Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Selective Laser Sintering; A Design Of Experiments, Philip David Hopkins, Victor Castillo Phd

STAR Program Research Presentations

Additive Manufacturing (AM), also commonly known as 3D Printing or Rapid Prototyping, is a method of manufacturing that provides for the ability to make intricate internal features and easily customizable parts. The concept is to break a Computer Aided Design (CAD) file into a series of thin layers that are sent to the machine and laid down one layer at a time. Just like any other form of processing, material properties can alter by undergoing this process. Manipulating various parameters of the AM process can allow for different properties to be achieved. For this reason, an in depth study will …

Static Balancing Of The Cal Poly Wind Turbine Rotor, Derek Simon

Master's Theses

The balancing of a wind turbine rotor is a crucial step affecting the machine’s performance, reliability, and safety, as it directly impacts the dynamic loads on the entire structure.

A rotor can be balanced either statically or dynamically. A method of rotor balancing was developed that achieves both the simplicity of static balancing and the accuracy of dynamic balancing. This method is best suited, but not limited, to hollow composite blades of any size. The method starts by quantifying the mass and center of gravity of each blade. A dynamic calculation is performed to determine the theoretical shaking force on …

Development Of A Pyrotechnic Shock Simulation Apparatus For Spacecraft Applications, Joseph Binder, Matthew Mccarty, Chris Rasmussen

Aerospace Engineering

This report details the research, design, construction, and testing of a pyrotechnic shock simulation apparatus for spacecraft applications. The apparatus was developed to be used in the Space Environments Lab at California Polytechnic State University. It will be used for testing spacecraft components with dimensions up to 24”x12”x12” as well as CubeSats. Additionally, it may be used as an instructional or demonstrational tool in the Aerospace Department’s space environments course. The apparatus functions by way of mechanical impact of an approximately 20 lb stainless steel swinging hammer. Tests were performed to verify the simulator’s functionality. Suggestions for improvement and further …

Thermal Vacuum Integration For Cal Poly's Space Environments Laboratory, Chelsea Barackman, Steven Jackowski

Aerospace Engineering

The purpose of the senior project is to construct a thermal vacuum by utilizing a preexisting vacuum chamber in the Space Environments Lab, and a donated Advanced Thermal Sciences (ATS) chiller. While a thermal vacuum is already available on campus, building one for the Space Environments Lab would grant undergraduates access to the equipment, allowing a much better understanding of testing methods and procedures in use by the aerospace industry. This paper explains the design and analysis of the thermal vacuum (T-VAC) project as well as the operation and procedures required for the ATS chiller and fill/drain tank. The thermal …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Torsional Micro-Hinge Structures, Mike Madrid Marrujo

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Fabrication and Characterization of Torsional Micro-Hinge Structures

Mike Marrujo

There are many electronic devices that operate on the micrometer-scale such as Digital Micro-Mirror Devices (DMD). Micro actuators are a common type of DMD that employ a diaphragm supported by torsional hinges, which deform during actuation and are critical for the devices to have high stability and reliability. The stress developed within the hinge during actuation controls how the actuator will respond to the actuating force. Electrostatically driven micro actuators observe to have a fully recoverable non-linear viscoelastic response. The device consists of a micro-hinge which is suspended by two …

Biaxial & Twist Testing Of Composite Carbon-Fiber Sandwich Panels For Automotive Racing Vehicles, Erik Eckberg

Materials Engineering

Composite sandwich panels were constructed with 4-ply plain weave carbon-fiber/epoxy face sheets in the 0^o/45^o/0^o/45^o orientation and 1/8^th inch Nomex honeycomb core. The panels were cut into 5-inch square test plates for mechanical testing. All testing was done on a fixture designed and fabricated by Pratt & Miller Engineering and installed on an Instron testing system at Cal Poly. The twist test was performed by supporting diagonal corners of the plate while simultaneously loading the opposite two corners at a crosshead rate of .06 in/min (ASTM 3044-94R11). Out of 10 panels tested, …

