Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 29). / This thesis describes the design and manufacture of a chromatic instrument, the quatraphone. This instrument is made of square metal keys that are struck by a wooden mallet activated by a lever action mechanism. Vibration and damping of the rectangular plates were analyzed for various materials in order to determine which material produced the most musical tones. Brass and aluminum were selected for the quatraphone design. The final assembly was created with the objective of minimizing the instrument's size and its unique parts, while enabling simple disassembly to allow for easy repair of the instrument. The prototype includes fourteen tones, yet further developments could include additional notes in the chromatic scale and in several octaves. An original composition, entitled Prelude, was composed for the quatraphone in order to present the distinct sound qualities of this new instrument. / by Jessica E. Chiafair. / S.B.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 196-200). / by Michael W. Opitz. / M.S.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1995. / 10716495 / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-67). / by Emily A. Sun. / M.S.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-66). / by Byung Kyu Min. / M.S.

Thesis (B.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 70). / by Jeffrey David Pfeifle. / B.S.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-85). / A single-crystal plasticity model of the L12 structure intermetallic compound Ni3Al is developed, in light of recent theoretical developments and experimental evidence. Computational results show that the model is capable of predicting the major anomalous mechanical behaviors of L12 structures, including increase of yield strength with increasing temperature, strong orientation dependence of the yield stress, tensioncompression asymmetry, and small strain rate sensitivity. Some ideas on revising the plasticity model have been presented. Though not completed, the new approach points to promising future directions in simulating both the yield behavior and the strain hardening properties of L12 compounds. / by Yuan Yin. / S.M.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references. / by James Frederic Bredt. / M.S.

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 19). / Currently, musical composition is considered to be a high-level skill that is inaccessible to young children. There is a "high floor" for children who want to create a piece of music because they must learn a way of recording and remembering the notes, their sequence, etc, such as musical notation. Our project explores tangible designs that will make music composition simple to learn and practice while also building an intuition about complex musical concepts. Three original designs of tangible interfaces for musical composition are introduced and the merits and limitations of each are explored using non-functional form models. Audio processing is performed on a peripheral computer running an audio program written specifically for each system. A "Wizard of Oz" approach was used to study user interactions with each design. Music Blocks are designed to be physical representations of inherently intangible musical notes. Each block represents a single note, and the user can modify its pitch and duration by changing the physical shape of the block. They resemble wooden building blocks and suggest the parallels between building structures and the organization of musical compositions and its melody. The Music Glove introduced the idea of using a sound recording instead of a musical note as the musical unit in a composition. This introduced rich ideas about nesting and recursion. At the same time the glove interface highlights the role of personal expression, interaction and affect in musical composition and performance. Here physical inputs of the system were related to the rhythms, tempos, and the tone of the composition. The system was more gestural, performance-oriented and more suited to spontaneous improvising. The Musical Leaves interface is a melding of the concepts for the Music Blocks and Glove. The individual Leaves reflect the modular structure and organization of the composition. At the same time, the Leaves can be manipulated in real-time to change pitch and volume and as a result are deeply expressive and flexible. / by Elysa Wan. / S.B.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-88). / by Joseph Andrew Calzaretta. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2010. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-168). / Unconventional roof technologies such as cool roofs and green roofs have been shown to reduce building heating and cooling load. Although previous studies suggest potential for energy savings through such technologies, many factors affect potential savings. To further investigate these factors, a tool has been developed to allow architects and designers the ability to quickly assess the energy saving potential of different roof technologies and roof constructions for various sites around the world. A first principles heat transfer model is developed for each of the roof technologies, with particular care for green roof heat and mass transfer. Two sets of experimental data from Japan and Florida validate the models by predicting roof surface temperature. The predicted roof surface temperatures in Japan agree with measured values within 10 and 26% of peak roof temperature fluctuations for the cool and green roof respectively, while the same models in Florida agree with measured values there within 7.2 and 14% for the cool and green roof respectively. The models have been integrated into a free online building simulation tool, MIT's Design Advisor, available at http : //designadvisor.mit.edu. Numerous simulations are run, showing that potential energy savings are found to strongly vary with many parameters, particularly roof type, climate, and amount of insulation. For example, a one-story building in Boston with an uninsulated modified-bitumen roof can save 82% in cooling and heating energy by adding 3 m 2K/W of roof insulation, whereas only 34% if an uninsulated green roof is installed instead. However, in Lisbon, the same addition of roof insulation to the same building results in 54% savings, while the installation of an uninsulated green roof results in a 67% reduction. Such findings and their implications are discussed for other locations and design parameters. / by Stephen Douglas Ray. / S.M.