Computer-Aided Engineering and Design Commons^™

Understanding Thermal Comfort Impact And Air Movement Around Open Stairs Through The Use Of Cfd Modeling, Ethan Davidson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The air exchange between two floors of a building has an impact on thermal comfort. The present research attempts to quantify this impact and identify the contributing factors disrupting the thermal comfort on and around stairs. Various heating and cooling scenarios were analyzed, using CFD modeling, in a simple two-story building separated by a single staircase. The research examines a single building layout with a fixed inlet and outlet configuration. In addition, the study investigated the short-term impact on thermal comfort. As a result, the duration of the simulations varies from two and half minutes to ten minutes, consistent with …

Implementation Of Multiscale Mechanisms In Finite Element Analysis Of Active Composite Structures, Amany G. Micheal Prof., Yehia Bahei El Din Prof.

Centre for Advanced Materials

Composite structures reinforced with electrically active filaments are modeled with the finite element method while the underlying thermo-electromechanical coupling phenomena and damage are taken into consideration. At the outset, structural analysis is performed with a general-purpose finite element code and a special material routine, which propagates local phenomena to the overall scale is utilized. The material routine implements an interactive, multiscale analysis, which provides seamless integration of the mechanics at the composite’s micro, macro, and structural length scales. The interface between the multiscale material routine and the finite element code is made through nonmechanical strains caused by damage, and piezo/pyro-electric …

R/C Baja: Drivetrain, Connor T. Donovan

All Undergraduate Projects

The Central Washington University Mechanical Engineering Technology Department hosts an annual R/C Baja competition in which R/C cars fabricated by student teams are put through a series of courses and tests to determine which team's vehicle is best. The goal of this project was to create a functioning drivetrain that conveys power from the battery to the wheels and provides control of the vehicle. A list of requirements for the drivetrain was created to ensure that the vehicle will not only function, but that it will actually succeed in the competition. These requirements included that the vehicle must achieve a …

Carbon Fiber Recycling: Delamination System, Aaron Eastman

All Undergraduate Projects

The production of composite wings at Boeing causes carbon fiber waste and CWU Mechanical Engineering Technology students have been tasked in designing a carbon fiber recycling system. This project was brought forth and funded by the Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation (JCATI). There are three subsystems that make up the carbon fiber recycling system, the delamination system, shredding system, and the oven. The purpose of this project was to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the delamination system of the carbon fiber recycling system. The old system reached approximately 30-40 percent delamination with one pass through the system, and …

Implementation Of Multiscale Mechanisms In Finite Element Analysis Of Active Composite Structures, Amany Micheal, Yehia Bahei-El-Din

Centre for Advanced Materials

Interrogation of composite structures for inherent damage is investigated by implementing a three-tier analysis scheme. The analysis starts at the structure level where a general-purpose Finite Element code ABAQUS is employed to obtain the stress field in the second level of analysis which is the composite laminate. A special material routine is prepared to propagate the local fields to the individual plies and hence to the third level of analysis which is the microstructure modeling of the composite. Through the third level of analysis, interface damage between fiber and matrix is checked implementing a certain failure criteria. The interaction between …

R/C Baja Truck Suspension, Chassis And Steering, Ryan Lafrombois

All Undergraduate Projects

The ASME RC Baja Challenge is an annual competition that the Central Washington University Mechanical Engineering and Technology (MET) department takes part in. Senior level engineers divided the work between the drivetrain and the chassis/suspension while designing and manufacturing to meet a set of requirements. Next, a device was to be developed to be able to withstand the extreme forces to be successful in the competition at the end of the year. The process would require that the students use their acquired knowledge and skills to design, manufacture, and analyze a capable device. Designing involved the completion of 12 analyses …

Adhesively Bonded Multi-Material Single Lap Joints Under Static Tensile Loading, Yesim Kokner

Dissertations and Theses

Adhesive joints are widely used in a variety of industrial applications utilizing the improved mechanical properties they provide over traditional mechanical joining methods. [1] The lap joint is a usual test specimen with a view to assessing the strength and properties of joints.

