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2011

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Articles 391 - 420 of 930

Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering

Transverse Permeability Of Fibrous Porous Media, Ali Tamayol, Majid Bahrami Apr 2011

Transverse Permeability Of Fibrous Porous Media, Ali Tamayol, Majid Bahrami

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

In this study, the transverse permeability of fibrous porous media is studied both experimentally and theoretically. A scale analysis technique is employed for determining the transverse permeability of various fibrous matrices including square, staggered, and hexagonal arrangements of unidirectionally aligned fibers, as well as simple two-directional mats and simple cubic structures. In the present approach, the permeability is related to the porosity, fiber diameter, and tortuosity of the medium. In addition, the pressure drop in several samples of tube banks of different arrangements and metal foams are measured in the creeping flow regime. The pressure-drop results are then used to …

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Characterization Of The Initial Flow Rate Of Information During Reverse Engineering, Nicole Anderson Apr 2011

Characterization Of The Initial Flow Rate Of Information During Reverse Engineering, Nicole Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

The future of companies that are founded on the development of new and innovative products is threatened when competitors reverse engineer and imitate the products. If the original developers could predict how long it would take a competitor to reverse engineer a product, it may be possible for them to delay, if not prevent, that competitor's entry into the market. Metrics and measures have been developed that can estimate the time it would take an individual to reverse engineer a product. The main purpose of these metrics and measures is to help designers determine how quickly a competitor could reverse …

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Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulations Of Liquid Laminar Flow Over Superhydrophobic Surfaces With Post Geometries, Abolfazl Amin Apr 2011

Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulations Of Liquid Laminar Flow Over Superhydrophobic Surfaces With Post Geometries, Abolfazl Amin

Theses and Dissertations

Frictional resistance reduction of liquid flow over surfaces has recently become a more important topic of research in the field of fluid dynamics. Scientific and technological progress and continued interest in nano and micro-technology have required new developments and approaches related to reducing frictional resistance, especially in liquid flow through nano and micro-channels. The application of superhydrophobic surfaces could be very effective in achieving the desired flow through such small channels. Superhydrophobic surfaces are created by intentionally creating roughnesses on the surface and applying a uniform hydrophobic coating to the entire surface. Liquid droplet tests have revealed that because of …

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Improved Rehabilitation And Exercise Machine / Machine De Reeducation Et D'Exercice Amelioree, Judith M. Burnfield, Adam Taylor, Thad W. Buster, Carla A. Nelson, Yu Shu Apr 2011

Improved Rehabilitation And Exercise Machine / Machine De Reeducation Et D'Exercice Amelioree, Judith M. Burnfield, Adam Taylor, Thad W. Buster, Carla A. Nelson, Yu Shu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

An improved rehabilitation and exercise machine is provided which allows a person with physical limitations, disabilities or chronic conditions to use the machine in order to rehabilitate their muscles, improve joint flexibility, and enhance cardiovascular fitness. An embodiment of the device includes a framework, a first and second crank arm, a first and second handle bar, a first and second foot pedal, a motor and pulley assembly, a first and second coupler link, and a motor controller with speed knob,

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Return On Investment Analysis For Implementing Barriers To Reverse Engineering And Imitation, Darren C. Knight Apr 2011

Return On Investment Analysis For Implementing Barriers To Reverse Engineering And Imitation, Darren C. Knight

Theses and Dissertations

Reverse engineering (extracting information about a product from the product itself) is a competitive strategy for many firms and is often costly to innovators. Recent research has proven metrics for estimating the reverse engineering time and barrier and has shown that products can strategically be made more difficult to reverse engineer, thus protecting the innovator. Reverse engineering, however, is only the first phase of attempting to duplicate a product. Imitating – the process of discovering how to physically reproduce the performance of the reverse engineered product in one or more of its performance areas – is the second and final …

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Some Experiences, Thoughts, Ideas And Open Questions Relating To Applied Thermodynamics, Jim Mcgovern Apr 2011

Some Experiences, Thoughts, Ideas And Open Questions Relating To Applied Thermodynamics, Jim Mcgovern

