A Gaze-Driven Manufacturing Assembly Assistant System With Integrated Step Recognition, Repetition Analysis, And Real-Time Feedback, Haodong Chen, Niloofar Zendehdel, Ming C. Leu, Zhaozheng Yin

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Modern manufacturing faces significant challenges, including efficiency bottlenecks and high error rates in manual assembly operations. To address these challenges, we implement artificial intelligence (AI) and propose a gaze-driven assembly assistant system that leverages artificial intelligence for human-centered smart manufacturing. Our system processes video inputs of assembly activities using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network for assembly step recognition, a Transformer network for repetitive action counting, and a gaze tracker for eye gaze estimation. The application of AI integrates the outputs of these tasks to deliver real-time visual assistance through a software interface that displays …

Intelligent Turning Cyber-Physical Systems Modeling Using Sysml, Prithbey Raj Dey, David Lee Enke, Mario F. Buchely

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) support industrial automation that incorporates people, hardware, signal, computation, and control using networking to achieve desired results. The complex automated CPS design demands a standard and comprehensive approach to appropriately identify the system requirements, define the architecture, and model the relationships among the software and hardware components. Systems Modeling Language (SysML) provides the capability for a comprehensive modeling to capture the desired design requirements in the systems architecture. SysML enables performance estimation of the model by analyzing constraints while identifying interactions among the components through various behavioral diagrams. In this paper, SysML is applied to the design …

Experiment-Based Superposition Thermal Modeling Of Laser Powder Bed Fusion, Cody S. Lough, Tao Liu, Robert G. Landers, Douglas A. Bristow, James A. Drallmeier, Ben Brown, Edward C. Kinzel

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Parts experience significant local thermal variations during the Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) process, providing a potential source of defects. Near real-time thermal predictions can enable better process planning and facilitate corrections on subsequent layers to enable the engineering of laser parameter and scan path combinations that avoid defect inducing scenarios. This paper considers an experiment-based Discrete Green's Function (DGF) thermal model for temperature field prediction in LPBF. An analytical framework is developed and used to calculate an experimental DGF (i.e., powder bed's single pulse temperature response) from spatiotemporal Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) camera data. The extracted …

Development Of Planetary Drive System For Formula Sae Electric Race Car, Brian Wong, Bradley Maruoka, Joshua Charles Fine, Madison Kai

Mechanical Engineering

Hub motors are compact electric motors mounted directly on each outboard wheel hub. Utilized in Formula SAE and Formula Student vehicles, this configuration offers several advantages over traditional drivetrains, including packaging optimization within the chassis, vehicle traction, and improved efficiency. Although hub motors are not yet common in 4WD vehicles, they are being explored for use in EVs and may become more common in the future. Every year, Cal Poly Racing FSAE designs and builds a formula-style race car. To improve drivetrain performance, the team is investigating the achievability of a hub motor 4WD drivetrain, requiring extensive research, development, and …

Improving The Viability Of Continuous Fiber Reinforced Composite Materials In Extreme Temperature Applications And Additive Manufacturing, Ryan A. Warren

Shelby Hall Graduate Research Forum Presentations

Presentation slides for a presentation given at the 1st annual Shelby Hall Graduate Research Forum at the University of South Alabama.

Improvement Of Microcracking And Mechanical Properties Of Tungsten Fabricated Via Laser Powder Bed Fusion Through Alloying With Reactive Secondary Constituents, William S. Mockel

Theses and Dissertations

Tungsten (W), a Group VI transition metal, possesses a number of advantageous properties, most notably its impressive mechanical performance at extreme temperatures. While tungsten's nature render traditional manufacturing methods difficult, additive manufacturing through laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) presents a promising avenue for fabricating tungsten components. However, the material’s high ductile-to-brittle transition temperature combined with the embrittling effect of impurities mean that the residual stresses imparted by LPBF result in microcracking in tungsten, degrading its usefulness. This study sought to improve the characteristics of LPBF-W through the removal of embrittling oxygen content via alloying with low concentrations of reactive elements, …

Deployable Origami Structure, David J. Garcia, Robert Bettinger

AFIT Patents

The present invention relates to deployable origami structures and methods of making and using same. Such deployable origami structures can be folded into a compact state utilizing origami, yet easily deployed as the structures comprise pseudo-elastic connectors. Additive manufacturing techniques can be used to make such deployable origami structures as such techniques can lower cost and structure weight.

