Engineering Commons^™

Removal Of Biofilm Through Controlled Cavitation, Mathew Chackalackal Mathew

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Human kind is poised to take the next "giant step" in space exploration, the manned mission to Mars, among other things. But before any plans for such long term habitation on an alien planet, there has to be consideration towards prevention and removal of bacterial contamination. Bacterial contamination or rather degradation of materials was considered of negligible importance. Bacterial degradation can be serious for long-term manned space mission, more so because there is no way to obtain quick replacements. For such conditions, a new innovative way of bacterial removal has been proposed wherein the bacteria is removed with no damage …

Grating Lobe Reduction In Aperiodic Linear Arrays Of Physically Large Antennas, William C. Barott, Paul G. Steffes

Publications

We present performance bounds obtained from the optimization of the sidelobe levels of aperiodic linear arrays. The antennas comprising these arrays are large compared to the distance between neighboring antennas, a case not addressed in previously published work. This optimization is performed in pattern-space and is applicable over a wide range of scan angles. We show that grating lobes can be suppressed even when the elemental antennas are several wavelengths in size, provided that the ratio of the antenna size to the average spacing between the antenna center-points does not exceed 80%.

Airport Bird Hazard Management, Flavio A. C. Mendonca Ph.D.

Publications

Aircraft collisions with birds, also commonly referred to as bird strikes, annually cost the commercial aviation industry in Brazil at least $6 million in direct damage and associated costs and hundreds of hours of aircraft down time. Although the economic costs of wildlife strikes are extreme, the cost in human lives lost when aircraft accidents occur as a result of strikes best illustrates the need for management of the wildlife strike problem. Bird strikes have been an increasing problem for the aviation industry. Air travel has become widespread all over the world. The aircraft has played an important role not …

Numerical Simulation Of Mode Transition In A Hydrogen-Fueled Scramjet, Manan Ajay Vyas

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The Wind-US computational fluid dynamics (CFD) flow solver was used to simulate dual-mode direct-connect ramjet/scramjet engine flowpath tests conducted in the University of Virginia (UVa) Supersonic Combustion Facility (SCF). The objective was to develop a computational capability within Wind-US to aid current hypersonic research and provide insight to flow as well as chemistry details that are not resolved by instruments available. Computational results are compared with experimental data to validate the accuracy of the numerical modeling. These results include two fuel-off non-reacting and eight fuel-on reacting cases with different equivalence ratios, split between one set with a clean (non-vitiated) air …

An Analytical Investigation Of Natural Frequency For A Symmetric Composite Box-Beam With Thermal Effects, Lakshmi Narayana Sanjeev Chitikela

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The main purpose of the following analysis is to develop an analytical method for determining the natural frequency of a symmetric composite box-beam subjected to temperature gradient. A set of coupled partial differential equations of motion is obtained by means of small defection theory and D'Alembert's method. The Smith and Chopra stiffness matrix is used in the governing equations of motion and an appropriate MATLAB® code has been written to solve for the stiffness matrix elements of the box-beam. The resulting governing equations of motion are solved to obtain the natural frequencies of the box-beam in flap and lag directions …

Thermal Modeling Of Lithium-Ion Energy Storage Systems For Hybrid Electric Vehicles Using Computational Fluid Dynamics With Conjugate Heat Transfer, Craig R. Czlapinski

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The success and performance of a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) relies largely on its Energy Storage System (ESS). High temperatures and thermal variations can significantly affect a battery's performance and lifecycle. An effective thermal management system is vital to the health and safe operation of the ESS's batteries. A well designed thermal management system begins with the accurate prediction of the battery's thermal conditions. In hot climates, HEVs may be required to operate within ten degrees Celsius of the maximum safe operating temperature of their batteries. This study aims to evaluate the thermal management system of a lithium-ion based energy …

Compression After Impact Load Prediction In Graphite/Epoxy Laminates Using Acoustic Emission And Artificial Neural Networks, Anthony Michael Gunasekera

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of artificial neural networks (ANNs) in predicting the compression after impact (CAI) load of graphite/epoxy laminates from acoustic emission (AE) nondestructive testing (NDT) data. Thirty-four 24-ply bidirectional woven cloth laminate coupons were constructed and impacted at various energy levels ranging from 8 to 20 Joules, generating barely visible impact damage (BVID). Acoustic emission data were acquired as the coupons were compressed to failure. Not having been analyzed by previous experimenters, several noise tests were also performed to determine the impact of external noise on acoustic emission data during testing. Once …

Determination Of Stability And Control Derivatives For A Modern Light Composite Twin Engine Airplane, Monica M. Londono

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

To develop and compare full envelope stability and control derivatives and their associated errors for a modern light composite twin engine airplane from flight test data and digital DATCOM (Data Compendium). This development is to serve three purposes 1) to provide data for validation of newer analytical techniques such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), 2) to provide public domain static and dynamic stability and control derivatives for a modern twin engine airplane, 3) to analyze the relationship between test design and error for both output error and equation error methods.

