Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Paper Airplane Building Machine: Paper Loading, Power Source, Machine Frame, Abdullah A. Aldakhail

All Undergraduate Projects

The project was motivated by an ASME 2016 design challenge. The challenge was to design and manufacture a device that would turn a single sheet of paper into a paper airplane and launch it. The project was divided into three portions. The proposal was biased on loading the paper into the machine, design and manufacture the machine frame and provide a reliable power source. A slow rpm motor was needed for the loading mechanism to prevent the paper from being damaged. To avoid any deflection in the frame, the total weight of the machine had to be considered. The shear …

The Pneumatic Leg Extension, David G. Sedano

All Undergraduate Projects

In recent years, reaching altitudes that are higher than your normal-height has evolved from pure amusement to an “in-demand” necessity out in the field. Means of achieving greater than normal height range from wooden poles to aluminum stilts. The era of ladders and other extension methods are slowly fading away. There are many designs in the market that focus on different factors to make a stilt. As other designs focus on one or two enhancements, the pneumatic leg extension’s objective is to improve all aspects of the stilt. This radical new design differs greatly from traditional stilt designs. The pneumatic …

Suspension For Electrathon Vehicle, Mackenzie Ericson Angeledes

All Undergraduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to develop a rear suspension system to support the frame of an Electrathon Vehicle. The vehicle is designed to compete in the Electrathon America competition on behalf of the Central Washington University Electric Vehicle Club. The suspension system was designed to use readily available parts sourced from manufacturers to keep the components serviceable. Using dynamic and static engineering analysis (spring equations, equations of equilibrium, stress calculations), the necessary custom components were designed. Space restrictions and limitations of the preexisting frame necessitated modifications, such as the straightness of the frame and the positioning of existing …

Ultra Light Split Board Bindings, Jared Van Putten

All Undergraduate Projects

A split board binding is used to link two halves of a theoretically cut in half snow board together and fasten an alpine touring boot used for both skiing and mountaineering in place. The binding is removable so that one can alpine tour uphill on skins and be assembled at the top so that the rider can link both halves of the board together and bind their alpine touring ski boot into place to the split board. The binding system is required to be ultra light for Alpine Touring purposes and still be strong enough to withstand the rigors of …

Conversion Casting: Adapter Hub, Joseph M. Coup

All Undergraduate Projects

The concept of conversion casting makes manufacturing major components much more efficient with regards to time and cost. The conversion cast of the adapter hub used in the Victair Mistifier is a major component that requires 8 hours to machine. The existing hub starts from steel stock and then that block of steel is placed into a CNC machine and coded in to create the adapter hub. The manufacturing method changes to a casting for the adapter hub will create a replicated part that requires 1.5 hours of post machining. The intricate design makes a conversion to casting more effective …

Multi-Use Fireline Handtool, Bruce W. Bernard Jr

All Undergraduate Projects

A wildland firefighter is a valuable resource to protecting public lands and managing fuels. The many hand tools used by firefighters aid in their ability to complete any required tasks effectively. Several of the tools available are specially purposed for individually grubbing, scraping, or liming. A small squad of firefighters could become a more effective resource if the tools they carried could perform several of these purposes as one single tool. To improve the effectiveness of an individual on the fireline a multi-use hand tool was designed to include an axe for liming and a heavy duty scraper for grubbing …

Bike Lock Combining Strength And Flexibility, Zachary Uhrich

All Undergraduate Projects

What can be done when someone is riding a bicycle in a large metropolitan area, and when they reach their destination they find that there either is no bike rack, or the rack is already full. For bikers who prefer the security of a standard U-lock, this means having to leave to find another rack elsewhere or leave your bike unlocked. This situation is the why there is a need for a bike lock which can combine the security of a U-lock, with the flexibility and size of a chain. This project solves the problem by using a hardened steel …

Asme Mini Rc Baja: Drivetrain, Jason M. Moore

All Undergraduate Projects

Title and author: ASME mini RC Baja Drivetrain by Jason Moore; partner Mike Cox. (Engineering Technologies, Safety, and Construction)

Abstract/Artists Statement: The issue that this project is concerned with is how to design and build a drivetrain, steering and suspension systems for an RC car. The systems must be simple and functional. Furthermore, these systems will be designed to fit on a small chassis and not interfere with each other. They also need to be strong and durable enough to propel the car forward and maneuver through various obstacles and be built in a way that is easy to take …

