Design and fabrication of meso-scale flexural testing apparatus for evaluating aligned CNT composite flexures

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2007.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Panas, Robert M. (Robert Matthew)
Other Authors: Martin L. Culpepper.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40466
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author Panas, Robert M. (Robert Matthew)
author2 Martin L. Culpepper.
author_facet Martin L. Culpepper.
Panas, Robert M. (Robert Matthew)
author_sort Panas, Robert M. (Robert Matthew)
collection MIT
description Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2007.
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spelling mit-1721.1/404662019-04-12T09:28:37Z Design and fabrication of meso-scale flexural testing apparatus for evaluating aligned CNT composite flexures Panas, Robert M. (Robert Matthew) Martin L. Culpepper. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Mechanical Engineering. Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 58). The objective of this research is to explore the possibility of using aligned Carbon Nanotube (CNT) based composites in flexures by measuring the kinematics of a composite flexure. The first phase of the research, described in this thesis, is to design, fabricate and assemble a testing apparatus optimized for evaluating aligned CNT based composites. Using existing literature on composites and present limitations on their growth, functional requirements are set down for the testing apparatus. Several designs are qualitatively evaluated, leading to a near optimal design form. This chosen design is modeled as a spring-mass system, and the exact geometry needed to satisfy the functional requirements is determined. The design of the full apparatus is expanded to contain the necessary probes and actuators. The testing apparatus is fabricated using CNC machining, and assembled in a controlled environment to reduce thermal and mechanical error during operation. The system is calibrated and its resolution is found to be 0.021 N over a range of 28.5 N applied force and 1.5 pm over a range of 816 pm applied displacement. Several non-linearities are noted and corrected mathematically. by Robert M. Panas. S.B. 2008-02-27T22:28:40Z 2008-02-27T22:28:40Z 2007 2007 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40466 191747470 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 62 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Mechanical Engineering.
Panas, Robert M. (Robert Matthew)
Design and fabrication of meso-scale flexural testing apparatus for evaluating aligned CNT composite flexures
title Design and fabrication of meso-scale flexural testing apparatus for evaluating aligned CNT composite flexures
title_full Design and fabrication of meso-scale flexural testing apparatus for evaluating aligned CNT composite flexures
title_fullStr Design and fabrication of meso-scale flexural testing apparatus for evaluating aligned CNT composite flexures
title_full_unstemmed Design and fabrication of meso-scale flexural testing apparatus for evaluating aligned CNT composite flexures
title_short Design and fabrication of meso-scale flexural testing apparatus for evaluating aligned CNT composite flexures
title_sort design and fabrication of meso scale flexural testing apparatus for evaluating aligned cnt composite flexures
topic Mechanical Engineering.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40466
work_keys_str_mv AT panasrobertmrobertmatthew designandfabricationofmesoscaleflexuraltestingapparatusforevaluatingalignedcntcompositeflexures