DR. GREGORY BUCKNER
Associate Professor
Teaching Interests
Design and control of electromechanical systems; Automatic control systems; Intelligent system identification and control
Faraday Rocks: students built an electric guitar demonstrator for Faraday's Law
MAE/ECE 535 - Design of Electromechanical Systems
Fall 2000, Fall 2001, Spring 2003*, Spring 2004*, Spring 2005*, Spring 2006*, Spring 2007*, Spring 2008* (*offered as a Distance Education course)
A practical introduction to electromechanical systems, with emphasis on modeling, analysis, design, and control techniques. The primary objective is to provide students with modeling and analysis tools that can be used to design and control electrical machines (standard motors plus linear actuators, magnetic bearings, etc). This course involves some self-directed laboratory work to provide students with hands-on experience. The course culminates in an industrial design project. In 2001, five groups of students (4 students per group) worked with Magnequench (an RTP manufacturer of rare-earth magnets) to improve an existing DC motor design. The motor was taken from Mercedes-Benz fuel pump, and the objective was to predict the performance benefits (and costs) associated with replacing ferrite magnets with rare-earth magnets. For this project, students used basic design techniques, Finite Element Analysis, and experimental data to develop their models and validate their designs.
COURSE TOPICS:
- Overview of electrical and magnetic field theory (Maxwell's equations)
- Magnetic circuit analysis
- Introduction to Finite Element Analysis
- Electromechanical energy conversion
- Modeling and analysis of electromechanical machines
- Control of electromechanical machines
- Design of electromechanical machines
- Case studies (active magnetic bearings, etc) |
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MAE 589Z - Intelligent System Identification
Spring 2001
An independent study course, offering a practical introduction to traditional system identification, artificial neural networks, and the integration of both techniques. Practical case studies of applications to active vehicle suspension systems, base excited structures, etc. |
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MAE 208 - Engineering Dynamics
Fall 2002, Fall 2003, Spring 2004*, Fall 2004, Fall 2005, Fall 2006, Fall 2007 (*offered as a Distance Education course)
An introduction to kinematics and kinetics of particles in rectangular, cylindrical, and curvilinear coordinate systems; energy and momentum methods for particles; kinetics of systems of particles; kinematics and kinetics of rigid bodies in two and three dimensions; motion relative to rotating coordinate systems. |
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MAE 435 - Principles of Automatic Control
Fall 1999, Spring 2000, Spring 2001, Spring 2002*, Fall 2002, Spring 2003*, Fall 2004, Spring 2005*, Spring 2006*, Spring 2007*, Spring 2008* (*offered as a Distance Education course)
A study of linear feedback control systems using transfer functions. Transient and steady state responses. Stability and dynamic analyses using time response and frequency response techniques. Compensation methods. Classical control theory techniques for determination and modification of the dynamic response of a system. Synthesis and design applications to typical mechanical engineering control systems. Introduction to modern control theory. |
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MAE 496/MAE 586 - Special Projects in Mechanical Engineering
Spring 2000, Fall 2000, Spring 2001, Fall 2002, Spring 2003, Fall 2003, Spring 2004
A senior technical elective is typically offered individually on an informal basis to “investigate a problem stemming from a mutual student-faculty interest”. Dr. Buckner structures the course as an introduction to “real-world” engineering research, emphasizing the critical attributes of successful engineers: technical skills, communication skills, teamwork, and time management.
SPECIFIC PROJECTS:
Spring 2000
Thirteen seniors in ME focused on two design projects relevant to my active vehicle suspension research at NCSU, a quarter-vehicle test rig and a semi-active damper for vehicle suspensions. The students had small group meetings several times each week, and each student made a 5-minute oral presentation of progress at our weekly class meetings. The course culminated in the preparation of two Final Reports detailing the design work. One of these students, Micheal Craft, is now a graduate student continuing on this research topic.
Fall 2000
Two seniors in ME, David Herring and Jeremy Bridges, focused on a design project funded by a local industry, NACCO Material Handling Group, manufacturers of Hyster and Yale lift trucks. The sponsor donated $7,500.00 and hardware to upgrade an existing hydraulic lift truck with electromechanical actuation. The students designed, fabricated, and successfully demonstrated their design, and conducted Preliminary Design Reviews at Nacco headquarters and a Final Design Presentation at NCSU.
Spring 2001
A senior in ME, Jason Stevens, focused on a design project that would serve as an introduction to graduate research (Jason completed his M.S. degree in 2002 and is now continuing this project as a PhD student). Jason focused on design improvements to telerobotic surgical instruments. We established research contacts with the premiere telerobotic heart surgeon in the U.S., Dr. Chitwood of East Carolina University, and with the leading manufacturer of telerobotic surgical hardware, Intuitive Surgical Inc. As part of this project, Jason actually joined Dr. Chitwood in the operating room to observe a six-hour surgical procedure. The course culminated in the design, fabrication, and demonstration of an experimental test rig to investigate failures in the tungsten cables that actuate the robotic instruments.
Fall 2002
One senior in ME, Stewart Alexander, and one graduate student in ME, Michael Ocando, designed, fabricated, and demonstrated an induction motor test facility for A.O. Smith company in Mebane, NC. This test rig enabled A.O. Smith to assess the effects of design and manufacturing modifications to induction motor performance and quality.
Spring 2003
Two undergraduates in ME, Josh Trantham and Michael Harris, used finite element analysis to study a novel retractors to facilitate minimally-invasive cardiac surgery. Their research was co-directed by Jason Stevens, a doctoral student in ME, and was conducted with support of heart surgeons at ECU's Brody School of Medicine.
Fall 2003
A senior in ME, Jeremy Lambert, developed a brushless DC motor test rig that can be used for classroom demonstrations in MAE/ECE 535 (Design of Electromechanical Systems).
Spring 2004
A senior ME, Kevin Johnson, developed a linear actuation system to be used in our research involving system identification of base-excited structures.
Spring/Summer 2004
Three seniors in ME, Joshua Hitzemann, Kenneth Holland, and Chad Brown designed, fabricated, and tested an eddy-current door closer mechanism as part of a project funded by the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA).
Spring 2005
A senior in ME, Edward Gallagher, actively participated in an NIH research project to develop technologies that facilitate and extend the capabilities of MIRA cardiac surgery. Specifically, he helped develop devices for rapid and secure fixation of suture materials and prosthetic devices (e.g. atrial closure and leaflet repair).
Summer/Fall 2005
A junior in ME, John Crews, conducted an industry-sponsored investigation of induction motor failures in a commercial product. Thermo Electron Corp. (Asheville, NC) was experiencing decant failure rates as high as 40% in their blood bank centrifuges (the Cellwasher II™). These problems were related to manufacturing variations of the induction motor rotors, but the precise failure mechanisms (and quality control methods to detect them) were unknown. John’s investigation included torque-speed curve measurements at elevated temperatures, scanning electron microscopy of rotor materials, and chemical composition testing to identify the source of these failures.
Fall 2006
A senior in MAE, David Suffern, designed and fabricated a test rig to demonstrate rotating magnetic fields in AC machines. Sixteen Hall effect sensors were mounted inside the stator of a polyphase induction motor. The stator was rewound and connected to a low-power, three-phase, variable-frequency power supply. Bipolar LEDs were mounted to the periphery of the stator to indicate the polarity and magnitude of the stator field. This test rig will be used in MAE/ECE 535 to demonstrate rotating AC fields.
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