REU Projects for Summer 2003
The following are summaries of the research projects conducted during the 2003 Metrology REU, adapted from submissions by REU participants.
Study of Metallic Buildup with the AFM
Scanning Probe Microscopes (SPM) are powerful tools that help scientists study the microstructure of a specimen in great detail. One type of SPM is known as the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). This microscope relies on repulsive forces between electron clouds to map out the topography of a sample. AFM’s are a relatively new form of nanotechnology, capable of producing images with subatomic resolution.
This research project uses an AFM to study tungsten carbide cutting inserts with metallic deposits on their surfaces. These deposits (Aluminum and Steel metals) are a result of the cutting process on a lathe machine. The goal is to learn how these “buildups” look under an AFM and, if possible, determine the type of bonding taking place between the two materials. Other inferences, such as hardness and pattern trends, can be made by comparison of scanned images. These goals have been achieved by first studying how polished metals look at the micro scale. Resulting images gave basic guidelines for differentiating between features of varying importance. Aluminum and steel bars were cut by the carbide insert and consequently buildup was present on the surface. AFM images of these phenomena were scanned and studied.
Results show that evidence of plastic deformation is visible between metals of different hardness levels. Surface roughness trends exist for the polished surfaces (as expected), but are far less conclusive for the carbide images with buildup. Several factors prevented this study from not being able to determine the type of bonding that exists between the two materials in contact. Distinct patterns are present based on material and cutting speed of the tool.
The AFM is expensive and time consuming to operate. If money and time are irrelevant, then AFM can be good for further study of this topic. Otherwise, methods (such as an Optical profilometer or SEM) to study metallic buildup would be more useful.
The Reliability of Oklahoma’s Intelligent Transportation System
In the coming years, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) plans to deploy a massive network of cameras, message signs and fiber optic cable known as the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). This system is designed to manage traffic and provide information to commuters. Knowing the availability of this system is important in estimating the budget for maintenance. Availability also gives a good quantitative measure of system stability.
Initial deployments for Tinker Air Force Base and Tulsa, OK should be completed by the end of the 2003 summer. The ITS Team has asked us to generate a model for predicting availability and spare parts requirements for these two sites. We are also to expand this model and to create a graphical user interface that allows the data of any given system to be analyzed.
The first step in our project was to collect Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) data for each individual component in the system. This was done by calling and emailing various manufacturers. The next step was creating the models.
Using a combination of the following formulas, a model for calculating system availability was created. MTTR is Mean Time To Repair. MTBFT is the pooled MTBF of the network.
Machining Tribology
Understanding the way in which cutting with tool inserts occurs is very important to tool manufacturers and people working with cutting tools in the shop. We chose to focus our study on tool inserts that were used to cut 1018 steel that had been turned on a lathe. To date there have been questions about theeffects on a tool insert that has cut 1018 steel, such as whether it sticks to the insert, and whether the sticking pattern is fractal. We tried to address both of these questions through our study. In the end we concluded that 1018 steel did stick to the inserts and had a fractal sticking pattern under certain cutting conditions.
Predicting Tool Wear: Exploratory Research
Machining metal is the process used to manufacture a great deal of the goods produced in our modern industrial society. Machining metal on a lathe, known as turning, is perhaps the most important of these operations. The earliest depictions of rudimentary turning operations are present in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Because of the monetary benefits of maximizing the efficiency of modern production, the turning process has been studied extensively. However, much of the research regarding tool wear was completed decades ago and contains many invalid assumptions and inaccuracies. It is uncommon that researchers study machining at a microscopic level.
Before undertaking any research project, it is important to do an extensive review of past work done in the area. This projects main purpose is to provide some background research and experimentation to formulate a thesis topic for more in-depth study to determine if tool wear under a specific set of circumstances produces a predictable fractal pattern.
The Effects of Gravity on Bubble Formation
Most humans have never experienced life away from the effects of gravity. Astronauts have entered the regions of microgravity while orbiting the earth, where any gravity felt is minimal. However, microgravity conditions may also be simulated on the surface of the earth by letting the object free fall. The effects that gravity has on bubble formation are described in this paper by comparing data taken under normal gravity conditions to those taken under microgravity conditions.
