Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Adjustable Head Tube Angle Headset, Glenn Petersen, Ben Harper, Josh Martin, Dylan Prins

Mechanical Engineering

This final design review report describes the design, manufacture, and test process of a bicycle headset capable of quickly and easily adjusting the effective head tube angle. The evolution of mountain bike geometry has forced bike designers to compromise between climbing and descending performance when choosing a head tube angle. A headset capable of quickly adjusting the effective head tube angle would allow riders to optimize their bike’s geometry for different stages of riding. This report details the research, idea generation, concept development and selection, design, manufacturing, and testing of our adjustable head tube angle headset.

Adjustable Height Pedestal Grinder Stand, Josef Zagorski, Zachary Wedel, Michael Sitar, Daniel Zevenbergen

Mechanical Engineering

Pedestal grinders are one of the most common machines found in machine shops today. The current industry standard for mounting a grinder is on a fixed single pillar, cast iron pedestal. A fixed pedestal allows for no vertical adjustment for shop users of different sizes and is a safety hazard. This report further defines this problem and proposes an iterative design process to meet the needs and wants of the customer. The adjustable-height pedestal grinder stand Senior Project team used this problem and design process to successfully complete the project within the allotted time. The first major deliverable and milestone …

Standardizing 1ru Chassis To Pcba Interfaces, Bryce J. Mcneil, Leia K. Tashiro, John H. Liu, Sarika L. Singhal

Mechanical Engineering

Cisco currently designs a variety of custom chassis for different types of servers, routers, and switches. Our senior design project aims to reduce the number of custom chassis Cisco develops by standardizing the perimeter mounting locations for the printed circuit board assembly on the chassis. The purpose of this report is to document our selected project direction and support the decisions with appropriate evidence. In addition to research on the customer’s needs, the product, and the technical background used to understand the project scope, our group has come up with a way to analyze and compare mounting locations for various …

Bicycle Headset With Adjustable Spring Rate, Andrew W. Drees, Jonah Masumoto, Camden R.S. Boshart, Matthew B. Mounteer

Mechanical Engineering

Fork flop can play an important role in the performance of a mountain bike. This phenomenon of fork flop is known as the tendency that the front wheel of a bike wants to flop over to one side when moving slowly. The fork flop experienced on a bicycle changes with the geometry of the bike, but our team sought to change the fork flop experienced through an adjustable internal spring design that attaches to the bicycle instead. From our research, we decided to utilize torsion springs as the method for mitigating fork flop. We also decided to use load cells …

Sourceamerica Design Challenge Accessible Kitting And Packaging Station, Christopher Wijaya Tan, Keanau Rick Robin, Kyle Huawei Chuang, Ashley Humpal

Mechanical Engineering

This document entails our research, design, proposed development, and testing process for solving the 2020 SourceAmerica collegiate design challenge. Our team, “Just Kitting”, is composed of four Mechanical Engineering students from California Polytechnic San Luis Obispo. The design challenge requires us to create a device that will help improve the quality of life and productivity of people with disabilities working in the kitting and packaging industry. This document includes our background research and information received from various interviews with our sponsor and others who have experience working with disabilities. Using this information, we refined our problem statement to focus on …

Tensile Testing Environmental Chamber – Structural, Michael Ingel, Erik Soldenwagner, Austin Marshall, Lauren Schirle

Mechanical Engineering

Environmental chambers for tensile testing machines are used to study how a multitude of materials behave in extreme temperatures. These chambers provide the necessary information to innovate cutting edge technology for materials in fields such as aerospace. These chambers are often heavy and expensive requiring a significant amount of time and money just in the installation process alone. This report will serve to outline and define the design and fabrication of an environmental chamber, conducted by a team of four senior mechanical engineering students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The goals of the project include a low-weight …

3-Axis Reaction Wheel System For Cubesats, Alexandra Mae Lee, Daniel Leon, Christopher Pablo Casillas, Rose Mccarver

Mechanical Engineering

Reaction wheels are a common, but expensive, component used in CubeSats, that can accurately position a satellite using an imparted momentum (or impulse) from a rotating flywheel to adjust a satellite’s attitude. This document serves as the final design review and report for the 3-Axis Reaction Wheel Senior Design Project in the Mechanical Engineering Department of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The goal of this project is to produce a functional, low-cost 3-axis reaction wheel system based on previous research done by a master’s student at Cal Poly to be implemented in future CubeSats in the Cal Poly …

Blds Pressure Belt, Hailey Earnest, Sean Casteel, Benjamin Bons, Biren Rama

Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Westphal has a Boundary Layer Data System (BLDS) that is used to take pressure measurements on the surface of the aircraft. Our team has created a design and manufacturing method for producing the corresponding pressure belt that attaches to Dr. Westphal's system to obtain pressure data.

