Engineering Commons^™

Design And Testing Of A Nanosatellite Simulator Reaction Wheel Attitude Control System, Fredric William Long

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Attitude control of a satellite is required for the pointing of communications antennas and other instruments. For this reason, a control algorithm capable of precision pointing is important. Because the process of sending a satellite into space is time consuming and costly, ground-based methods of testing are paramount. A simulator is a low-cost, groundbased system made to mimic the conditions of a weightless satellite in space. The simulator used in this project controls attitude through applying torque to reaction wheels. The objective of this project is to derive and test a control algorithm for the attitude control of a satellite …

Targeted Drug Delivery System For Kidney And/Or Liver Failure Patients Using Human Serum Albumin, Sean Bedingfield

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Compromised liver and/or kidney function reduces the acceptable dosage of a variety of medications that can be administered to patients. These patients still have a need for drugs such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antivirals, and antibiotics. The project goal is to provide a drug delivery system to accommodate these reduced dosage limits with added therapeutic benefits to address symptoms of liver or kidney failure. Localized drug delivery allows for a smaller, concentrated dose rather than inundating the patient's system with the drug of interest. Human serum albumin (HSA) is a researched candidate for drug delivery with therapeutic properties. HSA …

A Study Of The Variability Versus The Assumed Constancy Of Manning's N, Tyler G. Allen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Culverts have traditionally been designed to a minimal size to pass a specific design flood. The traditional culvert designs may result in a localized increase in velocity which can result in a blockage of animal or fish movement across a barrier effectively changing the ecosystem surrounding a number of affected species. While hydraulic loss coefficients are relatively well defined for such traditional culverts, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) identified a need for further study of these coefficients for culverts more conducive to fish and animal passage.

A research team headed by Dr. Blake Tullis of Utah State University …

A Review Of Steel Content Taught In U.S. University Construction Management Programs, Jeremy Miles Thompson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Throughout the rocky mountain region there are 18 universities that offer a bachelor’s degree in Construction Management (CM). Only two of those universities, Colorado State University and Brigham Young University Idaho, offer an in-depth course on the application of steel in the construction industry. The other universities offer structures courses that teach only the basics of steel in the construction industry, like how to calculate loads using steel beams and columns.

The Development And Validation Of An Isokinetic Calibration System For Multiple Aerosol Instruments, Wendy Michelle Merkley

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

A multi-port calibration xture for the cross calibration of aerosol point sensors has been developed. The system was designed for comparative calibrations of instruments using differing measurement methods such as optical particle counters, aerodynamic impactors, etc. Four isokinetic sampling ports are attached to a laminar ow plenum such that all four sampling ports sample identical aerosol concentrations under identical ow conditions. Correlation and correction factors are applied to each instrument creating a standard method. This standard method can be applied to inter-compare and calibrate aerosol sensing instrumentation and/or to characterize the microphysical properties of a test aerosol. The performance of …

The Space Plug-And-Play Architecture Services Manager And Its Relevance In Diverse Plug-And-Play Software Systems, Brandon Holdaway

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The Space Plug-and-Play Archichecture System Manager (SSM) is a system of Space Plug-and-Play Architecture (SPA) hardware, software components, and services for rapid integration of satellite systems. It was originally designed to help decrease the amount of time and money required to integrate payloads onto a satellite. The features of the SSM make it useful in non-satellite systems. In this report, I demonstrate diverse uses of the SSM in a multi-use payload manage- ment and underwater vehicle software solution which was designed and implemented using the SSM. Further I give a detailed explanation of the successes and failures of the software …

Reliability Analysis For Shear In Lightweight Reinforced Concrete Bridges Using Shear Beam Database, Danile F. Jensen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The objective of this report is to analyze and calibrate the reliability indices for shear in reinforced concrete bridge girders. Existing statistical models are based on limited experimental data from only a few research tests. These existing models show that our current procedures for analysis are about 10-15% less conservative for lightweight concrete compared to an analysis for normal weight concrete. Accurate load models are used to find shear and moment envelopes of loads applied to bridges. Analysis is based on different span lengths, span number and girder dimensions. Design calculations are performed using design values and loads calculated from …

Precision Current Control For Quantum Cascade Lasers As Flight Calibration Sources, Stewart M. Hansen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The design of a precision current controller for quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) enables QCLs to be used for calibrating instruments in space-borne applications. This current controller design will enable constant wave (CW) or pulsed mode operation of QCL devices as calibration sources in a space environment. Any differences in the temperature between components of the current controller can result in an erroneous current through the QCL. This design will use previously demonstrated techniques from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to minimize the effects of temperature changes on the desired current levels. A mathematical model is used to calculate what performance …

