Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Comparison Of Fixed Tilt And Single Axis Tracking Solar Photovoltaics During Winter, Isobel R. Bowker

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

As solar projects are built in northern climates, it is necessary to understand how snow cover impacts power generation. While there are validated models that predict snow shedding for fixed tilt projects, there is not one for single axis tracking systems. This report aims to characterize the differences between fixed tilt and single axis tracking systems under the same snow conditions. Generation data was collected over four winter months for fixed tilt and tracking systems at Michigan Technological University. Models were created for both systems using weather information from the site, in which losses were set to zero to create …

Experimental Rate Feedback Control Of A Model-Scale Hourglass-Shaped Heaving Point Absorber, James R. Halverson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Buoy geometry greatly affects a point absorber wave energy converter's dynamic response to waves. Finding the optimal buoy shape and control method remains an open research area focused on maximizing the conversion of wave kinetic energy into electricity. This work presents an experimental comparison of closed-loop energy extraction between a cylindrical and a truncated cone buoy, both with the same submerged volume, across various wave frequencies and amplitudes. To ensure a fair comparison, the optimal rate feedback gain is calculated for each buoy at each wave condition. Multiple metrics, including power output, capture width, and actuator force, are used to …

Modeling And Testing Chain Trencher Excavator And Cone Penetrometer Robotic Prospecting Systems For Lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization, Marcello C. Guadagno

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The Artemis Missions aim to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon, requiring In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) of water-ice deposits in permanently shadowed regions. Two critical capabilities must be developed to enable ISRU at scale: prospecting instruments that can characterize the spatial distribution and geotechnical properties of icy regolith in situ, and excavation systems that can extract hardened icy regolith efficiently. This dissertation addresses both needs through the development and testing of a Percussive Heated Cone Penetrometer (PHCP) for geotechnical prospecting and a chain trencher excavator for icy regolith mining.

The PHCP was developed across eight design iterations and …

Study Of Bearing Capacity Testing And Soil Preparation Techniques In Lunar Highlands Simulant At Field Scale, Christi A. Lecaptain

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Humanity seeks to return to the surface of the Moon with the advent of the Artemis missions. These endeavors plan to be the beginning of a new era as NASA and other space organizations seek to establish a lunar base. Ahead of any astronauts or mining infrastructure, the physical groundwork will need to be laid to support the arrival of rockets, boots, and rover wheels. As surfaces are prepared, they will need to be tested and verified to ensure the stability of any structures placed on top. Understanding the bearing capacity is vital to soil quality testing. A standard terrestrial …

Coupled Shrinking Core And Bubble Dynamics Model For Enhancement Of Metal-Water Reactions With Acoustic Cavitation, Troy Metz

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Hydrogen is a valuable fuel. Hydrogen can be produced in several ways including thermochemical cycles, electrolysis, and metal-water reactions. Thermochemical cycles typically use high temperatures, often with corrosive species. Electrolysis requires high purity water. Metal-water reactions do not have these drawbacks. Activators such as lithium and gallium are often used to enhance metal-water reactions. However, these activators add to the complexity of metal-water reactions and may not work for all metals. A novel method to improve metal-water reactions is cavitation. During bubble collapse, shock waves and microjets are produced that can cause surface erosion. The objective of this work is …

Design And Experimental Evaluation Of A Custom Vision-Guided Approach To 2d Part Localization For Industrial Robots, Faisal Ali

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Vision-guided robots offer a clear advantage over teach-pendant programming for battery handling, where modern packs hold thousands of cells and teaching each position by hand does not scale. Commercial vision systems address this need, but their calibration, detection, and coordinate-conversion stages are closed to the user, making it hard to incorporate newer learning-based methods. This work presents a modular, custom-built vision-guided system using an Orbbec Gemini 435Le eye-in-hand camera, an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano, an Allen-Bradley Micro850 PLC, and a FANUC LR Mate 200iC, communicating over Modbus TCP and EtherNet/IP. A per-hole classification model resolves each known hole into a …

Structure Of Jupiter's High-Latitude Storms: Folded Filamentary Regions Revealed By Juno, L. N. Fletcher, Z. Zhang, S. Brown, F. A. Oyafuso, J. H. Rogers, M. H. Wong, S. Brueshaber, Et. Al

