Papers by IKECHUKWU UGWUOKE
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), May 27, 2023
This work focused on the design and production of a powered cassava grating machine using locally... more This work focused on the design and production of a powered cassava grating machine using locally sourced material which makes it affordable to both the middle and the low class populace. The major consideration was to produce a cassava grating machine that can be coupled or decoupled easily, the hopper was designed to accommodate a specific volume of peeled cassava conveniently without wastage, the grating unit was made of stainless metal so as to promote safe grating operation, and the delivery chute was made sloppy for easy discharge. The machine is powered either electrically using an electric motor or mechanically using a gasoline engine. The powered cassava grating machine is durable, light-weighted and easily operated and will greatly reduce importation of similar machines. The machine is portable and can be used commercially to produce cassava pulp and also solves the problem of fatigue resulting from the manual grating of cassava. Testing of the powered cassava grating machine shows that the performance was excellent.
AU Journal of Technology, 2011
This research focused on the development of modified configurations of compliant constant-force m... more This research focused on the development of modified configurations of compliant constant-force mechanisms (CCFMs) for use as constant-force compression spring electrical contacts (CFCSECs). These new configurations promise to create new possibilities in the design of electrical contacts (ECs), possibilities in lowering required manufacturing tolerances, reduction of system sensitivity to variations introduced during usage, increased system robustness in applications where movement and/or vibrations exist and will also go a long way in overcoming the challenges encountered in the implementation of the current traditional CCFMs in ECs. The successful development of CFCSECs that meets all of the requirements of an EC will lay a ground work for further exploration and introduction of CFCSECs into industry applications. These new configurations have successfully eliminated all pin joints and have replaced them with short flexural pivots, and where these short flexural pivots exist, they...
Reference Module in Materials Science and Materials Engineering, 2016
Abstract Formulated brake linings were produced using rubber scrap as reinforced material as a re... more Abstract Formulated brake linings were produced using rubber scrap as reinforced material as a replacement for asbestos material. Taguchi method was used to investigate the optimal manufacturing parameters (molding pressure, melting temperature, and curing time). Impact strength, hardness test, tensile strength, corrosion rate, oil and water absorption, and co-efficient of friction wear rate were selected as responses. The thermal behavior of formulated brake lining using the optimal manufacturing parameters of wear rate was investigated. It was observed that the sample degraded between 149.9 and 478.4 °C, with a peak degradation at temperature at 394.8 °C.
This work looks at the possibility of controlling a hydraulic jack using a foot operated linkage ... more This work looks at the possibility of controlling a hydraulic jack using a foot operated linkage mechanism. This modification greatly reduces stress and allows for comfort during usage in an automobile workshop, and the effort required is also very minimal. The test results showed that this foot operated hydraulic lifter for automobile workshops performed much more efficiently than the hand operated hydraulic lifter. The effort was also greatly reduced from 2050.4N to 136.7N. It also incorporates compression springs which allows for flexing under load to transmit the effect of the load to the floor.
AU Journal of …, 2009
Many farmers grow maize but could not afford the cost of acquiring some of the imported threshing... more Many farmers grow maize but could not afford the cost of acquiring some of the imported threshing machines because of their cost. Such people resort to manual means of threshing which results into low efficiency, high level of wastage and exerting of much labor. This machine was ...
This work focuses on the design and construction of a conical screen centrifugal filter for the s... more This work focuses on the design and construction of a conical screen centrifugal filter for the separation of groundnut oil slurry. The major component of the machine is the rotary conical screen which separates the pure groundnut oil from the slurry via centrifugal filtration. Sludge particles were removed from the slurry through the open end of the rotary wide-angle conical screen when the half angle of the cone is greater than the angle of repose of the sludge. From the design analysis and calculation the required half angle and the thickness of the conical screen were found to be 30º and 1mm respectively.
This paper highlights the significance of sensitivity analysis as a basis for the dynamic synthes... more This paper highlights the significance of sensitivity analysis as a basis for the dynamic synthesis of compliant mechanisms. Based on the results obtained from the sensitivity analysis, four models were developed and simulation results show that for model 1, at a frequency of 44.5 rad/s, the mechanism yielded a median force of 135.4N with a force variance of±0.3N, for model 2, at a frequency of 41.5 rad/s, it yielded a median force of 91.9N with a force variance of ±0.4N, for model 3, at a frequency of 35 rad/s, the compliant slider mechanism yielded a median force of 92.7N with a force variance of ±1.8N and for model 4, at a frequency of 44 rad/s, it yielded a median force of 73.4N with a force variance of ±0.3N. The results obtained shows the effectiveness of this method in improving the dynamic behavior of compliant mechanisms and also shows that, depending on what attributes are most desirable, the compliant slider mechanism parameters can be optimized to achieve the desired res...
