Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

Modification Of A Low Cost Vacuum Chamber For Use With An Electromagnetic Railgun, Jason M. Bertels

Aerospace Engineering

This report details the design and manufacture of modifications to a low cost vacuum chamber intended for railgun operations. These modifications intend to increase the functionality of the chamber and enable the modeling of high velocity impacts in a space. The original vacuum chamber was constructed primarily from polyvinyl chloride to meet the low cost design constraints, which limits pressures obtainable to the low vacuum region (760 Torr to 2 Torr). Modifications include construction of a space-saving storage rack, replacement of external door supports, installation of an internal guide rail, and installation of electrical feedthroughs.

Computational And Experimental Comparison Of A Powered Lift, Upper Surface Blowing Configuration, Jay M. Marcos

Master's Theses

In the past, 2D CFD analysis of Circulation Control technology have shown poor comparison with experimental results. In Circulation Control experiments, typical results show a relationship between lift coefficient, CL, vs blowing momentum coefficient, Cμ. CFD analysis tend to over-predict values of CL due to gridding issues and/or turbulence model selection. This thesis attempted to address both issues by performing Richardson’s Extrpolation method to determine an acceptable mesh size and by using FLUENT’s 2-equation turbulence models. The experimental results and CAD geometry were obtained from Georgia Tech Research Institute for comparison with the CFD analysis.

The study showed that 3D …

Satellite Orbits An Introduction To Orbital Mechanics, Ben Malphrus

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint presentation delivered by Professor Ben Malphrus on "Satellite Orbits An Introduction to Orbital Mechanics" on October 31, 2013.

Set-Up Of Digital Image Correlation Apparatus, German A. Parada, Michael Sangid

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is a valuable and customizable experimental technique employed to analyze localized strain regions on materials by tracking the displacement of points on the surface of the studied material under applied stress. To investigate materials behavior, it is vital to correctly set-up the DIC apparatus so work has been done to ready the equipment to start measurements on two distinct projects. On the first project, the fatigue crack behavior of a high-strength aluminum alloy will be studied by cyclic loading, testing necessary for the safe design of aircraft parts utilizing this novel alloy. DIC will be carried …

Advanced Visualization Techniques Of Hot-Jet Combustion Of Lean And Ultra-Lean Substances, Timothy I. Machin, Li Qiao

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Research has been conducted on ignition of natural gas as a potential replacement for fossil fuels. A reason natural gas is not widely used and adapted is because of the harmful emissions created when combusted in rich mixtures, but if the gas can be burned at a lean or ultra-lean equivalence ratio, these emissions can be reduced or even eliminated. One method of burning lean and ultra-lean substances is by use of hot-jet ignition. This method ignites the substance near its combustion temperature, reducing the harmful emissions. This method is not yet fully understood, and so research must be done …

High-Order Shock Capturing For Computational Aeroacoustics, Samuel Otto, Gregory Blaisdell

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Jet noise is not only an annoyance to passengers and communities near airports, it is a major contributor to hearing loss in veterans who served on aircraft carriers, as well as a significant limiting factor for the growth of commercial airlines. High-fidelity large eddy simulation (LES) is an important tool for analyzing and predicting jet noise; however the utilized non-dissipative high order finite difference schemes produce instabilities at shock waves. Schemes for capturing shock waves, however, are more dissipative and do a poor job preserving turbulent structures and acoustic waves. To maximize the strengths of both approaches, hybrid methods utilize …

Interaction Model Of Functions In The National Airspace System, Nathan F. Koerschner, Steven J. Landry

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The National Airspace System (NAS) is comprehensively described by five functions derived from big-picture goals: (1) conflict detection and resolution, (2) controlling aircraft states, (3) traffic flow management, (4) controlling passenger states, and (5) controlling company resources. It can be reasonably assumed that these functions interact in some way; this interaction is currently unknown. A model of the entire NAS would be helpful in discovering these interactions, yet no such comprehensive model exists. To address this problem an agent-based state-based model was created in MATLAB. To date, only functions (1) and (2) were implemented. Running the model shows that there …

Validation Of Long-Fiber Thermoplastic Composite Models, Christian A. Vuong, Megan Kinney, Michael Sangid

