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Samuel Owusu-Ofori Professor |
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Process Modeling and Control
DR. OWUSU-OFORI’S research interests include modeling, identification and control of mechanical and manufacturing systems, tribology of manufactured surfaces, and integration of design and manufacturing. Specifically, his work has included the characterization of surface topography for functional metrology, modeling of welding, molding and machining operations, feature-based design and form-feature recognition. More recently his research has been in the area of materials processing.
The following research is currently being carried out:
- The prediction of part quality of Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) process. Since RTM is a thermoset operation, there is no recovery if a part is defective. One of the problems with the RTM process is "race-tracking". This effort deals with prediction of race tracking by probing the ready-to-inject mold with nitrogen, measuring the air flow characteristics, and using this data to forecast the behavior of the resin flow.
- The work involves the non-destructive evaluation of RTM parts by a technique such as ultrasonic inspection, followed by traditional destructive testing for the measurement of physical and mechanical properties. The data generated is used to develop a quantitative correlation between the ultrasonic signal intensity and the material properties. The payoff of his work is the ability to use a non-destructive evaluation technique to quantitatively predict material properties and their variation within the part.
- Characterization of the surface topography and wear characteristics of flame synthesized diamond. This is an attempt to improve upon the diamond films synthesis process in order to produce low-friction and wear-resistant films for various applications including bearings.