This document presents the design of a measurement device using accelerometers to analyze the behavior of railroad gladhand assemblies used for connecting air brake hoses. The goal is to help Union Pacific quantify peak forces and torques that cause gladhands to detach during operation. The preliminary design proposes using six 3-axis accelerometers - three placed on each gladhand assembly to record acceleration data, from which forces and torques can be calculated. Key challenges addressed include choosing between accelerometers and torque meters, and determining the optimal accelerometer configuration and placement on the gladhand assembly.
The formula cars need high tire grip on racing challenge by reducing rolling displacement at corner or
double change lands. In this case study, the paper clarifies some issues related to suspension system with
inerter to reduce displacement and rolling angle under impact from road disturbance on Formula SAE
Car. We propose some new designs, which have an advance for suspension system by improving dynamics.
We optimize design of model based on the minimization of cost functions for roll dynamics, by reducing the
displacement transfer and the energy consumed by the inerter. Base on a passive suspension model that we
carried out quarter-car and half-car model for different parameters which show the benefit of the inerter.
The important advantage of the proposed solution is its integration a new mechanism, the inerter, this
system can increase advance in development and have effects on the vehicle dynamics in stability vehicle.
Optimization of design of mixed flow centrifugal pump impeller using cfdeSAT Journals
Abstract
Centrifugal pumps are widely used hydraulic machines, irrespective of the fact that their performance is generally not very good. So, turning them into more efficient machines is quite a challenge. The performance of a centrifugal pump is highly dependent on its geometrical parameters and its vane profile. In order to analyze the flow through complex systems like centrifugal pumps, Computation fluid dynamics (CFD) has been used. This work aims to study the performance analysis of a centrifugal mixed flow pump designed to deliver 0.25 m3/s of water with a head of 20 m at a speed of 1450 rpm using ANSYS CFX (ver.14.0). PTC Creo (ver. 2.0) has been used to model the pump unit. The performance of the pump was first determined using the existing vane angles and thickness of the blade then, the inlet vane angle, the outlet vane angle along with the thickness of the blade has been varied to analyze the pump’s performance . The results show that for an initial inlet angle 21.08˚, outlet angle 16.28˚ and blade thickness as 10mm, the efficiency of the pump was 84%. However, the efficiency of pump rises to 89.19% for the optimized angles and blade thickness.
Energy-Efficient Driving in the Portuguese Rail Operation (MSc. Dissertation ...João Vieira
The main share of energy consumption in railways consists of traction energy, i.e., energy required to move the trains. The amount of energy consumed is much influenced by the way the train is driven within schedule. As each driver has its own driving style and since the deduction of the energy-efficient driving strategy is not trivial, there are now available Driving Advice Systems to assist drivers in choosing the most energy-efficient actions.
The aim of this study was to develop an energy-efficient driving model in order to derive, for a given route and running time, an energy-efficient speed profile. The driving model was used to build efficient driving strategies for regional and inter-regional rail services in the Douro line. The model’s energy saving potential evaluation was done by using a train-running simulator in order to compare the driver’s actions and speed profiles of real cases with the most efficient driving strategies for the same situations. The simulation results point to an energy saving potential between 11 and 15%, just by changing the driving style.
Finally, a Driver Advice System prototype was developed, in order to assist the driver in adopting an efficient driving strategy. The prototype has been developed for the Android platform, to be implemented in a low-cost equipment, such as a tablet, equipped with GPS receiver.
The formula cars need high tire grip on racing challenge by reducing rolling displacement at corner or
double change lands. In this case study, the paper clarifies some issues related to suspension system with
inerter to reduce displacement and rolling angle under impact from road disturbance on Formula SAE
Car. We propose some new designs, which have an advance for suspension system by improving dynamics.
We optimize design of model based on the minimization of cost functions for roll dynamics, by reducing the
displacement transfer and the energy consumed by the inerter. Base on a passive suspension model that we
carried out quarter-car and half-car model for different parameters which show the benefit of the inerter.
The important advantage of the proposed solution is its integration a new mechanism, the inerter, this
system can increase advance in development and have effects on the vehicle dynamics in stability vehicle.
Optimization of design of mixed flow centrifugal pump impeller using cfdeSAT Journals
Abstract
Centrifugal pumps are widely used hydraulic machines, irrespective of the fact that their performance is generally not very good. So, turning them into more efficient machines is quite a challenge. The performance of a centrifugal pump is highly dependent on its geometrical parameters and its vane profile. In order to analyze the flow through complex systems like centrifugal pumps, Computation fluid dynamics (CFD) has been used. This work aims to study the performance analysis of a centrifugal mixed flow pump designed to deliver 0.25 m3/s of water with a head of 20 m at a speed of 1450 rpm using ANSYS CFX (ver.14.0). PTC Creo (ver. 2.0) has been used to model the pump unit. The performance of the pump was first determined using the existing vane angles and thickness of the blade then, the inlet vane angle, the outlet vane angle along with the thickness of the blade has been varied to analyze the pump’s performance . The results show that for an initial inlet angle 21.08˚, outlet angle 16.28˚ and blade thickness as 10mm, the efficiency of the pump was 84%. However, the efficiency of pump rises to 89.19% for the optimized angles and blade thickness.
Energy-Efficient Driving in the Portuguese Rail Operation (MSc. Dissertation ...João Vieira
The main share of energy consumption in railways consists of traction energy, i.e., energy required to move the trains. The amount of energy consumed is much influenced by the way the train is driven within schedule. As each driver has its own driving style and since the deduction of the energy-efficient driving strategy is not trivial, there are now available Driving Advice Systems to assist drivers in choosing the most energy-efficient actions.
The aim of this study was to develop an energy-efficient driving model in order to derive, for a given route and running time, an energy-efficient speed profile. The driving model was used to build efficient driving strategies for regional and inter-regional rail services in the Douro line. The model’s energy saving potential evaluation was done by using a train-running simulator in order to compare the driver’s actions and speed profiles of real cases with the most efficient driving strategies for the same situations. The simulation results point to an energy saving potential between 11 and 15%, just by changing the driving style.
Finally, a Driver Advice System prototype was developed, in order to assist the driver in adopting an efficient driving strategy. The prototype has been developed for the Android platform, to be implemented in a low-cost equipment, such as a tablet, equipped with GPS receiver.
Design and analysis of x y- positioning stage based on redundant parallel li...eSAT Journals
Abstract This paper presents the concept of a planar positioning stage based on a kinematically redundant parallel linkage. Basic kinematics and workspace analysis of base redundant manipulator is initially explained and the procedure of static analysis to predict the actuated joint torques is described. As there are six actuators in the linkage, the redundancy can be overcome by proper selection of the base joint variables. Also it is assumed that the motion is at a constant speed. A numerical example is shown with a straight line trajectory to illustrate the workspace and joint force calculation aspects of this linkage. The possible arrangement of the stage with electrostatic actuation and sensing are finally highlighted. Keywords: Kinematic redundancy, Parallel mechanism, Static analysis, and Workspace characteristics
Modeling, Simulation and Body Height Adjustment Control of Full Car Laterally...IRJESJOURNAL
Abstract:- In this paper, the working principles, the dynamic performance, and the static characteristics of full car interconnected air suspension are investigated and verified using established real physical test benches and simulations. Also, the physical and mathematical models of the suspension are established to help study the vehicle‟s roll, pitch, bounce and other relevant motions. PID and Fuzzy controllers are built using matlab/simulink to simulate and control the body vertical height adjustment of the interconnected air suspension. Two two-dimensional fuzzy controllers are applied respectively to control the front and rear air springs. To improve height adjustment precision, a target height of 20 mm is used as input to the front controller; while the actual body height in front air spring is used as an input to the rear controller. The results of the simulation clearly demonstrate that compared with the open-loop switch control, PID and fuzzy controllers are found to effectively suppress the overshoot during the process of body height adjustment. Again, by setting the front wheels as the target height, the designed controllers quickly and accurately adjust body height to the target height and significantly stabilized and improved the performance of the system as compared to the openloop switch control.
