A fuel blend consisting of 10% S8 by mass (a Fischer-Tropsch synthetic kerosene), and 90% ULSD (Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel) was investigated for their combustion characteristics and impact on emissions during RCCI (Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition) combustion in a single cylinder experimental engine utilizing a 65% by mass n-butanol port fuel injection (PFI). RCCI is a dual fuel combustion strategy achieved with the introduction of a PFI fuel of the low-reactive n-butanol, and a direct injection (DI) of a high-reactivity blend (FT-BLEND) into an experimental diesel engine. The combustion analysis and emissions testing were conducted at 1500 RPM at an engine load of 5 bar IMEP (Indicated Mean Effective Pressure), and CA50 of 9° ATDC (After Top Dead Center); CDC (Conventional Diesel Combustion) and RCCI with 65Bu-35ULSD were utilized as the baseline for AHRR (Apparent Heat Release Rate), ringing and emissions comparisons. It was found during a preliminary investigation with a Constant Volume Combustion Chamber (CVCC) that the introduction of 10% by mass S8 into a mixture with 90% ULSD by mass only increased Derived Cetane Number (DCN) by 0.8, yet it was found to have a significant effect on the combustion characteristics of the fuel blend. This led to the change in injection timing necessary for maintaining 65Bu-35F-T BLEND RCCI at a CA50 of 5° ATDC (After Top Dead Center) to be shifted 3° closer to TDC, thus affecting the Ringing Intensity (RI), Pressure Rise Rate, and heat release of the blend all to decrease. CDC was conducted with a primary injection of 14° BTDC at a rail pressure of 800 bar, all RCCI testing was conducted with 65% PFI of n-butanol by mass and 35% DI, to prevent knock, with a rail pressure of 600 bar and a pilot injection of 60° BTDC for 0.35 ms. 65Bu-35ULSD RCCI was conducted with a primary injection at 6° BTDC with neat ULSD#2, the fuel 65Bu-35F-T BLEND in RCCI had a primary injection at 3° BTDC to maintain CA50 at 9° ATDC. 65Bu-35ULSD RCCI experienced a NO x and soot emissions decrease of 40.8% and 91.44% respectively in comparison to CDC. The fuel 65Bu-35F-T BLEND in RCCI exhibited an additional decrease of NO x and soot of 32.9 and 5.3%, in comparison to 65Bu-35ULSD RCCI for an overall decrease in emissions of 73.7% and 96.71% respectively. Ringing Intensity followed a similar trend with reductions in RI for 65Bu-35ULSD RCCI decreasing only by 6.2% whereas 65Bu-35F-T BLEND had a decrease in RI of 76.6%. Although emissions for both RCCI fuels experienced a decrease in NO x and soot in comparison to CDC, UHC and CO did increase as a result of RCCI. CO emissions for 65Bu-35ULSD RCCI and 65Bu-35F-T BLEND where increased from CDC by a factor of 5 and 4 respectively with UHC emissions rising from CDC by a factor of 3.4. The fuel 65Bu-35F-T BLEND had a higher combustion efficiency than 65Bu-35ULSD in RCCI at 91.2% due to lower CO emissions of the blend.

The focus of this study is to reduce harmful NO x and soot emissions of a compression ignition (CI) engine using reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI) with n-Butanol. RCCI was achieved with the port fuel injection (PFI) of a low reactivity fuel, n-butanol, and a direct injection (DI) of the highly reactive fuel ULSD #2 (Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel) into the combustion chamber. The reactivity, ID, and CD where determined using a Constant Volume Combustion Chamber (CVCC) where ID for n-butanol was found to be 15 times slower than ULSD. The emissions and combustion analysis was conducted at 1500 RPM at an experimental low engine load of 4 bar IMEP; the baseline for emissions comparison was conducted using conventional diesel combustion (CDC) with an injection timing of 16° BTDC at a rail pressure of 800 bar. RCCI was conducted utilizing 75% by mass PFI of n-butanol with 25% ULSD DI, showed a simultaneous reduction of both NO x and soot emissions at a rate of 96.2% and 98.7% respectively albeit with an increase in UHC emissions by a factor of 5. Ringing Intensity was also significantly reduced for Bu75ULSD25 (RCCI Experiment) with a reduction of 62.1% from CDC.