Truss Alignment Tool, Jason Hedin

All Undergraduate Projects

The purpose of this project is to follow the engineering process from start to finish, and create a fully functioning truss alignment tool that has been designed, constructed, and tested successfully. The first phase involves the design of the truss alignment tool. The main design requirements of the tool includes taking an input force of 60 pounds and outputting the 630 pounds of clamping force needed to realign a set of two stacked trusses and pull their bottom edges flush. The second phase involves the construction of the tool. This involves all machining processes associated with the cutting, shaping, and …

Paper Airplane Building Machine: Paper Airplane Launcher, Hassan A. Bujayli

All Undergraduate Projects

The project was motivated by an ASME 2016 design challenge. The challenge was to design and manufacture a device that would turn a single sheet of paper into a paper airplane and launch it. The project is divided into three portions. The three portions are the frame and paper loading, folding mechanism, and launching. The circumference equation is used, to determine what is the proper speed of the paper loading motor. Notably, a slow rpm motor is needed for the loading mechanism to prevent the paper from being damaged. To avoid any deflection in the frame, the total weight of …

Solar Thermal Collector, Hazel Tickner, Tyson Nakamura

All Undergraduate Projects

During the course of this project, a solar thermal collector and supporting stand were designed and manufactured to be used during Mechanical Engineering Technology labs. Students will be able to use the collector to heat water, with the sun being the only heat source. The collector was designed by calculating surface area limitations, estimated solar input, and desired efficiency, to find the required water flow rate. From there, the necessary pipe lengths and diameters were determined, and the solar thermal collector was constructed. Two pipe paths were manufactured: a curved path, and a manifold path. Students will be able to …

Atv Rack Extension, Trista Smith

All Undergraduate Projects

This project represents a new way to carry multiple ATVS on a truck without having to tow a trailer behind the truck. There are two ATV racks involved, one sits in the bed of the truck and will hold two ATV’s that are parallel with the truck. The second rack (new rack) attached to the first rack resting on and overhanging the open tailgate. The third ATV sits perpendicular to the truck. The rack extension has critical requirements like weight, load, and dimensional sizing. Analysis was conducted to ensure that the pins that connect the two racks would withstand the …

Tabletop Die Cast System, Brad C. Barringer

All Undergraduate Projects

The project was to design, manufacture, and test a tabletop die cast system to be used as lab equipment in MET 257 – Casting Processes. The motivation for this project was the MET 257 – Casting Processes instructor’s desire to physically demonstrate the die casting process, but they were unable to find a system that would meet all of their requirements. They required a system design that was small, portable, would fit in the foundries limited space, had an open concept to allow students to see what was occurring during the pour, and compatibility with the foundries current equipment. The …

Shellfish Bag Maker, Trevor R. Reher

All Undergraduate Projects

When commercially harvesting shellfish specifically clams and oyster, plastic mesh bags are commonly used to place shellfish in after harvesting on beaches. The issues is taking the raw bag material used for harvest and cutting it to a specified length. The material comes on a 2000 ft. spool and needs to be cut to a length of 54 in. Using an existing but out dated machine, a bench mark was made that the new design must be 10% more efficient for the customer to invest money into building the machine. Using mechanical machine design and computer designing software the machine …

Flag Raising Device, Josh Quintero

All Undergraduate Projects

The motivation for this project stems from a lifetime of boating with father Richard Jones. One problem that many people encounter, including Richard, was when towing someone behind a boat, is the difficulty with handling the warning flag. This flag is used to show other surrounding boats that someone has fallen into the water behind their boat. This warns other boats to stay far away from that area to keep safe from running over the swimmer. Although, when holding the flag in the boat, it can be hard to see at times. The boat driver, or other people standing in …

Hydraulic Sprayer Boom Upgrade, Chad R. Omlin

All Undergraduate Projects

Title and Author: Agriculture sprayer hydraulic boom upgrade by Chad Omlin (engineering Technologies, Safety, and Construction)

