Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Mems 411: Ball Bearing Sorter, Abdissa Effa, Juliet Whitehead, Ayub Shifa

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

The challenge is to design and fabricate a compact device capable of autonomously sorting and transporting ball bearings of varying materials (chrome steel, brass, nylon) and sizes (¼” and ½”) into designated packaging stations. The device must operate efficiently, accurately, and within the constraints of a 20x20x20-inch enclosure, meeting industrial assembly line standards of speed and precision while minimizing human intervention. It aims to address the need for high-rate sorting systems in manufacturing environments, ensuring accurate material identification and classification for streamlined operations.

Mems 411: Asme Ball Bearing Sorter, Ryan Lively, Joseph Huster, Wil Collins

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

The ASME Student Design Competition focused on the design and construction of a ball bearing sorter. This ball bearing sorter must be capable of sorting 2 sizes of ball bearings, being 1/2 inch and 1/4 inch. For each size, there are 3 different bearing materials, brass, steel, and acetal plastic. The device is intended to have the bearings fed into a hopper, and then fully autonomously sort the bearings. The autonomous sorting was to transport the various bearings into 6 different packing stations, one for each size and material bearing. These packing stations must be easily removable. This design project …

Mems 411: Automated Assistive Toilet, Alex Scaff, Kenna Mcgahren, Daniel Sibley

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

How do we make toilets more accessible for all people - regardless of physical, mental, emotional impediments - while also ensuring simplicity and cost-effectiveness? Utilizing sensors, our toilet device is designed to automatically open and close the toilet lid upon approach, increasing ease of use and general hygiene of the user while being friendly to those who struggle with certain disabilities or impairments.

Mems 411: Adjustable Desk, Catryn Cattoor, Natalia Pilpil, Jamie Burgasser, Adam Wong

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

Design and create a desk for a special education classroom of kindergarteners to third graders. The desk needs slanting capabilities, wheel chair accessibility, raising/lower capabilities, distraction prevention capabilities, and light board capabilities. These capabilities need to be configurable for students with different needs. This desk also needs to be very durable, safe, and mobile. The main motivation for this project is the desire to provide the teacher and her students with a single, cost-effective product that is safe, easy to use, and meets their desired needs.

Mems 411: Group V Ball Bearing Sorter, Matthew Hernandez, Sean Huffert, Ethan Delair

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

After a semester of hard work, Team V is proud to unveil its finished prototype for the 2024-2025 ASME Student Design Competition. The theme of this challenge was "Assembly Line Sorting and Packaging." The goal of this challenge was to make a device able to satisfy the criteria of sorting between six different bearings of different sizing and material properties, and meeting spatial and time limitations. This device needed to be fast, accurate, compact, and able to sort in bulk. Team V feels like we have met most of these requirements with our final design prototype. For this project, a …

Mems 411: Rc Plane Mount For Cfd Validation, Jake Schwartz, Margot Jay, Ian Torres, Sam Ehrman

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

Washington University in St. Louis’ Design/Build/Fly team (WashU DBF) participates in an annual international competition with over 100 teams where they create a Remote Control (RC) plane that can perform various missions. One of the difficulties in developing a plane each year is testing the forces on the plane. Currently, Ansys and XFLR5 are used to create computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models for the plane. CFD modeling simulates air flow over the plane’s wings to analyze how to optimize the aircraft’s aerodynamics. While this is a useful strategy to predict the plane’s theoretical performance, WashU DBF Technical President, Eleni Kambouris, …

Mems 411: Mini Syringe Pump, Rachel Foulk, Braxton Hart, Camilo Hernandez

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

In many research and medical settings, small amounts of liquids are dispensed using syringes. Very often, syringe pumps like those shown in the left image, are used to control the amount (i.e., flow rate) of dispensed/collected fluid. There are single- or multi-style syringe pumps; the one shown is single-style; multi-style have 2-8 parallel syringes that are all pushed/pulled at the same flow rate. However, these syringe
pumps are bulky and heavy, making them impractical for many experimental setups. Commercial alternatives include very expensive syringe pumps with remote dispensers. Furthermore, it is often necessary to have two syringe pumps operate in …

Mae Enewsbrief July-Sept 2024, Department Of Mechanical And Aerospce Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering eNewsBrief

No abstract provided.