Weir-Baffled Culvert Hydrodynamics Evaluation For Fish Passage Using Particle Image Velocimetry And Computational Fluid Dynamic Techniques, Mohanad A. Khodier

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Due to a recent increase in environmental awareness regarding fish passage through hydraulic structures, including culverts, an evaluation of passage of wild brown trout through a weir-baffled, prototype-scale culvert, was conducted under a variety of culvert slopes and discharge conditions. The influence of the fish sample population and the lengths of the individual fish on passage rates were investigated. The data showed that the fish sample size of 25 per test was sufficiently large to minimize sample size dependency. Fish behavior, including resting/staging zone locations, while traversing the culvert was observed and reported. Two preferable resting zones for the fish …

Bridging The Nano- And Macro-Worlds: Thermal Property Measurement Using Thermal Microscopy And Photothermal Radiometry – Application To Particle-Irradiation Damage Profile In Zirconium Carbide, Colby Bruce Jensen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Multiscaled experimental investigations of heat transfer from nanoscales to macroscales are requisite to progress in energy technologies. In nuclear applications, material properties can undergo significant alteration due to destructive interaction with irradiating particles at microstructural levels that affect bulk properties. This study expands the current knowledge base regarding thermal transport in ion-irradiated materials through the use of a multiscaled experimental approach using four complementary thermal wave methods. For the first time, the in-depth thermal conductivity profile of an ion-irradiated sample is measured directly.

Improving The Physical Processes And Model Integration Functionality Of An Energy Balance Model For Snow And Glacier Melt, Avirup Sen Gupta

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Hindu-Kush Himalayan region possesses a large resource of snow and ice, which acts as a freshwater reservoir for irrigation, domestic water consumption or hydroelectric power for billions of people in South Asia. Monitoring hydrologic resources in this region is challenging because of the difficulty of installing and maintaining a climate and hydrologic monitoring network, limited transportation and communication infrastructure and difficult access to glaciers. As a result of the high, rugged topographic relief, ground observations in the region are extremely sparse. Reanalysis data offer the potential to compensate for the data scarcity, which is a barrier in hydrological modeling …

Physical Layer Detection Of Hardware Keyloggers, Saptarshi Mallick

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This work addresses the problem of detecting devices which are stealthily attached to the computer for logging keystrokes from keyboards. These devices are known as hardware keyloggers (HKL). When an HKL is attached to the keyboard, certain electrical characteristics of the keyboard signal are altered. Based on these characteristics (features), differences have been identified in an accurate assertion was made about the presence of HKL.

The characteristics from which the differences were obtained were used to make distributions and compared with distance-measuring methods. An experiment was done to collect data from a number of keyboards and form two distributions (training …

A Sociocultural Analysis Of Latino High School Students' Funds Of Knowledge And Implications For Culturally Responsive Engineering Education, Joel Alejandro Mejia

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Previous studies have suggested that, when funds of knowledge are incorporated into science and mathematics curricula, students are more engaged and often develop richer understandings of scientific concepts. While there has been a growing body of research addressing how teachers may integrate students’ linguistic, social, and cultural practices with science and mathematics instruction, very little research has been conducted on how the same can be accomplished with Latino and Latina students in engineering. The purpose of this study was to address this gap in the literature by investigating how fourteen Latino and Latina high school adolescents used their funds of …

Uncertainty Analysis Of Mechanical Properties From Miniature Tensile Testing Of High Strength Steels, Deepthi Rao Malpally

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This Miniature mechanical testing study is concerned with the use of miniature specimens to identify the mechanical properties of stainless steel Type 304, sensitized Type 304 and SA516 Grade 70 carbon steel as a viable replacement for the standard sized mechanical testing. The study aims at obtaining suitable specimen geometry and tensile testing procedure for miniature mechanical testing whose mechanical properties are comparable to that of conventional specimens of ASTM A370-10 of the same steel. All specimens are at and the gauge length cross section will be varied to obtain suitable geometry. The miniature tensile testing results are further validated …

An Efficiency-Motivated Attack Against Vehicles In A Platoon: Local Vehicle Control, Platoon Control Strategies, And Drive Train Technologies Considerations, David A. Cornelio Sosa

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Automated Electric Transportation Group (AET) at Utah State University proposes to demonstrate the benefits and feasibility of vehicle platooning. A platoon is a transportation system, formed by vehicles that are controlled automatically by computers (the driver does not operate the vehicle while cruising). Platoons are interesting in view of the future because they present many advantages: increase highway capacity and safety, reduce travel time, save energy, and reduce stress for human drivers. There are many problems to solve in order to make vehicle platooning a reality. In this work, the focus is not on making it feasible, but rather …