Additive Manufacturing Applications In Mission-Critical Operations: A Review, Arup Dey, Olusanmi Adeniran, Monsuru Ramoni

Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

Additive manufacturing (AM) is used to fabricate complex components from a wide variety of materials in an additive manner. AM brings several benefits, such as reduced lead times, on-demand production, creation of complex customized designs without tooling requirements, and remote design sharing. However, the use of AM for critical components is limited in large missions due to quality and reliability concerns, as is the case with many manufacturing technologies. Enhancing the acceptance of AM-built parts for mission-critical components can be achieved by producing highly reliable parts, establishing robust quality standards, and continually improving part properties. This review article comprehensively explores …

Effects Of Die Type On Mechanical Performance And Failure Behaviors Of Self-Piercing Riveting Joints In Aa5052, Lun Zhao, Amr Monier, Ao Zhang, Liya Li, Ahmed Elkaseer, Zeshan Abbas, Kai Ye

Mechanical Engineering

This study investigates the effects of self-piercing riveting (SPR) die type on the joint quality and failure modes of AA5052 SPR joints. Three die types: flat, pip, and ball-shaped were designed and processed for the SPR process, and 30 riveted specimens were prepared. A 2D axisymmetric finite element (FE) simulation model was established using LS-Dyna to evaluate the impact of each die type. The accuracy of the FE model was validated by comparing simulated joint cross-sections with experimental results. Subsequently, the quality and forming mechanisms of the SPR joints fabricated using each die type were analyzed. Mechanical properties were assessed …

Significance Of Multi-Level Fusion In Multi-Component Fault Diagnosis Under Speed Varying Condition In Rotational Machinery, S. Sowmya, M. Saimurugan, Immanuel A. Edinbarough

Informatics and Engineering Systems Faculty Publications

Most well-known challenging effects of identifying multiple defects in a rotational machine when speed is varied, are illustriously inspected by many researchers. However, different fusion logics are evolved in the series of research attempt, but not paid much attention in interrogating it for unsteady speed signals.Addressing this literature void, this paper focusses on multi-level fusion strategy with the help of sensor-centric feature integration and Dempster Shafer’s (D-S) theory of evidence for uncovering multi-faults in bearings, shafts and gears of rotational machines under speed variational condition. Primarily, instantaneous frequency and envelope from the acquired vibration and sound signals of complex system …

Biobased Acrylate Composites With Enhanced Strength For Additive Manufacturing, Nicole Wagner, Joseph Mcwherter

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

With the expanding use of polymers in additive manufacturing, sustainable resins for use in vat photopolymerization are required to reduce their environmental impact. One promising approach to achieve this is to incorporate biobased fillers that replace the acrylates in photopolymer resins as ‘green’ alternatives. In this study, photopolymer composites consisting of a methacrylate resin with varying calcium carbonate powder content between 0 and 50 wt.% were investigated. A digital light processing technique was used to fabricate tensile test specimens for mechanical testing. Good printability, dimensional accuracy, and good interlayer adhesion were observed for composite resin formulations that incorporated calcium carbonate …

Potential Effects Of Statistical Complexity Measure In Improving The Fault Diagnosis Performance Under Speed Fluctuations, S. Sowmya, M. Saimurugan, N. Kannan, Immanuel A. Edinbarough

Informatics and Engineering Systems Faculty Publications

Many research studies are performed in extracting non-stationary signal properties such as instantaneous frequency (IF) and envelope to diagnose machinery faults under time-varying speed conditions. But accurate IF extraction is difficult from such complex fluctuating signals to identify the faults efficiently. Therefore, this paper proposes the Statistical Complexity Measure (SCM) as a feature that evaluates the randomness and complexity without any additional requirement, providing an outstanding result in multi-component fault detection under speed fluctuations. Primarily, the influence of SCM is proved by ranking the features with the help of the Random Forest (RF) algorithm. The fault classification of individual signal …

Flow And Heat Transfer Experimental Study For 3d-Printed Solar Receiving Tubes With Helical Fins At Internal Surface, Fouad Haddad, Naznin Nuria Afrin, Jianzhi Li, Peiwen Li, Bharath Pidaparthi, Samy Missoum, Ben Xu

Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

3D-printing technology was applied to fabricate novel solar thermal collection tubes that have internal heat transfer enhancement fins and external surfaces with high solar absorptivity and low emissivity due to the ability to use different materials in one tube. Helical fins were selected to introduce circumferential flow and thus minimize the circumferential temperature difference of the tube that receives sunlight on one side. The structures of the helical fins were previously optimized from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis with the objective of low entropy production rate by looking for high heat transfer coefficient and relatively lower pressure loss. High-temperature alloy, …

