Mechanical Engineering Thesis Topic Suggestion

[Galileo17]

Hi,
I study Applied Mechanics and I'm in the last year of my study. I try to find some interesting topic for my master's thesis that will be at least a little innovative. Topics offered by my university are unfortunately quite usual and "old-fashioned". And I want to do something a little bit more "extraordinary" and more actual.

I'm interested mainly in aviation (however I have no practical experiences in this field), drones (I designed a quadcopter in my Bachelor’s thesis, but there I don't see any possibility for further development), cars (I'm working in a car factory, but I don't have any possibility to do any practical thesis there).

My imagination is to create FEM structural analysis or CDF using ANSYS for some innovative thing (mechanism, mechanical part or assembly) that is related to e.g. aircraft, car, drone or something else. For example, make an improvement of flaps mechanics, or to design some drone (I know it is a bit complex topic, so choice of some specific part will be needed) or active aerodynamics for car, or windmill. I could make some optimisation, improvement, weight reduction or design lighter materials etc. Btw. I also have some experience with ADAMS, MATLAB & Simulink.

Does anyone have any idea for the topic's name? I also appreciate another idea, not necessarily in aviation, drones or cars area.

Thank you.

 

[berkeman]

Welcome to the PF.

What advanced ME-type topics have you been reading about in the current journals? You could extend your drone thesis to include mass-coordination of flight paths, or some similar practical problem that we need to solve in the near future.

You could look into the developments in self-driving cars, and address some of the harder problems that they are encountering...

You could review and extend the current visions for very high-speed transportation (like the HyperLoop and others)...

 

[donpacino]

drones (I designed a quadcopter in my Bachelor’s thesis, but there I don't see any possibility for further development), cars (I'm working in a car factory, but I don't have any possibility to do any practical thesis there).

What drove you to study applied mechanics? Why are you working at a car factory?

Finally what is made at said car factory. Are you working for a tier 1 manufacturer where they assemble the car, or are you building small car parts? what is your role at the factory? Do you want to continue working for that company, possibly in a different role?

Are there design engineers that work at your factory? If no, find out who they are are call them. Tell them "hey, I specialize in x. i am looking for a design project for my masters thesis." Often 'real' projects while they might not seem as innovative can require a lot of creative thinking. Also there are many times 'real' engineers don't have time to do through analysis or comparisons for designs.

Example 1. the car company you work for makes car doors. They are thinking about changing the material used, but don't really have the time to do the analysis. You take a look at all of the comparisons between the two materials. Do a crash analysis, strength analysis, check how well materials such as glue, paint will adhere to said material, determine what changes need to be made to machinery manipulating said material.

example 2. your company makes transmissions. right now they only make a 5 speed. Investigate the possibility/feasibility of making a 6 speed

example 3. your company makes axles for medium size trucks. Can you make the axles work for large size trucks? what modifications are necessary? do you need a different material axle? do you need more parts? different machinery? Use mat lab along with your FEM analysis to figure out how small or cheap you can make your companies axles. a project like this would be HUGE for getting a job in your current or future company. Hell if your company makes door handles you can still do something like this, your company has suppliers and customers right? go talk to a program manager and find out who you need to talk to

Use your imagination to come up with something like this. cater the problem you are solving to the skills you want to develop. Want to do FEM, make sure that's in there. Want to use Matlab? find a problem that will require some level of difficult computation or data manipulation.

 

[Galileo17]

What advanced ME-type topics have you been reading about in the current journals?

I've been reading about the topics you mentioned: self-driving cars, hyperloop, journey to Mars etc. Many of them are very futuristic so I'd prefer some a bit practical and actual topic. But I'll think about it again and maybe I'll find something interesting. Thanks

What drove you to study applied mechanics? Why are you working at a car factory?

I consider Applied mechanics as a very universal branch in ME. It gave me lots of knowledge in design, optimisation and basis from various software.
My job in car plant is more a temporary student part-time job than permanent placement. I need some money to finance my study and student's life. But after school I'll definitely find something more "engineering-oriented". The problem is that there is no development, only assemble and production. Shortly said, my responsibility is to compare certain parts of car body in Catia model with real car. So there is very difficult to find some serious topics. I'll try to look around me and talk to some people. And maybe I'll find something suitable for me. Thanks for your tips.