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

With increased pressure to reduce energy consumption, long-fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites (LFTs) are of interest to aerospace and automotive industries due to their light weight in combination with other desirable mechanical properties and ease of manufacturing to replace common materials such as aluminum and magnesium. However, the performance of LFTs is highly dependent on microstructural variables such as fiber length and orientation, which are heavily influenced by the manufacturing process. Accurately predicting these factors would allow for more rapid advances in LFTs by reducing the experiments needed for certification and decreasing expenses. While models that serve this purpose exist, the …

The Stability And Control Of The Single Track Vehicles, Shyngys Karimov, Martin Corless

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Bicycles, motorcycles and scooters are all examples of the single track vehicles. The dynamics of the single track vehicle involve many degrees of freedom and various modes which govern its performance, making a complicated and interesting research topic. Motorcycle in motion can roll, yaw, and steer about the steering axis. It has three main modes which determine the motion and stability of it, they are weave, capsize, and wobble. The motorcycle performance is limited by the behavior of its modes, and if even one of the modes becomes unstable, the vehicle will roll over, and crash. The goal of this …

Remote Sensing Using Signals Of Opportunity, Alibek Yertay, James L. Garrison

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Today, there are more than eight thousand satellites in space. Therefore, Radio Frequency (RF) signals broadcast from satellites can be accessed from almost every point on the earth. There will be number of satellites available at most points on earth with different frequency bands. These satellite signals can be used for remote sensing, therefore software that visualizes footprints of satellites and shows characteristics of every satellite available at any point would be useful in determining which signals are available for reflectometry, method where direct satellite signals and reflected satellite signals are received and compared for analysis of certain area. There …

Testing Of Gelled And Neat Hypergolic Propellants, Bhuvi Swarna Nirudhoddi, Timothee Pourpoint

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Hypergolic propellants (hypergols) are propellants that ignite shortly after contact. They omit the requirement of an ignition system, making hypergolic engines simple, reliable and capable of being throttled several times. These advantages make them desirable for deep space missions. However, the applications are severely limited by their toxicity and reactivity. In an effort to increase the safety of manufacturing, shipping, and storing, these propellants can be combined with different gelling agents. The focus of this project is to build an optically accessible combustion chamber pressurized at 200 psi to compare the performance of gelled and neat Monomethyl Hydrazine (MMH) and …

Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Simulation Toolkit For Equilibrium (0d) And Planar Couette Flow (1d), Austin I. Saragih, Alina A. Alexeenko

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Visualized simulation tool of Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) is essential in aeronautical engineering and gas dynamics, by presenting information that can educate engineers and scientists to preliminarily understand the molecular gas dynamics and direct simulation of gas flows. Two educational tools and models are described for rarified gas flows and simulated particle collisions. A 0-Dimensional DSMC in approach to translational equilibrium was developed to simulate the speed distribution over time and the comparison between the final distribution and the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. A 1-Dimensional DSMC for Planar Couette flow was also developed to calculate the number of strikes of the …

Space Systems Engineering Sse 120 - Fall 2013 Space Lecture, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

Space Systems Engineering SSE 120 - Fall 2013, Space Lecture presented by Professor Bob Twiggs on October 15, 2013.

Space Environment-I Lecture - Powerpoint Presentation, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

Professor Bob Twiggs PowerPoint lecture on Space Environment presented on October 14, 2013.

Space Systems Engineering Sse 120 - Space Lecture, Fall 2013, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

Professor Bob Twiggs' preview questions for his space lecture on Space Systems Engineering SSE 120 delivered on October 14, 2013.

High Frequency Combustion Instability Suppression Through The Application Of Varying Bands Of White Noise, John W. Bennewitz

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Satellite Configuration For Neo Management, Luke Burgess, Grant Bergstue, Spencer Cole, Richard Fork

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Experimental Investigation Of Orifice-Induced, Cavitation Feedline Instabilities, Matthew A. Hitt

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Ambient: Affordable Microsatellite Based Internet Access And Environmental Monitoring, Tyler Maddox

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Defect Detectability Improvement For Conventional Friction Stir Welds, Chris Hill

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.