Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

Weatherford Stafford Airport Celebrates New Terminal, Weatherford Daily News

Articles

The City of Weatherford and Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission will host a special public celebration and ribbon cutting of the new Weatherford Stafford Airport Terminal.

Unless stated otherwise within this repository collection, all materials are shared under the following Creative Commons license: [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License].

Stafford Highlights - Famed Astronaut Returns For 40th Anniversary Of Apollo Mission, Weatherford Daily News

Articles

Above, Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford speaks during the anniversary event in Weatherford December 7, 2012, of Apollo 17.

At top right, Michael, Thomas and Stas Stafford are pictured with Cosmonaut Valery Kubasov during the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 17 December 7, 2012.

Unless stated otherwise within this repository collection, all materials are shared under the following Creative Commons license: [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License].

Astronaut Snoopy’S 50-Plus Year History With Nasa, Weatherford Daily News

Articles

"Unknown to many, Snoopy has been working with NASA since the late 1950s"

Unless stated otherwise within this repository collection, all materials are shared under the following Creative Commons license: [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License].

New Schools Personal For Project Manager, Weatherford Daily News

Articles

Gen. Thomas P. Stafford Elementary started construction in 2020, having a hand in building Stafford Elementary and East Intermediate was personal for Project Manager Shawn Bonner.

Unless stated otherwise within this repository collection, all materials are shared under the following Creative Commons license: [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License].

A Machine Learning Approach Towards Analyzing Impact Of Surface Weather On Expect Departure Clearance Times In Aviation, Dothag Truong, Shlok Misra, Godfrey V. D'Souza

Publications

Commercial air travel in the United States has grown significantly in the past decade. While the reasons for air traffic delays can vary, the weather is the largest cause of flight cancellations and delays in the United States. Air Traffic Control centers utilize Traffic Management Initiatives such as Ground Stops and Expect Departure Clearance Times (EDCT) to manage traffic into and out of affected airports. Airline dispatchers and pilots monitor EDCTs to adjust flight blocks and flight schedules to reduce the impact on the airline’s operating network. The use of time-series data mining can be used to assess and quantify …

Local Astronaut May Command U.S.-Russian Flight (Reprint From 1972), Weatherford Daily News

Articles

EDITOR’S NOTE: this story first appeared in the November 2, 1972, edition of the Weatherford Daily News, 50 years ago today, about Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford’s chance to commence a U.S.-Russian space flight.

Unless stated otherwise within this repository collection, all materials are shared under the following Creative Commons license: [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License].

Ramping Up For Cost And Performance Improvements, Arthur Zucchetti Lechmann, Guilherme Henrique Lima, João Paulo Lucchi, Paulo Henrique Azevedo Santana, Pedro Kamikihara

Student Works

The objective of this Research Project was to study the possible benefits of developing an improved Metering Control System. This study identified potential cost savings and reduced emissions through the greater use of a Metering Control System. The results of this research have indicated an annual cost reduction of $720,000 in fuel burn and a significant delay time reduction caused by accumulated ground traffic. In addition, during peak hours, it was concluded that savings could be potentially higher. Therefore, by optimizing the ground movement, it is also expected a lower level of CO2 emissions, an increased safety level due to …

Elastomer O-Ring Seal Swell Measurements For Sustainable Aviation Fuel Material Compatibility, Conor J. Faulhaber

Honors Theses

As efforts continue to fight climate change by transitioning energy sources away from fossil fuels and towards renewable alternative, the commercial aviation sector finds itself at danger of falling behind in emissions reductions. To combat this, the best term opportunity to reduce the industry’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions has been identified as sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, derived from renewable feedstocks like agricultural waste or used cooking oil. Currently, SAF is regulated to a 50%v blending limit with conventional petroleum-based fuel to maintain certain jet fuel properties, including material compatibility with elastomer o-ring seals. When these seals come in …

Testing And Verification For The Open Source Release Of The Horizon Simulation Framewortesting And Verification For The Open Source Release Of The Horizon Simulation Framework, William J. Balfour