Abstract: Today’s agriculture industry is all about being the most efficient with your time, land, employees, and machinery. One thing that has made farming more efficient has been the use of hydraulics. Having a sprayer unit with manual booms is not being efficient with your time and/or employees. To make the sprayer unit more efficient, hydraulic cylinders were added. Sketched solutions were analyzed using statics and mechanics of materials principles. Drawings were completed for the successful analysis solutions. Solid works software was used to …

Icarus Avionics Device, Robert A. Gread

All Undergraduate Projects

The Federal Aviation Administration recently released a statement that personal and homemade aircraft accidents could be reduced significantly with the addition of Angle of Attack information for the pilot. Installing most available devices on modern aircraft requires extensive fitting and modification at great expense. Furthermore, modification of older and vintage aircraft may not be desirable. The introduction of a simple, non-invasive device that provides the same information would increase safety and be marketable. Utilizing this opportunity and setting a range of requirements including cost, weight, ease of installation, and reliability, analysis was performed on different methods purposed to accomplish the …

Met 314 Torque Measurement, Jose Bejar

All Undergraduate Projects

As part of the Mechanical Engineering Technology program, students are required to take a Thermodynamics class. In this class one of the labs they do consists of an air motor running a water pump. The professor teaching that class wanted a device that would fit within the lab rig which would calculate the torque produced by the motor. Therefore this project consists of building a device that will allow the case (body) of the air motor to fully rotate opposite to the rotation of the shaft in order to measure the torque the motor produces at certain revolutions per minute. …

Paper Airplane Building Machine: Paper Folding Mechanism, Abdullah Y. Alshahrani

All Undergraduate Projects

The project was motivated by an ASME 2016 design challenge. The challenge was to design and manufacture a device that would turn a single sheet of paper into a paper airplane and launch it. The project is divided into three portions. The three portions are the frame and paper loading, folding mechanism, and launching. The circumference equation is used, to determine what the proper speed of the paper loading motor is. Notably, a slow rpm motor is needed for the loading mechanism to prevent the paper from being damaged. To avoid any deflection in the frame, the total weight of …

Asme Mini-Baja Rc Car (Steering And Suspension Systems), Michael E. Cox

All Undergraduate Projects

The issue that this project is concerned with is how to design and build a drivetrain, steering and suspension systems for an RC car. The systems must be simple and functional. Furthermore, these systems will be designed to fit on a small chassis and not interfere with each other. They also need to be strong and durable enough to propel the car forward and maneuver through various obstacles and be built in a way that is easy to take apart and repair quickly. These design problems were approached using basic mechanical design concepts such as gear kinematics, spur and bevel …

Wakeboard Winch, Eric Christensen

Mechanical Engineering and Technology Senior Projects

A wakeboard winch is a stationary device used to tow wakeboard riders through a body of water allowing riders to access locations that may be too shallow for boats or where motorboat restrictions apply. For this instance, the device will be intended to use on a small lake where motorized boats are prohibited but will also possess a transportable design so it may be used in other locations. Winches that can be purchased from manufacturers tend to be expensive and unaffordable for most people while many homemade winches tend to lack the same performance capabilities as manufactured winches. The principal …

Conversion Casting From A36 Steel To Grey Iron, Chris Nichols

Mechanical Engineering and Technology Senior Projects

Conversion castings are used in manufacturing to reduce time and costs of the production of machined parts. This project incorporated a machined production component from a local manufacturer and designed and produced an equivalent component using the casting process. The casting material chosen needed to be able to withstand all tension and compression forces when the component is used in service along with locations and dimensions of holes needed to be in accordance with all specified tolerances. The casting design process had to account for draft issues, shrinkage during material solidification, porosity and internal cavities formed during solidification, and overall …

Victair Mistifier Gearbox: Metal Casted Housing, Gabe Bruno, Casey Mcfarlen, Ricky Skinner

Mechanical Engineering and Technology Senior Projects

The current global population is 7.2 billion. It is projected to increase by 1 billion over the next 12 years. There is only 5% of usable farming land left on earth. Food is a resource that humans must consume daily. These facts undeniably lead to a shortage of food in the future. It is essential to mankind survival that farming becomes more efficient and sustainable. This provided the motivation to design a more efficient transmission for the Victair Mistifier (orchard and vineyard sprayer). Victair Mistifiers are designed, engineered, and manufactured by H.F. Hauff Company in Yakima, WA. The Hauff Company’s …

