Computer-Aided Engineering and Design Commons^™

Manufacture Of Complex Geometry Component For Advanced Material Stiffness, David Russell Bydalek

Master's Theses

The manufacture, laminate design, and modeling of a part with complex geometry are explored. The ultimate goal of the research is to produce a model that accurately predicts part stiffness. This is validated with experimental results of composite parts, which refine material properties for use in a final prototype part model. The secondary goal of this project is to explore manufacturing methods for improved manufacturability of the complex part. The manufacturing portion of the thesis and feedback into material model has incorporated a senior project team to perform research on manufacturing and create composite part to be used for experimental …

Usa Boccia Ball Ramp For Athletes With Quadriplegia, Alissa A. Koukourikos, Matthew Lee, Nathan Bernards

Mechanical Engineering

In this report, the design process in creating an assistive device for Boccia Classification 3 (BC3) players is outlined. The initial research steps, including research into the rules of the game, capabilities of the players, and existing products is documented to show where ideas for the product stemmed from. This transitions into requirements that the sponsor requested, and preliminary designs and ideas for the product. Finally, this report explains the details of the final design, which has been analyzed for safety, ease of use, and ability to function under different conditions. The processes of manufacturing and testing will also be …

Dyno-Mite Redesign, Brandon Joseph Miller, Daniel Robert Hoffman, Richard Demedici Young

Mechanical Engineering

The Cal Poly Mechanical Control Systems Laboratory currently employs an outdated device, known as the Motomatic, to teach students about various motor characteristics and control methods. These include open-loop vs. closed-loop control, speed vs. position control, and DC motor response curves. The current device does not function properly and produces unreliable data due to overwhelming non-linear effects such as stiction and shaft misalignment. Our team was tasked with designing a replacement device that retains many of the same educational goals as the original lab procedure, while also adding new educational goals pertaining to the device system dynamics. The new apparatus, …

Animated Otto-Langen Atmospheric Engine, Keiran M. Hansen, Lance Hodgson, Rachel A. Jakob, Chris J. Splees

Mechanical Engineering

Based on an existing relationship between Dr. Owen and the Deutsches Museum, Otto-Mated was given the opportunity to collaborate with the two in a year-long senior design project. Otto-Mated was tasked with modeling and simulating the Otto-Langen Atmospheric Engine as a form of preservation and education. The model was created in SolidWorks and animated in Blender, effectively providing the museum with accurate and educational videos demonstrating the engine’s function. Within this document are the plans, decisions, and processes used to create our final product for Deutsches Museum.

Additive Manufacturing For Post-Processing, Nathan D. Goodwin, Andrew Furmidge

Mechanical Engineering

Additive Manufacturing for Post Processing (AMPP) is a team comprised of two Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering students: Nathan Goodwin and Andrew Furmidge. The project is focused in the area of metal additive manufacturing (AM) machines, which are still a developing technology. Improvements have been made to the quality of the machines in the past years, but many limitations still exist. One of these is the inability to print parts that are larger than the build volume. In an effort to solve this problem, whole parts are divided into pieces that are printed individually. This team’s senior project is to create …

Bear Minimum: Ultralight Composite Bear Canister, Rama B. Adajian, Adam C. Eisenbarth

Mechanical Engineering

The ultralight backpacking community needs a strong, easy to use, safe bear canister that is lighter than current market products for trekking in the backcountry. A full design of the lid for the bear canister is to be completed. This includes the locking mechanism to ensure it is bear proof, the interface between the lid and the canister, and the structure of the lid so it passes the strength and weight specifications. The lid, along with the already designed canister body, is to be manufactured with formal documentation. The lid will initially be tested separately and then with the canister …

Development Of 3d Compression Molded Composite Primary Structure, Sean D. Tischler, Jacob H. Goldstein, Alea A. Perez