Design And Testing Of A Low Cost Prosthetic Foot, Shalan Ertis, John Kearns, Seija Maniskas

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Pier Portal, Andrew Belis, Andrew (Andy) Crafts, Jeremy Depangher, Aaron Hein, Michael Machado, Aaron Poulos

Computer Engineering

This project constitutes the design, build, and test of a camera system that runs on a track along the length of a pier piling at the Cal Poly pier in Avila Beach. The goal of the camera system is to observe the abundant sea life active on the surface of the piling underwater and in the tidal zone. The camera system will stream live video to the internet, record HD video, and be controllable remotely. The track is mounted to the piling with brackets and extends from the sea floor to a few feet above the pier deck. The camera, …

Robotic Fingerspelling Hand For Deaf-Blind Communication, Brian Fang, Colby Dixon, Trevor Wong

Mechanical Engineering

Robotic fingerspelling hand for the deaf-blind. The hand forms the shapes of the American Manual Alphabet with 11 servos. The project was sponsored by The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Reaserch Institute.

Mini Pump, Stephen Scruggs, Britta Berg-Johansen, Kyle Kriete

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Design, Construction, And Evaluation Of An Automated Chicken Coop Door, Kyle Inks

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This senior project takes a look into the design, construction, and evaluation of an automated chicken coop door. The idea and need for such a door came from my mother Jan Inks. The parameters for the project include, low production cost, easy installation on existing coops, sleek design, automatically open at a set time in the morning, and automatically close at a set time in the evening.

Viscoelastic Anisotropic Finite Element Mixture Model Of Articular Cartilage Using Viscoelastic Collagen Fibers And Validation With Stress Relaxation Data, Matthew Alexander Griebel

Master's Theses

Experimental results show that collagen fibers exhibit stress relaxation under tension and a highly anisotropic distribution. To further develop the earlier model of Stender [1], the collagen constituent was updated to reflect its intrinsic viscoelasticity and anisotropic distribution, and integrated with an existing mixture model with glycosaminoglycans and ground substance matrix. A two-term Prony series expansion of the quasi-linear viscoelastic model was chosen to model the viscoelastic properties of the collagen fibers. Material parameters were determined by using the simplex method to minimize the sum of squared errors between model results and experimental stress relaxation data of tissue in tension. …

A Model Predictive Control Approach To Roll Stability Of A Scaled Crash Avoidance Vehicle, Nikola John Linn Noxon

Master's Theses

In this paper, a roll stability controller (RSC) is presented based on an eight degree of freedom dynamic vehicle model. The controller is designed for and tested on a scaled vehicle performing obstacle avoidance maneuvers on a populated test track. A rapidly-exploring random tree (RRT) algorithm is used for the vehicle to execute a trajectory around an obstacle, and examines the geographic, non-homonymic, and dynamic constraints to maneuver around the obstacle. A model predictive controller (MPC) uses information about the vehicle state and, based on a weighted performance measure, generates an optimal trajectory around the obstacle. The RSC uses the …

An Investigation Of Damage Arrestment Devices On Carbon Fiber Sandwich Specimens Under Dynamic Loading, Gabriel Sabino Sanchez

Master's Theses

This research studies the effects of a damage arrestment device embedded between a carbon fiber facesheet and foam core to find whether there is an increase in the structural integrity of the sandwich composites. Experimental and theoretical finite element analyses are implemented for two different composite sandwich geometries; plates and beams. Each structure consisted of the same loading criteria and was restricted to the same vibration fixture during the experiment. An accelerometer was placed on the composite plate to record the amplitude and the natural frequencies of the composite structure. Each composite specimen is then fixed to the surface of …

Vibration Health Monitoring Of Gears, Markus Josef Scherer

Master's Theses

Monitoring the health of vibrating gears is important to ensure proper operation especially in potentially life-threatening structures, such as helicopters, nuclear power plants, and uninterruptible power supply transitions in hospitals. The most common monitoring technique is casing mounted accelerometers to measure vibration. In contrast, during the last few years acoustic monitoring techniques have also provided a few diagnostic methods for gear failure. Current diagnostic methods to indicate improper gear behavior use either existing vibration data, recorded from defective gear systems, or modern dynamic models predicting gear failure behavior.