Spacecraft Guidance Techniques For Maximizing Mission Success, Shane B. Robinson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Traditional spacecraft guidance techniques have the objective of deterministically minimizing fuel consumption. These traditional approaches to guidance are developed independently of the navigation system, and without regard to stochastic effects. This work presents and demonstrates a new approach to guidance design. This new approach seeks to maximize the probability of mission success by minimizing the variance of trajectory dispersions subject to a fuel consumption constraint. The fuel consumption constraint is imposed by formulating the dynamics in terms of a steering command, and placing a constraint on the final time. Stochastic quadratic synthesis is then used to solve for the nominal …

Interpolation And Validation Of Arced Labyrinth Weir Discharge Coefficients, Rhen Daniel Thurgood

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Arced labyrinth weirs have been researched in recent years as a viable option to help increase spillway discharge capacity. Previously published data have indicated the hydraulic efficiency of these weirs with several configurations at different sidewall angles (α=6°, α=12°, and α=20°), expressed in terms of the discharge coefficients. These published discharge coefficient data were used in the current study, along with new experimental data, to develop a better understanding of the accuracy associated with interpolating arced labyrinth weir discharge coefficients. Discharge coefficient data for a 16° arced labyrinth weir (of similar physical size to the arced labyrinth weirs in the …

Experimental Studies Of Delta Wing Parameters In Open Channel Raceway Determined Via Validated Computational Fluid Dynamics, Cole David Blakely

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A promising feedstock for biofuels is microalgae. The most economical means of cultivating microalgae is via open raceway ponds. However, a large gap in economic feasibility exists between algae-based biofuels and traditional petroleum fuels. Recent research at Utah State University has focused on increasing biomass growth by implementing Delta Wings (DWs). DWs are placed facing the incoming flow, with a 40 degree angle of attack to create large vortices which travel downstream. The trailing vortices increase vertical mixing, which in turn increases algal growth.

Past researchers at USU quantified vertical mixing with new metrics, optimized various raceway operating conditions, and …

Causes And Countermeasures For Nappe Oscillation: An Experimental Approach, Aaron Allan Anderson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Weirs are commonly used as spillways to release flows from a reservoir. The freefalling jet on the downstream side of the weir is called the nappe. Under certain hydraulic conditions, determined mainly by the size, design, and construction of the weir, nappe oscillation, otherwise known as nappe vibration, can occur. Characteristics of this dynamic behavior include excessive acoustic energy manifested as sound pressure waves and lowfrequency noise accompanied by horizontal waves or banding on the nappe. Mitigation of this process may be required, especially if the weir operates in close proximity to occupied structures. Instability of water jets moving through …

Uncertainty Quantification Of Photothermal Radiometry Measurements Using Monte Carlo Simulation And Experimental Repeatability, Austin Fleming

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Photothermal Radiometry is a common thermal property measurement technique which is used to measure the properties of layered materials. Photothermal Radiometry uses a modulated laser to heat a sample, in which the thermal response can be used to determine the thermal properties of layers in the sample. The motivation for this work is to provide a better understanding of the accuracy and the repeatability of the Photothermal Radiometry measurement technique. Through this work the sensitivity of results to input uncertainties will be determined. Additionally, using numerical simulations the overall uncertainty on a theoretical measurement will be determined.

The repeatability of …

Retrofitting Two Solar Hot Water Systems For Year Round Operation, Zachary A. Cook

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Solar energy in a variety of applications is again becoming more widely used. Solar collectors have been installed during the construction of two Utah State University buildings: Wetlands Discovery located in Kaysville, Utah and Swaner Nature Preserve located in Park City, Utah. While these systems are capable of capturing a significant amount of solar energy, problems have been encountered when the demand is less than the system’s capacity. This project report documents the problems encountered while operating the two solar water heating systems and how the systems were modified to be operational year round under typical operating conditions. The peak …

Improving Automotive Troubleshooting Skills, Kevin C. Roner

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This project gathered and analyzed data for two cohorts of students at Weber State University. The final performance exam data from the engine controls course and the Automotive Service Excellence certification results were gathered on each student from two cohorts. A skills survey was developed to determine each student’s skill level. The survey was delivered to the students and their mentor technicians in the field. The data was analyzed to identify correlating items across the data sets. Those correlations were used to determine which lessons within the course in the content area of diagnostic troubleshooting required improvement. The project resulted …