A flight test program was conducted on a Diamond Twin …

Change Blindness In The Synthetic Vision Primary Flight Display: Comparing Eye Tracking Patterns With Pilot Attention, Stephen A. Mayo

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

There have been a number of important advances in aviation technology that have made the safety rating of flying the best that it has ever been. One of the most important advances made has been in the interface that the pilot relies on for their most critical information during flight. New aviation displays have empirically shown a wide range of improvements across pilot performance. Despite these improvements, there is still a high possibility that pilots may miss pertinent information that changes may occur simultaneously with some sort of distraction - a concept known as change blindness. This study analyzed how …

The Effect Of Pilot And Air Traffic Control Experiences & Automation Management Strategies On Uas Mission Task Performance, Christopher J. Reynolds

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Unmanned aircraft are relied on now more than ever to save lives and support the troops in the recent Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The demands for UAS capabilities are rapidly increasing in the civilian sector. However, UAS operations will not be carried out in the NAS until safety concerns are alleviated. Among these concerns is determining the appropriate level of automation in conjunction with a suitable pilot who exhibits the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to safely operate these systems.

This research examined two levels of automation: Management by Consent (MBC) and Management by Exception (MBE). User …

Flight Regime And Maneuver Recognition For Complex Maneuvers, Jerome H. Travert

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate capability of flight regime recognition during complex maneuvers flown in a fixed wing airplane using measured data from an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). Flight Regime Recognition (FRR) is required for numerous applications in the aerospace and aviation industry, including the determination of loads for stress and strain analysis. It can also be used in recreational aviation for maneuver recognition, for example in aerobatics.

This study uses a flight simulator to generate representative flight data that is parsed by a specifically developed algorithm into appropriate flight regimes. This algorithm is a filter technique …

A Comparison Of Algorithms That Estimate The Effectiveness Of Commercial Airline Boarding Strategies, Dalila Giraldo

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The number of passengers carried by commercial aircraft has increased dramatically over the past 50 years, closely in-step with advances in aircraft design. This makes unloading and loading an aircraft, called turn-around time, critical to the success of the airport, the aircraft and the airlines. A number of mathematical algorithms have been developed over the years that purport to determine the most efficient boarding strategy for passengers by decreasing turn time. This thesis evaluated the boarding strategies most often used by the airlines and algorithms used to predict boarding efficiency. The models used were obtained from the literature and from …

"Sie Kommen" (They're Coming), David Hamilton

ERAU Prescott Aviation History Program

The exciting story of the training, mission briefings and overall planning that lead to the success and failure of major troop carrier operations in World War II. Told by a C-47 pilot who flew ‘pathfinder’ missions on D-Day; supply missions for Bastogne; and for ‘Market Garden’, the invasion of Holland.

Heavy-Fueled Intermittent Ignition Engines: Technical Issues, Jeffrey Arthur Schneider, Timothy Wilson, Christopher Griffis, Peter Pierpont

Publications

This report contains an overview of the technology and engineering issues with nonturbine heavy-fueled engines for general aviation aircraft and Unmanned Aircraft Systems. In recent years, interest in these types of engines has grown, partly due to the cost, safety, and worldwide availability of gasoline fuels. Within 3 to 5 years, up to five engines will seek Federal Aviation Administration certification as heavy-fuel powerplants. Although there has been some progress, there is no universal standard for certification of these engines (under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 33), or their installation into normal category fixed-wing aircraft or rotorcraft …

Unmanned Aircraft System Propulsion Systems Technology Survey, Christopher Griffis, Timothy Wilson, Jeffrey Schneider, Peter Pierpont

