Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Selective Disinfection Based On Directional Ultraviolet Irradiation And Artificial Intelligence, Ben Zierdt, Taichu Shi, Thomas Degroat, Sam Furman, Nicholas Papas, Zachary Smoot, Hong Zhang

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Ultraviolet disinfection has been proven to be effective for surface sanitation. Traditional ultraviolet disinfection systems generate omnidirectional radiation, which introduces safety concerns regarding human exposure. Large scale disinfection must be performed without humans present, which limits the time efficiency of disinfection. We propose and experimentally demonstrate a targeted ultraviolet disinfection system using a combination of robotics, lasers, and deep learning. The system uses a laser-galvo and a camera mounted on a two-axis gimbal running a custom deep learning algorithm. This allows ultraviolet radiation to be applied to any surface in the room where it is mounted, and the algorithm ensures …

Parameter Estimation And Application Of Anisotropic Yield Criteria For Cylindrical Aluminum Extrusions: Theoretical Developments And Stereodic Measurements, Farzana Yasmeen, Michael A. Sutton, Xiaomin Deng, Megan Ryan, Anthony P. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Theoretical and experimental studies are presented to characterize the anisotropic plastic response under torsion loading of two nominally identical aluminum Al6061-T6 extruded round bars. Theoretical models are developed using isotropic (Von Mises 1913) and anisotropic (Barlat 1991) yield criteria, along with isotropic strain hardening formulae, to model post-yield behavior under simple torsion loading. For the case of simple shear loading, incremental plasticity theory is used to determine the theoretical elastic, plastic, and total shear strains. A set of experiments are performed to calibrate Barlat’s 1991 yield function. Several specimens are extracted at different orientations to the longitudinal direction of each …

High-Order Deterministic Sensitivity Analysis And Uncertainty Quantification: Review And New Developments, Dan Gabriel Cacuci

Faculty Publications

This work reviews the state-of-the-art methodologies for the deterministic sensitivity analysis of nonlinear systems and deterministic quantification of uncertainties induced in model responses by uncertainties in the model parameters. The need for computing high-order sensitivities is underscored by presenting an analytically solvable model of neutron scattering in a hydrogenous medium, for which all of the response’s relative sensitivities have the same absolute value of unity. It is shown that the wider the distribution of model parameters, the higher the order of sensitivities needed to achieve a desired level of accuracy in representing the response and in computing the response’s expectation, …

A High-Pressure Shear Testing Approach To Measure Flow Stresses Near A Friction Stir Welding Tool, David Prymak, Michael Miles, Tracy W. Nelson, Fredrick Michael

Faculty Publications

A new approach for measuring flow stresses near a spinning friction stir welding (FSW) tool is evaluated on AA 6061-T6 plate. The test consists of plunging a cylindrical tool with a flat face into the plate at different rotational speeds, using a variety of constant vertical loads. A viscosity-based model of the shear layer created under the tool is employed to estimate local flow stresses. The flow stresses measured by this approach exhibited an inverse relationship with temperature and a positive dependence on the pressure imposed by the spinning flat-faced tool. Compared to hot compression and hot torsion results, estimated …

Mechanical Engineering News, Georgia Southern University

Mechanical Engineering: News & Publications (2013-2023)

• Dr. Cesmeci Awarded $1.1 mil DOE Grant
• Dr. Cesmeci Seeking to Student Researchers for DOE Grant

