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The exhaust system is an integral part of any internal combustion engine. A well- designed exhaust system efficiently removes exhaust gasses expelled from the cylinders. If tuned for performance purposes, the exhaust system can also exhibit scavenging and supercharging characteristics. This project reviews the major components of an exhaust system and discusses the proper design techniques necessary to utilize the performance boosting potential of a tuned exhaust system for a four-stroke engine. These design considerations are then applied to Arizona State University's Formula SAE vehicle by comparing the existing system to a properly tuned system. An inexpensive testing method, developed specifically for this project, is used to test the effectiveness of the current design. The results of the test determined that the current design is ineffective at scavenging neighboring pipes of exhaust gasses and should be redesigned for better performance.
ContributorsKnutsen, Jeffrey Scott (Author) / Huang, Huei-Ping (Thesis director) / Steele, Bruce (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The purpose of this project was to design a new railroad crossing for pedestrians and bicyclists in mid-block or urban areas. In order to develop a successful design, the needs of the railroad, the end-users, and the city governments were researched and converted into measurable engineering requirements. For the railroad companies, the most important need was a crossing that presents an effective barrier to users while a train is in the area. For bicyclists and pedestrians (the end-users), the most important need was for the crossing to be both reliable and easily accessible. For the city governments, the most important need was a crossing that is inexpensive yet sturdy. The approach to this project was similar to the approach used in many engineering design processes. First is the Introduction, which provides an overview of the issue and presents the full problem statement. Next is the Research of Prior Art, which details the past solutions to railroad crossings as well as the 3 E's of railroad crossing safety. After this, the customer needs are discussed in the Needs to Requirements section and the process of converting these into measurable engineering requirements is shown. Next, various conceptual design options are shown in the Conceptual Design section and a final conceptual design is chosen based on adherence to the stated requirements. This final conceptual design is then taken into the preliminary design phase and refined until it becomes the final preliminary design. After the Final Preliminary Design Description, the Project Conclusions and Recommendations are presented. Due to time and monetary constraints, this project ends after the preliminary design stage. Despite this, the conclusion of this project is that the final design presented here will be successful if additional resources are obtained to move it forward into the detailed design phase. For now, this project has come to a halt due to UP's reluctance to allow any additional railroad crossings in the Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona areas. It is recommended that city officials and bicyclist/pedestrian action groups continue talks with UP until they agree to allow additional crossings to be built that are geared towards non-motorized users.
ContributorsJones, Mitchell Drexel (Author) / Kuby, Michael (Thesis director) / Lou, Yingyan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The paper presents a new exhaust header design to replace the current design on Arizona State University's Formula SAE car. Also, the thought process of the design was presented as well as a method of analysis for tuning the exhaust headers. The equation presented was then compared with a computational fluid dynamics model using ANSYS Fluent. It was found that the equation did not match the timing of the CFD model. However, the design does allow for simple changes to be made in order to reduce the length of the exhaust and allow for the correct tuning. Also, the design minimizes interference between the individual headers which is ideal to increase engine performance. The exhaust meets the Formula SAE regulations, and is designed to fit in the new chassis for the FSAE car that ASU will run in 2015. Recommendations were also made to further improve the design and analysis model.
ContributorsKaashoek, Kevin Jason (Author) / Huang, Huei-Ping (Thesis director) / Trimble, Steven (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
In this study, a scissor jack was structurally analyzed and compared to a FEA model to study the structure of the jack. the system was simplified to a 2D system, and one of the truss members was analyzed for yielding, fatigue, and buckling.
ContributorsLedalla, Aishwarya (Author) / Kosaraju, Srinivas (Thesis director) / Patel, Jay (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Immersion has become a key buzzword in the theme park industry, with many themed lands and attractions being designed with this objective in mind. This paper defines immersion through the concept of the ironic imagination and examines its role in theme park attractions. A literature review was first conducted to identify general design principles for the creation of immersive theme park attractions. Authentic settings that utilize all of the senses were considered first, along with a system of positive and negative cues for evaluating immersive experiences. The importance of simple and emotional stories was also addressed, before investigating the role that employees and guests play in an immersive attraction. Eight design principles were identified, and using these principles a blue sky design for an immersive theme park attraction was developed. An overview of the attraction is included and accompanied by an analysis of how the design principles were applied.
ContributorsWisnom, Scott Hunter (Author) / Roscoe, Rod (Thesis director) / Craig, Scotty D. (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
This paper presents the design of a pneumatic actuator for a soft ankle-foot orthosis, called the Multi-material Actuator for Variable Stiffness (MAVS). This pneumatic actuator consists of an inflatable soft fabric actuator fixed between two layers of rigid retainer pieces. The MAVS is designed to be integrated with a soft robotic ankle-foot orthosis (SR-AFO) exosuit to aid in supporting the human ankle in the inversion/eversion directions. This design aims to assist individuals affected with chronic ankle instability (CAI) or other impairments to the ankle joint. The MAVS design is made from compliant fabric materials, layered and constrained by thin rigid retainers to prevent volume increase during actuation. The design was optimized to provide the greatest stiffness and least deflection for a beam positioned as a cantilever with a point load. The design of the MAVS took into account passive stiffness of the actuator when combining rigid and compliant materials so that stiffness is maximized when inflated and minimal when passive. An analytic model of the MAVS was created to evaluate the effects in stiffness observed by varying the ratio in length between the rigid pieces and the soft actuator. The results from the analytic model were compared to experimentally obtained results of the MAVS. The MAVS with the greatest stiffness was observed when the gap between the rigid retainers was smallest and the rigid retainer length was smallest. The MAVS design with the highest stiffness at 100 kPa was determined, which required 26.71 ± 0.06 N to deflect the actuator 20 mm, and a resulting stiffness of 1,335.5 N/m and 9.1% margin of error from the model predictions.
