Senior Design, Teams 240-260

Hugo Benzing specializes in producing fasteners for industries ranging from aerospace to fine electrical mechanics. During the manufacturing of C-shaped snap rings, metal wire is cut and annealed, which causes a burr to form on the inner edge of the ring. This burr must be removed only on the small-sized snap rings in a deburring and washing/oiling process that causes the rings to form large inner-tangled nested clumps together. The snap rings are manually untangled while packaged in counted quantities. The goal of the project is to create a prototype machine that can untangle the nested clumps of snap rings and keep them separate. Our team discussed the detangling method with system builders to create specifications and requirements of a true, fully functioning snap ring detangling machine for future use in production. We also conducted a financial analysis of the new process, ensuring it is affordable.

The US military has had an ongoing need to secure individuals of interest from fleeing or attacking vehicles. Our Senior Design team was tasked with the project of researching and developing a variety of methods for remotely stopping the vehicle without causing catastrophic damage or injuring the occupants. We generated a wide range of possible solutions and made a suggestion of an existing net-based wheel restraining technology as well as a vision denial strategy that we built and tested. This method consisted of drone-delivered fluid dispersion onto the windshield for daytime operations and use of powerful strobe lights for night operation.

An exhaust heat recovery system (EHRS) uses exhaust gasses and a heat exchanger to warm up engine coolant, helping warm vehicle engines faster when started. EHRS are most commonly found in the hybrid and heavy-duty vehicle market. Tenneco tasked our team with helping them create their own EHRS to become competitive in the automotive market. Our team’s job was to use a wax motor to design a thermal actuator and linkage to replace the electric actuator in Tenneco’s current EHRS prototype. Our system, using only coolant temperature as an input, controls the valve that opens and closes the EHRS to exhaust gasses. Our main design objective includes creating an actuator system of less than $10 for bill of materials that would last the lifetime of a vehicle, passively relieve backpressure in the EHRS, and seal the EHRS off to exhaust gas when the warm-up period had concluded. We met those objectives by creating a system with a piston, lever, and springs to convert the linear motion of the wax motor into rotational motion on the EHRS valve.

The performance of current magnesium alloys can be improved by increasing both their ductility and strength. Additions of cerium in magnesium can increase both of these properties through formation of a secondary Mg12Ce phase that promotes grain refinement through constitutional supercooling. Alloying with zinc has also proven to solid solution strengthen the magnesium matrix. If zinc and cerium are added to magnesium and the effects of cerium additions are limited to grain refinement, then both the strength and ductility will increase because the zinc will solid solution strengthen the material and the refined grains impede dislocation movement and activate additional slip systems in the magnesium matrix. In this project, we explored the impact of varying amounts of cerium and zinc on magnesium alloys with the intent of developing an extrudable magnesium-cerium-zinc alloy with an elongation of 25 percent and an ultimate tensile strength of 210 MPa.

Ductile iron foundries face difficulties with transitioning from traditional pearlitic ductile iron to solid solution strengthened ferritic ductile iron (SSFDI) due to the different carbon and silicon requirements. Increasing the allowable carbon equivalent for SSFDI will allow for production of both pearlitic ductile iron and SSFDI. We conducted trials with 3.3-3.7 wt% carbon and 3.43-3.57 wt% silicon to quantify the effect of carbon equivalent on mechanical properties of SSFDI and identify an optimal transitional composition for SSFDI that meets tensile strength, yield strength, and elongation targets per EN-GJS-500-14.

The present study investigates the incorporation of Be, Co, Li, Mn, Mg, Ni, and Si to A356 aluminum to develop a new cast-aluminum alloy with a target modulus of 80 GPa, starting from the characterization of binary master alloys. Eck Industries requested development of a higher-stiffness, cast-aluminum alloy with the following targets relative to an A356 baseline, due to their existing high-volume production of the alloy that will benefit lightweight applications. The elastic modulus is a property defined in the elastic region of a material’s behavior, and is closely connected to the stretching of bonds under load. Our team introduced lattice strain as alloying elements as substitutional or interstitial atoms to increase bond strength, and to determine if the formation of intermetallics could bond strongly with the host lattice, or could even form double or triple bonds that were shorter and stronger.

Through this project, our team sought to understand the differences between skin and core regions of high-pressure die-cast aluminum. The two regions have different microstructures as a result of the variation in cooling rate as a function of depth from the free surface. This creates a gradient change in the hardness that can be measured through nanoindentation to create a more accurate model for finite element analysis. Additionally, various heat treatments were studied to identify an optimal treatment that increases the hardness and tensile strength while preventing blistering.

Carbon has extremely low coefficient of thermal expansion and significantly higher strength at elevated temperatures compared to metals. Carbonized wood retains the well-organized cellular structure of wood, which provides a natural porous carbon preform for infusion of metals to form carbon-metal composites. Our team worked to determine a metal alloy that would significantly benefit from the improved properties of carbon and determine a process to create the desired metal matrix composite.

