Assembly time estimation is a key factor in evaluating the performance of the assembly process in an automated assembly process. The overall goal of this study is to develop an efficient assembly time estimation method by generating the prediction model from an experimental design. In order to estimate these times,...
Treatment of extrahepatic portosystemic shunts provides many options, including cellophane banding. These cellophane bands are secured with a ligation clip. Weck® offers two forms of these: the stainless steel Hemoclip, and the polymer Hem-o-lok. This in vitro study compares the mechanical strength of these two of types of clips by...
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...
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,...
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....
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
New materials with superior mechanical properties, such as increased strength and hardness, have been developed to allow for new and improved products. However, the mechanical properties that make these materials useful also makes them difficult to process using conventional methods. New machining processes need to be developed to generate products...
Human body flight is a relatively young sport with a largely undocumented history.
Human body flight is an umbrella term for any sport involving maneuvering one’s body in a
meaningful way through a column of relative wind. Human body flight includes skydiving,
which was the origin of human body flight,...
The Moderate or Intense Low-oxygen Dilution (MILD) combustion regime has received interest from the industrial furnace and gas turbine engine industries due to attractive properties of reduced NO[subscript x] emissions and high thermal efficiency. MILD combustion is characterized by low oxygen concentrations (i.e. 3%-9% by volume) and high reactant temperatures....
This thesis is the combination of two research publications working toward a unified strategy in which the design of complex engineered systems can be completed using a multiagent coordination approach. Current engineered system modeling techniques segment large complex models into multiple groups to be simulated independently. These methods restrict the...
Additive manufacturing (AM) is a relatively new manufacturing technique that can create high complexity parts out of many materials in low volume. The fused filament fabrication (FFF) is the lowest cost AM process and is capable of producing only thermoplastic components. Powder injection molding (PIM) is a high volume low...
Variations in heat treatments have significant effects on the microstructure of tool steels. For CPM-M4 tool steel, the changes in microstructure and mechanical properties were observed based off of variations in temperature. Five heat treatments with constant exposure time and variable austenitizing and tempering temperatures were performed on samples of...
Designing a carbon fiber chassis for the Global Formula Race car has historically proven to be both time intensive and difficult. The goal of this thesis is to improve the design process for testing Global Formula Racing team's composite chassis sandwich panels. Consideration was taken regarding Formula SAE rules, and...
Poor material utilization is inherent to conventional manufacturing processes, leading to high material waste and machining times. Additive manufacturing processes attempt to solve this issue by allowing production of near-net shapes, but the processes may be too expensive or infeasible. By leveraging both processes in a single part, the waste...