Providing Rational For Further Funding Additive Manufacturing Efforts In The Air Force,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Providing Rational For Further Funding Additive Manufacturing Efforts In The Air Force, Trever J. Braunberger
Theses and Dissertations
Extremely long lead times for legacy aircraft replacement parts often exceed 120 days and cost 3 to 4 times the original price drives a search for alternative manufacturing methods such as additive manufacturing. Currently, the method to procuring a legacy replacement for aircraft such as the C-130 is daunting and at times, impossible. Through a comprehensive knowledge collection of organizational data the Air Force body of knowledge increases and provides actionable data to decision makers which has the potential of dramatically decreasing part wait times and procurement. The proposed, intuitive decision analysis framework mapped out in this research provides relevant …
Vote Forecasting Using Multi-Objective Decision Analysis,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Vote Forecasting Using Multi-Objective Decision Analysis, Connor G. Crandall
Theses and Dissertations
In December 2018, the United States Federal Government began what would become the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. This was the 21st shutdown since the adoption of the current appropriations process and 4th of the last decade. These shutdowns occur after government departments and agencies submit budget requests to Congress and the legislature is unable to come to an agreement to pass an appropriations bill. There is no clear solution to this problem. But this study hypothesizes that government departments and agencies could benefit from considering the political viability of their own budget requests prior to submitting them to …
Investigating Lifecycle Costs Of Optimized Battery-Photovoltaic Systems On A Forward Operating Base,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Investigating Lifecycle Costs Of Optimized Battery-Photovoltaic Systems On A Forward Operating Base, Neal S. Fennell
Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this research was to investigate the total life-cycle cost of using utility-scale battery systems to increase the energy efficiency of forward operating bases, thereby reducing the burden of diesel fuel logistics. Specifically, this thesis answered three research questions addressing optimal sizing for various battery types connected with photovoltaic grids, logistical parameters directly impacting total cost, and the cost of increasing the energy resilience of the network. The research questions were answered through a review of literature, modeling, and data analysis. The model determines an optimal size and area for a Vanadium redox flow, Lithium-ion, or Lead-acid battery …
Trade-Space Analysis Of A Small Unmanned Vehicle System For Radiological Search Missions,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Trade-Space Analysis Of A Small Unmanned Vehicle System For Radiological Search Missions, Sam B. Harriger
Theses and Dissertations
Nuclear and radiological terrorism is a persistent threat to United States national security. The research and development of new technological capabilities is vital to bolstering emergency response and prevention capabilities in support of national security initiatives. This research characterized the applicable trade-space for a system of unmanned vehicles deployed for search, detection, and identification of radiological source material. Exploration included the development of a CONOPS, a functional decomposition and physical allocation, design considerations, and an analysis of feasibility and utility. The concept system comprises of a ground control station, ground vehicle, hybrid-electric multirotor, and fixed-wing vehicle with an open architecture …
Golng Off The Grid: Optimizing Solar Renewable Energy Systems At Remote Locations To Minimize Logistics Requirements, Increase Sustainability, And Strengthen Energy Assurance,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Golng Off The Grid: Optimizing Solar Renewable Energy Systems At Remote Locations To Minimize Logistics Requirements, Increase Sustainability, And Strengthen Energy Assurance, Nathanael J. Thomsen
Theses and Dissertations
Grid-based electrical infrastructure is unavailable at many remote locations including developing nation communities, isolated construction sites, and military contingency bases. Powering these locations with diesel generators requires regular fuel resupply, resulting in increased costs, environmental impacts, and burdensome logistics—making generators an obstacle for energy resiliency and sustainability. This research examines using solar renewable energy systems to replace generators at remote locations and presents a multi-objective optimization model that minimizes logistics variables. Replacing a single deployed generator would save over 500,000 gal of fuel annually, eliminating the need for 100 fuel tanker deliveries.
