Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Post Processing Of Electron Beam Melted Ti-6al-4v And Binder Jetted 17-4 Stainless Steel, Ahmad Omar Abu-Issa

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

An extensive assortment of HIP parameters have been altered on EBM fabricated Ti-6Al-4V and have shown that cooling rates of 103 oC/min from temperatures above and below the beta transus produced acicular alpha-prime martensite characteristic elongations < 10 %. Optimum yield strength (0.9 GPa), UTS (1.0 GPa) and elongation (~14 %) were achieved for slow cooling (at 102 oC/min) from 850 oC HIP which produced a dense, Widmanstatten alpha structure within the retained, as-fabricated columnar grains by alpha-prime decomposition. These results suggest that manipulation of AM process parameters to produce a small-grain, equiaxed microstructure, HIPed below the beta transus and slow cooled, will have a wide range of superior, isotropic mechanical properties corresponding to a Widmanstatten alpha microstructure within the equiaxed grains. Also, Binder Jetting printing parameters for differing PSD's of low-cost water-atomized 17-4 Stainless Steel were optimized in order to produce high dense parts. Densities ranging from 94-97.5% were achieved, and issues of inhomogeneous porosity were addressed using a fumed silica flow additive.

Mixed Mode Crack Propagation In Iliac Bone, E. Baesu, Dm. Iliescu, Bv. Radoiu, S. Halichidis

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Bone is a complex material that can be regarded as an anisotropic elastic composite material. The problem of crack propagation in hu- man bone is analyzed by using a generalization of the maximum tensile stress criterion (MTS). The results concern the critical stress for crack propagation and the direction of the crack path in Iliac bone.

Special Issue “Cfd Modeling Of Complex Chemical Processes: Multiscale And Multiphysics Challenges”, Li Xi, De-Wei Yin, Jae Sung Park

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Improving Accuracy Of Unmanned Aerial System Thermal Infrared Remote Sensing For Use In Energy Balance Models In Agriculture Applications, Mitchell S. Maguire, C.M.U. Neale, Wayne E. Woldt

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Unmanned aerial system (UAS) remote sensing has rapidly expanded in recent years, leading to the development of several multispectral and thermal infrared sensors suitable for UAS integration. Remotely sensed thermal infrared imagery has been used to detect crop water stress and manage irrigation by leveraging the increased thermal signatures of water stressed plants. Thermal infrared cameras suitable for UAS remote sensing are often uncooled microbolometers. This type of thermal camera is subject to inaccuracies not typically present in cooled thermal cameras. In addition, atmospheric interference also may present inaccuracies in measuring surface temperature. In this study, a UAS with integrated …

Six-Sigma Quality Management Of Additive Manufacturing, Hui Yang, Prahalad Rao, Timothy Simpson, Yan Lu, Paul Witherell, Abdalla R. Nassar, Edward Reutzel, Soundar Kumara

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Quality is a key determinant in deploying new processes, products, or services and influences the adoption of emerging manufacturing technologies. The advent of additive manufacturing (AM) as a manufacturing process has the potential to revolutionize a host of enterprise-related functions from production to the supply chain. The unprecedented level of design flexibility and expanded functionality offered by AM, coupled with greatly reduced lead times, can potentially pave the way for mass customization. However, widespread application of AM is currently hampered by technical challenges in process repeatability and quality management. The breakthrough effect of six sigma (6S) has been demonstrated in …

Anisotropic Scaffolds For Peripheral Nerve And Spinal Cord Regeneration, Wen Xue, Wen Shi, Yunfan Kong, Mitchell Kuss, Bin Duan

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The treatment of long-gap (>10 mm) peripheral nerve injury (PNI) and spinal cord injury (SCI) remains a continuous challenge due to limited native tissue regeneration capabilities. The current clinical strategy of using autografts for PNI suffers from a source shortage, while the pharmacological treatment for SCI presents dissatisfactory results. Tissue engineering, as an alternative, is a promising approach for regenerating peripheral nerves and spinal cords. Through providing a beneficial environment, a scaffold is the primary element in tissue engineering. In particular, scaffolds with anisotropic structures resembling the native extracellular matrix (ECM) can effectively guide neural outgrowth and reconnection. In …