Articles

In this paper I present some of my thoughts and experiences relating to 'applied thermodynamics' over my career so far. I explain my interest in thermodynamics, describe some topics I have worked on, point out some questions that appear still to be open and outline some ideas for work that could be done. I describe how I was inspired to pursue the area of applied thermodynamics, with reference to a glass, opposed-piston internal combustion engine. I put my heat pump research in the late 1970s briefly into today's context. Some of my research has been in relation to compressors, which …

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An Improved Method For Quantifying The Stiffness Of Running Shoes, Jorie Ballun, Kyle Zobeck Apr 2011

An Improved Method For Quantifying The Stiffness Of Running Shoes, Jorie Ballun, Kyle Zobeck

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

The purpose of running shoes is to protect feet from injury by stabilizing motion and cushioning impact. As material technology and product testing develop, shoes can offer more protection through advanced designs. A typical test for running shoes is a flexion test in which the shoe is bent through a fixed angle and the applied force is measured. Most tests bend the forefoot of a shoe, but this characterizes stiffness over a limited portion of the shoe. The goal of this research is to develop an improved flexion test by evaluating and quantifying the stiffness of running shoes in both …

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Accelerating Quantum Computer Simulation Via Parallel Eigenvector Computation, Karl Stathakis Apr 2011

Accelerating Quantum Computer Simulation Via Parallel Eigenvector Computation, Karl Stathakis

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Quantum-dot cellular automata (QDCA) hold great potential to produce the next generation of computer hardware, but their development is hindered by computationally intensive simulations. Our research therefore focuses on rewriting one such simulation to run parallel calculations on a graphics processing unit (GPU). We have decreased execution time from 33 hours 11 minutes to 1 hour 39 minutes, but current progress has shown that further gains are possible. The calculation of eigenvectors holds particular promise for acceleration. Our research has two components: testing MATLAB’s algorithm for these calculations and creating a C-based algorithm to improve on MATLAB’s execution time. MATLAB …

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Nanocomposite High Displacement Strain Gauges For Use In Human-Machine Interfaces: Applications In Hand Pose Determination, Thomas B. Calkins Apr 2011

Nanocomposite High Displacement Strain Gauges For Use In Human-Machine Interfaces: Applications In Hand Pose Determination, Thomas B. Calkins

Theses and Dissertations

Conductive nanocomposites are finding many uses as multi-functional materials. One recent development involves the creation of high displacement strain gauges, which have potential applications in a variety of engineering roles. The piezoresistive nature of the gauges makes possible their strain sensing capability. The intent of this research is to show that specific High Displacement Strain Gauges can successfully be used in one human-machine interface application that will demonstrate their potential for a range of other human-machine interface applications. This will be shown in the development of these sensors to accomplish hand pose determination. The flexible and inexpensive gauges are attached …

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Modeling, Design, And Testing Of An Underwater Microactuation System Using A Standard Mems Foundry Process, Gregory L. Holst Apr 2011

Modeling, Design, And Testing Of An Underwater Microactuation System Using A Standard Mems Foundry Process, Gregory L. Holst

Theses and Dissertations

This work presents the modeling, design, and testing of an underwater microactuation system. It is composed of several thermomechanical in-plane microactuators (TIM) integrated with a ratchet system to provide long displacements and high forces to underwater microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). It is capable of actuating a 200µN load 110µm. It is a two-layer silicon MEMS device fabricated with a MEMS fabrication process, PolyMUMPS. This work also shows the development of an elliptic integral model to analyze the compliant fixed-guided beams in the TIM and gives new insight into the buckling behavior, reaction forces, and displacement of the beams. The derivation, verification, …

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Aerodynamic Performance And Shedding Characteristics On A Swept-Back Wing, Shun-Chang Yen Apr 2011

Aerodynamic Performance And Shedding Characteristics On A Swept-Back Wing, Shun-Chang Yen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

