Mechanical Engineering
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Item DESIGN OF A LOW-COST PORTABLE HANDHELD SPECTROMETER FOR AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH MEASUREMENTS(2022) LaRosa, Anthony; Yu, Miao MY; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The impact aerosols have on human health and the climate continues to be a central topic in scientific research. The quantification of aerosol abundance in the atmosphere is a key factor in understanding the climate, Earth’s radiative budget, and their impacts to human health. This research focuses on the development and comprehensive assessment of a handheld field instrument that measures aerosol optical thickness. The challenges associated with designing a low-cost, durable handheld system with highly sensitive electronics, which is capable of direct-sun measurements, are investigated. The thesis work can be summarized as follows. First, the electrical, mechanical, and optical integration needed for the instrument development is discussed and presented. Second, the sensitivities of a compact micro spectrometer are analyzed in both the laboratory and field deployment studies. The spectrometer and the fully integrated instrument are characterized in terms of its spectral resolution, sensitivity, thermal characteristics, and stability. Finally, after successful performance characterization, the capabilities of the instrument for field measurements are explored by taking direct sun measurements. The results demonstrate that the instrument has great potential to be used as a rigorous scientific device or a citizen science, educational instrument for aerosol optical depth measurements.Item PROGNOSTICS AND SECURE HEALTH MANAGEMENT OF ANALOG CIRCUITS(2022) Khemani, Varun; Pecht, Michael G; Azarian, Michael H; Reliability Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Analog circuits are a critical part of industrial circuits and systems. Estimates in the literature show that, even though analog circuits comprise less than 20% of all circuits, they are responsible for more than 80% of faults. Hence, analog circuit Prognosis and Health Management (PHM) is critical to the health of industrial circuits. There are a multitude of ways that any analog circuit can fail, which leads to proportional scaling in the number of possible fault classes with number of circuit components. Therefore, this research presents an advanced Design Of Experiments-based (DOE) approach to account for components that degrade in an individual and interacting fashion, to narrow down the number of possible fault classes under consideration. A wavelet-based deep-learning approach is developed that can localize the circuit component that is the source of degradation and predict the exact value of the degraded component. This degraded value is used in conjunction with degradation models to predict when the circuit will fail based on the source of degradation. Increasing outsourcing in the fabrication of electronic circuits has made them susceptible to the insertion of hardware trojans by untrusted foundries. In many cases, hardware trojans are more destructive than software trojans as they cannot be remedied by a software patch and are impossible to repair. Process reliability trojans are a new class of hardware trojans that are inserted through modification of fabrication parameters and accelerate the aging of circuit components. They are challenging to detect through traditional trojan detection methods as they have zero area footprint i.e., require no insertion of additional circuitry. The PHM approach is modified to detect these hardware trojans in order to incorporate circuit security, resulting in the Prognosis and Secure Health Management (PSHM) framework. Deep neural networks achieve state-of-the-art performance on classification and regression applications but are a black-box approach, which is a concern for implementation. Wavelets are approximations of cells found in the human visual cortex and cochlea. They were used to develop wavelet scattering networks (WSNs), which were intended to be an interpretable alternative to deep neural networks. WSNs achieve state-of-the-art performance on low to moderately complex datasets but are inferior to deep neural networks for extremely complex datasets. Improvements are made to WSNs to overcome their shortcomings in terms of performance and learnability. Further applications of the research are highlighted for rotating machinery vibration analytics, functional safety online estimation etc.Item Phase Change Materials for Vehicle and Electronic Transient Thermal Systems(2020) Jankowski, Nicholas Robert; McCluskey, F. Patrick; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Most vehicle operating environments are transient in nature, yet traditional subsystem thermal management addresses peak load conditions with steady-state designs. The large, overdesigned systems that result are increasingly unable to meet target system size, weight and power demands. Phase change thermal energy storage is a promising technique for buffering thermal transients while providing a functional thermal energy reservoir. Despite significant research over the half century, few phase change material (PCM) based solutions have transitioned out of the research laboratory. This work explores the state of phase change materials research for vehicle and electronics applications and develops design tool compatible modeling approaches for applying these materials to electronics packaging. This thesis begins with a comprehensive PCM review, including over 700 candidate materials across more than a dozen material classes, and