Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Sprout: Setting The Roots For The Futureof Astronautics, Trenton Draper, Dylan Ottum, Kiana Waters, Carly Fridlin

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Finite Element Failure Analysis Of Lattice Structures, Behzad Bahrami Babamiri, Andrew Minor

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Dielectrophoretic Nanoparticle Propellant Injection With Plasmonic Acceleration, Jaykob Maser, Joshua Rovey

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We describe the concept of a dielectrophoretic propellant injector and its inclusion in a plasmonic-based, small-satellite propulsion system. Thrust is achieved by applying a plasmon generated non-uniform electromagnetic field, and corresponding dielectrophoretic force, to net-neutral nanoparticles.

Hyperspectral Imaging For Characterizing Single Plasmonic Nanostructure And Single-Cell Analysis, Nishir Sanatkumar Mehta

LSU Master's Theses

Orientation of plasmonic nanostructures is an important feature in many nanoscale applications such as photovoltaics, catalyst, biosensors DNA interactions, protein detections, hotspot of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), and fluorescence resonant energy transfer (FRET) experiments. Silver nanocubes with significant spectral signatures between 400-700 nm are observed in this experimental research. Whereas study of single cells will enable the analysis of cell-to-cell variations within a heterogeneous population. These variations are important for further analysis and understanding of disease propagation, drug development, stem cell differentiation, embryos development, and how cells respond to each other and their environment. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells possess the …

Development Of Polymer-Based In-Plane Nanopore For Dna Sequencing, Zheng Jia

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mechanically robust solid-state nanopores have the potential to be the next generation DNA sensing platforms. However, mass production and limited base-calling accuracy are the hurdles for solid-state nanopore based DNA sensing. In order to solve these problems, a polymer dual-nanopore device fabricated via high throughput nanoimprint lithography (NIL) was proposed to sequence DNA by time-of-flight (ToF) measurement. As a proof of concept, this study presents mononucleotides discrimination via ToF measurement using polymer in-plane dual-nanopore device.

First, fabrication of polymer in-plane nanopore with controllable dimensions was studied in consideration of experimental conditions and materials selection. Then, surface charge density effect on …

Large Eddy Simulations Of Vertical Jets In Crossflow, Pranaya Pokharel

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Jets in crossflow (JICF) have applications ranging from oil spill to film cooling of turbine blades. Hence, an understanding of the flow physics is important. The majority of the research has been conducted for low velocity ratios between jet and crossflow with round jets. JICF is demonstrated to behave differently for high velocity ratios and different jet shapes. Circular and rectangular jets are commonly used in aircraft applications. Current study focuses on high velocity ratio JICF issuing from both circular and rectangular exit.

For simulating JICF, an in house code “Chem3D” is used with Large Eddy Simulation (LES) to model …

Liquid Jet Penetration And Breakup In A Free Supersonic Gas Jet, Hansen Jones

LSU Master's Theses

In the testing of today’s rocket engines, both on large scale vertical test stands and smaller subscale horizontal component testing stands, it is extremely important to be able to accurately quantify and mitigate the thermal and acoustic loads the engines will generate on test stand infrastructure. Due to the large number of parameters that must be considered for many cases, development of a multi-phase computational code is under way to properly analyze and design water spray cooling systems used at NASA’s Stennis Space Center (SSC) and across other NASA centers. As such, a small-scale experiment has been conducted at Louisiana …

Computational Aerodynamics And Anatomical Characterization Of Laryngotracheal Stenosis In Children, William Poynot

LSU Master's Theses

Laryngotracheal stenosis (LTS) is a health condition in which an obstruction in the upper trachea can cause breathing difficulties and increased incidence of infection, among other symptoms. Occurring most commonly due to intubation in infants, LTS often requires corrective surgery. Currently, clinical methods of assessing the blockage region are simplistic and subjective, and it is challenging to determine the most effective surgical strategy for any given patient. In the present work, a comprehensive methodology is proposed for characterizing the stenosis region both in terms of its anatomical parameters and its corresponding aerodynamic properties. The combination of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) …

