Engineering Commons^™

Third-Eye, Aaron Fassler

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The Third-Eye Device is a peripheral device compatible with any firearm equipped with the Picatinny rail system. Its system of a camera attached to the weapon which connects to an eyepiece allows the user to aim the weapon without aiming down the sights. This device is potentially crucial to those who regularly engage in close-quarters combat such as police and military specialists, whose ability to quickly and accurately clear rooms during operations is critical to their safety and the safety of others. The student team was tasked with improving the device, primarily in its survivability in dusty and wet environments, …

Rapid Prediction Of Low-Boom And Aerodynamic Performance Of Supersonic Transport Aircraft Using Panel Methods, Ted N. Giblette

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Utah State University Aerolab developed and tested a set of tools for rapid prediction of the loudness of a sonic boom generated by supersonic transport aircraft. This work supported a larger effort led by Texas A&M to investigate the use of adaptive aerostructures in lowering sonic boom loudness at off design conditions. Successful completion of this effort will improve the feasibility of supersonic commercial transport over land.

Funding was provided by a NASA University Leadership Initiative grant to several universities, including Utah State University, as well as industry partners to complete this work over a five year period. The …

Experimental Investigation Of N2o/O2 Mixtures As Volumetrically Efficient Oxidizers For Small Spacecraft Hybrid Propulsion Systems, Rob L. Stoddard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A hybrid thruster system utilizes propellants in two different stages, traditionally a solid fuel and a gaseous or liquid oxidizer. Recently hybrid thrusters have become a popular topic of research due to the high demand of a ”green” replacement for hydrazine. Not only are hybrid thruster systems typically much safer than hydrazine, but they are also a low-cost system with a high reliability in performance. The Propulsion Research Laboratory (PRL) at Utah State University (USU) has developed a hybrid thruster system using 3-D printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) as the fuel and gaseous oxygen (GOX) as the oxidizer. This system …

Isentropic Efficiency And Theoretical Analysis Of The Planetary Rotor Expander, Joseph L. James

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Expanders allow pressurized fluids to undergo a pressure decrease in a controlled environment via volumetric growth to extract fluid energy. There are many types of expanders, and the objective of this thesis is to model the efficiencies of the planetary rotor expander (PRE), a century-old design undeveloped due to insufficient manufacturing capabilities (until recently). Geometric relationships are derived and mathematical models are generated to determine the efficiency of the PRE as a function of design variables. Two industrially relevant case studies show that, to maximize isentropic efficiency, the planetary rotor expander (PRE) rotational frequency is maximized and rotor geometry optimized.

Calibration Of Hot-Film X-Probes For High Accuracy Angle Alignment In Wind Tunnels, Dallin L. Jackson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis investigates the use of hot-film thermal anemometers to align a plate on a wind tunnel at Hill Air Force Base that is used to calibrate Angle of Attack Transmitters on F-16s. A reoccurring problem with this wind tunnel is that no two instruments can verify an angle reading of the the mounting plate for the Angle of Attack Transmitters to the air stream in the wind tunnel. Multiple thermal anemometer calibration methods, such as Jorgensen’s equation and a look-up table are implemented to attempt to achieve consistent measurements between multiple probes. The results show that it is necessary …