This work focuses on the design and construction of a conical screen centrifugal filter for the s... more This work focuses on the design and construction of a conical screen centrifugal filter for the separation of groundnut oil slurry. The major component of the machine is the rotary conical screen which separates the pure groundnut oil from the slurry via centrifugal filtration. Sludge particles were removed from the slurry through the open end of the rotary wide-angle conical screen when the half angle of the cone is greater than the angle of repose of the sludge. From the design analysis and calculation the required half angle and the thickness of the conical screen were found to be 30o and 1mm respectively.
This work focused on the design and fabrication of a manually operated single row maize planter c... more This work focused on the design and fabrication of a manually operated single row maize planter capable of delivering seeds precisely in a straight line with uniform depth in the furrow, and with uniform spacing between the seeds. The work demonstrates the application of engineering techniques to reduce human labour specifically in the garden. The results obtained from the trial tests showed that the planter functioned properly as expected with a planting capacity of 0.0486 hectare/hr. Visual inspection of the seeds released from the planter’s metering mechanism showed no visible signs of damage to the seeds. Keyword: Design, fabrication, manually operated, single row, maize planter. INTRODUCTION Maize has been in the diet of Nigerian’s for centuries. It started as a subsistence crop and has gradually become a more important commercial crop [1]. In industrialized countries, maize is largely used as livestock feed and as a raw material for industrial products. Maize is an important s...
Stability analysis in compliant mechanism (CM) design is of utmost importance. From a practical p... more Stability analysis in compliant mechanism (CM) design is of utmost importance. From a practical point of view, a CM that is unstable is of no significance (has no practical value). Three useful plots were considered in the evaluation of each of the dynamic models of nine configurations of compliant constant-force compression mechanisms (CCFCMs) for their stability characteristics, which includes the polar plot based on the Routh-Hurwitz stability criterion, the Bode plot, and the Nyquist diagram which considers stability in the real frequency domain. Frequency-domain stability criterion is very useful for determining suitable approaches to adjusting the CCFCM parameters in order to increase its relative stability. The results obtained show that the CCFCMs investigated do exhibit higher relative stability for higher values of damping ratio, and for zero damping ratio, all the CCFCMs investigated were unstable. The result also show that for the CCFCMs investigated to be stable, dampin...
This work focused on the effect of groundnut paste fineness modulus on the quantity of oil extrac... more This work focused on the effect of groundnut paste fineness modulus on the quantity of oil extractable. Three samples of peeled roasted groundnut seeds A, B, and C weighing 14kg each were ground at different machine speeds of 310rpm, 250rpm, and 230rpm respectively. The energy expended in the extraction process using the IAR kneader was found to be 923J, 1043J, and 203J for samples A, B,and C respectively. Results revealed that the extraction efficiency increases as the value of fineness modulus decreases. The results also revealed that the energy requirement decreases as the fineness modulus value decreases. © 2014 Elixir All rights reserved ARTIC LE INF O Article h istory: Received: 7 April 2014; Received in revised form: 20 July 2014; Accepted: 29 July 2014;
International Journal of Engineering and Manufacturing
This research work focuses on the design and development of Class 2B-lpl compliant constant-force... more This research work focuses on the design and development of Class 2B-lpl compliant constant-force compression slider mechanism. It also expresses the desire to simplify the behavioral model for easy usage. Results obtained indicated an average non-dimesionalized parameter value of 1.2573, 1.2991, 1.3483, and 1.4081 for a 10, 20, 30, and 40% displacement respectively. The result also shows that the average force generated by the mechanism for a 10, 20, 30, and 40% displacement were 901.23N, 316.56N, 171.17N, and 110.44N respectively using the maximum flexible segments parameter values for the different percentages of mechanism slider displacement. This indicates clearly that using the non-dimensionalized parameter, the average force generated by this class of mechanism can easily be determined which greatly simplifies its usage.
