Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Determination Of Water Quality And Efficient Removal Of Arsenic And Iron From Groundwater Using Mahogany Fruit Husk And Banana Peduncle Charcoals, Molla Rahman Shaibur, Yasmin Khatun, Masum Howlader, Md. Mirajul Islam, Md. Wasikur Rahman, Abu Shamim Khan, Balram Ambade

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

The groundwater (GW) of Bangladesh is predominantly contaminated with arsenic (As) and iron (Fe) which has a bad impact on human health. We tried to remove these elements with easily available mahogany-fruit (Swietenia mahagoni) husk charcoal (MHC) and banana (Musa acuminata) peduncle charcoal (BPC). The trial was implemented with 3 replications throughout the research. The sampled GW contained 0.06 mg As L−1 and 4.83 mg Fe L−1. Firstly, the pH was 3, 5, 7, and 9 with a 250 mg L−1 dose. The MHC removed almost 91.05 % of As at pH 5.0, and BPC removed almost 86.67 % of …

Railroad Track And Wheel Defect Detection With Onboard Condition Monitoring System, Jeffery Pams, Constantine Tarawneh, Joe Montoya, Brent Wilson, Lee Cantu, Hashem Alkhaldi

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

In the railroad industry, it was estimated by the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Office of Safety Analysis that over 1,000 train derailments occur every year in the United States, with a significant amount being caused by mechanical failures such as defects within the wheels and tracks. The use of wireless onboard health monitoring technologies as opposed to wayside detection systems has been receiving a lot of attention considering recent catastrophic derailments. Through research, development, and implementation of onboard condition monitoring systems by the University Transportation Center for Railway Safety (UTCRS) and HUM Industrial Technology, Inc., a promising method to detect …

Modeling The Acoustic Transmission Line With Applied Damping, Connor C. Getz

Master's Theses

The transmission line is an underappreciated style of loudspeaker enclosure characterized by an acoustic labyrinth stemming from the rear of the speaker driver. In practice, the transmission line enclosure produces airy sound uncharacteristic of other styles, at the cost of more pronounced resonant peaks. The most important practical drawback of this loudspeaker enclosure design is the difficulty of properly applying damping to these enclosures. Ideally, this difficulty can be mitigated using an analytical model that accurately predicts the SPL frequency response of a transmission line loudspeaker system for a given geometry and mass of damping material.

This research takes the …

Mechanical Environment Influences Muscle Activity During Infant Rolling, Danielle N. Siegel, Safeer F. Siddicky, Wyatt D. Davis, Erin M. Mannen

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

An infant's musculoskeletal and motor development is largely affected by their environment. Understanding how different mechanical environments affect an infant's movements and muscle use is necessary to inform the juvenile products industry and reduce incidents involving inclined nursery products each year. The purpose of this study was to determine how the coordinated movements and corresponding muscle activation patterns are affected by different mechanical environments, specifically the back incline angle. Thirty-eight healthy infants (age: 6.5 ± 0.7 months; 23 M/15 F) were enrolled in this IRB-approved in-vivo biomechanics study. Surface electromyography sensors recorded muscle activity of the erector spinae, abdominal muscles, …

Barcode Medication Administration (Bmca): 2023-24, Krishan R. Patel, Carlos E. Sosa, Mary Grace Sy

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The Barcode Medication Administration is an important system implemented within a hospital. It is the process in which nurses and other healthcare professionals prescribe and distribute medication to the patients. It aids in organizing which patient got prescribed which medication from which doctor and provides records on who was given care by who. The whole BCMA system is a multi-step process from getting the medication prescribed, to the nurses having to pick up the medication from the medication cabinet, and then having to scan the patient and the medication to finally administer medications.