Soccer is played all over the world in a wide range of temperature environments. One of the objectives of this numerical study is to determine whether temperature has an effect on the body and performance of a soccer ball. Another object is to aerodynamically determine the effect of stitching pattern of the ball on its flight. The soccer ball was modeled in ANSYS Workbench and tested with thermal-stress analysis tool at nominal temperatures of 0°C, 20°C, and 40°C. The maximum deformation of a soccer ball at normal condition occurred at 40°C which was 1.0503 cm as compared to the 0.9587 cm at 0°C. This normal condition means when the ball is subjected to an internal pressure of 80 kPa which is the standard inflation pressure. When an external 2700 Pa pressure was applied to the soccer ball which is the average force of a kick, the maximum deformation again occurred at 40°C which was 5.2289 cm as compared to the 4.7599 cm at 0°C. Therefore, the stiffness of the ball materials decreased as the temperature increased. This reveals that the ball delivers a greater force at the surface of contact when the temperature drops. The second part of this study as mentioned earlier was to study the aerodynamic effect on a soccer ball traveling through the air at a certain speed. Two types of soccer ball were analyzed for this reason to see which of the two flew better in the air. The two types were a regular FIFA soccer ball with stitching and a normal soccer ball without stitching. Two tests were performed on both types of the soccer ball. These tests were done using ANSYS FLUENT and the sought out output parameters were velocity, pressure, Reynolds Number and drag force. In the first test the soccer balls were rotating in the air and in the second test the soccer balls were not rotating in the air. For the first test, the ball without stitching had the higher velocity, Reynolds Number, and drag force, which were 126.2 m/s, 2.420 × 10 6 , and 122.6 N respectively. This means the ball without stitching is experiencing a more random turbulent flow and is being pulled more into the direction of the drag force. This happens because the soccer ball without stitching will rotate faster and won’t have stitching patterns to create friction that will slow down the flow. For the second test, the ball with stitching had the higher velocity, Reynolds Number and drag force which were 42.22 m/s, 8.095 × 10 5 , and 16.81 N respectively. This means the soccer ball with stitching is experiencing a random turbulent flow and is being pulled in the direction of the drag force because the stitching patterns are not in complete contact with the air to create friction.

Photostriction is best defined as the generation of strain in a material via light irradiation. In essence the photostrictive effect is a result of the combination of the photovoltaic and converse-piezoelectric effects. When light comes into contact with the surface of a photostrictive material, the photovoltaic effect causes the generation of a large amount of voltage. The converse-piezoelectric effect in turn converts the produced voltage into mechanical motion, which induces strain in the material. Photostrictive ceramics are considered excellent materials for use in advanced actuation technologies. This is due to their ability to be activated through irradiation of light, which provides advantages over conventional actuators, which include remote control capability, freedom from physical actuation, and reduced electromagnetic (EM) interference. Conversely conventional actuators require hard wired connections to transmit control signals that can produce EM interference, creating signal noise. Photostrictive ceramics have also found use in the manufacturing of micro electromechanical systems, also known as MEMS technology, mostly due to their wireless capabilities. Photostrictive materials are ferroelectric ceramics that exhibit the photostrictive effect. PLZT, (Pb, La)(Zr, Ti) O 3 ceramics doped with WO 3 , exhibit large photostriction deflection under uniform illumination of light, and have potential uses in numerous micro-electro-mechanical systems as a result of this property. The objective of this research is to numerically investigate the effect of light intensity on transverse deflection of an overhanging beam model, and to assess the effect actuator size has on deflection for a propped cantilever beam model using finite element analysis technique. The current research results is then compared with the validated results of other studies on PLZT using other model types. From this numerical investigation it has been observed that for an overhanging beam model, the transverse deflection of PLZT actuators has a direct relationship to the intensity of the light applied in order to induce photostriction. It has also been observed that this relationship applies over a large range of light intensity upwards of 4000 mW/cm 2 , boosting maximum deflection into the micron range (1E−6 – 1E−7 m). With regard to the propped cantilever beam model, it has been observed that incomplete PLZT coverage of the cantilever beam portion of the model caused upwards transverse deflection. However, as the amount of PLZT actuator was increased, the deflection behavior exponentially approached negative values. By comparing these results with similar studies on alternate model types, it was confirmed that for beams deposited with PLZT actuator, light intensity and actuator size and surface coverage will affect the transverse deflection of the beam in the same manner regardless of the beam model.

Horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs) are the dominating technology in large scale energy production utilizing the wind power. With these structures, HAWTs continually becoming more massive in size to produce the most energy possible, greater stresses are imposed on the blades of these turbines. The purpose of this study was to analyze the stresses and deformation imposed on the blades of commonly used airfoils under varying materials and blade arrangements of HAWTs. This structural analysis was performed by the use of ANSYS Workbench software. The pressures applied to the blades were determined by previous studies which used ANSYS Fluent for blade pressure analysis created under varying wind speeds. Use of the airfoil designs denoted as S811, S822, and S826 were implemented, with structural analysis performed solely on the blade, on three and five blades arrangements. The materials used for each of these setups were Aluminum Alloy and Structural Steel. Furthermore, varying mesh types within ANSYS were applied to each of the geometries for comparison. It has been found from this study that the S811 profile models had the lowest stress and deformation for both blade configurations, meshing methods, and materials.

Ensure a safe, long life and efficient combustion within a diesel engine is an important challenge in the applications of engine technology. Much research has been done on thermal stress within engine cylinders and on engine piston heads, and how to reduce some of this stress in order to prevent failure or increase the life of the engine. The failure of a piston head tends to occur from it enduring the gas effect of the high pressures and temperatures. By performing static and dynamic Finite Element Analysis (FEA) on a piston mechanism of a diesel engine proper dimensions for different parts of an engine can be determined and failure of an engine in service can be avoided. In this research finite element analysis has been performed to determine the total deformation, stresses, and other parameters that are essential from design point of views. Real world input data for simulation obtained from running an existing diesel engine have been effectively used. Static structural and dynamic reaction of a piston assembly under the applied load of internal combustion in a diesel engine were closely observed. ANSYS workbench was utilized to perform these simulations. Using SolidWorks a piston assembly model consisting of the piston, connecting pin, connecting rod, cylinder head, crankshaft, and cranks was designed and used for simulation. Simulation results were being collected from the static structural and rigid body dynamics modules. The static structural simulation was conducted in order to obtain the structural response of the piston assembly under the combustion phase. This simulation was intended to replicate the pressure forces applied to the piston assembly at the moment of combustion. A pressure force of 7 MPa was applied to the top of the piston. From the simulation results, the maximum total deformation 1.9 mm occurred at the top edge of the piston head on the same side as the combustion chamber. Maximum equivalent Von Mises stress 323.9 MPa occurred at the joint of the connecting rod and crankshaft and the minimum equivalent stress 27 kPa occurred at the bottom of the connecting rod. Principal stresses were also examined, where the maximum principal stress 335.1 MPa occurred at the joint of the connecting rod and crankshaft and the minimum principal stress 63.5 MPa occurred inside of the connecting rod joint. The maximum shear stress 177.7 MPa occurred at the joint of the connecting rod and crankshaft and the minimum shear stress 14.26 kPa occurred at the bottom of the connecting rod. Two types of forces were considered acting upon the geometry in the rigid body dynamic simulation, one is standard earth gravity and the other is a linear dynamic load of 55,000 N applied to the top of the piston head which is used to simulate the act of combustion within the combustion chamber of a cylinder. From the rigid dynamic simulation, it was found that after the first combustion cycle, the linear velocity of the entire system, acceleration of the entire system, and the crank angular velocity reach to the maximum of 24.77 m/s, 17684 m/s 2 and 5487 rpm respectively at 0.0187 seconds. Then after the second combustion cycle, the linear velocity of the entire system and the crank angular velocity reach to 27.56 m/s and 6043 rpm respectively at 0.0481 seconds; however the acceleration of the entire system took 0.0551 seconds to reach to 30115 m/s 2 .