In Situ Characterization Of Tensile Behavior Of Laser Rapid Solidified Al–Si Heterogeneous Microstructures, Bingqiang Wei, Wenqian Wu, Dongyue Xie, Huai-Hsun Lien, Metin Kayitmazbatir, Amit Misra, Jian Wang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Heterogeneous Al–Si microstructure comprising of sub-micron-scale Al dendrites and nanoscale Al–Si fibrous eutectic was fabricated by processing as-cast Al-20wt.%Si alloy using laser rapid solidification. In situ tension tests explored high tensile strength ( ∼ 600 MPa) and ductility ( ∼ 10%) and high strain hardening rate ( ∼ 7 GPa). Microstructural characterization revealed the plastic co[1]deformation mechanisms between soft Al dendrites and hard nanoscale Al–Si eutectic. The progression of plasticity in nanoscale Al–Si eutectic with increasing applied strain is accommodated by dislocation plasticity in the nano-Al channels and cracking Si nanofibers. The propagation of nano-cracks is suppressed by surrounding Al, …

Digitally Twinned Additive Manufacturing: Detecting Flaws In Laser Powder Bed Fusion By Combining Thermal Simulations With In-Situmeltpool Sensor Data, R Yavari, A Riensche, E Tekerek, L Jacquemetton, H Halliday, M Vandever, A Tenequer, V Perumal, A Kontsos, Z Smoqi, K Cole, P Rao

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The goal of this research is the in-situ detection of flaw formation in metal parts made using the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing process. This is an important area of research, because, despite the considerable cost and time savings achieved, precision-driven industries, such as aerospace and biomedical, are reticent in using LPBF to make safety–critical parts due to tendency of the process to create flaws. Another emerging concern in LPBF, and additive manufacturing in general, is related to cyber security – malicious actors may tamper with the process or plant flaws inside a part to compromise its performance. …

Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis: Effect Of The Promoter’S Ionic Charge And Valence Level Energy On Activity, Mirtha Z. Leguizamón León Ribeiro, Joice C. Souza, Muthu Kumaran Gnanamani, Michela Martinelli, Gabriel F. Upton, Gary Jacobs, Mauro C. Ribeiro

Center for Applied Energy Research Faculty and Staff Publications

In this contribution, we examine the effect of the promoter´s ionic charge and valence orbital energy on the catalytic activity of Fe-based catalysts, based on in situ synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction (SXRPD), temperature-programmed-based techniques (TPR, TPD, CO-TP carburization), and Fischer–Tropsch synthesis catalytic testing studies. We compared the promoting effects of K (a known promoter for longer-chained products) with Ba, which has a similar ionic radius but has double the ionic charge. Despite being partially “buried” in a crystalline BaCO₃ phase, the carburization of the Ba-promoted catalyst was more effective than that of K; this was primarily due to its …

Fully-Developed Fire Temperature In A Compartment With Varying Wood Fuel Loads, Keisuke Himoto, Masaki Noaki, Ken Matsuyama

Progress in Scale Modeling, an International Journal

Appropriate evaluation of fire behavior during the fully-developed phase is important for assessing the risk of building collapse and fire spread to adjacent buildings. In this study, a series of model experiments was conducted to investigate the fire behavior in compartments with varying wood fuel loads. Under small opening conditions, the increase in the wood fuel load had no notable effect on the heat release rate (HRR), but increased the fire duration and gas temperature. In certain cases, wood surface combustion continued even after flame ejection from the opening had ended, which maintained a high gas temperature for a long …

Mechanical Engineering News, Georgia Southern University

Mechanical Engineering: News & Publications (2013-2023)

• Undergrad Researcher to Present at National Conference

Correlation Of Segmental Lumbar Kinematics With A Wearable Skin Strain Sensor Array, Andrew Gibbons, Paul Mcmullin, Joseph Peterson, Spencer Baker, Kelly Clingo, Ulrike H. Mitchell, David T. Fullwood, Anton E. Bowden

Student Works

Introduction: Joint kinematics have been shown to be strongly diagnostic of underlying pathology in the knee, hip, shoulder, and ankle. However, the anatomical complexity of the spine has made obtaining accurate, segmental kinematics extremely challenging. Current approaches required specialized hardware (e.g., a dual x-ray system), or are highly invasive (e.g., bone pins implanted into the vertebrae). Recently, our lab has developed a wearable array of skin-mounted strain sensors that hopes to address this challenge. The purpose of the present work study was to quantify the utility of this array through comparison with real-time lumbar vertebral kinematics.