Modulation Of Mechanical Stress Mitigates Anti-Dsg3 Antibody-Induced Dissociation Of Cell–Cell Adhesion, Xiaowei Jin, Jordan Rosenbohm, Eunju Kim, Amir Monemian Monemianesfahani, Kristina Seiffert-Sinha, James K. Wahl Iii, Jung Yul Lim, Animesh A. Sinha, Ruiguo Yang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

It is becoming increasingly clear that mechanical stress in adhesive junctions plays a significant role in dictating the fate of cell–cell attachment under physiological conditions. Targeted disruption of cell–cell junctions leads to multiple pathological conditions, among them the life-threatening autoimmune blistering disease pemphigus vulgaris (PV). The dissociation of cell–cell junctions by autoantibodies is the hallmark of PV, however, the detailed mechanisms that result in tissue destruction remain unclear. Thus far, research and therapy in PV have focused primarily on immune mechanisms upstream of autoantibody binding, while the biophysical aspects of the cell– cell dissociation process leading to acantholysis are less …

Modulation Of Mechanical Stress Mitigates Anti-Dsg3 Antibody-Induced Dissociation Of Cell–Cell Adhesion, Xiaowei Jin, Jordan Rosenbohm, Eunju Kim, Amir Monemian Esfahani, Kristina Seiffert-Sinha, James K. Wahl Iii, Jung Yul Lim, Animesh A. Sinha, Ruiguo Yang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

It is becoming increasingly clear that mechanical stress in adhesive junctions plays a significant role in dictating the fate of cell–cell attachment under physiological conditions. Targeted disruption of cell–cell junctions leads to multiple pathological conditions, among them the life-threatening autoimmune blistering disease pemphigus vulgaris (PV). The dissociation of cell–cell junctions by autoantibodies is the hallmark of PV, however, the detailed mechanisms that result in tissue destruction remain unclear. Thus far, research and therapy in PV have focused primarily on immune mechanisms upstream of autoantibody binding, while the biophysical aspects of the cell– cell dissociation process leading to acantholysis are less …

Common Pool Resource Management: Assessing Water Resources Planning For Hydrologically Connected Surface And Groundwater Systems, Francisco Munoz-Arriola, Tarik Abdel-Monem, A. Amaranto

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Common pool resource (CPR) management has the potential to overcome the collective action dilemma, defined as the tendency for individual users to exploit natural resources and contribute to a tragedy of the commons. Design principles associated with effective CPR management help to ensure that arrangements work to the mutual benefit of water users. This study contributes to current research on CPR management by examining the process of implementing integrated management planning through the lens of CPR design principles. Integrated management plans facilitate the management of a complex common pool resource, ground and surface water resources having a hydrological connection. Water …

Part-Scale Thermal Simulation Of Laser Powder Bed Fusion Using Graph Theory: Effect Of Thermal History On Porosity, Microstructure Evolution, And Recoater Crash, Reza Yavari, Ziyad Smoqi, Alex Riensche, Ben Bevans, Humaun Kobir, Heimdall Mendoza, Hyeyun Song, Kevin Cole, Prahalada Rao

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Flaw formation in laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is influenced by the spatiotemporal temperature distribution – thermal history – of the part during the process. Therefore, to prevent flaw formation there is a need for fast and accurate models that can predict the thermal history as a function of the part shape and processing parameters. In previous work, a thermal modeling approach based on graph theory was used to predict the thermal history in LPBF parts in less-than 20% of the time required by finite element-based models with error within 10% of experimental measurements. The present work transitions toward the …

Chilling And Heat Accumulation Of Fruit And Nut Trees And Flower Bud Vulnerability To Early Spring Low Temperatures In New Mexico: Meteorological Approach, Koffi Djaman, Komlan Koudahe, Murali Darapuneni, Suat Irkmak