Predicting Upper Atmospheric Weather Conditions Utilizing Long-Short Term Memory Neural Networks For Aircraft Fuel Efficiency,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Predicting Upper Atmospheric Weather Conditions Utilizing Long-Short Term Memory Neural Networks For Aircraft Fuel Efficiency, Garrett A. Alarcon
Theses and Dissertations
Aviation fuel is a major component of the Air Force (AF) budget, and vital for the core mission of the AF. This study investigated the viability of LSTMs to increase the accuracy of deterministic NWP models, while also investigating the ability to reduce model generation time. Increased forecast accuracy for wind speeds could be implemented into existing flight path models to further increase fuel efficiency, while reduced modeling times would allow flight planners to generate a flight plan in rapid response situations. The most viable model consisted of an ensemble of six LSTMs trained o six coordinates. The model's error …
Preferred Treatment Methods For Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Preferred Treatment Methods For Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease, James L. Deitschel
Theses and Dissertations
Shared decision making is the concept of physicians involving patients in the treatment planning process. The University of Maryland Medical Center is interested in applying shared decision making to the treatment of patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The two treatment methods analyzed in this study were medical management and surgery. To explore patient preferences between these two alternatives, a discrete choice experiment (DCE) was employed. The responses for the DCE were binary, so logistic regression models were explored. The conditional logistic regression model was determined to be the most appropriate for this analysis. After step-wise regression was performed, a …
Heuristic Approaches For Near-Optimal Placement Of Gps-Based Multi-Static Radar Receivers In American Coastal Waters,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Heuristic Approaches For Near-Optimal Placement Of Gps-Based Multi-Static Radar Receivers In American Coastal Waters, Brandon J. Hufstetler
Theses and Dissertations
Narcotics smuggling across the Caribbean Sea is a growing concern for the United States Coast Guard. One vector for this illicit trafficking is via small aircraft. This thesis proposes a multi-static radar architecture using the Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation as a transmission source to detect these aircraft as they transit a detection fence. The system developed in this thesis relies on the forward-scatter phenomenon in which a radar shadow is cast by a target as it crosses in front of a transmitter, creating a measurable difference in the signal amplitude at the receiver. This thesis first develops a mathematical …
Analysis With Dynamic Bayesian Networks Compared To Simulation,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Analysis With Dynamic Bayesian Networks Compared To Simulation, Aaron J. Salazar
Theses and Dissertations
This research compares simulations to Dynamic Bayesian Networks in analyzing situations. The research applies models that have known output mean and variance. Queueing systems have theoretical values of the steady-state mean and variance for the number of entities in the system. Monte Carlo simulation development is broken down into two separate approaches: discrete-event simulation and time-oriented simulation. The discrete-event simulation uses pseudo-random numbers to schedule and trigger future events (i.e. customer arrivals and services) and is based on the generated objects.The time-oriented simulation utilizes fixed-width time intervals and updates the system state according to a stochastic process for the set …
Analysis And Forecasting Of The 360th Air Force Recruiting Group Goal Distribution,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Analysis And Forecasting Of The 360th Air Force Recruiting Group Goal Distribution, Tyler Spangler
Theses and Dissertations
This research utilizes monthly data from 2012-2017 to determine economic or demographic factors that significantly contribute to increased goaling and production potential in areas of the 360th Recruiting Groups. Using regression analysis, a model of recruiting goals and production is built to identify squadrons within the 360 RCGs zone that are capable of producing more or fewer recruits and the factors that contribute to this increased or decreased capability. This research identifies that a zones high school graduation rate, the number of recruiters, and the number of JROTC detachments in a zone are positively correlated with recruiting goals and that …
Flood Prediction And Uncertainty Estimation Using Deep Learning,
2020
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Flood Prediction And Uncertainty Estimation Using Deep Learning, Vinayaka Gude, Steven Corns, Suzanna Long
Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works
Floods are a complex phenomenon that are difficult to predict because of their non-linear and dynamic nature. Therefore, flood prediction has been a key research topic in the field of hydrology. Various researchers have approached this problem using different techniques ranging from physical models to image processing, but the accuracy and time steps are not sufficient for all applications. This study explores deep learning techniques for predicting gauge height and evaluating the associated uncertainty. Gauge height data for the Meramec River in Valley Park, Missouri was used to develop and validate the model. It was found that the deep learning …
Conduction Mapping For Quality Control Of Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Conduction Mapping For Quality Control Of Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing, Chance M. Baxter
Theses and Dissertations
A process was developed to identify potential defects in previous layers of Selective Laser Melting (SLM) Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) 3D printed metal parts using a mid-IR thermal camera to track infrared 3.8-4 m band emission over time as the part cooled to ambient temperature. Efforts focused on identifying anomalies in thermal conduction. To simplify the approach and reduce the need for significant computation, no attempts were made to calibrate measured intensity, extract surface temperature, apply machine learning, or compare measured cool-down behavior to computer model predictions. Raw intensity cool-down curves were fit to a simplified functional form designed to …