Publications

This technology survey is an investigation of various propulsion systems used in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Discussed are existing and near-future propulsion mechanisms of UAS, such as reciprocating piston engines, Wankel rotary engines, gas turbine engines, rocket-powered systems, electric motors, and battery-based systems. Also discussed are systems that use proton exchange membrane fuel cells, photovoltaics, ultracapacitors, and propellers. Each system is described in reference to a larger conceptual framework, with instances and profiles of existing UAS employing the system being described. Advantages and disadvantages of each type of propulsion system are identified along with associated technical issues and their respective …

Waves In Inhomogeneous Solids, Arkadi Berezovski, Mihhail Berezovski, Juri Engelbrecht

Publications

The paper aims at presenting a numerical technique used in simulating the propagation of waves in inhomogeneous elastic solids. The basic governing equations are solved by means of a finite-volume scheme that is faithful, accurate, and conservative. Furthermore, this scheme is compatible with thermodynamics through the identification of the notions of numerical fluxes (a notion from numerics) and of excess quantities (a notion from irreversible thermodynamics). A selection of one-dimensional wave propagation problems is presented, the simulation of which exploits the designed numerical scheme. This selection of exemplary problems includes (i) waves in periodic media for weakly nonlinear waves with …

Aviation Safety Information Analysis And Sharing -- General Aviation (Asias -- Ga), Alan J. Stolzer

Publications

A presentation on the collaborative government and industry initiative on data sharing and analysis to proactively discover safety concerns before accidents or incidents occur, leading to timely mitigation and prevention.

Developing Abrasion Test Standards For Evaluating Lunar Construction Materials, Ryan L. Kobrick, David M. Klaus, Kenneth W. Street

Publications

Operational issues encountered by Apollo astronauts relating to lunar dust were catalogued, including material abrasion that resulted in scratches and wear on spacesuit components, ultimately impacting visibility, joint mobility and pressure retention. Standard methods are being developed to measure abrasive wear on candidate construction materials to be used for spacesuits, spacecraft, and robotics. Calibration tests were conducted using a standard diamond stylus scratch tip on the common spacecraft structure aluminum, Al 6061-T6. Custom tips were fabricated from terrestrial counterparts of lunar minerals for scratching Al 6061-T6 and comparing to standard diamond scratches. Considerations are offered for how to apply standards …

An Intelligible Software (Cfa) Approach For Fiber-Reinforced Laminate Failure Analysis Including A Piecewise Representation Of The Tsai-Wu Failure Criterion Using Excel And Matlab, Ryan C. Schmidt

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Present generations rely heavily on the use of petroleum as their primary means of transportation. As the cost of petroleum continues to escalate, the need for lightweight structures for vehicle applications becomes more evident. The ability to engineer materials so that they possess desired application specific properties and characteristics has made tremendous progress in the past century. Consequently, the use of these composite materials for aircraft weight reduction has been investigated for decades.

The aerospace industry often uses composite materials to make a laminated composite structure where each constituent ply of the laminate has its own material properties. This anisotropic …

Magnetic Stabilization Of Nadir-Pointing Small Satellites, Chau Ton

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Since magnetic control systems are relatively lightweight, require low power and are inexpensive, they are attractive for small, inexpensive satellites in low Earth orbits. In this thesis we present averaging-based feedback control laws that achieve three-axis stabilized nadir-pointing attitude. Two types of nonlinear feedback control laws are proposed: full-state feedback and passivity-based feedback. Full-state feedback uses the attitude and angular velocity measurements to regulate the spacecrafts dynamics. Passivity-based feedback uses the attitude measurement and doesn’t require the rate sensors. The control laws are tested using two magnetic field models: the tilted dipole model and the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) …

Access Mars: Assessing Cave Capabilities Establishing Specific Solutions: Final Report, Abdul Mohsen Al Husseini, Luis Alvarez Sanchez, Konstantinos Antonakopoulos, Jeffrey (Johannes) Apeldoorn, Kenneth Lowell Ashford Jr., Kutay Deniz Atabay, Sara Langston, Et Al.

Publications

The human race has evolved, grown and expanded through the exploration of Earth. After initial steps on the Moon, our next challenge is to explore the solar system. Mars shows potential for both scientific discovery and future human settlement, and so is a prime candidate for the next leap of human exploration. Such a bold endeavor will be a driver for an unprecedented worldwide cooperative effort and the catalyst for a new era of international, intercultural and interdisciplinary human relations. Scientific and technological progress will also accelerate as mankind is ushered into a new era of space exploration.