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Fruit and nut trees production is an important activity across the southwest United States and this production is greatly impacted by the local climate. Temperature is the main environmental factor influencing the growth and the productivity of the fruit and nut trees as it affects the trees’ physiology and the vulnerability of flower bud, flowers, and young fruit and nut to the low temperatures or spring frost. The objective of the present study is to estimate the chilling and heat accumulation of fruit and nut trees across New Mexico. Three study sites as Fabian Garcia, Los Lunas, and Farmington were …

Characterization Of The Strain-Rate–Dependent Mechanical Response Of Single Cell–Cell Junctions, Amir Monemian Esfahani, Jordan Rosenbohm, Bahareh Tajvidi Safa, Nickolay V. Lavrik, Grayson Minnick, Quan Zhou, Fang Kong, Xiaowei Jin, Eunju Kim, Ying Liu, Yongfeng Lu, Jung Yul Lim, James K. Wahl Iii, Ming Dao, Changjin Huang, Ruiguo Yang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Cell–cell adhesions are often subjected to mechanical strains of different rates and magnitudes in normal tissue function. However, the rate-dependent mechanical behavior of individual cell– cell adhesions has not been fully characterized due to the lack of proper experimental techniques and therefore remains elusive. This is particularly true under large strain conditions, which may potentially lead to cell–cell adhesion dissociation and ultimately tissue fracture. In this study, we designed and fabricated a single-cell adhesion micro tensile tester (SCAμTT) using twophoton polymerization and performed displacement-controlled tensile tests of individual pairs of adherent epithelial cells with a mature cell–cell adhesion. Straining the …

Irrigation Management In Potato (Solanum Tuberosum L.) Production: A Review, Koffi Djaman, Suat Irkmak, Komlan Koudahe, Samuel Allen

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Limited water resources coupled with the increase of the human population calls for more efficient use of water in irrigated agriculture. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the most widely grown crops worldwide and is very sensitive to water stress due to its shallow rooting system. With the dilemma of potato sensitivity to drought and limited available water resources restricting crop production, researchers and crop growers have been investigating different approaches for optimizing potato yield and improving crop water use efficiency under different irrigation methods. While potato response to water is affected by other management practices such as fertilizer …

Ultrasonic Mapping Of Hybrid Additively Manufactured 420 Stainless Steel, Luz D. Sotelo, Haitham Hadidi, Cody S. Pratt, Michael P. Sealy, Joseph A. Turner

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Metal hybrid additive manufacturing (AM) processes are suitable to create complex structures that advance engineering performance. Hybrid AM can be used to create functionally graded materials for which the variation in microstructure and material properties across the domain is created through a synergized combination of fully coupled manufacturing processes and/or energy sources. This expansion in the engineering design and manufacturing spaces presents challenges for nondestructive evaluation, including the assessment of the sensitivity of nondestructive measurements to functional gradients. To address this problem, linear ultrasound measurements are used to interrogate 420 stainless steel coupons from three manufacturing methods: wrought, AM, and …

Unveiling Precipitation Behavior In Mg-Y Based Alloys, Qingchun Zhu, Yangxin Li, Zhigang Ding, Jian Wang, Yuxuan Liu, Huan Zhang, Tian Xie, Mingxu Wang, Hong Zhu, Tao Ying, Wei Liu, Xiaoquin Zeng

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Mg-Y based alloys exhibit a promising combination of strength and deformability through tuning precipitation and solute strengthening mechanisms and tailoring the activity of non-basal dislocations. Understanding the precipitation sequence of Mg-Y based alloys and its dependence on Yttrium concentration in the matrix will provide a guideline for fine tuning structure, morphology and distribution of precipitates in Mg-Y based alloys. In this paper, we explore the precipitation behaviors of Mg-11Y (wt%) and Mg-11Y-1Al (wt%) alloys using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, and rationalize the experimental observations based on first-principles density functional theory calculations. The precipitation sequence during ageing at 225 °C …

A Single-Stage Passive Vibration Isolation System For Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, Toan T. Le

Master's Theses

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) uses quantum tunneling effect to study the surfaces of materials on an atomic scale. Since the probe of the microscope is on the order of nanometers away from the surface, the device is prone to noises due to vibrations from the surroundings. To minimize the random noises and floor vibrations, passive vibration isolation is a commonly used technique due to its low cost and simpler design compared to active vibration isolation, especially when the entire vibration isolation system (VIS) stays inside an Ultra High Vacuum (UHV) environment. This research aims to analyze and build a single-stage …