follows with a thorough analysis of transient vehicle thermal systems. After identifying promising materials for each system with potential for improvement in emissions reduction, energy efficiency, or thermal protection, future material research recommendations are made including improved data collection, alternative metrics, and increased focus on metallic and solid-state PCMs for high-speed applications. Following the material and application review, the transient electronics heat transfer problem is specifically addressed. Electronics packages are shown using finite element based thermal circuits to exhibit both worsened response and extreme convective insensitivity under pulsed conditions. Both characteristics are quantified using analytical and numerical transfer function models, including both clarification of apparently nonphysical thermal capacitance and demonstration that the convective insensitivity can be quantified using a package thermal Elmore delay metric. Finally, in order to develop design level PCM models, an energy conservative polynomial smoothing function is developed for Enthalpy and Apparent Capacity Method phase change models. Two case studies using this approach examine the incorporation of PCMs into electronics packages: substrate integrated Thermal Buffer Heat Sinks using standard finite element modeling, and direct on-die PCM integration using a new phase change thermal circuit model. Both show effectiveness in buffering thermal transients, but the metallic phase change materials exhibit better performance with significant sub-millisecond temperature suppression, something improved cooling or package integration alone were unable to address.Item EFFECTS OF GLASS/EPOXY INTERPHASES ON ELECTRO-CHEMICAL FAILURES IN PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS(2018) Sood, Bhanu Pratap; Pecht, Michael G; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Reduction in printed circuit board line spacing and via diameters and the increased density of vias with higher aspect ratios (ratio between the thickness of the board and the size of the drilled hole before plating) are making electronic products increasingly more susceptible to material and manufacturing defects. One failure mechanism of particular concern is conductive anodic filament formation, which typically occurs in two steps: degradation of the resin/glass fiber bond followed by an electrochemical reaction. The glass-resin bond degradation provides a path along which electrodeposition occurs due to electrochemical reactions. Once a path is formed, an aqueous layer, which enables the electrochemical reactions to take place, can develop through the adsorption, absorption, and capillary action of moisture at the resin/fiber interphase. This study describes the experimental and analytical work undertaken to understand the glass-resin delamination and the methods used for analyzing this critical interphase. This study shows that a smaller conductor spacing in reduces the time to failure due to conductive anodic filament formation and that the plated-through-hole to plated-through-hole conductor geometry is more susceptible to conductive anodic filament-induced failures than plated through hole to plane geometries. The results also show that laminates with similar materials and geometries with a 45-degree angle of weave demonstrate a higher resistance to conductive anodic filament formation compared with a 90-degree angle of weave. The study is the first of its kind conducted on FR-4 printed circuit board materials where the pathway formation due to breakage of the organosilane bonds at the glass/resin interphase was evaluated. Using techniques such as force spectroscopy, micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning quantum interface device microscopy and focused ion beam, evidence of bond breakage and a pathway formation was revealed, poor glass treatment, hydrolysis of the silane glass finish (adsorption of water at the glass fiber/epoxy resin interphase) or repeated thermal cycling contribute to the bond breakage. The technique of applying in-situ resistance measurements during cross-sectioning analysis of printed circuit boards suspected of conductive anodic filament is the first time this method is described in the open literature. This solution addresses the potential problem in destructive physical analysis of grinding away the evidence of the CAF filament and ultimately loosing evidence at the failure site. By applying a subset of the evaluation criteria described in this research, an upfront evaluation of printed circuit board materials can be performed for susceptibility to electro-chemical migration and other failure causes in PCBs that are attributable to the glass/resin interfacial adhesion. Manufacturers can identify board suppliers based on answers to and validation of a series of questions. These questions focus on the necessary requirements of reliable board material manufacturing and are independent of the specifications of the product.Item Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Risks in Wearable Medical Devices: Evaluating the Standard Test Method and Developing a Current Prediction Model(2018) Kohani, Mehdi; Pecht, Michael G; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is a critical reliability concern for wearable medical devices. In recent years, numerous reports of device malfunction resulting in patient adverse events, and medical device recalls have been attributed to ESD. To mitigate the risk of device malfunction, sufficient ESD immunity standards and accurate ESD prediction models that represent severe discharges during usage are necessary. Thus, ESD test configurations that represent realistic discharges of wearable devices in healthcare applications need to be developed, and the severity of the ESD events need to be compared with the existing ESD immunity standards. