Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

Cubesat Astronomy Mission Modeling Using The Horizon Simulation Framework, Alexander W. Johnson

Master's Theses

The CubeSat Astronomy Network is a proposed system of multiple CubeSat spacecraft capable of performing follow-up observations of astronomical targets of interest. The system is intended to serve as a space-borne platform that can complement existing systems utilized for astronomical research by undergraduate and high school students. Much research and development work has been performed to develop model-based system engineering methodologies and products for CubeSat missions, including the Horizon Simulation Framework. The Horizon Simulation Framework enables the development of system models using the Extended Markup Language (XML), and its simulation program can generate system simulations over model-specified timespans. System requirements …

Investigation Of The Under-Body Flow Field Of A Prototype Long-Range Electric Vehicle, Matthew P. Nguyen

Master's Theses

This thesis presents changes to the design of the Prototype Vehicles Laboratory (PROVE Lab) Endurance Car, an electric car intended to break the Guinness World Record for the single-charge range of an electric vehicle. The design range is 1609.34 km, however at the design velocity of 104.6 kph, the drag is 196 N; which requires more battery capacity than the 100 kWh maximum of the baseline model. With a fixed frontal area, drag reduction can come from lowered velocity or reduced CD. CD reduction is attempted in four ways: side skirts between the fenders, a raised ride height, an elongated …

Rare But Conceivable: Determining The Likelihood Of Meteors And Other Infrequent Events, Michael S. Schmidt, Maria Vega-Westhoff

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In the aftermath of a rare but devastating disaster, there is a tendency to overestimate how frequent such an event may be, hence a tendency to overestimate the risk associated with such an event. Those concerned with process safety will acknowledge that though rare, events like meteors, hurricanes, and airplane crashes that can impact chemical plants are conceivable. Typically, though, they have nothing more than feelings to decide whether these events are likely enough to be considered "credible." This compiles data from the literature for several "meteors," both natural and man-made, that often become a cause of general concern after …

Experimental Investigation Into Utilizing Synthetic Jet Actuators To Suppress Bi-Modal Wake Behavior Behind An Ahmed Body, Daniel Jacob Baratta

Master's Theses

Testing done on the flat-back Ahmed Body and other bluff bodies has shown the existence of a bi-stable reflectional symmetry-breaking wake at Reynolds numbers ranging from 340 to 2.41 x 10⁶. Several methods of flow control, both active and passive, have been used to improve the efficiency of the Ahmed body but their effect on the bi-stable nature of the wake has not been investigated. This work details the experimental investigation done to determine if piezoelectrically driven synthetic jet actuators are capable of suppressing the bi-stable wake effects observed behind the Ahmed Body. The synthetic jets were designed …

Reliability-Based Design Optimization Of Load Sharing Systems Using Ssi-Markov Models, Arun Bala Subramaniyan, Rong Pan, Xiaoping Du

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents a novel single loop approach to design the components of the load sharing systems by optimally allocating the failure probabilities to each component, thereby satisfying the overall system reliability requirement. The Reliability–Based Design Optimization (RBDO) of load sharing systems is computationally intensive due to the dynamic nature of component failure probabilities, since the failure of one component will vary the failure probabilities of other working components. Many RBDO methods have been successfully utilized to design individual components, however using these methods for handling system level reliability constraints is still a challenging task. This is because of a …

A Comparison Of Crushing Parameters Of Graphite Composite Thin-Walled Cylinders Cured In Low And High Pressures, Trenton John Matson

Master's Theses

Out-of-Autoclave (OoA) processes for manufacturing aerospace-grade parts needs to be better understood to further the development and success of industries that are manufacturing reusable launch vehicles, military and commercial aircraft, and spacecraft. Overcoming the performance limitations associated with OoA, also known as low-pressure prepreg curing, methods (void count, energy absorption, etc.) will help decrease the costs associated with aerospace composite manufacturing and the negative environmental effects correlated with high-pressure composite curing methods. Experimental, theoretical, and numerical approaches are used to explore both low and high-pressure curing cycles and how the two different processes affect final cured parts. Quasi-static uniaxial compression …

Effects Of Carbon-Based Ablation Products On Hypersonic Boundary Layer Stability, Olivia S. Elliott

Theses and Dissertations

Hypersonic vehicles require an accurate prediction of the transition of the boundary layer for the design of the thermal protection system due to the high heating rates under turbulent flow. Many thermal protection systems are carbon-based and introduce new species, specifically CO₂, into the boundary layer flow which are known to dampen the instabilities that lead to transition for hypersonic vehicles. A Computation Fluid Dynamics study was accomplished examining the concentration of CO₂ required to impact boundary layer transition over both sharp and blunt cones. These results were used in conjunction with air-carbon ablation models models to …

Ion Software-Defined Radio Metadata Standard Final Report, Sanjeev Gunawardena, Alexander Rugamer, Muhammad Subhan Hameed, Markel Arizabaleta, Thomas Pany, Javier Arribas

Faculty Publications

The ION GNSS SDR Metadata Standard describes the formatting and other essential PNT-related parameters of sampled data streams and files. This allows processors to seamlessly consume such data without the need to input these parameters manually. The technical development phase of the initial version of the standard has now been deemed complete and is currently undergoing the last remaining procedural steps towards adoption as a formal standard by the Institute of Navigation. This paper reports on the activities of the working group since September 2018 and summarizes the final products of the standard. It also reports on examples of early …

