Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Remote Control Aircraft, Thomas Gutema, Catherine Jones, Judy Liang, Kendall Moore

Capstone Design Expo Posters

The purpose of the RC aircraft design was not to address a problem that has not been solved, but to redesign an aircraft with the intent to understand the practical applications of the building process. Our approach to completing this project involved two phases; the planning phase and the building phase. In the planning phase, we made selections for the airfoil, wing, fuselage, tail, elevators, and ailerons. These choices were made using aeronautical engineering concepts and theory. For the building phase, we focused on materials selection, fabrication, and testing.

During our design process, a lot of time went to choosing …

Formula Hybrid At Vcu: Epicyclic Power Distribution System, Brandon Rivera, Dmitriy Kirzhner, Maxwell O’Neill, Ryan Witko

Capstone Design Expo Posters

In today’s automotive industry, the need for more performance and power efficiency is ever increasing. However, with the growing concern of greenhouse gases and their impact on the environment, petrol burning cars need to be improved. Hybrid powertrains in automotive vehicles are being designed to increase fuel economy, reduce emissions, and improve engine efficiency through gearing all the while being competitive.

Our senior design team has developed an epicyclic power distribution (EPD) system which combines two independent power inputs from an electric motor and an internal combustion engine (ICE). This system has been designed specifically for the Formula Hybrid race …

Me-Em 2015-16 Annual Report, Department Of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Annual Reports

Table of Contents

• Alumni: Leading with Simulation
• Education: Simulating the Future
• Faculty: Advancing Simulation
• Graduate Seminar Series
• Enrollment & Degrees
• Graduates
• Department News
• Faculty & Staff
• Alumni
• Donors
• Contracts & Grants
• Patents & Publications

Feasibility Of Attaining Fully Equiaxed Microstructure Through Process Variable Control For Additive Manufacturing Of Ti-6al-4v, Sarah Louise Kuntz

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

One of the greatest challenges in additive manufacturing is fabricating titanium structures with consistent and desirable microstructure. To date, fully columnar deposits have been achieved through direct control of process variables. However, the introduction of external factors appears necessary to achieve fully equiaxed grain morphology using existing commercial processes. This work introduces and employs an analytic model to relate process variables to solidification thermal conditions and expected beta grain morphology at the surface of and at the deepest point in the melt pool. The latter is required in order to ensure the deposited microstructure is maintained even after the deposition …

Ultra Light Split Board Bindings, Jared Van Putten

All Undergraduate Projects

A split board binding is used to link two halves of a theoretically cut in half snow board together and fasten an alpine touring boot used for both skiing and mountaineering in place. The binding is removable so that one can alpine tour uphill on skins and be assembled at the top so that the rider can link both halves of the board together and bind their alpine touring ski boot into place to the split board. The binding system is required to be ultra light for Alpine Touring purposes and still be strong enough to withstand the rigors of …

Conversion Casting: Adapter Hub, Joseph M. Coup

All Undergraduate Projects

The concept of conversion casting makes manufacturing major components much more efficient with regards to time and cost. The conversion cast of the adapter hub used in the Victair Mistifier is a major component that requires 8 hours to machine. The existing hub starts from steel stock and then that block of steel is placed into a CNC machine and coded in to create the adapter hub. The manufacturing method changes to a casting for the adapter hub will create a replicated part that requires 1.5 hours of post machining. The intricate design makes a conversion to casting more effective …

An Injection And Mixing Element For Delivery And Monitoring Of Inhaled Nitric Oxide, Andrew R. Martin, Chris Jackson, Samuel Fromont, Chloe Pont, Ira M. Katz, Georges Caillobotte

Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Publications

Background

Inhaled nitric oxide (NO) is a selective pulmonary vasodilator used primarily in the critical care setting for patients concurrently supported by invasive or noninvasive positive pressure ventilation. NO delivery devices interface with ventilator breathing circuits to inject NO in proportion with the flow of air/oxygen through the circuit, in order to maintain a constant, target concentration of inhaled NO.

