Post-graduate studies and research

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Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment

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Department of Mechanical Engineering

PROCEDURE RELATED TO POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

Post-graduate studies and research

December 2012 V3 INTRODUCTION

Welcome to post-graduate studies and research at the department of Mechanical Engineering. Stemming from our mission to be locally relevant and internationally competitive, the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) places high emphasis on quality research, and considers the creation, application and transfer of knowledge as one of its major functions. The Department responds to the needs of the country by proactively contributing to the shaping of the future.

Included is information on the structuring of the qualifications, the pre-requisites, bursaries that are available, the procedure to initiate your Master or Doctorate studies, approximate cost of studies, the possible fields of study, general information on supervision and relevant contact details.

STRUCTURE OF THE QUALIFICATIONS

The offered qualifications are as follows:

Master’s Degree in Technology: Engineering: Mechanical (M Tech) - The minimum duration of studies is 1 year

- The maximum duration for full-time studies is 2 years - The maximum duration for part-time studies is 3 years

Doctorate in Technology: Engineering: Mechanical (D Tech) - The minimum duration for full-time studies is 2 years - The maximum duration for full-time studies is 4 years - The maximum duration for part-time studies is 5 years PRE-REQUISITES

A Bachelor’s Degree in Technology: Engineering: Mechanical (B Tech) or any equivalent qualification for M Tech studies. An M Tech or equivalent is required for entrance into doctoral studies (D Tech). Proof of the qualification should be submitted with the application.

Since Mechatronics is an integration of mechanical, electrical, electronic, information technology and computer studies, any student with a Bachelor’s degree in these fields that wishes to do an M Tech in Mechatronics, will be considered. Each application will be considered on an individual basis. Additional subject(s) will be prescribed and these need to be completed before the student will be allowed to continue with the M Tech.

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PROCEDURES

Step 1: Application and registration

a Contact the departmental research officer for the complete application procedure and required documents such as:

Certified copy of certificates Certified copy of academic records Certified copy of ID or passport/visa Application form

Preliminary research proposal to indicate your project interest including a brief introduction to the background, research problems, methods, etc.

b Submit the required documents as stated in item (1) to the departmental research officer

c) The departmental research officer will distribute the application documents to relevant staff or supervisors for consideration

d) The provisional supervisor (s), who intend to accept the applicant as his or her postgraduate student based on the capacity and potential of the applicant, will give feedback to the research officer

e) If necessary, the supervisor(s) may contact the applicant to have an interview/ meeting

f) If the supervisor is satisfied with the applicant, and the applicant meets the minimum requirements, the application form will be signed by the supervisor and HoD or the Chairperson of DRIC (Departmental Research and Innovation Committee) g) The research officer will submit the signed application to the admission office

(Postgraduate office)

h) The applicant will then receive the acceptance letter from the Postgraduate Office i) Accepted applicants will then register where the supervisor and HoD or

Chairperson of DRIC or Section Head should sign the registration form

j) After registration, the postgraduate students will commence the research under the supervision of the supervisor (s)

k) The student should arrange with the Faculty Research Office to do the compulsory Research Methodology Course

Step 2: Approval of provisional title and study panel

a)Discuss and finalize your topic and proposal with your study leader / supervisor b)Complete the application form (HDC01 form: “Application for approval of project and

study panel”), as well as a provisional proposal (short proposal). The application form is available from the Department of Mechanical Engineering or Faculty Research Office. Note that if you have an external study leader in mind, a CV of the study leader must be handed in with the application.

c) Submit the HDC01 form to the department research officer to be approved by DRIC d)The DRIC approved HDC01 from will then be submitted to FRIC ( Faculty Research

and Innovation Committee) for approval Step 3: Proposal writing and approval

a) Start the literature review

b) Compile the proposal and complete HDC02 from and submit all required documents to the departmental research officer

c) The student needs to present his or her proposal to DRIC

d) DRIC will sign the HDC02 form if the proposal is approved, and the research officer will submit the HDC02 form to FRIC for approval

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3 Step 4: Implementation of the project

Step 5: After the completion of the project, with recommendation from your supervisor, a colloquium is arranged where you must present your research. Depending on the

outcome of the colloquium, the supervisor will advise the student of any changes that need to be made.

Step 6: Appointment of assessors, where HDC03 form will be completed by the supervisor and approved by various committees within TUT (DRIC and FRIC).

Step 7: Present your research to a defence panel.

APPROXIMATE COSTS

The approximated costs are as follows: M Tech registration fee . . . R 15 000

D Tech registration fee . . . R 17 000

Research Methodology (compulsory) . . . R 2000 (currently carried by TUT) Re-registration fee (returning students continuing their studies, amount per year for every consecutive year of study after the first year) . . . R 500

A minimum of R 2000 is payable with registration

The registration fees for M Tech and D Tech studies are payable within the first year of study.