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognizes the IEC 60601-1-2 collateral standards, within which the IEC 61000-4-2 standard is the recommended ESD test method. The severity of the discharges depends on the electrical impedance of the body and the discharging structure. To identify the realistic discharge scenarios for wearable medical devices, the proper body posture, device location, and the realistic discharge setup need to be determined. A research gap in the literature on electrostatic charging of a human body was that only standing posture was considered. Moreover, current prediction models developed in ESD literature are not based on the physical impedance parameters of the human body and the test setup. Through conducting surveys, electrostatic measurements in a local hospital, and conducting laboratory studies in a climate chamber, a large set of electrostatic charging activities performed routinely by patients and hospital personnel were identified. ESD measurements for these scenarios showed that the IEC 61000-4-2 is not sufficient for these devices since the peak currents and maximum current derivatives of realistic discharges were up to 1.9 and 2.4 times larger than the standard specifications, respectively. A physics-based model for current waveform prediction was developed using the electrical impedance of the discharging structure and the human body in the identified postures of standing on the floor, sitting and lying down on a hospital bed and two device locations (hand and waist). Discharge waveforms at spark lengths between 100% to 50% of the Paschen’s length were simulated with reasonable accuracy.Item Microfabricated Bulk Piezoelectric Transformers(2017) Barham, Oliver M.; DeVoe, Don L; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Piezoelectric voltage transformers (PTs) can be used to transform an input voltage into a different, required output voltage needed in electronic and electro- mechanical systems, among other varied uses. On the macro scale, they have been commercialized in electronics powering consumer laptop liquid crystal displays, and compete with an older, more prevalent technology, inductive electromagnetic volt- age transformers (EMTs). The present work investigates PTs on smaller size scales that are currently in the academic research sphere, with an eye towards applications including micro-robotics and other small-scale electronic and electromechanical sys- tems. PTs and EMTs are compared on the basis of power and energy density, with PTs trending towards higher values of power and energy density, comparatively, indicating their suitability for small-scale systems. Among PT topologies, bulk disc-type PTs, operating in their fundamental radial extension mode, and free-free beam PTs, operating in their fundamental length extensional mode, are good can- didates for microfabrication and are considered here. Analytical modeling based on the Extended Hamilton Method is used to predict device performance and integrate mechanical tethering as a boundary condition. This model differs from previous PT models in that the electric enthalpy is used to derive constituent equations of motion with Hamilton’s Method, and therefore this approach is also more generally applica- ble to other piezoelectric systems outside of the present work. Prototype devices are microfabricated using a two mask process consisting of traditional photolithography combined with micropowder blasting, and are tested with various output electri- cal loads. 4mm diameter tethered disc PTs on the order of .002cm^3 , two orders smaller than the bulk PT literature, had the following performance: a prototype with electrode area ratio (input area / output area) = 1 had peak gain of 2.3 (± 0.1), efficiency of 33 (± 0.1)% and output power density of 51.3 (± 4.0)W cm^-3 (for output power of 80 (± 6)mW) at 1MΩ load, for an input voltage range of 3V-6V (± one standard deviation). The gain results are similar to those of several much larger bulk devices in the literature, but the efficiencies of the present devices are lower. Rectangular topology, free-free beam devices were also microfabricated across 3 or- ders of scale by volume, with the smallest device on the order of .00002cm^3 . These devices exhibited higher quality factors and efficiencies, in some cases, compared to circular devices, but lower peak gain (by roughly 1/2 ). Limitations of the microfab- rication process are determined, and future work is proposed. Overall, the devices fabricated in the present work show promise for integration into small-scale engi- neered systems, but improvements can be made in efficiency, and potentially voltage gain, depending on the applicationItem MICROFABRICATION OF BULK PZT TRANSDUCERS AND DEVELOPMENT OF A MINIATURIZED TRAVELING WAVE MOTOR(2017) Hareesh, Prakruthi; DeVoe, Don L; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Diverse applications including consumer electronics, robotic systems, and medical devices require compact, high-torque motors capable of operating at speeds in the range of 10s to a 1000 rpm. Traveling wave ultrasonic motors are a perfect fit for these specifications as they generate higher torques for a given size-scale compared to electrostatic and electromagnetic motors. Furthermore, the electrostatic and electromagnetic motors require an additional gearing mechanism to operate at low speeds, which adds more complexity to the