Master's Theses

Modeling and simulation tools are exceptionally useful for designing aerospace systems because they allow engineers to test and iterate designs before committing the massive resources required for system realization. The Horizon Simulation Framework (HSF) is a time-driven modeling and simulation tool which attempts to optimize how a modeled system could perform a mission profile. After 15 years of development, the HSF team aims to achieve a wider user and developer base by releasing the software open source. To ensure a successful release, the software required extensive testing, and the main scheduling algorithm required protections against new code breaking old functionality. …

Multi-Robot Symbolic Task And Motion Planning Leveraging Human Trust Models: Theory And Applications, Huanfei Zheng

All Dissertations

Multi-robot systems (MRS) can accomplish more complex tasks with two or more robots and have produced a broad set of applications. The presence of a human operator in an MRS can guarantee the safety of the task performing, but the human operators can be subject to heavier stress and cognitive workload in collaboration with the MRS than the single robot. It is significant for the MRS to have the provable correct task and motion planning solution for a complex task. That can reduce the human workload during supervising the task and improve the reliability of human-MRS collaboration. This dissertation relies …

Manufacturability And Analysis Of Topologically Optimized Continuous Fiber Reinforced Composites, Jesus A. Ferrand

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Researchers are unlocking the potential of Continuous Fiber Reinforced Composites for producing components with greater strength-to-weight ratios than state of the art metal alloys and unidirectional composites. The key is the emerging technology of topology optimization and advances in additive manufacturing. Topology optimization can fine tune component geometry and fiber placement all while satisfying stress constraints. However, the technology cannot yet robustly guarantee manufacturability. For this reason, substantial post-processing of an optimized design consisting of manual fiber replacement and subsequent Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is still required.

To automate this post-processing in two dimensions, two (2) algorithms were developed. The …

Application Of Direct Feedback Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy Within A Hybrid Rocket Combustor, Connor Becnel

LSU Master's Theses

With interest in space travel and space-related science increasing in recent years, significant efforts to reduce the cost and increase the safety of rocket motors have become commonplace. Liquid rockets are currently the most commonly used system, but there is interest in the reduced complexity of hybrid rockets. For these hybrid rocket motors to become the norm, extensive research on their complex boundary layer combustion needs to be performed. Modeling these hybrid systems is of much interest to companies developing rocket motors; ultimately, small-scale experiments will help validate their behavior. This paper covers the application of a near-infrared tunable diode …

Study Into The Sensitity Of The G-H Method To Blending Distance, Cory Goates, Doug Hunsaker

Browse all Datasets

A numerical lifting-line method (implemented in an open-source software package) is presented which can accurately estimate the aerodynamics of wings with arbitrary sweep, dihedral, and twist. Previous numerical lifting-line methods have suffered from grid convergence challenges and limitations in accurately modeling the effects of sweep, or have relied on empirical relations for swept-wing parameters and have been limited in their application to typical wing geometries. This work presents novel improvements in accuracy, flexibility, and speed for complex geometries over previous methods. In the current work, thin-airfoil theory is used to correct section lift coefficients for sweep, providing a more general …

Multiple Discharges Before Leader Inception In Long Air Gaps Under Positive Switching Impulses, Xiangen Zhao, Juhyeong Lee, Gang Liu, Lei Jia, Yang Liu, Junjia He, Yaping Du

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

There are multiple corona bursts before leader inception when the rising rate of the applied voltage or electric field is not sufficiently high enough in long positive sparks. In existing studies, no attention has been paid to whether these corona bursts occur in the same location, and they are mostly considered directly as belonging to the same discharge. However, this paper presents that in a typical rod-plate long air gap, the multiple corona bursts before leader inception are distributed in at least two different locations, and the highest probability of three discharges occurs. Also, the discharge occurs with the highest …

Seal For A Wave Rotor Disk Engine, Christopher Tait, Pejman Akbari, Brian Sell, Marc D. Polanka

AFIT Patents

A unique seal for a wave rotor disk engine is disclosed herein. The seal is operable for sealing a region between a rotor and a rotor casing. The seal is spring loaded and will engage with the tip of the rotor to reduce pressure loss within the wave rotor disk engine.