Michigan Tech Publications

Sprawling, turbulent cloud formations dominate the meteorology of Jupiter's mid‐to‐high latitudes, known as Folded Filamentary Regions (FFRs). A multi‐wavelength characterization by Juno reveals the spatial distribution, vertical structure, and energetics of the FFRs. The cloud tops display multiple lobes of stratiform aerosols, separated by darker, cloud‐free lanes, and embedded with smaller eddies and high‐altitude cumulus clouds. These cyclonic FFRs are microwave‐bright in shallow‐sounding wavelengths (p < 5 bars) and microwave‐dark in deep‐sounding wavelengths (p > 10 bars), with the transition potentially associated with the water condensation layer (6–7 bars). Associating microwave contrasts with temperature anomalies, this implies despinning of cyclonic eddies above/below their mid‐planes. Despite deep roots (being detectable in …

Control Techniques And Design Of Load-Side Controls For The Mitigation Of Late-Time High-Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse, Connor A. Lehman, Rush Robinett, Wayne Weaver, David G. Wilson

Michigan Tech Publications

This paper introduces a novel control archetype designed to mitigate high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) (Formula presented.) disturbances on the power grid, as well as information on performance and specifications of different control laws for the controller archetype. This method of protection has been overlooked in the literature until now. A controlled voltage supply is placed on the load-side of a transformer, diverting unwanted power from the transformer core to prevent saturation. The controlled voltage source is modeled using four control laws: an integral controller (capacitor), Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR), an energy storage minimized feedforward control law, and a Hamiltonian feedback …

Mae Enewsbrief July-Sept 2025, Department Of Mechanical And Aerospace Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering eNewsBrief

No abstract provided.

Electronic Structure Prediction Of Medium And High Entropy Alloys Across Composition Space, Shashank Pathrudkar, Stephanie Taylor, Abhishek Keripale, Abhijeet S. Gangan, Ponkrshnan Thiagarajan, Shivang Agarwal, Jaime Marian, Susanta Ghosh, Amartya S. Banerjee

Michigan Tech Publications

We propose machine learning (ML) models to predict the electron density — the fundamental unknown of a material’s ground state — across the composition space of concentrated alloys. From this, other physical properties can be inferred, enabling accelerated exploration. A significant challenge is that the number of descriptors and sampled compositions required for accurate prediction grows rapidly with species. To address this, we employ Bayesian Active Learning (AL), which minimizes training data requirements by leveraging uncertainty quantification capabilities of Bayesian Neural Networks. Compared to the strategic tessellation of the composition space, Bayesian-AL reduces the number of training data points by …

Integrating Complete Bond Dissociation In Class Ii Force Fields, Joshua Kemppainen, Hendrik Heinz, Gregory M. Odegard

Michigan Tech Publications

Predicting the physical and mechanical properties of organic materials from purely chemical understandings remains a significant challenge due to the limitations of conventional force fields in molecular dynamics (MD). In this work, we present a novel reformulation of Class II force fields that integrates Morse bond potentials with newly derived cross-term interactions, explicitly capturing complete bond dissociation while maintaining computational efficiency. This reformulated functional form combines the stability of fixed-bond models with the reactive capabilities of bond-breaking force fields, achieving accurate and robust MD predictions across crystalline, semi-crystalline, and amorphous organic systems. Extensive benchmarking confirms its predictive accuracy and speed, …

Adaptive Pi Control Using Recursive Least Squares For Centrifugal Pump Pipeline Systems, David A. Brattley, Wayne Weaver

Michigan Tech Publications

Pipeline transportation of petroleum products remains one of the safest and most efficient methods of bulk energy delivery, yet overpressure events continue to pose serious operational and regulatory challenges. Traditional fixed-gain PI controllers, commonly used with centrifugal pump drives, cannot adapt to varying product densities or transient disturbances such as valve closures that generate water hammer. This paper proposes a self-tuning adaptive controller based on Recursive Least Squares (RLS) parameter estimation to improve safety and efficiency in pipeline pump operations. A nonlinear simulation model of a centrifugal pump driven by an induction motor is developed, incorporating pipeline friction losses via …

Characterizing Surface Waviness Of Aluminum Alloy: An Approach To Minimize Post-Processing In Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (Waam) Production, Shammas Mahmood Shafi, Anis Fatima, Nicholas V. Hendrickson