The current BCMA system implemented at the …

Supermileage Competition: Vehicle Chassis, Enrico Miguel Sangalang, Walter Oppelt, Adam Ponce, Vincent Corella

Mechanical Engineering

The Supermileage Urban Concept Vehicle Chassis Project was proposed by the Cal Poly Supermileage club. The goal of this project is to deliver a fully assembled vehicle chassis by the end of the 2023-2024 school year to be used by the club in the 2025 Shell Eco-Marathon competition. The competition requires a four-wheeled vehicle to comply with various requirements outlined in the Shell Eco-Marathon rulebook, such as dimensions and some safety requirements. The team selected a backbone-style chassis as the design direction. This design consists of a main structural beam that supports all other chassis and vehicle components. This main …

Advanced Wildfire Hose Clamp, Sean King, Christopher Tokarse, Connor Buchinski, Isaac Maddox-White

Mechanical Engineering

This report describes in detail the manufacturing, assembly, and testing of our hose clamp. We start with a review of the changes we have made to our design since our last report, namely a new automatic latching system, and continue with our manufacturing and assembly processes. Then we detail our testing procedures that we created to evaluate how well our design meets user needs and discuss the results of our tests. Unfortunately, our design did not meet our residual flow rate criteria and showed excessive leaking when clamped, so we end with some discussion of the issues our design has, …

Sizing Wind Tunnel Heater For High Enthalpy Conditions, Justin M. Slavick

Master's Theses

This paper determines the feasibility of adding a heater to an existing blowdown supersonic wind tunnel to unlock new high-enthalpy test applications, considering cost and power requirements at a variety of different states. This process includes both modeling the current range of test section properties in Cal Poly's blowdown wind tunnel and determining the new range of properties that a heat exchanger could induce. These results are verified with a computational fluid dynamics study. Additionally, sublimation and ablation properties of materials are explored to create appropriate models to study atmospheric re-entry once the heat exchanger is implemented.

It is found …

Heat Sink With Fins And Phase Change Material For Cooling Of High-Power Electronic Devices, Farooq Fakher Mahmoud

Theses

Electronics are integral to modern life, present in everything from household appliances to advanced computers. The performance and reliability of these devices are closely tied to their operating temperatures. High-power operations can lead to significant heating, necessitating effective thermal management to enhance functionality and prevent failure. This requirement drives the demand for efficient heat sinks, which dissipate the heat generated by these devices. Phase change material (PCM)-based heat sinks have become a popular passive cooling solution, increasingly replacing traditional heat sinks.

This research investigates finned PCM-based heat sinks using numerical simulations validated by existing literature and experimental data. Gallium is …

High-Temperature Vacuum Furnace Attachment For A Standard Tensile Tester, Manu Bodagala, Alejandro Mendez-Reynoso, Peter Schumacher, Ben Spielman

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

In this thesis, we outline the development of a low-cost high-temperature vacuum furnace attachment for a standard tensile tester at Santa Clara University. The project aims to expand the material testing capabilities of the university, promoting sustainability and enhancing safety in engineering applications. By focusing on design considerations, manufacturability, and economic viability, the team strives to create an accessible and efficient tool for advancing materials science research.

The initial phase of this multi-year project involves constructing a water-cooled vacuum chamber, which is crucial for the overall furnace system. This phase sets the foundation for subsequent developments, including the integration of …

Controlled Drug Delivery And Cellular Activities From Electrospun Fibers, Diala Bani Mustafa

Mechanical Engineering Theses

Electrospun drug-eluting fibers have demonstrated potential applications in topical drug delivery, where modulations of drug releases were achieved through polymer fiber compositions. In this study, blend fibers of polycaprolactone (PCL) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) at various compositions were electrospun from 10 wt% of polymer solutions to encapsulate a model drug of ibuprofen (IBP). Results showed that average polymer solution viscosities determined the electrospinning parameters and the resulting average fiber diameters. In vitro release of IBP suggested a transition from a gradual release to a fast release when increasing PEO contents in the PCL/PEO blend fibers up to 120 minutes. In …

Impact Force Helmet Device For Concussion Monitoring, Patrice Mulligan, Karina Mealey, Zack Borthwick, Benjamin Fick

