Other Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

High Strength, Deformable Nanotwinned Al–Co Alloys, S. Xue, Qiang Li, D. Y. Xie, Y. F. Zhang, Han Wang, Haiyan Wong, J. Wang, Xinghang Zhang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Aluminum (Al) alloys have been widely used in the transportation industry. However, most highstrength Al alloys to date have limited mechanical strength, on the order of a few hundred MPa, which is much lower than the flow stress of high-strength steels. In this study, we show the fabrication of nanocrystalline Al alloys with high-density growth twins enabled by a few atomic percent of Co solute. In situ uniaxial compression tests show that the flow stress of Al–Co solid solution alloys exceeds 1.5 GPa, while good work hardening capability is maintained. This study provides a new perspective on the design of …

A Sensorless Force-Feedback System For Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery, Baoliang Zhao, Carl A. Nelson

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The existing surgical robots for laparoscopic surgery offer no or limited force feedback, and there are many problems for the traditional sensor-based solutions. This paper builds a teleoperation surgical system and validates the effectiveness of sensorless force feedback. The tool-tissue interaction force at the surgical grasper tip is estimated using the driving motor’s current, and fed back to the master robot with a position-force bilateral control algorithm. The stiffness differentiation experiment and tumor detection experiment were conducted. In the stiffness differentiation experiment, 43 out of 45 pairs of ranking relationships were identified correctly, yielding a success rate of 96%. In …

Effects Of Compositional Tailoring On Drug Delivery Behaviours Of Silica Xerogel/Polymer Core-Shell Composite Nanoparticles, Wenfei Huang, Chi Pong Tsui, Chak Yin Tang, Linxia Gu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Conventional core-shell polymer nanoparticles usually exhibit a rapid release rate with their release kinetics mainly adjusted through changing composition of the polymer shells, limiting their applications for prolonged drug delivery. As a solution to these problems, silica xerogel/polymer core-shellstructured composite nanoparticles have been proposed. Different with our previous work centring on studying process variables, we here focused on investigating the effects of key compositional variables on essential properties of the composite nanoparticles. The drug release profiles (in vitro) were well interpreted by the Baker and Lonsdale model on a predicted two-stage basis. The first stage (<1 day) was well controlled from 18.6% to 45.9%; the second stage (1–14 days) was tailored in a range from 28.7 to 58.2% by changing the composition of the silica xerogel cores and polymeric shells. A substantial achievement was reducing the release rate by more than 40 times compared with that of conventional polymer nanoparticles by virtue of the silica xerogel cores. A semi-empirical model was also established in the first attempt to describe the effects of polymer concentration and drug loading capacity on the size of the composite nanoparticles. All these results indicated that the composite nanoparticles are promising candidates for prolonged drug delivery applications.

Unveiling The Operation Mechanism Of Layered Perovskite Solar Cells, Yun Lin, Yanjun Fang, Jingjing Zhao, Yuchuan Shao, Samuel J. Stuard, Masrur Morshed Nahid, Harald Ade, Qi Wang, Jeffrey E. Shield, Ninghao Zhou, Andrew M. Moran, Jinsong Huang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Layered perovskites have been shown to improve the stability of perovskite solar cells while its operation mechanism remains unclear. Here we investigate the process for the conversion of light to electrical current in high performance layered perovskite solar cells by examining its real morphology. The layered perovskite films in this study are found to be a mixture of layered and three dimensional (3D)-like phases with phase separations at micrometer and nanometer scale in both vertical and lateral directions. This phase separation is explained by the surface initiated crystallization process and the competition of the crystallization between 3D-like and layered perovskites. …

Monolithic Heat-Transfer Device, Sidy Ndao, George Gogos, Dennis Alexander, Troy Anderson, Craig Zuhlke

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A monolithic heat-transfer device can include a container wall configured to retain a working fluid, where the container wall is formed of a single material. The container wall also includes an interior surface configured to be in fluid communication with the working fluid. The monolithic heat-transfer device also includes a channel disposed in the interior surface of the container wall, where the channel comprises a microstructure and a nanostructure. The microstructure and the nanostructure are materially contiguous with the single material forming the container wall. In some embodiments, the nanostructure comprises one or more layers of nanoparticles. The monolithic heat-transfer …

Higher-Order Overtone Thickness-Shear Vibrations Of Multilayered Thin-Film Acoustic Wave Resonators And Angular Rate Sensing, Hui Chen, Ji Wang, Jianke Du, Jiashi Yang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