system. The miniaturization of ultrasonic rotary traveling wave motor has had limited success due to lack of high-resolution, high-precision fabrication techniques. This dissertation describes the development of a novel microfabrication technique for the manufacture of bulk lead zirconate titanate (PZT) microsystems involving only two lithography steps that enables the realization of bending-mode piezoelectric microsystems from a single homogeneous layer of bulk piezoceramic, requiring a few hours to fabricate. This novel fabrication process and device design concept is applied to the development of a new class of bulk PZT rotary traveling wave micromotor fabricated using a single sheet of commercially available bulk PZT. For the microfabrication of bulk PZT microsystems, relationships between micro powder blasting process parameters and PZT etching characteristics are presented, including key process parameters such as particle size, nozzle pressure and nozzle-to-substrate distance, with etch rate and etch anisotropy evaluated as a function of these parameters and space resolution. Furthermore, the photolithographic masking of bulk PZT using dry film photoresist, yielding a facile method for achieving precise and high-resolution features in PZT is presented. The work on the development of a new class of homogeneous bulk PZT unimorphs, which eliminates the need of additional elastic layers found in traditional piezoelectric bimorphs, is also reported. The developed fabrication and actuation process are key parameters to developing miniaturized bulk PZT traveling wave motor. The challenges of generating traveling waves are described in detail, followed by the successful demonstration of bi-directional traveling waves and rotor motion. The stator and rotor performance under varying stator/rotor preload forces and actuation conditions have been characterized.Item HEALTH ESTIMATION AND REMAINING USEFUL LIFE PREDICTION OF ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT WITH A PARAMETRIC FAULT(2016) Sai Sarathi Vasan, Arvind; Pecht, Michael G; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Degradation of electronic components is typically accompanied by a deviation in their electrical parameters from their initial values. Such parametric drifts in turn will cause degradation in performance of the circuit they are part of, eventually leading to function failure due to parametric faults. The existing approaches for predicting failures resulting from electronic component parametric faults emphasize identifying monotonically deviating parameters and modeling their progression over time. However, in practical applications where the components are integrated into a complex electronic circuit assembly, product or system, it is generally not feasible to monitor component-level parameters. To address this problem, a prognostics method that exploits features extracted from responses of circuit-comprising components exhibiting parametric faults is developed in this dissertation. The developed prognostic method constitutes a circuit health estimation step followed by a degradation modeling and remaining useful life (RUL) prediction step. First, the circuit health estimation method was developed using a kernel-based machine learning technique that exploits features that are extracted from responses of circuit-comprising components exhibiting parametric faults, instead of the component-level parameters. The performance of kernel learning technique depends on the automatic adaptation of hyperparameters (i.e., regularization and kernel parameters) to the learning features. Thus, to achieve high accuracy in health estimation the developed method also includes an optimization method that employs a penalized likelihood function along with a stochastic filtering technique for automatic adaptation of hyperparameters. Second, the prediction of circuit’s RUL is realized by a model-based filtering method that relies on a first principles-based model and a stochastic filtering technique. The first principles-based model describes the degradation in circuit health with progression of parametric fault in a circuit component. The stochastic filtering technique on the other hand is used to first solve a joint ‘circuit health state—parametric fault’ estimation problem, followed by prediction problem in which the estimated ‘circuit health state—parametric fault’ is propagated forward in time to predict RUL. Evaluations of the data from simulation experiments on a benchmark Sallen–Key filter circuit and a DC–DC converter system demonstrate the ability of the developed prognostic method to estimate circuit health and predict RUL without having to monitor the individual component parameters.Item PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF MEMS GYROSCOPE AND SHOCK DURABILITY EVALUATION OF SAC305-X SOLDERS FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE APPLICATIONS(2014) Patel, Chandradip Pravinbhai; McCluskey, F.Patrick; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Recent advances in MEMS technology have resulted in relatively low cost MEMS gyroscopes. Their unique features compared to macro-scale devices, such as lighter weight, smaller size, and less power consumption, have made them popular in many applications with environmental conditions ranging from mild to harsh. This dissertation aims to address a gap in the literature on MEMS gyroscopes by investigating the effects of elevated temperatures on the performance of MEMS gyroscopes. MEMS gyroscopes are characterized at room and elevated temperatures for both stationary and rotary conditions. During the test, MEMS gyroscopes are subjected to