A NACA 0012 finite swept-back wing with a sweep-back angle of 15° was utilized to investigate the effects of angle of attack (α) and the chord Reynolds number (Rec) on the vortex shedding and aerodynamic coefficients. A hot-wire anemometer was applied to measure the vortex-shedding frequency. The projected Strouhal number (Std) at various angles of attack was determined and discussed. The relationship between Std and α is regressed as: Std = -0.0008 α + 0.209, for 22° < α < 90°. Four characteristic surface-flow patterns: separation bubble, leading-edge bubble, bubble burst, and turbulent separation were classified by changing α and Re. The behavior of surface-flow structures significantly affects the lift, drag, and moment coefficients. The lift coefficient (CL) increases with α in the separation bubble and leading-edge bubble regimes. The maximum increase rate of CL with respect to α (d(CL)/dα) is 1.52 π/rad. Occurring in the leadingedge bubble regime. However, the maximum increase rate of drag coefficient (CD) with respect to α (d(CD)/dα) is 0.49 π/rad. Occurring in the bubble-burst regime. The steep-drop of moment coefficient at stall in the unswept-wings is not observed in the swept-back wings.

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Hydrogen Absorption/Desorption In A Metal Hydride Reactor Accounting For Varied Effective Thermal Conductivity, Chih-Yuan Wang, Hwa-Chong Tien, San-Der Chyou, Nang-Nong Huang, Shing-Hoa Wang Apr 2011

Hydrogen Absorption/Desorption In A Metal Hydride Reactor Accounting For Varied Effective Thermal Conductivity, Chih-Yuan Wang, Hwa-Chong Tien, San-Der Chyou, Nang-Nong Huang, Shing-Hoa Wang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper investigates the effect of varied effective thermal conductivity on the hydrogen absorption/desorption in a metal hydride (MH) reactor. The effective thermal conductivity of a metal hydride bed was measured by performing steady-state experiment and then compared with the results obtained by employing an existing model. Good agreement was found. Next, numerical simulation on the performance of hydrogen absorption/desorption of the MH reactor was conducted by assuming either varied or constant effective thermal conductivity. Corresponding hydrogen absorption/desorption experiment was performed for comparison. It was found that numerical simulation accounting for varied effective thermal conductivity agrees with the experimental data …

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Dislocation Substructures Of Interstitial-Free Steel Subjected To Low Cycle Fatigue At Various Strain Amplitude, Shih-Wei Mao, Wen-Chun Lo, Hsing-Lu Huang, New-Jin Ho Apr 2011

Dislocation Substructures Of Interstitial-Free Steel Subjected To Low Cycle Fatigue At Various Strain Amplitude, Shih-Wei Mao, Wen-Chun Lo, Hsing-Lu Huang, New-Jin Ho

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The aim of this wok is to study the fatigue properties in relation to the microstructures of interstitial-free (IF) steel, a representative of body center cubic (BCC) materials, subjected to low cycle periodic stress. In order to compare the grain size effect on dislocation development, we used samples of two distinctive grain sizes, 70 µm and 210 µm, prepared by different thermo-mechanical processes. We found (1) there was an initial softening when the stain amplitude was lower than 1.6% and the microstructure of the fatigued samples are cellular independent of the grain sizes and the amplitude of strain. (2) A …

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Deformation Of Rolling Shutters Under Uniform Wind Pressure, Nan-Nong Huang, San-Ming Chang Apr 2011

Deformation Of Rolling Shutters Under Uniform Wind Pressure, Nan-Nong Huang, San-Ming Chang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this study, a model is developed to analyze the structural behaviors of rolling shutters subjected to wind pressure. In the current shutter theory, the elastic properties of shutters are characterized by two bending rigidities, which can be determined from the flexural tests of slats and shutters. Close form solutions can be obtained for the deflection of shutters with two opposite simply supported edges. To assess the validity of the present theory, rolling shutters with various sizes and supporting conditions under various magnitudes of loadings are tested. It is noted that the deflections and axial displacements based on the current …

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Mechatronics Application To Solar Tracking, Danny L. Rodriguez Jr Apr 2011

Mechatronics Application To Solar Tracking, Danny L. Rodriguez Jr

Purdue Polytechnic Directed Projects

The purpose of this was to design and implement a two-axis solar tracking system utilizing the National Instruments C-Rio real time controller. In order to accomplish this a prototype was modeled in CAD. This prototype used two 12 V DC motors to change a solar panel's rotation and tilt based on feedback data from three cadmium sulfide photoresistors. This configuration was chosen for its ability to create both a left-right rotational and an up/down tilt differential. In Addition this approach uses National Instruments Labview to control a solar tracking system. Using Labview add uniqueness to this project by adding a …

