Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

Thermal / Structural Analysis Of The Hb 650 Thermal Shield, Gerald J. Smith

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Fermilab’s PIP-II project’s superconducting linear accelerator (Linac) will drive the next generation of particle accelerators through a revolution in beam intensity. Key to beam intensification are the high efficiencies of niobium-tin superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities operating at cryogenic temperatures near 5 Kelvin. A multifaceted approach is employed to achieve and maintain the extreme temperature. Vacuum provides the first barrier to thermal convection. Physical thermal intercept zones further isolate the exterior shell vacuum vessel at 300 Kelvin from the supercooled beamline. The first thermal intercept lies just inside the exterior vacuum vessel forming the 40 Kelvin zone. This 40K thermal shield …

Adaptive Filtration Of The Uav Movement Parameters Based On The Aoa-Measurement Sensor Networks, Igor Tovkach, Serhii Zhuk

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Currently, the urgent task is to assess the small-sized maneuvering UAVs movement parameters. The location of an unknown UAV as a radio source can be determined using AoA measurements of the wireless sensor network. To describe the movement of a maneuvering UAV, a model is used in the form of a dynamic system with switching in discrete time. The values of switching variable determine type of UAV movement. To synthesize trajectory filtering algorithms, the Markov property of the extended process is used, which includes a vector of UAV movement parameters and a switching variable. The optimal trajectory filtering algorithm describes …

Bio-Inspired Method For Close-Proximity Operations On A Near-Earth Asteroid, Rene Alberto Valenzuela Najera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Space maneuvers in the vicinity of small celestial bodies and achieving a soft landing over the surface of small celestial bodies are essential movements to advance the status of exploration, collection of geographical data, measurement of physical properties among other on-orbit tasks. Before a spacecraft reaches hovering position over an asteroid in order to perform orbital tasks, close-proximity operations must be done. Since the movements of the spaceships depend on the acceleration forces provided by the thrusters and external disturbances forces, the correct planning of execution of the close-up trajectories on the celestial body orbit and trajectory to land on …

Wind Release Mechanical Sun Tracker, Tyler Andrus, Brady Fisher, Jt Gibson, Cynthia Rigby, Derek Smith

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

• Solar panel sun tracking system that releases solar panels to orient to wind flow in high wind conditions

• Operates on a single rotational motor

• Designed to be lightweight and portable

Afrl Downed Airman Recovery System, Daniel Cornia, James Bennett, Matthew Halton, Matthew Bennett, Brandon Haws, Tyson Compton, Jacob Needham, Daniel Spreier, Thory Van Dyke

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

For the 2020 Air Force Research Laboratory design competition, teams were challenged to develop a system to assist Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) in recovering a downed pilot in contested waters.

In the event of a pilot ejecting from their aircraft, a GPS beacon notifies CSAR of the pilot’s approximate location. During the rescue operation, a swimmer from a CSAR crew enters the water and assists the isolated person (IP) to use rescue equipment.

The current procedure exposes an additional person to hazards and increases IP extraction time. The additional required personnel and setup time increases mission risk.

USU’s student …

Automated Cushion Ring Insertion System (Cris), Nathan Andersen, James Parberry, Chris Reid, Jeron Robbins, Kayden Atkin, Kody King, Mckay Mckinnon

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Project Description

This purpose of this project is to prototype a proof of concept machine capable of installing a retaining ring into an airbag cushion.

Project Benefits

• Decreased installation time

• Better consistency and quality control

• Helps create a fully automated production line

Usu Baja Sae 2020, Adam Black, Trevor Nuamann, Cliff Rossberg, Ian Jeppsen, Tad Behunin, Josh Olsen, Kaulin Curtis

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The 2020 USU Baja team addressed the following issues in the 2020 buggy design:

• Utilizing LotusSHARK software for suspension design: Completing a digital design of the buggy's suspension system in LotusSHARK allowed for optimization of suspension design.

• Redesign of brake system: Reducing the size of the brake pedal footprint was needed for increase space in the buggy for 4WD components.