Predicting The High Temperature Deformation Behavior Of Haynes282 By A Dislocation-Density Based Crystal Plasticity Model, Tianju Chen, Huadong Fu, Shujing Dong, Yue Zhou, Yijia Gu, Caizhi Zhou, Ridwan Sakidja

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Mechanical behavior of Haynes282 is heavily dependent upon the microstructure state, calling for mesoscale model to study the relationship between the underlying microstructure and macroscopic performance. In this work, we employ crystal plasticity finite element method (CPFEM) to explore the deformation mechanisms of Hanyes282 subjected to tensile (short-term) and creep (long-term) tests. Haynes282 is a newly developed Ni-based superalloy, containing relatively low volume fraction (≤20%) of spherical γ′ precipitate phase. A dislocation-density based model is developed to describe the tensile and the creep behavior, where a dimension reduction algorithm is proposed to obtain more accurate inter-particle spacing. Furthermore, dislocation-particle interaction …

A Comprehensive Study Of Cooling Rate Effects On Diffusion, Microstructural Evolution, And Characterization Of Aluminum Alloys, Atiqur Rahman, Sriram Praneeth Isanaka, Frank Liou

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Cooling Rate (CR) definitively influences the microstructure of metallic parts manufactured through various processes. Factors including cooling medium, surface area, thermal conductivity, and temperature control can influence both predicted and unforeseen impacts that then influence the results of mechanical properties. This comprehensive study explores the impact of CRs in diffusion, microstructural development, and the characterization of aluminum alloys and the influence of various manufacturing processes and post-process treatments, and it studies analytical models that can predict their effects. It examines a broad range of CRs encountered in diverse manufacturing methods, such as laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), directed energy deposition …

Effects Of Processing Parameters On Kerf Cutting Quality Following Abrasive Waterjet Slotting Of Ti-6al-4v/Cfrp/Al7075 Stacks, Abeer Eisa, Abdulaziz Elshinawi, Mohamed Fattouh

Journal of Engineering Research

Abrasive water jet machining (AWJM) presents a viable substitute to traditional machining methods for cutting straight kerfs in Ti-6Al-4V/CFRP/Al7075 composite stacks. This study investigated the influences of various process settings, namely the hydraulic pressure (P), traverse speed (V), and stand-off distance (SOD) on kerf characteristics, including the kerf geometry (W_k), taper angle (θ_K), roughness (R_a), and the material removal (MRR). The metal plates, including Ti-6Al-4V and Al7075, exhibited a positive taper angle, whereas the CFRP composite plate revealed a negative taper angle across …

A Computational Fluid Dynamics Approach To Analyze The Virtual Impactor In Pneumatic Aerosol Jet Printing, Akashita Sareen

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Aerosol jet printing (AJP) is a 3D printing, advanced manufacturing process that generates an aerosol mist appropriate for fine printing small, low-volume electronic parts. The pneumatic aerosol jet printing technology’s virtual impactor is the focus of this study. In this technology, high velocity nitrogen gas aerosolizes various inks in the atomizer. The aerosolized stream of ink is then transported to a virtual impactor (VI) to become dense and concentrated as it begins to enter the deposition head for high precision electronics printing. AJP faces challenges in large-scale adoption due to challenges related to overspray, instability, ink clogging etc. There is …

Improving The Reliability Of Parts Produced Via Laser Powder Bed Fusion Through A Data-Driven Geometry Optimization Methodology, Federico Venturi

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This research aims to qualify the effect of design geometry on quality metrics of additively manufactured (AM) components that define reliability. Through the use of a novel methodology to characterize these quality metrics, AM components are inspected for the presence of defects such as surface roughness notches and porosity. These directly hinder the high-cycle fatigue characteristics demonstrated through the Kitagawa-Takahashi diagram and the El-Haddad model. By demonstrating the effect of geometry through a designed experiment and the adoption of the Murakami square root area parameter and Arola-Ramulu model, the improvement to fatigue life can be quantified. Incorporating this data into …

Experimental And Numerical Modelling-Based Optimization Of Additive Manufacturing Processes, Vishnu V. Ganesan

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

ABSTRACT

Experimental and Numerical Modeling-Based Optimization of Additive Manufacturing Processes

Vishnu V Ganesan, Ph.D.