Thermal Bending, Buckling And Post-Buckling Analysis Of Unsymmetrically Laminated Composite Beams With The Effects Of Moisture And Geometric Imperfections, Claudia Barreno

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

This thesis is concerned with the analytical study of the thermal bending, buckling, and post-buckling of unsymmetrically laminated composite beams with imperfection under hygrothermal effects. Three different boundary conditions will be considered on this study. The non-linear governing partial differential equations are derived by taking into account the von-Karman geometrical nonlinearity for an imperfect unsymmetrical laminated composite beam. Classical beam theory (CBT) as well as first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) will be used. The effects of temperature, angle of orientation, moisture variations, imperfection, and geometrical parameters, will be evaluated and discussed. Two different laminated composite laminates will be considered: …

Hybrid Structural Composites With Energy Harvesting Capabilities, Simon Furnes

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Hybrid materials have received significant interest due to the potential enhancements they provide over traditional materials such as sensing, actuating, energy scavenging, thermal management, and vibration damping. While traditional materials can be utilized for either one of these functions or loadbearing, the hybrid materials are superior as they allow combination of a wide array of functionalities whilst being suitable for load-bearing purposes.

The goal of this thesis is to elucidate the synergistic effects of hybridization of two piezoelectric materials; zinc oxide nanowires (ZnO NWs) and thin film of lead zirconium titanate (PZT) on the mechanical and energy harvesting of beams …

Multimode Nonlinear Vibration Analysis Of Stiffened Functionally Graded Double Curved Shells In A Thermal Environment, Boutros Azizi

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The motivation of the current work is to develop a multi-modal analysis of the nonlinear response of stiffened double curved shells made of functionally graded materials under thermal loads. The formulation is based on the first order shear deformation shell theory in conjunction with the von Kármán geometrical nonlinear strain-displacement relationships. The nonlinear equations of motion of stiffened double curved shell based on the extended Sanders’s theory were derived using Galerkin’s method. The resulting system of infinite nonlinear ordinary differential equations, that includes both cubic and quadratic nonlinear terms, was solved using a nonlinear dynamic software XPPAUT to obtain the …

A Volume-Force Synthetic Disturbance Approach For High-Fidelity Of Unsteady Fluid Structure Interactions, Marina Kazarina

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the momentum source model, for generating synthetic vortical disturbance field in numerical simulations of unsteady fluid-structure interactions, access limitations of this approach, to find requirements for the computational domain, space and time resolution, and apply this model to investigate selected physical problems. For this reason a comprehensive parametric study of volume-force based method of generating spectral synthetic turbulence inside the computational domain is conducted first. The method is then extended to synthesize turbulence with arbitrary energy spectrum. The synthetic turbulence is generated through momentum source terms in Navier-Stokes equations, and the developed …

Improving Boron For Combustion Applications, Kerri-Lee Annique Chintersingh

Dissertations

Boron has received much attention as a potential additive to explosives and propellants due to its high theoretical gravimetric and volumetric heating values. The challenge, however, is that boron particles tend to agglomerate, have lengthy ignition delays and very low combustion rates. Prior research indicates that boron’s long ignition delays are due to its inhibiting naturally occurring oxide layer, impeding the diffusion of reactants for oxidation. For combustion, current studies report that boron particles have two consecutive stages, but the actual reaction mechanism is poorly understood. Despite many years of relevant research, quantitative combustion data on micron-sized boron particles are …

Cislunar Trajectory Generation With Sun-Exclusion Zone Constraints Using A Genetic Algorithm And Direct Method Hybridization, Joshua A. Ostman

Theses and Dissertations

Space missions to the Moon have received renewed interest in recent decades. Science missions continue to be sent to the Moon, and several space agencies have aspirations of establishing a human presence on the Moon. With the increased number of artificial objects in cislunar space, the problem of tracking these objects arises. Optical sensors are able to track these objects in deep space. However, optical sensors cannot track objects that are close to the Sun as viewed from the observer. This unobservable region is the Sun-exclusion zone (SEZ). This research attempts to create optimal Moon-Earth transfers which are completely in …

Research On Double-Stack Container Transport Organization In International Multimodal Transport, Xi Zhu

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Optimization Of The Dedicated Corridor System Connecting Bohai Rim Gateways, Xinyi Shi

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Lifestyle And Solutions: An Investigation Of Fatigue In Collegiate Aviation, Aaron Teo, Erik Levin

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Micrometeoroid Impacts On Periodic Spacecraft Structures, Victoria West, Luis Buades, Hanson-Lee Harjono

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Origins Of Space Food From Mercury To Apollo, Celine Chang

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Simplified 2d Skin Lattice Models For Multi-Axial Camber Morphing Wing Aircraft, Bashir Alsaidi, Woong Yeol Joe, Muhammad Akbar

Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Faculty Research

Conventional fixed wing aircraft require a selection of certain thickness of skin material that guarantees structural strength for aerodynamic loadings in various flight modes. However, skin structures of morphing wings are expected to be flexible as well as stiff to structural and coupled aerodynamic loadings from geometry change. Many works in the design of skin structures for morphing wings consider only geometric compliance. Among many morphing classifications, we consider camber rate change as airfoil morphing that changes its rate of the airfoil that induces warping, twisting, and bending in multi-axial directions, which makes compliant skin design for morphing a challenging …