This thesis uses dynamic models to indicate, predict, and diagnose healthy and …

Design Of An Independent Star-Clip Organizer (Iso), Christopher Gonzales, Greg Lovasik, Daniel Silveira

Mechanical Engineering

Discussed below is a new concept to sort and deliver star clips for flight deck safety net manufacturing. Multiple methods were generated, along with the necessary research, and were narrowed down to a single concept: the tray-loading preprocess design, named ISO (Independent Star-Clip Organizer). The overall design has been finalized and designed. Due to budget constraints, an actual prototype was not built. However, the design of such a prototype is described by this report, backed with calculations and experimental testing.

Polygrasp: Reach; Myoelectric Prosthetic Hand Iteration, Devon Patrick Augustus, Mighells Blaed Deuel, Ian Noel Fraser, Nicholas Philip Moesser

Mechanical Engineering

Amputations are a common occurrence in soldiers returning home who have suffered the effects of IED and munitions explosions. For upper limb amputees, trans-radial amputations are the most common. Traditional hook devices do not offer an adequate level of normalcy for users, prompting the use of myoelectric devices. While current myoelectric devices do offer a more natural experience, they come with a host of other problems that makes their adoption by service personnel not desirable or not permitted by the VA. PolyGrasp Reach seeks to reduce weight and cost and improve performance. This addresses several of the issues with devices …

Human Powered Helicopter: Rotor Structure, Joseph Ram, Juan Carlos Olvera

Mechanical Engineering

The following report encompasses the Human Powered Helicopter Rotor Team’s conceptual models and ideas based on research and modeling analysis. The following gives an overview of material researched, concept generation, analyzation, manufacturing, and testing for a rotor structure to be installed in a Human Powered Helicopter.

Aerodynamic Test Platform For Human Powered Vehicle (Hpv), Spencer Wangerin, Spencer Lillywhite, Colburn Davis

Mechanical Engineering

The Aerodynamic Test Platform (ATP) for the Cal Poly HPV Club is a system that was designed by Cal Poly mechanical engineering students to measure aerodynamic characteristics of a human-powered vehicle (HPV). The HPV team desired a system that could quantify the lift, drag, and other aerodynamic qualities of a full scale HPV at various orientations in oncoming airflow. Established methods for determining aerodynamic characteristics include computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and wind tunnel testing of scaled models. The ATP was devised to simulate the test results given by a full-scale wind tunnel without requiring a wind tunnel large enough to …

Supermileage Chassis Dynamometer, Jose Garcia, Steve Janning, Timothy Lui, Kyla Purvis

Mechanical Engineering

This report describes the final design and analysis of a hydraulic chassis dynamometer as a testing tool for California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Supermileage Vehicle Team (CPSMV). Literature review was conducted to understand the various types of chassis dynamometers on the market as of the year 2011. After rigorous research, it was determined that a hydraulic system was the best system for a chassis dynamometer in terms of functionality, performance, and cost. Critical study of hydraulics, dynamometers, and data acquisition systems (DAQ) was followed by a complete design of a hydraulic system. The chassis dynamometer proposed in this …

California Olive Ranch Hedger, Tyler Enos, Seth Abbott, David Gamba

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the problems of the current KCI (Kingsburg Cultivator Incorporated) olive tree hedger in use at California Olive Ranch (COR) in Artois, CA, and then correct these problems which should yield a better performing, more efficient, and reliable machine. These problems include: the hydraulic oil temperature getting too high, the saw blades not having enough horsepower, and poor cutting performance due to operator error as well as terrain variations.