This study deals with the stiffness, strength and fracture behavior of multi-material single-lap joints. It describes the mechanical behavior of a multi-material single lap joints subjected to static tensile loading in the longitudinal direction. First, steel-to-steel and aluminum-to-aluminum joints are tested to establish baseline data. Subsequently, multi-material joints consisting of aluminum-to-steel, aluminum-to-composite, and steel-to-composite joints were tested …

An Experimental Study Towards Underwater Propulsion System Using Structure Borne Traveling Waves, Shreyas Suhas Gadekar

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The method of generating steady-state structure-borne traveling waves underwater in an infinite media creates abundant opportunities in the field of propulsive applications, and they are gaining attention from several researchers. This experimental study provides a framework for harnessing traveling waves in a 1D beam immersed under quiescent water using two force input methods and providing a motion to an object floating on the surface of the water.

In this study, underwater traveling waves are tailored using structural vibrations at five different frequencies in the range of 10Hz to 300Hz. The resulting fluid motion provides a propulsive thrust that moves a …

Human Powered Vehicle Team Challenge, Sydney Nedlik, Spencer Brodie, Maria Griffin, William Schell, Ryan Serraglio

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Design and build a Human Powered Vehicle in a team of five. Compete at the ASME HPVC competition in March of 2022. Re-establish the Human Powered Vehicle Team at the University of Akron.

The Development Of A Finite Element Model For Ballistic Impact Predictions, Richard Allen Perkins

Theses and Dissertations

Concrete is a widely used product and is an important application throughout industry due to its inexpensive cost and wide range of applications. This work focuses on understanding the behavior of high strength concrete in high strain rate ballistic impact loading scenarios. A finite element analysis was created with the implementation of the Concrete Damage and Plasticity Model 2 (CDPM2) to represent the material behavior. The model’s parameters were calibrated to existing literature and the results were analyzed by a comparison of the impact velocity to residual velocity and a qualitative assessment of the impact crater. The model captured the …

Mission Profile Effects On Automotive Drivetrain Electronics Reliability: Modeling And Mitigation, Bakhtiyar Mohammad Nafis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The reliability of electronic devices is dependent upon the conditions to which they are subject. Temperature variations coupled with differences in thermal expansion between bonded materials results in thermomechanical stresses to build up, which can instigate failure in the interconnects or other critical regions. With the move towards electrification in the automotive industry, there is the increasingly important consideration of powertrain electronics reliability, the pertinent conditions being governed by the drive cycle or mission profile of the vehicle. The mission profile determines the power dissipated by the electronic devices, which determines the peak and mean temperature, temperature swing and the …

Mechanical Interfacial Locking And Multiscale Modeling Of Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites For Structural Applications, Anmol Kothari

All Dissertations

The ever-growing pressure of reducing the adverse impact of transportation systems on environment has pushed industries towards fuel-efficient and sustainable solutions. While several approaches have been used to improve fuel efficiency, the light-weighting of structural components has proven broadly effective. In this regard, reinforced thermoplastic composites (RTPC), owing to their high recyclability, higher impact strength and fast cycle times, have become competitive candidates at an industrial scale. However, to implement RTPC toward large scale structural applications several challenges pertaining to material design and manufacturing effects need to be addressed. To this end, a computational study is carried out to address …

Design And Development Of A Novel Soft Gripper Manipulated By A Robotic Arm, Derek Price

Symposium of Student Scholars

This study presents the design and development of a tendon-driven soft gripper manipulated by a 4 DOF robotic arm. The proposed robotic arm and the gripper explore the new areas focusing on increasing the grasping performance of the gripper as well as the workspace. The gripper is designed as a 3 finger and driven by tendons using two servo motors. The tension of the strings is adjusted using a pulley mechanism and a string. The opening and grasping of the soft gripper are accomplished by each motor. The wide opening allows the gripper to grasp wide objects. The parallel robotic …

A Manufacturing-To-Response Pathway For Formed Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite Structures, Madhura Limaye

All Theses

Over the past decade, there has been an increased adoption of thermoplastic and thermoset based continuous carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites for structural applications in several industries. Among the different manufacturing methods, thermoforming process for thermoplastic based continuous CFRP’s offer a major advantage in reducing cycle times for large scale productions. Similarly, out-of-autoclave curing process for thermoset based continuous CFRP’s using heated tooling enables production of large composite structures. However, these manufacturing processes can have a significant impact on the structural performance of parts by inducing undesirable effects. These effects include inhomogeneous fiber orientations, thickness variations, and residual stresses …

Anisotropic Plasticity Modeling Of Thin Sheets And Its Application To Micro Channel Forming Of Steel Foils, Jie Sheng

