List of YR 4 Projects (2012-2013)

Proj ect No
Supervisor

Project Title

Description

Workshop Time <1 day <2 day

Initials Surname Engineering analysis of ancient rowed galleys 1 Engineering analysis of ancient rowed galleys 2 Drivetrain engineering for a Formula Student vehicle
A previous project has initiated the development of a 3D digital model of a trireme to be used in the investigation of ramming effects for those ancient ships. This project will follow on to evaluate the impact analysis of ramming for a rowed galley using both analytical and computationallybased methods. Simple hydrodynamic models exist for the rowing of small open boats and similar vessels. However, no complete engineering analysis has yet been carried out for the performance of ancient rowed galleys. This project will involve an engineering appraisal of the theoretical rowing and manouvering performance of these ancient ships. Currently, CV joints are used in the drivetrain of the formula student vehicle which incur a significant weight penalty. This project would invovle selection of an alternative engineering solutions for the drivetrain components as well as a technical analysis of these components to prove their suitability. A DFM investigation would also be required to assist with part minimisation.

Zero

Finicial Space support & cost for (e.g. room (~ 50 ) no.)

Note

I.

Black

N/A

I.

Black

N/A

I.

Black

N/A

I.

Black

Evaluation of electric drives for a Class 1A Formula Student vehicle Mechanical Engineering Project 1 Mechanical Engineering Project 2

I.

Black

I.

Black

Class 1A of the Formual Student competition has been designed so that teams develop new and novel powertrain technologies that result in race cars with low carbon emissions, as defined by the Class 1A rules. Teams must determine the CO2 and energy embodied in the vehicle, which will also compete in the same dynamic events as the Class 1 vehicles. This project will consist of a feasibility study to present proposals for a Class1A vehicle that can be taken forward by the FS team for a future competition. Suggestions are welcome for projects that contain minimal workshop involvement (e.g. feasibility studies, design appraisal, etc.). Industrially-related projects would be most welcome. Suggestions are welcome for projects that contain minimal workshop involvement (e.g. feasibility studies, design appraisal, etc.). Industrially-related projects would be most welcome.

N/A

N/A

N/A

Chen

Prediction of NO formation in a HCCI Engine

In HCCI (a kind of lower emission and In a HCCI (Homogeneous charge compression ignition engine, a kind of lower emission and higher efficiency Internal combustion engine) engine, control of auto-ignition of homogeneous charged fuel/air mixture plays an important role on reducing combustion noise and emission formation. Therefore, understanding the mechanism of auto-ignition and its role on engine efficiency and emission formation are the key factors for HCCI engine design and performance optimization. In this project, you will investigate the effects of engine design and operating parameter, such as the compression ratio, the Air/Fuel ratio, exhaust gases recycle (EGR) and engine speed on NO formation characteristics in a HCCI engine, of which is mainly controlled by the combustion chemical kinetics. By means of computational simulation, the relations between NO formation and engine design and performance parameters will be found and formulated. Developed formulation and the parameter chart could be a useful tool for the design of HCCI engine.

Chen

Prediction of marine impacts of Leaked CO2 from under seabed of North Sea

Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) has been recognized as one of the potential means to mitigate climate changes resulting from the greenhouse effects. Statoils Sleipner West field in the Norwegian North Sea applied this technology to inject CO2 extracted from gas production into 1,000 meters under seabed formation instead of being released to the air (http://www.bgs.ac.uk/science/co2/Sleipner.html). A major concern in application of this technology in the practice is the safety because injected CO2 might leak out accidentally either from injection well or from seabed when risks occurred. The leaked CO2 will further dissolve into surrounding seawater and reduce its pH as rising up (if the leakage depth is less than 3000m). This physicochemical impact (pH changes in seawater) depending on leakage rate and time may lead to certain of biological impacts to marine organisms. To estimate this impact, in this study, the fate of an individual CO2 droplet/bubble leaked from seabed in seawater will be investigated by means of numerical simulations. An integrate model, including submodels of dissolution and movement of CO2 droplet/bubble in seawater, will be developed and calibrated with both Lab. and field experiment data. The pH changes in seawater, an important parameter to assess the biological impact, will be predicted at variant of CO2 leaked depth, CO2 leaked rates, and CO2 droplet/bubble initial sizes.

Chen

Development of a mass and momentum model of leaked CO2 in shallow ocean

There is a concern, which might be a key factor as consideration of engineering application of CO2 under seabed storage, that is what would be the impacts on marine organisms when stored CO2 leaks accidentally either from CO2 injection well or from seabed. In this study, you will develop an assessment model to estimate how far the CO2 bubbles can rise up once leaked from seabed. By means of developed model, you will be able to predict CO2 bubble rising velocity, distance and final terminal time with respect to initial sizes and leakage depths. Those are useful data for prediction of impacts on marine organisms and further for assessing the applicability of CO2 undersea bed storage.

10 B

Chen

The drag force induced by fluid flow past a model car

Air flow past a bluff body is a classical problem in fluid mechanics. Its enriched physics and real-life applications, such as the vehicle body design, have attracted the attention of the engineers and scientists for over a century, leading to many theoretical and experimental investigations. In this study, you will use a newly developed numerical technology, Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM), to demonstrate the flow characteristics of air flow pass a model car, such as vorticities, stream lines and the drag coefficient.

