easy to use and have a fail-safe option. The two areas of mechanical engineering technology that my capstone project will focus on are stress analysis and electronics. Every part for my door barricade is drawn in SolidWorks. All …

Nonlinear Model Predictive Control Of Wave Energy Converter, Isha Malekar

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In this report model predictive control (MPC) is applied to a simulated, spherical, point absorber wave energy converter to maximize energy extraction. Constraints are applied to the buoy's displacement and the power take-off (PTO) generator force. The WEC's "truth” model uses nonlinear Froude-Krylov (FK) hydrostatic and hydrodynamic forces. This is in contrast with previous studies where linear approximations are used in the form of a hydrostatic stiffness force and a wave excitation force. The nonlinear forces become significant when the vertical displacement of the buoy exceeds about 40% of the buoy's radius. Two versions of MPC are compared where optimal …

Development Of Autonomous Vehicle Motion Planning And Control Algorithm With D* Planner And Model Predictive Control In A Dynamic Environment, Somnath Mondal

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The research in this report incorporates the improvement in the autonomous driving capability of self-driving cars in a dynamic environment. Global and local path planning are implemented using the D* path planning algorithm with a combined Cubic B-Spline trajectory generator, which generates an optimal obstacle free trajectory for the vehicle to follow and avoid collision. Model Predictive Control (MPC) is used for the longitudinal and the lateral control of the vehicle. The presented motion planning and control algorithm is tested using Model-In-the-Loop (MIL) method with the help of MATLAB® Driving Scenario Designer and Unreal Engine® Simulator by Epic Games®. Different …

Toward Intelligent Welding By Building Its Digital Twin, Qiyue Wang

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

To meet the increasing requirements for production on individualization, efficiency and quality, traditional manufacturing processes are evolving to smart manufacturing with the support from the information technology advancements including cyber-physical systems (CPS), Internet of Things (IoT), big industrial data, and artificial intelligence (AI). The pre-requirement for integrating with these advanced information technologies is to digitalize manufacturing processes such that they can be analyzed, controlled, and interacted with other digitalized components. Digital twin is developed as a general framework to do that by building the digital replicas for the physical entities. This work takes welding manufacturing as the case study to …

Development Of Light Actuated Chemical Delivery Platform On A 2-D Array Of Micropore Structure, Hojjat Rostami Azmand, Hojjat Rostami Azmand

Dissertations and Theses

Localized chemical delivery plays an essential role in the fundamental information transfers within biological systems. Thus, the ability to mimic the natural chemical signal modulation would provide significant contributions to understand the functional signaling pathway of biological cells and develop new prosthetic devices for neurological disorders. In this paper, we demonstrate a light-controlled hydrogel platform that can be used for localized chemical delivery in a high spatial resolution. By utilizing the photothermal behavior of graphene-hydrogel composites confined within micron-sized fluidic channels, patterned light illumination creates the parallel and independent actuation of chemical release in a group of fluidic ports. The …

Electroosmotic Flow Of Viscoelastic Fluid Through A Constriction Microchannel, Jianyu Ji, Shizhi Qian, Zhaohui Liu

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Electroosmotic flow (EOF) has been widely used in various biochemical microfluidic applications, many of which use viscoelastic non-Newtonian fluid. This study numerically investigates the EOF of viscoelastic fluid through a 10:1 constriction microfluidic channel connecting two reservoirs on either side. The flow is modelled by the Oldroyd-B (OB) model coupled with the Poisson–Boltzmann model. EOF of polyacrylamide (PAA) solution is studied as a function of the PAA concentration and the applied electric field. In contrast to steady EOF of Newtonian fluid, the EOF of PAA solution becomes unstable when the applied electric field (PAA concentration) exceeds a critical value for …

A Dynamic Active Noise Control System For Live Music Attenuation, Elliot James Krueger