Materials and Methods: A …

Mechanical Engineering News, Georgia Southern University

Mechanical Engineering: News & Publications (2013-2023)

• ME Student to Compete on Netflix’s Baking Impossible

Optimal Tracking In Switched Systems With Free Final Time And Fixed Mode Sequence Using Approximate Dynamic Programming, Tohid Sardarmehni, Xingyong Song

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Optimal tracking in switched systems with fixed mode sequence and free final time is studied in this article. In the optimal control problem formulation, the switching times and the final time are treated as parameters. For solving the optimal control problem, approximate dynamic programming (ADP) is used. The ADP solution uses an inner loop to converge to the optimal policy at each time step. In order to decrease the computational burden of the solution, a new method is introduced, which uses evolving suboptimal policies (not the optimal policies), to learn the optimal solution. The effectiveness of the proposed solutions is …

Examining Thermal Management Strategies For A Microcombustion Power Device, Bhanuprakash Reddy Guggilla, Jack Perelman Camins, Benjamin Taylor, Smitesh Bakrania

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Microcombustion attracts interest with its promise of energy dense power generation for electronics. Yet, challenges remain to develop this technology further. Thermal management of heat losses is a known hurdle. Simultaneously, non-uniformities in heat release within the reaction regions also affect the device performance. Therefore a combination of thermal management strategies are necessary for further performance enhancements. Here, a bench top platinum nanoparticle based microcombustion reactor, coupled with thermoelectric generators is used. Methanol-air mixtures achieve room temperature ignition within a catalytic cartridge. In the current study, the reactor design is modified to incorporate two traditional thermal management strategies. By limiting …

On The Need To Determine Accurately The Impact Of Higher-Order Sensitivities On Model Sensitivity Analysis, Uncertainty Quantification And Best-Estimate Predictions, Dan Gabriel Cacuci

Faculty Publications

This work aims at underscoring the need for the accurate quantification of the sensitivities (i.e., functional derivatives) of the results (a.k.a. “responses”) produced by large-scale computational models with respect to the models’ parameters, which are seldom known perfectly in practice. The large impact that can arise from sensitivities of order higher than first has been highlighted by the results of a third-order sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of an OECD/NEA reactor physics benchmark, which will be briefly reviewed in this work to underscore that neglecting the higher-order sensitivities causes substantial errors in predicting the expectation and variance of model responses. The …

Manufacturing: The Qualitative Study Of A Transition To A Green Facility, Brandon David Staves

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This qualitative study focused on answering three core questions: How have facilities reduce pollutions in regards to the quality of air, water, land, light and noise? Which Types of pollution reduction projects are more or less successful to implement? What types of pollution are facilities focusing on and why? The results of the 15 companies surveyed show a variety of projects that facilities have used to reduce pollution, it also shows that cost is a major factor in the unsuccessful projects, and that facilities are actively focused on reducing Air, Land, and Water pollution. While the data shows a variety …

The Impact Of Gemba Walks On Preventative Maintenance Productivity, Jake Donald Taylor

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Gemba Walks are a tool to get management involvement in areas where the work is taking place. Gemba Walks allow individuals involved first-hand to voice and reduce waste within the process and general operations. This research measured the benefits and improvements Gemba Walks had on the availability of equipment. For example, reducing the number of events that equipment is down for maintenance and its duration to repair these events, therefore improved availability. Maintenance is a critical aspect of keeping a company running, and making improvements found during this research significantly impacted the company by creating lean improvements. The improvements focused …

Fluids Demonstrations Iii: Viscous Flow In Modified Thin Enclosures, Centrifugal Effect, Vortical Flow, And Turbulence, Said Shakerin