Michigan Tech Publications

Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) offers high deposition rates and cost-effective production of large metal components but suffers from poor surface quality, particularly surface waviness, which increases post-processing requirements and limits industrial adoption. Since waviness directly impacts structural integrity, resource efficiency, and industrial applicability, understanding how process parameters govern this feature is critical for reducing post-processing requirement. This study systematically investigated the influence of voltage, travel speed, and wire feed speed on surface waviness in aluminum alloy walls fabricated by WAAM. A two-level factorial design with 16 experiments was conducted, and surface waviness was quantified using height gauge measurements relative …

Feasibility Of Helium And Nitrogen As Surrogate Gases For Hydrogen Jet Using Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence In A Constant Volume Chamber, Jungho Justin Kim, Seong Young Lee, Youngmin Ki, Joonsik Hwang, Choongsik Bae

Michigan Tech Publications

This study investigates the feasibility of using helium and nitrogen as surrogate gases for visualizing the non-reactive behavior of hydrogen jets in a constant volume chamber. Hydrogen, helium, and nitrogen were individually mixed with acetone vapor and injected using a hollow-cone injector. The fuel distribution was visualized using Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence (PLIF), while simultaneous Schlieren imaging was employed to capture overall jet structures. Quantitative comparisons of jet areas extracted from both imaging techniques demonstrated that acetone effectively followed the gas-phase flow of each species, validating its use as a flow tracer. Furthermore, helium and nitrogen exhibited jet dispersion patterns comparable …

Overcoming Variable Illumination In Photovoltaic Snow Monitoring: A Real-Time Robust Drone-Based Deep Learning Approach, Amna Mazen, Ashraf Saleem, Kamyab Yazdipaz, Ana Dyreson

Michigan Tech Publications

Snow accumulation on photovoltaic (PV) panels can cause significant energy losses in cold climates. While drone-based monitoring offers a scalable solution, real-world challenges like varying illumination can hinder accurate snow detection. We previously developed a YOLO-based drone system for snow coverage detection using a Fixed Thresholding segmentation method to discriminate snow from the solar panel; however, it struggled in challenging lighting conditions. This work addresses those limitations by presenting a reliable drone-based system to accurately estimate the Snow Coverage Percentage (SCP) over PV panels. The system combines a lightweight YOLOv11n-seg deep learning model for panel detection with an adaptive image …

Performance Of A Two-Body Wave Energy Converter With An Annular Heave Plate, Raj Tamakuwala, Muhammad Usman, Nathan Tom, Hassan Masoud

Michigan Tech Publications

We theoretically examine the performance of a two-body wave energy converter (WEC) featuring a floating sphere and a submerged annular heave plate, connected by a power take-off (PTO) system. Utilising linear wave theory, we derive the system's frequency-domain response to regular plane waves and analyse the impact of varying disk porosity on power generation. Our results suggest that annular disks can enhance power extraction efficiency in various cases compared with solid heave plates. Additionally, permeable plates can broaden operational conditions by reducing oscillation amplitudes and decreasing the mechanical strain on the PTO system without substantially compromising the power conversion efficiency. …

Stratified Hydrogen Combustion With Various Mixing Processes, Youngmin Ki, Heetae Yang, Jungho Justin Kim, Seong Young Lee, Joonsik Hwang, Choongsik Bae

Michigan Tech Publications

Hydrogen is recognized as a key alternative fuel for mitigating greenhouse-gas emissions owing to its high fuel efficiency and carbon-free combustion. In the stratified charge combustion (SCC) mode, ensuring optimal air-fuel mixing in the combustion chamber is crucial because the local equivalence ratio has a dominant influence on combustion characteristics. Therefore, this study aims to build a detailed understanding of stratified hydrogen combustion under various local equivalence ratios. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was used to measure the local equivalence ratios in hydrogen jets at different mixture-formation times (MFTs) and laser-ignition points (LIPs). The results showed that shorter MFTs induced highly …

Self-Organization In Metal Plasticity: An Ilg Update †, Avraam Konstantinidis, Konstantinos Spiliotis, Amit Chattopadhyay, Elais C. Aifantis