The University of Texas at Arlington, 2025

Supervising Professor: Dr. Ankur Jain

Experimental and numerical modeling play a pivotal role in advancing additive manufacturing technologies by enabling a deeper understanding of complex, multi-physics processes that govern part quality, performance, and reliability. These manufacturing techniques—ranging from Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) and Material Extrusion (MEX) to Automated Fiber Placement (AFP)—involve tightly coupled thermal, mechanical, and material phenomena that are challenging to capture through empirical observation alone. Experimental methods offer critical validation and insights into real-world behavior, while numerical …

Multi-Objective Design Optimization Of Hypoid Geared Rotor Systems, Xinqi Wei

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Hypoid gears represent one of the most generalized and complex forms of gearing, widely used for power transmission of skew shafts in vehicles, aviation, and marine transmission applications. Optimizing their performance remains challenging due to the complex tooth surface and contact behavior. Specifically, the design parameters of the tooth surface are multi-scale, interdependent, and subject to strong constraints, leading to strong nonlinearity and an ill-conditioned Jacobian matrix in the parameter identification model. Moreover, feasible and insensitive contact conditions are difficult to constrain due to the inherent complexity of local conjugate contact between the meshing surfaces. These challenges significantly increase optimization …

Development Of A Design Tool For Tow-Steered Composite Structures With Machine Learning-Assisted Modeling, Bangde Liu

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Fiber-reinforced composites (FRCs) are widely used in aerospace, automotive, and other engineering applications due to their lightweight characteristics and superior mechanical properties. Traditional FRCs employ a fixed fiber orientation in each layer, and while different layup sequences can tailor performance, the mechanical properties remain spatially uniform. Tow-steered composites, which enable fibers to follow curvilinear paths, offer the potential for spatially varying stiffness and strength, improving structural performance.

This dissertation addresses key challenges in modeling and designing tow-steered composite structures, including the lack of commercial design tools, the high computational cost of design optimization, and the need to efficiently evaluate manufacturing …

Transient Thermal Finite Element Simulation For Process Modeling In Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing, Satya Sai Kumar Pilli

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This thesis presents the development of a transient thermal framework for Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) created using ANSYS Workbench. This study aims to understand the inherent properties and thermal behavior of WAAM by using the Finite Element (FE) simulation technique to reduce the need for experiments. Specifically, the transient thermal WAAM simulation framework uses the heat source Goldak model to understand the thermal behavior for a given voltage, initial temperature, and travel speed during the process to predict process temperature. The outcomes of this thesis aim to significantly decrease material waste and repetitive experiments and accelerate production process design …

Ai-Powered Image-Based Assessment Of Pressure Injuries Using You Only Look Once (Yolo) Version 8 Models, Mehedi Hasan Tusar, Fateme Fayyazbakhsh, Niloofar Zendehdel, Eduard Mochalin, Igor Melnychuk, Lisa Gould, Ming C. Leu

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Objective: The primary objective of this study is to enhance the detection and staging of pressure injuries using machine learning capabilities for precise image analysis. This study explores the application of the You Only Look Once version 8 (YOLOv8) deep learning model for pressure injury staging. Approach: We prepared a high-quality, publicly available dataset to evaluate different variants of YOLOv8 (YOLOv8n, YOLOv8s, YOLOv8m, YOLOv8l, and YOLOv8x) and five optimizers (Adam, AdamW, NAdam, RAdam, and stochastic gradient descent) to determine the most effective configuration. We followed a simulation-based research approach, which is an extension of the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials …

Hands-Free Uav Control: Real-Time Eye Movement Detection Using Eog And Lstm Networks, Niloofar Zendehdel, Khosro Ghorbani Zadeh, Haodong Chen, Yun Seong Song, Ming C. Leu

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Industry 4.0 has created a growing need for effective human-robot collaboration (HRC). As robots and humans work more closely together, efficient communication becomes essential for coordinating their actions seamlessly. While speech may seem like the obvious choice for communication, noisy factory environments can render it impractical. Additionally, workers often have their hands occupied with assembly tasks, making hand-controlled interfaces less practical for controlling robots. To address these challenges, this paper presents a novel, hands-free method for robot control using electrooculography (EOG) signals–specifically, eye movements and blinks–with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used as the demonstration platform. We developed a real-time system …

Solid Loading Effects On The Assembly Of Alumina Particles In Aqueous Suspensions Due To The Dielectrophoretic Forces, Sivakumar Chithamallu, Rohan Kiran Parai, Dipankar Ghosh

