Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Predicting Joint Mechanics Using Semg And Deep Neural Networks, Heath James Staley Boyea

Graduate Theses - Mechanical Engineering

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 1 in 7 American adults are affected by disabilities that affect mobility [1]. Assistive devices, such as exoskeletons, may be able to assist affected individuals. Though these devices may be helpful, constant assistance can create dependence on the device. We hypothesize that an assist-as-needed control system can be developed to aid the wearer only when necessary. To develop an assist-as-needed control system, it needs to be determined when assistance is needed and the magnitude of this assistance. We hypothesize that an artificial neural network (ANN) can predict future normal torque outputs of …

Fragmentation Of Chemically Herded Oil Slicks By Obstacles: Visualizations, Flow Measurements, And Spatial Distributions, Ali Alshamrani

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chemical herders are a promising technique for treatment of oil spills in icy waters at high latitudes. However, obstacles on the water surface such as floating ice affects or interferes with all spill response countermeasures including chemical herder operations by fracturing the contracting oil slick and trapping small oil patches. Chemical herders are likely to be especially useful in containing oil spills in remote, ice-infested Arctic waters, where using booms to contain an oil slick is difficult. Much of the previous research into chemical herder has focused on the effectiveness of different types of chemical herder agents to thicken oil …

Hybrid Rans-Les Hemolytic Power Law Modeling Of The Fda Blood Pump, Joseph Tarriela

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study applies the SBES and IDDES hybrid RANS-LES turbulence models along with the K-ω SST model to four flow conditions of the FDA blood pump. Validation of all three turbulence models show good agreement with experimental pressure and velocity fields. Evaluation of turbulent kinetic energy fields for the hybrid models show 80-90+% of kinetic energy is resolved in the rotor and diffuser regions of the pump. Hemolysis power law models were evaluated using the commonly used von Mises stress and additional energy dissipation stress (EDS). Results show viscous and Reynolds stresses computed with the K-ω SST under predict and …

Thermophysical Properties Of Inorganic Phase-Change Materials Based On Mncl2·4h2o, Kyung-Eun Min, Jae-Won Jang, Jun-Ki Kim, Chien Wern, Sung Yi

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Manganese (II) chloride tetrahydrate, classified as an inorganic phase-change material (PCM), can be used as a thermal energy storage material, saving and releasing thermal energy during its phase transitions. In this study, thermophysical properties, such as phase change temperatures, latent heat, and thermal conductivities, of four types of MnCl₂·4H₂O PCMs were investigated under single and dual phases (liquid-, solid-, and dual-phase PCMs) using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and a heat flow meter. PCMs with a liquid or dual phases exhibited superheating issues, and their melting temperatures were 7 to 10 °C higher than the reference melting …

The NTh-Order Comprehensive Adjoint Sensitivity Analysis Methodology For Nonlinear Systems (Nth-Casam-N): Mathematical Framework, Dan Gabriel Cacuci

Faculty Publications

This work presents the n^th-Order Comprehensive Adjoint Sensitivity Analysis Methodology for Nonlinear Systems (n^th-CASAM-N), which enables the most efficient computation of exactly determined expressions of arbitrarily high-order sensitivities of generic nonlinear system responses with respect to model parameters, uncertain boundaries, and internal interfaces in the model’s phase space. The mathematical framework underlying the n^th-CASAM-N is proven to be correct by using mathematical induction. The n^th-CASAM-N is formulated in linearly increasing higher-dimensional Hilbert spaces—as opposed to exponentially increasing parameter-dimensional spaces—thus overcoming the curse of dimensionality in sensitivity analysis of nonlinear systems.

