Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

A Study Of Light-Matter Interaction In Nanopatterned Arrays And Biosensing Applications, Mohammad Waliullah

Student Theses and Dissertations

Food fraud and adulteration issue is persistent everywhere in today’s world. Identification of the seafood and meat species correctly, swiftly and economically is a necessity to fight this issue. Every species has its unique DNA. Therefore, identification of DNA will lead to identification of species. Before identification, DNA must be amplified to facilitate analysis. The traditional methods for both amplification and identification of DNA require sophisticated laboratory, trained personnel, high cost and long time. In case of amplification, choosing Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA) method over traditional barcoding method can reduce these problems. In case of identification, fabrication of a novel …

Digital Enhancement Of Analog Measurement Systems For Temperature Compensation Of Strain Gages, Islombek Karimov

Electrical Engineering Theses

Generally known temperature compensation techniques for strain gages (like the use of a dummy gage or the implementation of half- and full-bridge configurations) are not applicable to all strain-measurement situations and cannot fully compensate for all sources of error. Digital Enhancement of Analog Measurement Systems presents a universal method of corrections for these effects in which temperature is measured independently of other variables and ex post facto corrections are computed and applied to digitized readings of the analog measurement system.

A single, linear-pattern strain gage, self-temperature-compensated for steel 1018, has been utilized in a quarter-bridge to measure tensile strain in …

Finite Element Analysis Of A Guideway For Automated Transit Networks, Issac Gendler

McNair Research Journal SJSU

An asymmetric beam currently being utilized in a solar powered automated transit system was analyzed for its deflections, stresses, and angle of twist. Finite element analysis (FEA) with ANSYS was used in conjunction with hand calculations from beam theory to determine the response of the guideway to loading anticipated in normal operation. An iterative approach was used for modeling the system, where the geometry was taken from a simplified case and progressed in complexity until the original model was duplicated. After analysis, the deflections, stresses, and angles of twist were found to be within suitable ranges for a suspended transportation …

Design And Synthesis Of Novel Nanometallic Catalysts And Electrode Materials For Green Fuel Cells, Jing Zhang

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

The United Nations formally adopted 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) at its 2015 summit. Many of these goals addressed issues such poverty, hunger, health, education, climate-change, gender equality, water, sanitation, energy, urbanization, environment and social justice. The seventh SDG seeks to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. So among all renewable forms of energy, fuel cells with high efficiency have attracted a lot of attention recently. In particular, the direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) and microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are significant due to their green fuel, less waste generated and environmental friendliness. Hence the overall …

Aligned Carbon Nanotube Arrays Bonded To Solid Graphite Substrates: Thermal Analysis For Future Device Cooling Applications, Betty T. Quinton, Levi Elston, James D. Scofield, Sharmila M. Mukhopadhyay

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are known for high thermal conductivity and have potential use as nano-radiators or heat exchangers. This paper focuses on the thermal performance of carpet-like arrays of vertically aligned CNTs on solid graphite substrates with the idea of investigating their behavior as a function of carpet dimensions and predicting their performance as thermal interface material (TIM) for electronic device cooling. Vertically aligned CNTs were grown on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrate, which creates a robust and durable all-carbon hierarchical structure. The multi-layer thermal analysis approach using Netzsch laser flash analysis system was used to evaluate their performance …

Pedestrian Injury Severity Analysis In Motor Vehicle Crashes In Ohio, Majbah Uddin, Fahim Ahmed

Faculty Publications

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 116 pedestrians were killed in motor vehicle crashes in Ohio in 2015. However, no study to date has analyzed crashes in Ohio in order to explore the factors contributing to the pedestrian injury severity resulting from motor vehicle crashes. This study fills this gap by investigating the crashes involving pedestrians exclusively in Ohio. This study uses the crash data from the Highway Safety Information System, from 2009 to 2013. The explanatory factors include the pedestrian, driver, vehicle, crash, and roadway characteristics. Both fixed- and random-parameters ordered probit models of injury severity (where …

Atmospheric Resiliency: Enhancing Environmental Air Quality Through Bio-Architecture, Francesca Boakye

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The theory of purifying a city’s smog filled atmosphere by using green microalgae can be architecturally realized through a designed building envelope composed of multiple units of microalgae filled perforated panels. The nature of this project is bio-architectural. Precise execution of it relies on deep research in vehicular emission pollution in terms of molecular composition. This research will help identify the most prominent pollutant in the smog composition and match it to a species of algae that can completely process it during photosynthesis. In addition to air pollution research, research on algae typology, growth and environmental impact is also essential …

Research And Development Of Powder Brazing Filler Metals For Diamond Tools: A Review, Fei Long, Peng He, Dusan P. Sekulic