11 B

Chen

Numerical prediction of CO2 dispersion in a microchannel

12 Y.

Chen

On the design of compliant mechanisms in multiple length-scales

CO2 capture and storage (CCS) had been considered as a mean to mitigate global warming. Within the storage options for CCS, geological storage appears to be the most promising. Geological storage involves injection of the captured CO2 into deep geological formations, where it would reside for centennial to millennial time scales or longer. In order to assess this technology, it draws attention to understand the mechanisms of interaction between injected CO2 and geoformations. One of the fundamental mechanisms is the dispersion of CO2 in a microchannel. In this study, a numerical simulation will be carried out to predict the dispersion behaviour of CO2 in a straight microchannel. Compliant mechanisms are flexible structures that can transfer the input force/displacement to the designated output region through elastic deformation. They have been widely-used in mechanical engineering, and more importantly in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). Compared to traditional trial-and-error design approaches, topology optimisation as an effective numerical tool can 'inversely' tailor the optimal structure that can generate desired output under given input information. This project involves the development of fundamental nuermical optimisation programs, which will be used in finding distinct compliant mechanisms for different design requirements, as well as making prototypes of optimsed designs to better understand how they work.

N/A

~50

13 Y.

Chen

Finding materials with negative Poisson's ratio

14 P.S.

Cumber

Cheap Fire DetectionPrototype fire sensor and flicker rig

Most materials in nature have Poisson's ratios ranging from 0.1 to 0.4. Since found, materials with negative Poisson's ratio have drawn significant attention in engineering applications, e.g. cork, paper and specific variants of polymers which become thicker in crosssection when stretched. In this study, topology optimisation is used in designing distinct material microstructural layouts with prescribed negative Poisson's ratio values, which will be further explored in the senarios of crashworthiness design for higher energy absorption capacity. This is a follow on project from last year. As anyone knows who has accidentally put their hand in a fire or walked on red hot coals the high temperature is not the reason for burns; it is the heat flux; if you take your hand out of the fire quickly you will not burn (not to be tried by anyone). In this project a prototype sensor based on thermocouple technology will be developed that will measure flame flicker. This is of interest as fire detection technology based on flicker characteristics for fires can be used to prevent false alarming. As well as producing a prototype flame sensor you will also be designing a rig that can develop a signal with well defined flicker frequencies which you will detect. Sounds easy!? Oh yes there will also be doing some fancy signal processing using MATLAB code based on fast Fourier transforms(FFTs).The bare bones of the rig is already available so see me if you want a look.

N/A

~50

50

15 P.S.

Cumber

Extension/ improvement of burning velocity rig

The 4th year thermodynamics lab is a little on the sedate side so to buck things up we need a new more exciting lab. This was last years very successful project. The lab focuses on the burning velocity of natural gas. The burning velocity of a gas is the velocity of a combustion wave through a premixed composition of fuel and air. This is useful in the design of cookers (boring) and in the estimation of the overpressure in a vapour cloud explosion (interesting). This year we need to get the rig modified to allow us to extend the range of equivalence ratios we can work with, extend the number of ways the burning velocity can be measured and look at other fuels. If you want to see the rig come and see me. This is a follow on project from last year. For intro see the other fire detection project. In this project you will also be producing a prototype fire sensor. Once you have the prototype we will set you loose on some jet fires. The idea is to produce signals from the prototype sensor that characterise the fire.

50 (possibly more)

16 P.S.

Cumber

Cheap Fire Detection Prototype fire sensor and flame characterisati on Design and build multidegrees of freedom rig for demonstratin g resonance

Not much

17 P.S.

Cumber

As the title suggests you will be designing and building a multi-degrees of freedom rig for demonstrating resonance. Just in case you do not know what the above means think of a combination of electric motors, springs and pendulums to produce a vibrating system that can be tuned to enhance or reduce the vibration. I am looking for a rig that is reasonably portable I can use in my lectures on the Dynamics 1 course. As well as designing and building the rig you will also formulate a mathematical model to identify the natural frequencies of the system and possibly produce an animation of the system in MATLAB, such fun!

Not much

18 WG

Fruh

Regional crossbalancing of wind power

19 WG

Fruh

Wind farm effects

20 WG

Fruh

21 WG

Fruh

Demand Managmenet and Energy Storage requirements for wind energy I am happy to discuss projects proposed by students in Studentthe area of fluid mechanics, Wind energy, Tidal energy, proposed Energy Systems balance. project
Psychrometry Experiment

When the wind doesn't blow, the lights will go out if we build more wind farms' A common argument given by wind-sceptics. This project aims to quantify the validity of this statement. You will analyse how future wind farms in different part of the UK might balance out local variations. The analysis will be based on Met.Office wind speed measurements across the country and electricity consumption using National Grid data. Wind turbines behind other turbines do not perform as well as those in front. The project aims to quantify the wind farm effect systematically using data gathered from an operational wind farm, and some basic modelling using empirical turbine wake models We want electricity at the switch of a button but wind turbine will only produce electricity when the wind blows. This project aims to evaluate demand management and energy storage solutions, and to quantify their required specifications to cope with a high wind energy scenario for the UK electricity demand

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A some costs worksho met by p floor discipline as equiment

22 S

Houston

Installation of new psychormetry experimental rig and development of experiments illustrating students understanding of basic psychrometry and airconditioning (level 3 and level 4 student experience). Experimental rig can be suitably adapted as required.

23 S

Houston

Heat Exchanger Experimental Rig - A

The discipline has a forced convection, cross-flow experimental rig that could be adpated to accommodate a cross-flow heat exchanger and this would allow students to conduct experiments into heat exchanger effectiveness. The project would be to adapt the existing rig to allow a heat exchanger to be included but not at the expense of the original set-up. The discipline has a forced convection, cross-flow experimental rig that could be adpated to accommodate different geometries (eg finned tube, irregular cross section, or surface fin array). The project would be to adapt the existing rig to allow a heat exchanger to be included but not at the expense of the original set-up.