Comparative analysis of FACTS controllers by tuning employing GA and PSOINFOGAIN PUBLICATION
Stability exploration has drawn more attention in contemporary research for huge interconnected power system. It is a complex frame to describe the behaviour of system, hence it can create an overhead for modern computer to analyse the power system stability. The preliminary design and optimization can be achieved by low order liner model. In this paper, the design problems of SMIB-GPSS and SMIB-MBPSS are considered to compare the performance of PSO and GA optimization algorithms. The performance of both optimization techniques are then compared further. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach to improve the power system stability
Development and Implementation of a Washout Algorithm for a 6-dof Motion Plat...IJRES Journal
Flight simulators for pilot training is extremely important due safety and economic factors.
Flight simulator needs to simulate different kinds of complicated motion state such as roll, pitch and yaw
angles. It has six-degree of freedom, high precision, high rigid, modular design and many other advantages. The
motion system responds to the aircraft linear and angular accelerations in order to compute the most
appropriate cabin motion to replicate these accelerations, subject to the displacement limits and the velocity
limits of the actuators. The cabin accelerations are filtered in order to compute the most appropriate cabin
motion to replicate the actual airplane accelerations. This paper developed and implemented a motion washout
algorithm that can enhance the fidelity of motion platform and the cabin motion never exceeds the mechanical
limits of the motion platform, particularly the maximum actuator displacements and the maximum actuator
velocities.
Drag Reduction of Front Wing of an F1 Car using Adjoint Optimisationyasirmaliq
The Project Poster summarizes the aims and objectives of the Final Year Dissertation. The project starts with a detailed study on the parameters that tend to affect the performance of front wings of an F1 car and goes through designing the front wings(3) with endplates and wheel, meshing it, solving/analysing the flow and finally optimising the selected geometry using Fluent Adjoint Solver for efficient performance.
Adjoint optimisation technique is used to achieve optimal performance from the front wings. It's the most successful shape optimisation method as it's independent of the number of design variables exponentially reducing computational time and cost. The emphasis has been put on optimising the shape of the front wings using the Adjoint method as it’s the most efficient and computationally inexpensive method for design optimisation. The approach towards shape optimisation is downforce constrained drag minimization as it would result in keeping a constraint on downforce and reducing the drag at the same time, thus producing optima for a given downforce/drag value.
The performance evaluation is one of most important issues in the analysis and design of parallel manipulators.
Characteristics such as manipulability and minimum singular value are used to determine the performance of the manipulators. The performance indices are used to eliminate the singularity and it’s near configurations. In this paper 6-UPS spatial parallel manipulator is considered and its performance indices such as condition number, manipulability and minimum singular value are determined for different structures.
Modeling and simulation of vehicle windshield wiper system using h infinity l...Mustefa Jibril
Vehicle windshield wiper system increases the driving safety by contributing a clear shot viewing to the
driver. In this paper, modelling, designing and simulation of a vehicle windshield wiper system with robust control
theory is done successfully. H loop shaping and robust pole placement controllers are used to improve the
wiping speed by tracking a reference speed signals. The reference speed signals used in this paper are step and sine
wave signals. Comparison of the H loop shaping and robust pole placement controllers based on the two
reference signals is done and convincing results have been obtained. Finally the comparative results prove the
effectiveness of the proposed H Loop Shaping controller to improve the wiping mechanism for the given two
reference signals.
Cfd Studies of Two Stroke Petrol Engine ScavengingIJERA Editor
This project deals with the numerical analysis of 2 stroke engine scavenging in two cases. One with an existing condition (Flat headed pistons) and another with a new design (Dome headed piston) .The numerical analysis is done with help of CFD software ANSYS FLUENT 14.5. Here, the modeling of engine piston with flat headed type and with dome headed types was done in workbench. In ANSYS FLUENT after the geometrical design, for the dynamic motion meshing is used and set up species transport model also. At first the scavenging effect of flat headed piston is analyzed. Later the simulation of piston with dome headed type was also checked. Analyzing the variations from each and selected the best method for scavenging. Finally the scavenging efficiency is calculated for both type arrangements.
The effect of rotational speed variation on the velocity vectors in the singl...IOSR Journals
The current investigation is aimed to simulate the three-dimensional complex internal flow in a
centrifugal pump impeller with five twisted blades by using a specialized computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
software ANSYS /FLUENT 14code with a standard k-ε two-equation turbulence model.
A single blade passage will be modeled to give more accurate results for velocity vectors on (blade, hub, and
shroud). The potential consequences of velocity vectors associated with operating a centrifugal compressor in
variable rotation speed.
A numerical three-dimensional, through flow calculations to predict velocity vectors through a
centrifugal pump were presented to examined the effect of rotational speed variation on the velocity vectors of
the centrifugal pump . The contours of the velocity vectors of the blade, hub, and shroud indicates low velocity
vectors in the suction side at high rotational speed (over operation limits )and the velocity vectors increases
gradually until reach maximum value at the leading edge (2.63×10 m/s) of the blade
Analytical Evaluation of Generalized Predictive Control Algorithms Using a Fu...inventy
Research Inventy : International Journal of Engineering and Science is published by the group of young academic and industrial researchers with 12 Issues per year. It is an online as well as print version open access journal that provides rapid publication (monthly) of articles in all areas of the subject such as: civil, mechanical, chemical, electronic and computer engineering as well as production and information technology. The Journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence. Papers will be published by rapid process within 20 days after acceptance and peer review process takes only 7 days. All articles published in Research Inventy will be peer-reviewed.
The effect of rotational speed variation on the static pressure in the centri...IOSR Journals
The current investigation is aimed to simulate the three-dimensional complex internal flow in a
centrifugal pump impeller with five twisted blades by using specialized computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
software ANSYS /FLUENT 14code with a standard k-ε two-equation turbulence model.
A single blade passage will be modeled to give more accurate results for static pressure contours on (blade,
hub, and shroud). The potential consequences of static pressure associated with operating a centrifugal
compressor in variable rotation speed.
A numerical three-dimensional, through flow calculations to predict static pressure through a
centrifugal pump were presented to examined the effect of rotational speed variation on the static pressure of
the centrifugal pump . The contours of the static pressure of the blade, hub, and shroud indicates negative low
static pressure in the suction side at high rotational speed (over operation limits )and the static pressure
increases gradually until reach maximum value at the leading edge (6×105 Pa) of the blade.
Design and analysis of x y- positioning stage based on redundant parallel li...eSAT Journals
Abstract This paper presents the concept of a planar positioning stage based on a kinematically redundant parallel linkage. Basic kinematics and workspace analysis of base redundant manipulator is initially explained and the procedure of static analysis to predict the actuated joint torques is described. As there are six actuators in the linkage, the redundancy can be overcome by proper selection of the base joint variables. Also it is assumed that the motion is at a constant speed. A numerical example is shown with a straight line trajectory to illustrate the workspace and joint force calculation aspects of this linkage. The possible arrangement of the stage with electrostatic actuation and sensing are finally highlighted. Keywords: Kinematic redundancy, Parallel mechanism, Static analysis, and Workspace characteristics
Modeling, Simulation and Body Height Adjustment Control of Full Car Laterally...IRJESJOURNAL
Abstract:- In this paper, the working principles, the dynamic performance, and the static characteristics of full car interconnected air suspension are investigated and verified using established real physical test benches and simulations. Also, the physical and mathematical models of the suspension are established to help study the vehicle‟s roll, pitch, bounce and other relevant motions. PID and Fuzzy controllers are built using matlab/simulink to simulate and control the body vertical height adjustment of the interconnected air suspension. Two two-dimensional fuzzy controllers are applied respectively to control the front and rear air springs. To improve height adjustment precision, a target height of 20 mm is used as input to the front controller; while the actual body height in front air spring is used as an input to the rear controller. The results of the simulation clearly demonstrate that compared with the open-loop switch control, PID and fuzzy controllers are found to effectively suppress the overshoot during the process of body height adjustment. Again, by setting the front wheels as the target height, the designed controllers quickly and accurately adjust body height to the target height and significantly stabilized and improved the performance of the system as compared to the openloop switch control.