Methods

In the present article, a NO injection and mixing element is presented. The device borrows from the design of static elements to promote rapid mixing of injected NO-containing gas with breathing circuit gases. Bench experiments are reported to demonstrate …

Multi-Use Fireline Handtool, Bruce W. Bernard Jr

All Undergraduate Projects

A wildland firefighter is a valuable resource to protecting public lands and managing fuels. The many hand tools used by firefighters aid in their ability to complete any required tasks effectively. Several of the tools available are specially purposed for individually grubbing, scraping, or liming. A small squad of firefighters could become a more effective resource if the tools they carried could perform several of these purposes as one single tool. To improve the effectiveness of an individual on the fireline a multi-use hand tool was designed to include an axe for liming and a heavy duty scraper for grubbing …

Bike Lock Combining Strength And Flexibility, Zachary Uhrich

All Undergraduate Projects

What can be done when someone is riding a bicycle in a large metropolitan area, and when they reach their destination they find that there either is no bike rack, or the rack is already full. For bikers who prefer the security of a standard U-lock, this means having to leave to find another rack elsewhere or leave your bike unlocked. This situation is the why there is a need for a bike lock which can combine the security of a U-lock, with the flexibility and size of a chain. This project solves the problem by using a hardened steel …

Aging Assessment Of High Voltage Single Component Room Temperature Vulcanized Silicone Rubber (Rtv-1) Subjected To Aqueous Salt, Monika Bleszynski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Single component room temperature vulcanized (RTV-1) silicone based caulk used in high voltage insulators and other applications is frequently subjected to environmental pollutants. Aging of RTV-1 silicone rubber is the result of various stressors, including environmental aging conditions such as UV, acid, and salt exposure from ocean mist. Loss of hydrophobicity due to damage of the hydrophobic methyl groups, as well as loss of mechanical strength due to depolymerization via hydrolysis as a result of aqueous salt exposure were the two main factors of material aging assessed in this work. Multiple RTV-1 formulations were initially assessed for resistance to aging …

Properties Of Partially Stabilized Zirconia Components Fabricated By The Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion Process, Wenbin Li, Amir Ghazanfari, Devin Mcmillen, Ming Leu, Gregory Hilmas, Jeremy Watts

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

The Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) process is a novel additive manufacturing process for fabricating dense ceramic components from aqueous pastes of high solids loading. In this study, 3 mol% Y2O3 stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (3Y-TZP) parts were fabricated using the CODE process. The parts were then dried in a humidity controlled environmental chamber and sintered under atmospheric pressure. Mechanical properties of the sintered parts were examined using ASTM standard test techniques, including density, Young’s modulus, flexural strength, Weibull modulus, fracture toughness and Vickers hardness. The microstructure was analyzed, and grain size was measured using scanning electron microscopy. The results compared …

Asme Mini Rc Baja: Drivetrain, Jason M. Moore

All Undergraduate Projects

Title and author: ASME mini RC Baja Drivetrain by Jason Moore; partner Mike Cox. (Engineering Technologies, Safety, and Construction)

Abstract/Artists Statement: The issue that this project is concerned with is how to design and build a drivetrain, steering and suspension systems for an RC car. The systems must be simple and functional. Furthermore, these systems will be designed to fit on a small chassis and not interfere with each other. They also need to be strong and durable enough to propel the car forward and maneuver through various obstacles and be built in a way that is easy to take …

Truss Alignment Tool, Jason Hedin

All Undergraduate Projects

The purpose of this project is to follow the engineering process from start to finish, and create a fully functioning truss alignment tool that has been designed, constructed, and tested successfully. The first phase involves the design of the truss alignment tool. The main design requirements of the tool includes taking an input force of 60 pounds and outputting the 630 pounds of clamping force needed to realign a set of two stacked trusses and pull their bottom edges flush. The second phase involves the construction of the tool. This involves all machining processes associated with the cutting, shaping, and …

