Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Finite Element Modeling And Analysis Of Breech Face Impressions, James A. Hamilton

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Finite element analysis (FEA) is a technique which has not been widely used in Forensic Science in general and firearms examination in particular. The general utility of FEA was assessed by the simulation of scenarios commonly encountered during the investigation of firearm related crimes. As a test, simulations included the perforation of a windshield and sheet metal with a 9 mm projectile, the development of pseudo subclass characteristics during the manufacturing of a breech face, and the impact of a projectile with another projectile in air and with a solid body. Results from the simulations were compared to projectiles and …

Biologically – Plausible Load Feedback From Dynamically Scaled Robotic Model Insect Legs, William Zyhowski

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Researchers have been studying the mechanisms underlying animal motor control for many years using computational models and biomimetic robots. Since testing some theories in animals can be challenging, this approach can enable unique contributions to the field. An example of a system that benefits from this modeling and robotics approach is the campaniform sensillum (CS), a kind of sensory organ used to detect the loads exerted on an insect's legs. The CS on the leg are found in groups on high-stress areas of the exoskeleton and have a major influence on the adaptation of walking behavior. The challenge for studying …

Numerical Simulation Of The Donor-Assisted Stir Material For Friction Stir Welding Of Aluminum Alloys And Carbon Steel, Joseph Maniscalco, Abdelmageed A. Elmustafa, Srinivasa Bhukya, Zhenhua Wu

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

In this research effort, we explore the use of a donor material to help heat workpieces without wearing the tool or adding more heat than necessary to the system. The donor material would typically be a small piece (or pieces) of material, presumably of lower strength than the workpiece but with a comparable melting point. The donor, a sandwich material, is positioned between the tool head and the material to be welded, where the tool initially plunges and heats up in the same manner as the parent material that is intended for welding. The donor material heats up subsequent to …

Numerical Study Of The Time-Periodic Electroosmotic Flow Of Viscoelastic Fluid Through A Short Constriction Microchannel, Jianyu Ji, Shizhi Qian, Armani Marie Parker, Xiaoyu Zhang

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Electroosmotic flow (EOF) is of utmost significance due to its numerous practical uses in controlling flow at micro/nanoscales. In the present study, the time-periodic EOF of a viscoelastic fluid is statistically analyzed using a short 10:1 constriction microfluidic channel joining two reservoirs on either side. The flow is modeled using the Oldroyd-B (OB) model and the Poisson-Boltzmann model. The EOF of a highly concentrated polyacrylamide (PAA) aqueous solution is investigated under the combined effects of an alternating current (AC) electric field and a direct current (DC) electric field. Power-law degradation is visible in the energy spectra of the velocity fluctuations …

Thermotrophy Exploratory Study, James Weifu Lee

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The question of whether environmental heat energy could be utilized as a source of energy for biological metabolism is the center of this exploratory research. In 1979, this author postulated a hypothesis for the existence of thermotrophs that could isothermally utilize environmental heat energy as a source of their energy on Earth. According to this hypothesis, the thermotrophs could be the first primitive forms of life in the early Earth environment. The chemotrophs and phototrophs that we currently are all well familiar with might have been evolved somehow from the primitive thermotrophs. Furthermore, all the organisms currently regarded as the …

Jet Noise Reduction: A Fresh Start, Christopher K. Tam, Fang Q. Hu

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

Attempts to reduce jet noise began some 70 years ago. In the literature, there have been many publications written on this topic. By now, it is common knowledge that jet noise consists of a number of components. They possess different spectral and radiation characteristics and are generated by different mechanisms. It appears then that one may aim at the suppression of the noise of a single component instead of trying to reduce jet noise overall. The objective of the present project is to reduce large turbulence structures noise. It is the most dominant noise component radiating in the downstream direction. …

Pneumatic Latched Demultiplexer Circuit For Controlling Multi-Actuator Soft Robots, Arsh Noor Amin

Master’s Theses

This thesis presents a novel method for controlling multi-actuator soft robots using pneumatic latched demultiplexer circuits implemented with monolithic membrane valves. The pneumatic circuits are designed to address the problems of heavy dependence on hard electrical components and lack of feasible multi-actuator soft robotic systems that limit the potential applications of soft robotics. The proposed pneumatic demultiplexers reduce the number of solenoid valves and electrical components required to drive soft robotic systems, making soft robot control mechanisms more compliant, scalable, and versatile. The thesis demonstrates the design, fabrication, and testing of 4-bit and n-bit pneumatic demultiplexer circuits that can control …

