Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

A Simulation Model Analysis In The Us-Mexico Border, Carlo A. Zorola, Hiram Moya, Aditya Akundi

Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

Supply Chain (SC) is the flow of goods or services between supply and demand points. New or innovative strategies in SC have been researched and developed to deal with disruptive events, such as COVID-19, hurricanes, geopolitical, and even climate change. These challenges create supply imbalances, logistical challenges, and policy restrictions for transborder commerce. The DHS has implemented the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program in both the US-Mexico and US-Canada border. These lanes are dedicated queues for commercial vehicles. In 2022, the government of Nuevo León, México, opened a dedicated lane just for Tesla´s northbound commercial traffic. There has been …

Parametric Optimization Of Friction Stir Welding Of Aa6061-T6 Samples Using The Copper Donor Stir-Assisted Material Method, Aiman H. Al-Allaq, Joseph Maniscalco, Srinivasa Naik Bhukya, Zhenhua Wu, Abdelmageed Elmustafa

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This study presents an optimization of the process parameters for the effect of copper (Cu) donor material percentage on the friction stir welding (FSW) of AA6061-T6 alloy. Extensive factorial experiments were conducted to determine the significance of the rotational speed (ω), the transverse speed (v), the interface coefficient of friction (μ), and the Cu donor material percentage in the plunge, left, right, and downstream zones. Design Expert 13 software was used to identify the number of simulation experiments to be conducted using the Abaqus simulation software. From Design Expert 13, which is a thorough multi-objective optimization analysis software, we were …

Estimated Aerodynamic Forces And Moments And Optimal Orientation Of The V-Bat Airframe During Vertical Landing In Gusty Conditions, Parker C. Carter

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Ship based Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) are an important tool used by the United States Navy for situational awareness and short-range operations. Naval UAS are used to provide real-time intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and target-acquisition while being low cost, mission flexible, and safe. Unfortunately UAS suffer disadvantages with respect to adverse environmental conditions caused by the air being displaced by the ship. The accumulation of one or more adverse conditions is known as airwake. To counteract the effects of airwake, the objectives of this work are to first evaluate the effect of forces and moments during the vertical landing phase of …

Modeling, Simulation And Control Of Microrobots For The Microfactory., Zhong Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Future assembly technologies will involve higher levels of automation in order to satisfy increased microscale or nanoscale precision requirements. Traditionally, assembly using a top-down robotic approach has been well-studied and applied to the microelectronics and MEMS industries, but less so in nanotechnology. With the boom of nanotechnology since the 1990s, newly designed products with new materials, coatings, and nanoparticles are gradually entering everyone’s lives, while the industry has grown into a billion-dollar volume worldwide. Traditionally, nanotechnology products are assembled using bottom-up methods, such as self-assembly, rather than top-down robotic assembly. This is due to considerations of volume handling of large …

A One-Dimensional Analysis Of A Microbial Fuel Cell For Efficient Acetate Removal And Power Density Output, David Rouhani

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are electrochemical devices that utilize microorganisms to convert organic matter into electrical energy. MFCs have been discussed to have potential application for sustainable wastewater treatment due to their ability to generate electricity while simultaneously treating contaminated water. To optimize MFC performance, numerical models can be used to understand the complex electrochemical and biological processes occurring in the system. In this study, a numerical model was developed to simulate the performance of MFCs under varying operating conditions and to investigate the performance of a MFC for treating wastewater fuel. More specifically, the MFC was modeled to oxidize …

Improving Future Vehicle Fuel Economy And Operational Design Domain Through Novel Data Pipelines, Kyle James Carow

Masters Theses

Modern automobiles have greatly advanced in recent years, with technological developments that enhance performance, safety, and comfort. However, there is still much room for improvement. Today’s vehicles are heavily reliant on the combustion of fossil fuels, proven to be harmful for the environment on both a local and global scale. In addition, the safety benefits of autonomous vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems are not yet fully realized due to the limited operational design domain of these technologies. In this research, these needs are addressed through the development of two novel data pipelines. In the first study, a novel methodology …

