Engineering Design Celebration

Team Members:

Andrew Baratz, Christopher Evans, Zachary Krewson

Sponsor: UD Mechanical Engineering: Dr. Dave Burris

Sponsor Description: 

The UD Materials Tribology Lab studies interfacial forces including adhesion and friction. The group is led by Dr. Burris. Dr. Burris and his team are working to resolve the fundamental origins of these forces by measuring them across length scales. While instruments like the AFM are sensitive to nN forces, there are no nN standards with which to calibrate the force sensor. Mr. Battacharjee has developed a spring-based method to overcome this challenge. If one can produce a linear spring and quantify its stiffness with a laboratory force balance, then one can load the spring with a nN force sensor, measure the spring deflection, quantify the applied force, and calibrate the sensor. He calls the device Traceable Reference Lever (TRL). He has created a prototype TRL, applied it to the calibration of the AFM, and validated the method.

Faculty Advisor: Prof. Joe Feser

Presentation Time: 3:30 – 4:00

Room #: 2