24 S

Houston

Heat Exchanger Experimental Rig - B

max allowable to allow air flow for lab purchase of parts not available max allowable to allow air flow for lab purchase of parts not available

25 X.

Kong

Deployable mechanisms

Deployable mechanisms (or deployable structures), such as toys and satellite antennas, have many applications ranging from our daily life to space explorations. Recent years have witnessed the invention of many novel mechanisms, which provides a solid foundation to the design of new deployable mechanisms. Based on a brief review of the current works on the design of deployable mechanisms, this project is to design, fabricate and test a novel deployable mechanism. Like a transformer with an open-loop structure, multifunction mechanisms with a closed loop structure have been developed recently. This project is to design, fabricate and test a novel multi-function mechanism.

100

26 X.

Kong

A multifunction mechanism

100

27 X.

Kong

Dessambleyfree reconfigurabl e robot

28 X.

Kong

Improvement of an autonomous vehicle

29 Y.C.

Lee

Thin film lubrication

Dessamly-free reconfigurable robot is a class of novel robot which have been proposed only several years before. It can not only work independently, for example as an innovative swivel head in a CNC, but also be used as a module in self-reconfigurable robots. This project is to design, fabricate and test a dissambly-free reconfigurable robot. The application of autonomous vehicles is being expanded to include manufacture, space exploration, military and health care. The power supply is still one of the key factors that limit their use and application although advances have been made in battery technology. This project is to improve an autonomous car that was developed by a group MEng students in 2012 to follow a track from a starting point for 5 cycles within 30 minutes using as less energy as possible. Lubrication and the reduction in friction is a huge importance in engineering design and systems. The project will explore the role of surface properties on lubrication. It involves either the mathematical modelling and/or numerical simulation to describe the fluid flow phenomena. The project requires the topic to be researched that will involve an appropriate literature review followed by problem definition together with subsequent analysis and interpretation of the results obtained. Good programming skills/languages are desirable.

100

100

50

YC Lee is happy to supervise more than one students for each project

30 Y.C.

Lee

Smooth particle hydrodynami cs in Engineering problems

31 Y.C.

Lee

Biomimetic in Fluid Dynamics

As computing resource becomes widely available, efficient computational methods for the accurate prediction of many engineering problems becomes viable. The project explores the use of smooth particle hydrodynamics, a mesh-free Lagrangian method, to model and solve fluid flow problems. It involves the mathematical modelling and the development of a numerical solver to describe the fluid flow phenomena. The project requires good knowledge of computing skills/languages. The project topic will be researched which involves an appropriate literature review followed by problem definition together with subsequent analysis and interpretation of the results obtained. The project explores the science behind designs in nature in fluid dynamics. The understanding of the designs involved could aid in the development of modern applications by mimicking examples in nature to help solve normal everyday problems. It involves either the mathematical modelling and/or numerical simulation to describe the fluid flow phenomena. The project requires the topic to be researched that will involve an appropriate literature review followed by problem definition together with subsequent analysis and interpretation of the results obtained.

50

50

There is a plethora of literature on feature recognition techniques on 3D solid models and how the identified features are used to aid automatic machining processes. While systems developed using solid modelling concepts are commercially available there are often portability and compatibility issues, largely due to the modelling kernel each system employs. Mesh model representations being more generic in their data structure are increasingly being used as the preferred mode of transfer. Research towards identifying and locating features automatically from mesh models is relatively recent in manufacturing and has an area of commercial interest.

32 T

Lim

Feature Recognition from Mesh Models

This project aims to develop a set of algorithms specifically for recognising both surface features and features associated with manufacturing operations (e.g. drilling) from tri-mesh models. The project will be based upon Open Source software and the programming environment will be Microsoft Visual C++. Of importance is an object oriented approach such that the code will be easily portable and reusable.

NS2.38

60

Will support existing SMI / EPSRCfunded research projects and future work in virtual reality based medical applicatio ns. Have potential commerci al impact.

33 T

Lim

Development of a multimodal Visualiser

Visualisation has become an important tool in the analysis and diagnostics of digitally obtained data and representation formats. While much advancement has been seen improved image processing techniques and textual qualities, developments in interactive data manipulation still beckon. In engineering and biomedical applications, the capability of interacting with mixed modes of 3D representations allows engineers and clinicians to design, analyse, train and make decisions in management and/or treatment procedures. To date such systems are not yet available. This project aims to develop a system capable of generating and rendering 3D models of mixed modalities, i.e. a model comprising volumetric and mesh data. Such a system when integrated with haptic feedback will be invaluable in modelling and understanding the interfaces of heterogeneous/composite materials and transitions between solid and fluids. The initial phase of the project will be composting ultrasound scans into a 3D model. The scan data can either be a rendered as mesh and/or volumetric entities depending on the application. Although the reconstruction tools will be generic, this project will concentrate on creating medical models and interactive user interfaces for probing, analysis and diagnostics. The open source Visualization Toolkit (VTK) or Open Scene Graph (OSG) and its rendering engines will be used as the development platform. The programming environment is will be Microsoft Visual C++. Of importance is an object oriented approach such that the code will be easily portable and reusable.

G01E

Will support existing SMI / EPSRCfunded research projects and future work in computeraided 100 medical diagnostic s, product design and teleoperat ed realtime scanning applicatio ns. Have potential commerci al impact.

Solid freeform fabrication using additive layer-based techniques provides the potential to manufacture complex assemblies and shapes. Current commercial systems available do not support multi/mix-material builds and are generally costly.

