Main Idea

What's the main idea of my thesis? Well, I have found myself working under Dr. Gau at NIU. He specializes in sheet metal forming, and I can help further some aspect of that field.

Initially I did try to continue someone's work that involved some insane math, but after making up my mind that I want to remain sane, I decided to not take that route. Instead I have been introduced to another opportunity that is less math intensive but more labor intensive. Another student is in the midst of building a biaxial tensile test machine, and I am able to use said machine for my thesis. The only problem is that it hasn't been built yet. But more on that a bit later.

Forming limit diagrams, or forming limit curves, are what allow designers to decide how much they are able to bend sheet metal before breaking it. (I will update this definition as I get more research under my belt). With a biaxial tensile test, a different part of the curve can be found. Something called a bulge test can find yet another point. I need to find these data points.

So the main steps so far include building the biaxial tensile test machine, building the bulge test machine, and from thenceforth do the testing.

“More-over, we take the human function to be a certain kind of life, and take this life to be activity and actions of the soul that involve reason; hence the function of the excellent man is to do this well and finely.”