3d Simulation Of A Yogurt Filling Machine Using Grafcet Studio And Factory Io: Realization Of Industry 4.0, Bashir Salah, Waqas Saleem, Razaullah Khan, Ahmed Tawhid Ahmed Soliman

Articles

Manufacturing systems, enterprises and academic institutions worldwide are implementing industry 4.0 (IR4.0). By integrating the services and equipment, IR4.0 develops autonomous systems that manage industrial operations and exchange real-time data in real time. This study includes a simulation of an existing production system using the GRAFCET Studio software.

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 …

Acausal Modeling Of Wind Turbines With Validation And Control Studies, Kazi Ishtiak Mohsin

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This thesis involves the modeling, validation, and control studies of a Control-Oriented, Reconfigurable, and Acausal Floating Turbine Simulator (CRAFTS), that is currently under development. CRAFTS uses Modelica®, an object-oriented, declarative, multi-domain modeling language for physical system modeling in the Dymola environment. The CRAFTS simulator facilitates rapid dynamic simulation of wind turbines with various model variants and enables control co-design.

A major emphasis of this thesis is in the validation of the CRAFTS simulator for a 15-MW land-based wind turbine through several test cases. These test cases were collaboratively developed in conjunction with other participating research entities. CRAFTS has undergone rigorous …

Dynamic Mode Decomposition Approach For Estimating The Shape Of A Cable, Yash Manik Chavan

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This study investigates the dynamic behavior of a flexible cable with heterogeneous stiffness using a data-driven approach. The study aims to develop accurate models describing intricate structures with rigid or flexible components. To achieve this, reflective markers were attached to the cable at equal spacing, and the motion was manually excited and captured using an 8-camera setup and OptiTrack's Motive software.

The cable displacement data at the marker locations were used as initial conditions for various Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) models. The performance of the data- driven cable model is compared against the performance of the DMD modeling approach, fitting …

Evaluating Electrification Of Fossil Fuel-Fired Boilers For Decarbonization Using Discrete Event Simulation, Nahian Ismail Chowdhury

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Decarbonizing fossil fuel usage is crucial in mitigating the impacts of climate change. CO2, which comprises the major portion of greenhouse gas, is emitted from burning fossil fuels. One of the significant sources of fossil fuel user is industrial process heating, and most of the heating in industrial processes is achieved through boilers. Electrification is a promising solution for decarbonizing these boilers, as it enables renewable energy sources to generate electricity, which can then be used to power the electric boilers. The electrification of boilers can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and increase energy efficiency. However, it requires …

Three Dimensional Cfd Simulation Model With Experimental Validation Of Silica Gel–Water Pair Adsorption Cooling Bed, Hesham Safwat, Taher Halawa

Mechanical Engineering

In this paper, a three-dimensional full simulation model of a solar-driven adsorption cooling system integrated with user-defined functions (UDF) is successfully validated with a manufactured adsorption chamber filled with silica-gel type A. model is validated on the desorption phase with a maximum deviation error of 1.7%. Temperature with adsorption contours are shown for more understanding of the heat flow with adsorption behaviour inside the chamber in all directions. The maximum temperature at the desorption phase is reached after 300 seconds at fins area, and adsorption maximum uptake reached 0.16 kg/kg at fins wall but reached from 0.13 to 0.14 kg/kg …

Investigation Of The Effect Of Corundum Layer On The Heat Transfer Of Sic Slab, Sri Elsa Fatmi, Donanta Dhaneswara, Muhammad Anis, Ahmad Ashari

Journal of Materials Exploration and Findings

Aluminum is the most widely used metal in industry. Aluminum smelting is one of the important steps that needs to be carried out to produce products made of aluminum metal with good quality. In the process of smelting aluminum there are several problems that occur, one of which is the growth of corundum in Si C refractories which affects the quality of aluminum melt and the durability of Si C refractories. This research was conducted to see the heat transfer in Si C and the effect of the presence of Corundum on heat transfer. This research was carried out by …

