Other Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Reinventing The Wheel, Esther K. Unti, Ahmed Z. Shorab, Patrick B. Kragen, Adam M. Menashe

Mechanical Engineering

Reinventing the Wheel selected tires and designed wheels for the 2018 Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Formula SAE combustion vehicle. Available tire options were evaluated for steady-state and transient performance as well as vehicle integration. A single-piece composite wheel with hollow spokes was designed to meet stiffness, strength, and tolerance requirements. A detailed study of wheel loading and geometric structural efficiency was performed. Finite element analysis was used to iterate the geometry and laminate. A two-piece male mold was designed and machined to manufacture the wheel. Removable silicone inserts were used to create the hollow spokes.

Daimscale — 1:14th Tractor-Trailer For Testing Driver Assistance Technology, Christopher Marrale, Jase Sasaki, Devin Bodmer

Mechanical Engineering

Active driver assistance systems are becoming increasingly wide-spread throughout the automotive industry due to their potential for safer roads and decreased costs of transportation, but testing these systems on real trucks can be time consuming, dangerous, and costly. Testing these systems on a small-scale tractor-trailer combination will lead to faster and more efficient development of driver assistance systems and can be used by both engineers and students, leading to a larger field of experienced developers to improve these systems.

Our goal will be to design, manufacture, and build a scale 6x2 model of the tractor portion of a Daimler semi-truck …

Universal Studios Hollywood Vip Trolley - Roller Frame, Jeffrey Ploss, Chase Montague, Lincoln Treanor

Mechanical Engineering

Statement of Confidentiality: The complete senior project report was submitted to the project advisor and sponsor. The results of this project are of a confidential nature and will not be published at this time.

H.F. Hauff Electric Pruner Drive Train, Grady Graff

All Undergraduate Projects

The H.F. Hauff Company invests a large amount of money in developing a quality pruner used in everyday agriculture. Modern electric pruners tend to be expensive while manual tree pruning is very physically demanding. A battery assisted pruner that is light-weight, ergonomic, inexpensive to build and powerful enough to cut branches that a nominal apple tree would possess is the direct affiliation that H.F. Hauff devotes its funding too. A team of engineering students from Central Washington University developed a product with consideration to each of these circumstances. Since hand drills have proven to be user friendly and of abundance …

H.F. Hauff Pruner Cutting Blades, Wyley Stewart

All Undergraduate Projects

Apple orchards are a critical component of agriculture in the United States, and keeping the apple trees in the best shape for optimum growth and production is hard work. Neil Hauff, an agriculture industry expert, challenged students at CWU to engineer a power assisted tree pruner. Across the country, apple orchards need pruned every season. The pruning of the trees is strenuous manual labor that requires many man hours. The proposed solution is to create a power assisted tree pruner that would minimize the amount of work needed to trim each tree branch. This project has been separated into three …

Human Powered Vehicle Frame Design, Analysis, Manufacturing, And Testing, Christopher Reed, Kole W. Williams

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The University of Akron Human Powered Vehicle Design Team began this academic year with a mission to create a practical, lightweight, safe, and efficient human powered vehicle. The main objectives of ZC18 were inspired by competition in the 2018 Human Powered Vehicle Challenge at ASME E-Fest East. In addition to adhering to the rules of this competition, scoring high on the submitted reports, and competing well in the racing events, the team set a goal to assist in furthering knowledge related to the topic of human powered vehicles.

ZC18 was constructed nearly completely in the University of Akron’s Design Center …

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.

Development Of Portable Hyperspectral Imaging Device, Chenxi Li, Youngkee Jung, Iyll-Joon Doh, Euiwon Bae

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Most of the conventional hyperspectral imaging devices require sophisticated optical components, occupy a large footprint, and requires an initial capital investment for laboratories which mostly suits for laboratories benchtop system. The requirement of shipping the sample and waiting an extended period of time to get the results are the main downsides of this traditional approach. Capitalize in many specific field applications and diagnosis, portable devices provide both convenience and on-site results which are desirable for government agencies and food safety inspectors. This project was aimed to develop a low-cost, portable hyperspectral device for food safety applications. A smartphone was used …

A Study In The Use Of Elastic Materials In Expandable Containment Units, Andrew J. Eisenman, Joby Anthony Iii, David Satagaj

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

The rigidity of materials in conjunction with the aspect of elasticity has been a concern of modern technologies and construction in recent centuries because of the advantages that expandable storage would bring to the fields of containment units with respect to population growth and space exploration. The world population is currently growing at an exponential rate, and as our population grows, the more important it will become to have containment units that can both contain large volumes of material as well as minuscule amounts of material without wasting space. In order accomplish this, we will need a new type of …

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 …

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

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Simulation And Analysis Of A Drilling Fluid Using A Herschel-Bulkley Model, Daniel Powell

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

In the study, a drilling fluid with known properties is analyzed and simulated in the laminar regime through a pipe with dimensions of 1.5m in length and 0.02m in diameter. The purpose of the conducted analysis is to demonstrate the advantages of the Herschel-Bulkley model currently used in the oil and gas industry for analyzing non-Newtonian drilling fluids.