Multidimensional Optimal Droop Control For Dc Microgrids In Military Applications, Kaitlyn J. Bunker, Michael D. Cook, Wayne Weaver, Gordon Parker

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Reliability is a key consideration when microgrid technology is implemented in military applications. Droop control provides a simple option without requiring communication between microgrid components, increasing the control system reliability. However, traditional droop control does not allow the microgrid to utilize much of the power available from a solar resource. This paper applies an optimal multidimensional droop control strategy for a solar resource connected in a microgrid at a military patrol base. Simulation and hardware-in-the-loop experiments of a sample microgrid show that much more power from the solar resource can be utilized, while maintaining the system’s bus voltage around a …

Energy Comparison Of Air Conditioning Split System Vs. Solar Absorption Systems For A Prototype Educational Building, Hesham Safwat

Mechanical Engineering

this paper aims to study solar energy in Egypt and its potential utilization in solar thermal cooling (absorption technique). The paper includes a detailed proposed solar absorption cooling system for one building located at the British University in Egypt with maximum cooling load of 141.3 ton. A detailed design using a design software (TRNSYS) is introduced to model the system and for optimization. A cost analysis is finally included to compare the overall costs of both the proposed cooling system and the current system.

Fluted Films, Nathan B. Spiers, Mohammad M. Mansoor, Jesse Belden, Randy Craig Hurd, Zhao Pan, Tadd T. Truscott

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper is associated with a poster winner of a 2017 APS/DFD Milton van Dyke Award for work presented at the DFD Gallery of Fluid Motion. The original poster is available from the Gallery of Fluid Motion, https://doi.org/10.1103/APS.DFD.2017.GFM.P0030

Numerical Study Of Liquid Atomization And Breakup Using The Volume Of Fluid Method In Ansys Fluent, Sai Saran Kandati

LSU Master's Theses

The spherical metal particles produced from the centrifugal atomization process have been the topic of numerous theoretical, experimental and numerical studies from the past few years. This atomization process uses centrifugal force to break-up molten material into spherical droplets, which are quenched into solidified granules by the flow of cold air on the spherical droplets. In the present work, a transient three-dimensional multiphase CFD model is applied to three different materials: Molten slag, aqueous glycerol solution, and molten Ni-Nb to study the influence of the dimensionless parameters on the centrifugal atomization outcome.

Results from numerical experiments indicated that the droplet …

Three-Dimensional Forming Of Multi-Layered Materials: Material Heat Response And Quality Aspects, Sami-Seppo Ovaska, Pavel Geydt, Ville Leminen, Johanna Lyytikäinen, Sami Matthews, Panu Tanninen, Malte Wallmeier, Marek Hauptmann, Kaj Backfolk

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

The micro- and macrostructural changes occurring in multi-layered substrates during three-dimensional forming were studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical analyses. Particular attention was paid to heat-induced deformations at the interface between of polymeric coating layer and the paperboard. With excessive heat transfer, occasional delamination of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) coating from the paperboard was observed. The mechanism behind delamination was studied in detail in-situ with an AFM at temperatures relevant to the converting process. Based on the analysis, the delamination could partially be linked to the widening of the initially-existing nano-scale cracks at the coating-paperboard …

A Bismuth Attack At Grain-Boundaries Of Ceria-Based Electrolytes, Tianrang Yang, Kevin Huang

Faculty Publications

Bismuth is a common additive of commercial silver pastes for enhancing metallization effect; silver paste is also commonly used in high-temperature electrochemical cells as a current collector or contact layer. We here report that the minor amount of bismuth in commercial silver pastes can transport to the interface of electrode/Gd-doped CeO₂ (GDC) electrolyte and seriously corrode grain-boundaries (GBs) of the GDC electrolyte, a commonly used intermediate-temperature electrolyte, causing significant ionic conductivity degradation. A comprehensive electron microscopic analysis reveals that the Bi-corrosion takes place along GBs of GDC electrolyte acting as “washing flux” agent, causing grain separation and thus blocking …

