Engineering Commons^™

Fatigue Issues And Mitigation Strategies In Collegiate Aviation, Flavio A. C. Mendonca Ph.D., Julius Keller, Erik Levin, Aaron Teo

Publications

The reduction of fatigue-related accidents has been in the NTSB most wanted list since 2016 (NSTB, 2019).

Most research studies have focused on fatigue identification and management within the commercial and/or military aviation environments (Caldwell et al., 2009; Gawron, 2016; Sieberichs & Kluge, 2016).

However, collegiate aviation may be the most challenging in terms of fatigue mitigation. Flight instructors and students often have schedules which may increase the risks for fatigue.

Fuel Efficient Control Design And Constrained Motion Analysis For Spacecraft Coulomb Formation In Elliptic Chief Orbits, Muhammad Wasif Memon

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The use of Coulomb force has been analyzed in recent years to provide propulsion in space for various applications. Coulomb formation can also be utilized to make close formation spacecraft missions fuel efficient. In this study, the Coulomb formation of two craft is studied in elliptic chief orbits for two formation geometries. The first formation requires both spacecraft to be aligned along the nadir (radial) direction and the second formation requires both spacecraft to maintain a constant separation distance relative to each other while each spacecraft rotates freely on the surface of a sphere with the ratio of the radii …

Risk Mitigation For Low Latitude Ground-Based Augmentation System (Gbas) Precision Approach Operations, Richard Walter Cole

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The ground-based augmentation system (GBAS) is a safety-critical system consisting of the hardware and software that augments the Global Positioning System (GPS) to provide precision approach and landing capability and is one of the navigational cornerstones of the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) global transition to space-based technologies. In low latitude regions, where the space-based augmentation system (SBAS) cannot provide adequate precision approach service due to large system errors induced by ionospheric delays, GBAS is the best option to provide the primary navigation function for the modernized global air traffic system. The purpose of the study was to identify patterns …

Advanced Photogrammetric Modeling Of Dranoc Kullas Using Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, George Gebert, Liam Griffin, Justin Lawlor, Lauren Davis, Kylee Vander Velde, Sami Ali

Student Works

Small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS), also known as drones, offer new capabilities for cultural heritage preservation activities. Student researchers from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University have applied photogrammetric techniques based upon sUAS captured imagery to assist with historical site documentation and cultural heritage preservation in the Republic of Kosovo. Imagery from three locations -- Isniq, Dranoc and Junik -- highlight this work. Student researchers created georectified orthomosaics and 3D virtual objects. At each of these three locations the object of interest was a type of building known as a kulla. These kullas are fortified homes built for protecting large families and are …

Comparative Analysis Of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations Manuals, Stephen M. Cigal

Student Works

With over 100,000 remote pilots in the United States, individuals and companies are rapidly incorporating unmanned aircraft system technologies into their everyday life and businesses models. The companies that use these technologies must comply with federal and state regulations in order to maintain a safe environment to operate. These operations must also be accepted by the general public. Since the FAA regulations for small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) went into effect in 2016, supplemented by additional state and/or local requirements, some companies have generated operations manuals (OM) to ensure consistent, safe flight that meets these requirements. By analyzing the OM’s …

Propulsion System Testing For A Long-Endurance Solar-Powered Unmanned Aircraft, D. Dantsker, Robert Deters, Marco Caccamo

Publications

The increase in popularity of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been driven by their use in civilian, education, government, and military applications. However, limited on-board energy storage significantly limits flight time and ultimately usability. The propulsion system plays a critical part in the overall energy consumption of the UAV; therefore, it is necessary to determine the most optimal combination of possible propulsion system components for a given mission profile, i.e. propellers, motors, and electronic speed controllers (ESC). Hundreds of options are available for the different components with little performance specifications available for most of them. In order to determine the …

The Changing Face Of Airmanship And Safety Culture Operating Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Tracy Lamb

Student Works

The notion of using drones for commercial purposes has evolved in the past 5 years from the initial “boom” of excitement around this, somewhat of a novelty and curiosity, to more calculated and sophisticated use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones. In the hands of true professionals, drones can offer highly efficient and profitable solutions for industrial, and commercial inspections and other data capturing tasks. The appetite for safe and efficient collection of data is a changing face of safety cultures and how teams and individuals apply airmanship principles, and how inspection crew and UAS crew interact. UAS are …

Uas Flight Operations In Complex Terrain: Assessing The Agricultural Impact From Hurricane Maria In The Central Mountainous Region Of Puerto Rico, Kevin Adkins

Publications

Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in September 2017 as a Category 4 storm causing major damage to infrastructure, agriculture and natural ecosystems, as well as the loss of many lives. Among the crops hardest hit was coffee, one of the most important crops in Puerto Rico. As a perennial system, coffee takes various production forms along a gradient from high shade/biodiversity coffee farms to low shade coffee monocultures and therefore offers an ideal means for the study of resistance and resilience of an agroecosystem to weather and climate disturbance. During the summer of 2018, 14 impacted farms across the production …

Effect Of Chemical Reactions On The Fluidic Thrust Vectoring Of An Axisymmetric Nozzle, Rachid Chouicha, Mohamed Sellam, Said Bergheul

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Abstract:

During the last years, several thrust control systems of aerospace rocket engines have been developed. The fluidic thrust vectoring is one of them; it is simple in design and offers a substantial gain in weight and in performance. Most of studies related to this device were carried out with cold gas. It’s quite legitimate to expect that the thermophysical properties of the gases may affect considerably the flow behavior. Besides, the effects of reacting gases at high temperatures, under their effects all flow parameters like to vary.

