Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

The Effects Of Familiarity And Persuasion On Risk Assessment, Casey L. Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Cognitive biases influence decisions and the analyses of risk. They are often derived from two separate processes: bias based on familiarity (familiarity bias) and bias as the result of influences from outside sources (persuasion bias). Research suggests that familiarity-based bias may lead to acceptance of an activity's drawbacks and a leniency of its risks.

In addition, research has tried to measure and analyze different types of biases individually, but few have compared the interactions of more than one bias at once. Because different biases may derive from different mental phenomena it is important to tease out the distinctions, and observe …

Unsteady Specific Work And Isentropic Efficiency Of A Radial Turbine Driven By Pulsed Detonations, Kurt P. Rouser

Theses and Dissertations

There has been longstanding government and industry interest in pressure-gain combustion for use in Brayton cycle based engines. Theoretically, pressure-gain combustion allows heat addition with reduced entropy loss. The pulsed detonation combustor (PDC) is a device that can provide such pressure-gain combustion and possibly replace typical steady deflagration combustors. The PDC is inherently unsteady, however, and comparisons with conventional steady deflagration combustors must be based upon time-integrated performance variables. In this study, the radial turbine of a Garrett automotive turbocharger was coupled directly to and driven, full admission, by a PDC in experiments fueled by hydrogen or ethylene. Data included …

Registering An Amateur-Built Light Sport Kit Aircraft, Kevin Condron

Aerospace Engineering

No abstract provided.

Flaperon Assembly Manual For Pegastol Aftermarket Wings, Eric Alan Gray

Aerospace Engineering

No abstract provided.

Electric Aircraft Propulsion System, Austin J. Doupe

Aerospace Engineering

This report specifies the purpose, assembly, operation, and data collection of a testing apparatus to characterize small electric aircraft propulsion systems designed for commercial use. This apparatus was constructed with the goal of determining overall system characteristics and efficiencies. The apparatus was pushed to a safety limit as deemed by advisor John Dunning and the results of the experiment were an output power of 3.2kW (25% of max rated power) and a system efficiency of 58.6%, both of which occurred at 2200 RPM. Currently the apparatus needs improvement. It should have an upgraded structure to mount to (instead of the …

High-Fidelity Low-Thrust Trajectory Determination Research And Analysis, Tyler Hill

Aerospace Engineering

This document discusses a numerical analysis method for low thrust trajectory propagation known as the proximity quotient or Q-Law. The process uses a Lyapunov feedback control law developed by Petropoulos^[1] to propagate trajectories of spacecraft by minimizing the user defined function at the target orbit. A simplified propagator is created from the core mechanics of this method in MATLAB and tested in several user defined cases to demonstrate its capabilities. Several anomalies arose in test cases where variations in eccentricity, inclination, right ascension of the ascending node, and argument of perigee were specified. Solutions to these anomalies are discussed …

Computation Time Comparison Between Matlab And C++ Using Launch Windows, Tyler Andrews

Aerospace Engineering

Processing speed between Matlab and C++ was compared by examining launch windows and handling large amounts of data found in pork chop plots. A compilation of code was generated in Matlab to produce the plots and an identical file was created in C++ that was then compiled and run in Matlab to plot the data. This file is known as a MEX-file. This report outlines some of the basics when working with MEX-files and the problems that face users. For Lambert’s solver, multi revolution cases were considered and some pork chop plots of single revolution trajectories were plotted. Three different …

Assembly Of A Passive Slat System For A Ch-701 Kit Aircraft, Jordan Coenen, Spencer Spagnola

Aerospace Engineering

No abstract provided.

Low Cost Vacuum Chamber Design For Electromagnetic Railgun Operation, Andrew W. Bothwell, David J. Foster

Aerospace Engineering

This report describes the design and fabrication of a low cost vacuum chamber capable of supporting the operation of an electromagnetic railgun. This would be used to simulate the impact of high velocity impacts in space. The vacuum chamber was constructed out of 10in diameter 10ft PVC pipe with a Wye fitting for viewing impacts during testing. The chamber was designed to accommodate a 6.5in X 6.5in X 60in railgun. The vacuum chamber feedthroughs were designed to be able to carry 1-2Mamps at 8kV to the railgun. The vacuum chamber is capable of reaching 50 Torr and remaining under 100 …

Interstellar Mission To Gliese 581, Brock Schmalzel, Brian Tsoi

Aerospace Engineering

This report details a conceptual design for a one-way, interstellar mission, based upon assumed technological advances over the next few hundred years. It addresses the unique challenges associated with an interstellar mission, looking at both developed and theoretical technologies. This report looks specifically at propulsion systems required to reach an exoplanet. In addition, the power, communication, and orbital trajectories are analyzed to see the differences and technological advancements necessary for future missions and the proposed interstellar mission. The destination for the interstellar mission in Gliese 581, a star system located 20.3 light years away and has 5 known planets and …