Mechanical Engineering Research Theses and Dissertations

Thin sheet metals and ultrathin metal foils produced by industrial rolling processes are textured polycrystalline materials and their mechanical behaviors may depend strongly on the orientation of applied loading. Consideration of such plastic anisotropy in advanced modeling of these materials is of the paramount importance in designing optimal manufacturing processes for automotive and other applications using finite element methods. This research addresses several critical issues in anisotropic plasticity modeling and its applications in analyzing micro channel forming of ultrathin stainless-steel foils. An experimental study has first been carried out on the accuracy and sensitivity of measuring the plastic strain ratios …

Cnc Feed Drive Control, Ryan J. Funchess, Caleb P. O'Gorman, Nick J. Desimone, Juan M. Majano, Samuel K. Wong

Mechanical Engineering

This document serves as the Final Design Report (FDR) for a senior project developed by our team: four senior Mechanical Engineering students and one computer engineering student at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). While the project was completed for, and sponsored by, Professor Simon Xing of Cal Poly, the remainder of the university’s controls professors will be indirectly benefited from this project. Our goal was to design and implement a functional CNC Feed Drive to be used for educational demonstrations and data collection. This document discusses our early product research and benchmark goals, which established constraints …

F34 Beekeeper Assist, Kyle Ladtkow, Javier Guerra, Jose Velazquez, Ryan Heryford

Mechanical Engineering

Alejandro Jauregui is a veteran who now works as a commercial beekeeper. He lost both of his legs during his service. While his current prostheses allow him to fully complete his work, he has found that inspection of the bee boxes causes him severe hip and back pain. Bee box inspection is a critical task for beekeeping, especially since he maintains about 200 hives every day. Our senior project team was tasked with designing and building a device that would help him move the top bee box out of the way to allow for inspection. We performed preliminary research into …

Configurable Seat Track Latching Mechanism, Emily Sun, Kai Quizon, Rick Hall, Daniel Turn, Nicholas Holman, Alexander Kuznik, Jacob Winkler, Audrey Trejo, Phoebe Zeiss, Steven Kam

Mechanical Engineering

The reconfigurable seating system is a flexible seating solution for transit vehicles that allows operators to change the configuration of the floor plan in a timely manner in order to accommodate change in needs. This project consists of three senior project teams each working on a component of the design: system, track & latch, and articulation. Descriptions of the responsibilities of each team will be discussed below.

Project Blipper, Peter Jacobs, Preston Delaware, Ryan Foster

Senior Design Project For Engineers

This project was sponsored by Clorox to design and create an automatic bottle-unscrambling system for possible implementation at their bottling plant in Chile. The objective was to use a robotic arm to unscramble bottles from an incoming conveyor belt and place them upright on an outbound conveyor belt. Throughout the research, design, and testing of solutions for this project, several design alternatives were found for each discipline, and will be presented to Clorox so that they can make an informed decision for how and if they want to move forward with implementation of this project.

The project was split into …

Kennesaw State University And United Alloy Corporation Robotic Pick And Place Project, Kathryn Bharadwaj, Logan Spencer, Tharkun Hudlow

Senior Design Project For Engineers

United Alloy Corporation (UAC), a company specializing in unique aluminum parts for aeronautics, needed a fix to their error prone, labor-intensive billet press operation. The process has a problem of adding the wrong size or wrong alloy billet to the induction oven, which results in a waste of raw materials. The billets range from ten to thirty-seven inches in length and weigh up to three hundred pounds. Currently, an operator uses a gantry crane to check and lift the billets from a rack onto the magazine of an induction oven. The magazine can hold up to three billets safely and …

Half-Barrel Planter Mover, Mihir Shah, Natalie Lewis, Mason James Hughes

Mechanical Engineering

A device for transporting heavy barrel planters is needed. Barrel planters are wooden wine barrels that have been cut in half along the circumference. They are used to store and grow a variety of plants. As such, they can contain more than 300 pounds of soil. The products currently on the market are not designed for such heavy planters, are cost prohibitive, and do not take advantage of the tapered design of a wine barrel half. A solution is needed that is durable, easy to use, and low cost. This final design report will show the steps used to find …

Enduro Campers, Ryan J. Shomsky, Alexander W. Horst, Kevin S. Pickering, Jackson L. Aplanalp, Luke Arana, Will Firestone

Mechanical Engineering

The Enduro Campers senior project team (Formerly known as Lobo Campers senior project team) was recruited by Mr. Leif Stein to assist in the design, manufacturing, and testing of the materials and components of his company’s expedition box camper. The two main focuses of the project, divided into two sub-teams, were on the testing and manufacturing process of the materials used in the camper, and on the design and analysis of the camper’s access door, step box, and other subsystems.