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

Several new devices that demonstrate a variety of known phenomena in fluid dynamics are presented. These add on to a recent collection of demonstrations and follow the same design features as documented earlier (self-contained, easy to use, low cost). Descriptions are provided to enable replication by others, using readily available materials. The significance of each demonstration is outlined and background information on the relevant physics can be found in the cited references. The devices can be generally used in classroom lecture demonstrations, outreach activities, or other student-based projects. However, pedagogical details are left to readers' discretion, depending on the scope …

A Novel Laser-Aided Machining And Polishing Process For Additive Manufacturing Materials With Multiple Endmill Emulating Scan Patterns, Mohammad Masud Parvez, Sahil Patel, Sriram Praneeth Isanaka, Frank W. Liou

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In additive manufacturing (AM), the surface roughness of the deposited parts remains significantly higher than the admissible range for most applications. Additionally, the surface topography of AM parts exhibits waviness profiles between tracks and layers. Therefore, post-processing is indispensable to improve surface quality. Laser-aided machining and polishing can be effective surface improvement processes that can be used due to their availability as the primary energy sources in many metal AM processes. While the initial roughness and waviness of the surface of most AM parts are very high, to achieve dimensional accuracy and minimize roughness, a high input energy density is …

Coupled Flexural‐Electrical Evaluation Of Additively Manufactured Multifunctional Composites At Ambient Temperature, Ritesh Ghimire, Frank W. Liou

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Multifunctional composites offer a higher strength to weight ratio, electrical properties, etc., thereby providing possible solutions for replacing the physical electrical wirings in aircraft. The lack of research on the coupled multifunctional characterization of 3D printed composites flexural-electrical properties is the main reason for its unsuitability in aerospace applications. The proposed method evaluates multifunctional flexural‐electrical properties of 3D printed multifunctional carbon fiber composites. Traditional methods for conducting structural and electrical analyses for aircraft certification do not accommodate new technologies that are not yet proven. Such technologies are additive manufacturing (AM) techniques, multifunctional composite structures, and the certification requirements for 3D …

Liquid-Vapor Distributions In Evacuated Small Diameter Channels For Improved Accuracy Of Initial Conditions In Modeling Of Oscillating Heat Pipes, Travis Mayberry

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

Oscillating heat pipes, also known as pulsating heat pipes, are increasingly becoming a preferred high-performance thermal ground plane in a variety of heat spreading applications due to a number of advantages over traditional copper-water wicked heat pipes, including their lighter weight, thinner profiles, simpler fabrication, and greater variety of material and working fluid options. A major barrier to even wider adoption, however, is the lack of comprehensive analytical models to simulate their performance. A key input to first principles models simulating the fundamental physics of the devices is the initial condition of liquid and vapor segment lengths and their distribution …

Automated Fiber Placement: A Review Of History, Current Technologies, And Future Paths Forward, Alex Brasington, Christopher Sacco, Joshua Halbritter, Roudy Wehbe, Ramy Harik

Faculty Publications

Automated fiber placement (AFP) is a composite manufacturing technique used to fabricate complex advanced air vehicle structures that are lightweight with superior qualities. The AFP process is intricate and complex with various phases of design, process planning, manufacturing, and inspection. An understanding of each of these phases is necessary to achieve the highest possible manufacturing quality. This literature review aims to summarize the entire AFP process from the design of the structure through inspection of the manufactured part to generate an overall understanding of the lifecycle of AFP manufacturing. The review culminates with highlighting the challenges and future directions for …

High-Order Deterministic Sensitivity Analysis And Uncertainty Quantification: Review And New Developments, Dan Gabriel Cacuci

Faculty Publications

This work reviews the state-of-the-art methodologies for the deterministic sensitivity analysis of nonlinear systems and deterministic quantification of uncertainties induced in model responses by uncertainties in the model parameters. The need for computing high-order sensitivities is underscored by presenting an analytically solvable model of neutron scattering in a hydrogenous medium, for which all of the response’s relative sensitivities have the same absolute value of unity. It is shown that the wider the distribution of model parameters, the higher the order of sensitivities needed to achieve a desired level of accuracy in representing the response and in computing the response’s expectation, …