Finite Element Analysis (FEA) has been performed on variety of a driveshaft and universal joints based on different shaft materials and shaft different operating angles. A driveshaft is particularly useful in applications such as taking of transferring torque from one piece of equipment to the other such as in vehicle of all kinds. A driveshaft transfers torque from the transmission to the rear end differential since these two pieces of equipment cannot be connected directly. The driveshaft has universal joints located on both ends of the shaft to allow for fluctuations in the angle of the transmission and rear differential. The driveshaft alone is composed of two parts, a female and male end, connected by a spline to allow changes in the length during operation. The driveshaft must be able to withstand the constant torque that is being applied throughout operation in order to increase safety for the operator and machine. Having a lower polar moment of inertia allows the driveshaft to turn with a lower torque value compared to a driveshaft with a higher moment of inertia. It is noted that driveshaft can be manufactured into a variety of lengths and diameters depending on the use and equipment it will be supporting. This paper describes a method of finite element implemented on variations of driveshaft and universal joints. Effect of material properties, geometry and operating angle of the driveshaft were considered for this numerical investigation. Five different materials such as structural steel, aluminum alloy, polyethylene, titanium, and carbon fiber with an outer diameter of 1.5 in of the driveshaft was used for this analysis. The effect of both metals and composite materials was observed. Based on the analysis it was found that a 15° operating angle allowed for the longest life cycle of the driveshaft, while the carbon fiber composite presented the highest stress resistance and safety factor, approximately 6 GPa of yield tensile strength and a safety factor of 15. It was also found that titanium had an equivalent safety factor of 15. However, the tensile yield strength of titanium was much lower than that of its composite counterpart. All of the numerical experimentation was done using the Finite Element Analysis software ANSYS. Material properties for all materials were preset in the software except the composite carbon fiber whose properties were easily found from other research papers and experiments. Based on the data collected and the general assumptions that the most effective drive shaft is the one that lasts the longest. It can be concluded that a driveshaft made of carbon fiber operating at an angle of 15° presents the optimum driveshaft design.

The demand for wind energy as a renewable source is rising substantially. A growing interest exists in utilizing potential energy conversion applications in areas with less powerful and less consistent wind conditions. In these areas, vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) possess several advantages over the conventional horizontal-axis type. Savonius turbines are drag-based rotors which operate due to a pressure difference between the advancing and retreating blades. These turbines are simpler in design, less expensive to install, independent of wind direction, and more efficient at low wind speeds. In the present study, rotors were designed with semi-circle blades consisting of a helical shape with twist angle of 90 degrees. Helical designs spread the torque applied to the rotor over a complete revolution with the purpose of increasing efficiency. Three models were analyzed with different number of blades including 2, 3, and 4 blade models. Models for testing were designed using the CAD software SolidWorks. The blades were then 3D printed with PLA plastic. A consistent swept area was maintained for each model, and only blade number was varied. Subsonic, open-type wind tunnel testing was used for measuring RPM and reactional torque over a range of wind speeds. For the numerical approach, ANSYS Fluent simulations were used for analyzing aerodynamic performance by utilizing moving reference frame and sliding mesh model techniques. Due to the helical twist, the cross-section of the blades varied in the Y-direction. Because of this, a 3-dimensional and transient method was used for accurately solving torque and power coefficients. It has been found that the highest average power coefficient observed in the study is achieved by the Helical2 model (2-bladed helical design VAWT model), both numerically and experimentally.

Nanofluids often exhibit superior heat transfer characteristics when compared with conventional heat transfer fluids. The increase in thermal conductivity due to the presence of various nanoparticles was experimentally examined using commercially available equipment that utilizes the two thickness method. The thermal conductivity of 10 and 30 nm aluminum oxide nanoparticles suspended in distilled water at concentrations of 2% and 5% was measured for a temperature range of 15°C to 70°C in increments of 5°C. For a 2% concentration of 10 nm aluminum oxide the experimentally derived thermal conductivity deviated from the theoretical thermal conductivity predicted by Maxwell by an average of 1.55%. The average percent increase in the thermal conductivity of the base fluid due to the presence of 10 nm aluminum oxide nanoparticles was found to be 4.17 and 4.90% for concentrations of 2 and 5% respectively. The presence of 30 nm nanoparticles resulted in a greater discrepancy with the theoretical model developed by Maxwell, regardless of concentration. In addition, the presence of 10 nm aluminum oxide nanoparticles resulted in a greater increase in thermal conductivity when compared with 30 nm aluminum oxide nanoparticles. In addition, the thermal conductivity of a base fluid dispersed with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) with an outer diameter ranging from 13–18 nm and a length ranging from 3–30 micrometers (μm) was examined. The presence of a 0.2% concentration of MWNTs resulted in an average increase in thermal conductivity of 0.31%. Unfortunately, there was a large standard deviation in the results for the MWNTs and significant fluctuations with temperature. While this experimental methodology may be sufficient for metal based nanofluid particles it may be undesirable for fluids enhanced by MWNTs.