34

T. Lim / J.M. Ritchie / X. Luo

Development of desktop Rapid PrototypingF eature Recognition from mesh models demonstrator

This project follows the open source framework proposed by Fab@Home (http://fabathome.org) and RepRap (http://www.reprap.org/) to develop a desktop rapid prototyping demonstrator. The objective is to build an inhouse system capable of manufacturing micro-scale high precision parts and biomechanical structures. Importantly, the system will support multi/mix material build with the option of subtractive shape forming capability. The initial phase of the project will be a requirements and procurement exercise. The design elements will be based upon easily obtainable components with costing in mind.

G01D

100

Will support teaching and learning, and existing SMI / EPSRCfunded research projects.

35

T. Lim / J.M. Ritchie / R. Sung

Building a multi sensory input virtual environment

This project forms the basis of developing a multi-sensory input virtual environment for design, analysis and exploration. The objective is to provide functionality for verbal, gesture and vision input to create, manipulate and interact with virtual objects. The research here includes (but is not limited to) the development or application/implementation of COTS game ware as input to the virtual environment: Coordinated Eye tracking with 3D Head Tracking using Nintendo WiiMotes Eye tracking technologies are highly vulnerable to the head movements. Commercially available head trackers are relatively high-priced and barely suitable for modification because of the black-boxed hardware and software. This projected is intended to design a cheap 3D head tracker based on off the shelf Nintendo WiiMotes and to be adopted to work with Viewpoint EyeTracker, an already existing eye tracking solution. Aural or narrative guidance for product design in CAD and virtual worlds The project will focus on developing an interface for product design using verbal commands. Pseudo haptics as a low cost physics-based design interface.The aim is to investigate mimetic haptics in the virtual environment for assembly planning. This approach is based on mimicking the physical illusions of forces, mass, inertia etc. of the manipulated parts by exciting the human musculoskeletal system as a response to optical tactilism. The work integrates virtualization and mimetic haptics establishes a bridge between human behavioural science, product engineering and product documentation.

G01B

Will support teaching and learning, and 70 existing SMI / EPSRCfunded research projects.

36

T. Lim / J.M. Ritchie / R. Sung

Haptic assembly Gesture formulation of physical joints

This project aims to extend the current SMI developed haptic assembly application by introducing and implementing the use of gestures or hand motions to automatically generate joint types between components and subassemblies. There will also be scope to extend the system to support dual haptic devices for two-handed assembly. The objective will be to produce a text document and/or dis/assembly schematic indicating the sequence and how each individual component is attached. Experiments to identify best assembly and costs estimate will need to be formulated. This project follows on a recent Renishaw development to automatically generate surface scan paths.

G01E

Will support existing SMI / 100 EPSRCfunded research projects.

37

T. Lim / J.M. Ritchie

Surface path for organisation and regularising of triangle mesh to generation generate a minimum surface covering scan path. The programming environment will be Microsoft .NET 2003 for CMM

The objective for this project will be developing algorithms

NS2.38

50

Visual C++. VTK will be used as the visualisation platform.

38

Conceptual design of an autonomous T. Lim / X. micro-robot Luo for astronomical instrumentati on

Advanced robotics has been predicted to be the hot field in this century by Bill Gates. This project will involve the review of current application of micro autonomous robots in astronomy and space; the conceptual design of an autonomous micro-robot, including layout, mechanical structure, inch-worm actuator; an initial design of control system for this robot. Experience in CAD, piezo actuator, robot design and control will be gained through this project.

NS2.38

150

Will support existing SMI / EPSRCfunded research projects. Continuati Will support existing SMI / EPSRCfunded research projects. Continuati

39

Experimental T. Lim / D. Posture Iurchenko Detection

It is known that a human body sways while in the upright position. This motion may be detected and used as a tool for earlier diagnostic of various pathologies of central nervous system. The project will involve the study of neuro-musculoskeletal activity, focusing on brain (Electroencephalography) activity to correlate locomotor functions against pathologies of central nervous system. The project requires a simple body tracking unit to be built, data collection and pattern analysis, gathered from a number of volunteers (possibly with patients). Knowledge of C/C++ is desirable. Design-by-Nature has been studied since the early 80s with the intention to extrapolate from Nature the building blocks of life and structural integrity. This project aims to define a new generation of virtual design environments for product development and prototyping. One approach is to structure the ontology of natural evolution in the survival of species. This knowledge can then be used to develop a new paradigm for engineering design. Topics of interest (but not limited to) are as follows: Nature and architecture Mechanics in nature Natural materials and processes Solutions from nature Biomimetics Biocapacity Education in design and nature

NSG01E 150

Will support existing SMI / EPSRCfunded research projects.

40

NCAD: An ontological design T. Lim / C. method Torres through natural evolutions

G01E

100

Will support existing SMI / EPSRCfunded research projects.

41

Understandin g the benefits of T. Lim / R. virtual Sung / Y. environment Liu through Neurophysiological studies

Virtual environments comprise any interactive digital visual media from simulators to games to virtual reality CAD. Although there is much reported literature on the cognitive benefits associated with virtual environments, its true value remains unknown. The majority of the reported work measure or quantify the relevance of virtual environments by way of subjective tests. This project takes a different approach by addressing the subjects neuro-physiological state. Electroencephalography (EEG) is the measure of brain activity by recording minute electrical signals caused by firing neurons. By studying and understanding the cognitive response of a subject interacting with the virtual environment, subjective evaluations can be compared against true mental or situational awareness and thus provide verifiable correlations. Interestingly, this media also provides an invaluable tool to the understanding of the interplay between meta-cognition and decision making.