Comparative analysis of FACTS controllers by tuning employing GA and PSOINFOGAIN PUBLICATION
Stability exploration has drawn more attention in contemporary research for huge interconnected power system. It is a complex frame to describe the behaviour of system, hence it can create an overhead for modern computer to analyse the power system stability. The preliminary design and optimization can be achieved by low order liner model. In this paper, the design problems of SMIB-GPSS and SMIB-MBPSS are considered to compare the performance of PSO and GA optimization algorithms. The performance of both optimization techniques are then compared further. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach to improve the power system stability
Development and Implementation of a Washout Algorithm for a 6-dof Motion Plat...IJRES Journal
Flight simulators for pilot training is extremely important due safety and economic factors.
Flight simulator needs to simulate different kinds of complicated motion state such as roll, pitch and yaw
angles. It has six-degree of freedom, high precision, high rigid, modular design and many other advantages. The
motion system responds to the aircraft linear and angular accelerations in order to compute the most
appropriate cabin motion to replicate these accelerations, subject to the displacement limits and the velocity
limits of the actuators. The cabin accelerations are filtered in order to compute the most appropriate cabin
motion to replicate the actual airplane accelerations. This paper developed and implemented a motion washout
algorithm that can enhance the fidelity of motion platform and the cabin motion never exceeds the mechanical
limits of the motion platform, particularly the maximum actuator displacements and the maximum actuator
velocities.
Drag Reduction of Front Wing of an F1 Car using Adjoint Optimisationyasirmaliq
The Project Poster summarizes the aims and objectives of the Final Year Dissertation. The project starts with a detailed study on the parameters that tend to affect the performance of front wings of an F1 car and goes through designing the front wings(3) with endplates and wheel, meshing it, solving/analysing the flow and finally optimising the selected geometry using Fluent Adjoint Solver for efficient performance.
Adjoint optimisation technique is used to achieve optimal performance from the front wings. It's the most successful shape optimisation method as it's independent of the number of design variables exponentially reducing computational time and cost. The emphasis has been put on optimising the shape of the front wings using the Adjoint method as it’s the most efficient and computationally inexpensive method for design optimisation. The approach towards shape optimisation is downforce constrained drag minimization as it would result in keeping a constraint on downforce and reducing the drag at the same time, thus producing optima for a given downforce/drag value.
The performance evaluation is one of most important issues in the analysis and design of parallel manipulators.
Characteristics such as manipulability and minimum singular value are used to determine the performance of the manipulators. The performance indices are used to eliminate the singularity and it’s near configurations. In this paper 6-UPS spatial parallel manipulator is considered and its performance indices such as condition number, manipulability and minimum singular value are determined for different structures.
Modeling and simulation of vehicle windshield wiper system using h infinity l...Mustefa Jibril
Vehicle windshield wiper system increases the driving safety by contributing a clear shot viewing to the
driver. In this paper, modelling, designing and simulation of a vehicle windshield wiper system with robust control
theory is done successfully. H loop shaping and robust pole placement controllers are used to improve the
wiping speed by tracking a reference speed signals. The reference speed signals used in this paper are step and sine
wave signals. Comparison of the H loop shaping and robust pole placement controllers based on the two
reference signals is done and convincing results have been obtained. Finally the comparative results prove the
effectiveness of the proposed H Loop Shaping controller to improve the wiping mechanism for the given two
reference signals.
Cfd Studies of Two Stroke Petrol Engine ScavengingIJERA Editor
This project deals with the numerical analysis of 2 stroke engine scavenging in two cases. One with an existing condition (Flat headed pistons) and another with a new design (Dome headed piston) .The numerical analysis is done with help of CFD software ANSYS FLUENT 14.5. Here, the modeling of engine piston with flat headed type and with dome headed types was done in workbench. In ANSYS FLUENT after the geometrical design, for the dynamic motion meshing is used and set up species transport model also. At first the scavenging effect of flat headed piston is analyzed. Later the simulation of piston with dome headed type was also checked. Analyzing the variations from each and selected the best method for scavenging. Finally the scavenging efficiency is calculated for both type arrangements.
The effect of rotational speed variation on the velocity vectors in the singl...IOSR Journals
The current investigation is aimed to simulate the three-dimensional complex internal flow in a
centrifugal pump impeller with five twisted blades by using a specialized computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
software ANSYS /FLUENT 14code with a standard k-ε two-equation turbulence model.
A single blade passage will be modeled to give more accurate results for velocity vectors on (blade, hub, and
shroud). The potential consequences of velocity vectors associated with operating a centrifugal compressor in
variable rotation speed.
A numerical three-dimensional, through flow calculations to predict velocity vectors through a
centrifugal pump were presented to examined the effect of rotational speed variation on the velocity vectors of
the centrifugal pump . The contours of the velocity vectors of the blade, hub, and shroud indicates low velocity
vectors in the suction side at high rotational speed (over operation limits )and the velocity vectors increases
gradually until reach maximum value at the leading edge (2.63×10 m/s) of the blade
Analytical Evaluation of Generalized Predictive Control Algorithms Using a Fu...inventy
Research Inventy : International Journal of Engineering and Science is published by the group of young academic and industrial researchers with 12 Issues per year. It is an online as well as print version open access journal that provides rapid publication (monthly) of articles in all areas of the subject such as: civil, mechanical, chemical, electronic and computer engineering as well as production and information technology. The Journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence. Papers will be published by rapid process within 20 days after acceptance and peer review process takes only 7 days. All articles published in Research Inventy will be peer-reviewed.
The effect of rotational speed variation on the static pressure in the centri...IOSR Journals
The current investigation is aimed to simulate the three-dimensional complex internal flow in a
centrifugal pump impeller with five twisted blades by using specialized computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
software ANSYS /FLUENT 14code with a standard k-ε two-equation turbulence model.
A single blade passage will be modeled to give more accurate results for static pressure contours on (blade,
hub, and shroud). The potential consequences of static pressure associated with operating a centrifugal
compressor in variable rotation speed.
A numerical three-dimensional, through flow calculations to predict static pressure through a
centrifugal pump were presented to examined the effect of rotational speed variation on the static pressure of
the centrifugal pump . The contours of the static pressure of the blade, hub, and shroud indicates negative low
static pressure in the suction side at high rotational speed (over operation limits )and the static pressure
increases gradually until reach maximum value at the leading edge (6×105 Pa) of the blade.
Presentación sobre el impacto del cambio climático en la Agricultura y la Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional, realizada en el marco de un curso de capacitación para asesores parlamentarios.
IJRET : International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology is an international peer reviewed, online journal published by eSAT Publishing House for the enhancement of research in various disciplines of Engineering and Technology. The aim and scope of the journal is to provide an academic medium and an important reference for the advancement and dissemination of research results that support high-level learning, teaching and research in the fields of Engineering and Technology. We bring together Scientists, Academician, Field Engineers, Scholars and Students of related fields of Engineering and Technology.
International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications (IJERA) is an open access online peer reviewed international journal that publishes research and review articles in the fields of Computer Science, Neural Networks, Electrical Engineering, Software Engineering, Information Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Plastic Engineering, Food Technology, Textile Engineering, Nano Technology & science, Power Electronics, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Computational mathematics, Image processing, Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, Environmental Engineering, VLSI Testing & Low Power VLSI Design etc.