We propose a new structure for piezoelectric gyroscopes. It is made from multilayered thin films of AlN or ZnO with alternating c-axes along the film thickness. It is shown theoretically that when such a film is electrically driven into higher-order overtone thickness-shear vibration in one of the two in-plane directions of the film and is rotating about the film normal, the Coriolis force due to the rotation causes a higher-order overtone thicknessshear vibration in a perpendicular direction with an electrical output that can be used to measure the angular rate of the rotation. Different from existing thickness-shear mode piezoelectric gyroscopes …

3d Printing Of Hybrid Mos2-Graphene Aerogels As Highly Porous Electrode Materials For Sodium Ion Battery Anodes, Emery Brown, Pengli Yan, Halil Tekik, Ayyappan Elangovan, Jian Wang, Dong Lin, Jun Li

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

This study reports a 3D freeze-printing method that integrates inkjet printing and freeze casting to control both the microstructure and macroporosity via formation of ice microcrystals during printing. A viscous aqueous ink consisting of a molecular MoS₂ precursor (ammonium thiomolybdate) mixed with graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets is used in the printing process. Post-treatments by freeze-drying and reductive thermal annealing convert the printed intermediate mixture into a hybrid structure consisting of MoS₂ nanoparticles anchored on the surface of 2D rGO nanosheets in a macroporous framework, which is fully characterized with FESEM, TEM, XRD, Raman spectroscopy and TGA. The resulting …

Three-Dimensional Character Of The Deformation Twin In Magnesium, Y. Liu, P.Z. Tang, M.Y. Gong, R.J. Mccabe, J. Wang, C.N. Tome

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Deformation twins are three-dimensional domains, traditionally viewed as ellipsoids because of their two-dimensional lenticular sections. In this work, we performed statistical analysis of twin shapes viewing along three orthogonal directions: the ‘dark side’ (DS) view along the twin shear direction (η1), the twinning plane normal (TPN) view (k1) and the ‘bright side’ (BS) view along the direction λ(=k1 × η1). Our electron back-scatter diffraction results show that twins in the DS and BS views normally exhibit a lenticular shape, whereas they show an irregular shape in the TPN view. Moreover, the findings in the TPN view revealed that twins grow …

Spatiotemporal Characterizations Of Spontaneously Beating Cardiomyocytes With Adaptive Reference Digital Image Correlation, Akankshya Shradhanjali, Brandon D. Riehl, Bin Duan, Ruiguo Yang, Jung Yul Lim

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

We developed an Adaptive Reference-Digital Image Correlation (AR-DIC) method that enables unbiased and accurate mechanics measurements of moving biological tissue samples. We applied the AR-DIC analysis to a spontaneously beating cardiomyocyte (CM) tissue, and could provide correct quantifications of tissue displacement and strain for the beating CMs utilizing physiologically-relevant, sarcomere displacement length-based contraction criteria. The data were further synthesized into novel spatiotemporal parameters of CM contraction to account for the CM beating homogeneity, synchronicity, and propagation as holistic measures of functional myocardial tissue development. Our AR-DIC analyses may thus provide advanced non-invasive characterization tools for assessing the development of spontaneously …

Insulating Tunneling Contact For Efficient And Stable Perovskite Solar Cells, Jinsong Huang, Xiaopeng Zheng, Qi Wang, Yang Bai, Qingfeng Dong

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Perovskite-based photoactive devices, such as solar cells, include an insulating tunneling layer inserted between the perovskite photoactive material and the electron collection layer to reduce charge recombination and concomitantly provide water resistant properties to the device.

Beyond The Toolpath: Site-Specific Melt Pool Size Control Enables Printing Of Extra-Toolpath Geometry In Laser Wire-Based Directed Energy Deposition, Brian T. Gibson, Bradley S. Richardson, Tayler W. Undermann, Lonnie J. Love

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A variety of techniques have been utilized in metal additive manufacturing (AM) for melt pool size management, including modeling and feed-forward approaches. In a few cases, closed-loop control has been demonstrated. In this research, closed-loop melt pool size control for large-scale, laser wire-based directed energy deposition is demonstrated with a novel modification, i.e., site-specific changes to the controller setpoint were commanded at trigger points, the locations of which were generated by the projection of a secondary geometry onto the primary three-dimensional (3D) printed component geometry. The present work shows that, through this technique, it is possible to print a specific …

