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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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) …

The Effects Of Elasticity In The Foundation On The Flutter Of A Metallic High Aspect Ratio Wing, Horacio Esteban Sepic Kriskovich

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The goal of this thesis is to study the flutter characteristics of a metallic high-aspect ratio wing, with linearly varying chord across the semis-span, and a simulated elastic foundation. The general planform of the wing is similar to the one found in a High- Altitude Long-Endurance Uninhabited Aerial Surveillance Vehicle (HALE USAV).

The problem is studied using a simplified aerodynamic loading based on thin-airfoil theory, which is then combined with a Lagrangian formulation to solve the system as stationary. The wing has no control surfaces or external stores, and is modeled as a uniform beam with known mechanical properties, being …

Design, Implementation And Validation Of An Attitude Determination Subsystem For Nanosatellites, Mathieu Naslin

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this study is to design and analyze the accuracy of an attitude determination subsystem for a satellite of the CubeSat class by using low cost sensors. CubeSats are nanosatellites that complies a certain amount of layout criterions described by the California Polytechnic State University. A 3-axis attitude determination platform has been designed with emphasis on the use of low cost, off the shelf sensors. This platform features a sun sensor, a magnetometer and an earth sensor. The principles of observation and the description of the acquisition method are explained. The interfacing of the software package and real …

Formation Feedback Control Of Uav Flight, Stephen Stegall

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

This thesis is a study of formation control with autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles using the formation as feedback. There is also an investigation of formation methods presenting insight into different algorithms for formations. A rigid formation is achieved using a proportional-derivative virtual structure with a formation feedback controller. There is an emphasis on stick controlled aerodynamics. The rigid formation is verified by a simulation of a longitudinal model. Formation control ideas are presented for rigid formations.