Michigan Tech Publications

In a 1987 article of the last author dedicated to the memory of a pioneer of classical plasticity Aris Philips of Yale, the last author outlined three examples of self-organization during plastic deformation in metals: persistent slip bands (PSBs), shear bands (SBs) and Portevin Le Chatelier (PLC) bands. All three have been observed and analyzed experimentally for a long time, but there was no theory to capture their spatial characteristics and evolution in the process of deformation. By introducing the Laplacian of dislocation density and strain in the standard constitutive equations used for these phenomena, corresponding mathematical models and nonlinear …

Energy-Aware Optimal Reconfiguration Of A Heterogeneous Connected And Automated Vehicle Cohort On A Limited-Access Highway, Pruthwiraj Santhosh, Darrell Robinette, Daniel Knopp, Jeffrey Naber, Jungyun Bae

Michigan Tech Publications

This paper presents an optimized vehicular reordering methodology designed to minimize energy consumption within heterogeneous cohorts operating at constant velocity on limited-access highways. The approach addresses the challenge of optimizing vehicle sequencing by considering both aerodynamic drag reduction benefits and the energy costs of reconfiguring a cohort from a stochastic initial state. This study provides empirical validation through on-road vehicle tests, demonstrating significant energy savings, achieving up to 10% reduction in axle energy for optimally configured cohorts compared to independent operation. A System of Systems (SoS) simulation environment, integrating micro-traffic, validated powertrain, and aerodynamic drag reduction models, was developed to …

Hourly Simulated Power Production Data With Snow Loss Model At Existing Utility-Scale Pv Sites (>5 Mw) In The U.S. Eastern Interconnection In 2018, Shelbie Wickett, Ana Dyreson

Simulated Solar Capacity Including Snow Cover in the Eastern U.S.

Project Summary: We ran PySAM power production simulations for utility-scale (>5 MW) PV sites located in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in the year 2018. Site panel mounts (fixed-tilt or single-axis tracking), capacities, and locations (latitudes and longitudes) were extracted from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Utility-Scale Solar 2024 Edition dataset. See 2018_PV_existing_site_metadata.csv file for individual site metadata.

Hourly Simulated Power Production Data With No Snow Loss Model At Existing Utility-Scale Pv Sites (>5 Mw) In The U.S. Eastern Interconnection In 2014, Shelbie Wickett, Ana Dyreson

Simulated Solar Capacity Including Snow Cover in the Eastern U.S.

Project Summary: We ran PySAM power production simulations for utility-scale (>5 MW) PV sites located in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in the year 2014. Site panel mounts (fixed-tilt or single-axis tracking), capacities, and locations (latitudes and longitudes) were extracted from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Utility-Scale Solar 2024 Edition dataset. See 2014_PV_existing_site_metadata.csv file for individual site metadata.

Hourly Simulated Power Production Data With No Snow Loss Model At Queued Utility-Scale Pv Sites Simulated As Single-Axis Tracking Systems In The U.S. Eastern Interconnection For Weather Year 2014, Shelbie Wickett, Ana Dyreson

Simulated Solar Capacity Including Snow Cover in the Eastern U.S.

Using 2014 weather data, we ran PySAM power production simulations for utility-scale PV sites in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection queue. Site IDs, capacities, and locations (counties) were extracted from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Queued Up: 2024 Edition dataset. No panel mount information was provided, so all sites were assumed to be the centers of the installation counties. See queued_site_metadata.csv file for individual site metadata

Hourly Simulated Power Production Data With No Snow Loss Model At Queued Utility-Scale Pv Sites Simulated As Single-Axis Tracking Systems In The U.S. Eastern Interconnection For Weather Year 2021, Shelbie Wickett, Ana Dyreson

Simulated Solar Capacity Including Snow Cover in the Eastern U.S.

Using 2021 weather data, we ran PySAM power production simulations for utility-scale PV sites in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection queue. Site IDs, capacities, and locations (counties) were extracted from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Queued Up: 2024 Edition dataset. No panel mount information was provided, so all sites were assumed to be the centers of the installation counties. See queued_site_metadata.csv file for individual site metadata

Hourly Simulated Power Production Data With No Snow Loss Model At Queued Utility-Scale Pv Sites Simulated As Single-Axis Tracking Systems In The U.S. Eastern Interconnection For Weather Year 2022, Shelbie Wickett, Ana Dyreson

Simulated Solar Capacity Including Snow Cover in the Eastern U.S.