Main Reduction Gear Debris Identification And Removal Device, Gordon Cline, Alex Tittiger, Michael O'Brien

Mechanical Engineering

This report details the development of a tool to remove objects and debris from a large gearbox found on ships of the United States Navy, specifically to be used by NAVSEA. The tool is to be used in situations where an object or contaminant cannot easily be removed or found without completely disassembling the gearbox. This will be done using a boom arm, a cable, a gripper and a borescope. This combination will allow for a large amount of mobility and versatility when searching for the object or contaminant, which is necessary for use in different gearboxes. The process we …

Cryogenic Heat Switch, Daniel Brodkey, Esteban Ruiz, Cristal Vasquez

Mechanical Engineering

A prototype cryogenic heat switch capable of transferring heat at cryogenic temperatures, while decoupling to prevent irreversible heat damage and minimizing parasitic heat loads, is to be developed for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Various material properties and cryogenic heat transfer processes will be investigated to determine the best solution for this project. A working proof of concept model will be constructed that may eventually be integrated onto a spacecraft’s passive cooler systems to protect them from the irradiation emitted by the sun, from the albedo of planets, and other malicious heat sources.

Design Of A Releasable Snowboard Binding, Rex Crossen, Brian Kruse, Timothy Scott

Mechanical Engineering

A releasable snowboard binding will be proposed to our sponsor. This binding will allow the user to release and engage on demand for aerial tricks, comfort, and increased safety. The releasable snowboard binding we will come up with will be revolutionary within the snowboard industry and make current bindings old and inferior.

Human Powered Generation - Seesaw: A Dc House Project, William Varsh, Jeffrey Healy

Electrical Engineering

This project is a proof of concept work, where playground equipment is implemented for power generation. In using a seesaw design, this project was able to show how a simple mechanical motion could be transformed in electrical power. A seesaw power generator was designed and constructed to demonstrate its feasibility. Results show that with some modification and improvement to the current design, the seesaw me indeed provide a viable method to produce electricity.

Frg Turbojet, Tyler Vitti

Computer Engineering

Members of the Cal Poly SLO campus club FRG work together with students of several different disciplines to build a functional turbojet engine. Engineering approaches include design, fabrication, testing, and computer sensing, control, and integration. The goal of the project is to produce a running turbojet engine monitored and controlled by embedded hardware and specialized PC software. This project is to be used by later groups for further research and development.

Hearst Hydroelectric Generation Facility, Anthony Schifano, Richard Wright, Nick Buchanan, Corey Nakai, Joshua Rutheiser

Electrical Engineering

This project proposes a power plant design that provides a supplemental source of electricity for appliances, machinery, and lighting at Hearst Castle and Ranch. The design concept includes a turbine-generator combination to convert kinetic and gravitational potential energy from the existing water distribution system to electrical energy: also known as a hydroelectric plant. The electrical distribution system from the plant to the local grid takes advantage of power flow techniques utilized in current research and industry.

The Hovering Ball Exhibit, Matthew Bauzon, Will Lennox, Michelle Swan

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Innovative Cargo Rack Solutions, Travis Mccart, Brian Blummer, Whit Ratcliff

Mechanical Engineering

This report describes the process of designing, building, and testing a lowering mechanism for a roof-mounted SUV cargo box. It provides a detailed problem description and a specific list of requirements that our design must comply with. Existing products and concepts are presented which meet one or more of our design requirements. Six design concepts are discussed and down-selected to three for further development. A final design has been chosen and described in detail. A team management plan is included to specify member responsibilities and a schedule details major deadlines and goals. Manufacturing processes and testing procedures are described in …

Design Of A Human Powered Helicopter Airframe, Sheen Kao, Daniel Layton, Philip Sobol

Mechanical Engineering

In 1989 Cal Poly’s Da Vinci III was the first human powered helicopter (HPH) to achieve flight; our goal is to research and develop a new airframe for the next generation Da Vinci. This report outlines a brief history of human powered flight and details a method of constructing for the airframe. An optimized airframe geometry was also researched and is explained in detail.