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis proposes a system design that will be suitable for applying active noise control (ANC) effectively to live musical instruments. The design consists of three parts: a signal separation section, an instrument classification section, and the active noise control section. The signal separation section will split up the music signals. The instrument classification section will identify the signals, and the ANC section will attenuate the music signal based on the previous information from the other sections. The two instruments of focus will be the trombone and tuba for their low frequency and ability to be quite loud in a …

In-Situ Process Monitoring For Metal Additive Manufacturing (Am) Through Acoustic Technique, Md Shahjahan Hossain

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is currently a widely used technology in different industries such as aerospace, medical, and consumer products. Previously it was mainly used for prototyping of the products, but now it is equally valuable for commercial product manufacturing. More profound understanding is still needed to track and identify defects during the AM process to ensure higher quality products with less material waste. Nondestructive testing becomes an essential form of testing for AM parts, where AE is one of the most used methods for in situ process monitoring. The Acoustic Emission (AE) approach has gained a reputation in nondestructive testing …

Implementation Of Fuzzy Logic Control Into An Equivalent Minimization Strategy For Adaptive Energy Management Of A Parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Jared Alexander Diethorn

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As government agencies continue to tighten emissions regulations due to the continued increase in greenhouse gas production, automotive industries are seeking to produce increasingly efficient vehicle technology. Electric vehicles have been introduced by the industry, showing promising signs of reducing emissions production in the automotive sector. However, many consumers may be hesitant to purchase fully electric vehicles due to several uncertainty variables including available charging stations. Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) have been introduced to reduce problems while improving fuel economy. HEVs have led to the demand of creating more advanced controls software to consider multiple components for propulsive power in …

User-Centred Scalable Big Data Visualizer For Power Consumption Data In The Electrical Secondary Distribution Network, Ellen Kalinga

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Establishment of Smart Grids for electrical power has been practised worldwide for the purpose of bringing reliability, security, and efficient management of electrical power networks for enhancing quality service to the society. Apart from the potential aim, smart grid has been a challenge to developing countries, including Tanzania from cost and technology point of view. Due to the use of many smart equipment involved in smart grids like Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) equipped with smart meters and sensors, handling and managing big data has been a challenge. Among the challenges is the issue of visualizing the Big Data due to …

Direct Predictive Speed Control Of Salient Pmsm Drives In Constant Torque And Constant Power Regimes For Electric Vehicles Applications, Francis Mwasilu

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

A direct speed control of salient permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives in constant torque and constant power regimes for electric vehicles applications is presented. The proposed speed control scheme is derived from model predictive control approach where both rotor speed and stator current are formulated in a single objective function that is periodically computed to attain the PMSM drive optimum switching states. The dynamic model of the PMSM intrinsically encompasses the unknown disturbance, which should be rejected for high-performance speed control especially in transient conditions. Consequently, the extended modified augmented state Kalman filter (ASKF) is incorporated in the proposed …

Fermentability Of Concentrated Sulfuric Acid Hydrolyzates From Aspenwood And Pinewood, Kando Janga

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

The fermentability of hydrolyzates derived from two-stage concentrated sulfuric acid hydrolysis of Trembling aspen (Populus tremula) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) were investigated. Three types of hydrolyzates were produced at mild, moderate and high decrystallization severity conditions. Portions of each of the original hydrolyzates were concentrated by vacuum evaporation to increase the sugar fraction to simulate industrial applications. Both sets of hydrolyzates were fermented anaerobically using Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 96581. After 23 hours of fermentation, complete glucose consumption was observed for all the original hydrolyzates, with no signs of inhibition. The ethanol yields from these hydrolyzates ranged from 68% to …

Analysis Of Performance Characteristics Predicted From Several Experimental Data And Conversion Methods For Pumps As Turbine Application Using Statistical Techniques, Ombeni J. Mdee

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Different performance characteristics have been indicated when running centrifugal pumps in the reverse direction. The water flows from the discharge side of the pump to the suction side to run in the reverse direction and generate the mechanical rotational energy for the micro-hydropower plant. The current study evaluates the extent of variation of performance characteristics predicted by several experimental data from different pump-specific speeds and conversion methods. The performance characteristics discussed include the head, flow rate, efficiency and specific speed. The flow rate and head of a pump operating in pump mode divided with the characteristic of the pump operating …

