Events

Mechanical Engineering (MNE) Seminar on 9/24/21 by Dr. Yunxing Su

Mechanical Engineering (MNE) SEMINAR DATE: September 24, 2021 TIME: 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. LOCATION: Charlton College of Business (CCB), Room 115 SPEAKER: Dr. Yunxing Su, Postdoc Department of Mechanical Engineering, Brown University TOPIC: Hydrokinetic Renewable Energy Harvesting Using Oscillating Hydrofoils ABSTRACT: Renewable energy is energy that is harvested from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. Compared to conventional energy (fossil fuels), renewable energy is clean in consumption. In this talk, we will focus on the tidal energy harvesting, which is essentially extracting hydrokinetic energy from moving fluids (rivers or tides) by using oscillating hydrofoils. Experiments were conducted in a water flume with hydrofoils operating in different configurations and energy harvesting efficiency is evaluated to find the optimal conditions. I will first talk about the prescribed system, in which the hydrofoil motion is predefined by the experimentalist. In such a system, we explored the energy harvesting performance of a single hydrofoil in a confined channel and the interaction of two hydrofoil operating in a tandem configuration (in line). Then I will move to the passive system, which is achieved by using a force-feedback cyber-physical system to realize a spring-mass-damper system. In such a system, we optimized the energy harvesting performance and aeroelastic instability of a single foil under various elastic mountings. In addition, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements of the flow fields were used to help understand the energy harvesting performance of the hydrofoil. BIO: Dr. Yunxing Su received his Bachelor of Science at University of Science and Technology of China in 2013. Then he moved to Brown University to pursue his PhD degree in School of Engineering under the supervision of Professor Kenny Breuer focusing on renewable energy harvesting using oscillating hydrofoils. After earning his PhD degree in 2019, he joined Professor Roberto Zenit's lab at Brown University as a postdoctoral researcher working on multiphase flow, including viscous filament coiling instability, viscoelastic helical swimming, and bubbly flow in viscoelastic fluids. For more information please contact Dr. Hangjian Ling, MNE Seminar Coordinator (hling1@umassd.edu). All are welcome. Students taking MNE-500 are REQUIRED to attend! All other MNE BS and MS students are encouraged to attend. All EAS students are encouraged to attend. Light refreshments will be served. Thank you, Sue Cunha, Administrative Assistant UMass Dartmouth / Mechanical Engineering Department scunha@umassd.edu 508-999-8492

Last day to file Pass/Fail

Today is the last day to file Pass/Fail.

Blue & Gold Weekend

Celebrate everything that makes us proud to be UMassD at this weekend festival for alumni students, families, faculty and staff. Live entertainment, food, and fun for all, capped off with UMassD football kicking off Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Don't miss all the fun on the quad between Balsam and Spruce on Friday and Saturday! More info to come on registration and specific events.

Columbus Day Holiday - no classes

Columbus Day, no classes today.

Follow Monday's class schedule

Follow Monday's schedule.

**RESCHEDULED! Mechanical Engineering MS Thesis Defense by Mr. Jared Correia

Please NOTE: The original date of 9/14/21 has been cancelled and is rescheduled to 10/19/21! Mechanical Engineering MS Thesis Defense by Mr. Jared Correia DATE: October 19, 2021 TIME: 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. LOCATION: Join Zoom Meeting https://umassd.zoom.us/j/93030267006?pwd=V1VHYURwcTlwRGlFYW10ZVo4MTgvUT09 Please contact the MS Thesis Advisor for Meeting ID and Passcode. TOPIC: CHARACTERIZATION OF FLOCKED ENERGY ABSORBING MATERIALS IN SPORT HELMET APPLICATIONS ABSTRACT: A comprehensive experimental impact characterization study of novel impact energy absorbing (IEA) materials for sport helmet pads is conducted. These novel pad materials are fabricated using University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's Flocked Energy Absorbing Material (FEAM). FEAM based IEA panels are prepared by flocking 1 to 3 mm long, 6 to 60 denier textile fibers onto a planar fabric sheet. Flocked fibers are oriented upright to the direction of compressional impact such that energy absorption occurs by the bending, buckling and inter-fiber friction of the upright flock fibers during deformation by impact loading. FEAM pad configurations were tested directly via a double lap shear jig and guided weight drop tower. IEA results of a parametric study are thus reported where the fiber material properties such as flock fiber length, diameter (denier) and flock density (number of flock fibers per area) are presented, discussed, and compared with common vinyl nitrile (VN) foam. Padding material based on FEAM configurations showed remarkable improvement when compared directly to VN foam under pre-compression and dynamic shear loading, with a 135% increase in shear strain energy density for the high impact velocity loading condition, and a 49% increase for low impact velocity condition. The IEA performance of the padding materials, in terms of both linear and angular accelerations, under impact loads were then evaluated using a linear impactor and instrumented NOCSAE head. Impacts from various directions simulate real-time helmet-to-helmet collisions while a high-speed camera is used to record and track neck flexion angles to better understand head kinematics of struck players. The best FEAM padding showed a decrease in resultant angular acceleration of the struck player head of 12.9% , 18% , 9.9%, 14.4%, 17.2%, and 14.4% when struck at 6 m/s at the front, front boss, rear, rear boss cg, rear boss nc, and side locations respectively as compared with VN foam padding. ADVISOR: Dr. Vijaya Chalivendra, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Graduate Program Director, UMassD COMMITTEE MEMBERS: -Dr. Jun Li, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UMassD -Dr. Caiwei ShenYong Kim, Assistant Chancellor Professor of BioeMechanical Engineering, UMassD Open to the public. All MNE students are encouraged to attend. For more information, please contact Dr. Vijaya Chalivendra (vchalivendra@umassd.edu, 508-910-6572).

Registration for Spring 2022 begins

Spring Registration

Veterans Day Holiday - no classes

Veterans Day holiday, no classes today.

Last day to Withdraw from a class

Today is the last day to withdraw from a class.

Follow Thursday class schedule; Thanksgiving recess begins after last class

Follow Thursday schedule.

Classes resume

Classes resume at 8am today.

Last day of Fall classes

Fall classes end today.