IJERA (International journal of Engineering Research and Applications) is International online, ... peer reviewed journal. For more detail or submit your article, please visit www.ijera.com
Using of intelligent communicational devices in controlling road structural w...IOSR Journals
The goal of this paper is to state and evaluate the differences in gap acceptance observations
between left lane and right lane change, and experiment overall aggressiveness by the means of right lane
change behaviors and use of electrical instruments for reaching this goal, furthermore we use Digital Signal
Processing on our controlling cameras to be able to distinguish different behaviours of drivers. Also, in this
paper we evaluate the decision making process of drivers, we do this work with use of electrical sensors for
accumulating some data and clarifying and processing them and finally with use of cumulative distribution
functions of driver lane change behaviours from the observed field data. These experiments are performed for
drivers using I-20 in Grand Prairie, Texas with the roadside controlling cameras and some other electronical
controlling instruments which were amounted near the intersection of I-20 and Great Southwest Blvd. Our
experiments and evaluations demonstrates, that the whole ratio of right lane change observations to left lane
change observations was close to 3 to 1.
Design and manufacture of an angle adjustable crutch with kennedy key mechanismeSAT Journals
Abstract A crutch is a mobility aid that transfers weight from the legs to the upper body. It has been observed that users of walking aids require double the energy than the normal gait. Users experience a lot of stress at underarm and wrist while using standard underarm or forearm crutches which is the primary reason for pain and various medical complications. Therefore, a new design of crutch has been developed which allows the user to apply his/her weight over a larger area along the forearm instead of wrist and underarm. The primary objective of the study is provide more comfort to the end user of the crutch. The modeling of the new crutch design has been done using CAD modeling package (Catia). Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the design has been conducted using ANSYS to understand the stress behavior in the new model. The new crutch has been fabricated using aluminum alloy because of its properties like high strength to weight ratio and low density. The fabrication of the new crutch has been performed in such a way that it ensured the entire crutch can be disassembled easily thus making it easily transportable. The testing of the new crutch has been carried out using energy expenditure method to assess the comfort level of the user. Keywords: Finite element analysis, crutch, gait, energy expenditure method, CAD
Welcome to International Journal of Engineering Research and Development (IJERD)IJERD Editor
call for paper 2012, hard copy of journal, research paper publishing, where to publish research paper,
journal publishing, how to publish research paper, Call For research paper, international journal, publishing a paper, IJERD, journal of science and technology, how to get a research paper published, publishing a paper, publishing of journal, publishing of research paper, reserach and review articles, IJERD Journal, How to publish your research paper, publish research paper, open access engineering journal, Engineering journal, Mathemetics journal, Physics journal, Chemistry journal, Computer Engineering, Computer Science journal, how to submit your paper, peer reviw journal, indexed journal, reserach and review articles, engineering journal, www.ijerd.com, research journals,
yahoo journals, bing journals, International Journal of Engineering Research and Development, google journals, hard copy of journal
Aerodynamic Drag Reduction for A Generic Sport Utility Vehicle Using Rear Suc...IJERA Editor
The high demand for new and improved aerodynamic drag reduction devices has led to the invention of flow control mechanisms and continuous suction is a promising strategy that does not have major impact on vehicle geometry. The implementation of this technique on sport utility vehicles (SUV) requires adequate choice of the size and location of the opening as well as the magnitude of the boundary suction velocity. In this paper we introduce a new methodology to identifying these parameters for maximum reduction in aerodynamic drag. The technique combines automatic modeling of the suction slit, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and a global search method using orthogonal arrays. It is shown that a properly designed suction mechanism can reduce drag by up to 9%.
Design and analysis of hydraulic pallet system in chain conveyoreSAT Publishing House
IJRET : International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology is an international peer reviewed, online journal published by eSAT Publishing House for the enhancement of research in various disciplines of Engineering and Technology. The aim and scope of the journal is to provide an academic medium and an important reference for the advancement and dissemination of research results that support high-level learning, teaching and research in the fields of Engineering and Technology. We bring together Scientists, Academician, Field Engineers, Scholars and Students of related fields of Engineering and Technology
IJRET : International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology is an international peer reviewed, online journal published by eSAT Publishing House for the enhancement of research in various disciplines of Engineering and Technology. The aim and scope of the journal is to provide an academic medium and an important reference for the advancement and dissemination of research results that support high-level learning, teaching and research in the fields of Engineering and Technology. We bring together Scientists, Academician, Field Engineers, Scholars and Students of related fields of Engineering and Technology.
The kinematics analysis and trajectory planning of Series robotIJRES Journal
In this paper, a series robot as the research object, using theoretical analysis, numerical simulation method of
combining, to carry out the overall performance analysis and optimization of industrial robots trajectory. For serial
robot, kinematics modeling. The establishment of a first-order influence coefficient method based on
second-order influence coefficient matrix, kinematic and dynamic analysis of performance indicators based on
both Jacobin matrix and Hessian matrix, and the actual size of the work and working space agencies, institutions
initially selected size. Finally, institutional performance indicators for institutional map drawing performance,
combined with the flexibility and maneuverability determine the size of a set of different institutions in the
optimal configuration, and its feasibility through simulation. According to the geometric characteristics of the
surface complex surface fragmentation process, solve the optimal value speed and coating spray width of the
overlapping area on each patch.
Modeling and Development of Pneumatic Accumulating SystemIJMREMJournal
In the recent few years the quest for renewable energy has been increased. In developing countries like
Pakistan, energy crises are considered as critical problem for country’s economy. In this scenario there are two
possibilities either to improve the efficiency of energy conversion method or to discover new energy resources
i.e. renewable sources. Therefore, the main concern of this study is to develop an accumulating system which
can harness some amount of wasted energy of moving road vehicles. It has been found that road moving
vehicles are wasting huge amount of their potential energy. This wasted energy can be harvested by installing a
pneumatic accumulating system underneath the transient rout of moving vehicle, which can simulate wasted
energy for useful work. For the proposed system, mathematical model with governing equations is developed,
that shows efficient conversation of potential energy to the pressure energy. Developed model is programmed in
MATLAB for the real time comparison of output. It is observed that the proposed system is applicable to extract
wasted energy of road vehicle for useful purpose.
Modeling and Development of Pneumatic Accumulating SystemIJMREMJournal
In the recent few years the quest for renewable energy has been increased. In developing countries like Pakistan, energy crises are considered as critical problem for country’s economy. In this scenario there are two possibilities either to improve the efficiency of energy conversion method or to discover new energy resources i.e. renewable sources. Therefore, the main concern of this study is to develop an accumulating system which can harness some amount of wasted energy of moving road vehicles. It has been found that road moving vehicles are wasting huge amount of their potential energy. This wasted energy can be harvested by installing a pneumatic accumulating system underneath the transient rout of moving vehicle, which can simulate wasted energy for useful work. For the proposed system, mathematical model with governing equations is developed, that shows efficient conversation of potential energy to the pressure energy. Developed model is programmed in MATLAB for the real time comparison of output. It is observed that the proposed system is applicable to extract wasted energy of road vehicle for useful purpose.
