Ali Tarraf

Playing with Python Turtle graphics

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Project goal is to create a web application to quickly access Oracle database data. The web app is created using Dash by Plotly library which makes it really easy to deliver fully functional web application without going through all the javascript details.

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In paper DOI: 10.1243/09544062JMES1196 by Dr Epple on “Design of radial impellers: a combined extended analytical and numerical method”, a method is described for the analysis of centrifugal fan. Dr Epple suggest creating a spreadsheet as a conceptual analysis for a fan design. After creating a spreadsheet with all the relevant equations, I got frustrated with the constant editing that needs to be done on excel, and decided to implement the the design equation code in python. [Read More]

Used Adafruit datalogger shield with arduino and added an SSR relay to be able switch on and off AC current.

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Cuts Finished wiper Chips Machining aluminum 6061 for a friend who is working on a metal 3D printer. You got to love the mountain of chips! Squaring off big parts is always an issue, specially that you have to clamp down the parts and make sure it is aligned with a dial indicator. [Read More]

Experimenting with a low cost (<100$) plasma circuit on spaced electrodes, spark plug, and in a combustion chamber.

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I was having fun shooting quarters with a jet of combusted methane air products. Interesting how the initial shock-wave propagates, and how the jet speed slows down gradually. The initially speed of the jet can be estimated by looking at the images noting the jet tip evolution versus time. It starts at around 300ms, or Mach 0.88 and drops down very quickly to 100m/s and steadily decay.

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I built a flame throwing device initially for an experiment to film the flame propagation with different injector heads. This turned out to be a fun project where I was able to shoot 15ft flames with diesel. All the design and build was done in one week. The basic design is credited to Rob from flamethrowerplans.com, he did a wonderful job detailing everything. I did some modification on my flamethrower with respect to the pressure washer hose, and the propane burner pilot flame igniter. [Read More]

Goal Create an interface relay system between a National Instrument (NI) Data Acquisition card and solenoid valves, ignition coils, camera triggering, and mass flow controller. The NI DAQ could have easily been replaced by an Arduino or other similar micro controller. The idea is to use optoisolators to isolate expensive controllers from any circuit fault or voltage spike on the load side. The end goal is to fully automating the fueling and ignition of the combustion chamber built in another project. [Read More]

I taught for 3 academic semesters an introductory course on CAD design using PTC Creo 3.0 for a total of little bit less than 300 students. These are some of the projects that my students designed in CAD and built prototypes using 3D printers. I was fortunate to mentor very smart students with some very interesting solutions to everyday problems as you can see in the slides below. Triangle [Read More]