This study aims to develop a new methodology that allows studying and …

Aerodynamic Design And Exploration Of A Blended Wing Body Aircraft At Subsonic Speed, Sam Dakka Dr, Oliver Johnson

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Blended Wing Body (BWB) is a novel aircraft concept which provides many different aerodynamic benefits over conventional aircrafts design. This research investigated the BWB design, L/D characteristics, surface pressure distribution and span-wise lift distribution of a BWB aircraft at low to medium subsonic speeds. A BWB model was designed, manufactured and tested in a subsonic wind tunnel to validate the CFD simulation. The results gained from the investigation proved that BWB has a L/D improvement of 9.4% than conventional aircrafts and 21% increase at medium subsonic speeds (Mach 0.6) compared to lower subsonic speeds of 25 m/sec. It was found …

Fe Modeling Methodology For Load Analysis And Preliminary Sizing Of Aircraft Wing Structure, Jun Hwan Jang, Sang Ho Ahn

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

It is a critical part at the basic design phase of aircraft structural design to build a finite element model and it will have a direct impact on time and cost for airframe structure development. In addition, the objective of finite element model will be varied depending on each design review phase and the modelling methodology varied accordingly. In order to build an effective and economic finite element model, it is required to develop adequate level of modelling methodology based on each design phase and its objectives. Therefore, in this paper, the finite element modeling methodology was presented for internal …

Comparison Of Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Uas) For Agriculture Monitoring, Joseph Cerreta, Kristine M. Kiernan

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Florida citrus growers need inexpensive methods to observe citrus plants to detect disease and stress consistently. Health vegetation indices, such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) collected from Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), can be used to identify variation in plant health. Simple-to-operate UAS may enable growers to determine within-field variation more frequently than with inspections from scouts, providing more frequent knowledge about the crop condition. This research compared two low-cost fixed-wing UAS, a $5,000 Parrot Disco Pro Ag and a $16,690 senseFly eBee, each equipped with a Parrot Sequoia multispectral camera, to determine if there were differences in the …

Design Guidelines For Supersonic Aircrafts In Civil Aviation, Tridib Banerjee Mr.

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

There exists no publication currently available to the scholars that address in detail, every aspect of designing a modern supersonic aircraft for civil aviation. This paper aims to resolve that issue. It reviews all the existing work that has been done on the topic so far and builds upon that. It incorporates multiple disciplines and takes into account the closely inter-coupled effects of each component on one-another. It also analyses in detail the various environmental and modern regulatory challenges like sonic boom and means to overcome them. It further addresses the challenges like logistics, cabin crew radiation exposure, and cost …

Optimization And Analysis Of An Elite Electric Propulsion System, Mehakveer Singh, Kapil Yadav, Satnam Singh, Vikas Chumber, Harikrishna Chavhan

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Abstract- Electric propulsion has a promising system to create new possibilities in this technological era as well as control the harmful gaseous emission. This paper put a vision on several parameters of electric propulsion. The engine’s performance is comparable to the current propulsion devices and provides a lightweight solution to the robust technologies’ dependent on chemical energy sources. There are a plethora of factors which is enhanced by electric propulsion such as, overall efficiency, capabilities, and robustness of future air vehicles as well as mainly overcome from exhaust hazards. Electric propulsion systems have the potential of utilizing the electrically-driven propulsion …

In-Flight Wingtip Folding: Inspiration From The Xb-70 Valkyrie, Gaétan X. Dussart, Mudassir Lone, Ciaran O'Rourke, Thomas Wilson

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Wingip folding can be used to extend aircraft wingspan, allowing designers to take advantage of reduced induced drag whilst respecting ground operational limitations. Such devices can also be used in-flight for a variety of other benefits including load alleviation and flight control. The majority of in-flight folding research takes inspiration in past developments made on the XB-70 Valkyrie, which used the folding devices for stability and lift performance benefits. In this paper, the authors investigate the capabilities of the folding wingtip system and potential scaling to large civil aircraft. Manufacturing details are used to size the actuators whilst the aerodynamic …

Design And Realization Of An Unmanned Aerial Rotorcraft Vehicle Using Pressurized Inflatable Structure, Nirmal Sadasivan

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Unmanned aerial rotorcraft vehicles have many military, commercial and civil applications. There is a necessity to advance the performance on several ranges of rotorcraft for using these vehicles successfully in the expanded future roles. A lower flight time, noise disturbance and safety issues remain the key obstacles in increasing the efficiency of the rotorcraft for various applications. This work presents the design and realization of a rotorcraft using pressurized inflatable structure filled with lighter than air gas such as helium or hydrogen to provide lift assistance for the vehicle. Two iterative design procedures were developed for designing the vehicle. One …

A Thrust Equation Treats Propellers And Rotors As Aerodynamic Cycles And Calculates Their Thrust Without Resorting To The Blade Element Method, Phillip -. Burgers

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The lift generated by a translating wing of known translational speed, lift coefficient and area is calculated by a simple equation. A propeller or rotor generating thrust share the same aerodynamic principles but their different kinematics cause the calculation of their thrust to be laborious. This paper derives a thrust equation from an algebraic expansion of the Prandtl’s dynamic pressure term q_∞by adding the rotational kinetic energy of a propeller or rotor to the existing translational kinetic energy term. This thrust equation can be applied directly to propellers and rotors and assumes these to operate as cycles with …