Paper Airplane Building Machine: Paper Airplane Launcher, Hassan A. Bujayli

All Undergraduate Projects

The project was motivated by an ASME 2016 design challenge. The challenge was to design and manufacture a device that would turn a single sheet of paper into a paper airplane and launch it. The project is divided into three portions. The three portions are the frame and paper loading, folding mechanism, and launching. The circumference equation is used, to determine what is the proper speed of the paper loading motor. Notably, a slow rpm motor is needed for the loading mechanism to prevent the paper from being damaged. To avoid any deflection in the frame, the total weight of …

A Comprehensive Methodology For Design Of A Circulation Control Small-Scale Unmanned Aircraft, Konstantinos Kanistras

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have become increasingly prevalent and important for a wide spectrum of civilian and military operations. When focusing on small-scale fixed-wing UAVs, payload, power and energy requirements limit considerably their utilization and flexibility allowing them to complete only those specific missions they are designed for. Circulation Control (CC) is an active flow control method used to produce increased lift over the traditional systems (flaps, slats, etc...) currently in use. This dissertation focuses on the foundations of a comprehensive methodology from design to implementation and experimental testing of Coanda-based Circulation Control Wings (CCW) for unmanned aircraft. The …

Sustainability: Reusing Data Center Waste Heat, John Boushra, Kyle Duncan, Aleksandr Kogan, Giang Pham

Capstone Design Expo Posters

Data Centers are facilities used to house a large number of computer systems and their associated components, such as telecommunications and data storage systems. Nowadays many organizations depend on the reliable operation of their data centers for their day to day business operations. Data centers are designed with redundant and backup power supplies, redundant data communications connections, robust cybersecurity protocols and very strict environmental controls. The many computer systems held in a typical data center generate large heat loads that need to be continuously removed with high grade air conditioning systems. Anthem currently owns a large corporate data center in …

Tracking Surgical Instruments, Akia Wells, Samuel Samvura, Brandon Santiago

Capstone Design Expo Posters

Surgical instruments and sponges are mistakenly left inside patients for more than a dozen times a day. Hospitalizations involving a lost instrument or sponge can average costing more than $60,000 for a hospital. The objective of this design project is to develop a simple, innovative tracking flow process that will better keep track of surgical instruments and sponges before and after surgeries. Using high temperature stickers with matrix barcode technology attached to the surgical instruments, the instruments will be easily scanned into a database to track when instruments are checked in and checked out. Before all instruments are used and …

Vehicle Level Transient Aircraft Thermal Management Modeling And Simulation, Adam Donovan

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Many advances in technology are expected to increase the capabilities of next generation aircraft, and these advances will increase the thermal load on the aircraft as well. In order to assess and account for these increased thermal loads, three studies were performed: a fuel pump trade study, a high energy pulsed system (HEPS) implementation study, and a legacy vehicle environmental control system (ECS) study. The fuel pump study addresses the effect of the implementation of a centrifugal fuel pump versus a variable displacement fuel pump. Traditionally, aircraft designers have used a centrifugal fuel pump over a piston based pump based …

Soap Bubble Clusters In Thin Enclosures, Said Shakerin

All Faculty Books and Book Chapters - School of Engineering and Computer Science

No abstract provided.

Group Scheduling In A Cellular Manufacturing Shop To Minimise Total Tardiness And Nt: A Comparative Genetic Algorithm And Mathematical Modelling Approach, Gokhan Egilmez, Emre M. Mese, Bulent Erenay, Gürsel A. Süer

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

In this paper, family and job scheduling in a cellular manufacturing shop is addressed where jobs have individual due dates. The objectives are to minimise total tardiness and the number of tardy jobs. Family splitting among cells is allowed but job splitting is not. Two optimisation methods are employed in order to solve this problem, namely mathematical modelling (MM) and genetic algorithm (GA). The results showed that GA found the optimal solution for most of the problems with high frequency. Furthermore, the proposed GA is efficient compared to the MM especially for larger problems in terms of execution times. Other …

Galvanic Corrosion Of Aluminum/Carbon Composite Systems, Eva Håkansson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Aluminum/carbon composite systems can have outstanding mechanical properties. Aluminum and carbon fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites (CFRP) are typically considered corrosion resistant when used alone, but can develop severe galvanic corrosion when in physical contact in the same component or structure.