General Engineering

To track head trauma in football, our device is placed inside a football helmet to measure both linear and gyroscopic (rotational) accelerations. These measurements are taken using an ADXL375 linear accelerometer and an LSM6DSOX accelerometer and gyroscope. The data from these sensors is processed and transmitted wirelessly by a SparkFun Thing Plus microcontroller to another SparkFun Thing Plus microcontroller connected to a laptop on the sidelines. Our program on the laptop stores the acceleration impact data into a .csv file for each player. If a likely concussive impact is detected, the program displays a popup warning. Testing results were promising …

Smart Manufacturing For Cal Poly's Ime Curriculum, Grace L. Guarraia, Eric F. Ledesma

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) takes pride of supporting one of the nation’s strongest undergraduate Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering programs. However, as industry evolves to accommodate advancing computing power, improved manufacturing algorithms, and improved robotics, it is imperative that Cal Poly’s curriculum evolves in parallel. Smart manufacturing is the future of the manufacturing industry, and Cal Poly is searching for the ideal method to teach and integrate Smart Manufacturing into its classes. With its upcoming switch to the semester system, coupled with its “Learn by Doing” motto, the department is at an ideal period for the …

3d-Printed Remote Controlled Aircraft, Sebastian Bessoudo, Jose Ramirez, Manny Ruiz, Andrew Edwards

Mechanical Engineering

The Senior Project for the 3D Printed Aircraft presents a compelling challenge to the team: design and fabricate an aircraft for the Cal State LA 3D-Printed Fixed-Wing Aircraft Competition, comprising three distinct events: Flight, Design, and Simulation. The objective of the flight competition is to achieve the longest flight duration, while the design event emphasizes innovation and originality. In the Simulation contest, our aircraft's CAD model undergoes Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis to assess its aerodynamic performance. These competitions are slated for May 2024.

While building the aircraft has its limitations due to the source of our construction being only 3D …

Snap It & Send It, Samantha Gonzales, Brienne Berger, Kelsea Clays, Jessica Schmok

Mechanical Engineering

This report details the final design, manufacturing and assembly, testing procedures and results, as well as future design recommendations of a device aimed at enhancing the mountain biking experience for individuals with limited thumb strength. This project particularly focused on the experience of our sponsor, Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering Professor Andrew Kean. Our team's objective was to create a secure, ergonomic handlebar grip system that does not require thumb strength and is adaptable to various mountain bike models. The final design utilizes a rigid hook that snaps onto mountain bike handlebars with a long, flat piece that slides into a …

Automated Expanding Fireplace, Fermin Moreno, Eduardo Hernandez, Wilbert Quiterio, Ben Hoefer

Mechanical Engineering

The Final Design Review (FDR) encompasses information regarding the final design verification prototype (FVP), manufacturing, testing, and future recommendations for the Expanding Fireplace Senior Project sponsored by the SLO Civic Ballet. The project aims to create the frame of an expanding fireplace set piece for The Nutcracker production at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center in December 2024. The current set piece being used has unfavorable features that will be addressed with the new design. The current set piece being used has unfavorable features that have been addressed with the new design we have developed. Our sponsors have proposed several …

Miniature Train Engine, Jason Patrick Lacson Del Castillo, Renato Andrew Dilauro, Sophia Theresa Tiu, Robert John Pallares Iii

Mechanical Engineering

This report details the redesign of the Mini Train Prop for the SLO Civic Ballet’s The Nutcracker, aiming to create a lighter, more user-friendly, and easily maneuverable train. The Final Design Review (FDR) includes the design process, manufacturing plan, and justifications for decisions made. Key improvements are reducing the train's weight, automating the fake wheels, and enhancing maneuverability with a neutral pin and lever system. In this report we detail the significant changes since the Critical Design Review (CDR). The implementation covers procurement, manufacturing, and assembly, while design verification ensures compliance with cost, weight, turn radius, and structural integrity specifications. …

Bird Trail Stairway Access Replacement, Mackenzie Wright, William Spellman, Nicholas Buccino, Jack Long

Mechanical Engineering

Dana Adobe & Cultural Center, a non-profit organization in Nipomo, California, seeks to restore access to the Bird Trail located on their site. This project aims to design and manufacture a replacement stairway for safe creek bed crossing on the trail. Within this document, we have detailed our system design, function, and justification for our design. The procurement, manufacturing, and assembly plan have been outlined along with tests we completed.