Illustrative Application Of The Nth-Order Comprehensive Adjoint Sensitivity Analysis Methodology For Nonlinear Systems To The Nordheim–Fuchs Reactor Dynamics/Safety Model, Dan Gabriel Cacuci

Faculty Publications

The application of the recently developed “nth-order comprehensive sensitivity analysis methodology for nonlinear systems” (abbreviated as “nth-CASAM-N”) has been previously illustrated on paradigm nonlinear space-dependent problems. To complement these illustrative applications, this work illustrates the application of the nth-CASAM-N to a paradigm nonlinear time-dependent model chosen from the field of reactor dynamics/safety, namely the well-known Nordheim–Fuchs model. This phenomenological model describes a short-time self-limiting power transient in a nuclear reactor system having a negative temperature coefficient in which a large amount of reactivity is suddenly inserted, either intentionally or by accident. This model is sufficiently complex to demonstrate all the …

Anisotropic Third-Harmonic Generation Of Exfoliated As2s3 Thin Flakes, Ravi P.N. Tripathi, Xiaodong Yang, Jie Gao

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Van der Waals (vdW) materials have recently attracted significant interest in the context of orientation-dependent linear and nonlinear optical properties. Recently, arsenic trisulfide (As2S3) or orpiment is identified as a new vdW layered material having anisotropic vibrational and optomechanical responses due to the reduced in-plane crystal symmetry, but its nonlinear optical response is still not well understood yet. Herein, the anisotropic third-harmonic generation (THG) response of mechanically exfoliated As2S3 thin flakes is reported. The polarization-dependent evolution of THG emission from butterfly-shaped pattern to four-lobe pattern is comprehensively explored. Moreover, the third-order nonlinear susceptibility of As2S3 crystal is extracted by analyzing …

Preliminary Study Of Shape-Memory Alloy Torsional Tubes As Thermal Management Actuators Under Non-Ideal Conditions, Paula Sanjuan Espejo, Samuel Desloover, Devon Hardy, Mark Ricklick, Frederick Calkin, David Foutch

Publications

Shape-memory alloys (SMAs) have been used in many engineering applications because of their shape-memory effect and pseudoelasticity. SMA behavior is well understood under steady and constant temperature and loading conditions, whereas transient and non-ideal conditions effects should be further investigated. In this research, SMA torque tubes are studied for use in thermal management applications as self-regulated actuators responding to a process fluid with changes in temperature, with the goal of improved system efficiency by keeping components at an optimal temperature. When utilized in a thermal management configuration, it is likely that the SMA’s thermal environment will be different than that …

Integration Of Solar + Storage Installation Upstream In Modular Construction, Ondrej Labik

LSU Master's Theses

High initial costs, mainly due to inefficient construction processes, remains the greatest barrier for residential adoption of solar+storage (SPS) system. Modular construction, having a factory-controlled environment and control over the home design, is well suited to address these issues (e.g., efficiencies, waste, inventory control, quality). Furthermore, these areas have great potential in modular construction to address the high initial cost issue. This study focuses on the integration of SPS installation upstream in modular housing. Although moving the SPS installation process into the factory has many barriers (e.g., including change of scope of work at some workstations without affecting the whole …

On The Mechanism Of Performance Improvement Of Electroactive Polyvinyl Chloride (Pvc) Gel Actuators Via Conductive Fillers, Zachary Frank, Kwang J. Kim

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

The electromechanical actuation of transparent plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gels with conductive fillers were studied. The effects of functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([Bmim]BF4) ionic liquid (IL) on both the electrical conduction and dielectric processes within PVC gels were investigated, and the differences between the two were clarified. Both CNTs and IL were shown to increase the conductivity of the gels and produce larger electromechanical transduction of a contraction actuator, but only CNTs were shown to increase the electrostatic adhesion force of the PVC gels. The addition of charge carriers to the gel via the inclusion of ILs …

Experimentation And Modeling Of Laser Radiation Scattering Through Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers, Steven P. Shepard

Engineering Ph.D. Theses

With the prevalence of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) in aerospace platforms, there is a need to better understand radiative heat transport through the material. A laboratory experiment was constructed and a computational zonal Monte Carlo (ZMC) model developed to quantify and understand the laser scattering properties of CFRPs. The ZMC model builds off of the zonal method (ZM)—developed by Hottel et al. and expanded by researchers such as Yuen et al.—by incorporating Monte Carlo techniques into the ZM. The ZMC method is superior in efficiency to the ZM and alternative ray tracing methods, which enables larger mediums of exchange …

