Engineering Commons^™

Method For Producing Conductive Or Insulating Feedthroughs In A Substrate, Janet K. Lumpp, Susan D. Allen

Mechanical Engineering - Daytona Beach

A method for producing feedthroughs in a substrate having a front and back surface, wherein the substrate either has a hole or absorbs radiation at a given wavelength. The method includes selecting and intimately bonding a sheet to the back surface of the substrate with an adhesive which is absorptive at the given wavelength. If the substrate has a hole, an exposed area of the sheet is illuminated with laser radiation at the given wavelength and at a power level sufficient to ablate a portion of the sheet behind the exposed area, thereby creating the feedthrough in the substrate. If …

A Psychopolitical Analysis Of Situation Awareness: An Editorial, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The editor discusses aviation-related terrorism, situational awareness, and related psychological and human factors involved.

Burst Pressure Prediction Of Filament Wound Composite Pressure Vessels Using Acoustic Emission, Marcus Elwood Fisher

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

This research demonstrates how acoustic emission (AE) data from flaw growth activity can be used to predict burst pressures in filament wound composite pressure vessels. Acoustic emission data were taken during hydroproof testing for a set of eleven ASTM standard 5.75 inch diameter fiberglass/epoxy bottles. Amplitude distributions were created using only the AE data up to 25% of the expected burst pressure to simulate low level proof loadings (thereby avoiding damage to the bottles). The bottles were tested at three different temperatures -- 32°F, 70°F, and 110°F - and hydroproofed using two different pressurization schemes and two transducer configurations. Moreover, …

The Psychopolitics Of Language And Communication, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The editor discusses political issues connected by linguistic and communicative discord and controversy.

Analysis Of Small Airports Within A One Hundred And Twenty Mile Radius Of Medium And/Or Large Airports, Cheryl Mitchell Cunningham

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this research is to investigate how income, population age, scheduled air carrier services, and distance between competing airports impact annual scheduled passenger enplanements for airports in smaller communities. Small airports located within a 120 miles radius of larger sized (medium or large) airports are considered to be within the "shadow" of larger airports with which they must compete for passenger enplanements.

Two methods were employed to evaluate shadow airports within a 120 mile radius of larger airports. First, an historical view, analyzing each of the airports with regard to schedule passenger enplanements, median disposable incomes, median ages, …

Experimental Validation Of Finite Element Analysis Software Applied To The Design Of A Motorcycle Swingarm, Bret Schaller

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

This thesis documents the experimental validation of finite element analysis software applied to the design of a motorcycle swingarm. The process includes design and implementation of an onboard data acquisition system; definition and measurement of operational loads; laboratory correlation of loads; experimental validation of Pro/Mechanica finite element analysis software; design and prototype development of a single-sided motorcycle swingarm; and computer modeling using the Pro/Engineer solid modeling package.

Numeric Keyboard Layouts: An Ergonomic Approach, Tricia S. Lowe

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

This study investigated the most effective method of numeric data entry, by means of a numeric keypad. The methods of numeric data entry were (a) two keypads with different numerical configurations, (b) two keypads with identical numerical configurations, and (c) one keypad with only a single numerical configuration. The two configurations utilized were the telephone and the calculator. An experimental design, with focus on the post-test only control group, was utilized. Sixty randomly selected students from the population attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University were assigned to five experimental groups.

The results indicated no significant differences: (a) for the number of errors …

A Methodology For The Prediction Of The Empennage In-Flight Loads Of A General Aviation Aircraft Using Backpropagation Neural Networks, Maciej Marciniak

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Backpropagation neural networks have been used to predict strain resulting from the maneuver in-flight loads in the empennage structure of a Cessna 172P. The purpose of this research was to develop a methodology for the prediction of strain in the tail section of a general aviation aircraft and to determine the minimum set of sensors necessary to adequately train the neural networks. Linear accelerometer, angular accelerometer, rate gyro, and strain gage signals were collected in flight using DAQBook portable data acquisition system for dutch-roll, roll, sideslip left, sideslip right, stabilized g turn left, stabilized g turn right, and push-pull maneuvers …

Detection Of Fatigue Crack Growth In A Simulated Aircraft Fuselage, Michael Lee Marsden

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Acoustic emission (AE) nondestructive testing can detect fatigue cracks as they occur in complex structures. One use for AE has been in-flight detection of fatigue cracks in aircraft. The KC-135 aircraft were successfully monitored as early as 1979. The main problem with this and subsequent applications was an unfavorable signal to noise ratio, the key being to separate the small amplitude crack signals from the large amplitude ambient noise. This was accomplished here through the use of a Kohonen self-organizing map (SOM) neural network.

In order to simulate a fuselage undergoing fatigue, a pressure vessel was constructed from a 0.040 …

Trading With China - An Opportunity With Historic Precedent, Tim Brady

Publications

Dr. Brady writes about the future growth of Chinese industries with a focus on the impact of their growth on the aviation community in the United States. The opportunities for trade are enormous and should be handled with an in-depth knowledge of Chinese culture. Opportunities in higher education also abound.