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Powder brazing filler metals (PBFMs) feature a number of comparative advantages. Among others, these include a low energy consumption, an accurate dosage, a good brazeability, a short production time, and a high production efficiency. These filler metals have been used in the aerospace, automobile, and electric appliances industries. The PBFMs are especially suitable for diamond tools bonding, which involves complex workpiece shapes and requires accurate dosage. The recent research of PBFMs for diamond tools is reviewed in this paper. The current applications are discussed. The CuSnTi and Ni-Cr-based PBFMs have been the two commonly used monolayer PBFMs. Thus, the bonding …

Study Of Near-Cup Droplet Breakup Of An Automative Electrostatic Rotary Bell (Esrb) Atomizer Using High-Speed Shadowgraph Imaging, Jacob E. Wilson, Stephen William Grib, Adnan Darwish Ahmad, Michael W. Renfro, Scott A. Adams, Ahmad Salaimeh

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Electrostatic Rotary bell (ESRB) atomizers are used as the dominant means of paint application by the automotive industry. They utilize the high rotational speed of a cup to induce primary atomization of a liquid along with shaping air to provide secondary atomization and transport. In order to better understand the fluid breakup mechanisms involved in this process, high-speed shadowgraph imaging was used to visualize the edge of a serrated rotary bell at speeds varying between 5000 and 12,000 RPM and with a water flow rate of 250 ccm. A multi-step image processing algorithm was developed to differentiate between ligaments and …

Mechanical Reinforcement Of Polyacrylamide Hydrogels Using Pristine Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes, Wuxiang Feng

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

Hydrogels have great promise as an innovative biomedical material possessing many advantages such as high water content, porous structure, and excellent biocompatibility. Although hydrogels have been used to develop some successful applications, they commonly do not have sufficient mechanical strength required for artificial soft tissues. Here, the author fabricated reinforced PAAm hydrogels using single-walled carbon nanotubes as reinforcing materials. The fusion of SWCNTs and the PAAm matrix successfully generated SWCNTs/PAAm hybrid gels with improved mechanical strength. Moreover, the aqueous dispersion of SWCNTs used for engineering the hybrid gels remained excellent stability after two months. SEM images from previous research and …

Analysis Of Surface Integrity In Machining Of Aisi 304 Stainless Steel Under Various Cooling And Cutting Conditions, F. Klocke, B. Döbbeler, S. Lung, S. Seelbach, Ibrahim S. Jawahir

Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing Faculty Publications

Recent studies have shown that machining under specific cooling and cutting conditions can be used to induce a nanocrystalline surface layer in the workspiece. This layer has beneficial properties, such as improved fatigue strength, wear resistance and tribological behavior. In machining, a promising approach for achieving grain refinement in the surface layer is the application of cryogenic cooling. The aim is to use the last step of the machining operation to induce the desired surface quality to save time-consuming and expensive post machining surface treatments. The material used in this study was AISI 304 stainless steel. This austenitic steel suffers …

Gait Modeling Using Genetic Algorithm Optimized Four-Bar Linkages, Hazen James Hamather

Graduate Theses - Mechanical Engineering

Important in diagnosing gait abnormalities and pathologies is knowing the position of the leg at various points throughout the gait cycle. This is currently done with motion capture technology but the demand for Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) based navigation and position tracking has been on the rise. A required component of this alternative is a gait model that can accurately predict the position of points of interest. In this thesis, a Kalman Filter is constructed using a contrived model to test if, given an accurate gait model, the filter can converge to an accurate and true position solution. Also presented …

A Human Powered Micro-Generator For Charging Electronic Devices, John Adam

Senior Theses

A hand-pulled generator has been designed and tested. A preliminary result has been obtained and discussed. This device was created to provide outlet-free charging. Electronic devices are useful when going out into the wilderness. A portable power supply is necessary to keep an electronic device alive. This project created a device that converts human energy into electricity to charge electronic devices. This thesis overviews the device’s design, build, and tests. Two different tests were run to determine that the device is capable of charging the storage battery. The device presented can provide 14 minutes of charging time with one hour …

Effects Of Tension On Resonant Frequencies Of Strings, Blake Burnett

Senior Theses

This project tests and explores resonance of strings. Since all materials and mechanisms are affected by vibrations, it is important to know the frequencies at which resonance occurs. To explore this subject, strings were used as a model material to test the effect tension has on resonance. The fundamental frequencies and the corresponding modes of resonance were used to analyze the data. The results of this experiment show that increasing tension on a string increases its resonance frequency. Understanding the physics behind resonance frequency allows systems to be designed to take advantage of resonance properties, or to avoid resonance where …

Measuring The Double Layer Capacitance Of Electrolyte Solutions Using A Graphene Field Effect Transistor, Agatha Ulibarri