G01E

100

Will support existing SMI / EPSRCfunded research projects.

42

T. Lim / J.M. Ritchie / R. Sung / Y. Liu

Interplay between metacognition and decision making in virtual product engineering

Virtual environments comprise any interactive digital visual media from simulators to games to virtual reality CAD. Although there is much reported literature on the cognitive benefits associated with virtual environments, its true value remains unknown. The majority of the reported work measure or quantify the relevance of virtual environments by way of subjective tests. This project takes a different approach by addressing the subjects neuro-physiological state. Electroencephalography (EEG) is the measure of brain activity by recording minute electrical signals caused by firing neurons. By studying and understanding the cognitive response of a subject interacting with the virtual environment, subjective evaluations can be compared against true mental or situational awareness and thus provide verifiable correlations. Interestingly, this media also provides an invaluable tool to the understanding of the interplay between meta-cognition and decision making. As a start the project will explore intuitive activities product engineering CAD environments via brain signals. Improvements in CAD environments are highlighting on knowledge based systems and consequently knowledge capture becomes crucial. Analysing Human Computer Interaction (HCI) in a CAD environment, related with cognitive psychology is still a grey area of research. The goal of this project is to develop experiments on HCI in order to stimulate intuitive Activities and to analyse brain signals captured by Nexus 32 or Nexus 10 monitoring device.

G01E

100

Will support existing SMI / EPSRCfunded research projects.

43

T. Lim / J.M. Ritchie / R. Sung / Y. Liu

Serious Games for CAE and product prototyping

The term Serious Games might sound like an oxymoron. But it is not just about frivolity and fun. Games have long been used in pedagogy and training. Today, serious games have been applied to a diversity of domains from engineering to cognitive health. Yet the role of gamebased approaches as beneficial components to engineering design and manufacturing is often overlooked. The misconception that games are highly constraint environments and the notion that games have limited functionality needs to be reconciled. This project intends to investigate Serious Games as an innovative method towards engineering a product from the standpoint of CAE tools, in particular design for manufacture and assembly (DFMA). The focus is on the dynamic, the transition, and the transformation; not on the static information of the product. It is about the flow/reuse of information across phases, functions, persons, processes, and systems. For this reason, the methodology of goal oriented approaches lent from defence strategy planning (i.e. War Games) is to be investigated as means to map product design concepts against its added values in manufacturability and assemblability. Essentially, this transpires to a value stream mapping processes that could potentially lead to a new paradigm - extra lean manufacturing.

G01E

100

Will support existing SMI / EPSRCfunded research projects.

44

T. Lim / J.M. Ritchie / R. Sung / Y. Liu

Tracking the experience of the user in the form of signals when interacting with an application can be used as indicators for usability assessment of the system. Moreover measuring the interaction experience between the user and a system will identify the users cognitive mechanisms which shapes the direction, level and persistence of his/her efforts during play.

Brain signal analysis for Games

The goal of this project is to establish a metric for evaluating the users experiences in serious games. This will involve capturing and analysing the psychophysiological signals (brain signals, galvanic skin conductance, heart rate etc) and emotions (positive, negative) while a user is playing a game (e.g. Banjo KaZooie, World of Goo, Spore etc).

G01E

100

Will support existing SMI / EPSRCfunded research projects.

45

T. Lim / J.M. Ritchie / R. Sung / Y. Liu

Analysing brain activity in Formula racing

46 T

Mallick

Solar Energy

Tracking the physio-neurological artifacts and response of driver be it in a simulator or in a real vehicle provides information of not only how the driver's mental load affects judgment, risk and speed but it also provides an indicator of usability and assessment of the vehicle system. The goal of this project is to establish a set of metrics for evaluating the driver's race aptitude, learning cycle and concentration capacity. This will involve capturing and analysing the psycho-physiological signals (brain signals, galvanic skin conductance, heart rate etc) and emotions (positive, negative) while a driver is undergoing a race simulation in our F1 simulator. The project will require the canvassing of participants. Any project related to solar energy from students are welcome. contact Tapas Mallick (t.mallick@hw.ac.uk) for more information.

G01E

150

Will support existing SMI / EPSRCfunded research projects.

47 D A

McNeil

Fanno flow Test Facility

48 D A

McNeil

Flow limitation in shell and tube heat exchangers

49 D A

McNeil

CFD simulations relating to Formula Student

The 4th year course on gas dynamics requires a project to be developed. The proposal is to build a facility that allows high speed supersonic air to flow through a pipe, creating a shock wave. This project will produce the design requirements and modify the existing test facility to facilitate them. Pressure drop on the shell side of a heat exchanger is difficult to predict, particularly when the fluid is two-phase. Two-phase flows have additional mechanisms that need to be consideered, e.g. flooding. Flooding occurs when liquid is trying to drain down through the tubes when vapour is trying to flow upwards. This project will focus on modifying the existing test facility to allow a more uniform air flow. Experiments will determine how much air is required to prevent water from draining downwards through a tube bundle. HIgh speed photography and pressure drop measurements will be used to aid the experimental study. The Formula Student team is producing a list of useful projects. A flow problem from the list will be investigated using the computational fluid dynamics package, Ansys CFX. Training on the use of the software will be given.

Rig in main lab

50

Rig in main lab

50

N/A

50 D A

McNeil

Pelton wheel development

The Pelton wheel is a simple water turbine. The machine in the laboratory has modern instrumentation but uses a band break to dissipate the power generated. This project aims to use MATLAB or LabView as a data logging language to record readings from the instrumentation that will allow real time determination of maximum power output. A more useful way of using the power produced will also be sought. For example, driving a DC generator. Inovations will also be applied to the Francis Turbine.