ContributorsHertzell, Tiffany (Author) / Lee, Hyunglae (Thesis director) / Sugar, Thomas (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This thesis examines a variety of techniques implemented in modern senior design classes at Arizona State University with a special focus on the mechanical engineering senior capstone the traditional ABET capstone mechanical engineering capstone course, as well as the InnovationSpace Program. First, an overview regarding the growing profession of engineering and its relation to academic education is examined. Next, program and project overviews of both the capstone senior design course and the InnovationSpace are detailed, followed by a comparison of the two course's curriculum. Finally, key differences are highlighted, and suggestions introduced that might serve to improve both courses in the future. The senior design capstone course was found to lack accountability and diversity leading to a lack of innovative solutions. However, the course simultaneously succeeded in maintaining wellaccepted traditional engineer practices and documentation. The InnovationSpace program on the other hand provides accountability, diversity, and modern approaches to product development.
ContributorsKennedy, Patrick Bernales (Author) / Kuhn, Anthony (Thesis director) / Hedges, Craig (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Prosthetic sockets are a static interface for dynamic residual limbs. As the user's activity level increases, the volume of the residual limb decreases by up to 11% and increases by as much as 7% after activity. Currently, volume fluctuation is addressed by adding/removing prosthetic socks to change the profile of the residual limb. However, this is time consuming. These painful/functional issues demand a prosthetic socket with an adjustable interface that can adapt to the user's needs. This thesis presents a prototype design for a dynamic soft robotic interface which addresses this need. The actuators are adjustable depending on the user's activity level, and their structure provides targeted compression to the soft tissue which helps to limit movement of the bone relative to the socket. The engineering process was used to create this design by defining system level requirements, exploring the design space, selecting a design, and then using testing/analysis to optimize that design. The final design for the soft robotic interface meets the applicable requirements, while other requirements for the electronics/controls will be completed as future work. Testing of the prototype demonstrated promising potential for the design with further refinement. Work on this project should be continued in future research/thesis projects in order to create a viable consumer product which can improve lower limb amputee's quality of life.
ContributorsHolmes, Breanna Swift (Author) / Zhang, Wenlong (Thesis director) / Polygerinos, Panagiotis (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The main objective of this project was to continue research and development of a building integrated solar thermoelectric generator (BISTEG). BISTEG is a promising renewable energy technology that is capable of generating electrical energy from the heat of concentrated sunlight. In order to perform R&D, the performance of different TEG cells and TEG setups were tested and analyzed, proof-of-concepts and prototypes were built. and the performance of the proof-of-concepts and prototypes were tested and analyzed as well. In order to test different TEG cells and TEG setups, a TEG testing apparatus was designed and fabricated. The apparatus is capable of comparing the performance of TEGs with temperature differentials up to 200 degrees C. Along with a TEG testing apparatus, several proof-of-concepts and prototypes were completed. All of these were tested in order to determine the feasibility of the design. All three proof-of-concepts were only capable of producing a voltage output less than 300mV. The prototype, however, was capable of producing a max output voltage of 17 volts. Although the prototype outperformed all of the proof-of-concepts, optimizations to the design can continue to improve the output voltage. In order to do so, stacked TEG tests were performed. After performing the stacked TEG tests, it was determined that the use of stacked TEGs depended on the Fresnel lens chosen. If BISTEG were to use a point focused Fresnel lens, using a stack of TEGs could increase the power density. If BISTEG were to utilize a linear focused Fresnel lens, however, the TEGs should not be stacked. It would be more efficient to lay them out side by side. They can be stacked, however, if the energy density needs to be increased and the costs of the additional TEGs are not an issue.
ContributorsPark, Andrew (Author) / Seager, Thomas (Thesis director) / Margaret, Hinrichs (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Low back pain is a disorder which affects almost 80% of the American population at some time during their lifespan. Approximately, 90% of these episodes are resolved within six weeks to three months. As low back pain is usually a symptom of a medical condition; many cases cannot be given a definite diagnosis which renders the condition difficult to treat. The estimated annual cost for back pain treatment amounts to $50 billion, in the United States alone. Several devices have already been designed for low back pain assistance. However, in the majority, the main drawback appears to be the rigidity of the device, which limits flexibility and comfort. Soft pneumatic actuators have the potential to provide the appropriate applications for low back pain prior- and post-surgery rehabilitation purposes. In this work, the design and development of a soft robotic back orthotic device that has the capability to relieve back pain by assisting patients to fully achieve the upright position and stabilize the lumbosacral spine, is presented. Unlike conventional robotic assistive devices, this pneumatically actuated back orthosis provides dynamic support while being light weight, comfortable and cost affordable.
ContributorsGovin, Deven (Co-author) / Saenz, Luis (Co-author) / Polygerinos, Panagiotis (Thesis director) / Snyder, Laura (Committee member) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05