Browsing by Subject "mechanical"
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Item An Automated System for the Creation of Articulated Mechanical Parts(2010-07-14) Wheeler, Christopher R.Proposes a new method to model the geometric form of articulated mechanical parts while simultaneously testing their range of motion in relation to other nearby parts. Utilizing a database of mechanical parts in virtual three-dimensional form, a software tool assists users in quickly building a complex high-level mechanical object which can be placed directly into a visual effects production pipeline. The tool creates a workflow that allows modeling and rigging problems to be solved concurrently within the same interface. Optimized animation controls are generated automatically to expedite the rigging process. A system of standardization provides a framework for each part?s functionality within the hierarchy of each new assembly, while also guaranteeing reusability and backwards compatibility with all other assemblies created with this tool. A prototype has been developed as a plug-in to existing commercial software to showcase the described methodology. This prototype provides a unique solution to common modeling and rigging problems in the field of visual effects and animation.Item Folds above angular fault bends: mechanical constraints for backlimb trishear kinematic models(Texas A&M University, 2004-11-15) Zhang, LiThe backlimb trishear velocity field is compared to that of mechanical models of fault-bend folds in an incompressible anisotropic viscous media to determine the relationship between the magnitude and orientation of mechanical anisotropy and the kinematic parameters of the trishear model. The trishear model can describe the velocity field of the mechanical model, at least to first order approximation for some cases. We find that the apical angle, asymmetry angle and overall geometry of the hanging-wall syncline above the ramp depend on the magnitude and orientation of the planar anisotropy inherent in stratigraphic sequences. The asymmetry of trishear zone in the backlimb region mimics that of the planar anisotropy. In general, as the magnitude and inclination of the anisotropy increase, the trishear apical angle decreases. The trishear parameters that describe physical models of fault-bend folds with different magnitudes of anisotropy also show a decrease in apical angle with an increase in magnitude of anisotropy. Yet the apical angles of the backlimb of physical models generally are less than these predicted by the mechanical model for the same magnitude of anisotropy. In addition, the physical models display significantly more negative asymmetry than predicted by the mechanical model. The results of this study may be used to determine the conditions under which the trishear model is an acceptable approximation to natural formation and help guide the selection of trishear parameters for subsurface structural interpretations in fault-fold terrains.Item Towards the rational design of mechanical proteins(2009-04-23) Tzintzuni Garcia; Krishna Rajarathnam; Wolfgang Obermann; Wlodzimierz Bujalowski; Werner Braun; R. Bryan Sutton; B. Montgomery Pettitt; Andres F. OberhauserThe biological functions of proteins have long been studied in a manner that has deprived us of a basic mode of inquiry: physical manipulation. In recent years theoretical and technological advances have made possible tools to directly manipulate single molecules mechanically. The atomic force microscope is a flexible and robust platform that allows us this ability. At the same time computational tools have become increasingly common companions and facilitators of theoretical and experimental science. Of the many mechanically important proteins titin and titin-like proteins are important on many levels. From a physiological understanding of the way mechanical strength is propagated from sarcomere to muscle tissue, to a theoretical understanding of the molecular mechanisms contributing to the mechanical design of proteins in general. We have used a combination of computational techniques on a basis of experimental evidence to make predictions and then test them experimentally to ultimately grow our body of knowledge concerning the mechanical design of proteins.