The Role Of Microenvironmental Cues And Mechanical Loading Milieus In Breast Cancer Cell Progression And Metastasis, Brandon D. Riehl, Eunju Kim, Tasneem Bouzid, Jung Yul Lim

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Cancer can disrupt the microenvironments and mechanical homeostatic actions in multiple scales from large tissue modification to altered cellular signaling pathway in mechanotransduction. In this review, we highlight recent progresses in breast cancer cell mechanobiology focusing on cell-microenvironment interaction and mechanical loading regulation of cells. First, the effects of microenvironmental cues on breast cancer cell progression and metastasis will be reviewed with respect to substrate stiffness, chemical/topographic substrate patterning, and 2D vs. 3D cultures. Then, the role of mechanical loading situations such as tensile stretch, compression, and flow-induced shear will be discussed in relation to breast cancer cell mechanobiology and …

Quantification Of Nitric Oxide Concentration Using Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Sensors, Jakob Meier, Joseph Stapleton, Eric M. Hofferber, Abigail Haworth, Stephen D. Kachman, Nicole M. Iverson

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Nitric oxide (NO), a free radical present in biological systems, can have many detrimental effects on the body, from inflammation to cancer. Due to NO’s short half-life, detection and quantification is difficult. The inability to quantify NO has hindered researchers’ understanding of its impact in healthy and diseased conditions. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), when wrapped in a specific single-stranded DNA chain, becomes selective to NO, creating a fluorescence sensor. Unfortunately, the correlation between NO concentration and the SWNT’s fluorescence intensity has been difficult to determine due to an inability to immobilize the sensor without altering its properties. Through the use …

Mechanical Behavior Of Al–Al2cu–Si And Al–Al2cu Eutectic Alloys, Qian Lei, Jian Wang, Amitava Mitra

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

In this study, laser rapid solidification technique was used to refine the microstructure of ternary Al–Cu–Si and binary Al–Cu eutectic alloys to nanoscales. Micropillar compression testing was performed to measure the stress–strain response of the samples with characteristic microstructure in the melt pool regions. The laser-remelted Al–Al₂Cu–Si ternary alloy was observed to reach the compressive strength of 1.59 GPa before failure at a strain of 28.5%, which is significantly better than the as-cast alloy with a maximum strength of 0.48 GPa at a failure strain of 4.8%. The laser-remelted Al–Cu binary alloy was observed to reach the compressive …

Mechanical Strength Of Germanium Doped Low Oxygen Concentration Czochralski Silicon And The Effect Of Oxygen On Nitrogen Dissociation In Silicon, Junnan Wu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

During the Czochralski growth of silicon, it is inevitable for oxygen to be incorporated into the silicon crystal from the quartz crucible. Interstitial oxygen improves the mechanical strength of silicon by pinning and locking dislocations, but also generates thermal donors during device processes, shifting the electrical resistivity. For silicon wafers used in radio frequency (RF) applications, it is important to ensure the high resistivity of the substrates for good RF characteristics. Therefore, the oxygen level in these high resistivity silicon wafers is kept very low (< 2.5 × 1017 atoms/cm3) by carefully controlling the Czochralski growth conditions, in order to reduce the thermal donor concentration to an acceptable level. Silicon on insulator (SOI) substrates made from high resistivity wafers have been widely used for RF applications. SOI manufacturing includes multiple high temperature thermal cycles (1000 – 1100 °C), during which the high resistivity wafers are prone to slip and warpage. Therefore, it is technologically important to recover some of the lost mechanical strength due to the lack of oxygen by introducing electrically inactive impurities to suppress the dislocation generation and mobility in silicon. Germanium (Ge) as an isovalent impurity is 4% larger in size and forms a solid solution with silicon in the entire concentration range. Previous works have shown Ge doping at high concentrations above 6 × 1019 atoms/cm3 increased mechanical strength of silicon with high oxygen concentration (~ 1 × 1018 atoms/cm3). In this work, we explore the effect of Ge doping (7 - 9 × 1019 atoms/cm3) on the mechanical strength of low oxygen concentration (< 2 × 1017 atoms/cm3) silicon, where the oxygen associated dislocation locking and pinning are very low. A mechanical bending test was used to study the average dislocation migration velocity and the critical shear stress of dislocations motion at 600 – 750 °C for Ge doped, nitrogen doped, and undoped low oxygen samples, as well as nitrogen doped float-zone and un-doped high oxygen concentration samples. Next, we fabricated SOI substrates using these high resistivity wafers and compared their slip generation rates and the slip-free epitaxial grow temperature windows after the high temperature thermal cycles (> 1000 °C). Our results indicate at lower temperature Ge doesn’t affect the dislocation mobility …