Cal Poly Wind Power: Wind Turbine Prototype, Sophie A. Spencer, Maggie Nevrly, Michael Reyna, Loi Q. Nguyen

Mechanical Engineering

The Cal Poly Wind Power (CPWP) club is competing in the Collegiate Wind Competition (CWC) hosted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The CWC is hosted annually by NREL to increase the number of skilled workers prepared to work in the wind energy industry. Our senior project team is one of several design teams contributing to the CPWP prototype turbine design including the pitching mechanism, blade design, generator, and shaft. The scope of this project is to design the yaw mechanism, tower, and nacelle. The goal is to create components that function well with other planned components and are …

Adaptive Vehicle Control, Brian L. Finger, Maria Vargas, Jacob T. Larson, Christopher J. Villa

Mechanical Engineering

This report presents the final design for our device made for Mrs. Laura Jagels. Mrs. Jagels, who has an above the knee amputation, needed a device that would allow her to operate a manual car in a safe and reliable way that still gives her the traditional driving experience. This report takes into consideration the shortcomings of current market devices that enable amputees to operate vehicles. From this research and through interviews with Mrs. Jagels, we were able to decide on our device specifications, giving us a basis to objectively evaluate designs. Ideation and concept prototype building was performed for …

Controlling Locomotion Of A Robotic Leg, Tai K. Mitchell, Connor Bush, Patrick Ward, Ben Spin

Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Xing and Professor Refvem are working to research and develop a quadruped robot that is capable of basic movements including walking, running, and jumping. As senior project group F-11, we are joining a team of engineers to assist in the development of the quadruped. Our team was tasked with creating a mathematical model, designing a control method, and implementing that control method for the quadruped's legs in Simulink. This will allow both current and future students to understand the response of the system and provide a building point for future researchers to create working quadrupedal robots. This report documents …

Saver (Surface Autonomous Vehicle For Emergency Rescue), Tyler Jorgensen, Ethan Miller, Josephine Isaacson, Joshua Hoye

Mechanical Engineering

This document serves to introduce the design team and their competition challenge, as well as to detail the results of the project. The original design challenge was the NASA Micro-g NExT’s SAVER (Surface Autonomous Vehicle for Emergency Rescue) competition; we were tasked with developing a self-driving water vehicle capable of delivering supplies to Orion astronauts separated from the rest of their crew in the case of a maritime emergency. However, we were not selected to go forward in this competition and thus we decided to scale down the size of the SAVER device to shift the focus of the project …

Vibration Isolation For Scanning Tunneling Microscope, Seth Ewing, Ryan Mcmullen, Jason Behrens, Stephen Deherrera

Mechanical Engineering

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) works by scanning a fine metal wire over a conductive sample in order to image samples on the atomic level. The microscope uses a feedback loop with a PID controller to maintain a constant tunneling current between the sample and the tip. In order to obtain clear imaging at the atomic level, the microscope and the sample need to be isolated from external vibrations in a vacuum chamber. The scope for this project is to build and test a single-stage vibration isolation system that effectively attenuates the amplitude of external vibrations acting on the microscope. This …

Scitechatorium, Esther Hurst, Emma Salam, Nejad Harara, Felipe Dejesus

Mechanical Engineering

The Bellevue-Santa Fe Charter School SciTechatorium needs a new educational exhibit for its K-6th grade students. The exhibit must be safe, engaging, and exciting for the students to use, and will ideally introduce students to the topics of Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Art, and Technology (STEAM) concepts. The team has investigated some of the most popular science museums from around the nation, as well as several popular children’s educational toys. This research revealed a need for hands on, focused exhibits to provide an effective educational experience. Many of our favorite existing exhibits give students an opportunity to fail in a safe …

Autonomous Tennis Ball Collector, Frances Erin Belcher, Michael Wai-Chun Yiu, Matthew David Hoffman, Alex Boyko Petrov, Robert E. Luttrell

Mechanical Engineering

Practicing tennis often involves hitting many tennis balls from one side of the court to the other without an opponent to hit the balls back. In training sessions like these, the task of collecting the balls is laborious when performed manually. The objective of this project is to develop a robotic tennis ball collector that can automatically collect the balls from one side of the court so that the player can rest rather than collect the balls manually. This document outlines the process of designing such a robot. Included in this report is background research, prototype, and concept modeling, along …

Unmanned Research Raft, Jacob Davis, Andrew Fleming, Luke Vickerman, Kahye Yu

Mechanical Engineering

This document serves as the Final Design Review report for the design team conducting the research raft design project for Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL). Our team has taken on a project to design a new research raft for LLNL.

