College - Author 1
College of Engineering
Department - Author 1
Mechanical Engineering Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Mechanical Engineering
College - Author 2
College of Engineering
Department - Author 2
Mechanical Engineering Department
Degree - Author 2
BS in Mechanical Engineering
College - Author 3
College of Engineering
Department - Author 3
Mechanical Engineering Department
Degree - Author 3
BS in Mechanical Engineering
College - Author 4
College of Engineering
Department - Author 4
Mechanical Engineering Department
Degree - Author 4
BS in Mechanical Engineering
Date
2021
Primary Advisor
Eltahry Elghandour, College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Department
Abstract/Summary
This project created the heating system, cooling system, and control system for an environmental chamber for a tensile test machine in the Cal Poly Composites Lab. This chamber allows for students to test material properties under a variety of thermal conditions. This project was done in collaboration with a team working on the structural aspect of the chamber. While consumer environmental chambers are on the market, they often cost more than $50,000. Additionally, our chamber conforms to further size and weight constraints. Because of this constraint, many conventional techniques and components used for these chambers are not feasible for our project. Some alternatives that we researched included solid state, thermoelectric cooling devices, known as Peltier devices, for cooling the chamber. We also decided to use aerogel for insulation instead of ceramic which is the industry standard. The final design failed to meet criteria we set for it, and we present multiple potential design alterations that could remedy this.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/mesp/617