The focus of the materials analysis and manufacturing team was based around the design parameter to use composite sandwich panels …

A Single-Stage Passive Vibration Isolation System For Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, Toan T. Le

Master's Theses

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) uses quantum tunneling effect to study the surfaces of materials on an atomic scale. Since the probe of the microscope is on the order of nanometers away from the surface, the device is prone to noises due to vibrations from the surroundings. To minimize the random noises and floor vibrations, passive vibration isolation is a commonly used technique due to its low cost and simpler design compared to active vibration isolation, especially when the entire vibration isolation system (VIS) stays inside an Ultra High Vacuum (UHV) environment. This research aims to analyze and build a single-stage …

Jcati Base Plate, Jacob Atamian

All Undergraduate Projects

Students of the Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) program at Central Washington University have contributed to an ongoing Carbon Fiber Recycler project funded by the Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation (JCATI). The goal of this project was to modify the existing recycling system to produce a higher success rate of recycled carbon composite material. This report focuses on increasing the rigidity of the crushing gears so that the deflection occurring among the components during operation was below 0.005 inches to ensure proper operating conditions. The operating speed of the crushing gears was 2.5 rpm with a crushing load of 10,500 …

Mini Rc Baja Car, Jason Schindler

All Undergraduate Projects

Incorporating each aspect of engineering incorporated into a senior project is difficult. That is why an RC Baja car is a great senior project for Mechanical Engineering students. The approach that students must take to design, construct, and test the car is to set parameters, and to make overall goals that can be easily measured. These goals include, but not limited to things like a $700 budget and the ability to withstand a 1-foot drop to a flat surface on all four wheels simultaneously. First, the design must meet the specifications and rules that are set previously. This ensures that …

Hydraulic Balsa Wood Rising Bridge, Kaitlyn Greenfield

All Undergraduate Projects

What is the solution to allowing tall vessels to navigate past a vehicle bridge that is less than 10 [ft] above the water? To answer this question, a balsa wood bridge was designed, constructed, and tested. The bridge needed to articulate by mechanical means, allow for travel through the bridge, and be able to withstand ample force while the main structure only being constructed of balsa wood and glue. The project was analyzed in sections. These sections include: the bridge structure and its members, the hydraulic lift, and the pins needed for the bridge and hydraulic lift to operate. The …

Asme Rc Baja Car Drivetrain, Gizan G. Gando

All Undergraduate Projects

The purpose of the RC Baja Car is to compete in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) competition, a series of events to prove the functionality of the vehicle. This series of events includes the Slalom, Drag, and Baja race. The Slalom is a test in the steering capability of the car. The Drag is a test in the acceleration of the car in a straight line. Lastly, the Baja puts all factors together in a race to test every component of the car. This project is about building an RC car that can function under these conditions and …

Viscoelasticity Of Ptfe-Based Face Seals, Bo Tan

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

PTFE-based materials are widely used in areas of tribology, particularly in seal and bearing applications because of their outstanding self-lubricating properties. Often in dynamic seal applications there is a need for ultra-low mechanical friction loss between the sealing surfaces. Due to its extremely low friction coefficient, there is interest in employing Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) materials in such applications. One challenging aspect of employing PTFE is that these materials are viscoelastic and plastic. This dissertation concentrates on the modeling of viscoelastic material response when used as mechanical face seals with a focus on PTFE-based materials. First, the viscoelastic characteristics are measured through …

Marangoni Propulsion Of Active Particles, Saeed Jafari Kang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

We study the surfing motion of active particles located at a flat liquid-gas interface. The particles create and maintain a surface tension gradient by asymmetrically discharging a surface tension-reducing agent. We employ theory and numerical simulation to investigate the Marangoni propulsion of these active surfers. First, we use the reciprocal theorem to establish a relationship between the propulsion speed and the release of the active chemical. This theoretical relation is utilized to examine the effect of wall confinement and geometry on the Marangoni-driven motion of active particle when the inertial effects are negligible and when the transports of the released …

Design For Additive Manufacturing (3d Printing), Michael O'Donnell, Michael J. Levy

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of this project is to study the performance of a 3D printed mechanical part subjected to topology optimization. A part that is somewhat complex in its load bearing and geometry will be selected. That part will then be designed, finite element analysis will be performed on it to optimize its topology, and then it will be 3D printed and tested. The goal of topology optimization is to either save material cost and/or part weight due to the ability of 3D printing to manufacture parts with complex and obscure geometry.