The current rafts are suitable, but engineers have modified and altered the rafts to add more features as needed. This has led to a raft that accomplishes mission goals, but still has room for streamlining. The battery technology has also improved. Our goals were to redesign the raft from the ground up, reducing the size and weight. We also wanted …

Me-Em Enewsbrief, June 2021, Department Of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering eNewsBrief

No abstract provided.

Adsorption Of Manganese Ions From Aqueous Solution By Using Manganese Oxide Coated Zeolite, Md. Wasikur Rahman, Huei Ruey Ong, Wendy Yin Jou Kong, Hamidah Abdullah, Md. Maksudur Rahman Khan

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Manganese oxide coated zeolite (MOCZ) has been demonstrated in the present issue as a potential adsorbent for the removal of manganese (Mn2+) from Mn2+ containing aqueous solution by batch adsorption process. The adsorption capacity of the as-prepared MOCZ was determined over the parameters of contact time, adsorbent dosage, pH and Mn2+ concentration. Surface properties of the MOCZ were analyzed by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that MOCZ has a high degree of crystallinity and the surface of MOCZ is mainly vernadite (γMnO2) with a specific surface area and average pore diameter of 39.9 m2 …

Design Of Heterogeneous Structured Al Alloys With Wide Processing Window For Laser-Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing, Saket Thapliyal, Shivakant Shukla, Le Zhou, Holden Hyer, Priyanshi Agrawal, Priyanka Agrawal, Mageshwari Komarasamy, Yongho Sohn, Rajiv S. Mishra

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Required microstructural attributes of an alloy vary with structural applications. The microstructural fine-tuning capability of laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) enables application specific manufacture of the components. Such manufacture with L-PBF AM requires alloys that exhibit wide processing window and are amenable to multiple deformation mechanisms. However, high hot cracking susceptibility of Al alloys poses a barrier to such printability-performance synergy. In this work we show that an integration of, a) grain refinement through heterogeneous nucleation, and b) eutectic solidification, leads to crack-free parts at wide range of process parameters, microstructural heterogeneity, and hierarchy in the Al-Ni-Ti-Zr …

High Throughput Mechanical Testing Platform And Application In Metal Additive Manufacturing And Process Optimization, Ke Huang, Chris Kain, Nathalia Diaz-Vallejo, Yongho Sohn, Le Zhou

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Agility of additive manufacturing (AM) warrants a development of an equally agile, high-throughput properties evaluation technique that can efficiently assess properties of AM specimens as functions of materials and process variables. High throughput (HTP) tensile testing rig has been developed, enabled by miniature sample design and Python based control codes for a full automation of testing and data processing. The rig is capable of testing 60 specimens per hour, much faster than conventional tensile testing. To luminate the merit of its use, an efficient process optimization workflow based on HTP testing is proposed and demonstrated on laser powder bed fusion …

Solar Decathlon Competition 2021, Khanh My Fleshman, Ashley H. Kim, Ian Grant Maclean, Erich Peter Fenczik Warnock, Carina Michaela Nani Monaco

Mechanical Engineering

This report is intended to outline all relevant background information, decisions, and design direction for our senior project at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. We will be designing net-zero, affordable housing to compete in the attached housing division of the 2021 Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. With the increased urgency of climate change and focus on sustainability in construction, the importance of designing a net-zero structure is very apparent. Because there is a great need for affordable and sustainable housing in Watts, CA, we will be tailoring our design to meet this community’s needs. Details of the Solar …

Inverted Fluorescence Microscope, Matthew B. Pfeiffer, Spencer George Hann, Thomas James Eggenberger, Trevor Lee Blythe

Mechanical Engineering

Team F13 is composed of Trevor Blythe, Spencer Hann, Matthew Pfeiffer, and Thomas Eggenberger. We are all majoring in mechanical engineering and in our final year of study here at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. This project is a continuation of a 2019-2020 senior project. The previous team designed and built a functioning inverted fluorescence microscope (IFM) from scratch. This device was created as a lab tool for undergraduate students to be able to perform experiments on microfluidic devices constructed in Cal Poly’s Microfabrication Laboratory. Although substantially functional, several design constraints had not yet been met. Our team has improved …

3-D Positioning System For Trackable Adjustments Of Papillary Muscles, Ryan Michael Winters, Micaela Andrea Bataclan, Christine Do, Giselle Morales

Biomedical Engineering

Redacted.

Hand Strength And Dexterity Enhancer, Julia Ann Denison, Autumn B. Rexford, Melissa A. Kurani, Christina K. Fong

Biomedical Engineering

Good Grips created the hand strength and dexterity enhancer project to meet the challenge presented by Bill Phelps. He has Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM), an inflammatory muscle disease characterized by progressive muscle weakness and atrophy. Bill has limited strength in both hands and lost the ability to bend his fingers, making it difficult to grip anything. He needed a device that would help with everyday tasks such as writing, lifting, and holding various objects.

