Digital Commons Network^™

Investigation Of Shroud Geometry To Passively Improve Heat Transfer In A Solar Thermal Storage Tank, Matthew Keene Zemler

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

A shroud and baffle configuration is used to passively increase heat transfer in a thermal store. The shroud and baffle are used to create a vena contracta near the surface of the heat exchanger, which will speed up the flow locally and thereby increasing heat transfer. The goal of this study is to investigate the geometry of the shroud in optimizing heat transfer by locally increasing the velocity near the surface of the heat exchanger. Two-dimensional transient simulations are conducted. The immersed heat exchanger is modeled as an isothermal cylinder, which is situated at the top of a solar thermal …

Novel Airframe Design For The Dual-Aircraft Atmospheric Platform Flight Concept, Eric Michael Mckee

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

A high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial airframe was designed for the innovative Dual-Aircraft Atmospheric Platform flight concept that exploits stratospheric wind velocity gradients to remain aloft indefinitely. Classical aircraft preliminary design techniques and high-fidelity tools were used to establish a baseline configuration.

Performance characteristics of numerous airfoil profiles were evaluated with two-dimensional flow software in an effort to determine the best-candidate airfoil for the unique application. Vortex-Lattice method tools were used to investigate the sensitivity of three-dimensional design parameters upon overall vehicle aerodynamic performance and determine both static and dynamic stability characteristics of the airframe. Performance capabilities of the finalized airframe …

Development Of A Supervisory Control Unit For A Series Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Brian Neal Harries

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

A Series PHEV was chosen, as ERAU's entry into EcoCAR2 through a multidisciplinary architecture selection process. The series architecture was chosen for its mechanical feasibility, consumer acceptability and its performance on energy consumption simulations. The Series PHEV architecture was modeled using Matlab, Simulink, and dSPACE ASM tools, to create a plant model for controller development. A supervisory controller was developed to safely control the interactions between powertrain components. The supervisory control unit was tested using SIL and HIL methodologies. The supervisory controller was developed with an emphasis on fault detection and mitigation for safety critical systems. A power management control …

Design And Implementation Of The Kinect Controlled Electro-Mechanical Skeleton (K.C.E.M.S), Jason Richard Ekelmann

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Mimicking real-time human motion with a low cost solution has been an extremely difficult task in the past but with the release of the Microsoft Kinect motion capture system, this problem has been simplified. This thesis discusses the feasibility and design behind a simple robotic skeleton that utilizes the Kinect to mimic human movements in near real-time. The goal of this project is to construct a 1/3-scale model of a robotically enhanced skeleton and demonstrate the abilities of the Kinect as a tool for human movement mimicry. The resulting robot was able to mimic many human movements but was mechanically …

The Engineering Process For The Design Of A Motorcycle Chassis And Suspension, Derek J. Noce

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The thesis objective is to define and establish an engineering process for the design of a modern motorcycle chassis and suspension. The engineering process focuses on the interdisciplinary fields of engineering dealing with design and structural optimization. Specialized software, such as Motorcycle Kinematics, MATLAB, CATIA, HEEDS Professional, and NASTRAN are utilized. Motorcycle Kinematics is used to set up the preliminary motorcycle geometry, and MATLAB is a used to analyze the kinematics and stability of the motorcycle based on this geometry. CATIA (Computer Aided Three-Dimensional Interactive Application) is used to graphically illustrate the geometry of the motorcycle in three dimensional space. …

Facility Implementation, Production, And Use Of Biodiesel On A University Campus, Michelle Erin Rodio

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

During the last two years, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has been in the process of having a fully-functional biodiesel processing facility on campus. Within this time, it was shown that biodiesel was a great alternative to diesel fuel based on emissions, performance, and cost, allowing for a grant of $10,000 being awarded to fund the project. Upon properly producing biodiesel, the fuel was tested in a John Deere 2653A tractor to see what differences, if any, existed when using a biodiesel blend over diesel fuel. In doing this, carbon buildup and fuel economy were compared, and a cost analysis conducted. It …

Ranging Of Aircraft Using Wide-Baseline Stereopsis, Kevin Todd Rigby

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The purpose of this research was to investigate the efficacy of wide-baseline stereopsis as a method of ranging aircraft, specifically as a possible sense-and-avoid solution in Unmanned Aerial Systems. Two studies were performed: the first was an experimental pilot study to examine the ability of humans to range in-flight aircraft and the second a wide-baseline study of stereopsis to range in-flight aircraft using a baseline 14.32 meters and two 640 x 480 pixel charge coupled device camera. An experimental research design was used in both studies. Humans in the pilot study ranged aircraft with a mean absolute error of 50.34%. …