Mems 411: Safely Capturing Giant African Pouch Rats, Anthony Brown, John Christensen, Jared Harrison

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

We were tasked with designing a trap to safely capture Giant African Pouch Rats. The traps are used in both urban and rural environments that include city streets, basements, farms, river beds, and bushes among other locations. Pouch rats are much larger than most rats and are a very ferocious species; they will harm themselves if there are any non-smooth surfaces when captured. It is very important that we designed a trap with this safety top of mind.

Mems 411: Rowing Force Plate, Mae Hubel, Taylor Southwick, Miles Petersen

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

The Rowing Force Plate is a device that is designed to measure a rower’s force
over time so that they can understand how hard they are rowing. Most rowing
aids communicate the speed at which someone is rowing, which is variant on water
speed, wind speed, and other inconsistent environmental and situational factors.
Force, however, can be consistently measured and is a better indicator of effort a
rower is exerting. Other products that measure force do exist, but use complex and
expensive technology, unlike our design.
After brainstorming and analyzing multiple possible designs, we concluded to use
four force sensors …

Mems 411: Lost Grains Thresher, Alicia Gupte, Sophie Fox, Dan Heikes, Andrew Waldherr

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

The Lost Grains Thresher project aims to design and implement a device that can successfully separate the seed and chaff from various grains that are native to the greater St. Louis area. This project is designed for Dr. Natalie Mueller at Washington University in St. Louis to replace her current method of separating plant seeds from chaff by hand. This project focused on three main performance goals: 1) the device should work on a minimum of two types of seeds and thresh them to an acceptable quality, 2) the device should be easily cleaned and reset within three minutes, and …

Mems 411: Q.T. B-Bar, Gambian Pouched Rat Trap, Benjamin W. Horine Jr., Ileane Ho, Sarangi Pathirana

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

To design and build an improved rat trap that will effectively capture a Gambian Pouched Rat of larger size ensuring the rodents' safety, easy deployment in natural environments, simple mechanical release mechanisms, and cost-effectiveness.

Mems 411: P.O.T.T.E.R. Test Frame, Marie Drevets, Kiersten Horton, Tony Sancho

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

Our senior mechanical engineering design is a flexure test frame. At our university, third-year mechanical engineering students take a class called machine elements, in which the final project is a structural design competition. The students design a strong but lightweight object. The P.O.T.T.E.R. device can be used to judge the structural integrity of students contest entries. The customer who commissioned this project is Dr. Potter, who teaches the machine elements class. The customer needs a portable test frame which can apply enough compressive force to fracture an object which is secured in the device. The test frame should also measure …

Mems 411: Soccer Robot Project, Evan Sucherman, Dylan Mitchell, Benjamin Hessman, Emre Koc

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

This project aims at designing a robot that is capable of playing a simplified form of soccer against other robots. The original competition was created by the ASME organization as a student design competition in 2018. This project is an adapted version in which some of the rules and guidelines have been changed to fit the goals of this class better. The design parameters for this project include: having the robot drive around the parameter of the playing field in under 17 seconds, having the vehicle successfully capture the ball within 2 seconds of approaching 8 out of times, and …

Volleyball Crossbow- Group W, Giovanni Alvarez, Kyle Krippner, Alexis Rivera

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

The Volleyball Crossbow was our solution to the problem of a limited number of skilled setters on a volleyball team. This device will alleviate expectations of the setters and improve the efficiency of practice drills. The major customer needs for this device included consistency in launch, height and angle adjustability, high speed of operation, and ease of use. The Volleyball Crossbow provides a relatively low-cost, easy to manufacture design that meets these customer needs. As the name suggests, the design inspiration came from the crossbow mechanism. Two elastic bands attached to a cross-member and a cart on a track are …