Supporting Us Army Next-Generation Ground Vehicle Simulation Modeling Using An Integrated Ontology Suite, Edward Louis

All Theses

The development of the US Army’s next-generation of ground vehicle systems is supported by simulations that predict vehicle performance and inform engineering design choices in the design and acquisition process. In this paper, we describe the development of an Integrated Ontology Suite to support modeling and simulation of next generation military ground vehicles. The ontology suite is intended to address model reuse challenges and increase the shared understanding of ground vehicle system simulations. It is intended to function in a Model Library structure that stores, documents, assembles, and executes vehicle simulations. The ontology suite consists of four domain ontologies: Vehicle …

Using Strategic Options Development And Analysis (Soda) To Understand The Simulation Accessibility Problem, Andrew J. Collins, Ying Thaviphoke, Antuela A. Tako

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Simulation modelling is applied to a wide range of problems, including defense and healthcare. However, there is a concern within the simulation community that there is a limited use and implementation of simulation studies in practice. This suggests that despite its benefits, simulation may not be reaching its potential in making a real-world impact. The main reason for this could be that simulation tools are not widely accessible in industry. In this paper, we investigate the issues that affect simulation modelling accessibility through a workshop with simulation practitioners. We use Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA), a problem-structuring approach that …

The Optimization Of Failure Risk Estimation On The Uniform Corrosion Rate With A Non-Linear Function, Fernanda Hartoyo, Jaka Fajar Fatriansyah, Imam Abdillah Mas'ud, Farhan Rama Digita, Hanna Ovelia, D. Rizal Asral

Journal of Materials Exploration and Findings

Failures in the oil and gas pipeline system are conditions that must be avoided and anticipated because the losses due to the failures can occur at a very high level. Internal corrosion is one of the significant causes of the failures in pipeline systems. In addition, this type of corrosion is due to the high content of carbon dioxide and other corrosive substances in crude oil and natural gas. Therefore, an optimal inspection scheduling system is required to prevent the possibility of pipeline failures due to corrosion and to avoid any overspending on the budget due to excessive inspection scheduling. …

Strain And Strain Rate In Friction Extrusion, Xiao Li, Md Reza-E- Rabby, Anthony Guzman, Glenn Grant, Suveen Mathaudhu, Michah Hinton, Anthony P. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Friction extrusion is a metal forming process that generates large plastic strains and deformation-induced heating through friction between a rotating die and the material to be extruded. The final deformation state in friction extruded wire has been visualized in previous studies but the distribution and evolution of strain and strain rate inside the solid material have yet to be elucidated. This paper develops an approach that reveals the deformation during the process by visualizing the shape change of the pre-embedded markers in the remnant billet. For the first time, the distribution of steady-state strain and strain rate in friction extrusion …

Therapeutic Mechanical Horse, Cade M. Liberty, Aleya Dolorfino, Peter Philips, Zuzanna Dominik, Luke Watts

Mechanical Engineering

Jack's Helping Hand and its hippotherapy participants required a device to serve as an alternative to a live horseback riding experience that could also increase the range of riders. This would provide more clients with equine-assisted therapy that has proven to better the lives of people with both physical and mental disabilities. Horses can be unpredictable, tall, and sometimes anxiety-inducing, especially for new riders. Our group’s aim was to develop a mechanical horse that will be able to reduce these issues for equine therapy centers and the riders they help. When a rider gets to practice sitting on the horse …

Eagle Medical Tray Denesting & Debris Removal Process, Nicholas Allen Ungefug, Noah Chavez, Susana Shu-Lin Okhuysen, Michael Augustine Pennington

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Eagle Medical Incorporated is a contract medical device packaging and sterilization company. The company purchases thermoformed medical packaging trays, which maintain the sterility of medical devices, from various manufacturers. To ensure packaging quality and to prevent cleanroom contamination, Eagle Medical inspects and sterilizes each blister tray that they order. This process is an essential non-value-added activity that creates a bottleneck. Cleanroom employees must stop packaging medical devices and attend to the processing of blister trays and packaging solutions. The blister trays arrive at Eagle’s facility in nested stacks. Vibration and movement during shipping further compresses the stacks, which makes separation …