Impulse Measurement Methods For Pulsed Laser Ablation Propulsion, Ishaan Mishra, Scott Kirkpatrick

Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Research Publications

Pulsed laser ablation propulsion has the potential to revolutionize space exploration by eliminating the requirement of a spacecraft to carry its propellant and power source as the high-power laser is situated off-board. More experimentation needs to be done to optimize this propulsion system and understand the mechanisms of thrust generation. There are many methods used to calculate the impulse imparted in pulsed laser ablation experiments. In this paper, key performance parameters are derived for some of the impulse measurement methods used in ablation propulsion experiments. Regimes discussed include the torsional pendulum system, simple pendulum system, and solid and liquid microspheres.

A Comparative Performance Analysis Of The Novel Turboaux Engine With A Turbojet Engine, And A Low-Bypass Ratio Turbofan Engine With An Afterburner, Kaleab Fetahi, Sharanabasaweshwara A. Asundi, Arthur C. Taylor

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Presented herein is a comparative performance analysis of a novel turbofan engine with an auxiliary combustion chamber, nicknamed the TurboAux engine, against a turbojet engine, and a low bypass ratio turbofan engine with an afterburner is presented. The TurboAux engine is an adaption of the low-bypass ratio turbofan engine, but with secondary combustion in an auxiliary bypass annular combustion chamber for thrust augmentation. The TurboAux engine is envisioned with the desire to facilitate clean secondary burning of fuel at temperatures higher than in the main combustion chamber with air exiting the low-pressure compressor. The comparative study starts by analyzing the …

Machine Learning In Aerodynamic Shape Optimization, Jichao Li, Xiaosong Du, Joaquim R.R.A. Martins

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Machine learning (ML) has been increasingly used to aid aerodynamic shape optimization (ASO), thanks to the availability of aerodynamic data and continued developments in deep learning. We review the applications of ML in ASO to date and provide a perspective on the state-of-the-art and future directions. We first introduce conventional ASO and current challenges. Next, we introduce ML fundamentals and detail ML algorithms that have been successful in ASO. Then, we review ML applications to ASO addressing three aspects: compact geometric design space, fast aerodynamic analysis, and efficient optimization architecture. In addition to providing a comprehensive summary of the research, …

Enabling Ultrathick Electrodes Via A Microcasting Process For High Energy And Power Density Lithium-Ion Batteries, Tazdik Patwary Plateau, Hiep Pham, Yaqi Zhu, Ming-Chuan Leu, Jonghyun Park

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Thickening electrodes is one effective approach to increase active material content for higher energy and low-cost lithium-ion batteries, but limits in charge transport and huge mechanical stress generation result in poor performance and eventual cell failure. This paper reports a new electrode fabrication process, referred to as µ-casting, enabling ultrathick electrodes that address the trade-off between specific capacity and areal/volumetric capacity. The proposed µ-casting is based on a patterned blade, enabling facile fabrication of 3D electrode structures. The study reveals the governing properties of µ-casted ultrathick electrodes and how this simultaneously improves battery energy/power performance. The process facilitates a short …

Additive Manufacturing Of Complexly Shaped Sic With High Density Via Extrusion-Based Technique – Effects Of Slurry Thixotropic Behavior And 3d Printing Parameters, Ruoyu Chen, Adam Bratten, Joshua Rittenhouse, Tian Huang, Wenbao Jia, Ming-Chuan Leu, Haiming Wen

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Additive manufacturing of dense SiC parts was achieved via an extrusion-based process followed by electrical-field assisted pressure-less sintering. The aim of this research was to study the effect of the rheological behavior of SiC slurry on the printing process and quality, as well as the influence of 3D printing parameters on the dimensions of the extruded filament, which are directly related to the printing precision and quality. Different solid contents and dispersant- Darvan 821A concentrations were studied to optimize the viscosity, thixotropy and sedimentation rate of the slurry. The optimal slurry was composed of 77.5 wt% SiC, Y2O3 and Al2O3 …