With the increasing demand for clean, renewable energy sources, vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) research has gained considerable interest. The technology is primarily used for small-scale power applications in environments with unsteady wind conditions, such as urban locations. For this type of turbine the most important features are self-starting characteristics and energy conversion efficiency. For the Savonius type rotor, performance is increased by reducing drag losses on the advancing blades. The present study addresses the numerical verification of the performance of new designs for drag-driven VAWTs. Two new models were created using SolidWorks along with a standard Savonius model consisting of semicircular blades for benchmarking. All models were designed with the same swept area for comparison. 3D numerical simulation was completed using ANSYS FLUENT. Static conditions were first solved with a moving reference frame (MRF). The results from the MRF simulations were then used to initialize the transient solvers using sliding mesh models (SMM). 3D pressure distributions on the moving blades for each model were analyzed. From inputs of wind and rotational speed, torque values and coefficients of moment were reported. Each model was tested over a range of tip-speed ratios, and power coefficients were calculated. Results were compared to a standard Savonius VAWT, and increased maximum power coefficient was achieved with the new blade geometries.

The objective of this research work was to perform a flow simulation around a running bullet and then compare and analyze three types of widely used bullet models. These are 7.62mm × 39mm, 7.62mm × 51mm, and 5.56mm × 45mm caliber popular NATO rounds respectively. Due to limited processing and computational resources, these bullet are modeled as cylindrical projectiles of similar length and diameter. Finite element analysis (FEA) are performed on these models using ANSYS explicit dynamics analysis code to investigate the effect of high velocity impact of these projectiles on a concrete plate. Three different types of meshing (coarse, fine, and fine with curvature) for each of these three cases have been used. Each projectile was fired at a different velocity. These velocities are selected in consultation with Hornady Manufacturing, Inc which has done extensive research on these bullets. The selected firing velocities for 7.62mm × 39mm, 7.62mm × 51mm, and 5.56mm × 45mm caliber bullets are 2021ft/s, 2539.4ft/s 2706.7ft/s respectively. Overall, the simulation result of explicit dynamics clearly demonstrated cavitation and mushrooming of projectiles when impacting a 0.25 inch concrete plate. The 5.56mm × 45mm projectile seemed to have the largest overall total deformation values of 2.0303, 1.0487, and 0.26079 feet as obtained from simulation of the three types of mashing. This can be attributed due to the higher velocity (2706.7ft/sec) as compared to the other two cases. Similarly, the 7.63mm × 39mm has the highest average change of velocity of 144.7, 92.3, and 99.6ft/sec respectively from the three types of meshing among the three bullets which can be attributed due to its lowest impact velocity (2021ft/s).

The process of heat exchange between two fluids that are at different temperatures and separated by a solid wall occurs in many engineering applications. The device used to implement this exchange is termed a heat exchanger (HE), and specific applications may be found in space heating and air-conditioning, power generation, waste heat recovery, and chemical processing. Increasing heat transfer coefficient and making heat exchanger compact for various applications like in spacecraft, underwater vehicle, unmanned Ariel vehicle is one of the main challenges. Biologically-inspired design (or BID) has become an important and increasingly wide-spread movement in design for environmentally-conscious sustainable development. By definition, BID is based on cross-domain analogies; further, biologically-inspired approaches to design have a certain degree of openness to innovation. Compact heat exchanger can reduce the space and weight of any locomotives and spacecraft. Structural elements inspired from nature possess compactness and stability. Honeycomb structure allows minimize the spacing between cells which makes it possible to use thinnest possible metal boundary wall between two fluids. A rectangle structure can also do the same thing but it has less surface area, which will essentially decrease the volume of heat exchanger. Honeycomb structure provides high surface area to volume ratio which can be utilized to increase heat transfer coefficient of a heat exchanger and thus make compact system. In this computational study, bio-inspired simple honeycomb structured and spiral finned honeycomb structured counter flow heat exchanger has been three dimensionally simulated using finite element methods in commercial software COMSOL. This work is used to reduce the weight of heat exchangers in steam reforming reactors. There is a good correlation when the fluid temperature is the same in all cells. There is also a good temperature gradient in the fluid owing to laminar flow. 3D modeling showed that a careful representation of the inlet is needed for realistic results. A tube-shell heat exchanger is also simulated using FEA in COMSOL. Spiral finned heat exchanger provides additional surface area in cost of pressure drop. The performance characteristics of honeycomb heat exchanger showed an increase in heat transfer rate with least vortex formation.