Behavior Of A Hypersonic Nozzle Using Finite Rate Chemistry, Guillermo Jose Hernandez Paul

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

This study is concerned with the investigation of the behavior of a hypersonic nozzle with finite rate chemistry. First, equations describing steady one dimensional flow through a nozzle are presented. Solution methodologies for frozen, equilibrium and detailed chemistry flow are then discussed. A hydrogen-air chemical reaction mechanism, which is made up of fourteen different chemical species, and forty nine chemical reactions is used in this investigation for obtaining detailed chemistry flow solutions. The investigation also performs a sensitivity analysis on the reaction mechanism. Results from this may be used to eliminate a particular reaction from the chemical reaction mechanism that …

An Investigation Of The Relationships Between The Angle Of Mental Rotation Required For Spatial Orientation, Response Times, And Accuracy, Ronald D. Archer

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the angles of mental rotation when attempting to spatially orientate and the resulting response times and levels of accuracy. By means of a computer program, participants were presented with 64 mental rotational trials. The mental rotational trials consisted of a triangle placed in the center of the screen with a standard stick symbol of an aircraft appearing at various headings and orientations around the triangle. The participants were required to imagine themselves inside the flight deck of the aircraft, and then respond as quickly and accurately as possible to …

Controlling Chaos In Dynamical Systems Described By Maps, Claire A. Marduel

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this thesis is to study methods for the control of chaos in dynamical systems described by maps. Two simple model dynamical systems, a one-dimensional map, the logistic map and a two-dimensional map, the prey-predator map are treated first. A feedback control method is introduced, in which an independent parameter of the system is perturbed. The chaotic behavior is successfully suppressed and the maps are stabilized about an unstable fixed point. Next, a more complex two-dimensional map is studied: the dynamics of a marker particle advected by the flow field generated by a blinking vortex. This flow field …

Privatization And Its Impact On National Economy With A Close Look At Saudi Arabian Airlines, Abdulatef Halawani

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

This thesis investigates the possibility of privatizing Saudi Arabian Airlines. The research study has been divided into different sections. The author investigates the privatization programs in airlines and airports.

A number of airlines have been chosen to evaluate the effectiveness of privatization. An overview of Saudia regional performance was conducted. This was done to show the Saudia position among other regional carriers. The last chapter includes a regression analysis and empirical findings.

The major finding of the research study concluded that Saudi Airlines would have been profitable if it had been privatized at the same time as British Airways. The …

The Use Of Electronic Ticketing - A Case Study, Olav C. Unger

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

This thesis will look at the impact of electronic ticketing travel on the behavior and acceptance trends by airline customers, its effects on revenue generation and cost-cutting opportunities, and the implications in the established transaction flow processes. This form of ticketing is becoming increasingly popular among U.S. and European airlines due to the reduced costs in different areas of passenger and transaction flow handling when compared to the current paper-based ticketing method. While at first glance this new ticketing technology application seems like a move in the right direction for airlines, there is no evidence as to the views from …

Cost Competitiveness Of Airlines: An International Comparison, Tae Oum, Chunyan Yu

Publications

Significant structural, institutional and regulatory changes have occurred in the airline industry since the mid-1980s. These changes have intensified competition in both domestic and international air transport market. As the market becomes more competitive, the ultimate ability of a carrier to survive and prosper depends greatly on its cost competitiveness. This paper measures and compares the unit cost competitiveness of the world's major airlines, using the yearly panel data of 23 major airlines over the 1986-93 period. We focus our analysis on identifying the potential factors which influence the observed unit cost differentials among airlines, including input prices, productivity, network …

A Comparison Of Two Geo-Centric Attitude Indicators As Aids To Unusual Attitude Recovery: Pictorial Vs. Symbolic Displays, Christopher Cohoes

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Aircraft require high cognitive quality aircraft attitude information. Evidence will be presented on aircrew decision-making performance on an unusual attitude recovery task using three different types of attitude displays. Results indicated that among a sample of low-flight time student pilots attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, mean reaction times were significantly faster and error rates significantly lower using an outside-in pictorial display than with either an outside-in symbolic display or an attitude gyro. This is attributed to the pictorial display being a more intuitive display by providing a more natural or realistic representation of aircraft orientation than the other two displays. The …

The Design, Fabrication, And Evaluation Of A Low-Speed, Low-Turbulence, Anechoic Wind Tunnel, Brian J. Kaplan

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

In order to provide a means for testing noise reduction techniques in propellers and fans, a low-speed, low-turbulence, anechoic wind tunnel was designed, fabricated and evaluated at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

This open circuit wind tunnel was designed using several other existing wind tunnels as a guide and incorporated an open jet test section. The tunnel, which was built almost entirely out of wood and fiberglass, is powered by a 15 hp centrifugal fan.

Tufts of yarn, a pitot-static tube, and a hot film anemoter were used to determine the flow characteristics in the test section of this wind tunnel. From …

Evaluation Of A Display With Both Quickened And Status Information For Control Of A Second Order System, Matthew J. Neal

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Quickened displays have a severe limitation in that they do not give any indication of status information, and therefore no indication of actual error. It was hypothesized in this study that a display with both quickened and status information would enable the operator to make more effective control responses than either a status alone display, or a quickened alone display.

A horizontal axis pursuit tracking task was developed and controlled by eighteen participants with three display types: (1) a status alone display; (2) a quickened alone display; and (3) a status and quickened combined display.

The primary hypothesis was only …

Apparatus And Method Of Fabricating Directional Fiber Optic Taps, Sensors And Other Devices With Variable Angle Output, Susan D. Allen, Changhun Lee

Mechanical Engineering - Daytona Beach

An apparatus and method for fabricating directional fiber optic taps having a variety of output angles. The taps can be used to monitor losses due to misalignment of the fiber or losses due to bending and straining of the fiber. The apparatus and method can also be used to fabricate taps which filter out higher order modes in a fiber. The apparatus and method can also be used to produce taps which can be used in a position or refractive index measuring system.