Design of automatic navigation control system for agricultural vehicleeSAT Journals
Abstract The tractor automatic navigation technology is one of the hottest research fields of precision agriculture as well as a major means for realizing intelligent operating of agricultural vehicle in future. This paper presents a thorough research on GPS automatic navigation technology of agricultural vehicle considering that working conditions and field conditions for the tractor are complex and that there is a high requirement on the precision of the driving path of the tractor. Major contents of the research are as follows: The hydraulic control valve was selected by testing. A hydraulic control valve test platform specific to navigation was designed. The test platform can gather information about the flow and pressure of each measured hydraulic valve in a real-time manner. A navigation valve block was developed. Finally, the navigation valve block was used in electro-hydraulic transformation of model vehicle, realizing the control of electrical signal in tractor steering. A hardware platform for the automatic navigation system was built. A navigation controller based on ARM chip, the RTK-GPS positioning system and the angle sensor constitute the hardware platform of the autopilot system of the tractor. The hardware platform is the basis for realizing automatic navigation of the tractor. The navigation control algorithm was studied, pure pursuit model tracking algorithm were analyzed; the navigation decision-making control system based on the pure pursuit model tracking algorithm was designed; the kinematics model of the tractor was established. The pure tracking model has been simulated by MATLAB software, and the system has good stability and sensitivity. The experimental research on the automatic navigation system of the tractor was conducted. Based on the automatic navigation platform developed above, experiments on the control of the tractor walking straight at the flat road have been done. The results proved that the automatic navigation system has the capability of tracking the straight path of the tractor in a real-time and stable manner and meets the requirements of precision agriculture. Keywords: Automatic Navigation, Precision Agriculture, Steering Control System, Path Tracking
IJRET : International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology is an international peer reviewed, online journal published by eSAT Publishing House for the enhancement of research in various disciplines of Engineering and Technology. The aim and scope of the journal is to provide an academic medium and an important reference for the advancement and dissemination of research results that support high-level learning, teaching and research in the fields of Engineering and Technology. We bring together Scientists, Academician, Field Engineers, Scholars and Students of related fields of Engineering and Technology.
Selecting representative working cycles from large measurement data setsReno Filla
A tool has been developed that selects one representative cycle, or a set of cycles, from large measurement data sets based on a specified set of repetitive signals, possibly weighed in their importance. Three different computation methods have been developed and tested, all preserving physical correctness. These approaches are described in detail and compared in the paper.
Selecting representative working cycles from large measurement data sets
HoseAttachmentFinalReport
1. The University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Mechanical and Materials Engineering
MECH 447
Senior Capstone Project
Measurement Device for Hose Failure for
Union Pacific
Prepared for:
Union Pacific
Dr. Jung Yul Lim
Dr. Timothy Wei
By:
Ismail Al Hooti
Hamood Al Rhabi
Adam Elwood
Taylor Kerl
Layne Krahn
3. Executive Summary
__________________________________________________________________________
This report presents the design of a measurement device for hose connection failure for
Union Pacific railroad. Gladhand attachments for brake hoses experience peaking forces that
cause the hoses to come detached during service. The experiment uses accelerometers to
study and analyze the behavior of the system so that Union Pacific can acquire quantitative data
on the peaking force and torque that causes the gladhand assembly to separate. Ultimately, this
data can be used as a relatively low cost solution to analyze different gladhand designs against
each other in order to select the most robust design for adaption and integration into the
locomotive fleet.
The acceleration behavior is directly proportional to the force and torque behavior
through Newton’s second law and torque relationship. Because the gladhand and hoses are
nearly identical on each side, this simplistic approach will yield a direct measurement that can
be used to calculate the key metrics of the system. In this design, three tri-axis accelerometers
are placed on each hose, producing six total data points for full system characterization. An
accelerometer is placed on the approximate center of rotation on the gladhand itself, another on
the crimped clamp that connects the hose to the gladhand, and finally, one accelerometer is
placed on the hose to see how any impulse might propagate through the system. The
accelerometers are attached to the gladhand assembly using 3M Urethane Foam 4318 double
sided tape.
This report details the proof of concept for the peaking force measurement. This data
acquisition system is to be used in Union Pacific’s test laboratory for analysis of different
gladhand designs. The wireless transmission for the accelerometers however would allow for
2
4. eventual integration onto a hose system in service in the field should Union Pacific choose to
pursue such an experiment.
Project Statement
__________________________________________________________________________
Students from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln in partnership with a team from the
Locomotive Engineering and Quality - Mechanical branch at Union Pacific will develop the
design of an air hose attachment that will allow Union Pacific to measure the characteristics,
specifically torque and peak forces, that cause the attachments to come unhinged during
service. This design will be a part of the Mechanical and Materials Department capstone project
for the Mechanical Engineering curriculum.
Overall Goal
__________________________________________________________________________
The goal of this project is to design a test system to examine and analyze the behavior
of a gladhand assembly used as an air brake connection on Union Pacific trains.
Background
__________________________________________________________________________
Union Pacific train cars are equipped with an air pressure actuated brake system. The
system is pressurized by pumps located in the locomotive car. When cars are connected, the air
hoses passing from one car to the next are also linked together, pressurizing each braking
system. The type of connection used on the ends of each hose are known as gladhands.
3
5. Image 1: Brake hose assembly on train connection (Union Pacific, 2016).
Gladhands have a rotational locking design. This is used for quasi automation in hose
attachment and disconnecting during cars. The gladhands are designed such that they can
come together and mate when in the correct orientation. In the nominal service state on the cars
the gladhands are supposed to stay fully locked and connected.
Image 2: Gladhand connection when fully established and fully extension (right), and maximum
angle before peaking (left) (Union Pacific, 2016).
When the train cars are scheduled to separate, the gladhands will come
apart through a peaking operation through which they rotate about each other and separate.
During train operation the glad hands have been known to inadvertently disconnect. The
disconnection of even one link along the entire system will cause the brakes to engage on every
car. This means that the train operators will have to stop to find the faulty connection and
reattach it. This delay can cause shipments to be late, delays for other trains using the same
4
6. trackline, and overall loss of efficiency for the affected trains.
The main issue that Union Pacific is facing is the non-universal designs presented by
different gladhand developers. Different gladhand developers use different gaskets, gladhand
shape, and locking designs. Each company claims that their gladhands are more resistant to
peaking but so far Union Pacific has no way of measuring the peaking forces on new gladhand
designs. They are therefore unable to compare these different designs to select the best
gladhands for their trains.
Approach
__________________________________________________________________________
The team began by drawing a free body diagram of the gladhand system to break down
the forces acting on the system. By analyzing the free body diagram, three key metrics can be
seen acting on each of the glad hands; Axial force (Fx), Transverse force (Fy), and Moment (M)
acting on the center of the glad hand. Since the hoses and the glad hands are uniform on each
side, the mass is constant. The acceleration is then the only variable. When a train decelerates,
the join between two train cars compresses which will applies a large axial force on both side on
the gladhand assembly. Since the hoses are semi-rigid, the axial forces cause the center of the
glad hand assembly to lift up. This will apply vertical forces on the assembly that will cause the
gladhand to rotate and separate.
As a solution, we decided to use accelerometers to detect and characterize the behavior
of the hoses and the gladhands. There are two types of accelerometers: Angular
accelerometers and Linear accelerometers. Each type of accelerometer has its own pros and
cons. 3-axis linear accelerometers can be purchased cheaply and measure acceleration based
on orientation. On the other hand, the angular accelerometer measures the angular rotation of
5
7. the object during operation which makes it easier to measure the moment applied on the center
of the gladhands.
Using the characterizing behavior detected by the accelerometers, Newton’s second law,
and the following torque relationship:
in(θ)τ = F * r * s
where “r” is the distance from the center of rotation and “F” is the force obtained by multiplying
the recorded acceleration by the measured gladhand mass. As a result, this relationship can
help visualize and analyze the torque and force behavior of the hoses and the gladhands.