Accelerating Lambert's Problem On The Gpu In Matlab, Nathan Parrish

Aerospace Engineering

The challenges and benefits of using the GPU to compute solutions to Lambert’s Problem are discussed. Three algorithms (Universal Variables, Gooding’s algorithm, and Izzo’s algorithm) were adapted for GPU computation directly within MATLAB. The robustness of each algorithm was considered, along with the speed at which it could be computed on each of three computers. All algorithms used were found to be completely robust. Computation time was measured for computation within a for-loop, a parfor-loop, and a call to the MATLAB command ‘arrayfun’ with gpuArray-type inputs. Then, a Universal Variables Lambert’s solver was written in CUDA and compiled for use …

Development Of A Flight Test Program For A Homebuilt Zenith Stol Ch 701, Reed Danis, Dave Nguyen

Aerospace Engineering

The objective of this senior project is to prepare a phase I flight test program for a homebuilt Zenith CH 701 kit aircraft. The CH 701 is a small, short takeoff and landing experimental aircraft. A team including several Cal Poly students helped to construct the airframe and avionics of a 701 during the 2011-2012 academic year. The flight test program is necessary for obtaining unrestricted FAA flight certification for the completed aircraft. A set of test flight cards were created to aid in meeting the 25 to 40 hours of required phase I flight testing. These cards include specific …

Preliminary Design Of A Laboratory Cylindrical Hall-Effect Thruster, Scott Mcgrail, Sam Parker

Aerospace Engineering

A 3-cm cylindrical Hall thruster with permanent magnets was designed and modeled. The goal was to design a Hall thruster for Cal Poly’s propulsion laboratory of similar size and performance as Cal Poly’s MiXI thruster. The design process began with an investigation into the physics of Hall thrusters and selection of certain thruster parameters. The selected parameters were the diameter and depth of the channel, the total power input to the system, the discharge supply voltage, the cathode voltage, and the propellant flow rates to the anode and cathode. These parameters were used to determine the operational characteristics of the …

Test And Verification Of Vortex Shedding For A 3d Bluff Body, Paul D. Innes, Charles E. Carlson

Aerospace Engineering

Testing of a 3D bluff body with and without end plate tabs was performed in the California Polytechnic State University 3x4 ft low speed wind tunnel. The C_P values were obtained for the test case with no end plate tabs for speeds of 10, 15, 20, and 30 m/s. It was observed that stronger vortex shedding ocured at the higher speed test cases. The model was shimmed to be at approximately 5° angle of attack in order to obtain symmetrical negative C_P spikes for the top and bottom of the model without tabs. Trends were observed and compared …

Data Acquisition For Flight Tests Using Handheld Gps And Electronic Flight Instrument System, Christopher Michael Gocha

Aerospace Engineering

No abstract provided.

Ramjet Fuel System, Kelsey Selin

Aerospace Engineering

No abstract provided.

Instrument Panel Design, Martin Bialy, Amber Carney, Michael Roche

Aerospace Engineering

This project focused on the design and implementation of an Electronic Flight Instrument System for a home built experimental aircraft known as a CH-701. Older aircraft use manual gauges and dials based on varying internal instruments such as gyro’s and the like but many of these traditional instruments to a singular GUI displaying multiple instruments data at one time. These devices are aimed at helping the pilot stay more alert and aware when flying between automatic warnings when in dangerous flying conditions / configurations as well as simplifying the instrument panel to only display what is absolutely necessary. These programs …

Empennage Sizing And Aircraft Stability Using Matlab, Ryan C. Struett

Aerospace Engineering

No abstract provided.

Global Launch Vehicle Selector, Keisuke Suzuki

Aerospace Engineering

No abstract provided.

The Numerical Open-Source Many-Body Simulator (Noms), Jason Lloyd Daniel, Javen Kyle Foster-O'Neal

Aerospace Engineering

This paper outlines the setup and creation of an object-oriented N-body simulator as part of a continued project to explore physical phenomenon and human-computer natural interaction technologies. The tools and processes required to build an N-body simulator are also included. Several integrators were evaluated based on their ability to maintain system energy The 2nd order integrator Verlet and 3rd order integrator Hermite algorithms had the greatest accuracy to model large-scale N-body dynamics for their given computation time. Other algorithms required significantly shorter time steps to achieve similar short-term accuracy. At present, NOMS can reasonably simulate 10,000 particles at less than …