Laser Doppler Velocimetry
Instruments and measuring devices have to be developed to meet the needs of research. Some fields require precise instrumentation, while others may not care about such precision. Pitot probes and thermoelectric anemometers have been used to measure velocities in various fluid flows. However, these types of instruments disturb the original flow pattern when they are inserted to measure the velocity. In order to solve this problem, researchers in the mid 20 century developed a technique using lasers, which is non-intrusive (it does not disturb the flow). This technique is called laser Doppler velocimetry. An exploration of the ability of such a system to accurately measure fluid velocity is made in this paper.
Investigation of Electromagnetic Compatibility between Wireless Phones and Wireless Glucose Monitoring Systems
Our customer has produced and marketed a glucose monitoring system which can be used by diabetes patients to supplement data taken from blood by fingerpricks, and to gather, store, and display round-the-clock data which is lost by other monitoring schemes. The current configuration of the glucose monitoring system (GMS) features a sensor unit, worn under clothing and attached at the waistline, which sends telemetry to a display unit through a wire. Because the wire between the two units is inhibitive for most patients, a wireless GMS (WGMS) has been designed and is in submission to the FDA.
A preliminary study was conducted in June of 2003 on the interactions of cell phones with the WGMS which showed that there were interactions with the device. Upon submission, the FDA requested additional information on the interaction.
Our objectives are to determine whether the interaction occurs when the phone is near the sensor, or near the receiver; the range at which interactions occur, how several different cell phone technologies interact with the two devices and whether the transmission or interpretation of the data is affected.
The results were that there was considerably more interaction when the cell phone was placed nearer the monitor than when near the sensor, making it the more vulnerable system component. The range from which an interference occurred extended up to over 10 inches from the monitor. The phone technology which had the largest range of interference (TDMA 217Mhz) also produced the greatest number of interferences. All failures which occurred were in the form of non-communication between the sensor and monitor, rather than the transmission of an erroneous glucose reading.
Coordinate Metrology
This research used two different sample plates to find a correlation between the sample size and the sampling strategy in determining the flatness value of the two given sample groups. Both of these sample groups contained twelve plates; ten of these twelve plates were randomly chosen as a representative sample to be tested for each group. The sampling strategies used in the testing were aligned and random. To obtain the flatness value, a Brown & Sharpe CMM (coordinate measuring machine) was used. The first plate set was a steel plate that had been machined flat. After the plate had been machined flat, it was then put in a clamping vise and had three large holes, four small holes, and six slots drilled all the way through it at even intervals. The plate was again machined flat. After it was machined flat, it was released from the vise. This clamping and unclamping action should have caused the plate surface to not be flat, due to the possible deforming effect it exerted on the holes and slots. The results found that clamping the parts down didn’t affect the plates to a noticeable degree. It was concluded that the sufficient sample size and method should be 64 and random respectably. The second plate set was an aluminum plate that had a particular section machined using the end-milling process. This process gave the plate a wavy look. Because of this higher flatness values were recorded. After analyzing the data, a sample size of 100 should he used with the aligned sampling method. These conclusions are both very important to businesses and manufacturers to save time and money.
Building Construction and Lab Renovations
The primary portion of this project consisted of determining the best way to construct a concrete structure and test its ability to withstand an external, vibrational load, similar to that of an earthquake. First, it was necessary to consult a concrete expert to decide what type of concrete should be formed and what ingredients were needed. After this task was completed, there was a good deal of laborious work to be carried out. Main reinforcements had to be formed and attached to transverse reinforcements and the necessary components for the concrete mixture had to be gathered by making several trips around the state. Since the process was tedious and didn’t really take off until the latter part of the summer, there was no actual testing that was done during our project.
There are still many visual components that must be obtained before any data can be collected. However, the completed work spearheads the effort of establishing a model structure that can be useful to our research by being destroyed on a shaker table, thus, simulating an earthquake. Any further work will have to be completed by other students who are willing to get their hands dirty. The first phase of the final structure should be completed soon, and then motion capture technology will be necessary to collect the desired data. All in all, the entire project may take years to complete, but it all starts now.
Business Case Analysis
The students were broken into teams. These teams were given the task of creating a complete business case analysis for a phased approach to a complete, dedicated, multi-disciplined, self-sufficient laboratory over three to five years. Each team was assigned a different type of laboratory, with the four types being: metrology, reverse engineering, and microscopy and process sensing. Although the students were given the freedom to organize the business case however they chose, they were required to address current capabilities, requirements for facility, equipment, and personnel, and the cost and benefits. The labs chosen by the REU participants included a manufacturing process sensing and diagnostics lab, a reverse engineering lab, a microscopy and nanoscopy lab for analyzing airplane and automobile parts, and a manufacturing metrology lab.