Multifunctional Hybrid Mos2-Pegylated/Au Nanostructures With Potential Theranostic Applications In Biomedicine, Thiago R. S. Malagrino, Anna Paula Godoy, Juliano M. Barbosa, Abner G. T. Lima, Nei C. O. Sousa, Jairo J. Pedrotti, Pamela S. Garcia, Roberto M. Paniago, Lídia M. Andrade, Jaime Taha-Tijerina

Informatics and Engineering Systems Faculty Publications

In this work, flower-like molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) microspheres were produced with polyethylene glycol (PEG) to form MoS2-PEG. Likewise, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were added to form MoS2-PEG/Au to investigate its potential application as a theranostic nanomaterial. These nanomaterials were fully characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoelectron X-ray spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), cyclic voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy. The produced hierarchical MoS2-PEG/Au microstructures showed an average diameter of 400 nm containing distributed gold nanoparticles, with great cellular viability on tumoral and non-tumoral cells. This aspect makes them with multifunctional characteristics with potential application …

A Porosity-Based Model Of Dynamic Compaction In Under-Dense Materials, John A. Moore, Nathan R. Barton

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Under-dense metals including micro-architectured structures and stochastic foams provide a combination of low weight, high strength-to-weight ratio, high permeability, and low stiffness, which make them desirable materials for a variety of applications. Specifically, their energy absorption capabilities under dynamic compressive loads are desirable. However, under high loading rates there are several challenges in performing accurate simulations of under-dense materials—primarily, the responses of materials with high, low, and zero porosity are difficult to accurately predict with a single model. A general model that tracks porosity and pore geometry and is flexible for a variety of matrix material constitutive responses has yet …

Gross Positioning Device And Related Systems And Methods, Mark A. Reichenbach, Shane M. Farritor

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Disclosed herein are gross positioning systems for use with robotic surgical devices to provide gross positioning of the robotic surgical devices. The gross positioning systems have a base, a first arm link operably coupled to the base, a second arm link operably coupled to the first arm link, a third arm link operably coupled to the second arm link, and a slidable coupling component slidably coupled to the third arm link.

Probabilistic Multi-Objective Inverse Analysis For Damage Identification Using Piezoelectric Impedance Measurement Under Uncertainties, Kai Zhou, Yang Zhang, Qi Shuai, Jiong Tang

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Piezoelectric impedance sensing is promising for highly accurate damage identification because of its high-frequency active interrogative nature and simplicity in data acquisition. To fully unleash the potential, effective inverse analysis is needed in order to pinpoint the damage location and identify the severity. The inverse analysis, however, may be underdetermined since there exists a very large number of unknowns (i.e., locations and severity levels) to be solved in a finite element model but only limited measurements are available in actual practice. To uncover the true damage scenario, an inverse analysis strategy built upon the multi-objective optimization, which aims at matching …

Design And Control Of Modular Soft Robotic Actuators With Architected Structures, Nicholas Pagliocca

Theses and Dissertations

Soft robotic systems composed of highly compliant materials offer unparalleled advantages compared to rigid-body systems in applications such as fragile material handling and human-machine interactions. Often, their motions are prescribed by structural anisotropy and reinforcement materials to directionally limit motion. The continuum motion and non-linear material response intrinsic to soft robotics makes their design, modeling, and control a formidable challenge for engineers. Leveraging the deformation driven response of soft robotic actuators, highly versatile compliant architected structures whose local deformations dictate global material response can be integrated into soft robotic actuators for tunable mechanical responses. In this thesis, flexible center-symmetric perforated …

Bbt Side Mold Assy, Bill Hemphill

STEM Guitar Project’s BBT Acoustic Kit

This electronic document file set covers the design and fabrication information of the ETSU Guitar Building Project’s BBT (OM-sized) Side Mold Assy for use with the STEM Guitar Project’s standard acoustic guitar kit. The extended 'as built' data set contains an overview file and companion video, the 'parent' CADD drawing, CADD data for laser etching and cutting a drill &/or layout template, CADD drawings in AutoCAD .DWG and .DXF R12 formats of the centerline tool paths for creating the mold assembly pieces on an AXYZ CNC router, and support documentation for CAM applications including router bit specifications, feeds, speed, multi-pass …

Effectiveness Of Air Pollution Mitigation Systems: Transport, Transformation, And Control Of Ozone In The Indoor Environment, Pradeep Ramasubramanian

