Date of Award

12-2002

Degree Name

Master of Science in Engineering

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Department

Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering

First Advisor

Dr. Richard Hathaway

Second Advisor

Dr. Koorosh Naghshineh

Third Advisor

Dr. Jerry Hamelink

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

The Automotive Industry, over the last few years, has been placing major emphasis on the use of lightweight components in engines as well as other structural components. The material for these lightweight components are being chosen in such a way that they require minimal secondary operations to place the components in service. One area that has developed is the use of Polymer (Plastic) Intake Manifolds for Internal Combustion engines. Plastics meet all the criteria for quality low cost production with a minimum weight component. Plastic intake manifolds, however, have been found to be excessively noisy in operation. This noise can be attributed to the resonance of the plastic components on account of the pulsed flow through them. They also transmit a high frequency noise as the engine throttle is opened, which is also referred to as 'hiss noise'. The research involved the development of a testing method for and the analysis of the resonance characteristics in plastic intake manifolds. The testing method involved the utilization of full field optical techniques such as time-averaged holography and real-time holography to identify the resonating regions and their characteristics. Analysis of the resonance phenomenon also required a study into the mechanical characteristics and air flow characteristics in plastic intake manifolds. The final result was the development of a useful testing method to analyze manifold resonance and identification of the range of resonant frequencies.

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