Vibration Testing of 3D Printed Design Prototypes for MME Courses and Design Projects

Project Title: Vibration Testing of 3D Printed Design Prototypes for MME Courses and Design Projects

Project Lead’s Name: Kumar Singh

Email: singhkv@miamioh.edu

Phone: (513) 529-0724

Please Choose the Primary Affiliation: CEC

Are There Other Project Team Members?: No

Brief description of project: The availability of 3D printers in our department as well as at the University library is allowing our students to design and evaluate low cost design prototypes. For mechanical engineering students, the prototype design also needs to be evaluated against its dynamic performance such as harmonic and random excitation. In particular, in courses such as MME 315 (Mechanical Vibration), MME 436 (Control of Dynamic Systems), students have opportunity to explore dynamical characteristics of structures. In addition, a range of Senior Design (MME 448/449), independent studies and honors projects deals with dynamic characterization of their design.

In order to complement the teaching, research and project for dynamic analysis of design prototypes and structures, this project aims to acquire a mid-range the vibration exciter system from APS Dynamics Inc., which include a 400 N capacity long stroke shaker, an amplifier, auxiliary fixture table and stringers for point excitation.

This electromagnetic shaker is portable, can be move around for different project labs, and can be used for modal excitation of complex structures. The long stroke and high frequency range (0.5 - 200 Hz.) allow the frequency testing of small components and complex assemblies. They are capable of generating sine wave, swept sine wave, random or impulse force waveforms simulating harmonic, random and seismic excitation scenarios. Auxiliary table kit for mounting allows the specimen to be mounted in different direction either the vertical or horizontal motion configuration. This unit is compatible with the existing data acquisition hardware (d-Space, National Instruments Data acquisition board, piezoelectric accelerometers etc.), MATLAB/SIMULINK, as well as the LabView software environment. The MME students are familiar with these software/hardware environments from their previous course work in the curriculum. This unit will also satisfy the need of intermediate range exciter, which may also be utilized for vibration control research.

Does this project focus on graduate student education or graduate student life?: Yes

If yes, please explain: Although the primary users for this unit will be the undergraduate students in MME department. However, the graduate students can also be benefited from this unit in their graduate level course MME 615 (Advanced Vibration) and in their thesis research involving vibration analysis of their design prototype and complex structures.

Describe the problem you are attempting to solve and your approach for solving that problem.: For my research, the undergraduate and graduate students are developing design prototypes using 3D printing in the area of aeroelastic control and smart materials. The designs needs to be evaluated for their dynamic performances such as, the natural mode frequencies, shapes, damping ratios, and stress distributions. The vibration testing needs to be performed at various locations/environment. For example, testing needs to be done at wind tunnel for aeroelastic testing of mounted wing configurations. Vibration testing is also needed at manufacturing processes labs (environmental chambers) for evaluating the dynamic performance of smart materials. The existing large shaker in our department prohibits such a flexibility. With the acquisition of this mid-range portable shaker, the vibration experiments can be conducted at various project locations. This not only allows the flexibility for performing research projects but also facilitate a wide range of projects for the undergraduate and graduate courses (MME 315, MME 436, MME 615, MME 448/9 etc.).

The criteria state that technology fee projects should benefit students in innovative and/or significant ways. How would you describe the innovation and/or significance of your project?: A quick evaluation of design ideas at a low cost promotes the innovative thinking in students. This necessitates experiential learning and hand-on projects, which allows them to help bridge the gap between theory and application. For example, in my undergraduate course, MME 315, two of the learning outcomes are: (i) student should have an ability to identify, formulate and solve an engineering problem, and (ii) student should have an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data. To accomplish this students do group project and data analysis case studies. Due to the availability of 3D printing and with the acquisition of this shaker, the students will have an ability to test different design ideas for vibration performance and they can propose and evaluate innovative solutions for various vibration applications.

How will you assess the project?: The following project outcomes are targeted after the acquisition of this vibration exciter:

(a) Development of case study for students in MME 315 and MME 615
(b) The ability of students to evaluate the design for their dynamic performance
(c) Utilization of this instrument for capstone senior design projects, and other independent undergraduate and graduate research projects.

These outcomes will be reflected in the student assessments in evaluating the learning outcomes for the course (MME 315), in particular (i) an ability to identify, formulate and solve an engineering problem, and (ii) an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data. The number of students utilizing this equipment for their courses and the research projects will be tracked and its usage will be assessed.

Have you applied for and/or received Tech Fee awards in past years?: Yes

If funded, what results did you achieve?: I have used past tech fee award (FY 2013) in developing learning modules for my courses (MME 315 and MME 412) and incorporated experiential learning in a typical theoretical course. The utilization of apparatus acquired through tech fee proposals (Rectilinear vibration experiment and rotor dynamic module) can be seen in individual learning modules at this website:

http://comex.csi.muohio.edu/slide-view/dynamics-vibration-and-co ntrols/

http://polymodmw.csi.muohio.edu/?page_id=600

These learning modules which are developed using the past Tech Fee projects have been embedded with the course assignments. Moreover, they are also used for undergraduate and graduate thesis research.

Did you submit a final report?: Yes

What happens to the project in year two and beyond? Will there be any ongoing costs such as software or hardware maintenance, supplies, staffing, etc.? How will these be funded?: It is anticipated that this equipment will not have any costly maintenance. These units generally have a long life (5-10 years). The MME department will support the needed maintenance and software upgrade in consistent with the policy to support the lab activities in the department.

Budget: Hardware

Hardware Title(s) & Vendor(s): Vibration Exciter System, APS Dynamics, Inc.

Hardware Costs: $20,115.00

What is the total budget amount requested?: $20,115.00