Disposable Fluidic Self-Propelling Robot For Traversing A Tubular Passage, Carl Nelson, Benjamin Terry, Abolfazl Pourghodrat, Hossein Dehghani, Dmitry Oleynikov, Prithviraj Dasgupta

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A probe for traversing a tubular passage includes an introducer to be supported at an entrance to the tubular passage. The probe also includes a probe tip to traverse the tubular passage, and a tube with an inflatable tube segment. In some embodiments, the inflatable tube segment is storable in the probe tip. The inflatable tube segment is configured to be inflated to push the probe tip away from the introducer toward an end on the tubular passage. In some embodiments, the probe includes a sealing mechanism, whre the sealing mechanism can be positioned between the inflatable tube segment of …

Mechanical Stresses Associated With Flattening Of Human Femoropopliteal Artery Specimens During Planar Biaxial Testing And Their Effects On The Calculated Physiologic Stress-Stretch State, Majid Jadidi, Anastasia Desyatova, Jason N. Mactaggart, Alexey Kamenskiy

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Planar biaxial testing is commonly used to characterize the mechanical properties of arteries, but stresses associated with specimen flattening during this test are unknown. We quantified flattening effects in human femoropopliteal arteries (FPAs) of different ages, and determined how they affect the calculated arterial physiologic stress-stretch state. Human FPAs from 472 tissue donors (age 12-82 years, mean 53±16 years) were tested using planar biaxial extension, and morphometric and mechanical characteristics were used to assess the flattening effects. Constitutive parameters for the invariant-based model were adjusted to account for specimen flattening, and used to calculate the physiologic stresses, stretches, axial force, …

Correlation Microanalysis Of Localized Molecular Structure And Nano-Mechanical Property Of Pvdf Based Copolymer, Wen Qian, Shuo Sun, Charles Nguyen, Stephen Ducharme, Joesph A. Turner

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Poly (vinylidenefluoride) (PVDF) and its copolymers, are well-recognized electroactive polymers. The PVDF polymer can crystallize in a quasi-hexagonal close-packed “β-phase” structure with the dipoles of all chains aligned with maximum spontaneous polarization [1-3]. Due to the limited availability of quantitative methods for nanoscale molecular structure and mechanical analysis, the polymer organization has not been fully optimized. For such ferroelectric polymers, the influence of nanoscale molecular structure on mechanical response is not well understood. In this paper, we demonstrate nanoscale characterization and measurement techniques, by comprehensive integrating atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), nano-infrared (nanoIR) spectroscopy, nanoindentation, chemical nanoIR mapping, …

Mechanical Characterizations Of 3d-Printed Plla/Steel Particle Composites, Hozhabr Mozafari, Pengfei Dong, Haitham Hadidi, Michael P. Sealy, Linxia Gu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The objective of this study is to characterize the micromechanical properties of poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) composites reinforced by grade 420 stainless steel (SS) particles with a specific focus on the interphase properties. The specimens were manufactured using 3D printing techniques due to its many benefits, including high accuracy, cost effectiveness and customized geometry. The adopted fused filament fabrication resulted in a thin interphase layer with an average thickness of 3 μm. The mechanical properties of each phase, as well as the interphase, were characterized by nanoindentation tests. The effect of matrix degradation, i.e., imperfect bonding, on the elastic modulus of …

Hemodynamic Interference Of Serial Stenoses And Its Impact On Ffr And Ifr Measurements, Siyeong Ju, Linxia Gu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The hemodynamic interference of serial stenoses poses challenges for identifying the functional severity using the fractional flow reserve (FFR) method. The instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR), i.e., the distal-to-proximal pressure ratio at 75% of diastole, was recently proposed to overcome the disadvantages of the FFR. However, the underlying mechanism remained ambiguous due to the lack of quantitative definition of hemodynamic interference. The objective of this study is to quantitatively define the hemodynamic interference and then examine its role on the FFR and iFR measurements. Pressure distributions, velocity fields, and Q-criterion which identifies vortices, were obtained through the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) …

