Mechanical Engineering at IgMin Research | Engineering Group

Exchangers are thoroughly used equipment for heat transfer. These equipment play a climacteric role in variegated business administration and buildings by providing heat exchange between two fluids. However, over time, exchangers can be subject to variegated problems such as contamination and sediment build-up. This can diminish heat transfer efficiency, leading to energy waste and equipment malfunctions. Calcification is a problem that comes off when water becomes saturated with hard minerals and exceeds the solubility of these minerals. These... minerals precipitate as a consequence of water evaporation or chemical reactions and form a solid layer called limestone. Limescale can bring variegated problems in homes, business administration, and water transportation systems. Lime accumulates on heat transfer superficies, reducing the superficies area of ​​these superficies. This reduces the superficies area available for heat transfer and inhibits heat transfer. The thermal conductivity of lime is lower than water. Scale, which is the formation of a scale layer on heat transfer superficies, reduces the thermal conductivity of these superficies and prevents heat transfer. This study focuses on the types of contamination in heat exchangers, the effect of contamination on heat transfer and other factors, and methods of clogging.Read more

Slip and fall injuries and fatalities continue to be a significant problem at work and in the community. Water is the most common contaminant that reduces traction on floors and other walkway surfaces resulting in a slip and fall event. This project investigated 10 common flooring surfaces to assess their slip resistance when dry vs wet and coated vs uncoated. Investigators used the English XL Variable Incidence Tribometer to measure slip resistance under all conditions. Results revealed a significant (p - value < 0.05) loss of slip resistan...ce when wet vs dry. Investigators also found significant (p - value < 0.05) increases in traction when using a coating under wet conditions. Researchers support the use of coatings for floors and walkway surfaces that increase traction and reduce the chances of slip and fall events under all conditions.Read more

The paper explores comprehensive Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) wing optimization, integrating aerodynamic and structural techniques. A detailed comparison between the base and optimized modules while considering specifications such as composite material orientation, spar and rib material, deformation, stress, strain, safety factor, and weight. The methodology utilizes material changes for wing weight reduction while maintaining structural integrity. The optimized module (Case 7) balances weight reduction, safety, and structural performance, not...ably shifting from Al 7075 to Al 2024. Structural optimization focuses on changes in Carbon Fiber/Epoxy orientation, leveraging material changes for weight reduction. Constitutive equations and transformation matrices calculate stiffness matrices for the laminate, resulting in a robust wing. This holistic optimization combines low and high-fidelity techniques, addressing UAV wing structural aspects. Outcomes include weight reduction, deformation minimization, fluttering modal deformation and buckling points, an increased factor of safety, and improved strength-to-weight ratio. The research significantly advances aerospace engineering, particularly in UAV design and optimization.Read more

The article presents a case study on the Investigation of lateral vibrations in the turbine-generator unit 5 of the Inga 2 hydroelectric power plant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lateral vibrations were experimentally determined using twelve proximity and eddy-current probes, positioned on each measurement plane. The results were analyzed using the Dasylab and R software. Hence, it was observed that the vibration amplitudes of the upper guide bearing, lower guide bearing, and pivot/rotor exceeded acceptable or critical limit values o...f the international vibration standard for a rotating speed between 100-250 rpm. These excesses can lead to rotor mass imbalances, the eccentricity of the rotor axis relative to the rotation axis of the shaft, and the deformation of the coupling shaft between the upper rotor shaft and the turbine rotor shaft. Subsequently, the means and the variances of the vibration amplitudes were evaluated and compared to the reference values of the international standard. The results of the compliance analysis revealed statistically significant differences between the measured amplitudes and the reference values. Thus, it indicates deviations from international specifications.Read more

The purpose of this article is to propose a model of an electric-fired brick oven, with the aim of eliminating the imperfections presented by traditional brick ovens. To complete this study, we used the concepts of heat transfer, and material resistance, as well as those of computer-aided mechanical design.Deemed satisfactory, the results found give a yield of 94.5% and a cooking time of 7.29 hours based on 2000 bricks cooked.

A new design of a fine positioner or high precision driven unit with a large positioning range is proposed for a custom-made in-situ indenter device equipped inside an SEM chamber. The design configuration of the proposed system is size-effective for the confined working area of the SEM chamber. The indentation depths can be precisely varied by controlling the fine positioner driven by a piezoelectric actuator. The main goal is to achieve very deep penetrations toward the bottom layers of tall or large-size scale specimens by single indentation..., without the need for sequential indentations. Thus, the proposed design can eliminate the need for sequential adjustments of the specimen position with respect to the indenter tip as currently being practiced by the researchers. The specimen position adjustment after each indentation heavily depends on the coarse positioner and its accuracy level in a sub-millimeter regime which could result in position errors and unwanted lateral forces in the nanoindentation process. Therefore, the sequential indentations technique could lead to considerable variations in the outcomes of nanoindentation tests done on similar specimens. The proposed design will be realized to deploy in the Continuous Stiffness Measurement (CSM) techniques generally used to evaluate elastic properties as a function of continuous penetration depth with high-frequency loading and unloading cycles.Read more