Cip2a Immunosensor Comprised Of Vertically-Aligned Carbon Nanotube Interdigitated Electrodes Towards Point-Of-Care Oral Cancer Screening, Shaowei Ding, Suprem R. Das, Benjamin J. Brownlee, Kshama Parate, Taylor Davis, Loreen R. Stromberg, Edward K.L. Chan, Joseph Katz, Brian D. Iverson, Jonathan C. Claussen

Faculty Publications

Vertically aligned carbon nanotube array (VANTA) coatings have recently garnered much attention due in part to their unique material properties including light absorption, chemical inertness, and electrical conductivity. Herein we report the first use of VANTAs grown via chemical vapor deposition in a 2D interdigitated electrode (IDE) footprint with a high height-to-width aspect ratio (3:1 or 75:25 µm). The VANTA-IDE is functionalized with an antibody (Ab) specific to the human cancerous inhibitor PP2A (CIP2A)—a alivary oncoprotein that is associated with a variety of malignancies such as oral, breast, and multiple myeloma cancers. The resultant immunosensor is capable of detecting CIP2A …

Hemodynamics And Pathology Of An Enlarging Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Model In Rabbits, Hongmei Chen, Yonghua Bi, Siyeong Yu, Linxia Gu, Xiaoyan Zhu, Xinwei Han

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Hemodynamics may play an essential role in the initiation and progression of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). We aimed to study the mechanism of self-healing process by the changes of hemodynamics and pathology in an enlarging AAA in rabbits. Seventy-two rabbits were randomly divided into three groups. Rabbits underwent extrinsic coarctation and received a 10-minute elastase incubation in Group A and Group B. Absorbable suture used in Group A was terminated by balloon dilation at week 4. Diameter was measured after 1, 3, 5, and 15 weeks, computational fluid dynamics analysis was performed at week 3 and week 15. Rabbits were …

Techniques To Stimulate And Interrogate Cell–Cell Adhesion Mechanics, Ruiguo Yang, Joshua A. Broussard, Kathleen J. Green, Horacio D. Espinosa

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Cell–cell adhesions maintain the mechanical integrity of multicellular tissues and have recently been found to act as mechanotransducers, translating mechanical cues into biochemical signals. Mechanotransduction studies have primarily focused on focal adhesions, sites of cell-substrate attachment. These studies leverage technical advances in devices and systems interfacing with living cells through cell–extracellular matrix adhesions. As reports of aberrant signal transduction originating from mutations in cell–cell adhesion molecules are being increasingly associated with disease states, growing attention is being paid to this intercellular signaling hub. Along with this renewed focus, new requirements arise for the interrogation and stimulation of cell–cell adhesive junctions. …

Embedding Sustainability In Lean Six Sigma Efforts, Nadiye O. Erdil, Can B. Aktas, Omid M. Arani

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

The emphasis on the concept of sustainability in businesses and operations is growing either due to increasing public interest, regulatory pressures, or corporate social responsibility. However, where and how to integrate sustainability needs further development for broadening its applications. Using Lean and Six Sigma (LSS) principles in sustainability studies is becoming popular in research and practice. The common approach in these studies is to identify a sustainability project followed by current state sustainability performance assessment, and then work towards improving sustainability performance using LSS tools. The goal of this study was to develop a model framework to fully embed sustainability …

Evaluating The Effect Of Shear Stress On Graft-To Zwitterionic Polycarboxybetaine Coating Stability Using A Flow Cell, Andrew Belanger, Andre Decarmine, Shaoyi Jiang, Keith Cook, Kagya Amoako