The continuous improvement of this world is based on technological advancement. And the technological advancement is directly related to the utilization of energy. The demand of energy is creeping up every day due to increase of population, industrial and agricultural advancement. But the conventional energy sources are becoming limited which is ultimately making them more expensive. In addition to this, everyone is concerned about global climate change. This whole scenario is pushing the world to find the alternative sources of energy. Alternative sources involve natural phenomena such as sunlight, wind, tides, plant growth, and geothermal heat. Solar and Wind power are the most popular among the various sources of renewable energy. Wind alone can fulfill most of the energy requirement of the world by its efficient conversion in to energy. Though Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) is more popular but needs high wind speed to extract energy from the wind. On the Other hand Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) can run at low wind speed, independent of wind direction and can be installed anywhere with cheapest cost. The main objective of this research is to improve the design and performance of VAWT to make it more attractive, efficient, durable and sustainable. For a VAWT, the blades perform the main role to extract energy from the wind. Airfoil is considered as the blade for this new design of VAWT. Airfoil has some good aerodynamic characteristics, matches with the characteristics of Savonious type VAWT, such as good stall characteristics and little roughness affect, relatively high drag and low lift coefficient. Three dimensional CAD models of various simple airfoils have been designed in Solidworks. Using these airfoils CFD simulation has been performed for five different VAWT designed models. Moving mesh and fluid flow simulation have been performed using CFD software FLUENT. The findings of these numerical simulations provided pressure contour, velocity contour, drag coefficient, lift coefficient, torque coefficient and power coefficient for all these models. From the results it can be concluded that NACA7510 airfoil VAWT model gives the better performance at higher Tip Speed Ratio (λ) than other models.

Although alternative energy sources, such as nuclear, wind, and solar, are showing great potential, hydrocarbon fuels are expected to continue to play an important role in the near future. There is an increasing interest in developing technologies to use hydrocarbon fuels cleanly and efficiently. The gasification technology that converts hydrocarbon fuels into syngas is one of these promising technologies. Entrained-flow gasifiers are the preferred gasifier design for future deployment due to their high carbon conversion, high efficiency and high syngas purity. Current designs of entrained-flow gasifiers still have serious problems such as injector failure, refractory failure, slag blockages, downstream fouling and poisoning, poor space efficiency, and lack of dynamic feedstock flexibility. To better understand the entrained-flow gasification process, we performed parametric studies of coal gasification in the laboratory-scale gasifier developed at Brigham Young University (BYU) using ANSYS FLUENT. An Eulerian approach was used to describe the gas phase, and a Lagrangian approach was used to describe the particle phase. The interactions between the gas phase and particle phase was modeled using the particle-source-in-cell approach. Turbulence was modeled using the standard k-ε model. Turbulent particle dispersion was taken into account by using the discrete random walk model. Devolatilization was modeled using a version of the chemical percolation devolatilization (CPD) model, and char consumption was described with a shrinking core model. Turbulent combustion in the gas phase was modeled using a finite-rate/eddy-dissipation model. Radiation was considered by solving the radiative transport equation with the discrete ordinates model. Second-order upwind scheme was used to solve all gas phase equations. First, the numerical model was validated by using experimental data for the mole fractions of the major species (CO, CO 2 , H 2 , and H 2 O) along the gasifier centerline. Then, the effects of concentrations of steam and oxygen at the inlets, and steam preheat temperature were studied. Model predictions found that increasing the steam concentration or steam preheat temperature in the secondary inlet generally decreases CO concentration, while increasing CO 2 and H 2 concentrations. Increasing the steam concentration in the secondary inlet showed no significant effects on predicted gas temperature in the gasifier. Increasing the oxygen concentration in the primary inlet generally increases gas temperature, CO and CO 2 concentrations, while decreasing H 2 concentration.

