Single Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) is a forming process in which a fully clamped sheet is formed by a hemispherical ended tool that moves along a predefined 3D toolpath. The sheet is formed in a series of local deformations to reach its desired shape. Double Sided Incremental Forming (DSIF) includes...
Porous media are the materials containing void space or pores, where fluids and gases can pass through. Unsteady flows in porous media are encountered in many engineering applications and natural problems, such as CO₂ sequestration, high temperature nuclear reactor cooling, high efficiency combustion, chemical reactors, noise reduction on airplane trailing...
This research seeks to identify how changes in temperature and oxygen concentration in the reaction zone affects liftoff heights for moderate or intense low-oxygen dilution (MILD) combustion of a jet fuel and a surrogate fuel. MILD combustion offers a method of burning fuels with reduced CO and NOx production by...
Change initiatives have a 70 percent failure rate, but effective change is necessary if a company is to remain competitive. Current organizational change research around lean process improvement links unsatisfactory implementation results to organizational behaviors, but does not assess how individual cognitive characteristics affect successful lean implementation. Although a range...
This thesis outlines the development of new elastomeric materials and manufacturing processes for soft robotics. Specifically, this work describes the development of custom material formulations for use in additive manufacturing, additive manufacturing processing techniques for silicone elastomers, and multi-component additive manufacturing techniques. Material synthesis and processing is a gap in...
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems represent nearly half of building energy usage in the United States. Recent building regulations requiring increased air turnover within buildings will result in even greater air conditioning usage. To alleviate these concerns, membrane-based heat-and-moisture exchangers known as energy recovery ventilators have been developed to...
Due to global warming wildland fires are increasing in frequency and severity. In the case of wildland fires, the major modes of combustion occur include smoldering combustion and flaming combustion. Smoldering combustion occurs most commonly in porous fuels like peat, forest duff, and woody fuels, which are available in abundance...
Prediction and mitigation of chatter vibrations in machining operations and optimizing overall machining mechanics are crucial for achieving greater productivity and manufacturing efficiency. This thesis first explores effect of directional relationships on chatter stability in milling process. Based on the directional relationships, a geometry-based chatter stability index (CSI) is proposed...
Recent advancements in joining operations and additive manufacturing now allow complex metal parts to be built up from raw materials, as opposed to being machined down from solid blocks. This not only opens up the design space, but also allows for much more efficient manufacturing. By decomposing a complex part...
In 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began requiring many hospitals in the United States to randomly survey patients who had stayed at least one night in the hospital. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey provides hospitals with valuable performance measurement data built...
Due to their viscoelastic properties, polymers and hydrogels are widely used in many applications. In this study, the viscoelastic properties of elastomer polymers were investigated for a series of hydrogel, hydrogel composites and silicon materials. A primary application for hydrogels and hydrogel composites is as a replacement for the degenerated...
As manufacturing advancements continue to develop, designers must be able to consider these technologies during the design process. Unfortunately, many of these new technologies, such as additive and advanced joining, have many nuances that require expert knowledge to effectively apply. Additionally, new design techniques, such as topology optimization, allow users...
Fe25Co25Ni25Cr25-XMoX High Entropy Alloys were fabricated in mini arc-melter and then cast into 4mm diameter cylinders by injection casting technique and 1cm diameter cylinders by water quenching technique. Heat transfer modeling during solidification of FeCoNiCr HEA was simulated. Combining X-Ray Diffraction, Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscope, Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis,...
This work explores a framework for the gathering and analysis of information rich customer needs, with the goal of informing inclusive product design practice. The goal is to be able to provide information and experience to designers so that they can better understand the needs of exceptional users and include...
Existing studies on industrial heat demand have shown that more than 50% of the industrial process heat demand is in the range of low (<60 °C), medium (60-150 °C), and medium-high (<250 °C) temperatures. Most of the manufacturing industries across the world depend on combustion of carbon-based fossil fuels, either...
This dissertation focuses on defining underlying mechanisms to enable the bio-inspired design of aerodynamic and/or hydrodynamic vehicles that operate within complex environments. This dissertation introduces four overarching research gaps found in current bio-inspired design research and four corresponding approach questions that guide the framework of the presented research. This research...
Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) require the use of a highly reversible anode. To form this anode carbon nanofibers and nanocrystals are derived from cellulose nanofibers, cellulose nanocrystals, and bacterial nanocellulose. The primary structure of the cellulose nanofibers is maintained when carbonized allowing for high surface area in the structure. The carbon...
Chain saws are a common tool used by large logging corporations and family homesteads to manage forests, limb trees and buck lumber. A significant cost of operation is the continuous required supply of bar and chain oil. Consumers and logging corporations desire a lubricant with a high performance to cost...
As a way to improve safety and economics, one area of research and commercialization of new nuclear power plants has focused on the development of small modular reactors (SMRs). NuScale Power has developed a 50 MWe natural convection cooling SMR coupled with a regenerative Rankine cycle. Current estimates place the...
Simulations of combustion and reacting flows often encounter stiffness in the equations governing chemical kinetics. Explicit solvers for these ordinary differential equations offer low computational expense, but typically cannot efficiently handle stiff systems. In contrast, implicit methods demand greater expense but offer unconditional stability—as a result, most reactive-flow solvers rely...