The following are summaries of the research projects conducted during the 2003 Metrology REU, adapted from submissions by REU participants.
Study of Metallic Buildup with the AFM
Scanning Probe Microscopes (SPM) are powerful tools that help scientists study the microstructure of a specimen in great detail. One type of SPM is known as the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). This microscope relies on repulsive forces between electron clouds to map out the topography of a sample. AFM’s are a relatively new form of nanotechnology, capable of producing images with subatomic resolution.
This research project uses an AFM to study tungsten carbide cutting inserts with metallic deposits on their surfaces. These deposits (Aluminum and Steel metals) are a result of the cutting process on a lathe machine. The goal is to learn how these “buildups” look under an AFM and, if possible, determine the type of bonding taking place between the two materials. Other inferences, such as hardness and pattern trends, can be made by comparison of scanned images. These goals have been achieved by first studying how polished metals look at the micro scale. Resulting images gave basic guidelines for differentiating between features of varying importance. Aluminum and steel bars were cut by the carbide insert and consequently buildup was present on the surface. AFM images of these phenomena were scanned and studied.
Results show that evidence of plastic deformation is visible between metals of different hardness levels. Surface roughness trends exist for the polished surfaces (as expected), but are far less conclusive for the carbide images with buildup. Several factors prevented this study from not being able to determine the type of bonding that exists between the two materials in contact. Distinct patterns are present based on material and cutting speed of the tool.
The AFM is expensive and time consuming to operate. If money and time are irrelevant, then AFM can be good for further study of this topic. Otherwise, methods (such as an Optical profilometer or SEM) to study metallic buildup would be more useful.
The Reliability of Oklahoma’s Intelligent Transportation System
In the coming years, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) plans to deploy a massive network of cameras, message signs and fiber optic cable known as the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). This system is designed to manage traffic and provide information to commuters. Knowing the availability of this system is important in estimating the budget for maintenance. Availability also gives a good quantitative measure of system stability.
Initial deployments for Tinker Air Force Base and Tulsa, OK should be completed by the end of the 2003 summer. The ITS Team has asked us to generate a model for predicting availability and spare parts requirements for these two sites. We are also to expand this model and to create a graphical user interface that allows the data of any given system to be analyzed.
The first step in our project was to collect Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) data for each individual component in the system. This was done by calling and emailing various manufacturers. The next step was creating the models.
Using a combination of the following formulas, a model for calculating system availability was created. MTTR is Mean Time To Repair. MTBFT is the pooled MTBF of the network.
Machining Tribology
Understanding the way in which cutting with tool inserts occurs is very important to tool manufacturers and people working with cutting tools in the shop. We chose to focus our study on tool inserts that were used to cut 1018 steel that had been turned on a lathe. To date there have been questions about theeffects on a tool insert that has cut 1018 steel, such as whether it sticks to the insert, and whether the sticking pattern is fractal. We tried to address both of these questions through our study. In the end we concluded that 1018 steel did stick to the inserts and had a fractal sticking pattern under certain cutting conditions.
Predicting Tool Wear: Exploratory Research
Machining metal is the process used to manufacture a great deal of the goods produced in our modern industrial society. Machining metal on a lathe, known as turning, is perhaps the most important of these operations. The earliest depictions of rudimentary turning operations are present in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Because of the monetary benefits of maximizing the efficiency of modern production, the turning process has been studied extensively. However, much of the research regarding tool wear was completed decades ago and contains many invalid assumptions and inaccuracies. It is uncommon that researchers study machining at a microscopic level.
Before undertaking any research project, it is important to do an extensive review of past work done in the area. This projects main purpose is to provide some background research and experimentation to formulate a thesis topic for more in-depth study to determine if tool wear under a specific set of circumstances produces a predictable fractal pattern.
The Effects of Gravity on Bubble Formation
Most humans have never experienced life away from the effects of gravity. Astronauts have entered the regions of microgravity while orbiting the earth, where any gravity felt is minimal. However, microgravity conditions may also be simulated on the surface of the earth by letting the object free fall. The effects that gravity has on bubble formation are described in this paper by comparing data taken under normal gravity conditions to those taken under microgravity conditions.
Laser Doppler Velocimetry
Instruments and measuring devices have to be developed to meet the needs of research. Some fields require precise instrumentation, while others may not care about such precision. Pitot probes and thermoelectric anemometers have been used to measure velocities in various fluid flows. However, these types of instruments disturb the original flow pattern when they are inserted to measure the velocity. In order to solve this problem, researchers in the mid 20 century developed a technique using lasers, which is non-intrusive (it does not disturb the flow). This technique is called laser Doppler velocimetry. An exploration of the ability of such a system to accurately measure fluid velocity is made in this paper.