Senior Theses

When operating graphene field effect transistors (GFETs) in fluid, a double layer capacitance (C_dl) is formed at the surface. In the literature, the C_dl is estimated using values obtained using metal electrode experiments. Due to the distinctive electronic and surface properties of graphene, there is reason to believe these estimates are inadequate. This work seeks to directly characterize the double layer capacitance of a GFET. A unique method for determining the C_dl has been implemented, and data has been obtained for three electrolytes and one ionic fluid. The results yield dramatically lower C_dl values than …

The Effects Of Surface Pace In Baseball, Jason Farlow

Senior Theses

A baseball travels across different surfaces at different paces. The goal of this experiment is to find a percentage difference in speeds the ball will reflect off a given surface. The energy lost on the turf surface was far more significant than on dirt surface as the turf lost an average of 26% of its energy as compared to just 16% of the energy on dirt. In the Northwest conference, teams play on four turf-based infields and five dirt-based infields. The results of this study suggest that kinetic friction forces are more significant in reducing ball rebound speed than in …

A Numerical Investigation Of Bio-Inspired Scaffolds And Surface Textures, Yucong Gu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Synthetic scaffolds are widely used as implants to repair bone fracture. Without a proper design, scaffolds could pose significant health risks to the patient and fail to heal the bone properly. A good synthetic scaffold needs to have high porosity and large pore size to allow new bone cells to form on it. However, a scaffold with higher porosity and larger pore size tends to have reduced mechanical strength. Thus, it is important to find a structural design which allows the implant to have a high porosity and large pore size while retaining high strength. In this research, a 3D-printable …

Microheater Array Powder Sintering (Maps) For Printing Flexible Electronics, Nicholas Holt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Microheater array powder sintering (MAPS) is a novel additive manufacturing process that uses an array of microheaters to selectively sinter powder particles. MAPS shows great promise as a new method of printing flexible electronics by enabling digital curing of conductive inks on a variety of substrates. MAPS operation relies on establishing a precision air gap of a few microns between an array of microheaters, which can reach temperatures of 600°C, and a layer of conductive ink which can be deposited onto a flexible substrate. This system presents challenges, being: the fabrication of a microheater that can reach suitable temperatures in …

Fluid Phase Separation Via Nanochannel Array, John Lee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) generate ideas and techniques for creating new devices at the micro/nano scale. This dissertation study designed a gas generator system utilizing nanochannels for phase separation that is useful for micro-pneumatic actuators, micro-valves, and micro-pumps. The new gas generator has the potential to be an integral part of a propulsion system for small-scale satellites. Nano/picosatellites have limited orientation capability partly due to the current limitations of microthruster devices. Development of a self-contained micro propulsion system enables dynamic orbital maneuvering of pico- and nano-class satellites.

Additionally, the new gas generator utilizes a high efficiency, green …

Temperature And Stress Analysis During Tank Decanting And Refilling Process, Zhe Liu

Department of Engineering Mechanics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In the present work, an analytical expression for the temperature distribution of the cross-section of a natural gas transport tank is derived by time-matching Green’s Function method. The tank decanting process can produce a living temperature decrease inside the tank wall while the filling process can produce a large temperature increase. This behavior can cause damage to the inner layer of the tank. The damage occurs in the form of excessive stress in the wall which is combined mechanical stress and thermal stress. Therefore, thermo-elasticity analysis is another objective of the present work. A simplified mechanical model is established in …

Experimental Investigation Of Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis With A Modified Catalyst Support, Pawarat Bootpakdeetam

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Energy demand has been rapidly increasing in the last 30 years due to the population growth and high demand by industries. However, as natural energy sources are limited, they cannot meet this increased energy demand. Therefore, alternative energies have become an option to sustain current and future energy demands. One promising and reliable alternative energy is the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS), which is a gas-to-liquid (GTL) technology that converts syngas from a low-value feedstock, for example, from coal, biomass, or natural gas, into a high-value liquid hydrocarbon. In addition, FTS is a highly exothermic catalytic reaction that requires careful thermal management …

Reconfigurable Electrochemical Biosensor Enabled By Digital Microfluidic Devices, Ali Farzbod

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The increasing demand for improving the health care quality in developed countries with synchronous advances in the microfabrication of CMOS devices results in the emergence of the Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) field. The ultimate goal of LOC's is to achieve the complete integration of biomedical protocols, such as sample pre-processing and separation and analysis of biosamples on a chip. Electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) as a distinctive digital microfluidic (DMF) is capable of manipulating droplets less than a microliter along the electrode arrays by applying AC voltages. EWOD chips, as microfluidic platforms, are inherently electrical and do not have to deal with problems …

A Two Stage Event Based Data Driven Controller For Improved Grasping Of An Artificial Hand, Christopher Abrego

