For the 2019 Tribomechadynamics Research Camp, there will be two undergraduate/high school engineering research projects:
Project 1: Mock Drill String Test Rig
Continuing a project from the last research camp hosted at Rice University, this project will seek to bring a new experimental test rig into full operation. The Mock Drill String Test Rig is designed to be a scaled down representation of a drill string (used in oil and gas exploration) interacting with a well bore. Several experiments are planned for this project that focus on understanding the frictional behavior of the interaction and how friction drives the formation of stable and unstable regimes for operation of the drill string. For this summer, there are several major tasks to be accomplished: an Arduino controller needs to be build and updated to specify the rotational speed of the motor and to provide output for a control display, the system needs to be instrumented in order to record data, and preliminary tests should be performed as a demonstration of functionality.
Skills to be learned: arduino programming, digital image correlation, chaos and nonlinear dynamics theory.
Project 2: Experimental Investigation of Multi-Joint Structures
To date, most fundamental research studies of discrete joints have tried to analyze a structure with a single joint, then extrapolate that to structures with multiple joints. The goal of this project is to experimentally characterize the new Assembled Structure Benchmark to provide data for understanding how the characterization of a joint in isolation can be used for predicting the response of multiple similar joints in a large, built-up system.
Skills to be learned: nonlinear dynamic testing, nonlinear system identification, profilometry, and joint mechanics theory.