Hyperspectral Imaging For Temperature Measurements Of Hot Spots In Shocked Plastic-Bonded Explosives, Dhanalakshmi Sellan, Siva Kumar Valluri, Dana D. Dlott

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Hot spots are formed when energetic microstructures are shocked, and they play a critical role in shock sensitivity. It is important to know both the time-dependent size and temperature of the hot spots, in order to generate a kinetic model to describe reaction growth in plastic-bonded explosives (PBX). Here we use a recently developed technique where PBX is fabricated in the form of a thin wafer, embedded within a transparent polymer binder, and shocked with a laser-launched flyer plate that produces pressures of about 30 GPa range. In this method, every crystal of the cyclotetramethylene-tetranitramine (HMX)-based PBX can be observed …

Using Additive Manufacturing To Characterize Effects Of Sparse Infill Density And Sparse Infill Pattern On The Compressive Properties Of Short Strand Carbon Fiber Infused Petg, Luke C. Salisbury

Honors Theses

The advent of additive manufacturing has revolutionized the prototyping, design, and manufacturing of new and innovative products. Through the use of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), parts can be manufactured using different sparse infill percentages (the percentage of void space within a printed object) and sparse infill patterns (the lattice structure of material within the object). Through the manipulation of these variables, the same material and part can have different compressive and flexural properties. In addition to sparse infill, the thermoplastics used in fused deposition modeling can be reinforced with carbon fiber strands to create a printable composite material capable of …

Mems 411: Automatic Ball Bearing Sorter, Rachel Charendoff, Matt Cheifetz, Andres Weida

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

The objective of this project was to design and build an automatic ball bearing sorter to sort bearings by both material (steel, brass, plastic) and size (½ inch and ¼ inch) into separate packaging stations. The system was designed to process up to 80 balls poured simultaneously into a hopper and accurately sort them in under one minute, with a target accuracy of 90% or greater. The customer, Dr. Potter, provided specifications and requirements for the device, including a compact size (≤ 20x20x20 inches) and weight (≤ 15 lbs). Additional customer needs included performance reliability, manufacturability, safety, speed, and ease …

Mems 411: Diving Bubbler, Yasmin Ruff, Maya Ghatalia, Selva Moslehikhah

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

Design an affordable, portable, and effective surface-breaking system tailored for the WashU Diving team.

Mems 411: Gentle Washing Machine For Reclem Clothing, Sadie Karp, Anna Clyne, Gabby Kogler

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

For our senior design project we worked with Dr. Mary Ruppert-Stroescu, Associate Professor at the Sam Fox School, and her company RECLEM to create a sustainable method for washing her clothing creations. RECLEM re-purposes old clothing scraps for sustainable garment manufacturing. RECLEM is experiencing a problem of deformation of her clothing when the pieces are go through a washing machine cycle. After completing our customer interview, we realized the root cause of the problem was the aggressive environment created by the washing machine. To combat this, we created a new washing process that is both scalable and gentle. Our design …

Mems 411: Asme Ball Bearing Sorter, Gurks Bansal, Natalia Klim, Helen Ma

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

Design and create a device that sorts ball bearings of 3 different materials and 2 different sizes for the 2024-2025 ASME Student Design Competition.

Mems 411: Reclém Clothes Washer Group X, Andrew Johnson, Eleni Kambouris, Ana Morgan Canales, Sheridan Lee

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

The RECLÉM Clothes Washer Project addresses the challenge faced by Dr. Ruppert-Stroescu and RECLÉM in efficiently washing repurposed textiles without damaging or deforming the fabric. The goal is to design a sustainable machine that dissolves water-soluble synthetic sheets while conserving water and maintaining fabric integrity.

Mems 411: Pipe Climbing Robot, Trevor S. Gilkerson, Nick M. Gunter, Phillip H. Le, Andru N. Mangkusubroto

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

Decreasing chemical plant emissions allow systems to become safer, less polluting, and more profitable. Pipe leaks in chemical plants, or fugitive emissions, are a significant source of lost product and safety hazard for workers. Working with Amaren's Maryland Heights natural gas power plant, the team developed a robot that can traverse pipe systems with a final goal of detecting chemical leaks.