Recycling Metal Chips Into Usable Materials, Alex Mortensen, Ben Mortensen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This report entails the scope, design considerations, and plans for creating a metal chip converter into metal briquettes. The construction is a set of machines with multiple processes to make the conversion happen. The process includes washing fine metal chips, drying them off, compressing them, and melting them down into usable briquettes. This project is intended to make a simple process to recycle metal chips into usable material for reuse. The project's objective is to reduce the costs of storage and recycling waste by offering a solution to recycle it into materials the shop can reuse.

The Passing Board, John Fitzgerald

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

For my Honors Research Project I am taking a more personal route and looking to solve a childhood question/issue by designing a board that is small and easy to transport while also giving the best bounce pass possible. My proposed project would be a board that a soccer player can play a bounce pass onto and receive the ball from. The base of this design sounds simple enough, however, I would like to implement a way that the board can be adjusted to alter the angle of return of the soccer ball after the bounce. I also want to design …

Impact Of Lubricant In The Performance Of Variable Speed Heat Pumps Working With R290, Rubén Ossorio, Emilio Navarro-Peris, Riley Barta

School of Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Modulating the speed of the compressors and adapting its capacity to the required load has led to a decrease in the annual energy consumption in many applications. However, in the compressor, having adequate lubrication at low speeds usually implies discharging too much lubricant at higher speeds. Although necessary for compressor operation, lubricating oil acts as a contaminant in the rest of the system. Consequently, manufacturers have to consider the oil circulation rate (OCR), as it limits the speed range of the compressor. In a previous study, a compressor was tested over its speed range (30 – 110 Hz), working with …

Wave-Powered Batch Reverse Osmosis Buoy, Austin Howse, Camden Frieling, Cooper Ford, Imaan Qazilbash, Joel Veihl, Mariya Savchenko, Ryan Vulich, Sultan Alnajdi, Abhimanyu Das, Antonio Esquivel-Puentes, Ali Naderi Beni, David M. Warsinger, José Garcia-Bravo

School of Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

As populations grow across the world, the availability of freshwater at a reasonable cost has become a growing concern to many nations. An estimated 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water [5]. Many of these areas also exist in coastal communities which get burdened by severe weather storms. During these occasions, access to clean drinking water drastically decreases. Combining this with the potential for ocean energy, access to clean drinking water can be derived with a potential solution. The ocean contains abundant resources that comprise of untapped wave-powered energy, unharvested salt water to be turned potable, …

Studies On Non-Transition Metal Substitution To Ab2 Metal Hydride Alloys For Battery Application, Shiuan Chang

Wayne State University Dissertations

Nowadays, multiphase transition metal-based AB2 metal hydride alloys and the rare-earth metal-based AB5 alloys (currently used in consumer NiMH batteries) are used as negative electrodes in NiMH batteries. It is of great interest to explore the possibility of significantly improving NiMH battery performance to compete with Li-ion batteries. In this area, the effect of dopant elements from Group-IA, -IIA, -IIIA non-transition metal family has not been thoroughly studied. In this study, lithium, magnesium, and boron (a metalloid considered metal in this study) were chosen as modifiers in the C14-phase predominant AB2 alloy by different dopant concentrations and synthesis methods, doping …

Optical Diagnostics Of Hydrocarbon Fuel Autoignition Using The Corrected Filtered Natural Emission Of Species Technique, Maysam Molana

Wayne State University Dissertations

The gas temperature and concentration of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide of a hydrocarbon fuel mixture were measured using a rapid compression machine by applying a modern optical diagnostics methodology called the corrected filtered natural emission of species (C-FNES) technique. This technique uses a correction factor that includes all of the experimental and simulation errors and uncertainties into the measurements. To ensure the robustness of the proposed technique, the effect of temperature and pressure on the measured data was investigated extensively. To this end, a pentane inert mixture was tested in a wide range of operation conditions: six compressed gas …

Study Of Bounds For Effective Moduli Of Polycrystals And Composites Using Variational Principle For Probabilistic Measures, Md. Tofiqul Islam