Using 2022 weather data, we ran PySAM power production simulations for utility-scale PV sites in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection queue. Site IDs, capacities, and locations (counties) were extracted from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Queued Up: 2024 Edition dataset. No panel mount information was provided, so all sites were assumed to be the centers of the installation counties. See queued_site_metadata.csv file for individual site metadata

Hourly Simulated Power Production Data With Snow Loss Model At Existing Utility-Scale Pv Sites (>5 Mw) In The U.S. Eastern Interconnection In 2022, Shelbie Wickett, Ana Dyreson

Simulated Solar Capacity Including Snow Cover in the Eastern U.S.

Project Summary: We ran PySAM power production simulations for utility-scale (>5 MW) PV sites located in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in the year 2022. Site panel mounts (fixed-tilt or single-axis tracking), capacities, and locations (latitudes and longitudes) were extracted from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Utility-Scale Solar 2024 Edition dataset. See 2022_PV_existing_site_metadata.csv file for individual site metadata.

Hourly Simulated Power Production Data With No Snow Loss Model At Existing Utility-Scale Pv Sites (>5 Mw) In The U.S. Eastern Interconnection In 2017, Shelbie Wickett, Ana Dyreson

Simulated Solar Capacity Including Snow Cover in the Eastern U.S.

Project Summary: We ran PySAM power production simulations for utility-scale (>5 MW) PV sites located in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in the year 2017. Site panel mounts (fixed-tilt or single-axis tracking), capacities, and locations (latitudes and longitudes) were extracted from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Utility-Scale Solar 2024 Edition dataset. See 2017_PV_existing_site_metadata.csv file for individual site metadata.

Hourly Simulated Power Production Data With No Snow Loss Model At Existing Utility-Scale Pv Sites (>5 Mw) In The U.S. Eastern Interconnection In 2018, Shelbie Wickett, Ana Dyreson

Simulated Solar Capacity Including Snow Cover in the Eastern U.S.

Project Summary: We ran PySAM power production simulations for utility-scale (>5 MW) PV sites located in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in the year 2018. Site panel mounts (fixed-tilt or single-axis tracking), capacities, and locations (latitudes and longitudes) were extracted from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Utility-Scale Solar 2024 Edition dataset. See 2018_PV_existing_site_metadata.csv file for individual site metadata.

Hourly Simulated Power Production Data With No Snow Loss Model At Existing Utility-Scale Pv Sites (>5 Mw) In The U.S. Eastern Interconnection In 2022, Shelbie Wickett, Ana Dyreson

Simulated Solar Capacity Including Snow Cover in the Eastern U.S.

Project Summary: We ran PySAM power production simulations for utility-scale (>5 MW) PV sites located in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in the year 2022. Site panel mounts (fixed-tilt or single-axis tracking), capacities, and locations (latitudes and longitudes) were extracted from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Utility-Scale Solar 2024 Edition dataset. See 2022_PV_existing_site_metadata.csv file for individual site metadata.

Hourly Simulated Power Production Data With No Snow Loss Model At Queued Utility-Scale Pv Sites Simulated As Single-Axis Tracking Systems In The U.S. Eastern Interconnection For Weather Year 2015, Shelbie Wickett, Ana Dyreson

Simulated Solar Capacity Including Snow Cover in the Eastern U.S.

Using 2015 weather data, we ran PySAM power production simulations for utility-scale PV sites in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection queue. Site IDs, capacities, and locations (counties) were extracted from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Queued Up: 2024 Edition dataset. No panel mount information was provided, so all sites were assumed to be the centers of the installation counties. See queued_site_metadata.csv file for individual site metadata

Hourly Simulated Power Production Data With No Snow Loss Model At Existing Utility-Scale Pv Sites (>5 Mw) In The U.S. Eastern Interconnection In 2021, Shelbie Wickett, Ana Dyreson

Simulated Solar Capacity Including Snow Cover in the Eastern U.S.

Project Summary: We ran PySAM power production simulations for utility-scale (>5 MW) PV sites located in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection in the year 2021. Site panel mounts (fixed-tilt or single-axis tracking), capacities, and locations (latitudes and longitudes) were extracted from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Utility-Scale Solar 2024 Edition dataset. See 2021_PV_existing_site_metadata.csv file for individual site metadata.