Amidst of high demand of energy, the world is seeking alternative energy sources. Wind alone can fulfill most of the energy requirement of the world by its efficient conversion into energy. On efficiency measurement, Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWT) is the popular to the researchers, but it works best in places where the wind is not disturbed and has high wind power. The inherent advantage of facing the wind direction, design simplicity, less expensive technology for construction, lower wind start-up speeds, easier maintenance, and relatively quietness are turning the focus to Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT). The low wind speed and non-smooth wind flow regions are attracted for these machines. Savonius turbine is the simplest form of VAWT and operation is based on the difference of the drag force on its blades. The main objective of this study is to analyze a perfect mixture of new and innovative designs of Savonius turbine blades, which can make VAWT more attractive, efficient, durable and sustainable. This is studied by using blade with different numbers in operating in different wind speed. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis has been used. 2D CAD models of various VAWT geometries are created and tested with CFD software ANSYS/FLUENT with a similar flow-driven motion in a wind tunnel. These simulations provided the aero-dynamic characteristics like shear stress, velocity distribution and pressure distribution. Some physical models with desired properties needed to be fabricated and tested inside tunnel to find the effect of different shapes in real.

In this work, the effect of ply stacking sequence on the structural response of multi-ply unidirectional fiber-reinforced composite laminates was evaluated using finite element analysis. The objective of this study was to develop a computational model to analyze the stress response of individual plies in a composite laminate for a given stacking sequence. A laminated composite plate structure under tensile loading was modeled in ANSYS. Stress profiles of the individual plies were obtained for each lamina. An Epoxy matrix with both unidirectional Graphite and Kevlar fibers was considered for the model. Three dimensional sectioned shell elements (SHELL181) were used for meshing the model. Several sets of stacking sequences were implemented, symmetrical to the mid-plane of the laminate. Symmetric stacking configurations of 6 layers stacked in ply angles of [0/45/-45]s, [0/60/-60]s, [0/45/90]s, and an 8-layered arrangement of [0/45/60/90]s were modeled for the analysis. The layer thickness was maintained at 0.1 mm. The results were compared against an analytical model based on the generalized Hooke’s law for orthotropic materials and classical laminate theory. A numerical formulation of the analytical model was implemented in MATLAB to evaluate the constitutive equations for each lamina. The stress distributions obtained using finite element analysis have shown good agreement with the analytical models in some of the cases.

Hobie Cat is one of the most popular sailboat production companies to ever exist, and the Hobie 16 is the most popular boat in the Hobie Cat line-up. The key to Hobie’s success was largely in part to advancements in strong and lightweight materials. This advancement allowed Hobie to achieve record breaking performance in their particular class of boat. The mast of the Hobie 16 is one of the heavier pieces of the craft. The overall mass and center of mass is greatly affected by this component, which begs to question if there may possibly be room for improvement. A sailboat mast is defined as a tall vertical spar, sometimes sectioned, that rises from the keel or deck of a sailing vessel to support the sails and the standing and running rigging. Sailboat masts are long, slender structures. They must be designed to be able to hold the thrust loads that are acting on them from the sails which will differ based on wind conditions. A mast must also be made of a material that will allow it to go through the varying environmental conditions without fatiguing. When designing a sailboat mast a few of the main goals are to have a low center of gravity, be light weight, and also aerodynamically efficient. During this research a Hobie 16 mast design was taken as a baseline design for testing. The current mast on the market weighs between 50–60 lbs. While this is not extremely heavy, the center of gravity is approximately 13.5 feet from the end of the mast. This high center of gravity makes it tough to raise and lower the mast when launching the boat. One important objective in this work is to create a mast that will be easier for the user to raise and lower without sacrificing the structural integrity of the mast. Three masts have been created in solid modeling software, and their performance characteristics have been tested using finite element analysis software ANSYS. Two of the designs are original works, while one is a copy of the original Hobie Cat design. The original design was analyzed, providing baseline data for which to compare the new designs with. In addition to the new designs, all designs have been constructed from three different materials as Aluminum Alloy 6061, Aluminum Alloy 7075 and Acrylic. This allows for comparison of designs and possible new materials. After an in depth analysis of all masts, the recommendation is made that Hobie 16 users would benefit greatly from the use of a tapered mast made of aluminum alloy 7075.