One of the most important functions of our design is for the structure to be retractable so that it can be removed from the creek bed when needed. To address …

Facility Thermal Balance And Transport, Giovanni V. Minnite, Silas O R Goldfarb, Cole J. Houston, Dominique Aguilera, Cole M. Silva

Mechanical Engineering

This Final Design Review (FDR) report outlines the senior design project completed by a team of five mechanical engineering students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo for Senior Industrial Engineer, Mr. Tom Bass, of Entegris, Inc. The team developed an innovative system to address the issue of ice accumulation on cryogenic vaporizers at the Entegris facility. Ice buildup, caused by the extremely low temperatures of the cryogenic fluid, reduces the efficiency of vaporizers and places additional stress on the system. To combat this, the team designed and constructed a prototype that utilizes a thermal transport loop to transfer …

F21 - Variable Damper, Harrison Pomerantz, Anthony Mendoza, Owen Wilks

Mechanical Engineering

This document outlines the final design phase for the Solar Turbines Variable Damper project, aiming to enhance the safety and serviceability of gas turbines enclosure ventilation system. The primary focus of this project is to address the challenge of maintaining optimal internal pressure within the gas generator enclosures while enabling remote control of the damper position.

In this report, the full system design is described in detail. Then, the part procurement, manufacturing, and assembly of the variable damper and test stand is provided to outline the steps and processes taken to complete the final prototype. After discussing the final prototype, …

Enhancing Miter Saw Safety: Challenges And Prospects Of Brake Incorporation With An Automatic Blade Retraction System, Derek Cole

University Honors Theses

Miter saws pose significant safety risks with thousands of injuries reported annually. Despite this risk, they are still used every day as they are a necessity for thousands of workers in the United States and globally. This leaves a demand to make these machines safer to mitigate any potential harm. This research addresses the critical need for an automatic safety system for miter saws, aiming to enhance user safety by retracting and stopping the blade upon skin contact. This analysis identified the primary challenge: The large force generated when braking at high speed on a miter saw blade, translates the …

Development Of A Deep Learning Algorithm Using Electromyography (Emg) And Acceleration To Monitor Upper Extremity Behavior With Application To Individuals Post-Stroke, Nathan Dodd

Master's Theses

Stroke is a chronic illness which often impairs survivors for extended periods of time,

leaving the individual limited in motor function. The ability to perform daily activities

(ADL) is closely linked to motor recovery following a stroke. The objective of

this work is to employ surface electromyography (sEMG) gathered through a novel,

wearable armband sensor to monitor and quantify ADL performance. The first contribution

of this work seeks to develop a relationship between sEMG and and grip

aperture, a metric tied to the success of post-stroke individuals’ functional independence.

The second contribution of this work aims to develop a deep …

Design And Assembly Of A Variable Buoyancy System For An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Evan Brown

Master's Theses

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) play a vital role in the surveillance and mapping of our oceans, often requiring extensive travel in extreme environments. These data-gathering missions benefit from extended durations, making the minimization of power consumption a key consideration in AUV design. One effective strategy to reduce energy use in AUVs is to implement a variable buoyancy system (VBS) for depth control. The purpose of this work is to design, develop, test, and model a variable buoyancy system to enhance the efficiency and capabilities of a high-speed, long-range AUV.

