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Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering

Tesseract, Edgar Uribe, Vanessa Faune Jun 2015

Tesseract, Edgar Uribe, Vanessa Faune

Mechanical Engineering

PolySat is a student-run, Cal Poly research program in which students develop small satellites, known as CubeSats, to be sent into space. Since the start of the program in 2000, PolySat has developed eight 10cm x 10cm x10cm CubeSats. Recently, the team has developed two satellites of double, and triple, that size for NASA-KSC & AI-Solutions and the National Science Foundation. The recent volumetric expansion has been driven by high demand for further satellite functionality, which necessitates large power generation capabilities. To remain competitive in the growing CubeSat industry, PolySat must develop a platform that can provide enough power to …


Supersonic Retro-Propulsion Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis Applied To Future Mars Mission, Margarita Nataly Brandt May 2015

Supersonic Retro-Propulsion Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis Applied To Future Mars Mission, Margarita Nataly Brandt

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Supersonic Retro-Propulsion is one of the most promising emerging technologies being considered by NASA for use in future Mars missions. This new form of Entry Descent Landing has the potential to help increase the allowable payload mass currently constraining many science instruments and operations. Computational Fluid Dynamics was used to show the feasibility of supersonic retro - propulsion in Mars atmospheric conditions. The results presented show the SRP will be able to perform satisfactory using the same conditions that the Curiosity Rover was exposed to during its landing sequence. The plume expansion was analyzed for various cases, moving from free …


The Use Of Additive Manufacturing For Cubesat Design And Testing, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh, Scott Kerlin Apr 2015

The Use Of Additive Manufacturing For Cubesat Design And Testing, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh, Scott Kerlin

Jeremy Straub

In developing a small spacecraft, the integration of numerous systems in a small area is a key challenge. It is easy to overlook how various component parts will integrate or have multiple sub-groups utilize un-filled space without realizing that they are creating a resource conflict. Additionally, the manufacturability of the final design is a key consideration. For all of these reasons, developing low-cost and incremental prototypes is a engineering ‘best practice’ for small spacecraft development.


Mechanical Design Of A Low-Cost Deployable Solar Panel Array For A 1-U Cubesat, Thomas Mcguire, Skye Leake, Michael Parsons, Michael Hirsch, Benjamin Kading, Jeremy Straub, David Whalen Mar 2015

Mechanical Design Of A Low-Cost Deployable Solar Panel Array For A 1-U Cubesat, Thomas Mcguire, Skye Leake, Michael Parsons, Michael Hirsch, Benjamin Kading, Jeremy Straub, David Whalen

Jeremy Straub

CubeSats are small spacecraft with a nominal size of 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm and a mass of 1.33 kg (though some launch providers are now supporting expanded mass levels). While the CubeSat form factor has reduced the time and cost of spacecraft development, the required resources are still beyond the grasp of many colleges and universities. The Open Prototype for Educational Nanosats (OPEN) concept aims to solve this problem. OPEN is an inexpensive modular CubeSat that can be produced with a parts budget of less than $5,000. The OpenOrbiter program is working to develop this set …


Open Prototype For Educational Nanosats Cubesat Structural Design, Benjamin Kading, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh Mar 2015

Open Prototype For Educational Nanosats Cubesat Structural Design, Benjamin Kading, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

CubeSats are a class of small satellites that have recently gained significant interest and are being developed and used for engineering test missions, bona fide research and various other applications. A 1-U CubeSat (the original form factor) has nominal dimensions of 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm and a mass of no more than 1.33 kg (however, some integrators are now consistently allowing higher mass levels). Due to their small size and the demonstrated ability to successfully use consumer-grade electronics in low-Earth orbit, CubeSats cost significantly less than larger sized satellites. These reduced costs, however, are still beyond …


Design And Development Of A Payload Area Sub-Structure For A 1-U Cubesat, Tristan Plante, Jordan Forbord, Alexander Holland, Landon Klein, Benjamin Kading, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh Mar 2015

Design And Development Of A Payload Area Sub-Structure For A 1-U Cubesat, Tristan Plante, Jordan Forbord, Alexander Holland, Landon Klein, Benjamin Kading, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

Advancements in the miniaturization of electronics and other factors have allowed CubeSats, small satellites that can be created at a much lower cost than a large satellite, to perform numerous useful tasks. CubeSats, which are nominally 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm with a mass of less than 1.33 kg, are also developed in academic institutions to aid student learning; however, the development and launch of CubeSats can be expensive. Because of this, the Open Prototype for Educational NanoSats (OPEN) aims to make CubeSat development more affordable by developing a set of design documents as well as the …


A Contribution Toward Better Understanding Of Overbanking Tendency In Fixed-Wing Aircraft, Nihad E. Daidzic Feb 2015

A Contribution Toward Better Understanding Of Overbanking Tendency In Fixed-Wing Aircraft, Nihad E. Daidzic

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

The phenomenon of overbanking tendency for a rigid-body, fixed-wing aircraft is investigated. Overbanking tendency is defined as a spontaneous, unbalanced rolling moment that keeps increasing an airplane’s bank angle in steep turns and must be arrested by opposite aileron action. As stated by the Federal Aviation Administration, the overbanking tendency may lead to a loss of control, especially in instrument meteorological conditions. It was found in this study that the speed differential over wing halves in horizontal turns indeed creates a rolling moment that achieves maximum values for bank angles between 45 and 55 degrees. However, this induced rolling moment …


Suborbital Spaceflight: A Student Team’S Plan To Send A Rocket To Space, Bryce Chanes, William Carpenter, Julio Benavides, Matthew Haslam, Brenda Haven Jan 2015

Suborbital Spaceflight: A Student Team’S Plan To Send A Rocket To Space, Bryce Chanes, William Carpenter, Julio Benavides, Matthew Haslam, Brenda Haven

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

The Eagle Space Flight Team was created with the goal of becoming the first undergraduate team to design, build, and launch a rocket capable of suborbital spaceflight. In order to achieve this goal, the team will have to design a rocket capable of atmospheric flight at speeds over Mach 5 and launch it on one of the largest amateur rocket motors ever made. Over the next three years, the team will progress towards accomplishing this feat through a series of incremental test flights. Before the space flight, the team will build three sub-scale rockets designed to reach altitudes of 30,000’, …


Openorbiter Mechanical Design: A New Approach To The Design Of A 1-U Cubesat, Benjamin Kading, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh Jan 2015

Openorbiter Mechanical Design: A New Approach To The Design Of A 1-U Cubesat, Benjamin Kading, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

The OpenOrbiter Small Spacecraft Development Initiative is working to create a set of designs and implementation instructions for a 1-U CubeSat, called the Open Prototype for Educational NanoSats. These designs target a total parts cost of below USD $5,000. This design will be made publically available to facilitate its use by others, with or without modification. A ‘side slotted’ CubeSat design (where main circuit boards are placed in slots between the rails on the outside) has been developed for OpenOrbiter. This paper discusses the design choices that were made during the mechanical structure development of the OpenOrbiter CubeSat design, required …