Condition monitoring of drilling equipment

As a graduate research assistant working with Prof. Robert Hyers for my PhD, my research work focused on simulation of fluid-structure interactions. In particular, the research involved condition monitoring of mud-pump valves and piston seals. Using fluid-structure interaction models, I determined the characteristic frequencies of vibrating seals and valves. Here is a brief overview of my work:Built transient models for simulation of vibrating seals, the focus of these simulations was: - Determine the characteristic frequency range of a polyurethane piston seal for various operating conditions. - Determine the vortex shedding frequency for different flow conditions. - Determine the characteristic frequency range for a polyurethane valve in a mud pumpThe computational models were the basis for determining damage detection from vibration data. This was achieved using signal processing. Following is a brief overview of the objectives, and findings: - Design and implement experiments to gather vibration data from mud pump valves and piston seals. - Fast Fourier Transforms on time series data; windowing the power spectral densities to determine the wear on seals based on noise levels. - The analysis showed that based on resonant frequencies of the valves, and seals, damage in the parts can be detected.

I was a graduate teaching assistant for Prof. Ashwin Ramasubramaniam for his Strength of Materials course (MIE 302). My duties involved teaching and helping undergraduate students with their labs. I have taught a freshman physics lab (PHYS 132/134), Lab instructor: Paul Bourgeois. My duties involved teaching the labs in optics, electromagnetism, basic electric circuits, and radiation.

Worked with Jose Sanchez of Canrig Drilling Technology. My tasks during my stay involved planning and designing experiments to collect vibration data. This was essential towards validation numerical models, and developing methods to use and analyze vibration data for condition monitoring. My work during this period at Canrig established the validity of our approach.

I worked with Prof. Kuan Chen at University of Utah. I worked on two projects with Prof. Chen. Numerical simulation of flow in a cross-flow heat-exchanger for Jetway/FMC Technologies- Performed numerical simulations in 2D and 3D to determine the optimum design for a cross-flow heat exchanger. - Studied flow distribution over the heat-exchanger coils.- Simulated pressure drop across the coils with a porous media model that uses a superficial velocity based on volumetric flow rate.- Developed a correlation using flow through an orifice for flows through a perforated plate. Numerical simulations of an Air-breathing Hypersonic Vehicle. the objective of this work was to study the shock waves around the structure of the vehicle at hypersonic velocities. - Simulations in 2D and 3D to study the bow shockwaves of a hypersonic vehicle at Mach 10. - Computed the lift and drag coefficients for different lengths of the lip and different angle of the elevon. - Performed simulations for different lengths of sliding door of the propulsion chamber.- Simulation of species chemical reactions around the vehicle using a finite rate formulation model.

Teaching assistant for: Aerodynamics, Thermodynamics, Aeropropulsion. Instructor: Prof. Kuan Chen.My duties involved teaching graduate and undergraduate students to use FLUENT, and holding office hours for help with assignments.