Mechanical Engineering

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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11888/10117

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    Design and Construction of Automatic Demolding Machine for Artificial Stone
    (2024-07-21) ehab alfe; Tahseen Odeh; Waled Rashed
    ABSTRACT Palestine is witnessing a steady increase in population, which has led to a high demand in the construction sector to meet the population’s needs for housing, restaurants and shops. This of course leads to increased consumption of building materials, including building stone. Natural stone rocks are the main source of stones; however, extracting and processing natural stone is difficult and expensive; for this reason, artificial stone has emerged as a potential alternative to natural stone. Unfortunately, the artificial stone industry still relies on manual labor with minimal process automation; therefore, the production rate is relatively low. To mitigate the challenges of cost and production rate in the artificial stone industry, it is necessary to automate the production processes in this sector; in particular, automating the demolding process. Since the cost of imported automatic demolding machines is high, it would be less expensive to manufacture such a machine locally. In this project, an automated demolding machine is designed; the machine consists of four main blocks: stone feeding, stone demolding, stone unloading, and mold spraying. All blocks and parts were designed using the SolidWorks software, and a simulation of the machine’s working stages was carried out. Moreover, to prove the concept of demolding by vibration, a prototype of the vibrator (which is the demolding block) was manufactured in collaboration with the Al-Talawi Factory in Nablus. Finally, a preliminary financial analysis was conducted to compare manual demolding cost versus automatic demolding cost to prove the feasibility of automating the process.
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    Exploring the Potential: Physico-Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Innovative Rubber-Infused Bricks
    (2024-07-21) Hisham Arabi; Mohamad Ateeq; Mohamad Judeh; Osaed Bsharat
    Abstract Rubber tires are an important material in our lives, but they cause many environmental problems during disposal. From this arises the aim of this project, which is to use rubber tire waste to produce thermally insulated cement bricks. This provides a sustainable solution to reduce environmental waste while enhancing energy efficiency in buildings and addresses two crucial challenges in the construction industry: enhancing sustainability and improving thermal efficiency. The objective of this research is to manufacture thermally insulated bricks by incorporating rubber tire powder. This involves partially replacing coarse sand with rubber tire powder in varying weight percentage ratios, specifically 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%, and comparing these with reference (control) concrete bricks (0%) and bricks from a local factory. First, concrete bricks are produced as control or reference samples without rubber tire powder, and then with the mentioned proportions of rubber tire powder. After 28 days, tests were conducted for density, water absorption, compressive strength, and thermal conductivity. The results indicated that density decreased with increasing proportions of rubber tire powder, with a 6% reduction when comparing the reference brick to the brick containing 20% rubber tire powder. All values were less than 1650 kg/m³, indicating compliance with Palestinian quality standards. Water absorption increased with higher rubber tire powder content, increasing by 20% when comparing the reference brick to the brick containing 20% rubber tire powder, with values less than 12%, meeting international standards. Compressive strength decreased with increasing rubber tire powder content, with a 9% reduction when comparing the reference brick to the brick containing 20% rubber tire powder. The values were above 3.5 N/mm², except for the 20% ratio, which was lower, indicating compliance with Palestinian standards except for the 20%. The results showed that the thermal conductivity values were 0.71, 0.50, 0.42, 0.36, and 0.26 W/m. K at ratios of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%, respectively. These values indicate that as the rubber tire powder content increases, the thermal conductivity decreases. The thermal conductivity decreased by 64.43% when comparing the reference brick to the brick containing 20% rubber tire powder. The comparison between the reference bricks and the local bricks showed that the reference bricks had higher density and compressive strength than the local bricks, while the water absorption of the reference bricks was slightly lowe
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    Comparative Study of Analytical and Finite Element Methods for Designing Gear Drives: Bending and Pitting Stress Analysis
    (2024-07-08) Izzat Zohud; Arafat Othman; Karam Irshaid
    Page | 2 Abstract All over the world, gear drives could be found in different mechanical systems and various settings for transmitting motion and power. The bending and pitting stress considered to be the main failure modes of the gears. Thus, analysis of stress and optimization has become popular gear design. This study aims to create a thorough understanding of bending and pitting stresses in spur and helical gears. It involved a comprehensive review and wide assessment analysis of the finite element technique and analytical approach with consideration of American Gear Manufacturing Association (AGMA) for gears on bending and pitting stresses. The spur and helical gears modeled using SolidWorks and a finite element analysis (FEA) conducted using SolidWorks simulation and ABAQUS CAE software, then, comparative analysis performed with consideration of several parameters for example, young’s modulus, poisson’s ratio, face width, torque and gear ratio. The results reveal a good agreement between FEA and AGMA standard for both gears, furthermore, the bending and pitting stresses decrease with increasing each value of face width and gear ratio, while increase with increasing the torque value. However, as young’s modulus increases, the pitting stress increases, while bending stress remain constant. So that, this comprehensive study would be a good approach for designers for optimal gear design.
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    Numerical Investigation of innovative Mechanisms for Heat transfer Enhancement in Gas Turbine
    (2024-07-08) Abdalsalam Jabali; Yousef Shanti
    ii ABSTRACT This graduation thesis delves into a comprehensive numerical investigation aims to enhance various heat transfer mechanisms in gas turbines through innovative approaches. This study employs advanced computational methods to analyze and optimize heat transfer processes within different configurations of gas turbine blades, with a particular emphasis on improving efficiency and performance and prolonging the lifespan of gas turbine components. The research begins by explanation of the current state of heat transfer enhancement strategies in gas turbines and identifying gaps in existing knowledge and methods. Subsequently, innovative mechanisms are proposed and meticulously evaluated using numerical simulations. The focus of this study extends in combination of conventional methods, exploring innovative techniques in these methods to have the potential to revolutionize heat transfer augmentation in gas turbine applications. While the current research does not showcase outcomes it offers perspectives on the feasibility and efficacy of the suggested approaches. These perspectives lay the groundwork, for the phase of the study, where numerical simulations will produce findings.
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    Energy generation using palm waste for Heating applications, case study for Palestine.
    (2024-03-12) Ahmad Abuarra; Dirar Hara; Firas Mnasour
    Abstract Date palm trees, especially Alhayani, Barhi, and Majhool, have a rich history in Palestine. However, the waste produced by these trees, such as unripe dates, date pits, and palm fronds, is usually burned on farms, leading to environmental concerns, or collected them inside the farms for long periods, which leads to the emergence of the red date palm weevil, which works to damage palm trees.These wastes are a significant source of excellent biomass that can be used in many applications such as energy production, livestock feed, fertilizer for soil, and wooden boards, and can even be used as insulating materials. This project focuses on utilizing agricultural waste from date palm trees in Palestine by grinding and transforming it into wooden blocks for use in heating, bakery ovens, household wood stoves, and other applications. The effectiveness of these waste materials for use as excellent heat value resources has been demonstrated, especially when compared to other tree waste. The heating values for date kernel (17.1267 MJ/Kg), palm leaf (16.8873 MJ/Kg), and palm frond petiole (15.9897 MJ/Kg) indicate their promising potential for use in heating applications. A feasibility study was conducted for a production line that converts these waste materials into wooden blocks for use in heating applications. The annual profits were estimated at approximately 150,240 NIS, with a payback period of around 2.4 years and a return-on-investment rate of 36.3%