There are many options that can be considered in terms of efficiency, accuracy, and
cost. We narrowed this to three different setups to propose to Union Pacific. First, two linear
accelerometers used on each side of the assembly for a total of four linear accelerometers. This
layout will enable the accelerometer to characterize the system based on hose behavior and
clamp behavior. The benefit of this option is that the linear accelerometers are less expensive
than the angular accelerometers. However, this option is less precise when analyzing the
angular movement of the gladhands due to the accelerometers not analyzing the center of
rotation behavior. Second, one angular accelerometer used on the gladhand and one linear
accelerometer on the hose for a total of four accelerometers; one angular and one linear on
each side. This option is the more accurate option than option 1 since it uses the angular
accelerometer to characterize the glad hands rotational behavior and a linear accelerometer to
analyze the effect of the hose on the gladhand. However, it’s the most expensive option since it
uses both types of accelerometers and the angular accelerometer is very expensive in
comparison to linear accelerometer. Third, is to use six 3-dimensional linear accelerometers;
three on each gladhand. This setup will characterize the rotational behavior of the gladhands
more accurately and it will study the behavior of the hose on the gladhand too.
6
8. To help analyze the design concepts, a pugh matrix evaluation was performed to
determine which concept should be carried forward into our preliminary design. The analysis is
given in two iterations that are reflected in table 1 and 2 below.
Table 1: First iteration of the Pugh matrix analysis.
Table 2: Second iteration of the Pugh matrix analysis.
From these pugh matrices, concept 3 was chosen for our initial design proposal.
Our team performed Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) analysis for the
accelerometer to see how it aligned with axiomatic design principles and also to study the
modes that could result in failure. Table 3 shows this FMEA analysis. “The data is off with bad
results consequence” yielded the highest value of 336 RPN, which is where the failure is
7
9. expected. “The data is off with bad designs consequence” could also cause issues. Union
Pacific can use this data as a reference of issues to be cautious of. Moreover, the table shows
the causes that might lead to failure and the severity of each cause.
Function Failure Failure
Mode
Consequences Severity Causes Occurrence Detection
Method
Detection
Rating
RPN Actions
Recording
acceleration
data
Doesn’t
record
data
Data
points off
Bad Results 6 Bad
connection
8 Check 7 336 Regular
maintenance
Bad designs 6 Bad data 3 Reprogra
m
6 108
Not
recording
data
Test stops 5 Sensor off 3 Swap
out/reatta
ched
2 30
Too far
away from
receiver
2 look 3 30
Turned off Test stops 5 Switched off 5 look 1 25
Table 3: FMEA analysis of the accelerometers on hose experiment.
Key Challenges
__________________________________________________________________________
There were many difficulties faced by the group throughout the design process. In the
beginning, the team faced some misunderstanding of the proposed problem. The objective of
the project was not clear. One part of the proposal included the redesign of the gasket inside the
gladhands, while the force analysis tool was another. While one component plays into the
results of the other, the group went back and forth on which project was going to be tackled.
This caused some delays at the beginning. Eventually the decision was made to move forward
with the force analysis device to be used in the testing rigs to analyze various gladhands. The
8
10. idea is that if UP has a way to quantify peaking forces from different gladhand attachments, they
will be able to derive the best gasket and other component designs from those tests.
From there, choosing between two main ideas took a great deal of time. The first idea
was to use a torque meter to analyze the behavior of the gladhands. The second idea was to
use accelerometers to observe the behavior of the gladhand. The torque meter would provide
the advantage of directly measuring the torque output of the system. However, while
researching various types of torque meters it was discovered that mounting such a device would
be extremely difficult. The team considered a hand crimp type mechanism, but again ran into
mounting and orientation difficulties. The accelerometer would measure accelerations on the
entire system, from which force and torque could be derived using Newton’s second law and the
torque relationship equation. While this approach posed extra steps and further data analysis,
the simplicity and cost comparison to a torque meter attachment was alluring.
Eventually, the accelerometer was selected over the torque meter because it was less
intrusive and less restrictive on the system. After choosing to pursue the accelerometer method,
the team then had to decide which accelerometers to use and how to orient the accelerometers
on the test rig for the most effective data acquisition.
In addition to choosing the type of accelerometers, another challenge was deciding on
how to obtain the data from the accelerometers. This depends on the type of the accelerometer
because some accelerometers have a wireless receiver system that makes it easier for the
tester to gather data.
With the accelerometer method chosen for the approach to the solution, the team set out
to answer some of the key challenges posed with this method to develop a preliminary design to
present to Union Pacific. This design is expected to work sufficiently with a high likeliness of
achieving the goal of determining what causes the gladhands to separate.
9
11. Preliminary Design
__________________________________________________________________________
In order to fully comprehend the problem, Union Pacific gave our team a gladhand
assembly to use to try to further characterize the system. Having this physical model of the
system for the team to mentally deconstruct proved to be very valuable. Originally, the concept
of applying a torque meter to the apparatus was very appealing. Using a clamp to measure the
forces of the two hoses coming together causing rotation would be difficult, but possible.
However, as the team further broke down the problem, potential for a more simple approach
revealed itself.
Figure 3 shows the free body diagram breakdown of the critical system components.
Fx(t) represents the axial forces resulting from the hoses attached to the train cars coming
closer together and farther apart. Because of the nature of the hoses, as they move closer
together there is a resulting physical displacement in the Fy(t), transverse direction. This
displacement results in an offset in the transverse forces creating a moment about the center of
rotation of the gladhands. The team came to the conclusion that it was this offset of forces that
could be causing the gladhands to separate while in service.
10
12. Figure 3: Free Body Diagram of Gladhand Attachment.
When approaching the problem from this level, the solution to analyzing the forces did
not need to be a torque meter, but almost all of the system characteristics could be obtained
from the acceleration of the system. Because the gladhands are essentially identical on both
sides, the mass of the system is constant, and the forces can be obtained using Newton’s
Second Law, F=ma. If the acceleration of the system could be measured, the corresponding
forces are easily derived, and with sensor position information torque is also easily calculated.
In this case, accelerometers could be used for dynamic, real time data for the motion of the
gladhand assembly.
Once the conceptual design was completed, we proposed three accelerometer
configurations to Union Pacific to allow them to choose the ideal setup for their testing rig. After
11
13. discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each setup, the setup shown in Figure 4 was
agreed upon by both parties. This would be the foundation for our physical setup.
Figure 4: First proposed solution. Four 3-axis linear accelerometers
Figure 5: Second proposed solution. One central angular accelerometer.
Figure 6: Third proposed solution. One central angular accelerometer and two 3-axis linear
accelerometers.
12
14. Critical Design
__________________________________________________________________________
Once an accelerometer configuration had been agreed upon, we needed to find
accelerometers that would meet or exceed the requirements of our design. Ideally we would
need a 3-axis linear accelerometer that had a relatively high sampling rate. We chose to use the
Monnit Wireless Accelerometer - G-Force Snapshot because of their size, wireless transmission
capability, and their 3-axis functionality.
Figure 7: Coin cell accelerometer chosen for final design setup
We decided to use six total accelerometers to fully capture all aspects of the behavior of
the gladhand system during a test. One accelerometer would be placed on the midpoint of each
hose and one on each crimp that connects the hose to the gladhand. Two final accelerometers
would be placed on the center of rotation of each the gladhand assembly. Since the center of
rotation will move as one fixed entity until the gladhands fully peak and separate, only one
accelerometer is necessary here. This configuration can be seen below.
13
15. Figure 8: Final accelerometer configuration. 6 3-axis linear accelerometers
The accelerometers mounted on the hoses would give us insight into the effects of the
hose on the system. Since the peaking behavior is observed after the train begins to brake, we
suspect that the inertia in the hoses and the forces applied by the cars may cause the assembly
to bunch up and peak. Using the accelerometers to capture the behavior of the hoses will
provide useful insight into the cause of this peaking behavior.
Another critical point to observe in the system is the crimp used to join the hose to the
solid metal gladhand. We chose to use this point because the system is rigid from the center of
rotation to the mounting point of the accelerometer. The distance from the center of the
gladhand assembly can be measured and used to calculate the torque applied during peaking.
Collecting acceleration data from this point will allow us to calculate the opposing Fy(t) forces
that we believe contribute to this peaking behavior.