Performance Projection Of A High-Temperature Co2 Transport Membrane Reactor For Combined Co2 Capture And Methane-To-Ethylene Conversion, Xin Li, Kevin Huang, Noah Van Dam, Xinfang Jin

Faculty Publications

Direct conversion of methane into ethylene through the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) is a technically important reaction. However, conventional co-fed fixed-bed OCM reactors still face serious challenges in conversion and selectivity. In this paper, we apply a finite element model to simulate OCM reaction in a plug-flow CO₂ /O₂ transport membrane (CTM) reactor with a directly captured CO₂ and O₂ mixture as a soft oxidizer. The CTM is made of three phases: molten carbonate, 20% Sm-doped CeO₂ , and LiNiO₂ . The membrane parameters are first validated by CO₂ /O₂ flux …

Human Ergonomic Simulation To Support The Design Of An Exoskeleton For Lashing/De-Lashing Operations Of Containers Cargo, Francesco Longo, Antonio Padovano, Vittorio Solina, Virginia D' Augusta, Stefan Venzl, Roberto Calbi, Michele Bartuni, Ornella Anastasi, Rafael Diaz

VMASC Publications

Lashing and de-lashing operations of containers cargo on board containerships are considered as quite strenuous activities in which operators are required to work continuously over a 6 or 8 hours shift with very limited break. This is mostly because containerships need to leave the port as soon as possible and containers loading and unloading operations must be executed with very high productivity (stay moored in a port is a totally unproductive time for a ship and a loss-making business for a shipping company). Operators performing lashing and de-lashing operations are subjected to intense ergonomic stress and uncomfortable working postures. To …

An Efficient Track-Scale Model For Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing: Part 1- Thermal Model, Reza Tangestani, Trevor Sabiston, Apratim Chsktsborty, Waqas Muhammad, Lang Yuan, Étienne Martin

Faculty Publications

This is the first of two manuscripts that presents a computationally efficient full field deterministic model for laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). A new Hybrid Line (HL) heat input model integrates an exponentially decaying (ED) heat input over a portion of a laser path to significantly reduce the computational time. Experimentally measured properties of the high gamma prime nickel-based superalloy RENÉ 65 are implemented in the model to predict the in-process temperature distribution, stresses, and distortions. The model accounts for specific properties of the material as different phases. The first manuscript presents the HL heat transfer model, which is compared …

An Efficient Track-Scale Model For Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing: Part 2-Mechanical Model, Reza Tangestani, Trevor Sabiston, Apratim Chakraborty, Lang Yuan, Nicholas Krutz, Étienne Martin

Faculty Publications

This is the second of two manuscripts that presents a computationally efficient full-field deterministic model for laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). The Hybrid Line (HL) thermal model developed in part I is extended to predict the in-process residual stresses due to laser processing of a nickel-based superalloy, RENÉ 65. The computational efficiency and accuracy of the HL thermo-mechanical model is first compared to the exponential decaying heat input model on a single-track simulation. LPBF thin-wall builds with three different laser powers and four printing patterns are evaluated in this study and compared with part-scale simulations. The simulations show good agreements …

Evaluation Of Orthogonal Strain Components In Friction Extrusion, X Li, Md. Reza-E Rabby, M Ryan, G. Grant, Anthony P. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

Friction extrusion is a thermomechanical process that combines conventional extrusion with the action of a rotating die. The plastic deformation of the material being sheared and extruded is the primary source of process heat and it produces strain distributions unlike those resulting from conventional extrusion. This paper proposes an improved strain analysis that evaluates three main strain components in a series of rate-controlled friction extrusions in which the steady state was achieved. Cylindrical AA1100 extrusion billets with two embedded markers were extruded to wire with a 10:1 diametral reduction. The shape change of the embedded markers was determined via serial, …