Mechanical Engineering

The work accomplished by the Black Gold team improved upon the carbon fiber compression molding research and information available on the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus. The team used the rear suspension rocker arm off a Ventana Alpino mountain bike as a design goal for this project. This research and body of work includes the methods used to design a compression molded part for complex part loading and shape. This extends to the process of choosing an appropriate layup process, in addition to benefits and drawbacks of the use of chopped fibers in compression molding. The research includes the …

Leading Edge Boundary Layer Suction Device For The Cal Poly Rolling Road Wind Tunnel, Daniel C. Glover, Liam M. Madden, Robert J. Cabri

Mechanical Engineering

Over the course of three quarters from Fall of 2016 to Spring of 2017, our team designed and built a boundary layer suction device. The boundary layer suction device has three main functions: a scoop that redirects most of the boundary layer air out of the wind tunnel, fans that suck the remaining boundary layer air through a porous plate and ducting and out of the wind tunnel, and a transition bridge that transitions the remaining air smoothly onto the rolling road. The wind tunnel is owned by Cal Poly and the rolling road is a new addition to it. …

Pedal-Powered Drivetrain System, Geremy J. Patterson, Callaghan Fenerty, Bradley Welch

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Refurbished And 3d Modeled Thermal Vacuum Chamber, Lauren M. Glenn

Master's Theses

Spacecraft testing includes acoustics, vibrations, and thermal vacuum. Cal Poly’s Space Environments Lab is equipped with multiple vacuum chambers, but no thermal vacuum chamber. The purpose of this thesis is to incorporate an ATS Chiller system with the HVEC vacuum chamber so students are able to experiment with a thermal vacuum chamber. The ATS Chiller had leaky pipes that needed to be refurbished and a shroud was implemented to improve thermal capabilities of the system. The full system was able to reach temperatures as low as -38ºC and as high as 58ºC at a pressure of 10-6 Torr. The ATS …

Corgi: Compute Oriented Recumbent Generation Infrastructure, Christopher Allen Hunt

Master's Theses

Creating a bicycle with a rideable geometry is more complicated than it may appear, with today’s mainstay designs having evolved through years of iteration. This slow evolution coupled with the bicycle’s intricate mechanical system has lead most builders to base their new geometries off of previous work rather than expand into new design spaces. This crutch can lead to slow bicycle iteration rates, often causing bicycles to all look about the same. To combat this, several bicycle design models have been created over the years, with each attempting to define a bicycle’s handling characteristics given its physical geometry. However, these …

The Effect Of Biocomposite Material In A Composite Structure Under Compression Loading, Benjamin Andrew Sweeney

Master's Theses

While composite structures exhibit exceptional strength and weight saving possibilities for engineering applications, sometimes their overall cost and/or material performance can limit their usage when compared to conventional structural materials. Meanwhile ‘biocomposites’, composite structures consisting of natural fibers (i.e. bamboo fibers), display higher cost efficiency and unique structural benefits such as ‘sustainability’. This analysis will determine if the integration of these two different types of composites are beneficial to the overall structure. Specifically, the structure will consist of a one internal bamboo veneer biocomposite ply; and two external carbon fiber weave composite plies surrounding the bamboo biocomposite. To acquire results …

3-Axis Automated Probe Traverse For Aerodynamic Testing, Tananant Boonya-Ananta, Ricky Wai, Zander Oostman, Teyvon Brooks

Mechanical Engineering

Our primary objective is to design, build, and test an automated traverse to hold measurement probes in Cal Poly’s low speed wind tunnel. The device should cause minimal flow disturbance. It’s movements must be able to cover eighty percent of the three-dimensional test section. The device should have a mounting point for interchangeable probes. The assembly is to be integrated with the current frame structure on the wind tunnel test section, and should allow very minimal deflection of the measurement probe. The user should be able to control the motion of the traverse via a computer interface which supports automatic …

Solar Car Suspension System, Alex Power, Adam O'Camb

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Design And Analysis Of The Impact Diffusion Helmet Through A Finite Element Analysis Approach, Steven Paul Warnert