Note that these fees are approximated costs. The amounts are subjected to change, and are included only as an indication. You can enquire the latest fees at Student services or the Post-graduate office (012) 382 5887.

STUDY GUIDANCE / SUPERVISION

Typically, the main study leader/supervisor should have a Doctorate degree.

The supervisor needs to provide significant guidance to the student at masters level, while more independent work is expected from the student at doctorate level.

The student needs to meet regularly with his/her study leader/supervisor, who should be a subject matter expert in the field of study. It is the student’s responsibility to arrange these meetings. An external study leader may be appointed under special circumstances to guide the student, while the lecturer will be responsible to ensure that the required academic standards are maintained.

The student needs to submit a monthly progress report. The submission date is the last Friday of each month.

Further details will be provided by the supervisor.

FIELDS OF STUDY

The following areas are currently available within the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The associated group leader together with his research profile website link is also shown. It is advisable to contact the group leader/supervisor to determine availability and detail of projects, as well as capacity to accommodate you.

Material science & characterization: Composites & high strength alloys (Dr Jamiru) Energy: Refrigeration and heating (Prof Huan)

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4 Part-time students / research projects from companies / industry

Should a student wish to select his/her own topic, and none of the department’s staff is a subject matter expert in that particular topic, an external study leader, who is an expert in that field of study, should be appointed as supervisor. An appropriately qualified lecturer will then be appointed as a co-supervisor.

GENERAL ENQUIRIES

Kindly address all general enquiries to:

Miss NM Ratlhogo (012) 382 5874 (Administrator) Email: Ratlhogom@tut.ac.za

Summary of procedures related to postgraduate studies

Process STEP 1 Information ↓ Evaluation / Selection ↓ Granting of equivalence/status ↓ Provisional title ↓ Provisional study panel ↓ Registration STEP 2 Development and approval of proposal ↓

Final study panel ↓ Ethical clearance ↓ Drafting and signing of MoU STEP 3 Conduct research ↓ Colloquium ↓ Final title ↓ Appointment of assessors ↓ Submission for assessment STEP 4 Assessment ↓ Summary report of assessment ↓ Defence (Doctoral) ↓ Final results ↓ Final copies Documentation HDC 01 Addendum 01A &

01B HDC 02 Addendum 02 A HDC 03 Addendum 03 A HDC 04 Addendum 04A, 04B and 04C Amendments HDC 05 ↑ ↑ Upgrade HDC 06 ↑ ↑

Timelines Not exceeding two weeks (excluding students who applies for

equivalence/status)

Up to 6 months Up to 30 months for Masters degrees (Full-time and 42 Part-(Full-time) Up

to 54 months for Doctoral degrees (Full-time and 78

months Part-time) Reporting (supervisor) ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Reporting (HDC) Date of approval of HDC 01 Date of approval of HDC 02 Date of approval of HDC 04

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Tel. (012) 382 5177, Fax (012) 382 5602, www.tut.ac.za ● Privaatsak/Private Bag X680 PRETORIA

1. Introduction

Stemming from our mission to be locally relevant and internationally competitive, the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) places high emphasis on quality research, and considers the creation, application and transfer of knowledge as one of its major functions. The Department responds to the needs of the country by proactively contributing to the shaping of the future.

In today’s competitive, high-tech society, noise and vibration are constantly present. Noise causes serious problems both at home and in the workplace, and the task of reducing noise and vibration is a subject currently focused on by authorities in many countries. Hence, the ever-growing demand for reducing community noise by designing better quality, low-noise emission products that can withstand severe dynamic conditions have increased drastically and will continue to do so as legislation on noise emission standards become higher. Similarly, manufacturers of mechanical products with vibrations causing acoustic noise, increasingly find themselves forced to compete on the noise levels of their products. Such competition has so far occurred predominantly in the automotive industry and in the rail and aeronautical industries to a lesser extent. However in Europe, domestic appliances and power tools are now being increasingly marketed stressing low noise levels. Hence, the prediction of noise and vibration characteristics of a product at its early stage of development is highly desirable.

In response to this, TUT has been active in research on dynamical systems since 2003. These activities eventually culminated in the establishment of the Sound, Vibration and Materials Group (SVMG) in 2012. The SVMG focuses primarily on structural sound and vibration (vibro-acoustics) and structural dynamics. These activities have gradually expanded to include a specialist centre laboratory at the Pretoria campus, with the aim of expanding these activities even further to the broader field of structural sound and vibration.

