Engineering Commons^™

Development Of A Multi-Jointed Wing Surface Mover, Collin Arthur Strassburger

Masters Theses

The field of ornithopter research has reached a point where it has become commonplace for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solvers to have built-in capabilities for rigid solid body motion. This is suitable for micro air vehicles (MAVs) yet is often not exible enough to model wings with dynamic internal structure, such as the wings of birds and bats. There is currently no program available to perform the surface motion of a wing which has multiple independently moving joints. The code, detailed in this paper, provides the user with this type of capability. The bone lengths, joint angle properties, and thickening …

Fundamental Study And Development Of Tuned Active Flow Control Actuators, Brian A. Binkley

Doctoral Dissertations

A novel, multi-level, flow-control actuator was developed using piezoceramic materials. Several actuators were fabricated in various shapes and sizes to produce a variety of effects for flow control applications. The actuators were studied in a quiescent-air bench test to understand the vibrations produced by various actuator shapes. The actuator flow-control effect was studied experimentally with flat-plate and cavity configurations, and was studied numerically using moving boundary conditions and dynamic meshing. The disturbances produced by the actuator couple with the cavity flow field producing increased cavity tones, increased vorticity, and sustainment of large-scale vorticity downstream of the cavity. The combined actuation …

Computational Thermal-Hydraulics Modeling Of Twisted Tape Enabled High Heat Flux Components, Emily Buckman Clark

Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this work was to perform a computational investigation into the thermalhydraulic performance of water-cooled, twisted tape enabled high heat flux components at fusion relevant conditions. Fusion energy is a promising option for future clean energy generation, but the community must overcome significant scientific and engineering challenges before meeting the goal of electricity generation. One such challenge is the high heat flux thermal management of components in fusion and plasma physics experiments. Plasma facing components in the magnetic confinement devices, such as ITER or W7-X, will be subjected to extreme heat loads on the order of 10-20 MW/m …

Improving Predictive Capabilities Of Classical Cascade Theory For Nonproliferation Analysis, David Allen Vermillion

Doctoral Dissertations

Uranium enrichment finds a direct and indispensable function in both peaceful and nonpeaceful nuclear applications. Today, over 99% of enriched uranium is produced by gas centrifuge technology. With the international dissemination of the Zippe archetypal design in 1960 followed by the widespread illicit centrifuge trafficking efforts of the A.Q. Khan network, traditional barriers to enrichment technologies are no longer as effective as they once were. Consequently, gas centrifuge technology is now regarded as a high-priority nuclear proliferation threat, and the international nonproliferation community seeks new avenues to effectively and efficiently respond to this emergent threat.

Effective response first requires an …

Enceladus Sample Return Mission, Braxton Brakefield, Rekesh Ali, Andrew Bishop, Shelby Honaker, David Taylor

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

A Numerical Study Of The Limiting Cases Of Cylinder-Induced Shock Wave/Boundary Layer Interactions, Stefen Albert Lindorfer

Masters Theses

One of the limiting factors in the design of supersonic and hypersonic vehicles remains the prediction and control of the high aerodynamic, thermodynamic, acoustic, and structural loads generated by a shock wave/boundary layer interaction (SWBLI or SBLI). In conjunction with an experimental campaign produced within the research group, a numerical study was performed using a semi-infinite cylinder to generate a SWBLI at Mach 1.88 with both laminar and turbulent boundary layers. The goals were not only to better understand the complex flow surrounding the cylinder-induced turbulent interaction, but also to establish the interaction bounds of the limiting cases of a …

Angle Of Attack Determination Using Inertial Navigation System Data From Flight Tests, Jack Kevin Ly

Masters Theses

Engineers and pilots rely on mechanical flow angle vanes on air data probes to determine the angle of attack of the aircraft in flight. These probes, however, are costly, come with inherent measurement errors, affect the flight characteristics of the aircraft, and are potentially dangerous in envelope expansion flights. Advances in the accuracy, usability, and affordability of inertial navigation systems allow for angle of attack to be determined accurately without direct measurement of the airflow around the aircraft. Utilizing an algorithm developed from aircraft equations of motion, a post-flight data review is completed as the first step in proving the …