Master's Theses

By applying the finite element approach to the design and analysis of the impact diffusion helmet, many helmet configurations were able to be analyzed. Initially it was important to determine what design variables had an influence on the impact reducing abilities of the helmet design. The helmet was run through a series of Abaqus simulations that determined that a design with two oval shaped channels running along the length of the helmet was best. Next, these options were optimized to generate the helmet that produced the greatest impact reduction. The optimization simulations determined that a helmet that pushed the channels …

El Capitán: Cal Poly Rose Float Digital Drive System, Gregory Raffi Baghdikian

Computer Engineering

In today’s world of smartphones, self-driving cars, and internet-connected coffee makers, it seems as if computers are contained in everything around us. These “embedded systems” have become critical components of our lives, improving everything about the things they control, from cost, to speed, to simplicity. One area that embedded systems has hardly gained a foothold is in the world of floatbuilding. Most of the floats in the Tournament of Roses Parade, including the one built jointly by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly Pomona, are technologically very simple, using mostly analog components and rudimentary discrete digital logic to …

Universal Weight Machine, Oscar Andrade, Bibiana Koch, Robert Molloy, Haley Rentfro, Emily Woods

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this project is to design and build an inexpensive, universally accessible multi-station exercise machine for the physical and mental well-being of athletes of the Special Olympics and Pathpoint Life Education & Advancement Program. The machine has three sides tiered to higher resistance: the first station offers a minimal resistance aerobic exercise focused on moving the arms with an ergometer, the second station provides numerous locations to latch on resistance bands that will build strength in the athlete’s arms and chest, and the final station has a donated weight machine that offers lat pulldowns and flys with maximum …

Micro Debris Generator, Gordan Bradaric, Ross Byers, Stephen Quanci

Mechanical Engineering

This senior project team at Cal Poly consisting of Stephen Quanci, Gordan Bradaric, and Ross Byers has been commissioned by Erik Brown of Lawrence Livermore National Labs to create a way to reliably and consistently entrain microscopic particles into the hot HTTU flow. These particles will be used to compare the loading rates of new HEPA filters by measuring the pressure drop across the filter. The generated particles would simulate typical conditions in which these HEPA filters are expected to operate, namely fine ash. The particles used for loading the filter are intended to simulate the particulate reaching the LLNL …

Automated Bearing Press, David Baker, David Brock, Engelbert Diec

Mechanical Engineering

Our group was presented with a challenge to design an automated machine to replace Micro-Vu’s current manual pressing operation. We moved, planned, and scheduled our tasks for the three quarters we will be working on this project by using a Gantt chart. In designing the machine, we generated concepts and used analysis and prototyping to select the most promising ones. Our final design uses a pneumatic press to press the parts, and it includes magazines to hold the parts before pressing, pneumatic actuators to move the parts to and from the pressing location, and a lever to separate the defective …

4th And 5th Axis Rotary Table, Dakota Bass, Ricky Riedl, Nicole Slagle, Irene Yee

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Experimental Building Demonstration Model With Viscous Fluid Dampers, Blake Thomas Reeve, Brianna Jean Kufa, Aden Malek Stepanians, Sophie Carmion Ratkovich

Architectural Engineering

The Architectural Engineering major places a heavy emphasis on structural dynamics and the role of wind and seismic loading in building analysis and design. Buildings of high importance that are critical to community function, such as hospitals, often utilize supplemental damping devices like supplemental viscous fluid dampers or base isolators to reduce the overall demands on the structural system. The design and analysis of these dampers are typically not taught at the undergraduate level, and is frequently performed by mechanical engineers, in lieu of structural engineers.