Potential For Increased Rural Electrification Rate In Sub-Saharan Africa Using Swer Power Distribution Networks, Aviti Thadei Mushi

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Rural electrification rate (RER) in Africa is still low to date. Several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have tried to address this problem using conventional single phase two-wire or three-phase three-wire systems, however at large costs due to the nature of dispersed rural load centres, low load demand, and low population density. Another solution of off-grid generation creates associated health problems. Therefore, this paper undertakes a review of a single wire earth return (SWER) network as a RER improvement solution. The paper undertakes intensive literature review to elucidate challenges and solutions to the implementation of SWER technology. Advantages of SWER technology …

Wind Power Integration And Its Impact On Power Quality-A Didactic Approach, Santos Kihwele Dr

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

This paper presents a model of a wind power system integrated with realistic power system, with intention of using it in addressing power quality issues in relations to grid codes during steady-state operation transient-state operation i.e., presence of grid fault events. For that case, a didactic approach of the normal performance of power systems due to the connection of fixed-speed wind turbine with induction generators is used. A study of integrating wind farms will be presented, including the incidence of high inrush current due to switching capacitor banks, out-rush current and voltage sags due to nearby three phase faults. As …

Control Of Mr Damper Using Anfis And Pid Controller For Optimum Vehicle Ride Comfort, Mohammad Faisal Yakhni, Mohamad Ali, Mohamed El-Gohary

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

Suspension system design is an important challenging duty that facing car manufacturers, so the challenge has become to design the best system in terms of providing ride comfort and handling ability under all driving situations. The goal of this paper is to provide assistance in enhancing the effectiveness of the suspension system. A full car model with eight Degrees Of Freedom (DOF) was developed using MATLAB/Simulink. Validation of the Simulink model was obtained. The model was assumed to travel over a speed hump that has a half sine wave shape and amplitude that changing from 0.01 to 0.2 m. The …

Solar Photovoltaic Performance Monitoring: A Bibliometric Review, Research Gaps And Opportunities, Javed Sayyad, Paresh Nasikkar

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Electrical power generation has been revolutionized by growing demand and use of Renewable Energy (RE) sources such as Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) as the main electricity source in modern times. The main objective of this bibliometric analysis is to understand the scope of the literature available for SPV performance characterization. This detailed reviewed was performed on the documents related to SPV research considering all the subject categories from Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases. The patterns for the particular set of keywords were broke down with the recuperated outcomes from Scopus database in the language, publication type, year of publication, …

Evaluation Of Mechanical Properties Of Malaysia Local Source Wood For Electric Cruiser Board Applications, Mohamad Rosman Othaman

Student Works (2020-2029)

This research project revolves around the idea to reduce the carbon emission in mitigating the issue of climate change. An idea to introduce the electrical cruiser board by Muhammad Fiqkri Ismail from Universiti Kuala Lumpur with his idea to promote carbon less form of multimodal transportation for users in urban city of Greater Kuala Lumpur leads this research to study the elastic properties of local source woods in Malaysia that could be proposed for this application. The wood is used for the construction of the deck of cruiser board which designed three layers with the cross-ply laminate. Three types of …

Experimental And Mathematical Tools To Predict Droplet Size And Velocity Distribution For A Two-Fluid Nozzle, Sadegh Poozesh, Nelson K. Akafuah, Heather R. Campbell, Faezeh Bashiri, Kozo Saito

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Despite progress in laser-based and computational tools, an accessible model that relies on fundamentals and offers a reasonably accurate estimation of droplet size and velocity is lacking, primarily due to entangled complex breakup mechanisms. Therefore, this study aims at using the integral form of the conservation equations to create a system of equations by solving which, the far-field secondary atomization can be analyzed through predicting droplet size and velocity distributions of the involved phases. To validate the model predictions, experiments are conducted at ambient conditions using water, methanol, and acetone as model fluids with varying formulation properties, such as density, …