In the aluminum extrusion process, hot metal is forced through a die to form a two-dimensional profile. The die’s design affects the material properties of the extruded metal, but these effects are neither well understood nor statistically quantified. This lack of knowledge leads to manufacturers extruding at lower speeds or higher scrap rates than necessary. Our team examined the effects of two different dies on the final structure and properties of aluminum extrusions at different speeds. We quantify the effects of die design on material properties and propose an optimal die combination and extrusion speed for the most efficient manufacturing.

Magnesium serves as a new potential material for lightweighting in the automotive and aerospace industries, but due to its highly reactive nature, magnesium alloys that are more resistant to reacting have been of recent interest. United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) is looking for a magnesium alloy with reduced flammability that is also capable of being welded with to use in wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM). WAAM using magnesium alloys with reduced flammability will allow faster and cheaper prototyping of parts that are lighter and safe for consumers.

The purpose of this project is to create models that are capable of evaluating the effects of multiple energy modalities (mechanical, electrical, thermal) for the new generation of the Spetzler-Malis Bipolar delivery system (Spetzler-Malis Non-Stick Bipolar Forceps, Stryker). The data received from these models will be used to convince surgeons that the new generation is better and more advanced than the last. The model created will be capable of evaluating effects on both targeted and non-targeted tissue surrounding the point of energy application and will have both a physical component and a computational component. Both the physical and computational model need to emulate the effects that the forceps have on brain tissue and brain tumor ablation specifically.

Michigan Tech has an opportunity to reduce our electrical costs through Demand Response. Utilities must be able to generate and deliver the maximum amount of power that all customers need at any one time. Large commercial and industrial customers pay a ‘Demand’ charge based on their peak demand used at any one time during the month to offset the infrastructure needed to supply that demand. Demand response can benefit customers in two ways. A customer could shut off equipment or self-generate a portion of their power needs to minimize their maximum peak for the month. Michigan Tech could reduce our peak by better controlling HVAC equipment, or could run generators to shave the peak. MISO offers economic incentives to customers who are willing to reduce demand when asked, to help them better manage their system. Michigan Tech could potentially save between $100,000 and $150,000 per year by participating in demand response.

Satellite telemetry tags are currently being used by marine biologists and conservationists to track the migration patterns of whales in efforts to improve conservation practices. Our project aims to design a blubber-only implantable satellite tag with a longer retention time through a redesign of the tag and use of micro surface features.

We have been asked by Mercury Marine to develop a lost-foam style casting process that uses a 3D printed pattern instead of expanded polystyrene. Expanded polystyrene allows for complete part filling, but the cost and time required to create a new pattern out of polystyrene are much too high due to the pattern tooling. 3D printing patterns would eradicate the need for pattern tooling and reduce the time required to produce a pattern significantly.

Predictable lesion formation during radiofrequency (RF) ablation is a function of many factors and the subject of decades of research. Of specific interest to Medtronic is lesion formation in non-homogeneous tissues and structures, such as the knee and shoulder. We are challenged to develop mathematical models and physical model validation for such treatment scenarios.

Our team is taking part in the Fluid Powered Vehicle Challenge, which hopes to create an environment resulting in uncommon connections and breakthroughs. The challenge supports the learning and growth of fluid power industry knowledge through the combination of fluid power and human powered vehicles, in a competition which measures efficiency, power, and reliability.

Our team performed analyses, simulations, and/ or engineering calculations to estimate/predict the movement of the IPP cylinders and resulting stress/strain. We modified current or designed new test procedures to perform physical testing that can replicate these conditions and fabricate a physical test system.

Our team sought to obtain the forces exerted on the blades of a mechanical retractor system with real-time and data logging capabilities.

The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Tribal Hatchery is looking to install a sixth groundwater production well, a new walleye rearing pond, and rehabilitate an existing well for increased fish-rearing capacity. Our Well Design team focused on determining a location for the new well and designing it to provide water for the hatchery and the new pond. Our Pond Design team investigated a recommended location for the new pond by conducting a watershed assessment and designed it for fish-rearing. By analyzing groundwater movement, aquifer properties, and local lithology through fieldwork and modeling, our groundwater engineering project will increase production and performance at the Tribal Hatchery.

The MSE department utilizes an extrusion press to extrude aluminum alloy billets through a tool to produce a UP-shaped cross section to create a bottle opener part. The aluminum billet is first extruded into a “log” approximately 36 inches long, which is then heat treated to T6. Currently, the manual process of creating the UP bottle opener is to cut the “log” into one-quarter inch thick pieces, sand the cut faces, drill the key ring mounting hole, and deburr. This process has proven to be tedious and inefficient due to the amount of manual labor required for each individual product. The sponsor would like an automated process of cutting, preferably eliminating the sanding process of the cut surfaces and drilling the key ring mounting hole. The goal of this project is to feed the “log” in one end of the system and have the finished bottle opener parts delivered at the end of the process ready for deburring, anodizing, and engraving. This will save students and faculty a great deal of time when producing large quantities of the bottle openers.

DARPA has begun to initiate their “Ocean of Things” project, changing the way data is collected in the ocean. Instead of having a select amount of high-quality units deployed to be collected at the end of their use, the model is switching to thousands of low-quality devices that would remain in the ocean. Our team has worked to develop a low-cost, low-impact housing option for these buoys that uses galvanic corrosion of Al for controlled scuttling.