To better understand and research building behavior with supplemental damping devices, our multi-disciplinary team …

Metals Am Design For Manufacturing, Maren Cosens, Ben Wong, Kevin Hale

Mechanical Engineering

We are looking to improve upon the current post processing techniques for metal additive manufacturing (AM). This project, sponsored by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), will investigate ways to improve the design of stainless steel 316 parts made by AM, and how these designs will help with post processing techniques. We hope that the findings regarding stainless steel will apply to to improve the AM and post processing handshake in general. In particular, the project will focus on including different features in different basic part design shapes to aid in fixturing and post-processing of the part made by AM. This …

Finite Element Modeling Of Delamination Damage In Carbon Fiber Laminates Subject To Low-Velocity Impact And Comparison With Experimental Impact Tests Using Nondestructive Vibrothermography Evaluation, George Rodriguez Iv

Master's Theses

Carbon fiber reinforced composites are utilized in many design applications where high strength, low weight, and/or high stiffness are required. While composite materials can provide high strength and stiffness-to-weight ratios, they are also more complicated to analyze due to their inhomogeneous nature. One important failure mode of composite structures is delamination. This failure mode is common when composite laminates are subject to impact loading.

Various finite element methods for analyzing delamination exist. In this research, a modeling strategy based on contact tiebreak definitions in LS-DYNA^®was used. A finite element model of a low-velocity impact event was created to …

Physical Testing Of Potential Football Helmet Design Enhancements, Michael Jeremy Schuster

Master's Theses

Football is a much loved sport in the United States. Unfortunately, it is also hard on the players and puts them at very high risk of concussion. To combat this an inventor in Santa Barbara brought a new design to Cal Poly to be tested.

The design was tested in small scale first in order to make some preliminary conclusions about the design. In order to fully test the helmet design; however, full scale testing was required. In order to carry out this testing a drop tower was built based on National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, NOCSAE, …

Design And Testing Of A Top Mask Projection Ceramic Stereolithography System For Ceramic Part Manufacturing, Dylan Robert De Caussin

Master's Theses

Ceramic manufacturing is an expensive process with long lead times between

the initial design and final manufactured part. This limits the use of ceramic as a viable material unless there is a large project budget or high production volume associated with the part. Ceramic stereolithography is an alternative to producing low cost parts through the mixing of a photo curable resin and ceramic particles. This is an additive manufacturing process in which each layer is built upon the previous to produce a green body that can be sintered for a fully dense ceramic part.

This thesis introduces a new approach …

Design Of A Folding V-Scraper With Roller For Orchard Applications, Chase Ulrich

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This senior project discusses the design of a folding 15 ft. wide leveler for orchard use. This design utilized a category 2 three-point hitch to connect the implement to a tractor. The folding mechanism uses the tractors hydraulic system to actuate the folding movement using hydraulic cylinders. The blades, when wings in operational position, are rigid with one another after some assembly. When the implement is folded the width is reduced to nine feet.

Design And Analysis Of A Lift Assist Walker, Deep P. Shah

Master's Theses

Walkers provided stability to the elderly but cannot assist a person from sitting to standing. The objective of this project is to present the design and analysis of a lift assist walker. This report discusses the design and analysis of a collapsible lift assist walker capable of lifting a patient up to 250 lbs. from seated to standing in under 10 seconds. The designed walker utilized a two stage scissor mechanism with a gas spring assisted embedded linear actuator.

Underwater Rope Fatigue Testing Machine, Napoleon Nino, Andrew Pimentel

Mechanical Engineering

The design and fabrication of an underwater rope fatigue testing machine meant to simulate the effects of an oceanic environment and the effects on rope.

Child Carrier: Senior Project, Cordell Hollingsworth, Jacob Puppo, Drew Sapp

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Design And Fabrication Of Liquid Scintillator Counter, Andrea Calderon Saucedo, John L. Orrell

STAR Program Research Presentations

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is currently developing an ultra-low background liquid scintillator counter (ULB LSC) in the shallow underground laboratory. At a depth of 35-meters water-equivalent, the underground laboratory has a multi-layered shielding to keep out cosmic-ray induced background. The ULB LSC, which is located in a clean room facility, is a multi-layered design made up of various materials, including plastic scintillator veto panels, borated polyethylene, lead and copper. These layers help lower the contributions of the terrestrial background and intrinsic background, resulting from the impurities present in the materials, to the overall background count rate observed by the …