Main laborato ry

50

51 AJ

Moore

Optical sensors for engineering measuremen ts

Many of the mechanical sensors you are familiar with (such as strain gauges and accelerometers) add extra mass and stiffness to the component under test, which can therefore distort what you are trying to measure. Plus the sensors must be attached to the surface and connected by wires, which is time-consuming. On the other hand, the optical sensors I am interested in for my research introduce no extra load, whilst allowing extremely accurate measurements to be made. Many of my industrial collaborators (including Renishaw, AWE and Land Rover) make extensive use of these techniques in the design and testing of components and assemblies. We are building a new optical instrument for AWE. In this project you will design and build mechanical components and test objects for the instrument, and make measurements with it. No previous experience with optics is required or expected, but you will learn a lot about optical sensors along the way! I often measure dynamically changing shapes in my research, e.g. inflating airbags, insect wings during flight, the movement of particles in a turbulent flows. The project will investigate methods to represent this dynamic shape data, that enables the user to change the viewing direction interactively. Our own measurement data of dynamic events will be exported into the appropriate format and can be placed on the University's web pages, to your everlasting glory! Suitable for anyone with an interest in programming or robotics students with an interest in machine vision.

G43/44

100

52 AJ

Moore

Representaio n of dynamic shape data

G13

50

53 AJ

Moore

Cantilevers and Finite elements

In this project, you will design and build cantilevers with cross-sections and materials that vary along their length. You will measure the deflection of these cantilevers when a known load is applied, and compare your measurements with the deflection predicted by theory and finite elements. (You'll remember from second year that we'll need to modify the basic beam bending equation if the thickness and and Young's modulus vary along the beam length!) And why do we want to do this? Well, the experimental validation of finite element models is crucial in engineering (this is the reason my industrial collaborators, including Renishaw, AWE and Land Rover, are interested in the optical sensors that I devise). But more interestingly, this simple set-up will help us learn how to infer more than just the deflection from the deflection measurements, i.e. more generally, how to measure several parameters simultaneously. This project concerns the development of a solar concentrator for electrical power generation. Solar concentration is the means by which solar radiation falling over a large area is focused to a point or a much small area. The proposed design will include an off-axis parabolic reflector which has high optical efficiency with minimal tracking requirement. The project will design, build and test the new solar concentrator and integrate it with either Thermo-electric Generators (TEGs) or a Stirling Engine for electrical power generation. This will be a collaborative project involving the UK Astronomy Technology Centre.

G13

50

54 T

O'Donova Concentratin n g on Solar

100

55 T

Ergometer O'Donova Design for n Physiological Testing

56 T

O'Donova Radiator n Performance

This project will involve the design and build of a friction loaded ergometer and seat frame to support a range of people. The ergometer will be used to increase blood flow in muscle tissue and an existing thermal technique to measure blood flow, together with a range of other physiological measures (heart rate, blood pressure etc) will be used to test the efficacy of the design. This project will be have input from the School of Life Sciences and the Sports Academy. To boost the performance of standard household radiators, this project will develop a device to change the heat transfer mechanism from free to forced convection. A simple fan will be powered by a number of Thermoelectric Generators (TEGs) which will use the temperature difference between the heater surface and the room to regulate the heat transfer. It is expected that a full prototype will be developed and preliminary commercialisation performed within the scope of the project. The student will also be guided by an industrial partner interested in taking the technology to market. This project will follow on from the work of Thompson (2009/10), Cunningham (2010/11) and Balodimos (2011/12). It involves the monitoring of diesel engines running with conventional and alternative fuels using Acoustic Emission (AE). The project will develop diagnostic algorithms based on the recognition of harmonic patterns and will be supplemented by further measurements taken on a running engine to assess the noise level and the degree to which fuel effects on engine performance can be monitored on a running vehicle.

100

100

57 R L

Reuben

Monitoring IC engine performance with alternative fuels

Main lab

around 50

58 R L

Reuben

Laminates for recreational use

This project involves experimental mechanics investigation of the flexure and torsion behaviour of laminates for best sport performance. The project follows from a preliminary study (Andrew Clarke) on snowboards. The approach will be to construct a number of laminate sub-assemblies and subject these to two-dimensional bending and torsion, measuring moments and deflections. Laminate analysis will be used to determine the orthotropic elastic constants of the test laminates, following which a simplified model will be developed to allow a few quality factors, based on board design to be calculated for any given arrangement. This project will continue work carried out in collaboration with Edinburgh Dental Hospital and the Western General in the design of devices for measuring the response of human tissue to dynamic loading.The device will produce a small controlled displacement (up to 10m) and measure the associated force. Using an impulse-response model, the dynamic modulus of the tissue can be deduced. The work has implications for medical diagnostics. A number of processes going on inside the human body generate sound at a range of frequencies. For example, breathing, heartbeat, digestion and the movement of synaptic fluid in the joints all produce audible sound. In this project, the student will use microphones and ultrasonic transducers to collect data from a range of normal and abnormal conditions to assess the diagnostic capability of digital audio.

around 200 Main lab (raw materials )

59 R L

Reuben

Instrumented palpation

G01E

150

60 R L

Reuben

Listening to the body

G01E

150

61 R L

Reuben

Snapping actuators for micromechan ics

62 R L

Reuben

The human dynamo

A number of actuators (for example microswitches in electric kettles) use bistable mechanical devices. Such devices can be a very important feature in micro-actuators because of their very high energy release rate. This project will investigate the application of bistable devices based on the bimetal and shape memory effects for flapping flight. It is expected that a protoptype can be built at large scale. At present the bicycle dynamo is the only means of energy harvesting excess human power. Arguably, almost everyone in the developed world could benefit from taking more exercise and harvesting of the energy would provide an additional tangible benefit. The project offers opportunities for students to use their skills in design, energy audit and sustainability to develop a scheme (or schemes) for exercise-based energy harvesting.