The SVMG strives to provide quality-driven postgraduate training, industry-relevant research and development work to master’s and doctoral students on the basis of postgraduate projects. These projects are completed in partial or complete fulfilment of the requirements for the particular master’s or doctoral degree programmes. The aim is to produce highly competent, value-adding research graduates capable of supporting industry and the community in relevant problems and projects. The group actively co-operates with industry and the University of Pretoria (UP) and many of its projects and programs are supported through both internal and external funding.

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

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2. Research focus areas

Structural dynamics is a field which describes phenomena such as resonance in structures and how connecting structures together affect the resonances, etc.

Acoustics is a discipline close to noise and vibration analysis as the causes of acoustic

noise is often vibrations.

Within this sphere, the SVMG currently entails a range of activities which include: Theme 1: Noise, vibration and harshness reduction of transportation systems Sound & vibration prediction and control, reduced-scale and similitude modeling, design & development, mathematical & numerical modeling (finite element analysis - FEA), experimental validation, correlation, evaluation, design sensitivity analysis and optimization of systems, technologies and products to reduce noise and vibration emissions of transportation systems. Typical examples are the reduction of interior noise levels in the passenger cabin and door panel vibration; analysis of road-tyre interaction of rolling tyres and its subsequent spindle forces; mathematical modeling of a reliable, automated, CAD-based volume generation algorithm of enclosed complex, three-dimensional cavities or domains; sensitivity analysis of different automotive door mount architectures on vibration and interior noise levels and the analysis and influence of absorbent poro-elastic components, such as interior trim, on the interior sound field. Theme 2: Dynamic characterization of materials including composites

Modal analysis & numerical modeling, experimental validation, correlation and evaluation of natural frequencies. Experimental characterization of damping. Examples include the analysis of polymer and composite materials in terms of their dynamic behaviour (natural frequencies and damping characteristics) and applications.

Theme 3: Sound radiation analysis and characterization of dynamical systems Sound & vibration prediction and control, reduced-scale modeling, design & development, mathematical & numerical coupled acoustic-structural modeling (finite element analysis), modal analysis, experimental validation, correlation, evaluation, design sensitivity analysis and optimization of the vibro-acoustic behaviour of small products and components such as automotive engine covers, rolling tyres and automotive door hinge design/architectural studies.

Theme 4: Asset integrity management

Vibration analysis and development of predictive (FEA) models applied to power stations, transmission and distribution utilities such as transformers, voltage switch gear, power line structures (pylons), capacitor banks, grinding mills, boiler tubing and pipes, steam turbines/blades, generator stators, mill gearboxes. Specific FEA modeling topics relate to boilers, natural frequencies of rotors on turbo-generators, creep of turbine discs and residual stresses in turbine blades and rotor attachments.

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3. Facilities

The following research facilities are currently available at TUT:

Item Brief specification Visual

Dynamic signal/spectrum analysers

BSWA MC 3642 4-input channel ICP data

acquisition card 2 outputs gain x1, x10, x100

Electro-dynamic shaker High precision modal exciter 3624 - 100N

Impact (modal) hammers Bruel & Kjaer 8206 22.7mV/N

Bruel & Kjaer modal

excitation system 3624 - 100N

SVantek Portable sound

and vibration analyser 912 AE

Current mode power

amplifiers BSWA SWA100 100W

220/110V AC

Acoustic sound calibrator MVI Technologies Cal 21 01dB Stell

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Miniature ½˝ & ¼˝ condenser microphones pressure field

BSWA MPA 401, 418, 416 50mV/Pa, 436 12.5mV/Pa with pre-amp circuitry, MP 206

30mV/Pa with pre-amp circuitry

Force transducer

Accelerometers: sub-miniature tri-axial, teardrop, various sizes

Bruel & Kjaer 4517 IEPE 10mV/g, Bruel & Kjaer piezoelectric 4507 IEPE, Bruel & Kjaer 4520 miniature cubic triaxial, IEPE 100mV/g, CTC AC102-1A 100mV/g Rigid shaker table

Flir Thermovision A40 Infrared thermography camera

ABAQUS FEA simulation software

Full research edition V6.11-3

MODENT modal analysis software

BSWA signal & data acquisition software

VA-Lab4 Base 4 channels

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4. Some of the facilities available at the University of Pretoria’s

Sasol Laboratory

Laser vibrometry for development of turbo machine blade damage detection algorithms

Scanning laser vibrometry for damage detection studies on composite structures

Durability investigations on composite panels

Dynamic testing of an automotive vehicle model

(Pictures: Courtesy of the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, University of Pretoria) Link to University of Pretoria’s Sasol Lab: Sasol Laboratory for Structural Mechanics