Our team consists of four engineering students attending Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. We researched, designed, manufactured, and tested a device that would fulfill the problem …

Development Of A Marine Biodegradable Target Balloon, Blake Samuel Robinson, Arash Sam Akhavi, David Leonardo Albarran-Martinez

Materials Engineering

The US Navy utilizes PVC target balloons, known as Killer Tomatoes, that are inflated onboard a naval vessel then deployed into the ocean to calibrate a variety of weaponry. The Navy has requested the investigation of biodegradable polymers to replace the PVC in attempts to reduce ocean waste that is generated from the leftover PVC material. After communicating with American Pacific Plastic Fabricators (APPF), the current manufacturer of the Killer Tomatoes, we gained an understanding of the manufacturing process and the material requirements that would allow a new material to be integrated into their current process. Two proprietary, trial polymers …

Inventory Locating With Quuppa: The Design And Development Of A Real-Time Process Monitoring Web Application Solution, Dylan C. Moreland, Trevor J. Howell, John W. Takiff, Patrick S. Dillon, Theo E. Fritz, William K. Mcintyre

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Viasat, Inc. requires precise inventory tracking at their production facility in San Diego, CA. Viasat has installed the Quuppa indoor real-time locating system (RTLS), which it uses to track the real-time position of high-value work-in-process items. In its current state, the system only displays in-the-moment location information, with no available functionality for storing historical data for review, analysis, or visualization. In addition, the data displayed is noisy and prone to significant random error. This paper provides an overview of RTLS methods and technologies, assesses alternative solutions to Viasat’s issue, demonstrates our RTLS integrated web app solution, analyzes its impact, and …

Fabricating Tinicu Ternary Shape Memory Alloy By Directed Energy Deposition Via Elemental Metal Powders, Yitao Chen, Xinchang Zhang, Mohammad Masud Parvez, Joseph William Newkirk, Frank W. Liou

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, a TiNiCu shape memory alloy single-wall structure was fabricated by the directed energy deposition technique with a mixture of elemental Ti, Ni, and Cu powders following the atomic percentage of Ti50Ni45Cu5 to fully utilize the material flexibility of the additive manufacturing process to develop ternary shape memory alloys. The chemical composition, phase, and material properties at multiple locations along the build direction were studied, using scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Vickers hardness test-ing, tensile testing, and differential scanning calorimetry. The location-dependent compositions of martensitic TiNi and austenitic TiNi phases, mechanical properties, and functional properties …

Double-Acting Batch Reverse Osmosis Configuration For Best-In-Class Efficiency And Low Downtime, Sandra Cordoba, Abhimanyu Das, Jorge Leon, Jose M. Garcia, David M. Warsinger

School of Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Energy consumption in reverse osmosis has decreased substantially over the last few decades thanks to the implementation of energy recovery devices, high efficiency pumps, and improved membranes. However, to further increase the adoption of the technology, its energy needs must still be reduced. Batch and semi-batch reverse osmosis configurations have shown potential to be the most energy efficient reverse osmosis variants, but have remaining inefficiencies from brine mixing and high downtime. In this study, we modeled in new detail a further improved double-acting batch reverse osmosis system that uses a high-pressure tank with a reciprocating piston. A high-pressure pump is …

Maize Tassel Detection From Uav Imagery Using Deep Learning, Aziza Alzadjali, Mohammed H. Alali, Arun Narenthiran Weeranampalayam Sivakumar, Jitender S. Deogun, Stephen Scott, James C. Schnable, Yeyin Shi

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The timing of flowering plays a critical role in determining the productivity of agricultural crops. If the crops flower too early, the crop would mature before the end of the growing season, losing the opportunity to capture and use large amounts of light energy. If the crops flower too late, the crop may be killed by the change of seasons before it is ready to harvest. Maize flowering is one of the most important periods where even small amounts of stress can significantly alter yield. In this work, we developed and compared two methods for automatic tassel detection based on …

Illustrating Important Effects Of Second-Order Sensitivities On Response Uncertainties In Reactor Physics, Dan Gabriel Cacuci

Faculty Publications

This paper illustrates the relative importance of the largest first- and second-order sensitivities of the leakage response of an OECD/NEA reactor physics benchmark (a polyethylene-reflected plutonium sphere) to the benchmark’s underlying total cross sections. It will be shown that numerous 2nd-order sensitivities of the leakage response with respect to the total cross sections are significantly larger than the largest corresponding 1st-order sensitivities. In particular, the contributions of the 2nd-order sensitivities cause the mean (expected) value of the response to differ appreciably from its computed value and also cause the response distribution to be skewed towards positive values relative to the …