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Partnership For International Research And Education In Microfluidic Technology With Applications In Point Of Care Diagnostic, Mohammed Faghri, Sigrid Berka, John Grandin, Thomas Mather, D.M.L Meyer, Zongqin Zhang, Otto Gregory, Stephan Grilli, Christopher Baxter, Constantine Anagnostopoulos, Assem Abolmaaty Apr 2011

Partnership For International Research And Education In Microfluidic Technology With Applications In Point Of Care Diagnostic, Mohammed Faghri, Sigrid Berka, John Grandin, Thomas Mather, D.M.L Meyer, Zongqin Zhang, Otto Gregory, Stephan Grilli, Christopher Baxter, Constantine Anagnostopoulos, Assem Abolmaaty

Discovery@URI

This poster summarizes the research highlights of a project conducted as part of an National Science Foundation (NSF) partnership for research and education. The objective of this multidisciplinary, international project was to conduct research on microfluidic technology and applications. The project team is comprised of participants from the University of Rhode Island and the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany. The research focuses on the following four tasks: Task 1 – Discovery of disease biomarkers; Task 2 –Streaming based microfluidic platform for pumping, mixing, separation and detection; Task 3 – Development of rapid, quantitative and sensitive microfluidic fluorescence immunosensors for …

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Development Of High Resolution Sea Floor Mapping Tools And Techniques, Gabrielle Inglis, J. Ian Vaughn, Clara Smart, Christopher N. Roman Apr 2011

Development Of High Resolution Sea Floor Mapping Tools And Techniques, Gabrielle Inglis, J. Ian Vaughn, Clara Smart, Christopher N. Roman

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

There is a persistent need for high resolution photographic and bathymetric maps of the sea floor for many research areas in marine geology, biology and archaeology. This poster will present recent work using high frequency multibeam sonars, stereo vision and structured light laser imaging techniques to create maps with centimeter resolution for these applications. This research involves the development of new image and sonar processing techniques that combat the typical difficulties of imperfect navigation information, limited sensor ranges and adverse environmental conditions associated with using marine robotic vehicles in the ocean. Data for this work has been collected with the …

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Arra Advanced Weatherization Training Center - Quarterly Report (January 2011-March 2011), Florida Solar Energy Center, Neil Moyer Apr 2011

Arra Advanced Weatherization Training Center - Quarterly Report (January 2011-March 2011), Florida Solar Energy Center, Neil Moyer

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The 1st quarter of 2011 was the beginning of procurement for the training center. Two pieces of equipment, the insulation blowing machine and infrared cameras, were put out for quotes. Both have been selected and purchase orders created.

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Effect Of Gold Content On The Reliability Of Snagcu Solder Joints, Jianbiao Pan, Julie Silk, Mike Powers, Patrick Hyland Apr 2011

Effect Of Gold Content On The Reliability Of Snagcu Solder Joints, Jianbiao Pan, Julie Silk, Mike Powers, Patrick Hyland

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Electroplated Ni/Au over Cu is a popular metallization for PCB finish as well as for component leads, especially wire-bondable high frequency packages, where the gold thickness requirement for wirebonding is high. The general understanding is that less than 3 wt% of Au is acceptable in SnPb solder joints. However, little is known about the effect of Au content on the reliability of SnAgCu solder joints. The purpose of this study is to determine the acceptable level of Au in SAC305 solder joints. Three different package platforms with different Au thicknesses were assembled on boards with two different Au thicknesses using …

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Evaluating Impact Attenuator Performance For A Formula Sae Vehicle, Jason Fahland, Craig Hoff, Janet Brelin-Fornari Apr 2011

Evaluating Impact Attenuator Performance For A Formula Sae Vehicle, Jason Fahland, Craig Hoff, Janet Brelin-Fornari

Mechanical Engineering Publications

Formula SAE® is one of several student design competitions organized by SAE International. In the Formula SAE events undergraduate and graduate students are required to conceive, design, fabricate and compete with a small, formula-style, race car. Formula SAE safety rules dictate a 7 m/s (or approximately 15.65 mph) frontal crash test for nose mounted impact attenuators. These rules are outlined in section B3.21 of the Formula SAE rule book. Development and testing methods of these energy absorbing devices have varied widely among teams. This paper uses real world crash sled results to research methods for predicting the performance of aluminum …