Hemodynamics And Wall Mechanics After Surgical Repair Of Aortic Arch: Implication For Better Clinical Decisions, Siyeong Ju, Ibrahim Abdullah, Shengmao Lin, Linxia Gu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Graft repair of aortic coarctation is commonly used to mimic the physiological aortic arch shape and function. Various graft materials and shapes have been adopted for the surgery. The goal of this work is to quantitatively assess the impact of graft materials and shapes in the hemodynamics and wall mechanics of the restored aortic arch and its correlation with clinical outcomes. A three-dimensional aortic arch model was reconstructed from magnetic resonance images. The fluid–structure interaction (FSI) analysis was performed to characterize the hemodynamics and solid wall mechanics of the repaired aortic arch. Two graft shapes (i.e., a half-moon shape and …

Interface Facilitated Reorientation Of Mg Nanolayers In Mg-Nb Nanolaminates, Y. Chen, Mingyu Gong, N. A. Mara, Jian Wang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Mg/Nb nanolaminates synthesized through vapor deposition techniques exhibit high flow strength without conventional twinning in Mg. In this work, we investigated the influence of laminated microstructures on deformation mechanisms of Mg nanolayers. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we explored that (0001)-oriented Mg layers transform or re-orient to {10¯10}-oriented Mg layers through nucleation and growth of {10¯12} twins by atomic shuffling, instead of conventional {10¯12} twinning shear. Such a reorientation accommodates in-plane compressive strain and out-of-plane tensile strain when Mg/Nb laminates are subjected to compression parallel to the Mg/Nb interfaces. The nucleation of {10¯12} twins is promoted at the Mg/Nb interface due …

Predictive Peridynamic 3d Models Of Pitting Corrosion In Stainless Steel With Formation Of Lacy Covers, Siavash Jafarzadeh, Florin Bobaru, Ziguang Chen

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

In this work, the peridynamic corrosion model is used for 3D simulation of pitting corrosion in stainless steel. Models for passivation and salt layer formation are employed to predict detailed characteristics of pit growth kinetic in stainless steels, such as lacy cover formation on top of the pit, and the diffusion-controlled regime at the pit bottom. The model is validated against an experimentally grown pit on 316L stainless steel in NaCl solution. Lacy covers in this model are formed autonomously during the simulation process. They are remarkably similar to the covers observed on top of the real pits.

Predictive Peridynamic 3d Models Of Pitting Corrosion In Stainless Steel With Formation Of Lacy Covers, Siavash Jafarzadeh, Florin Bobaru, Ziguang Chen

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

In this work, the peridynamic corrosion model is used for 3D simulation of pitting corrosion in stainless steel. Models for passivation and salt layer formation are employed to predict detailed characteristics of pit growth kinetic in stainless steels, such as lacy cover formation on top of the pit, and the diffusion-controlled regime at the pit bottom. The model is validated against an experimentally grown pit on 316L stainless steel in NaCl solution. Lacy covers in this model are formed autonomously during the simulation process. They are remarkably similar to the covers observed on top of the real pits.

Comparison Of Drag Area Estimation Using Natural Coast Down And Constant Speed Test Methods, Cem Baki Mr

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Currently in US, more than 26 percent of the total GHG emissions comes from transportation and mostly from heavy duty vehicles. Similarly, the European Council stated that 25 percent of the emissions comes from heavy duty transportation and they expect it to be further increased in the future. However, with the new coming regulations US EPA and European Council aiming to reduce the emissions by 80 percent in US and 60 percent in EU. In order to keep track and control the emissions, both authorities published new regulations and testing methods for certifying the new vehicles.

Aerodynamic testing is one …

Energy Efficiency Evaluation Of Blower Heater Non-Purge Compressed Air Dryers, Alexandra M. Botts

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There are several compressed air dryers available for industrial use including, refrigerant, desiccant, and membrane. This research focuses on twin tower regenerative closed loop desiccant dryers, specifically: blower heater non-purge (BHNP) with and without cooling water pumps, Compressed-air Heater Purge (CHP), Blower Heater Purge (BHP), and Pressure Swing Heaterless (PSH). These styles of dryers are used mainly in industries that require extremely dry air such as, food manufacturing, medical air, or sensitive technology manufacturers. The research was conducted by collecting and analyzing real time current draw data on air compressors and associated dryers at eight different facilities (13 compressor systems) …