Wayne State University Dissertations

Tensors that are invariant with respect to subgroups of 3D group of rotations were constructed first by Lokhin and Sedov (J. Appl. Math. Mech. (PMM), 1963, 27, 597-629). In this paper we do one more step and derive formulas for the elastic modulus tensors for all symmetry groups from the Lokhin-Sedov results. The tensor basis obtained in this way has an advantage of being built upon the same tensors that are used in construction of nonlinear tensor functions. One consequence of the formulas derived is that the number of types of anisotropic elastic behaviors is ten. There is a long- …

Nidec Automated Winder, Michael Pugh, Ben A. Swartz, Andrew Leonard, Garrett Dostal

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Nidec Drive Systems is a leading electric motor manufacturing company with several facilities in the US and around the world. However, as of recent, Nidec has started to see some signs of old and outdated production machines affecting their production numbers even though the demand for electric is ever increasing. In an attempt to repair some of these issues, Nidec reached out to the University of Akron to look for senior design groups to help design and standardize better production machines. We were tasked with redesigning a new winder, which is a machine that winds the copper coils to the …

Landing Gear Sealing Solution, Andrew Milligan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

XYZ Landing Gear Solutions has been tasked with redesigning two internal components of the landing gears for the ABC-123 aircraft program. The customer, ABC Aeronautics, informed XYZ Landing Gear Solutions that a particular system of the landing gear does not meet the necessary performance requirements of the program. As a result, the entire system will have to be removed, facilitating the need for a redesign of the two components that the system interfaced with. The focus of this project will be completing the redesign process for both of these components. “Redesign” and “design” will be used interchangeably in this report. …

Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge, Bryce Towne, Ethan Andrews, Carter Moore, Andrew Sobel

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge is a competition held by the National Fluid Power Association (NFPA) that challenges students to create a hydraulically powered vehicle to compete in four different races over two days. The vehicle has to be fully powered by hydraulics, with human power (such as pedaling) being used to move the hydraulic fluid. Electronics and pneumatics can be used to control the flow of the hydraulic oil. Vehicles also must have an energy storage device to take advantage of regenerative braking. The final competition was at the Norgren facility in Colorado from April 12th to April 14th. …

4wd Baja Upright And Wheel Hub, Nathan Thompson, Jonathan P. Larson, Spencer D. Compan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The University of Akron Zips Baja Team has switched to a 4-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicle as per the 2023 Baja Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) rules. The 2022 Baja Vehicle was 2WD, thus the upright and wheel hub were designed exclusively for a 2-wheel-drive (2WD) Baja vehicle. This report entails the design process and methods of verification for the design of the 4WD upright and wheel hub.

Coaxial Beam Eaxle Modeling And Analysis For Gawr Limits, Alexander Cebriak, Jackson Foster, Chris James

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of this project was to design three different models of a coaxial beam eAxle for a range of electric vehicles. The requirement was to satisfy three different loading conditions, each characterized by a GAWR. These three loading conditions were 3000lb, 7500lb, and 10,000lb. This was done by first creating a model based on a basic outline given by Schaeffler. This model was then analyzed using Ansys®, and then iterated upon by designing new models using the 3D design program Solidworks. The iteration process was continued using more Ansys® analysis, as well as calculations to determine things like bolt …

Dome Tester, Clark Bates, Nikolas M. Kulin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

We are reconfiguring and modifying the previously built dome tester to be more user friendly and mechanically applicable. This has a long-term goal of being a usable teaching tool for manufacturing education within the college of engineering and polymer sciences. The dome tester pushes a metal dome into a clamped sheet of metal to test its forming limits and where necking occurs. We have implemented a better method of viewing the sheet sample as it is being deformed, and improved measuring methods for the distance a sample is deformed. By introducing these changes in conjunction with improved documentation of the …

Space Force Design Project, Emily Greene, Ashton Orosa, Julia Patek, Nathan Doty

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of our research project is to develop a lab testbed composed of a curved surface to represent a spacecraft hull, a mobile robot equipped with repair tools, and a robotic arm equipped with a laser 3D scanner. This project is part of a larger grant to the University of Akron from Space Force and Air Research Labs. The lab testbed developed in this project will be used to assist in creating and testing a software and algorithm to inspect and repair spacecraft while in orbit. The project will involve researching spacecraft hulls to create an accurate simulation bed, …