Our final critical point to observe is the center of rotation of the gladhand assembly. This
is an important point to collect data because any abrupt upward or downward acceleration at
this point could cause peaking if the hoses don’t follow this motion. We decided to use only one
accelerometer here because the center point should move together until the hoses fully peak.
This saves cost for the final setup.
14
16. Once we had chosen the type of accelerometer we wanted to use and where we wanted
to locate them on the assembly, we needed a way to fix the accelerometers to the assembly.
We decided to use double sided 3M Urethane Foam Tape 4318 to adhere the accelerometers
to the testing rig. This allows the accelerometers to be easily removed and reused between
tests. The foam tape can be cut into the 1.5” strips needed to adhere each accelerometer in
place. Foam tape is ideal here because it will conform to the curvature of the hose and
gladhand crimp. It will also conform to the irregular geometry of the glandhands at the center of
rotation.
Results
__________________________________________________________________________
The final gladhand placement is shown in figures 9,10,11, and 12 below. The gladhand
were numbered by their corresponding sensor ID for data tracking in the output tables. As
decided, one accelerometer was placed on the center of rotation, one on the clamp, and one on
the hose. Exact placements are given in table 4.
Figure 9. Left hose with the accelerometers.
15
17. Figure 10 . Right hose with the accelerometers.
Figure 11. Front view of the hoses with the accelerometers.
Figure 12. Front view of the gladhands with the accelerometers.
16
18. Black Grey
Sensor # ID Code Distance
From
center of
rotation
Sensor
#
ID Code Distance
from
center of
rotation
1 167845 IMFFUF 0 in. 4 167848 IMWHOR 0 in.
2 167846 IMKXSJ 4 in. 5 167837 IMQAVX 4 in.
3 167847 IMQPQN 11 in. 6 167844 IMZNWB 11 in.
Table 4. Specification of the sensors on both hoses.
Table 4 gives the sensor information and their respective distances from the center of
rotation as a reference to the images with sensor placement. This information can be used to
select the appropriate accelerometer reading and derive the applicable force.
After placing all of the accelerometers on the hoses and installing the USB receiver into
the computer; the group started doing random tests to check if the accelerometers worked
correctly. However, the group used a basic program to connect the sensors to the receiver. As a
result, there were some limitations to the number of heartbeats per minute and controlling the
graphs of the data in the program itself. Therefore, the group did a random test and table 5
shows the sample data taken from the receiver.
17
19. Table 5. Sample Data from the Accelerometers.
Figure 13 shows the data received from sensor 5. The data shows that sensor five
experienced an average reading in the z-direction of 0.98 G. The readings also show sensor 5
experiencing similar acceleration in the x and y direction. This is due to the orientation of the
sensors on the hose and the placement of the hose during the sample experiment.
Figure 13. Sensor 5 data where acceleration in three axises versus time
Data was recorded by the six sensors for about 3 hours. This data was then exported
from the iMonnit website and divided into accelerations by axis. As a result, the three figures 14,
15, and 16 show the x,y and z axis accelerations, respectively. Figure 14 shows that sensor 4
had the highest acceleration in x axis and sensor 5 had the lowest. Figure 15 shows that
sensor 2 had the highest acceleration in y axis and sensor 1 had the lowest. Figure 16 shows
that sensor 6 had the highest acceleration in z axis and sensor 5 had the lowest. However, each
sensor showed a relatively steady acceleration across the 3 hour sample period. This shows
that the accelerometers are working properly. The small errors can be attributed to errors in
18
20. orientation since a level was not used when the accelerometers were adhered to the hoses.
Furthermore, the data doesn’t represent a real life scenario because the results are from a
stationary hose over three hours.
Figure 14. All sensors accelerations in x axis versus time
Figure 15. All sensors acceleration in y axis versus time
19
21. Figure 16. All sensors acceleration in z axis versus time
20
22. Cost Analysis
__________________________________________________________________________
Item Number of Units Cost Totals
Accelerometers 6 60$/ unit 360 $
Transmitter 1 49$/ unit 49 $
Adhesive Tape 1 18$/ unit 18 $
Software 1 - -
Total 9 427 $
Table 6: Cost analysis table.
The total cost for the components used for this design came to approximately $427.00.
Given the customizability of these components and the relatively simple attachment, this design
comes in at a fairly low cost. There are a wide variety of torque meters out on the market
ranging from tens to hundreds of dollars, however, none of these devices would be able to
attach and measure the point in question on the gladhands due to their irregular shape. This
would complicate their design and amount to higher costs due to specialty apparatus’ needed to
attach the sensors to the system.
Additionally, if the company wanted to use wired accelerometers, there are much
cheaper sensors out on the market. We chose to use the wireless transmitters however
because this makes the component assembly far easier, and also allows for a broader range of
application. Should Union Pacific choose to integrate this type of sensor system onto one of its
trains, it would be able to plug the signal receiver into the onboard computer systems and
receive in service data without having to design any special wiring system.
21
23. Not only is the monetary cost relatively low, but the intellectual complexity is also
simplified in the accelerometer design. Simple adhesive and measurement skills are all that is
needed, and there is no complex assembly required. The layout of the sensors is fairly intuitive,
and they are easily assembled. Although the direct reading is not a force, a simple code that
processes the data down allows for direct measurement.
22
24. Sample Calculation
__________________________________________________________________________
The acceleration data received from the sensors can be converted to force and then
converted again to torque using Matlab or any similar coding program. This is achieved by using
the following calculation steps. First, convert units from acceleration in G to inches per second
squared by using the following converting factor:
1 g = 386.1 in / s^2
Then, use Newton’s second law to get the force from the acceleration since the mass is
a constant throughout the process.
F = m * a
Where:
F: Force in pound force (lbf).
m: Mass of the hose in pounds (lb).
a: Acceleration in inches per second square (in/s^2)
Finally, calculate the torque using this equation and the calculated forces:
T= r * F * sin(theta)
Where:
r: half distance between two sensors in inches (in)
F: Force in pound force (lbf)
theta: Angle between the force (F) and the distance (r).
Using Microsoft Excel, the raw exported data was separated by axis and then used to
calculate the data shown in Table 7. Figures 17 illustrates the torque results of the sample
experiment. The data shown is of sensors 5 and 2, where the axis of interest is the z-axis. The
23
25. data shows there is a small change in torque between the two sensors,and the resulted graphs
are similar to the acceleration graphs which proves that the only parameter affecting the torque
is the acceleration. Therefore, the sensors work as expected and with a more efficient data
measurement, and by using an environment similar to the real environment.
Table 7. The calculated force and torque data for sensor 5.
Figure 17. The torque data of sensors 2 and 5 plotted versus time.
24
26. Conclusion
__________________________________________________________________________
This report has discussed the design approach to make an accurate test of hose failure
in a railroad air brake gladhands. The objective of this project was to design a setup of an
experiment to exam and analyze the behavior of a gladhand of an air hose which is to be used
as an air brake for Union Pacific trains. The objective was met by using three tri-axis linear
accelerometers on each side of the gladhand attachment. Although the hose assembly with the
sensors has not yet been tested in the Union Pacific test rig, preliminary testing shows
promising results from the accelerometer data.
Through manual shaking the gladhands from the ends of the sections, varying and peak
accelerations can be observed and the resulting forces and torques can be calculated via a
MATLAB program by utilizing Newton’s Second Law. The accelerations shown in this report are
only used as a proof of concept, and do not actually represent peaking forces of hoses in
service.
The data acquisition was limited to the software application that was included with the
sensors and transmitter. The processing package works on a basis of “heartbeats” for data
transmission. In the package that is included for free the minimum heartbeat was 10 minutes.
That is, only once every 10 minutes will the transmitter ship out its data package for that period.