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The human hand is one of the greatest (if not the greatest) tool known to mankind for grasping objects. So much so, that researchers have been investigating the development of artificial biomimetic hands in an effort to mimic their functionality and dexterity with the indent to apply the technology to various robotic platforms; ranging from end effectors for industrial pick-and-place robotics, to upper-limb prosthetics, to humanoids. There are certain features that make this endeavor challenging such as the mechanical design, actuation and sensorization, and functionality as well as the interaction from both the view point of interacting with an end …

Finite Element Analysis Of Composite Water Buffer Drum, Chinmay Shrikrishna S Godbole

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Composite materials offer many advantages for to many industries and developments based on their low density, corrosion resistance, and high strength to weight ratio. In addition, the use of composites allows for more design flexibility for products, the properties to meet specific design requirements, thus promoting better system oriented and cost-effective solutions. However, on a high performance equated basis, the economic incentive to use composite components can often be demonstrated based on their capability to reduce system and life cycle costs. Water buffer drum which is a pressure vessel holds a specified volume of fluid with desired temperature and pressure. …

On The Development And Integration Of Pneumatic Extrusion Module And A Methodology To Identify Process Parameters For Additive Manufacturing Using Machine Learning, Kashish Dhal

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Commonly used additive manufacturing platforms have a single extrusion module based on Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) and their processing software generates G-Codes for this FFF module using defined process parameters. These platforms and software do not accommodate different processing modules such as viscous extruders or Direct Ink Writing (DIW). This research is focused on the development of a Pneumatic Extrusion Module (PEM) capable of dispensing viscous materials such as gels or slurries controlled through a digital pneumatic valve. A PEM is developed, integrated and its performance is evaluated on a multi-modality additive manufacturing platform in the MARS Lab. The operation …

Experimental Analysis Of A Single-Phase Direct Liquid Cooled Server Performance At Extremely Low Temperatures For Extended Time Periods, Gautam Gupta

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

A data center is a centralized facility that we use for housing the computer systems and its related components such as high-end servers, redundant data connection and security controls. The next radical change in the thermal management of data centers is to shift from conventional cooling methods like air-cooling to direct liquid cooling (DLC) to deal with high thermal mass. The past few years have consistently seen wider adoption of direct liquid cooling because of its simplicity and high heat dissipation capacity. Passive single phase engineered fluid immersion cooling has several other benefits like better server performance, even temperature profile …

Quasi-One-Dimensional Scramjet Combustor Flow Solver Using The Numerical Propulsion System Simulation, Long Vu

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The flow field inside a scramjet engine combustor involves complex phenomena such as fuel-air mixing, combustion chemistry, and flow separation. In order to determine the properties of the flow along the length of the combustor, mass, momentum and energy balance equations are solved simultaneously using a numerical method. While a full three dimensional computational simulation gives detailed results with high order of accuracy, it demands a great amount of time and computational resource. A low order analysis produces a fast overall picture of the combustor operation which in turn provides valuable information suitable for the preliminary design process. This research …

Robot Motion Tracking Using Time-Of-Flight And Structured Light Sensors For Indoor Navigation, Karan Vishnu Rao

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Simultaneous localization and mapping for mobile robots has been an active research field for several years with focus on the problems of accuracy and dependability of the data from the robot's peripherals. The position estimates for mobile and industrial robots is usually achieved by using the information from the global positioning system in an outdoor environment and for indoor environment, technologies such as LiDAR sensors and Infrared (IR) camera based motion capture systems such as VICON (TM) are used. The main issue with these approach for indoor navigation is the monetary cost to associated with these technologies. The purpose of …

Comparison Of Carbon Steel And Composite Side Wall Of Light Rail Vehicle By Finite Element Analysis, Dilraj Singh

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

A Railroad car is a vehicle used for carrying passengers and cargo. In the modern era, rail vehicles are designed as lightweight structures with the aim to minimize mass, operational energy demands, and CO2 emissions. Light rail vehicle is used at street level where they have direct contact with normal traffic and have a short distance between stations. In order to reduce dwell time at stops, and so, the vehicle can accelerate and deaccelerate easily, weight should be less and that is why low floor design is adopted these days. The sidewall is a crucial part of the car body …

Airflow Path And Flow Pattern Analysis Of Sub-Micron Particulate Contaminants In A Data Center With Hot Aisle Containment System Utilizing Direct Air Cooling, Satyam Saini

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The percentage of the energy used by data centers for cooling their equipment has been on the rise. With it has been the necessity for exploring new and more efficient methods, both from an engineering as well as business point of view, to contain this energy demand. The PCB boards are becoming more densely populated with multitude of smaller hardware on them, thereby, increasing its cooling requirements. Literature suggests that almost 40% of the total energy consumption in a typical Data Center is used for cooling purposes. Air cooling has always been the first choice for IT companies to cool …