• Implementation of 4WD: Significant bonus points could be earned in the SAE competition if the buggy has 4WD capabilities. The ability to switch between 2WD and 4WD was also desired to easily engage the best configuration for …

Heated Chamber Capable Of Purging/Scrubbing Twelve Or More Gas Analyzers Of Co2 And H20 For Calibration, Cole Watson, Oliver Hulme, Trevan Cottle

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

• Build ergonomically friendly chamber capable of purging 12 or more Gas Analyzers to keep up with current demand.

• Designed shelfing to fit all three Campbell Scientific, Inc. (CSI) gas analyzers: EC150, EC155, and Irgason.

• Chamber has uniform air temperature that will be regulated to not go above 50 ℃.

• CSI Datalogger is used to collect analyzer data and control electronics from outside the chamber.

• Chamber is durable and easily moved.

Autoliv Flexible Windshield Reaction Surface, Perry Simpson, Jacob Bowman, Joshua Christensen, Ethan Moore

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Summary: Currently Autoliv is testing airbags against a flat steel plate. Testing against a steel plate doesn’t provide accurate airbag rebound data. Autoliv also does most of the development in series with automotive companies. They do initial designs but cannot get accurate tests until test vehicles are built.

Problem: Create a fixture that will bend a surface to replicate the curvature of any windshield desired resulting in more accurate airbag rebound data.

Why: Solving this problem will result in higher accuracy and precision in airbag performance systems. The new test fixture will provide a better representation of how the airbag …

Small Satellite Reaction Wheel, Corey Creager, Kalan Juhasz, Jeremy Wiser, Jake Laub, Christopher Wartena

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

• A reaction wheel uses torque to control the attitude of a satellite.

• The requirements specify a torque, a momentum, and a confined volume.

Solar Array Deployment Test Gravity Offloader System, Braden Call, Matthew Calvin, Chris Debenham, Christian Marriot, Mason Onkes

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

• Space Dynamics Lab (SDL) has started to develop larger satellites and larger solar arrays are required to power the spacecrafts. These larger arrays are harder to test

• Larger solar panels need their weight from gravity offloaded to prevent damage to their joints. The joints are not designed to hold their own weight

• Space Dynamics Lab requested our design be able to function in a vacuum to simulate the microgravity environment as closely as possible.

• While gravity offloading systems have been designed in the past, a vacuum-compatible and passive design brings a new and unique challenge

Usu Mars Rover Team, Usu Department Of Mechanical And Aerospace Engineering

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The University Rover Challenge capstone project presents university students the opportunity to design, fabricate and test a rover to compete in the annual international Mars Society URC Competition held in Hanksville, Utah. The URC Competition consists of four separate missions including Extreme Retrieval & Delivery, Equipment Servicing, Science, and Autonomous Traversal. Each mission requires advanced subsystems onboard the rover to accomplish mission tasks in a timely manner.

The 2020 USU URC team is divided up into four subteams to accomplish each mission including Power/Drive, Navigation/Communications/Autonomy, Operations, and Science. Admission to the URC Competition is highly competitive since the competition is …

Westech Process Control, William Clarke, Ammon Mccarthy

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The WesTech Engineering company is looking into utilizing MatLab Simulink to increase productivity.

Zagg Innovation Program: Led Focusing Case, Kyle Douglas, Travis Halverson, Derek Wilkins, Jessica Williams

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Background: The ZAGG Innovation Program has the goal of creating innovative concepts and products for the telecommunication and consumer electronic retail channels.

Chosen Product: After deliberating over 30 generated product ideas with ZAGG representatives, the team chose to develop a phone case that would focus a cellphone camera flash into a practical flashlight beam.

