Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

Examination Of Micromotion-Induced Transient Effects Of Brain Tissue Interfaced With A Neural Probe, Michael A. Polanco

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Neural probes are utilized to obtain information regarding the activity of brain cells for neural stimulation. The functional longevity of a probe is dependent upon its ability to minimize injury risk during insertion and the recording period in vivo, which could be related to micromotion-related strain between the probe and surrounding tissue. A series of finite element analyses were conducted using the nonlinear transient dynamic code LSDYNA (LSTC, Livermore, CA) to study the strain induced within the brain in an area around a neural probe. A variety of displacement pulses were input into the brain, first where a high magnitude, …

Identifiability Of Additive, Time-Varying Actuator And Sensor Faults By State Augmentation, Jason M. Upchurch

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Faults in dynamical systems can have serious safety and reliability implications. For example, actuator and sensor faults have been factors in past incidents and mishaps in many aerospace systems. A large body of research is devoted to developing methods to detect and identify actuator and sensor faults in such systems.

One fault detection and identification menthol employs state augmentation, whereby a set of time-varying faults of interest are modeled as outputs of exogenous linear, time-invariant systems and augmented to the state of the nominal system model. The resulting model represents the system dynamics due to a particular actuator-sensor fault configuration. …

Mapping Automotive Like Controls To A General Aviation Aircraft, Christopher G. Carvalho

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to develop fly-by-wire control laws enabling a general aviation aircraft to be flown with automotive controls, i.e. a steering wheel and gas/brake pedals. There was a six speed shifter used to change the flight mode of the aircraft. This essentially allows the pilot to have control over different aspects of the flight profile such as climb/descend or cruise. A highway in the sky was used to aid in the navigation since it is not intuitive to people without flight experience how to navigate from the sky or when to climb and descend.

Many believe …

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

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

Lecture preview on "Space Radiation Environment" created by Professor Bob Twiggs on September 24, 2013.

Space Radiation Environment: Sse 120 By Richard Mcneil, Richard Mcneil

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint presentation delivered by Richard McNeil on "Space Radiation Environment" on September 24, 2013.

Cosmic Perspective: Where Is Space, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint presentation created by Bob Twigg on September 19, 2013, related to the "Cosmic Perspective."

Compression Properties And Damage Mechanisms Of Stitched Carbon/Epoxy Composites, Arief Yudhanto, Naoyuki Watanabe, Yutaka Iwahori, Hikaru Hoshi

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The effect of stitching on compression properties and damage mechanisms of carbon/epoxy composites is experimentally investigated. The waviness angle of load-bearing tows is also measured in both in-plane and out-of-plane directions, and a correlation is made between compression strength and the waviness angle. It is found that stitching generally reduces the compression strength of carbon/epoxy composites of up to 16%. The average compression strength has a stronger correlation with the in-plane waviness angle rather than the out-of-plane one. A comparative damage assessment, which studies the initiation, progression and final failure in stitched and unstitched composites under axial compression, reveals that …

Elements Of Space Chapter 2: Entering Space & The Age Of Rockets, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint Presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs titled "Elements of Space Chapter 2: Entering Space & The Age of Rockets" from September 3, 2013.

Adopting A Kinetic Energy Recovery System For Helicopters, Nihad E. Daidzic

Aviation Department Publications

No abstract provided.

Qualitative Methods Used To Develop And Characterize The Circulation Control System On Cal Poly's Amelia, Eric N. Paciano

Master's Theses

The circulation control system onboard Cal Poly's Advanced Model for Extreme Lift and Improved Aeroacoustics was a critical component of a highly complex wind tunnel model produced in order to fulfill the requirements of a NASA Research Announcement awarded to David Marshall of the Aerospace Engineering Department. The model was based on a next generation, 150 passenger, regional, cruise efficient, short take-off and landing concept aircraft that achieved high lift through circulation control wings and over-the-wing mounted engines. The wind tunnel model was 10-ft in span, used turbine propulsion simulators, and had a functioning circulation control system driven from tunnel …

Scattering, Adsorption, And Langmuir-Hinshelwood Desorption Models For Physisorptive And Chemisorptive Gas-Surface Systems, Brook I. Bentley

Theses and Dissertations

Surface effects limit the performance of hypersonic vehicles, micro-electro-mechanical devices, and directed energy systems. This research develops methods to predict adsorption, scattering, and thermal desorption of molecules on a surface. These methods apply to physisorptive (adsorption and scattering) and chemisorptive (thermal desorption) gas-surface systems, and are developed under the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo construct. The novel adsorption and scattering contribution, the Modified Kisliuk with Scattering method, predicts angular and energy distributions, and adsorption probabilities. These results agree more closely with experiment than the state-of-the-art Cercignani-Lampis-Lord scattering kernel. Super-elastic scattering is predicted. Gas-adlayer interactions are included for the first time. The …