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An Analysis Of Analytical Methods To Produce A Varying Angular Output From A Constant Angular Input Using Gearsets, Isaac R. Jones Apr 2011

An Analysis Of Analytical Methods To Produce A Varying Angular Output From A Constant Angular Input Using Gearsets, Isaac R. Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Research in developing a Positively Engaged Continuously Variable Transmission (PECVT) has been underway at Brigham Young University for some time. The inherent problems associated with embodiments of this type of transmission, namely the Non-Integer Tooth Problem (NITP), have been identified. This research is focused on the development of a Positively Engaged Piecewise Continuous Transmission (PEPCT), which is a subset of the PECVT. This document describes the hypothesis and analysis of using non-circular gearsets to overcome the NITP. This proposed solution enables a varying angular output from a constant angular input. In this research two analytical methods were evaluated based on …

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Evaluation Of Transient Refrigerant Migration Modeling Approach On Automotive Air Conditioning Systems, Bin Li, Steffen Peuker, Pega Hrnjak, Andrew Alleyne Apr 2011

Evaluation Of Transient Refrigerant Migration Modeling Approach On Automotive Air Conditioning Systems, Bin Li, Steffen Peuker, Pega Hrnjak, Andrew Alleyne

Mechanical Engineering

Automotive air conditioning systems are subject to constantly changing operation conditions and steady state simulations are not sufficient to describe the actual performance. The refrigerant mass migration during transient events such as clutch-cycling or start-up bas a direct impact on the transient performance. It is therefore necessary to develop simulation tools which can accurately predict the migration of the rerrigerant mass. To this end a dynamic model of an automotive air conditioning system is presented in this paper using a switched modeling framework. Model validation against experimental results demonstrates that the developed modeling approach is able to describe the transient …

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Strain Monitoring Of Carbon Fiber Composite With Embedded Nickel Nano-Composite Strain Gage, Timothy Michael Johnson Apr 2011

Strain Monitoring Of Carbon Fiber Composite With Embedded Nickel Nano-Composite Strain Gage, Timothy Michael Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites have extensive value in the aerospace, defense, sporting goods, and high performance automobile industries. These composites have huge benefits including high strength to weight ratios and the ability to tailor their properties. A significant issue with carbon fiber composites is the potential for catastrophic fatigue failure. To better understand this fatigue, there is first a huge push to measure strain accurately and in-situ to monitor carbon fiber composites. In this paper, piezoresistive nickel nanostrand (NiNs) nanocomposites were embedded in between layers of carbon fiber composite for real time, in situ strain monitoring. Several different …

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Gas Embolic Factors In Cardiovascular Health, Eric L. Cutler Apr 2011

Gas Embolic Factors In Cardiovascular Health, Eric L. Cutler

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Gas emboli are a clinical issue often encountered in the space exploration, marine construction, and medical fields.  Individuals involved with these disciplines will often have asympomatic gas emboli circulating throughout their bodies on a regular basis.  A study into the impact of chronic asymptomatic gas emboli on the risk of atherosclerosis in humans is thus presented.  This research utilized a custom built cardiovascular flow simulator and accompanying data acquisition system to experimentally determine the influence of gas emboli under varied circumstances on the mean wall shear stress of a tube in-vitro.  A directly inverse relationship between gas embolus presence in …

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Direct Numerical Simulation Of Hypersonic Turbulent Boundary Layers. Part 3. Effect Of Mach Number, L. (Lian) Duan, I. Beekman, M. P. Martín Apr 2011

Direct Numerical Simulation Of Hypersonic Turbulent Boundary Layers. Part 3. Effect Of Mach Number, L. (Lian) Duan, I. Beekman, M. P. Martín

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, we perform direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulent boundary layers with nominal free-stream Mach number ranging from 0.3 to 12. The main objective is to assess the scaling's with respect to the mean and turbulence behaviors as well as the possible breakdown of the weak compressibility hypothesis for turbulent boundary layers at high Mach numbers (M > 5). We find that many of the scaling relations, such as the van Driest transformation for mean velocity, Walz's relation, Morkovin's scaling and the strong Reynolds analogy, which are derived based on the weak compressibility hypothesis, remain valid for the range …

