Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

This proposal concerns the establishment of a basic vibration and modal analysis testing facility at the Simon Fraser University (SFU), which lacks any facility in this area.In September 2007, SFU kick-off a Mechatronic Systems Engineering (MSE) program in its new Surrey campus. The applicant, Dr. Siamak Arzanpour, has just accepted to join MSE at SFU as an assistant professor starting January 2008. Over his PhD studies and Postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Waterloo (UW) he worked on various designs and fabrication of innovative ideas on active and semi-active engine isolators. His work which was originally funded by GM has successfully received the Idea to Innovation (I2I) grant from NSERC on 2007 under the supervision of Dr. Golnaraghi. This project is in collaboration with Cooperstandard, a tier 1 automotive manufacturer, and has resulted in a working proof of concept, and is ready to move ahead to the second phase of I2I grant. Several vital vibration analysis equipments were used extensively in this research including electromagnetic vibration shakers, heavy duty hydraulic shakers, Modal analysis systems, various size accelerometers and sensors.In addition to Engine Isolation, other research projects envisioned by the applicant - including Parkinson Tremor Control, Vibration Based Energy Harvesting, and using Semi-Active Materials in Biomedical Applications - fundamentally rely on vibration and modal analysis test equipment. In all cases, a heavy duty vibration shaker with an amplitude controller, a modal analysis shaker, a signal analyzer and accelerometers are essential components to ensure the accuracy of the mathematical model and performance evaluation of the system.Traditionally, SFU did not have a Mechanical Engineering program or any research activity in these mentioned areas. As a result, for the applicant to be able to start his research program, setting up a basic experimental facility has a high degree of urgency.