Trajectory Optimization For Spacecraft Collision Avoidance, James W. Sales Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The last several decades have resulted in an unfortunate byproduct of space exploration and development: orbital debris. Satellites in Low Earth Orbit have been required to make an ever increasing number of course corrections in order to avoid collisions. Despite efforts to the contrary, collisions continue to occur, each time creating additional debris and increasing the requirement for the remaining satellites to maneuver. Every required maneuver decreases a satellite's service life. The purpose of this study is to develop a minimum thrust profile to maneuver an orbiting satellite out of its projected error ellipse before a collision occurs. For comparison, …

Characterizing G-Loading, Swirl Direction And Rayleigh Losses In An Ultra Compact Combustor, Jacob D. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has been conducted showing significant benefits on combustion efficiency and stability by creating high centripetally accelerated, also known as g-loaded, combustion environments. Ultra Compact Combustor systems decrease size and weight of the overall engine by burning in a circumferential direction around a hybrid vane row where the high equivalence ratio cavity flow is quick quenched to lean by the core flow. The hybrid vane row integrates the compressor, combustor, and turbine for further length reduction and weight savings. Fuel and air are brought into the cavity and combusted in a high g-loaded environment driven by air injection at …

Architecting Integrated System Health Management For Airworthiness, Kerwin C. Teong

Theses and Dissertations

Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) has been a new area of research - seeking to provide situational awareness to mission and maintenance operations, and for improved decision-making with increased self-autonomy. This research effort developed an analytic architecture and an associated discrete-event simulation using Arena® to investigate the potential benefits of ISHM implementation onboard an UAS. The objective of this research is two-fold: firstly, to achieve continued airworthiness by investigating the potential extension of UAS expected lifetime through ISHM implementation, and secondly, to reduce life cycle costs by implementing a Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) policy with better …

Correlational Study Of Open Circuit Resonant (Sansec) Sensor’S Electric Field Distribution On Lightning Attachment, Kayla M. Farrow, Linda L. Vahala

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) is conducting research to develop an open circuit SansEC (Sans Electric Connection) sensor to provide lightning strike protection (LSP) in conjunction with damage detection and diagnosis for composite aircraft. SansEC sensors are simplistic devices consisting of an open circuit conductive trace shaped in a planar geometric spiral. The length and width of the conductive trace as well as the gap separation between adjacent turns determines the inductance, resistance and capacitance of the LRC circuit and its associated resonant response. When the sensor is placed on a composite substrate, the electric impedance of the substrate is …

Assessment - Introduction To Sse-120: Sataellites & Space Systems I, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

PowerPoint presentation for Introduction to SSE-120: Sataellites & Space Systems I - Assessment given by Bob Twiggs on August 19, 2013 at Morehead State University.

Work Ethics For Sse-122: Satellites & Space Systems (Fall 2013), Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

PowerPoint presentation by Professor Bob Twiggs on work ethics for SSE-122: Satellites & Space Systems for the fall 2013 semester, created on August 8, 2013.

Introduction To Sse-120: Sataellites & Space Systems I, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

PowerPoint presentation for Introduction to SSE-120: Sataellites & Space Systems I given by Bob Twiggs on August 6, 2013 at Morehead State University.

Mechanical Design Of Pird (Principal Investigator Rack Drawer) For Sofia, Hari Prasad Shetty Mr., Murali Krishna Kandlagunta Mrs., John Miles Mr., Zaheer Ali Mr.

STAR Program Research Presentations

SOFIA, the world’s largest airborne observatory with 2.5-meter diameter infrared telescope is equipped with 7 instruments: EXES, FIFI-LS, FLITECAM, FORCAST, GREAT, HAWC, and HIPO. Flying at altitudes between 39,000 and 45,000 feet, SOFIA avoids 99% of the atmospheric water vapor, records and analyzes the infrared radiation from the cosmos. SOFIA is able to observe the occultation of stars by solar system objects. By determining the size, compositions, and atmospheric structures of these objects, SOFIA can help answer the questions on creation and evolution of the universe, formation of the stars and planets, and nature of black hole at the center …

If It Isn’T Tested, It Doesn’T Work: Automated Verification Of Sofia Data Handling Software, Garrett Holthaus, Brett Stroozas, Zaheer Ali

STAR Program Research Presentations

This project involves writing code to automate the verification testing of the Data Handling Working Group (DHWG) software tools for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). The DHWG tools extract engineering data from SOFIA missions. Engineering data includes a variety of information on the operations and status of SOFIA systems during a flight, including computer network traffic, user commands, and images acquired from cameras mounted on the telescope assembly. It is important to review engineering data because this data can lead to the discovery of any problems or inefficiencies in SOFIA hardware and software. Analysis of engineering data can …