Mems 411: Ball Bearing Sorting Device, Claudia Markel, Max Cusick, Tomás Collado

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

Ball bearings are an integral part of many products, including cars, planes, and appliances. However, when bearings of multiple sizes and materials are mixed together, they can be difficult to separate quickly. Sorting the ball bearings becomes even more of a challenge for people who are not able to see the difference in color to discern the materials. To solve this problem, a ball bearing sorter, which can separate bearings of 1 2 in and 1 4 in for the materials of steel, brass, and plastic, was created. This project was based on the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2024-2025 …

Mems 411: Water Surface Tension Breaker, David Arthur D'Alessandro Iii, Ben Davis Miller, Jared Ethan Appel, Parker Monnig

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

Design a device that sufficiently stirs up the pool's surface for WashU's Swim and Dive team.

Mems 411: Custom Surfacing Machine, Katherine Minielly, Gaelen Clayton, Estela Villacis

Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class

Our project is in partnership with DeepSight, a startup working to revolutionize medical imaging through proprietary ultrasound sensing technology. Our objective is to create a custom surfacing machine to finish a critical ultrasound component. DeepSight’s new ultrasound system includes an aluminum component that requires a high degree of perpendicularity and a sub-micron finish on one side. DeepSight provided us with an existing grinding machine to retrofit to surface the aluminum part. Our goals were a surface roughness ofmicron, a surface perpendicularity ofmicrons, and the ability to process 3 parts inpart’s surface and ensure even surface wear. The part spins on …

Effect Of Laser Textured Surface With Different Patterns On Tribological Characteristics Of Bearing Material, Paul Joshua S

Theses and Dissertations

This research work determines the wear rate and friction characteristics of bearing material under different laser textured surface conditions. Chrome steels are used in bearings since they possess high strength and wear resistance. However, when those parts are in service, failure happens due to sliding friction before the lifetime. To improve the durability of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) 52100 chromium steel, in this work, the effect of laser surface texturing (LST) was analysed.

With the different pattern of circle, ellipse, groove and grid were produced on the sample surface, the wear behavior was investigated using the pin …

Valve Train Design And Material Testing, Luis Luna

Publications and Research

In automotive engineering, CAD software like SolidWorks enables engineers to design and simulate mechanical components efficiently, reducing the need for extensive prototyping. This project examines the rocker arm's performance and durability within a valve train system. Components like pushrods, camshafts, and rocker arms control air intake and exhaust timing. Due to its high-impact motion and exposure to elevated temperatures, the rocker arm endures considerable wear. This study uses SolidWorks and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to analyze the rocker arm's stress, deformation, and wear potential during camshaft movement. Material testing and motion analysis results provide insights into improving the durability of …

Deciphering Mechanochemical Influences Of Emergent Actomyosin Crosstalk Using Qcm‑D, Emily M. Kerivan, Victoria N. Amari, William B. Weeks, Leigh H. Hardin, Lyle Tobin, Omayma Y. Al Azzam, Dana N. Reinemann

Faculty and Student Publications

Purpose: Cytoskeletal protein ensembles exhibit emergent mechanics where behavior in teams is not necessarily the sum of the components’ single molecule properties. In addition, filaments may act as force sensors that distribute feedback and influence motor protein behavior. To understand the design principles of such emergent mechanics, we developed an approach utilizing QCM-D to measure how actomyosin bundles respond mechanically to environmental variables that alter constituent myosin II motor behavior.

Methods: QCM-D is used for the first time to probe alterations in actin-myosin bundle viscoelasticity due to changes in skeletal myosin II concentration and motor nucleotide state. Actomyosin bundles were …

Solar Module Material And Support Testing, Darbi Dorr

Honors Theses

Sunseeker Solar Car Project manufactures and uses solar modules with a specific material composition to power their car. The current composition consists of many expired materials that are also too expensive to repurchase. In order to find new materials, they need to meet the material requirements while also being affordable for the team. A material analysis was done, and new materials were chosen based on specific properties like transmissibility, UV wavelength range, volume resistivity, adhesion strength, and the thickness. Power losses were then measured using an IV tracer at a set irradiance. This was done before and after encapsulating solar …

Advanced Numerical Techniques For Multiscale Simulations In Biofluid Dynamics, Justin Tamico Jack