For comparison, the analysis is also performed using more simple models for non-Newtonian fluids such as the Bingham Plastic model and the Power Law model and for a Newtonian fluid (water). In addition to analytical models, computations are conducted using …

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 …

Built-In Bicycle Rack For Cars, Scott A. Hansberry

All Undergraduate Projects

Transporting a bicycle after riding somewhere and then needing to be pickup can be problematic. Bicycles will not fit in most vehicles without removing components. There is also the risk of damaging the inside of the vehicle. Expecting everyone to have a bike rack for their vehicle is unrealistic because the bike rack could be considered unappealing visually, take up to much space in the trunk, or limit the vehicle owner’s access to the trunk. The solution to this problem is a bike rack that mounts onto your car and then mounts your bike onto the rack. Most people don’t …

Multiscale Modeling: Thermal Conductivity Of Graphene/Cycloaliphatic Epoxy Composites, Sorayot Chinkanjanarot

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The thermal property of epoxy as the binder in the Carbon Fiber (CF) composites, especially thermal conductivity is important to achieve the advance technology and to improve the performance of materials. Multiscale modeling including molecular dynamic (MD) modeling and micromechanical modeling is used to study the properties of neat Cycloaliphatic Epoxies (CE) and Graphene nanoplatelet (GNP)/CE with and without covalent functionalization.

The thermal properties (glass-transition temperature, thermal expansion coefficient, and thermal conductivity) and mechanical properties of CE system are investigated by MD modeling using OPLS-All Atom force field. A unique crosslinking technique is developed to achieve the cured CE models …

Design And Implementation Of An Air Multiplier Fan For Pc, George Demian

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Mechanical engineering student (B.S.) senior design project. Conception, design (SolidWorks), 3D printing & processing, testing of a scaled down air multiplier "bladeless" fan within a computer chassis as a cooling solution.

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 …

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 …

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.

Multiple Apple Box Lift 1/10th Scale Model, Kyle J. Burlingame

All Undergraduate Projects

Title and Author: 1/10th Scale Multiple Apple Box Lift by Kyle Burlingame (Engineering Technologies, Safety, and Construction) Abstract/Artist statement: A 1/10th scale Multiple Apple Box Lift was designed and built as a proof of concept for a full scale device. The Multiple Apple Box Lift was designed to meet a customer’s requirements and to be presented at SOURCE. This device lifts the top half of the stacked apple boxes on a pallet in order to allow access to the boxes in the middle of the stack. The device can be manually operated by two people while in-between narrow rows of …

Conversion Casting: Adapter Hub, Joseph M. Coup

All Undergraduate Projects

The concept of conversion casting makes manufacturing major components much more efficient with regards to time and cost. The conversion cast of the adapter hub used in the Victair Mistifier is a major component that requires 8 hours to machine. The existing hub starts from steel stock and then that block of steel is placed into a CNC machine and coded in to create the adapter hub. The manufacturing method changes to a casting for the adapter hub will create a replicated part that requires 1.5 hours of post machining. The intricate design makes a conversion to casting more effective …

Shellfish Bag Maker, Trevor R. Reher

All Undergraduate Projects

When commercially harvesting shellfish specifically clams and oyster, plastic mesh bags are commonly used to place shellfish in after harvesting on beaches. The issues is taking the raw bag material used for harvest and cutting it to a specified length. The material comes on a 2000 ft. spool and needs to be cut to a length of 54 in. Using an existing but out dated machine, a bench mark was made that the new design must be 10% more efficient for the customer to invest money into building the machine. Using mechanical machine design and computer designing software the machine …

The University Of Akron Human Powered Vehicle Team, Maria E. Rizzo, Andrew J. Derhammer, Christopher M. Trowbridge, Timothy M. Nutt, Joseph R. Boyd, Jeremy W. Marcum, Jonathan E. Adams, Donald G. Haiss, Julia Wood, Brian D. Goshia, Scott T. Fagan, Joshua D. Everhard, Rebecca L. Slivka

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The University of Akron Human Powered Vehicle Team’s 2016 vehicle, Klokan, was designed, manufactured and tested with safety, reliability, performance and ease of use in mind. The vehicle is a fully faired tadpole trike with a lightweight aluminum frame constructed from 6061-T6 tubing having a total weight of 8.9 lbs. To complement the lightweight frame, the fairing is constructed from polycarbonate, PETG and carbon fiber strips which combine into a lightweight, easy to manufacture weather barrier and aerodynamic structure. Klokan was designed to be a safe and efficient mode of everyday transportation which ensures that riders are sufficiently protected by …

Developing And Testing An Anguilliform Robot Swimming With Theoretically High Hydrodynamic Efficiency, John B. Potts Iii

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

An anguilliform swimming robot replicating an idealized motion is a complex marine vehicle necessitating both a theoretical and experimental analysis to completely understand its propulsion characteristics. The ideal anguilliform motion within is theorized to produce ``wakeless'' swimming (Vorus, 2011), a reactive swimming technique that produces thrust by accelerations of the added mass in the vicinity of the body. The net circulation for the unsteady motion is theorized to be eliminated.

The robot was designed to replicate the desired, theoretical motion by applying control theory methods. Independent joint control was used due to hardware limitations. The fluid velocity vectors in the …

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.

Test Rig Design For Compact Variable Displacement Vane Pump, Pratik Chawla, Ryan Jenkins, Monika Ivantysynova

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Variable displacement vane pumps (VDVP) are one type of positive displacement pumps used in automatic transmission vehicles for lubricating the gears, cooling the transmission and actuating the clutches. Though fixed displacement pumps are widely used, they output a constant effective flow at a given speed. Depending on pump sizing considerations, the pump can be oversized at high speeds because flow demand of the transmission is independent of engine speed. The excess flow returns to the tank through an orifice that causes the oil to heat up, increasing the energy required for cooling and reducing the efficiency of the transmission. A …

Vibration Table For Environmental Chamber, Michael Czabaranek, Dylan De Caussin

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.