Virtual Morphology As A Method Of Robotic Control, Conner Todd Castle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis presents Virtual Morphology (VM), a method that explores a different perspective on the design of robot autonomy using inspiration from morphological computing and programmed computation. Morphological computation offers physical solutions that solve complex tasks, like robotic grasping of unknown objects, with relative ease. Unfortunately, these physical solutions are difficult to adjust post-development, and are usually designed to complete only one or a few specific tasks. Programmed computational approaches are more flexible because they can be implemented and adjusted through software, but unfortunately, these approaches can become rather complex as tasks become more difficult. This thesis explores the potential …

Design Of Experiment And Analysis Techniques For Fuel Consumption Data Using Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles And On-Road Testing, Sarah Ann Mills

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Chassis dynamometer and on-road testing are usually employed to test vehicle operation. Testing on a chassis dynamometer reduces data variability compared to on-road testing due to the controlled environment but it does not account for other important variables that affects real-world vehicle operation. This study used on-road testing to investigate the differences between two test fuels under real-world conditions. Three heavy-duty diesel vehicles were driven on different routes for a period of three months. Each vehicle was instrumented with flow meters to gather fuel consumption data, which was then compared to the fuel rate broadcasted by the engine control unit …

Design And Development Of Personal Protective Equipment Products To Reduce The Impacts Of Machete Injuries For Indigenous Ngäbe Subsistence Farmers In Bocas Del Toro, Panama, Micah Koller

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Design and development of personal protective equipment products for workers using machetes (MPPE) is considered in the specific context of indigenous Ngäbe subsistence farmers in a small, rural community in Bocas del Toro, Panama where the author spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer from 2017-2019. People in this community regularly suffer significant health and economic impacts due to accidents with machetes, which are essential tools in their farm work and daily lives. The history, criticisms, and recent frameworks related to product design and development in resource-poor markets is examined, and specific details of the problem of machete injuries …

Evaluating The Approach Of Using Nox Control Performance Tracking For On-Board Diagnostics Of Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles, Renata Castiglioni

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

egulatory agencies have taken several measures to ensure proper regulation of engine exhaust in response to a yearly rise in urban pollution levels. This is due in no small part to vehicular traffic and resulting air pollution from exhaust.

This study evaluates the NOx Control Performance Tracking (NCPT) Onboard Diagnostic (OBD) parameter proposed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) as a tool to assess in-use heavy-duty vehicle performance. It also assesses the various criteria prescribed in the NCPT approach for applicability to real-world vehicle data.

In order to analyze the data, the study also investigated the effect of various …

Compositional Analysis Of Cerium And Cesium In Rapid Setting Cement As An Immobilization Agent For Nuclear Waste, Riyadh M. Motny

Theses and Dissertations

A feasibility of rapid setting cement (RSC) as an agent of immobilization for certain elements such as fission products or radioactive materials was explored. Cerium (Ce) and cesium (Cs) have been selected as a surrogate for U and/or Pu and fission products, respectively, in this study in three phases. In Phase I, RSC was evaluated for physical properties (e.g., porosity, density, pH values, etc.) using two groups methods—the cement powder at different concentrations of Ce (2 – 10 wt%) with deionized water (DIW) and artificial seawater (ASW). The results showed that the final setting time and compressive strength of RSC …

Differential Mobility Classifiers In The Non-Ideal Assembly, Thamir Alsharifi

Theses and Dissertations

The differential mobility classifier (DMC) is one of the core components in electrical mobility particle sizers for sizing sub-micrometer particles. Designing the DMC requires knowledge of the geometrical and constructional imperfection (or tolerance). Studying the effects of geometrical imperfection on the performance of the DMC is necessary to provide manufacturing tolerance and it helps to predict the performance of geometrically imperfect classifiers, as well as providing a calibration curve for the DMC. This thesis was accomplished via studying the cylindrical classifier and the parallel plate classifier. The numerical model was built using the most recent versions of COMSOL Multiphysics^{® …}

Reduction Of Nox Emissions In A Single Cylinder Diesel Engine Using Sncr With In-Cylinder Injection Of Aqueous Urea, Anthony Timpanaro

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The subject of this study is the effect of in-cylinder selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) of NO_x emissions in diesel exhaust gas by means of direct injection of aqueous urea ((NH₂)₂CO) into the combustion chamber. A single cylinder diesel test engine was modified to accept an electronically controlled secondary common rail injection system to deliver the aqueous urea directly into the cylinder during engine operation.

Direct in-cylinder injection was chosen in order to ensure precise delivery of the reducing agent without the risk of any premature reactions taking place. Unlike direct in-cylinder injection of neat water, …