200 Main lab (consum ables)

around 200 for Main lab materials and gauges.

63 R L

Reuben

Experimental Students are welcome to suggest their own project ideas in experimental mechanics, including those from formula mechanics student. FS simulation of high volume car manufacture
A requirement of the FS project team during their assessment at Silverstone is to present how they would mass produce the FS car. This project will investigate a simulation of a proposed FS car manufacturing system using the WITNESS simulation package and, possibly, elements of the system checked via the use of rapid prototyping of components and assemblies (time permitting).

64

J. T.

Ritchie Lim

N/A

Virtual haptic R. Sung simulator for 65 J. Ritchie electronic soldering

Using haptic devices which generate computercontrolled forces to convey to the user the sense of touch in a virtual environment the project will involve comparing the usability of the simulator with that of realworld soldering. Furthermore, through analysis of the logged user actions in the virtual environment, the aim is to identify the key components that make up a good soldering technique.

G.01B

Usability study comparing R. Sung virtual reality 66 J. Ritchie interfaces with traditional desktop Just-inTiime/Lean Manufacturin g simulation tutorial

The project will compare the usability of a head-mounted display, 3D powerwall and a traditional desktop 2D interface when carrying out an engineering design task in their respective environments. As well as obtaining user feedback through questionnaires, the logged user actions in each software environment will be analysed to compared with each other.

G.01B

67

J. T.

Ritchie Lim

This project involves simulating a series of manufacturing layouts using the WITNESS shop floor simulation package for push and pull manufacturing and comparing the results. In addtiona to this, they will provide tutorials for students to use this package and understand these concepts during their 4th Year manufacturing course.

N/A

68 JD

Strength of Novel Shephard Optical Fibres

Novel optical fibres are being developed to transmit laser energy for minimally invasive surgical procedures. In addition to the fibres being able to transmit power they must be mechanically and chemically robust in order to be safe for use in an operating theatre. Also, the fibre must undergo sterilisation treatments with no detrimental effects to the material properties. In this project a quantitative analysis of the mechanical properties of a variety of optical fibres will be conducted and an assessment of how practical working conditions can influence these. Based on Laser Applications in an Engineering context Materials that provide comfort, support and pressure management are critical in orthopaedics and rehabilitation. The quality of life in patients who have to be seated or laying down for many hours each day depend on the correct prescription of those by the clinicians. However, the commercial and market pull has been faster than the development of the science. The prescription of these components continues to be dominated by tradition, and trial&error. This project involves the design of new mechanical testing protocols to complement an existing ISO standard procedure already in use by clinicians in the NHS. This work is part of a bigger project which is addressing the lack of standardization of mechanical properties of polymeric foams that are used as medical devices in orthopaedics, rehabilitation, and orthotics. X

EM G77

100

69 JD

Shephard TBC

EM G77

100

70 C

TorresSanchez

Mechanical properties testing of foams for orthopaedic and rehabilitation applications

Dynamic s Lab

~200

more then 2 days of workshop support are expected

71 C

TorresSanchez

Building bridges for bones: FEA analysis of porosity engineered materials

72 C

TorresSanchez

Bamboo as a structural and construction material

Natural structure and properties of human tissues can be mimicked with the objective to produce smart implant materials. The overall aim of this project is to obtain an accurate representation to model the behaviour of a porous structure for the optimal performance (biological, chemical, physical, mechanical) of a 3D scaffold when implanted in vivo. This model will be of vital importance when exploring more advanced and novel manufacturing processes for the production of scaffolds with an engineered control on the porosity gradation and interconenctivity of pores. This project will be 100% PC based, and will require the student's interest in FEA and Multiphysics software such as ABAQUS, COMSOL and ANSYS In this project, bamboo will be assessed as a permanent structural component and also as a sustainable design material in those non-industrialized countries that are still highly dependent on agriculture and farming. Many poor people in the Far East cannot afford concrete and steel houses and the use of bamboo as a structural replacement for steel has been highlighted as having the potential to lower the price of a new house. Bamboo could be utilised as a low-cost building material, and, if the conditions are appropriate, the plant could be grown locally. A bamboo structure prototype has been used for testing to determine its performance in terms of mechanical properties and comfort. This project will address the assembleability and 'modularisation' of the bamboo huts to be used by locals in developing countries.

PC Lab

Main Worksh op

~50

73 C

TorresSanchez

Copying natural structures for tailored implants

Natural structure and properties of human tissues can be mimicked with the objective to produce smart implant materials. This project will aim to manufacture disc implants with engineered gradient porosity. In this way, they are expected to replicate functionality of human tissues, improve their capabilities and perform satisfactorily. Traditionally, bone implants have been solid pieces of metal (i.e. screws and plates) not well tolerated by the patients (i.e. inflammatory reactions due to infections, repeated surgeries to insert and later remove the pieces and immunological complications). Materials currently used to manufacture implants do not mimic human tissues well because of their poor structural and mechanical behaviour (i.e. impact absorption, flexibility to accommodate stresses and deformations) and mismatch of human tissue properties. The aims are to manufacture and characterize disc implants with an engineered gradient of porosity. The discs will be fabricated from Nickel-Titanium alloy powder, sintered to obtain a porous structure with unique functionality and optimal mechanical and biological properties.