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5. Team members

 Dr D Desai

o Sound and vibration analysis

o Stress analysis – structural dynamics

o Coupled acoustic-structural analysis

o Numerical simulation with ABAQUS

o Characterization of dynamic properties of materials

o Asset integrity management – vibration and modelling

 Dr T Jamiru

o Material science (steels)

o Characterization of mechanical properties of steels

 Prof R Sadiku

o Polymer science and physics

o Characterization of mechanical properties of polymers

 Mrs I Aghachi

o Metal matrix composites and their modelling

o Modelling of ferrous and hybrid materials

6. Contacts

Group leader: Dr D Desai Tel: +27 (0)12 382 5886 Email: desaida@tut.ac.za General enquiries: Miss NM Ratlhogo Tel: +27 (0)12 382 5874 Email: ratlhogonm@tut.ac.za

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SPECIFIC RESEARCH TOPICS: SOUND, VIBRATION AND MATERIALS GROUP

1. Sensitivity analysis of automotive door mount design on cabin sound and vibration.

2. Prediction and influence of absorbent poro-elastic trim behaviour on cabin noise levels.

3. Analysis of vibro-acoustic transmission through automotive door mounts with visco-elastic inserts.

4. Simulation and experimental validation of vibro-acoustic transmission through an active automotive door mount system.

5. Development of an automated, CAD-based volume generation algorithm for enclosed three-dimensional cavities.

6. Vibration characteristics of rolling tyres.

7. Sound radiation analysis of automobile engine covers. 8. Sound and vibration measurements of small metal plates.

9. Simplified analytical models for prediction of vehicle interior noise.

10. Finite element study of the effect of structural modifications on structure-borne vehicle interior noise.

11. Reduced-scale modeling of vehicle interior noise.

12. Experimental modal analysis of a Ford/Nissan vehicle body.

13. Simulation of scaled pulse load mild steel plates with different edge constraints. 14. Finite element verification of similitude requirements for flutter prediction of

composite plates.

15. Prediction and experimental validation of acoustic properties of vehicle compartments.

16. Experimental determination of dynamic young’s modulus and damping properties of a composite material.

17. Experimental investigations of vibro-acoustic behaviour of trim components in a car cabin.

18. Simulation and experimental validation on interior noise contribution from a local panel’s vibration behaviour.

19. Vibroacoustic model testing of a vehicle cabin: simulation and experimental validation.

20. Automotive panel noise contribution modeling based on finite element and measured acoustic-structural spectra.

21. Simulating low-frequency NVH characteristics of damped automotive body panels using frequency dependent properties.

22. Prediction and experimental validation of the damping ratio of a spot-welded frame.

23. Structural similitudes for the dynamic response of plates and their assemblies. 24. An experimental investigation of acoustic properties of vehicle compartments. 25. Prediction of vibration characteristics of a full-size structure from those of a scale

model.

26. Temperature effect on variation of structural frequencies-prediction and experimental validation.

27. Vehicle door panel reinforcement design for reduction of wind noise. 28. Shaker/stinger effects on measured frequency response functions.

29. An experimental investigation into the use of scaling laws for predicting vibration responses of thin rectangular plates.

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30. Experimental verification of acoustic-structural modeling and design optimization. 31. Modal analysis of a municipal power transmission pylon-prediction and validation 32. FEA modeling methodology for prediction of boiler wall failure.

33. Prediction of residual stresses in steam turbine blade subjected to shotpeening. 34. Prediction of long term benefits of compressive residual stresses in turbine blade

roots and rotor attachments.

35. Development of a material model to account for cyclic hardening and softening. 36. Experimental measurement residual stresses in steam turbine blade subjected to

shotpeening.

37. Low cost FEA and prediction of torsional natural frequencies of rotors with bladed discs.

38. Fatigue life prediction of steam turbine blades – a probabilistic approach.

39. Creep modeling of HP turbine discs with high stress gradients using destructive testing from plug samples and FEA.

40. Small punch testing for creep damage evaluation of power plant material. 41. Small punch testing for embrittlement evaluation of power plant material.

42. Quantification of creep damage limits for welding and optimal welding procedures on creep aged pressure parts.

43. Quantification of creep damage limits for welding on creep aged HP turbine parts.

44. Correlation of instrumentated charpy test results with fracture toughness and other material properties.

45. Tube metal temperature estimates from high temperature steam side oxidation and optimization of temperature limits for use as SH and RH applications.

46. Influence on heat treatment condition on SCC properties of CSEF steels.

47. Influence on heat treatment condition on SCC properties of LP turbine blade steels.

48. Boiler tube localized flaw sensitivity specification. 49. Optimization of erosion management of fans.