International Journal of Engineering and Manufacturing
This work focuses on the design and development of a mixed-mode domestic solar dryer in which the... more This work focuses on the design and development of a mixed-mode domestic solar dryer in which the slices of pepper, okra and yam were dried simultaneously by both direct radiation through the transparent glass roof of the drying chamber and by the heated air from the solar collector. The dryer was made up of the solar collector, the desiccant chamber and the drying chamber which contains a rack of three trays. The air comes in through the air inlet and heated up within the solar collector and then channeled through the drying chamber by natural convection where it is utilized for drying purposes. The development was done using locally sourced and readily available materials such as wood, transparent glass sheet, mild steel metal sheet, mosquito galvanized wire mesh and chicken galvanized wire mesh. The maximum temperature attained by the solar collector, drying chamber during test were 69 o C and 55 o C respectively, with a corresponding ambient temperature of 39 o C. The mass of water removal of 43g, 136g and 255g from pepper, okra and yam slices respectively was achieved making use of the passive solar food dryer as against the water removal of 39g, 126g and 218g from pepper, okra and yam slices respectively achieved using the sun drying method which indicates a difference of 4g, 10g and 37g for pepper, okra and yam slices respectively. The rapid rate of drying achieved with the use of this dryer shows that it has the ability to dry food items rapidly to an acceptable moisture content level.
This work focuses on the design and construction of a conical screen centrifugal filter for the s... more This work focuses on the design and construction of a conical screen centrifugal filter for the separation of groundnut oil slurry. The major component of the machine is the rotary conical screen which separates the pure groundnut oil from the slurry via centrifugal filtration. Sludge particles were removed from the slurry through the open end of the rotary wide-angle conical screen when the half angle of the cone is greater than the angle of repose of the sludge. From the design analysis and calculation the required half angle and the thickness of the conical screen were found to be 30º and 1mm respectively.
Leonardo Electronic Journal of Practices and Technologies, 2009
This paper highlights the significance of sensitivity analysis as a basis for the dynamic synthes... more This paper highlights the significance of sensitivity analysis as a basis for the dynamic synthesis of compliant mechanisms. Based on the results obtained from the sensitivity analysis, four models were developed and simulation results show that for model 1, at a frequency of 44.5 rad/s, the mechanism yielded a median force of 135.4N with a force variance of±0.3N, for model 2, at a frequency of 41.5 rad/s, it yielded a median force of 91.9N with a force variance of ±0.4N, for model 3, at a frequency of 35 rad/s, the compliant slider mechanism yielded a median force of 92.7N with a force variance of ±1.8N and for model 4, at a frequency of 44 rad/s, it yielded a median force of 73.4N with a force variance of ±0.3N. The results obtained shows the effectiveness of this method in improving the dynamic behavior of compliant mechanisms and also shows that, depending on what attributes are most desirable, the compliant slider mechanism parameters can be optimized to achieve the desired results.
Stability analysis in compliant mechanism (CM) design is of utmostimportance. From a practical po... more Stability analysis in compliant mechanism (CM) design is of utmostimportance. From a practical point of view, a CM that is unstable is of nosignificance (has no practical value). Three useful plots were considered in theevaluation of each of the dynamic models of nine configurations of compliantconstant-force compression mechanisms (CCFCMs) for their stabilitycharacteristics, which includes the polar plot based on the Routh-Hurwitzstability criterion, the Bode plot, and the Nyquist diagram which considersstability in the real frequency domain. Frequency-domain stability criterion isvery useful for determining suitable approaches to adjusting the CCFCMparameters in order to increase its relative stability. The results obtained showthat the CCFCMs investigated do exhibit higher relative stability for highervalues of damping ratio, and for zero damping ratio, all the CCFCMsinvestigated were unstable. The result also show that for the CCFCMsinvestigated to be stable, damping ratio must ...
A simplified dynamic model for the constant-force compression spring (CFCS) based on the pseudo-r... more A simplified dynamic model for the constant-force compression spring (CFCS) based on the pseudo-rigid-body model (PRBM) is presented including the basic formulations which takes care of the moment CF τ due to coulomb friction in the pin joints of the CFCS, and the moment AF τ due to axial force effects in the rigid links of the CFCS. The CFCS is a slider mechanism which consists of rigid links incorporating pin joints and a small-length flexural pivot which connects to a slider. Clearly the results with the inclusion of CF τ and AF τ to the dynamic model, shows that the static terms AF CF and τ τ have very great significance on the dynamic model of the CFCS.
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Papers by IKECHUKWU UGWUOKE