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Current work in situ investigated the mechanisms of the interparticle interactions that evolve in dilute aqueous alumina suspensions subjected to alternating current (AC) electric field and the effects of solid loading of suspensions. The interactions were investigated for alumina suspension compositions in the 0.005‒0.04 vol.% solid loading range. Field‐induced interactions evolved via particle motion and dynamic assembly, chain formation parallel to the direction of the applied field and chain growth, chain cross‐linking, and chain thickening. The evolution time of each of those events was rapidly accelerated with solid loading. While chain cross‐linking was negligible in low solid loading suspensions, a …

Designing Robust Quasi-2d Perovskites Thin Films For Stable Light-Emitting Applications, Sharmistha Khan, Reshna Shrestha, Mengru Jin, Doyun Kim, Guan Lin Chen, Ruipeng Li, Yijia Gu, Qing Tu, Namyoung Ahn, Wanyi Nie

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Quasi-2D perovskite made with organic spacers co-crystallized with inorganic cesium lead bromide inorganics is demonstrated for near unity photoluminescence quantum yield at room temperature. However, light emitting diodes made with quasi-2D perovskites rapidly degrade which remains a major bottleneck in this field. In this work, It is shown that the bright emission originates from finely tuned multi-component 2D nano-crystalline phases that are thermodynamically unstable. The bright emission is extremely sensitive to external stimuli and the emission quickly dims away upon heating. After a detailed analysis of their optical and morphological properties, the degradation is attributed to 2D phase redistribution associated …

Controlling Nitrogen Pickup During Induction Melting Of Ultrahigh-Strength Cr-Ni-Mo-V Steels, Kingsley T. Amatanweze, Viraj A. Athavale, Mario F. Buchely, Laura N. Bartlett, Ronald J. O'Malley, Daniel M. Field

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Nitrogen pickup during air induction melting can result in porosity and a loss of fracture toughness in ultrahigh-strength quenched and tempered steel castings. Nitrogen atoms are easily adsorbed into liquid steel upon exposure to the air, and argon shrouding alone has limited effectiveness. Previous studies have shown that proper charge sequencing and maintaining a high amount of dissolved oxygen in the melt prior to tapping and deoxidation can limit nitrogen pickup in the melt. In the current study, the effect of melt practice and charging procedure on nitrogen pickup was studied as a function of hold time in a series …

Parametric Analysis Of Water Jet Descaling Efficiency Of Reheated Continuously Cast Thin Slab, Tochukwu P. Ojiako, Mario F. Buchely, Simon Lekakh, Ronald J. O'Malley, Richard Osei, Taha Tayebali

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Efficient oxide scale removal is critical for maintaining surface quality and process efficiency in steel manufacturing. This study optimizes water jet descaling by evaluating the performance of flat and rotary jet nozzles under varying process parameters. Using a combined approach of experimental analysis and computational fluid dynamics, it investigates the influence of pressure (138–275 bar), lead angle (0°, 15°, 25°), working distance (50–100 mm), and spray angle (15°–25°) on descaling efficiency. Findings indicate that flat jet nozzles achieve superior performance at short working distances due to concentrated impact forces, while rotary jet nozzles sustain efficiency over extended distances through dynamic …

Effect Of Gating Design On Filling And Inclusion Control In An Al-Killed Cr-Mo-Ni Steel, Kingsley T. Amatanweze, Koushik Balasubramanian, Soumava Chakraborty, Viraj A. Athavale, Mario F. Buchely, Laura N. Bartlett, Ronald J. O'Malley, Daniel M. Field, Krista R. Limmer, Katherine M. Sebeck

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The effect of gating system design on the inclusion population and size distribution in an aluminum-killed low-alloy advanced high strength steel casting was studied. A mold with four different gating systems: pressurized and non-pressurized with side risers, naturally pressurized with a side riser, and naturally pressurized with a top riser, was designed using computational fluid dynamics and solidification software. The design allowed inclusion populations in castings produced with each gating system to be compared during the same pouring event. Samples taken from different positions just below the top surface of each casting were analyzed using an SEM/EDS system with automated …

In-Situ Characterization Of Damage Mechanisms In Ceramic Matrix Composites, Cle' E. Sanchez

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Ceramic Matrix Composites have many advantages, attracting the nuclear, aerospace, and automotive industries with their high heat stability, strength, and oxidation resistance. However, challenges are presented when machining these materials due to the brittle properties and complicated microstructure. The objective of this project was to identify damage mechanisms that occur when a CMC is orthogonally machined and the cutting mechanics are observed in-situ, followed by post-cut characterization of the as-machined surface morphology. In this analysis, the main variable is the feed rate, which can influence the damage mechanisms, such as matrix failure (matrix cracking) or fiber failure (pullout). Through this …