The description of the sensor package states that the sensors take nearly 500 data points per
second, and it was expected that this entire profile is what would be exported. However, with the
basic software it appears that only the peak values with a few intermittent points are reported in
the heartbeat package. The paid software has heartbeat periods down to the second, which
would result in far more data points and a broader characterization of the system. However,
25
27. because the basic package still transmits peak accelerations, this could potentially still be used
to derive peaking forces in the assembly.
Future Direction
__________________________________________________________________________
The disconnection of the gladhands is a problem where many solutions might be
applicable depending on the way it is being viewed. The causes of the separation might differ,
however the solutions to the problem lead to understanding how much the cause affects the
gladhand separation. Using the accelerometers on the gladhands is one of the applicable
solutions in which the basics of engineering are applied such as Newton’s second law and the
torque-force relation.
Due to the limited amount of time in this analysis, this design is susceptible to upgrades
in which the accuracy and the efficiency will be increased to a better level than the discussed
design.
First, the adhesive used to mount the accelerometers is the Urethane Foam Tape,
shown in figure 18 and the tape works as expected however due to the difference in dimensions
of both the accelerometer and the tape, the accelerometers do not line up perfectly with each
other. The adhesive tape is ¼ inch wide where the accelerometer is approximately 1x1.7 inch,
therefore the adhesive tape is not wide enough to hold the accelerometer. There are a couple of
possible solutions to this problem, one is to use a wider adhesive tape or using a clamp that
could hold the accelerometers. Stress calculations and pricing for the clamps were provided, but
their use was determined unnecessary for the initial testing.
26
28. Figure 18. The adhesive foam tape used to mount the accelerometers
The software used in the design is only a limited version that limits the configuration of
the sensor network. The free version sends one data point only where the express version of
the software is adjustable to whatever the limit of the sensors and the accelerometers are. The
free version provided by the company Monnit is called the Monnit Gateway Application, and the
pro version, which costs around 39$/year to activate, is called iMonnit Premiere. Moreover, the
iMonnit Premiere software supports 5 wireless gateways and 20 wireless sensors, table 8
shows a comparison between the basic and the premiere versions of the software. As shown on
the third column of the table, the software iMonnit Enterprise overtake both the basic and the
premiere, however, the cost is too high compared to the rest of the features otherwise it would
be a good choice. Also, the premiere software could be used as a start then settle on the
iMonnit Enterprise for the on the field measurement taking.(Monnit Corp. 2009).
27
29. Feature Basic Version iMonnit Premiere iMonnit Enterprise
Cost Free 39$/ year~799/year$ 599$~25000$
Minimum Heart Beat
( sensor check in)
2 Hours 10 minutes 1 second
Number of networks
supported
1 20 Unlimited
Number of sensors
supported
500 per network 500 per network 500 per Network
Number of gateways
supported
100 1000 Unlimited
Number of users
supported
1 Unlimited Unlimited
Sensor History Storage 45 days Unlimited Unlimited
Table 8. A feature comparison of the iMonnit Basic, Premiere, and the Enterprise software versions.
Copyright 2009-2015 Monnit Corp.
28
30. References
___________________________________________________________________________
- Budynas, R. G., Nisbett, J. K., & Shigley, J. E. (2011). Shigley's Mechanical Engineering
Design (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Mabie, H. H., & Reinholtz, C. F. (1987). Mechanisms and Dynamics of Machinery (4th
ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
- Industry, B. (n.d.). Monnit Wireless Accelerometer - G-Force Snapshot - Commercial Coin
Cell Powered. Retrieved November 02, 2016.
- "Safety Brief." (n.d.): n. pag. Triodyne. Triodyne Inc., Dec. 2002. Web.
- "V-band Clamp." SpringerReference (n.d.): n. pag. Normaamericasds. FiveStar. Web.
- "3M Tapes & 3M Adhesives." . 3M, n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2016.
- Monnit Corporation. ( 2009 ) Monnit Wireless Sensor Network Monitoring - Feature
Comparison. Retrieved fromNovember 28, 2016 from
http://resources.monnit.com/content/documents/brochures/m0015-Monnit-Wireless-Sensor
-Monitoring-Overview.pdf
- Union pacific. (2016) Glad Hand Force Measurement Device. Retrieved from a pdf
file.
- Foam Tapes [online image]. (2016) Retrieved November 28, 2016 from
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Adhesives/Tapes/Products/~/Foam-T
ape?N=8302947&rt=r3
29
31. Appendix
_________________________________________________________________________
APPENDIX A: Statement of Work
The University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Capstone Project
Air Hose Attachment
Adam Elwood, Ismail AL Hooti, Hamood AL Rahbi, Layne Krahn, Taylor Kerl
Introduction
Students from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln in partnership with a team from the
Locomotive Engineering and Quality - Mechanical branch at Union Pacific will develop
the design of an air hose attachment that will allow Union Pacific to measure the
characteristics, specifically torque and peak forces, that cause the attachments to come
unhinged during service. This design will be apart of the Mechanical and Materials
Department capstone project for the Mechanical Engineering curriculum.
Period of Performance
September 2, 2016 - December 2nd, 2016
Student Deliverables to Union Pacific
Kickoff: September 2, 2016. Meeting at Union Pacific for project overview and
discussion.
30
32. Preliminary Design: Students will develop a first pass solution that encompases
key design parameters to present to engineers at Union Pacific for feedback and
redirection if necessary. The preliminary design proposal will include high level
SolidWorks drawings as well as relevant research leading to a design solution.
Critical Design: Students will take feedback from the preliminary design proposal
to develop a final component design for Union Pacific to investigate. The critical
design proposal will include detailed SolidWorks drawings as well as expected
device results and any relevant calculations.
Reporting: A full design report will be produced by the students detailing the
process taken to reach the critical design solution. This report will include the
deliverables from the preliminary and critical design reports as well as a usage or
development plan for Union Pacific to take forward to implement the proposed
solution should they choose to do so.
Key Design Parameters
-Real Time
-Non-Invasive
-Torque and force derivations from accelerometer data
-Dynamic force (instantaneous or peak to peak).
-Tolerances (exact or relative).
31
33. APPENDIX B: BILL OF MATERIALS
Bill of Materials
Item Quantity Cost Purpose
3-axis linear
accelerometers
( monnit wireless
accelerometers)
6 ~60$/unit
+ 40$ Software
subscription
(if needed)
Measures the angular
velocity difference
Adhesives (Urethane
foam tape 4314)
1
(17 yards)
~18$/unit Mount the
accelerometers
Transmitter 1 ~50$/unit Collects data
Clamps 4 ~15$/unit Hold the
accelerometers and
the hose and the
glad-hand
Figure 19. The bill of the materials needed for the hose failure experiment.
APPENDIX C: CLAMP ATTACHMENT
Figure 20. The accelerometer clamp dimensions.
32
34. APPENDIX D: CLAMP ATTACHMENT DESIGN
The tests have gone as expected with some design difficulties and got solved by using
some sources. The static test shows in figure 21 that the accelerometer clamp has a minimum
factor of safety 2.625 under a 100 lbf with some part of the design that has a higher factor of
safety which can be noticed on figure 20 by green spots
.
Figure 21. Factor of safety for the accelerometer clamp.
Minimum factor of safety is shown as 2.625.
Moreover, the statics test shows the distribution of Von Mises stress of the
accelerometer clamp. Figure 22, represents the stress distribution in the clamp which shows the
average stress in the design is 9.251*10^(-6) psi but there are some stress concentration
around the locks fillets which reach between 634.8 psi and 1270 psi due to the holding of a
large pressure by the clamp.
33
35. Figure 22. Von Mises stress distribution for the accelerometer clamp.
APPENDIX E: GLADHAND DESIGN (FOR SIMULATION)
Figure 23. The basic design of a gladhand.
34