Usu Concrete Canoe, Promontory, Nathaniel Laurence Decker

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

In 1863, while the Civil War was dividing the East, a monumental project began in the West. Plans had been finalized for a railroad that would unify the country in commerce and migration. Two companies accepted the challenge of laying track across over 1700 miles of North American soil, from Sacramento, California to Omaha, Nebraska. The Union Pacific Railroad would come from the East and the Central Pacific Railroad from the West. Governor Leland Stanford of California broke ground for the project on January 8, 1863, and the line was finished at Promontory Summit, UT on May 10, 1869 (NPS, …

Designing An Artificial Tendon/Graft Derived From Silkworm Silk And Synthetic Spider Silk With Respect To Structure, Mechanical Properties, Biocompatibility, And Attachment, Neal Hengge

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The Achilles tendon is one of the most commonly damaged tendons in the human body (Hansen et al., 2012). Current surgical and therapeutic techniques require extended recovery time and the tendon is rarely returned to its original healthy state. For athletes in particular, strenuous rehabilitation is required to return from a serious injury like a ruptured Achilles tendon (Rosso et al., 2013).

Despite the high amount of sources for grafts to aid in surgical repair, all of the options have drawbacks such as availability, immune response, or poor mechanical properties. Spider silk has the potential to enhance current Achilles tendon …

Personal Vacuum Assisted Climber, Jacob Monroe Whittle

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The Personal Vacuum Assisted Climber (PVAC) system built in 2012 by the Ascending Aggies at Utah State University which was designed using vacuum motors to provide suction to pads to allow the user to climb various surfaces, needs to be further developed before being fully marketable. The current system does not have a user-friendly interface and is very loud (approx. 90 dB). These issues were addressed to answer the following question: how can the current PV AC system be optimized to decrease noise and produce a user friendly interface while maintaining current run time? To obtain the sound reduction desired …

Re-Engineering Of A Black Box For The Purpose Of Upgrade And Maintenance, Nathanael R. Weidler

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

There existed an aging electrical system that needed to be upgraded. An upgrade was necessary for this system because the cost to maintain the aging technology was becoming too great. There were, however, no available schematics or technical papers describing this system. In order to upgrade the system, it first needed to be reverse engineered. The system to be upgraded was a device that would pass data back and forth from a personal computer to a proprietary storage device. The device to be upgraded communicated with the personal computer over a standard Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) interface and with …

Global Evaluation Of Biofuel Potential From Microalgae, Jeffrey W. Moody

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of the proposed work is to determine the productivity potential of microalgae around the world based on the current large uncertainty of the productivity
potential found in literature. To achieve this objective, a validated thermal and biological growth model was utilized coupled with weather data files from weather stations around the world. This enabled a realistic assessment of the productivity potential based on actual climatic variables. Sensitivity of microalgae lipid productivity to biomass production, temperature, and variability was performed illustrating the importance of biological and temporal resolution. Results from modeling work were leveraged for a scalability assessment based …

Volatile Organic Compounds (Vocs) In Indoor Air: Emission From Consumer Products And The Use Of Plants For Air Sampling, Todd A. Wetzel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Adults living in North America spend an estimated 80-90% of their time indoors where they can be exposed to a wide range of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) found in home construction materials and consumer products (e.g. molded plastics, adhesives, cleaning products, paints, etc.). Some of these VOCs are known to be harmful if exposure concentrations are high or occur over a long period of time. Vapor intrusion (VI), the process by which VOCs in the soil or groundwater migrate to indoor air from a contaminated site, can also contaminate indoor air. Since remediation activities to prevent or stop VI are …

Automatic Registration Of Multiple Texel Images To Form A 3-Dimensional Texel Image, Neeraj S. Badamikar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three-dimensional (3D) imaging has found a lot of use in modern era, owing to the fast ongoing advancement in electronics, processors, and sensors, all available at affordable prices. Three-dimensional television, games, and 3D projectors are some of the commonly found utilities which use 3D imaging. 3D images used for surveillance, exploration, target acquisition equipment, etc., are few of the military applications of 3D imaging. As the need increases, more techniques are being introduced to create 3D images which improve upon previously stated techniques. This thesis proposes an algorithm which uses “texel” images, which are images that have digital imagery fused …

Considerations For Hood Placement And Design Downstream From A Fixed-Cone Valve, Barry Jacob Prettyman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In many hydroelectric projects there is a need to safely dissipate the energy associated with the elevation of the water surface. When the flow is not passing through the turbines, bypass valves are often used. A valve that is commonly used is the fixed-cone valve. Fixed-cone valves, also known as Howell-Bunger valves, are devices often used to safely reduce flow energy at dams with medium to high heads. The valve directs the outflow into a conical hollow jet, which requires a large area for energy dissipation. The flow is controlled by an adjustable sleeve, also known as the gate which …