Hendrickson Lift Kit, Matthew Rozmajzl

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research project will be completed with Hendrickson Trailer as the sponsor. The goal of the project is to create a lift kit for a newer suspension system. The lift kit must provide enough lift force to lift an axle off the road and suspend it off the road while in transit. There are similar systems offered for different products at Hendrickson, but the configuration of this system is such that new brackets must be designed. The benefit of such a system is a reduction in wear on the lifted tires, and thus an increase in the life of the …

Frostflex, Isaac Edmondson, Caleb Edmondson, Joey Esker, Nadine Salem

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Research has shown that the majority of heat lost during physical exercise leaves the body through the hands, feet, and the face. Our design project seeks to develop cooling glove technology to increase the rate at which heat leaves the body during recovery from physical exertion. The goal of this project was to investigate different ways in which heat absorption through various mediums can be manipulated and scaled into an adaptable, flexible design in which athletes of all levels, from recreational to professional, can improve their physical performance with the use of our gloves. Deliverables include a functional prototype, product …

New Hampshire Volunteer Beach Profile Monitoring Program (Vbpmp): Implementation, Field Methods, And Data Processing, Larry G. Ward, Rachel C. Morrison, Alyson Eberhardt, Wellsley Costello

New Hampshire Sea Grant

The New Hampshire (NH) Volunteer Beach Profiling Monitoring Program (VBPMP) monitors beach elevation profiles at multiple stations along the NH Atlantic coast on a near-monthly basis using the Emery method. The program grew from three monitoring stations in 2016-2017 to thirteen stations across six beaches in 2018, with an additional station added in 2022. The overarching goal of the VBPMP is to assess the stability of New Hampshire’s Atlantic beaches over multiple years to determine seasonal changes and long-term trends using citizen science methods. Included in the assessment of beach stability are erosional or accretional trends, response to storms, and …

Effects Of Elastic Anisotropy On Residual Stress Measurements Performed Using The Hole-Drilling Technique, Joshua T. Ward

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

In the present work, the variation in through-thickness residual stress profiles driven by elastic anisotropy is investigated using the incremental hole-drilling method. The standardized hole-drilling technique allows for the calculation of in-plane stresses based on measured surface strains, however, these calculations assume elastic isotropy. The assumption of elastic isotropy allows for the material constants to be reduced down to two values, however, this assumption is invalid for many materials used in aerospace design. These materials are often times elastically anisotropic, which leads to inaccuracy and uncertainty in measured stress profiles. An interference fit ring and plug sample was designed, using …

Effect Of Size And Shape Parameters On Microstructure Of Additively Manufactured Inconel 718, Showmik Ahsan

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Additive Manufacturing (AM) methods are promising in applications where complex part geometries, exotic materials and small lot sizes are required. Aerospace manufacturing stands to use AM methods extensively in the future, and frequently requires temperature- and corrosion-resistant alloy materials such as Inconel 718. However, the microstructural evolution of Inconel 718 during additive manufacturing is poorly understood and depends on part size and shape. We studied the microstructure of Inconel 718 parts manufactured by Laser Powder Bed Fusion in order to further elucidate these dependencies. Microstructural analysis, SEM imaging, EBSD scans and Microhardness testing were performed.

Rankine Cycle Investigation On Meeting Power And Thermal Requirements Of High-Speed Aircraft, Jacob J. Spark

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This work is investigating a dual mode Rankine cycle for aircraft applications, specifically meeting vehicle thermal and power requirements. This multiconfigurational approach allows the Thermal Management System (TMS) to be controlled based on aircraft needs. In this design, waste heat is removed from critical areas of the aircraft (e.g., propulsion, structure, subsystems) using the fuel as a heat sink. Hot fuel is then forced through a heat exchanger actively boiling water. The vapor byproduct is fed to a turbine coupled to a generator, providing power. The low-pressure steam is then condensed using cold fuel drawn from its tank; however, when …

Development Of Automated Egg Incubator With Backup Power Supply, Allen N. Maroma, Dolly P. Maroma, Bernardo A. Pangilinan

