3D printing is a rapid prototyping process which creates a part layer by layer by spraying a binder into a bed of powder. This process is used in industry to produce concept models for marketing, fit, form and function models, as well as patterns for molds. A team of Mechanical Engineering Technology students at Penn State Erie, working on a senior project to test the down force on a late model dirt stock car, has integrated the use of rapid prototyping into their project in an innovative way. The project called for the students to build a model of the car, and to conduct wind tunnel tests to determine the down force that is generated. This student team decided to use the 3D printed prototype directly in a wind tunnel, since it appeared to be a quick, relatively inexpensive method for providing test results. Several problems arose during the design and manufacture of the model. One of the main concerns was the strength of the part, since the model contains several thin sections which would have to both survive the build process and withstand the force of the wind. Other issues included the amount of detail needed in the model, model size, and design of the model to allow for simple, economic changes. This paper reports on these issues, and how they were resolved.
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College participates in Pennsylvania's Tech Prep Program. Articulation agreements between Penn State Erie and participating local high schools are designed to recruit students into two year programs. Students meeting the specified requirements upon graduation from high school are automatically granted admission to Penn State Erie. Penn State Erie hosted a week long residence camp exposing high school Tech Prep students to hands on experiences. Activities for the camp focused on manufacturing in the Electrical Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology and Plastics Engineering Technology programs, through the study of model rocketry.
Changes in the student culture have dictated that we need to change our approach to teaching. These changes have made it necessary for us to reevaluate our teaching methods and how we present material to our students. Because we desire to improve our students' performance and find a way to have the student be more prepared for class we decided to apply a process education approach to our instruction. Process education is "an educational philosophy which focuses on building students' learning skills" (in all domains) and developing "self-growers." (1) A "self-grower" is an individual that develops the ability to learn beyond the presented material and actively seek a higher level of understanding. (1) The graphics faculty at Penn State Erie has adopted this philosophy for all graphics classes, and has begun applying process education techniques in 1 st , 2 nd , and 5 th semester engineering technology graphic courses. This paper will detail the implementation of these techniques and discuss the outcomes and effectiveness of this teaching approach. For example, to encourage reading, open notebook quizzes were given for each reading assignment. This method reinforces the study and cognitive skills by having the students write notes on issues that would normally be difficult for them to remember. Initially, the students reported back that their note taking ability was weak which resulted in poor quiz scores. Realizing this was an issue that effected students, an exercise was developed in how to read a technical textbook and take effective notes. The result of this was that students became aware of their weakness early on in the class and activities could be undertaken to aid them in improving in those areas. Introduction:Incoming first year students deal with many adjustments their first year. One of the most difficult transitions the Penn State Erie, The Behrend College engineering students must make is adjusting to the level and quality of work required in a short amount of time. The sharper students say they are used to hearing information repeated over and over until all of the students in the class understand the material. For this reason, they had to study very little, if at all, in high school. Now their college instructors expect them to take notes, read a technical textbook, figure out material on their own, manage their time, etc. Other universities have also noted that more students are being required to take remedial classes in English and Math as a prerequisite for admission to college as full time students. (2,3) This indicates students are not as prepared as in the past and may signal other problems such as a poor attitude towards learning and a weak work ethic. These students and their college instructors are often frustrated. How can we as instructors help these students smoothly make the transition from being a passive learner to an active learner? Several engineering faculty attended a one-day workshop on process education. Process Education is another name for active learning which is "an educatio...
Students in the Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) program at Penn State Erie, the Behrend College are highly versed in application oriented computer techniques for problem solving. Nine years ago, a senior level technical elective was developed that would allow students with an interest in CAD modeling and design extending beyond the nine credits of required CAD classes to further their knowledge of the latest technology. This course would also introduce students to aesthetic and ergonomic design issues, which, while touched upon in traditional design courses, have never been a major factor in the overall design process. Over time this course has evolved to one that also covers advanced surface modeling CAD strategies for geometry creation, both additive and subtractive methods for rapid prototyping and different methods of reverse engineering existing products. In addition, the acquisition of this technology and equipment has come to benefit both students in other courses and departments within the College. It has also become a resource for faculty doing research and local industry as well. This paper will describe the scope and layout of this class, student projects, and the equipment used, associated costs of running a laboratory and lessons learned as well as the impact on other faculty, departments and local industry.Course Overview METBD 410 (Rapid Prototyping, a technical elective) has the following Goals/Objectives: 1.Understand the advantages and disadvantages of different additive processes currently on the market. 2.Reverse engineer a product by digitizing geometry, importing the data into Pro/ENGINEER and creating a solid model from surfaces. 3.Build the model (Objective 2) on the Z-402 3-D printer and re-digitize the prototype using a non-contact scanner to verify the geometry against the CAD model. Iterate through Objective 2 and 3 as needed. 4.Create CNC tool paths for three axis milling operations including volume, local, conventional, contour and trajectory, using Pro/MFG on the CAD model. 5.Check tool paths for accuracy using Pro/NC-CHECK. 6.Post process all tool paths and execute them on a three axis CNC router.
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