Branch Cutter Adapter For Electric Impact Gun, Cullen Hubbard

Mechanical Engineering and Technology Senior Projects

There are many homeowners that would like to maintain the trees around their homes but cannot do so. The drive of this project was to develop a 0g mechanism which would provide a senior citizen or an individual with limited upper body strength, with the ability to cut through branches that would otherwise pose challenging. The design would allow the end user to cut a branch by simply pulling a trigger. A branch cutting attachment was designed to attach to the front of a DeWALT cordless impact gun. This attachment will convert the rotational torque and motion from the impact …

Collapsible Wheelchair Wheel Design, Joseph Fischer

Mechanical Engineering and Technology Senior Projects

Portability, convenience, and efficiency are becoming more and more prevalent as technology increases. This is also true with wheelchairs; Wheelchairs are being designed to fold and collapse smaller and smaller with every iteration but there is one parameter that remains constant, the wheel. No matter how small the wheelchair frame folds it is always limited by its’ wheel’s diameter. This project aims to create a collapsible wheel design to accompany a foldable wheelchair in order to make it more portable and storable. Since the diameter of the wheel is the limiting factor in a foldable wheelchair, the relatively small width …

Custom Glasses Cases, Nikolas Ivan Klukas

Mechanical Engineering and Technology Senior Projects

The modern market is centralized around technological advances that improve and better everyday life. With approximately 150 million Americans that use corrective eye-ware on a daily basis, the need for improved technology in glasses cases is inevitable. Current glasses cases work to either protect the glasses and are big and bulky, or are made smaller to be more easily transported. The concept is to take any pair of glasses and make a custom case for them. The programs being utilized to complete the project are solidworks and excel. The process is started by making a base layout of the glasses …

Composite Brake Rotor Assembly By Utilizing Replaceable Friction Surfaces, John Evert

Mechanical Engineering and Technology Senior Projects

This project investigated a proof of concept design involving a rotor fabricated from aluminum with replaceable friction surfaces with greater or equal performance characteristics in order to reduce cost and maintenance. The replaceable friction surfaces provide a means to mitigate cost to the end user. The structure is constrained by the dimensions, 11.75” diameter and 1.25” width and serves as a direct replacement rotor for a circle track racecar. Analyses provide a direct comparison in static mass, moments of inertia, and forced convection thermal calculations in order to determine if the concept was viable. Requirements for a successful design were …

Pivoting Motocross Foot Pegs, Michael Leblanc

Mechanical Engineering and Technology Senior Projects

The ability to keep a dirt bike rider’s feet in full contact with the foot pegs at all times is something all riders’ face when riding their bike. The foot pegs that come factory and aftermarket today are universally static and non-rotational which prevent the ability for maximum contact to be maintained. During various riding positions, a rider’s foot can partially become disconnected from the peg allowing for a loss of potential control and balance/stability. The solution devised was a set of pegs that have the ability to rotate with the rider’s foot. The rotational ability of the pegs allow …

Instron Tt-C 1055 Redesign For Tensile Testing Lab Use: The Design And Construction Of Tensile Test Gripping Assemblies, Melvin Lee Hortman

Mechanical Engineering and Technology Senior Projects

The goal of this project was to design, manufacture, and test a pair of cheap gripping assemblies with mount adapters to the Instron TT-C tensile testing machine, which was currently out of service in the Materials Laboratory of Central Washington University’s Hogue Technology Building, for educational use. The gripping assemblies would enable tensile, or pulling force, tests on tensile specimens up to 20,000 lbs, being able to test high carbon steel. The gripping assemblies and mounting adapters were designed and manufactured completely by a Central Washington University Mechanical Engineering Technology student who used the cumulative knowledge gained from engineering analysis …

Mx Snow Ski, Jordan Olson

Mechanical Engineering and Technology Senior Projects

Living in the Pacific Northwest has many perks when it comes to enjoying the outdoors. All of the seasons can be enjoyed, as well as being completely surrounded by beautiful rolling hills and mountains. Being someone who continuously enjoys the outdoors year-round it’s always fun to try new hobbies. The problem with owning a dirt bike is that most people ride during the dryer and warmer seasons of the year. This project would enable the bike to be ridden even during the snowy winter season. Riding a dirt bike in snow has been recently explored by only a few companies …