General engineering practice is to avoid contact between aluminum and CFRP in any application where moisture may be present, but it is still of great importance to understand the consequences if the two materials accidentally become in contact. There may also be applications where a low rate of galvanic corrosion is acceptable.

This dissertation contributes unique experimental and numerical …

A Novel Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing Process For Ceramic Parts, Amir Ghazanfari, Wenbin Li, Ming Leu, Gregory Hilmas

Faculty Publications, Mechanical Engineering

An extrusion-based additive manufacturing process, called the Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion (CODE) process, for producing three-dimensional ceramic components with near theoretical density is introduced in this paper. In this process, an aqueous paste of ceramic particles with a very low binder content (<1 vol%) is extruded through a moving nozzle at room temperature. After a layer is deposited, it is surrounded by oil (to a level just below the top surface of most recent layer) to preclude non-uniform evaporation from the sides. Infrared radiation is then used to partially, and uniformly, dry the just-deposited layer so that the yield stress of the paste increases and the part maintains its shape. The same procedure is repeated for every layer until part fabrication is completed. Several sample parts for various applications were produced using this process and their properties were obtained. The results indicate that the proposed method enables fabrication of large, dense ceramic parts with complex geometries.

Mechanical And Aerospace Engineering, 2015-2016, College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering News

• Letter from the Department Chair
• New Faculty
• Student Success
• University NanoSatellite Program P-Spec Mission
• WALI Student Opportunities
• Study of Blind Cane Vibration

Hybrid Metal Oxide Cycle Water Splitting, Richard B. Diver Jr, Robert D. Palumbo, Nathan P. Siegel, James E. Miller

Other Faculty Research and Publications

Hybrid thermochemical water splitting cycles are provided in which thermally reduced metal oxides particles are used to displace some but not all of the electrical requirements in a water splitting electrolytic cell. In these hybrid cycles, the thermal reduction temperature is significantly reduced compared to two-step metal-oxide thermochemical cycles in which only thermal energy is required to produce hydrogen from water. Also, unlike the conventional higher temperature cycles where the reduction step must be carried out under reduced oxygen pressure, the reduction step in the proposed hybrid cycles can be carried out in air, allowing for thermal input by a …

A Conjugate Fluid-Porous Approach To Convective Heat And Mass Transfer With Application To Produce Drying, Furqan A. Khan, Anthony G. Straatman

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Closure Of The Macroscopic Turbulence And Non-Equilibrium Turbulent Heat And Mass Transfer Equations For Porous Media Composed Of Randomly Packed Spheres, Furqan A. Khan, Anthony G. Straatman

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

A Conjugate Fluid-Porous Approach For Simulating Airflow In Realistic Geometric Representations Of The Human Respiratory System, Christopher Degroot Dr, Anthony G. Straatman

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Radiative Property Characterization Of Spherical Void Phase Graphitic Foam With Application To Solar Collection, Nolan J. Dyck, Anthony G. Straatman

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Forced Convective Heat Transfer On A Horizontal Circular Cylinder Due To Multiple Impinging Circular Jets, Christopher M. Csernyei, Anthony G. Straatman

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Multidisciplinary Game-Based Approach For Generating Student Enthusiasm For Addressing Critical Infrastructure Challenges, John F. Gardner

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Building upon experiences from past course offering,¹ several universities across the United States (U.S) have incorporated a critical infrastructure educational game platform as a unifying platform to integrate different disciplines to a common goal. The critical infrastructure backbones of the world provide the delivery mechanisms for energy and other utilities that provide the lifestyle we have come to expect in our society. As these critical infrastructure systems have evolved, the complexity of their integration has generated numerous challenges as a side effect of increased automation that are more pronounced as the infrastructure ages. Although still a modern technological wonder, …