ASEAN Journal of Community Engagement

This study addresses the development of an automated egg incubator with backup power supply that could benefit farmer communities through the developmental research approach. A prototype is developed to respond to the needs for uninterrupted incubation which is affected by the frequent power outages that reduce its efficiency in egg handling. In this project, the automated egg incubator with a backup power supply is designed to hatch a capacity of 150 eggs (75 setters and 75 hatchers) every 21 days, ensuring continuous operation even in the absence of a consistent power supply. An inverter, connected to a battery, ensures a …

Patient-Specific Analysis Of Aortic Hemodynamics And Wall Shear Stresses In Patients Undergoing Pediatric Bariatric Surgery Using 2d Phase-Contrast Mri, Oluwaferanmi S. Akande, Joao Soares, Nathan Hargan, Dr. Uyen Truong, Haeung Kang, David Lanning

Undergraduate Research Posters

Patient-Specific Analysis of Aortic Hemodynamics and Wall Shear Stresses in Patients Undergoing Pediatric Bariatric Surgery using 2D Phase-Contrast MRI

Feranmi Akande¹ Nathan Hargan² Haesung Kang³ David Lanning³ Uyen Truong⁴ João S. Soares¹

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University

² Department of Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering, College of Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University

³ Department of Cardiology, Children’s Hospital of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University

Introduction: Severe obesity among today’s youth is a rising epidemic within the United States. Emerging research has linked childhood obesity with shortened life expectancy and early …

อิทธิพลของระยะวิ่งต่อการชาร์จและอัตราการชาร์จของยานยนต์ไฟฟ้าต่อการให้บริการ Ride Sharing ในพื้นที่จุฬา-สามย่าน, ภูมิรพี ขัดศรี

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

หนึ่งในรูปแบบการเดินทางสมัยใหม่คือ ride sharing ซึ่งเป็นองค์ประกอบสำคัญร่วมกับระบบขนส่งสาธารณะที่จะนำไปสู่รูปแบบ Mobility as a Service ที่จะยกระดับคุณภาพและความสะดวกสบายในการเดินทางในเมืองได้มาก งานวิจัยนี้ศึกษาการใช้งานบริการ ride sharing ในพื้นที่จุฬา-สามย่าน ที่จะตอบสนองพฤติกรรมการเดินทางในพื้นที่มหาวิทยาลัย โดยมีการนำข้อมูลจากบริการจริงมาใช้ในการศึกษาผลกระทบของระยะวิ่งต่อการชาร์จและอัตราการชาร์จของยานยนต์ไฟฟ้าในการให้บริการ ride sharing ผ่านการจำลอง การจำลองบริการใน ride sharing ในพื้นที่จุฬามีขนาด 6.88 ตารางกิโลเมตร ในส่วนของ range มี 3 ขนาดได้แก่ long range, medium range, short range ตามลำดับ อัตราการชาร์จแบ่งออกเป็น 3 ขนาดได้แก่ fast charge, medium charge, slow charge ดังนั้น การจำลองจึงมี 9 สถานการณ์จำลองด้วยกันและใช้ยานพาหนะ 20 คัน ตัวชี้วัดสำหรับการจำลองการให้บริการ ได้แก่ Vehicle Kilometer Traveled (VKT) , service distance, %served และรายได้จากการให้บริการ ผลลัพธ์จากการวิเคราะห์พฤติกรรมและรูปแบบการเดินทางในพื้นที่ด้วย ride sharing ภายในจุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัยพบว่ามีช่วงการใช้งานสูงสุดอยู่ในช่วง 11:30-12:30 น. โดยมีจำนวนการเรียก 1 คนราว 70% และราว 92% คือการเรียกรถแบบไม่เกิน 3 คน ระยะเดินทางด้วย ride sharing ขั้นต่ำอยู่ที่ระยะทาง 400 เมตร สำหรับผลลัพธ์จากการจำลองทั้ง 9 สถานการณ์จำลองนั้น พบว่าผลกระทบจากการปรับอัตราการชาร์จนั้นส่งผลต่อการให้บริการมากกว่า range อย่างเห็นได้ชัดในทุกกรณี ซึ่งจากการสอบทวนผลลัพธ์กับผู้ประกอบการ ผลลัพธ์สอดคล้องกับการให้บริการจริง นอกจากนั้นจากผลลัพธ์พบว่าการเพิ่ม Range นั้นไม่ได้ให้ผลลัพธ์การบริการที่ดีขึ้นเสมอไป โดยกรณี short range:medium charge มี %served …