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study of anisometric particle suspensions and congenital heart defects (CHDs) involve exploring complex phenomena within the biological sciences. The former subject dives into the phase behavior of liquid crystals (LCs), particularly the influence of the shape anisotropy of rod-like nanoparticles on phase transitions, through the implementation of statistical techniques involving molecular dynamics (MD). Conversely, the latter topic focuses on the assessment and management of severe congenital arterial stenoses, such as those found in Williams-Beuren syndrome (WS), through advanced multi-scale computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Both areas emphasize the importance of detailed analysis and the use of advanced numerical modeling …

Sensitive Grip Mounting Surfaces For Physical Human-Robot Interaction., Branden Shay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the development of robotics becomes ever increasingly present in our society, the need for studying how humans and robots interact with each other becomes more of a necessity to be properly integrated in the changing world around us. In this thesis, we undertake the study and development of how to create a tactile human-robot operator interface to guide a robot perform a physical task. The implementation of tactile interfaces such as SkinCell sensor arrays emulating skin, and of a robotic handlebar fitted with tactile sensors are critical examples of the challenges that come with mounting and packaging such sensors …

Rover Chassis & Suspension, Nikki Zainer, Aung Bhone Zaw, Joelle Romero, Colin Thompson

Mechanical Engineering

The Mars rover project is part of the University Rover Challenge (URC), a robotics competition organized by the Mars Society that tasks student teams with designing and building the next generation of Mars rovers. Cal Poly Human Space Technology and Research (CP-HSTAR) has inherited a rover developed by a previous senior design team.

This report documents the progress made in refining the rover’s structure, highlighting key specifications, and detailing design improvements aimed at enhancing the suspension’s structural integrity, improving wheel traction, increasing modularity, and developing an enclosed chassis for electronic components.

This report includes a detailed breakdown of the rover’s …

Advancements In Polymer Synthesis And Ceramic Additive Manufacturing For Energy Applications, Sofia Gabriela Gomez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The aim of this work was to create polymer and ceramic materials for integration into energy applications. The first part of this research was to fabricate polymer syntactic foams that exhibited high energy absorption capabilities. The fabrication of polymer syntactic foams was feasible through synthesizing hollow polysiloxane microspheres that were imbedded into a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix. An array of characterization techniques was used to test the material and physical properties of the syntactic foams. The next step of this research was to fabricate a porous water emulsion foam ink for use in Direct-Ink-Write (DIW) additive manufacturing (AM) technologies. Unlike the …

Practical Model Of A Labview Controlled Active Magnetic Bearing On A Bently Rotor Kit Validated With Matlab And Msc Adams, Luis Herrera-Delgado

Master's Theses

This thesis aimed to model a rotor supported by an active magnetic bearing (AMB). The magnetic force equation due to a single electromagnet was first derived which served as the basis of AMB modeling. The finalized model utilized Matlab, Simulink, and MSC Adams to simulate a rotor supported by an AMB. Matlab and Simulink were used to model the AMB control system and actuator output. MSC Adams was used to capture the dynamics of a flexible rotor. This model was verified by comparing the model’s simulated vibration to real vibration data measured from a modified Bently Nevada rotor kit equipped …

Magnetic Nano And Micro Rods As Tools For Characterizing Materials Mechanical Properties: Fundamentals And Applications, Artis Brasovs

All Dissertations

The focus of this dissertation is insect blood (Hemolymph). Hemolymph is analyzed by taking a materials science approach. Rheological characterization of hemolymph has been performed for the first time. Owing to a minute amount of available material, a new protocol was established where Magnetic Rotational Spectroscopy (MRS) with ferromagnetic nanorods was employed. The challenge was examining the microliter droplets' viscosity in less than a few minutes. This challenge was successfully resolved.

Blood is critical for the insect's survival: after wounding, the insect has to seal the wound quickly, in a few minutes. As the mechanism of fast clotting has never …

Design, Manufacturing, And Assembly Of Modular Snake-Like Robotic Arm, Alongside Design And Implementation Of System’S Digital-Twin, Scott Brown

Master's Theses

A unique modular snake-like robotic arm, also referred to as MA\RS – the Modular Arm \ Robotic System - was designed, manufactured, assembled, simulated, and programmed to create a modular robot which could move to a desired end position given the number of links, the position of the end link and the duration of motion. This robotic arm serves as the start of research into a modular space robotic system to be used in low-gravity environments. As such, this project focused on developing the initial design of the robot and its digital twin. The system’s modularity allows for changes to …