Investigation of Electromagnetic Compatibility between Wireless Phones and Wireless Glucose Monitoring Systems
Our customer has produced and marketed a glucose monitoring system which can be used by diabetes patients to supplement data taken from blood by fingerpricks, and to gather, store, and display round-the-clock data which is lost by other monitoring schemes. The current configuration of the glucose monitoring system (GMS) features a sensor unit, worn under clothing and attached at the waistline, which sends telemetry to a display unit through a wire. Because the wire between the two units is inhibitive for most patients, a wireless GMS (WGMS) has been designed and is in submission to the FDA.
A preliminary study was conducted in June of 2003 on the interactions of cell phones with the WGMS which showed that there were interactions with the device. Upon submission, the FDA requested additional information on the interaction.
Our objectives are to determine whether the interaction occurs when the phone is near the sensor, or near the receiver; the range at which interactions occur, how several different cell phone technologies interact with the two devices and whether the transmission or interpretation of the data is affected.
The results were that there was considerably more interaction when the cell phone was placed nearer the monitor than when near the sensor, making it the more vulnerable system component. The range from which an interference occurred extended up to over 10 inches from the monitor. The phone technology which had the largest range of interference (TDMA 217Mhz) also produced the greatest number of interferences. All failures which occurred were in the form of non-communication between the sensor and monitor, rather than the transmission of an erroneous glucose reading.
Coordinate Metrology
This research used two different sample plates to find a correlation between the sample size and the sampling strategy in determining the flatness value of the two given sample groups. Both of these sample groups contained twelve plates; ten of these twelve plates were randomly chosen as a representative sample to be tested for each group. The sampling strategies used in the testing were aligned and random. To obtain the flatness value, a Brown & Sharpe CMM (coordinate measuring machine) was used. The first plate set was a steel plate that had been machined flat. After the plate had been machined flat, it was then put in a clamping vise and had three large holes, four small holes, and six slots drilled all the way through it at even intervals. The plate was again machined flat. After it was machined flat, it was released from the vise. This clamping and unclamping action should have caused the plate surface to not be flat, due to the possible deforming effect it exerted on the holes and slots. The results found that clamping the parts down didn’t affect the plates to a noticeable degree. It was concluded that the sufficient sample size and method should be 64 and random respectably. The second plate set was an aluminum plate that had a particular section machined using the end-milling process. This process gave the plate a wavy look. Because of this higher flatness values were recorded. After analyzing the data, a sample size of 100 should he used with the aligned sampling method. These conclusions are both very important to businesses and manufacturers to save time and money.
Building Construction and Lab Renovations
The primary portion of this project consisted of determining the best way to construct a concrete structure and test its ability to withstand an external, vibrational load, similar to that of an earthquake. First, it was necessary to consult a concrete expert to decide what type of concrete should be formed and what ingredients were needed. After this task was completed, there was a good deal of laborious work to be carried out. Main reinforcements had to be formed and attached to transverse reinforcements and the necessary components for the concrete mixture had to be gathered by making several trips around the state. Since the process was tedious and didn’t really take off until the latter part of the summer, there was no actual testing that was done during our project.
There are still many visual components that must be obtained before any data can be collected. However, the completed work spearheads the effort of establishing a model structure that can be useful to our research by being destroyed on a shaker table, thus, simulating an earthquake. Any further work will have to be completed by other students who are willing to get their hands dirty. The first phase of the final structure should be completed soon, and then motion capture technology will be necessary to collect the desired data. All in all, the entire project may take years to complete, but it all starts now.
Business Case Analysis
The students were broken into teams. These teams were given the task of creating a complete business case analysis for a phased approach to a complete, dedicated, multi-disciplined, self-sufficient laboratory over three to five years. Each team was assigned a different type of laboratory, with the four types being: metrology, reverse engineering, and microscopy and process sensing. Although the students were given the freedom to organize the business case however they chose, they were required to address current capabilities, requirements for facility, equipment, and personnel, and the cost and benefits. The labs chosen by the REU participants included a manufacturing process sensing and diagnostics lab, a reverse engineering lab, a microscopy and nanoscopy lab for analyzing airplane and automobile parts, and a manufacturing metrology lab.
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