Product Goals:

• Decrease beam angle and light increase projection distance

• Durability to withstand regular use and drops

• Keep the product as simple as possible, with minimal added bulk and parts

• Case will not obstruct the field of view of …

Uas For Public Safety Operations: A Comparison Of Uas Point Clouds To Terrestrial Lidar Point Cloud Data Using A Faro Scanner, Joseph S. Cerreta, Scott S. Burgess, Jeremy Coleman

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) can be useful tools for public safety agencies during crime or vehicle accident scene investigations if it can provide value to the resource-constrained agency. The speed of data collection, while minimizing first responder risk, while sustaining an acceptable level of accuracy and precision compared to other tools is where the agency may find value. During a recent homicide investigation in Florida, a UAS provided saved 81% in law enforcement labor hours with an acceptable level of accuracy compared to traditional methods. The purpose of this research was to compare UAS to determine if there were differences …

Identify Aerodynamic Derivatives Of The Airplane Attitude Channel Using A Spiking Neural Network, Nguyen Quang Vinh, Nguyen Duc Thanh, Hoang Minh Dac, Truong Dang Khoa

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The paper proposes a method for identifying aerodynamic coefficient derivatives of aircraft attitude channel using spiking neural network (SNN) and Gauss-Newton algorithm based on data obtained from actual flights. Using SNN combination with Gauss-Newton iterative calculation algorithm allows the identification of aerodynamic coefficient derivatives in a nonlinear model for aerodynamic parameters with higher accuracy and faster calculation time. The paper proposes an algorithm to train the SNN multi-layer network by Normalized Spiking Error Back Propagation (NSEBP), in which, in the forward propagation period, the time of output spikes is calculating by solving quadratic equations instead of detection by traditional methods. …

Low Thrust And Low Power Propulsion Systems Options For Small Satellites, Redha Amri

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The present work focuses on the study of low thrust propulsion systems. Cold gas, thermal and monopropellant systems with a blow down depressurisation mode have been taken in consideration in this study. Most of propellants that can be used for small satellite propulsion systems were selected here in order to give the propulsion engineer many propellant options with a good idea about the performance of each propellant, and this is important to make a good trade-off during the system design. For cold gas and thermal propulsion, the propellants taken into account in this study are: Oxygen (O2), Nitrogen (N2), Hydrogen …

Performance Characteristics Design Of Pulsed Plasma Thrusters For Drag Counter-Reacting, Dr. Sam Dakka

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Determining the performance characteristics of off the shelf pulsed plasma thrusters to enhance the life time of low earth orbiting platforms was investigated theoretically. Pulsed plasma thruster analysis was accomplished through development of correlations from historical data that distinguished between breech fed propellant to side fed propellant designs. Based on semi-empirical equations the power required by the thruster to counter react the drag was estimated and mapped for 1U to 27U CubeSat configurations for altitude ranging between 200km to 600km. It appears that the power required is dependent on the feeding delivery system design. For side fed designs the power …

Solar One: A Proposal For The First Crewed Interstellar Spacecraft, Alberto Caballero

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

In this paper it is presented the concept and design of a new type of spacecraft that could be used to make the first manned interstellar travel. Solar one would integrate three near-term technologies, namely: compact nuclear fusion reactors, extremely large light sails, and high-energy laser arrays. A system of lenses or mirrors to propel the sail with sunlight is suggested as an alternative to laser propulsion. With a mile-long light sail, Solar One could reach an average of 22% the speed of light, arriving to the closest potentially habitable exoplanet in less than 19 years with the help of …

Experimental Evaluation Of Strength Degradation Temperature For Carbon Epoxy Filament Wound Composite, Jai Krishna Mishra, Surya Prakash Rao Ch Dr, Subhash Chandra Bose P Dr, Kishore Nath N Dr, Rama Rao Golla Mr

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Polymeric composites have been widely used in various structural and thermal aerospace applications. Polymeric composites having high strength and high modulus reinforcement are ideally suited for lot of critical aerospace applications as structure is designed with high specific strength and high specific modulus. In case of launch vehicles/ missile one such application is design and manufacturing of solid rocket motor casing with polymeric composites as it give high performance and reduces inert weight of propulsion system. The high specific strength and high specific modulus of composite materials makes it ideal choice for designing the composite rocket motor case (CRMC). These …