five thermal cycles at each of four temperature ranges (viz. 25degC to 85degC, 25degC to 125degC, 25degC to 150degC and 25degC to 175degC). A simulation model is developed in MATLAB Simulink to simulate the temperature effect on the MEMS gyroscope. Simulation results show good agreement with experimental results and confirm that Young's modulus and damping coefficient are the dominant factors responsible for temperature-dependent bias at elevated temperatures. Solder interconnects are one of the weakest elements in MEMS devices. Thus, the reliability of solder interconnects is separately studied in this dissertation. Though, SAC305 (96.5%Sn3.0%Ag0.5%Cu) is the industry preferred solder in combined thermal cycling and shock/drop environments, it exhibits better thermal cycling reliability than drop/shock reliability. One of the ways to improve drop/shock reliability of SnAgCu solder is by microalloy addition of various dopants such as Mn, Ce, Ti, Y, Ge, Bi, Zn, In, Ni, Co etc. Thus, the second part of this dissertation aims to evaluate the shock durability of SAC305 and SAC305-X (where X refers to two different concentrations of Mn and Ce dopants). High temperature isothermal aging tests are conducted on selected solders using QFN44, QFN32 and R2512 package types at 185degC and 200degC up to 1000 hours. Isothermal aging test results showed that interfacial IMC growth reduction can be achieved by microalloy addition of selected dopants in SAC305 on both copper and nickel leaded package types. Shock durability of selected solders is examined on as-reflowed and thermally aged test boards. Mechanical shock is performed using a custom shock machine that utilizes a shock pulse of 500G with a 1.3 millisecond duration. The shock test results showed that the mechanical shock reliability of SAC305 was significantly improved on both as-reflowed and thermally aged test boards by microalloy addition of one of the selected dopant in SAC305.Item PROGNOSTICS-BASED QUALIFICATION OF WHITE LIGHT-EMITTING DIODES (LEDS)(2014) Chang, Moon-Hwan; Pecht, Michael G.; Ayyub, Bilal; Mechanical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Light-emitting diode (LED) applications have expanded from display backlighting in computers and smart phones to more demanding applications including automotive headlights and street lightening. With these new applications, LED manufacturers must ensure that their products meet the performance requirements expected by end users, which in many cases require lifetimes of 10 years or more. The qualification tests traditionally conducted to assess such lifetimes are often as long as 6,000 hours, yet even this length of time does not guarantee that the lifetime requirements will be met. This research aims to reduce the qualification time by employing anomaly detection and prognostic methods utilizing optical, electrical, and thermal parameters of LEDs. The outcome of this research will be an in-situ monitoring approach that enables parameter sensing, data acquisition, and signal processing to identify the potential failure modes such as electrical, thermal, and optical degradation during the qualification test. To detect anomalies, a similarity-based-metric test has been developed to identify anomalies without utilizing historical libraries of healthy and unhealthy data. This similarity-based-metric test extracts features from the spectral power distributions using peak analysis, reduces the dimensionality of the features by using principal component analysis, and partitions the data set of principal components into groups using a KNN-kernel density-based clustering technique. A detection algorithm then evaluates the distances from the centroid of each cluster to each test point and detects anomalies when the distance is greater than the threshold. From this analysis, dominant degradation processes associated with the LED die and phosphors in the LED package can be identified. When implemented, the results of this research will enable a short qualification time. Prognostics of LEDs are developed with spectral power distribution (SPD) prediction for color failure. SPD is deconvoluted with die SPD and phosphor SPD with asymmetric double sigmoidal functions. Future SPD is predicted by using the particle filter algorithm to estimate the propagating parameters of the asymmetric double sigmoidal functions. Diagnostics is enabled by SPD prediction to indicate die degradation, phosphor degradation, or package degradation based on the nature of degradation shape of SPD. SPDs are converted to light output and 1976 CIE color coordinates using colorimetric conversion with color matching functions. Remaining useful life (RUL) is predicted using 7-step SDCM (standard deviation of color matching) threshold (i.e., 0.007 color distance in the CIE 1676 chromaticity coordinates). To conduct prognostics utilizing historical libraries of healthy and unhealthy data from other devices, this research employs similarity-based statistical measures for a prognostics-based qualification method using optical, electrical, and thermal covariates as health indices. Prognostics is conducted using the similarity-based statistical measure with relevance vector machine regression to capture degradation trends. Historical training data is used to extract features and define failure thresholds. Based on the relevance vector machine regression results, which construct the background health knowledge from historical training units, the similarity weight is used to measure the similarity between each training unit and test unit under the test. The weighted sum is then used to estimate the remaining useful life of the test unit.