After evaluating various VBS designs, a piston-cylinder buoyancy system was selected …

Interaction Of Particles With Plasma And Shock Produced By Pulsed Spark Discharge, Shomik Mukhopadhyay

Dissertations

Interactions of powders with high-temperature plasma and shockwaves occur in diverse scenarios, such as nuclear blasts, accidental industrial dust explosions, solid propellant combustion in explosive charges and when removing contaminants from surfaces. Electrostatic Discharge (ESD), known for generating shock and plasma, is a promising lab-scale technique for simulating these interactions. Studies with ESD involved placing powders near a spark-producing gap between electrodes and observing mechanical and chemical processes like particle motion and ignition. A limited range of spark conditions and material properties have been tested, which facilitated the development and validation of preliminary computational models describing this system. Significant gaps …

Reproducible Fluid Structure Interaction For Complex Flows In Engineered Systems, Allen Prasad Varghese

Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the application of numerical models to study Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) in the industrial context. The emphasis is on a series of case studies belonging to practical applications in design and manufacturing and that are solved by a synergistic use of theoretical and computational models. The first study looks into the hydrodynamic actions experienced by vibrating slender structures immersed in viscous fluids near the free surface. This study case is relevant to applications such as, for example, marine propulsion, micro-electro-mechanical systems, and atomic force microscopy. The hydrodynamic problem is governed by three parameters, namely the frequency, …

Impact Of Polymer Structure In Polyurethane Topcoats On Anti-Icing Properties, Donghyeon Lee, Junho Park, Min Ji Woo, Juhyeong Lee, Joung-Man Park, Hyung Mi Lim, Tae Kyung Lee, Seong Baek Yang, Sang Yong Nam, Dong-Jun Kwon

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Icing on the topcoat layer of structures or mobility systems can be a factor leading to functional failures or accidents. Material engineering approach to prevent icing involves creating hydrophobic surfaces. In this study, it was confirmed that the method of controlling the structure of polymers using solvents to adjust surface hydrophobicity and ice prevention effects is effective. Polyurethane (PU) topcoats are primarily used on the exterior of mobility devices; therefore, structure of PU was manipulated using xylene. Through the adjustment of the ratio between PU and xylene, changes in the curing enthalpy and crystal structure were observed, which led to …

Passive Mechanical Properties Of Cardiac And Arterial Tissue: A Paired Comparison Study In A Calf Model, Ola Alsaadi, Jieyang Zhang, Masod Sadipour, Ali N. Azadani

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Purpose: The mechanical behavior of heart tissue plays a crucial role in elucidating cardiac physiology and pathophysiology. Accurate measurement of the mechanical properties of cardiac and arterial tissues is indispensable for advancing computer simulations and developing medical devices. This study aimed to assess the passive mechanical properties of cardiac and arterial tissue in a calf model using a paired comparison method.

Methods: A planar biaxial stretching device was used to determine the mechanical characteristics of 84 square specimens obtained from 14 different anatomical regions. Cauchy stress-Green strain curves were constructed for each anatomical area, and a Fung-type constitutive …

Impact Of Student Beliefs And Self-Efficacy On Performance In Higher Education Stem Courses, Lauren Nicole Fogg

Doctoral Dissertations

In engineering education, students often face feelings of inadequacy, leading to academic struggles and potential dropout. This dissertation investigates the impact of interactive course materials on students' confidence and self-efficacy in problem-solving, focusing on an Engineering Materials class at Louisiana Tech University. Over four quarters, involving seven sections and 218 students, a 13-question Likert scale survey was administered repeatedly, alongside demographic data and textbook usage surveys. The study aims to compare students’ attitudes and beliefs when not using a textbook versus when using an interactive web-native book. Hypotheses suggest that the interactive book will enhance problem-solving beliefs, confidence, and grades. …

A Computational Investigation Of Wood Selection For Acoustic Guitar, Jonah Osterhus

Senior Honors Theses

The acoustic guitar is a stringed instrument, often made of wood, that transduces vibrational energy of steel strings into coupled vibrations of the wood and acoustic pressure waves in the air. Variations in wood selection and instrument geometry have been shown to affect the timbre of the acoustic guitar. Computational methods were utilized to investigate the impact of material properties on acoustic performance. Sitka spruce was deemed the most suitable wood for guitar soundboards due to its acoustic characteristics, strength, and uniform aesthetic. Mahogany was deemed to be the best wood for the back and sides of the guitar body …

Me-Em Enewsbrief, Mar 2024, Department Of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering eNewsBrief

No abstract provided.