G.07

~150

74 W.

Wang

Biological kinematic analysis based on phase singularities in specklelike pattern

In mordern design of engineering systems, the transfer of technology from natural life froms to synthetic constructs is often advantages because evolutionary pressure typically forces natural systems to become highly optimized and efficient. To imitate mechanisms found in nature successfully, the in vivo measurement of dynamic structures plays a key role in both the field of mechanics and, to a lesser extent, in the field of biology. This objective has previously been pursued with partial success by establishing fix points on the objects surface as markers to be followed later. Needless to say, the rather arbitrarily placing of these points will inevitably influence the measurement result. Furthermore, these methods will usually not possess the desired accuracy. Meanwhile, dynamic measurements by using speckle techniques have been explored extensively, and considerable progress has been achieved due to its theoretical interest and practical importance. Although many attempts have been made to extend the applications of speckle metrology, the most difficult issue for its biological applications lies in the fact that the structures, themselves, are flexible, and thus are not easily followed by standard cross-correlation techniques. Let alone, that the entire structure might undergo rotation and maybe even scaling during movement. Finally, its usually of importance to track the dynamical behavior of parts of the sample individually. Therefore, the need for establishing an autonomous method for tracking the dynamics of biological specimen with a high accuracy becomes obvious with an increase of interests in bionics. In this project, we will convert a sequence of recorded images of a dynamic structure into a corresponding sequence of complex fields, from which only the information of the

75 W.

Wang

Full field fluid diagnosis based on speckle photography

Velocity is one of the most important parameters in fluid mechanics due to its cardinal influence on transport phenomena. Velocity measurements by using speckle and speckle-related techniques have been explored extensively, and various techniques have been developed. Though they differ in specific technical details, these speckle-related methods have at least one common feature namely to seed the flow with particles, and to detect the velocity vectors through cross-correlation of the intensity distributions for the recorded images. The seeding particles moving with a fluid flow provide kinematic information at the recording plane, and the local fluid velocity is derived from the ratio between the measured spacing for the same tracers and the time between exposures. Although many attempts have been made to extend its applications during the past decades, the most serious problem for particle image velocimetry lies in the lack of an autonomous method for high precision tracking of the seeding particles from the recorded speckle-like patterns. Since the resulting velocity vectors are derived through a cross-correlation over small interrogation areas of the flow, the spatial resolution for particle image velocimetry has been restricted due to the fact that the resulting velocity distribution is a spatially averaged representation for the actual velocity field. This project will involve the design of an experiment to determine the velocity distribution based on particles seeded in the flow. The theory will be investigated for analysis of resolution of the velocimetry.

76 W.

Wang

Optical polarization measuremen t for bifringe material with rough surface

The polarization changes after the reflection or scattering of linearly polarized incident light from different types of surfaces have provided many important information about the tested material, and extensive studies have been made on their basic properties due to its theoretical importance and practical interest. Recently, we have observed yet another type of speckle phenomena associated with random polarization. Besides random phase and intensity fluctuations common to conventional laser speckle pattern, the proposed polarization speckle has its unique properties of random polarization distribution. In this project,students will complete the polarization measurement based on recorded interferogram. The change of polarization state will be derived after the deformation of the bifringe material. Conventional holography is a technique that records and reconstructs the 3-D image of an object represented by an optical field distribution itself. Recently we have proposed a new concept of yet another type of holography, which we call coherence holography. In this technique, the information of the 3-D image is encoded into the spatial coherence function of the reconstructed optical field. In this project, students will design the spatial coherence gate based on coherence holography, and complete the detection of coherence function from the recorded fringe pattern. Modifications to the coherence detection from interferometry will be investigated with the aim of improving the spatial coherence.

77 W.

Wang

Spatial coherence tomography based on coherence holography

78 W.

Wang

Full field strain measuremen t based on phase informaiton of a speckle pattern

Laser speckle strain gauge is a new non-contact and automatic method of measuring surface strain. It makes use of the speckle displacement that is detected by cross correlating the recorded speckle pattern. Until now, the research in speckle photography has been based exclusively on the cross-correlation function of intensity of speckle patterns, and little attention has been paid to the possibility of using phase information. Recently, we introduced a new concept of what we call pseudophase, and demonstrated an improved performance for microdisplacement measurement. In this project, students will complete the strain measurement based on phase information of a speckle pattern. A strain distribution map will then be produced. Modifications to the phase detection from speckle pattern will be investigated with the aim of improving the laser speckle strain gauge. Approximately 80% of the power consumed by standard electronic devices is by heat generation. This heat must be dissipated to avoid failure of the component due to excessive temperatures. An energy recovery system that can harness this waste heat and therefore reduce the overall power consumption of the electronic device will be designed, built and tested. Passive electronics cooling techniques rely on natural convection to dissipate heat. A system will be designed to harness energy from the thermal plume generated for an electronic component. A piezoelectric cantilever will be placed in the plume and vibrations caused by the plume will generate electricity.

79

D.Yurchen ko/T. O'Donova n

Electronics Cooling Recovery System

80

novel wave Yurchenko energy , Daniil converter

There is a number of wave energy converters, which are used today to harvest waves energy. However, there is no a perfect device so far, which can generate large amount of electricity. The project is related to construction and testing of a novel wave energy converter. The project includes testing of the device using an electric shaker. There is also possibility to test the device in the water tank. The project will also be supervised by a PhD student