Sensitive X-Ray And Gamma-Ray Detectors Including Perovskite Single Crystals, Jinsong Huang, Haotong Wei

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Perovskite single crystal X-ray and gamma-ray radiation detector devices include an X-ray and gamma-ray wavelength responsive active layer including a perovskite single crystal. The perovskite single crystal is a perovskite single crystal having a structure of ABX₃ , wherein A is methyl ammonium ( CH₂NH₂+), C_S+, formamidinum ( H₂NCHNH₂+) , or Rb⁺ or a mixture thereof, B is Pb²⁺ which can be partially or completely replaced by other ions including Bi³⁺, Sb³⁺, Sn²⁺ or a mixture thereof, and X is a halide …

Mini Rc Baja Car, Jason Schindler

All Undergraduate Projects

Incorporating each aspect of engineering incorporated into a senior project is difficult. That is why an RC Baja car is a great senior project for Mechanical Engineering students. The approach that students must take to design, construct, and test the car is to set parameters, and to make overall goals that can be easily measured. These goals include, but not limited to things like a $700 budget and the ability to withstand a 1-foot drop to a flat surface on all four wheels simultaneously. First, the design must meet the specifications and rules that are set previously. This ensures that …

Use Of Energy Consumption During Milling To Fill A Measurement Gap In Hybrid Additive Manufacturing, K. L. M. Avegnon, P. Noll, M. R. Uddin, G. Madireddy, R. Williams, A. Achuthan, M. P. Sealy

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Coupling additive manufacturing (AM) with interlayer peening introduces bulk anisotropic properties within a build across several centimeters. Current methods to map high resolution anisotropy and heterogeneity are either destructive or have a limited penetration depth using a nondestructive method. An alternative pseudo-nondestructive method to map high-resolution anisotropy and heterogeneity is through energy consumption during milling. Previous research has shown energy consumption during milling correlates with surface integrity. Since surface milling of additively manufactured parts is often required for post-processing to improve dimensional accuracy, an opportunity is available to use surface milling as an alternative method to measure mechanical properties and …

Electrostatic Flocking Of Salt-Treated Microfibers And Nanofiber Yarns For Regenerative Engineering, Alec Mccarthy, Kossi Loic M. Avegnon, Phil A. Holubeck, Demi Brown, Anik Karan, Navatha Shree Sharma, Johnson V. John, Shelbie Weihs, Jazmin Ley, Jingwei Xie

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Electrostatic flocking is a textile technology that employs a Coulombic driving force to launch short fibers from a charging source towards an adhesive-covered substrate, resulting in a dense array of aligned fibers perpendicular to the substrate. However, electrostatic flocking of insulative polymeric fibers remains a challenge due to their insufficient charge accumulation. We report a facile method to flock electrostatically insulative poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) microfibers (MFs) and electrospun PCL nanofiber yarns (NFYs) by incorporating NaCl during preflock processing. Both MF and NFY were evaluated for flock functionality, mechanical properties, and biological responses. To demonstrate this platform's diverse applications, standalone flocked NFY …

A Method Of Identifying Allographs In Undeciphered Scripts And Its Application To The Indus Valley Script, Shruti Daggumati, Peter Revesz