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The Composition And Distribution Of Coal-Ash Deposits Under Reducing And Oxidizing Conditions From A Suite Of Eight Coals, David R. Brunner Apr 2011

The Composition And Distribution Of Coal-Ash Deposits Under Reducing And Oxidizing Conditions From A Suite Of Eight Coals, David R. Brunner

Theses and Dissertations

Eighteen elements, including: carbon, oxygen, sodium, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, potassium, calcium, titanium, chromium, manganese, iron, nickel, strontium, and barium were measured using a scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive spectroscopy from deposits. The deposits were collected by burning eight different coals in a 160 kWth, staged, down-fired, swirl-stabilized combustor. Both up-stream and down-stream deposits from an oxidizing region (equivalence ratio 0.86) and reducing region (equivalence ratio 1.15) were collected. Within the deposits, the particle size and morphology were studied. The average particle cross-sectional area from the up-stream deposits ranged from 10 - 75 µm2 and had a …

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Surface Geometry And Heat Flux Effect On Thin Wire Nucleate Pool Boiling Of Subcooled Water In Mictrogravity, Troy Munro, Heng Ban Apr 2011

Surface Geometry And Heat Flux Effect On Thin Wire Nucleate Pool Boiling Of Subcooled Water In Mictrogravity, Troy Munro, Heng Ban

Presentations

No abstract provided.

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Multi-Resolution Obstacle Mapping With Rapidly-Exploring Random Tree Path Planning For Unmanned Air Vehicles, Brett Wayne Millar Apr 2011

Multi-Resolution Obstacle Mapping With Rapidly-Exploring Random Tree Path Planning For Unmanned Air Vehicles, Brett Wayne Millar

Theses and Dissertations

Unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) have become an important area of research. UAVs are used in many environments which may have previously unknown obstacles or sources of danger. This research addresses the problem of obstacle mapping and path planning while the UAV is in flight. Online obstacle mapping is achieved through the use of a multi-resolution map. As sensor information is received, a quadtree is built up to hold the information based upon the uncertainty associated with the measurement. Once a quadtree map of obstacles is built up, we desire online path re-planning to occur as quickly as possible. We introduce …

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Thermal Conductivity Of Interfacial Layers In Nanofluids, Zhi Liang, Hai-Lung Tsai Apr 2011

Thermal Conductivity Of Interfacial Layers In Nanofluids, Zhi Liang, Hai-Lung Tsai

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Thermal Conductivity of Interfacial Layers is an Essential Parameter for Determining How the Ordered Liquid Layering Around the Particle-Liquid Interface Contributes to the Unusual High Thermal Conductivity of Nanofluids. However, So Far There is No Experimental Data Regarding This Parameter. using Nonequilibrium Molecular Dynamics Simulations of an Inhomogeneous Au-Ar System in Which the Solid-Liquid Interactions Are Assumed to Be Much Stronger Than the Liquid-Liquid Interactions, We Show Explicitly that the Thermal Conductivity of a 1-Nm-Thick Interfacial Layer is 1.6∼2.5 Times Higher Than that of the Base Fluid. the Simulation Results Are Incorporated into a Three-Level Clustering Model to Calculate the …

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Long Term Outdoor Testing Of Low Concentration Solar Modules, Lewis Fraas, James Avery, Leonid Minkin, H. X. Huang, Tim Hebrink, Robert F. Boehm Apr 2011

Long Term Outdoor Testing Of Low Concentration Solar Modules, Lewis Fraas, James Avery, Leonid Minkin, H. X. Huang, Tim Hebrink, Robert F. Boehm

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

A 1‐axis carousel tracker equipped with four 3‐sun low‐concentration mirror modules has now been under test outdoors at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas (UNLV) for three years. There are three unique features associated with this unit. First, simple linear mirrors are used to reduce the amount of expensive single crystal silicon in order to potentially lower the module cost while potentially maintaining cell efficiencies over 20% and high module efficiency. Simple linear mirrors also allow the use of a single axis tracker. Second, the azimuth carousel tracker is also unique allowing trackers to be used on commercial building …

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