Dissertations and Theses

Buildings are critical environments governing our collective exposure to air pollution and energy consumption. While there exist concerns regarding increases in building energy consumption due to indoor air interventions, improvements to the quality of air indoors can improve health, comfort, and productivity. Air cleaning technologies that can improve indoor air quality with minimal energy consumption have become ever more important. These technologies are utilized at various scales; from passive removal of pollutants in the air entering the indoor environment to active cleaning of air within the breathing zone. To better understand the effectiveness of active and passive ozone mitigation technologies …

Smart Bike Rack, Santiago Hinojosa Andonegui, Max Luna, August Rosedale, Connor Mcgoldrick

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

With more and more people turning to bicycles as their main method of transportation every year, bike theft has become a pressing problem all around the world. Every year, millions of bicycles are stolen due to how ineffective current locking mechanisms are at protecting all the main components of a bike. Furthermore, the inefficiency of these locking mechanisms and the fear of bike theft continues to discourage potential users from buying a bike and using it to commute on a daily basis. Our team constructed a proof of concept for an automatic Smart Bike Rack which employs a three-point locking …

Cart Loader, Hayelom Fitsum, Dalveer Grewal, Ishan Kumar, Sean Mccauley, Nick O'Brien

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

For this senior design project, the team partnered with a startup, Dishcraft Robotics, to design and create a device that would decrease the time it takes to unload and load their products in and out of a truck. The team’s design, Cart Loader, consists of an aluminum structure that is able to hold their products. Outfitted with a rail system on the truck and the liftgate, the Cart Loader can move onto the liftgate and roll inside the truck, where the products can then be rolled off the Cart Loader. There was extensive finite element analysis done to ensure that …

Ava: The Roving Vending Machine, Nicholas Elwell, Jordan Hibbs, Jagos Jovanovic, Alec Lindeman, Antonio Matusich

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

AVA is an undergraduate engineering senior project that focuses on the design and integration of a roving vending machine. Such a product looks to utilize passing period foot traffic on college campuses when students and faculty do not have time to walk to a dining hall. In an effort to showcase a proof of concept, the team built a working prototype that consists of multiple subsystems. The vehicle has the ability to move with the use of remote control, autonomously sense obstacles and stop on its own, quickly dispense chilled beverages at a convenient customer location, and power itself with …

New Advances In Fluid–Structure Interaction, Wenli Chen, Zifeng Yang, Gang Hu, Haiquan Jing, Junlei Wang

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Fluid–structure interactions (FSI) play a crucial role in the design, construction, service and maintenance of many engineering applications, e.g., aircraft, towers, pipes, offshore platforms and long-span bridges. The old Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940) is probably one of the most infamous examples of serious accidents due to the action of FSI. Aircraft wings and wind-turbine blades can break because of FSI-induced oscillations. To alleviate or eliminate these unfavorable effects, FSI must be dealt with in ocean, coastal, offshore and marine engineering to design safe and sustainable engineering structures. In addition, the act of wind on plants and its resultant wind-induced motions …

Solid Thermal Storage As An Energy Storage Device In Insulated Solar Electric Cookers: Thermal Modeling And Experiment, Michael Antonio Fernandez

Physics

The use of solid thermal storage (STS) as an energy storage device in insulated solar electric cookers (ISEC) was explored using a thermal simulation before retrofitting an existing cooker without energy storage and testing it under several conditions. STS sizing, material selection, and geometry were examined from both theoretical and practical perspectives and re-examined following experimental results. Characterization of the system’s thermal interfaces and methods to improve their thermal conductivities were investigated resulting in several performance enhancements to the system.

