Sustainability in Obstetrics: Assessing the Reusablity of the Vela® Vacuum Extractor

Tuning nonlinear stiffness of circular membranes by design optimization

While nonlinear phenomena in mechanical systems are well understood, strategies for designing structures that exhibit certain nonlinear responses have received little attention. Design optimization is a systematic and iterative process aimed at improving the performance and efficiency of a system. It involves exploring various design choices and...

Flexure Design Optimization for Foldable Structures: Pseudo-Rigid Body Modeling and Multi-Objective Optimization

Compliant mechanisms have found their way in more and more applications in recent years, particularly in the aerospace and microsystems sectors. The benefits of compliant mechanisms stretch far, and can be exploited for large scale applications as well. Little research has been performed on the use of compliant mechanisms in large scale...

Conceptual Design Optimization for Handling Qualities Applied to Tiltrotor Aircraft in Conversion Mode

A tiltrotor has the features of both a fixed-wing aircraft and a helicopter, thereby blending the vertical flight capabilities of helicopters with the speed, altitude, and range of fixed-wing aircraft. However, as an important aspect of piloted aircraft, the handling qualities of tiltrotor aircraft have not been studied extensively. This thesis...

Design and Optimization of 3D Skeletal Composite Structures

A method has been developed for designing composite 3D skeletal structures. This method can be used to design weight optimized fiber reinforced structures that can carry complex loads in high performance applications such as satellites. These designs are realized through Size, Shape and Topology Optimization, using a ground structure approach as...