Prepreg is widely used in composite manufacturing with advanced composites such as carbon and aramid. The material is characterized by a degree of flexibility (drape) and stickiness (tack), which allows an efficient layup on molds with complex shapes. However, axial instability of compressed fibers during the molding process may occur,...
Vacuum arc remelting (VAR) is a secondary melting process for exotic alloys. The main purpose of this process is to increase the input ingot’s physical and chemical homogeneity. This is accomplished through the application of a high current that melts the material through the emergence of electrical arcs that induce...
Engineering applications often require fast, accurate solutions of fluid flow around freely moving bodies. The massive parallelism enabled by graphics processing unit (GPU) architecture enables high performance, offering a promising alternative to traditional solver acceleration via multicore central processing units (CPU). However, fully harnessing GPU parallelism requires specialized algorithms and...
Large-hydrocarbon fuels are used for ground and air transportation because of their high energy-density and will be for the foreseeable future. However, combustion of large-hydrocarbon fuels in a turbulent environment is poorly understood and difficult to predict. The turbulent flame speed, which is the velocity at which a flame front...
In order to more effectively design large, complex systems, risk must be accounted for throughout the design process. A systematic way to account for risk is by using system model simulation. During the conceptual design phase, functional models can be drawn to help the engineer design their system's functional architecture....
The goal of this project is to research an innovative rear wing design for Formula SAE and determine if the concept could be beneficial for automotive racing purposes. The research consists of three steps. First, sensitivity analyses using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation were performed on multiple configurations. Next an...
This research investigates shape optimization process, using b-spline models and panel methods, to achieve a high lift to drag ratio for an aerodynamic structure. This research is a proof of concept for further research in aerodynamic shape optimization. The coupled process, involving the design and optimization of a random shape,...
Chainsaws, an indispensable tool for modern forestry operations, rely on bar lubricant to prevent rapid wear of the chain and bar. Choice of bar lubricant must balance performance, cost, and biological impact. Many bar lubricants are available, but little published work exists that conclusively ranks the performance of these choices....
Composites often are able to carry more load after damage due to the structure of laminates. In addition, damage can be difficult to detect in composites compared to homogeneous materials. Understanding the behavior of composite material after damage is vital for composite structural design. Currently, experimental methods exist for classifying...
This study computationally and experimentally examines the mechanisms of crack penetration, deflection and the transition between penetration and deflection. The finite element analysis based computational modeling work used strength-and-energy based cohesive-zone approach to study the effect of dimensionless parameters (e.g., interfacial incident angle, fracture-length scale, and normalized toughness) on penetration/deflection...