Nonlinear Model Development And Validation For Ball And Plate Control System, Zachary Richter

Master's Theses

Ball and plate balancing control systems are commonly studied due to the complex dynamics associated with the instability of the system in open-loop. For simplicity, mathematical models describing the ball and plate dynamics are often linearized and the effects of complex motion are assumed to be negligible. These assumptions are rarely backed with evidence or explanations validating the simplified form of the dynamical equations of motion. This thesis focuses on developing a nonlinear model that more accurately defines the dynamics of the system, in order to quantify the error of linear and nonlinear models when compared to a Simscape physical …

Camshaft Failure Simulation With Static Structural Approach, Riduwan Prasetya, Andoko Andoko, Suprayitno Suprayitno

Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science and Technology (JMEST)

A failure happens within the camshaft of the minibus when the vehicle is in utilize. The camshaft was a fracture within the bearing between the primary cylinder exhaust valve and the second cylinder suction. This simulation aims to find the causes of camshaft failure utilizing the finite element method with a static structural approach, including simulations of deformation, strain, stress, fatigue life (stress-life and strainlife), and cracks. The method used in this paper is the finite element method with a static structural approach by ANSYS software. The camshaft material is a gray cast iron designed using Solidworks. Pre-processing includes meshing …

Modeling And Control Of A Vertical Hopping Robot, Bradley Y. Kwan

Master's Theses

Single degree-of-freedom hopping robots are typically modeled as spring loaded inverted pendulums (SLIPs). This simplified model, however, does not consider the overall leg geometry, consequently making it difficult to investigate the optimized inertial distribution of the leg for agile locomotion. To address this issue, the first part of this thesis establishes an accurate mathematical model of a DC-motor-driven, two-link hopping robot where the motors are modeled as torque sources. The equations of motion for the two distinct phases of locomotion (stance and flight) are derived using the Lagrangian approach for holonomic systems. A Simulink/Stateflow model is developed to numerically simulate …

Computational Fluid Dynamics And Fluid Structure Interaction Research On Flow In A Glenn Shunt And A Flexible Tube And On A Cantilevered Plate, Chunhui Wang

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

This thesis employs Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation technology to solve three flow problems: (1) Blood flow in a Bidirectional Glenn Shunt and a combined Bidirectional Glenn Shunt (BGS) and Blalock-Taussing (BT) Shunt. This shunt is used to address the problem of Cyanosis or “Blue Baby Syndrome,” which is an infant disorder that affects the newly born babies whose skins turn blue or purple because of lack of necessary blood flow between heart and lung due to pulmonary vascular blockage. The goal of this study was to evaluate the performance of BGS and combined BGS+BT shunt in achieving the desired …

Development Of A Solidworks Simulation Toolkit For A Sophomore Level Biomedical Engineering Course, Jordan Crosby

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the engineering industry, computer-aided design (CAD) programs are used to create models and create virtual experiments or studies that allow engineers to observe the real behavior of parts or assemblies under certain conditions. Companies hire students with experience in CAD, as professionals believe that CAD experience is beneficial [1,2]. SolidWorks is among the most popular CAD software used by engineers. SolidWorks has multiple functionalities that also allow for finite element analysis dependent on the license. Users can create simulation studies in SolidWorks Simulation that can be used as an accurate approximation for real results.

The goal of this study …

Improving The Impingement Cold Plate Thermal Design Using Numerical And Analytical Approach, Reuben Joshua Madhuker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Conventional cooling methods for an IC chip uses heat spreader to transfer heat from the chip end of the spreader to the opposite end of the spreader which then uses air or water to remove heat and thereby maintaining the overall temperature. Unfortunately, the heat spreader itself has constraints such as conduction resistance which adds the heat spreader inefficiency. But if we increase the area exposed to the cooling end then this can be improved. This is done by introducing channels at that end. These channels act as fins which give a better shot at cooling the system temperature. These …