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

The effect of surface coatings on the performance of antifouling activity under flow can be influenced by the flow/coating interactions. This study evaluates the effect of surface coatings on antifouling activity under different flows for the analyses of coating stability. This was done by exposing DOPA-PCB-300/dopamine coated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to physiological shear stresses using a recirculation system which consisted of dual chamber acrylic flow cells, tygon tubing, flow probe and meter, and perfusion pumps. The effect of shear stress induced by phosphate buffered saline flow on coating stability was characterized with differences in fibrinogen adsorption between control (coated PDMS not …

Evolution From Cooling Modeling To Cooling Engineering Of The Steel Quenching Process: A Technology Overview, Xinmin Luo, George Totten

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The type of heat treatment process used is mainly determined by its cooling mode. Hardening is a metal heat treatment during which the most critical operation is cooling. Most quenchants used for steel hardening are vaporizable liquids, such as water, petroleum oils, emulsions, aqueous polymer solutions, or brines. Testing methodologies that include ISO 9950, Industrial Quenching Oils-determination of Cooling Characteristics-Nickel-alloy Probe Test Method, and ASTM Standards: D6200, Standard Test Method for Determination of Cooling Characteristics of Quench Oils by Cooling Curve Analysis, D6482, Standard Test Method for Determination of Cooling Characteristics of Aqueous Polymer Quenchants by Cooling Curve Analysis with …

A Reliable Mems Switch Using Electrostatic Levitation, Mark Pallay, Shahrzad Towfighian

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Scholarship

In this study an electrostatic MEMS beam is experimentally released from pull-in using electrostatic levitation. A MEMS cantilever with a parallel plate electrode configuration is pulled-in by applying a voltage above the pull-in threshold. Two more electrodes are fixed to the substrate on both sides of the beam to create electrostatic levitation. Large voltage pulses upwards of 100 V are applied to the side electrodes to release the pulled-in beam. A high voltage is needed to overcome the stronger parallel plate electrostatic force and stiction forces, which hold the beam in its pulled-in position. A relationship between bias voltage and …

A Parametric Study Of Wave Interaction With A Rotor Having Hydrofoil Blades, Yingchen Yang, Fredrick A. Jenet, Ben Xu, Juan Carlos Garza, Benjamin Tamayo, Yessica Chavez, Oscar Reyes, Samuel Fuentes

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Our recent progress on studying wave interaction with a lift-type rotor is discussed in this paper. The particular focus is on characterization of the rotor’s unidirectional responsiveness in waves. The rotor consists of six hydrofoil blades in two sets. One blade set has three blades laid out as a vertical-axis wind turbine of the Darrieus type. The other blade set has three blades configured like a Wells turbine. In combination, the formed rotor can be driven by flows in any direction to perform unidirectional rotation about its vertically mounted shaft. This unidirectional responsiveness of the rotor also holds in waves, …

Method To Provide Meta-Stable Operation Of Dc Microgrid Comprising A Pulsed Load, David G. Wilson, Wayne Weaver, Rush D. Robinett Iii, Ronald Matthews, Steven F. Glover

Michigan Tech Patents

A Hamiltonian surface shaping power flow control (HSSPFC) method is used to analyze the meta-stability and adjust pulsed power loads on a DC electric power distribution network. Pulsed power loads are nonlinear, time-variant systems that cause nonlinear limit-cycles. During the on periods of a pulsed load, the system can be in an unstable state and is damped back to stability during the off state of the load. Therefore, over the entire period of the pulse the system may only be assessed as meta-stable. As shown through simulation, HIL and hardware results, the HSSPFC method is more accurate than the other …

The Critical Pressure For Microfiltration Of Oil-In-Water Emulsions Using Slotted-Pore Membranes, Nikolai V. Priezjev, Tohid Darvishzadeh, Bishal Bhattarai

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The influence of geometrical parameters and fluid properties on the critical pressure of permeation of an oil micro-droplet into a slotted pore is studied numerically by solving the Navier-Stokes equations. We consider a long slotted pore, which is partially blocked by the oil droplet but allows a finite permeate flux. An analytical estimate of the critical permeation pressure is obtained from a force balance model that involves the drag force from the flow around the droplet and surface tension forces as well as the pressure variation inside the pore. It was found that numerical results for the critical pressure as …

Mysterious Soda Can, Said Shakerin, Edwin Pejack

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

No abstract provided.

