Temperature determination of shock layer using spectroscopic techniques

Shock layer temperature profiles are obtained through analysis of radiation from shock layers produced by a blunt body inserted in an arc jet flow. Spectral measurements of N2(+) have been made at 0.5 inch, 1.0 inch, and 1.4 inches from the blunt body. A technique is developed to measure the vibrational and rotational temperatures of N2(+). Temperature profiles from the radiation layers show a high temperature near the shock front and decreasing temperature near the boundary layer. Precise temperature measurements could not be made using this technique due to the limited resolution. Use of a high resolution grating will help to make a more accurate temperature determination. Laser induced fluorescence technique is much better since it gives the scope for selective excitation and a better spacial resolution

A Review on Application of Model Based Systems Engineering to Manufacturing and Production Engineering Systems

Increasing complexity in today’s manufacturing and production industry due to the need for higher flexibility and competitiveness is leading to inconsistencies in the iterative exchange loops of the system design process. To address these complexities and inconsistencies, an ongoing industry trend for organizations to make a transition from document-centric principles and applications to being model-centric is observed. In this paper, a literature review is presented highlighting the current need for an industry-wide transition from document-centric systems engineering to Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). Further, investigating the tools and languages used by the researchers for facilitating the transition to and the integration of MBSE approach, we identify the most commonly used tools and languages to highlight the applicability of MBSE in the manufacturing and production industry

A Machine Vision Based Automated Quality Control System for Product Dimensional Analysis

Quality control (QC) in manufacturing processes is critical to ensuring consumers receive products with proper functionality and reliability. Faulty products can lead to additional costs for the manufacturer and damage trust in a brand. A growing trend in QC is the use of machine vision (MV) systems because of their noncontact inspection, high repeatability, and relatively low cost. This paper presents a robust MV system developed to perform comparative dimensional inspection on diversely shaped samples, including additive manufacturing products. The algorithm used performs dimensional inspection on a base product considered to have acceptable dimensions. The perimeter, area, rectangularity, and circularity of the base product are determined using blob analysis on a calibrated camera. These parameters are then used as the standard with which to judge additional products. Each product following is similarly inspected and compared to the base product parameters. A likeness score is calculated for each product, which provides a single value tracking all parameter differences. Finally, the likeness score is considered on whether it is within a threshold, and the product is considered to be acceptable or defective. The proposed MV system has achieved satisfactory results, as discussed in the results section, that would allow it to serve as a dependable and accurate QC inspection system in industrial settings

Rapid Manufacturing of Critical Industrial Parts: A Method Based on Reverse Engineering, Rapid Prototyping, and Coordinate Metrology

This paper presents a method of rapidly manufacturing industrial parts that are critical to the production. In order to assist the Advanced Manufacturing industry, a senior project team at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) applied Rapid Manufacturing (RM) to manufacture or fabricate critical machine parts used to maintain production machines. Failures of parts and tools in industrial settings cost money and hurt output. Usually, the problem arises when the tooling being used is one of a kind and repair or replacements come with long leadtimes. Other problems are encountered when original part or tool engineering drawing is not available and costly redesign is needed. The RM process implemented through the senior design project successfully provide a method to address these issues. This method demonstrates the successful integration of 3D Scanning, Reverse Engineering, Additive Manufacturing (3D printing), and Subtractive Manufacturing (Computer Numerical Control) to address this critical problem in industries. A quality analysis is also carried out by the team using Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM). Also, discussed in detail in the paper are the pedagogical aspects of senior design project that includes the industry accepted CMM training and the subsequent internship in the industry

Quantitative Characterization of Complex Systems—An Information Theoretic Approach

A significant increase in System-of-Systems (SoS) is currently observed in the social and technical domains. As a result of the increasing number of constituent system components, Systems of Systems are becoming larger and more complex. Recent research efforts have highlighted the importance of identifying innovative statistical and theoretical approaches for analyzing complex systems to better understand how they work. This paper portrays the use of an agnostic twostage examination structure for complex systems aimed towards developing an information theorybased approach to analyze complex technical and socio-technical systems. Towards the goal of characterizing system complexity with information entropy, work was carried out in exploring the potential application of entropy to a simulated case study to illustrate its applicability and to establish the use of information theory within the broad horizon of complex systems. Although previous efforts have been made to use entropy for understanding complexity, this paper provides a basic foundation for identifying a framework to characterize complexity, in order to analyze and assess complex systems in different operational domains

LIF and emission studies of copper and nitrogen

A technique is developed to determine the rotational temperature of nitrogen molecular ion, N2(+), from the emission spectra of B-X transition, when P and R branches are not resolved. Its validity is tested on simulated spectra of the 0-1 band of N2(+) produced under low resolution. The method is applied to experimental spectra of N2(+) taken in the shock layer of a blunt body at distances of 1.91, 2.54, and 3.18 cm from the body. The laser induced fluorescence (LIF) spectra of copper atoms is analyzed to obtain the free stream velocities and temperatures. The only broadening mechanism considered is Doppler broadening. The temperatures are obtained by manual curve fitting, and the results are compared with least square fits. The agreement on the average is within 10 percent

Augmented Reality Integrated Welder Training for Mechanical Engineering Technology

The shortage of welders is well documented and projected to become more severe for various industries such as shipbuilding in coming years. It is mainly because welding training is a critical and often costly endeavor. This study examines the training potential using augmented reality technology as a critical part of welder training for mechanical engineering technology students. This study assessed the performance of two groups of MET students trained with two different methods. One group received training with the traditional method in three sessions. The second group acquired training initially with an augmented reality welding system for three sessions. Then, they were exposed to actual welding training. The results demonstrated that students trained using augmented reality had training outcomes that surpassed those of traditionally trained students. Lastly, the material cost impact of the augmented reality group was significantly less than that of the group with traditional welding training

UML Profile and Extensions for Complex Approval Systems with Complementary Levels of Abstraction

AbstractExtending the Unified Modelling Language (UML) version 2.0 with a profile and stereotypes that allow the modelling of an approval system with multiple levels, each with inherently dualistic complementarity, allows the high-fidelity characterization of the stacked levels of a real world approval hierarchy. The objective was to extend UML to model the complex, emergent and multi-level decision making which occurs within modern multi- disciplinary projects. At any level of abstraction, the logical and concrete processes of that level allow a consideration of local factors and decisions, generating and establishing a qualitative conclusion as the result. The high degree of certainly in the result creates the absoluteness of the qualitative conclusion, which can then be fed up or down one level of abstraction in order to take part in the local decision making at that level. The profile was applied to ground-breaking and ongoing engineering investigation concerning the expansion of a student busing system as it is proposed to be integrated into a city-wide busing system, where the student busing system can be considered to be a sub-system to the city-wide busing system, but in reality it is a self-standing, independent and complete system in its own right