Estimation Of Joint Moments During Turning Maneuvers In Alpine Skiing Using A Three Dimensional Musculoskeletal Skier Model And A Forward Dynamics Optimization Framework, Dieter Heinrich, Antonie J. Van Den Bogert, Werner Nachbauer

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

In alpine skiing, estimation of the joint moments acting onto the skier is essential to quantify the loading of the skier during turning maneuvers. In the present study, a novel forward dynamics optimization framework is presented to estimate the joint moments acting onto the skier incorporating a three dimensional musculoskeletal model (53 kinematic degrees of freedom, 94 muscles). Kinematic data of a professional skier performing a turning maneuver were captured and used as input data to the optimization framework. In the optimization framework, the musculoskeletal model of the skier was applied to track the experimental data of a skier and …

Moon Rocker: Eva Sample Bag And Dispenser, Birk D. Smith, Albert J. Kasinski, Christian Clephan

Mechanical Engineering

NASA’s next mission to the moon (Artemis) requires a device to dispense bags for holding and collecting rock samples on the lunar surface. The device must be lightweight, easy to use with an astronaut suit, and capable of withstanding the moon’s harsh environment. Our team has designed and revised several prototype dispensers to accomplish this challenge. Through testing and observations made while building our structural prototype, changes were made to build a more durable and usable dispenser. This led to our verification prototype, which was constructed with a carbon fiber frame and aluminum, or 3D printed smaller components. After manufacturing …

Sunsation’S Solar Powered Picnic Table, Michelle M. Barnett, Christopher Barber, Casey Durham, David Mason

Mechanical Engineering

Team SunSation is an interdisciplinary senior design project group that was tasked with developing a semi-permanent seating area for Cal Poly's electrical engineering courtyard. The EE courtyard is populated with plastic folding tables and chairs that are slowly falling apart. Dale Dolan, the head of the EE department, requested that a table design be developed that incorporates the use of solar panels. The addition of the solar panels to the table would help promote clean renewable energy as well as provide shade to those sitting in the courtyard.

The solution that SunSation arrived at is broken up into mechanical/structural, electrical, …

8 Dof Quadrupedal Hopping Robot, Clayton T. Elwell, John Bennett, Tyler Mccue, Daniel Munic

Mechanical Engineering

The goal of our senior project was to fabricate an eight degree of freedom (DOF) prototypical quadrupedal robot, develop a controller than commands the quadruped to repeatedly jump 10 cm in the air, and fabricate a modular test stand to safely deploy our controller on the quadruped. The creation of a functional quadruped will bring attention to Dr. Siyuan Xing and Charlie Refvem’s research group, Cal Poly Legged Robots, and will give future Cal Poly undergraduate and graduate students a learning tool to explore dynamic control of biomimetic robotic systems.

Over the course of our senior project, we successfully manufactured …

Coil Quick (Rv Sewer Hose Compressor) Device, Arturo Guijosa-Ruiz, David M. Bourgoin

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this design project is to design, build, and test an RV sewer hose compactor device that can be used by the project sponsor and marketed to other RV owners. The goal of the RV sewer hose compactor device is to mechanically compress an RV sewer hose from its fully extended length to its fully compressed and storable state. Since a prototype device has already been developed, this project will aim to improve the prototype design to make it smaller, quicker, quieter, and more durable. Additionally, we improved the device to make it more user friendly and have …

Aerodynamics And Aeroacoustics Optimization Of Vehicle’S Side Mirror Base And Exhaust Pipe, Moath Nayef Mohamed Zaareer

Theses

This thesis is concerned with studying two different vehicle parts in terms of aerodynamics and aeroacoustics. Two main factors determine the efficiency and luxury of the vehicle, the low aerodynamic forces and low noise emission. The aerodynamic drag coefficient is concerned with how easy a vehicle can travel through the air; the lower the value, the less fuel is needed to move the vehicle forward and less air resistance the vehicle faces. The aerodynamic lift coefficient is related to vehicle ground stability, and the more negative the value is, the higher the vehicle's stability. Moreover, the aeroacoustics is concerned with …

System Identification Of A Cantilever Beam With Interferometer Measurement Using Adaptive Filters, Jordan D. Kochavi

Master's Theses

Laser interferometry, commonly used in high-precision motion control systems, is rarely adopted in experimental vibration analysis because its installation and mounting is invasive to dynamical systems. However, metrology systems that already utilize laser interferometry, such as profilometry in semiconductor manufacturing, may benefit from interferometer feedback for signal processing. This study investigates the use of laser interferometry for system identification through a piezoelectrically actuated cantilevered beam.

The model of the beam including piezo actuators and optical measurement components are established through the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. From the method of separation of variables, the continuous system is transformed into a discrete system …