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

This work describes a general method of testing for redundancies in the sign lists of ancient scripts by data mining the positions of the signs within the inscriptions. The redundant signs are allographs of the same grapheme. The method is applied to the undeciphered Indus Valley Script, which stands out from other ancient scripts by having a large proposed sign list that contains dozens of asymmetric signs that have mirrored pairs. By a statistical analysis of mirrored asymmetric signs, this paper shows that the Indus Valley Script was multi-directional and the mirroring of signs often denotes only the direction of …

Metallic Surface Doping Of Metal Halide Perovskites, Yuze Lin, Yuchuan Shao, Jun Dai, Tao Li, Yi Liu, Xuezeng Dai, Xun Xiao, Yehao Deng, Alexei Gruverman, Xiao Cheng Zeng, Jinsong Huang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Intentional doping is the core of semiconductor technologies to tune electrical and optical properties of semiconductors for electronic devices, however, it has shown to be a grand challenge for halide perovskites. Here, we show that some metal ions, such as silver, strontium, cerium ions, which exist in the precursors of halide perovskites as impurities, can n-dope the surface of perovskites from being intrinsic to metallic. The low solubility of these ions in halide perovskite crystals excludes the metal impurities to perovskite surfaces, leaving the interior of perovskite crystals intrinsic. Computation shows these metal ions introduce many electronic states close to …

Recurrence Network Analysis Of Design-Quality Interactions In Additive Manufacturing, Ruimin Chen, Prahalada K. Rao, Yan Lu, Edward W. Reutzel, Hui Yang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Powder bed fusion (PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) provides a great level of flexibility in the design-driven build of metal products. However, the more complex the design, the more difficult it becomes to control the quality of AM builds. The quality challenge persistently hampers the widespread application of AM technology. Advanced imaging (e.g., X-ray computed tomography scans and high-resolution optical images) has been increasingly explored to enhance the visibility of information and improve the AM quality control. Realizing the full potential of imaging data depends on the advent of information processing methodologies for the analysis of design-quality interactions. This paper presents …

Hydraulic Balsa Wood Rising Bridge, Kaitlyn Greenfield

All Undergraduate Projects

What is the solution to allowing tall vessels to navigate past a vehicle bridge that is less than 10 [ft] above the water? To answer this question, a balsa wood bridge was designed, constructed, and tested. The bridge needed to articulate by mechanical means, allow for travel through the bridge, and be able to withstand ample force while the main structure only being constructed of balsa wood and glue. The project was analyzed in sections. These sections include: the bridge structure and its members, the hydraulic lift, and the pins needed for the bridge and hydraulic lift to operate. The …

Process-Structure Relationship In The Directed Energy Deposition Of Cobalt-Chromium Alloy (Stellite 21) Coatings, Ziyad M. Smoqi, Joshua Toddy, Harold (Scott) Halliday, Jeffrey E. Shield, Prahalada K. Rao

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

In this work, we accomplished the crack-free directed energy deposition (DED) of a multi-layer Cobalt- Chromium alloy coating (Stellite 21) on Inconel 718 substrate. Stellite alloys are used as coating materials given their resistance to wear, corrosion, and high temperature. The main challenge in DED of Stellite coatings is the proclivity for crack formation during printing. The objective of this work is to characterize the effect of the input energy density and localized laser-based preheating on the characteristics of the deposited coating, namely, crack formation, microstructural evolution, dilution of the coating composition due to diffusion of iron and nickel from …

Perceived Importance Of Aac Messages To Support Communication In Rehabilitation Settings, Susan Koch Fager, Judith M. Burnfield, Chase M Pfeifer, Tabatha Sorenson

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Purpose: Permanent or temporary speech loss can occur due to a variety of medical conditions and often requires individuals to use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategies and technologies to support communication. The use of AAC in medical and rehabilitation settings is critical to ensure the health, safety and psychological well-being of communicatively vulnerable individuals.

Method: This study surveyed the perceived importance of communication messages within five categories (Basic Needs, Patient-Provider Specific Communication, Social, Feelings, and Messages for Young Children) by individuals with disability who have undergone recent medical care as well as by rehabilitation care providers.

Results: Results indicated …