A prosthetic limb is an artificial device that replaces missing body part, or parts. Prosthetic limbs are used for many different applications however the application of prosthetic limbs focused in this paper categorized as prosthetic enhancements. Prosthetic enhancements are special prosthetic that allow the patients to participate in more rigorous recreational activities, such as running. These prosthetic limbs now have started to arise in major sporting events like the Olympics. Some researchers say that the legs use only 25% of the energy that an able bodied leg would use. High performance prosthetic running legs made of carbon fiber, show great advantages over their metal counterparts. Including being lighter and being able to retain more strain energy, current carbon fiber running blades offered by Ossur provide the best performance in the market. In this study, prosthetic racing legs known as blades were analyzed using finite element analysis technique. Performance improvements of these blades were sought by creating mechanical models of the current Ossur products using the finite element analysis software ANSYS and incorporating better performing composite materials into the mechanical simulations. Two different composite materials have taken in consideration by which the legs are created from, these are thermoplastic values for polyethylene epoxy and Vinylester. The use of a new composite material reduces the strain in each of the existing blade geometries, and it permits fewer layers of carbon fiber to be required in the construction of these running blades, which reduces the weight of each leg. Three different blade designs such as Cheetah blade, Flex-Run blade and Flex-Sprint blade have been considered in this study. Also two different loading conditions on the blade such as standing and running conditions have been considered.

Depending on the type of matrix materials, composites can be broadly divided into three different major classifications: Organic-matrix composites (OMC), metal-matrix composites (MMC), and ceramic-matrix composites (CMC). OMC can be further sub-classified into polymer-matrix composites (PMC) and carbon-matrix composites or carbon-carbon composites. In this paper the main objective is to focus on polyurethane based PMC composites. Polyurethane is one of the widely used polymer matrix materials. It has diversified applications, easily available and cheap. In this computational study a composite shaft with a core made of matrix material completely wrapped around by a woven fiber cloth with a very strong bonding between core and fibers is considered. Three different types of woven fibers: fiber glass, Kevlar 49, and carbon fibers, are considered. A woven fabric is the interlocking or weaving of two unidirectional fibers. This configuration is often used to produce curve surfaces because of the ease with which it could be placed on and conform to curved surfaces. Authors had fabricated these three composites in their in-house laboratory. They had also experimentally measured the mechanical properties of these composites using 3-point bending test which already been published. In this current study finite element analyses has been performed for the modeling of the static response of these three different polyurethane based composite shafts as fiber glass reinforced polyurethane epoxy, carbon fiber reinforced polyurethane epoxy, and Kevlar fibers reinforced polyurethane epoxy for three different boundary conditions. These three boundary conditions are simply supported, cantilever, both end fixed types with bending loads applied at the middle for simply supported case and distributed load along the length of the shaft for the last two types of boundary conditions. A three dimensional model of the composite beam has been implemented in this study using SolidWorks. A finite element commercial software ANSYS is used to investigate the stress response and deformation behavior of the model geometry for these three polyurethane based composite shafts for these three boundary conditions. A twenty node three dimensional element has been implemented for the finite element formulation of the modeled geometry such that it is applicable for the analysis of a layered composite structure, while providing support for linear, large rotation, and large strain nonlinear loading conditions. Convergence has also been ensured for various mash configurations in this work.

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) is the least efficient conventional wind energy generator. But the inherent advantage of facing the wind direction and capability to operate in low wind speed and non-smooth wind flow regions are two main reasons to research on it and to find more efficient design. The simplest form of VAWT is known as Savonius turbine and difference of the drag force on its blades is the operating principal. The main objective of this study is to analyze the performance data (numerically obtained) Savonius turbine blades. This study is in preliminary stage; experiment will be performed in near future. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis has been used. Effect of changing the inlet velocity and mesh dependency is observed in this study. These models are simulated with CFD software ANSYS/FLUENT. Comparing previous models it has been found that, airfoil shaped three bladed rotor produces better result than regular semi-circular wind turbines. Changing the airfoil shape may show more interesting result in future.