Molecular Dynamics Studies On Nanoscale Confined Liquids, Alper Celebi

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

Liquid transport in nanochannels have been attracting great interests, especially for last two decades, owing to its potential applicability in various fields including biochemistry, medical science and engineering. For exploring and generating new ideas in the field of nanofluidics, molecular simulation techniques have become an ideal way due to the experimental challenges impeding the field of nanofluidics in fabrication and measurements.

In this dissertation, we perform molecular dynamics simulations to investigate liquid transport behavior in nanoscale channels. The expanse of this dissertation concerns several fundamental topics in nanoscale liquid transport phenomena such as liquid properties in nanoscale confinements, interfacial flows …

Impulsive Dynamics And Control Of The Inertia-Wheel Pendulum, Nilay Kant, Ranjan Mukherjee

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The dynamics of the inertia-wheel pendulum, when subjected to impulsive inputs, can be described by algebraic equations. Optimal sequences of these inputs, that minimize their infinity norm, are designed for rest-to-rest maneuvers. The results are applied to the well-studied swing-up problem, and high-gain feedback is used for continuous approximation of the inputs and simulation of the impulsive dynamics. Analytical and simulation results establish a direct link between high wheel velocities during swing-up and control strategies that take the pendulum directly to the upright configuration. They also indicate that optimal trajectories resemble those of energy-based controllers and can be designed to …

Slow Relaxation Dynamics In Binary Glasses During Stress-Controlled, Tension-Compression Cyclic Loading, Nikolai V. Priezjev

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The effect of cyclic loading on relaxation dynamics and mechanical properties of metallic glasses is studied using molecular dynamics simulations. We consider the Kob-Andersen three-dimensional binary mixture rapidly cooled across the glass transition and subjected to thousands of tension-compression cycles in the elastic range. It was found that during cyclic loading at constant pressure, the system is relocated to progressively lower levels of the potential energy, thus promoting greater densification and higher strength. Furthermore, with increasing stress amplitude, the average glass density increases and the minimum of the potential energy becomes deeper, while the elastic modulus is reduced. The typical …

Explosive Dust Test Vessel Comparison Using Pulverized Pittsburgh Coal, Jacob Miller, Jay Schafler, Phillip R. Mulligan, Robert Eades, Kyle A. Perry, Catherine E. Johnson

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Explosions of coal dust are a major safety concern within the coal mining industry. The explosion and subsequent fires caused by coal dust can result in significant property damage, loss of life in underground coal mines and damage to coal processing facilities. The United States Bureau of Mines conducted research on coal dust explosions until 1996 when it was dissolved. In the following years, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) developed a test standard, ASTM E1226, to provide a standard test method characterizing the “explosibility” of particulate solids of combustible materials suspended in air. The research presented herein …

Revealing Particle-Scale Powder Spreading Dynamics In Powder-Bed-Based Additive Manufacturing Process By High-Speed X-Ray Imaging, Luis I. Escano, Niranjan D. Parab, Lianghua Xiong, Qilin Guo, Cang Zhao, Kamel Fezzaa, Wes Everhart, Tao Sun, Lianyi Chen

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Powder spreading is a key step in the powder-bed-based additive manufacturing process, which determines the quality of the powder bed and, consequently, affects the quality of the manufactured part. However, powder spreading behavior under additive manufacturing condition is still not clear, largely because of the lack of particle-scale experimental study. Here, we studied particle-scale powder dynamics during the powder spreading process by using in-situ high-speed high-energy x-ray imaging. Evolution of the repose angle, slope surface speed, slope surface roughness, and the dynamics of powder clusters at the powder front were revealed and quantified. Interactions of the individual metal powders, with …