Currently proposed …

Cybercrime And The 2012 London Olympics, Denis Edgar-Nevill

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The London 2012 Olympics is just three years away and the clock is ticking to put in place plans get it right. The potential for cybercrime to cause harm during this event is very great; harm to national reputation, harm to the reputation to the Olympic movement, and harm to individuals competing, watching or officiating. This paper considers the need to address these risks by taking a look at what has happened in the past at sporting events and the rising wave of electronic security threats and fraud facilitated by computers at recent Olympics. The problems for law enforcement are …

Methodology For Investigating Individuals Online Social Networking Persona, Jonathan T. Rajewski

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

When investigators from either the private or public sector review digital data surrounding a case for evidentiary value, they typically conduct a systematic categorization process to identify the relevant digital devices. Armed with the proper methodology to accomplish this task, investigators can quickly recognize the appropriate digital devices for forensic processing and review. This paper purposes a methodology for investigating an individual’s online social networking persona.

Keywords: Social Networking, Web 2.0, Internet Investigations, Online Social Networking Community

Bluetooth Hacking: A Case Study, Dennis Browning, Gary C. Kessler

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

This paper describes a student project examining mechanisms with which to attack Bluetooth-enabled devices. The paper briefly describes the protocol architecture of Bluetooth and the Java interface that programmers can use to connect to Bluetooth communication services. Several types of attacks are described, along with a detailed example of two attack tools, Bloover II and BT Info.

Keywords: Bluetooth hacking, mobile phone hacking, wireless hacking

Concerning File Slack, Stephen P. Larson

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

In this paper we discuss the phenomena known as file slack. File slack is created each time a file is created on a hard disk, and can contain private or confidential data. Unfortunately, the methods used by Microsoft Windows operating systems to organize and save files require file slack, and users have no control over what data is saved in file slack. This document will help create awareness about the security issue of file slack and discuss research results concerning file slack.

Keywords : Computer Forensics, File Slack, Ram Slack, Disk Slack

The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act And The Law Of Unintended Consequences, Milton Luoma, Vicki Luoma

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

One of the most unanticipated results of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act arose from the law of unintended consequences. The CFAA was originally enacted in 1984 to protect federal government computers from intrusions and damage caused by hackers, identity thieves, and other cyber criminals. The law was later amended to extend the scope of its application to financial institutions’, business’s and consumers’ computers. To aid in the pursuit of cyber criminals, one of the subsequent revisions to the law included provision “G” that gave the right to private parties to seek compensation for damages in a civil action for …

Why Are We Not Getting Better At Data Disposal?, Andy Jones

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

This paper describes two sets of research, the first of which has been carried out over a period of four years into the levels and types of information that can be found on computer hard disks that are offered for sale on the second hand market. The second research project examined a number of second-hand hand held devices including PDAs, mobile (cell) phones and RIM Blackberry devices. The primary purpose of this research was to gain an understanding of the reasons for the failure to effectively remove potentially sensitive information from the disks and handheld devices. Other objectives included determining …

Don’T Touch That! And Other E-Discovery Issues, Linda Volonino

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The ability to preserve and access electronically stored information (ESI) took on greater urgency when amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure went into effect in December 2006. These amendments, referred to as the electronic discovery (e-discovery) amendments, focus on the discovery phase of civil litigation, audits, or investigations. Discovery is the investigative phase of a legal case when opponents learn what evidence is available and how accessible it is. When ESI is the subject of discovery, it is called e-discovery. Recognizing that most business and personal records and communications are electronic, Judge Shira A. Scheindlin stated, "We used …

Analysis Of The ‘Db’ Windows Registry Data Structure, Damir Kahvedžić, Tahar Kechadi

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The Windows Registry stores a wide variety of data representing a host of different user properties, settings and program information. The data structures used by the registry are designed to be adaptable to store these differences in a simple format. In this paper we will highlight the existence of a rare data structure that is used to store a large amount of data within the registry hives. We analyse the manner in which this data structure stores its data and the implications that it may have on evidence retrieval and digital investigation. In particular, we reveal that the three of …

Correlating Orphaned Windows Registry Data Structures, Damir Kahvedžić, Tahar Kechadi

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Recently, it has been shown that deleted entries of the Microsoft Windows registry (keys) may still reside in the system files once the entries have been deleted from the active database. Investigating the complete keys in context may be extremely important from both a Forensic Investigation point of view and a legal point of view where a lack of context can bring doubt to an argument. In this paper we formalise the registry behaviour and show how a retrieved value may not maintain a relation to the part of the registry it belonged to and hence lose that context. We …