When The Bank Comes To You: Branch Network And Customer Omnichannel Banking Behavior,
2020
Carnegie Mellon University
When The Bank Comes To You: Branch Network And Customer Omnichannel Banking Behavior, Mi Zhou, Dan Geng, Vibhanshu Abhishek, Beibei Li
Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems
Banks today have been increasingly reducing their physical presence and redirecting customers to digital channels, and yet, the consequences of this strategy are not well studied. This paper investigates the effects of banks' branch network changes (i.e., branch openings and branch closures) on customer omnichannel banking behavior. Using approximately 0.85 million (33 months') anonymized individual-level banking transactions from a large commercial bank in the United States, this paper shows the asymmetric effects of branch openings and branch closures on customer omnichannel banking behavior. In particular, we find that branch openings increase customers' branch transactions; however, the first branch opening leads …
Vehicle Routing Problem For Multi-Product Cross-Docking,
2020
Singapore Management University
Vehicle Routing Problem For Multi-Product Cross-Docking, Aldy Gunawan, Audrey Tedja Widjaja, Benjamin Gan, Vincent F. Yu, Panca Jodiawan
Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems
Cross-docking is a logistic technique that can reduce costs occurred in a supply chain network while increasing the flow of goods, thus shortening the shipping cycle. Inside a cross-dock facility, the goods are directly transferred from incoming vehicles to outgoing vehicles without storing them in-between. Our research extends and combines this cross-docking technique with a well-known logistic problem, the vehicle routing problem (VRP), for delivering multiple products and addresses it as the VRP for multi-product cross-docking (VRP-MPCD). We developed a mixed integer programming model and generated two sets of VRP-MPCD instances, which are based on VRPCD instances. The instances are …
Human Performance Modeling: Analysis Of The Effects Of Manned-Unmanned Teaming On Pilot Workload And Mission Performance,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Human Performance Modeling: Analysis Of The Effects Of Manned-Unmanned Teaming On Pilot Workload And Mission Performance, Jinan M. Andrews
Theses and Dissertations
Due to the advent of autonomous technology coupled with the extreme expense of manned aircraft, the Department of Defense (DoD) has increased interest in developing affordable, expendable Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to become autonomous wingmen for jet fighters in mosaic warfare. Like a mosaic that forms a whole picture out of smaller pieces, battlefield commanders can utilize disaggregated capabilities, such as Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T), to operate in contested environments. With a single pilot controlling both the UAVs and manned aircraft, it may be challenging for pilots to manage all systems should the system design not be conducive to a steady …
Preliminary Study Of Communication Network Characterization Towards Improved Organizational Behavior,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Preliminary Study Of Communication Network Characterization Towards Improved Organizational Behavior, Taylor F. Flaxington
Theses and Dissertations
Nearly one third of the Air Force acquisition system’s large programs are over cost and half are over budget; performance must improve. This research applies a systems perspective to this challenge and frames the acquisition system as a complex system of systems. It is a system composed of people in multiple organizations; organizations interacting with one another to develop, acquire and sustain weapon programs. The system’s performance is an emergent behavior of its components (people), structure and processes. Communication networks are a view of a system’s structure, revealing the flows and interactions between components (people) as the system accomplishes its …
A Comparison Of Sbir Investment Methods: Afwerx Vs Legacy,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
A Comparison Of Sbir Investment Methods: Afwerx Vs Legacy, Evan A. Gist
Theses and Dissertations
The AFWERX Open Topic (AOT) program uses funding from the United States Air Force’s (USAF) Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) budget to adapt commercial technology to USAF needs. The AOT approach to small business investment is markedly different from that of legacy SBIR investment methods. This research is a comparison of processes and outcomes for AOT and legacy SBIR. The first axis of comparison is on commercialization rates. Applying a legacy definition of commercialization on a sample of AOT contracts, we found AOT’s commercialization to be 37% (compared to an 8.8% for legacy SBIR). We caveat this finding by …
Evaluation Framework For Cislunar Space Domain Awareness (Sda) Systems,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Evaluation Framework For Cislunar Space Domain Awareness (Sda) Systems, Simon R. Knister
Theses and Dissertations
Modern space missions are increasingly transiting cislunar space, requiring expansion of existing Space Traffic Management (STM) functions. Legacy Space Domain Awareness (SDA) systems were not purpose-built to detect and track cislunar objects, which could require acquisition of a new system of systems. There are numerous parameters that could be varied for each system, as well as the type and location of systems across the architecture. This research attempts to solve this problem by applying a model-based systems engineering (MBSE) approach to assess the performance and financial burden of a given system of systems. Fitness metrics are developed based upon the …
Recognizing Potential Cyberspace Warriors Through The Use Of Suspicion Propensity Index,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Recognizing Potential Cyberspace Warriors Through The Use Of Suspicion Propensity Index, Meghan G. Strang
Theses and Dissertations
The Air Force currently suffers from excessively high attrition rates in the cyberspace career. The field is currently aiming to develop an entrance examination for the career, striving to improve personnel selection and decrease these high attrition rates. The attribute of suspicion is a key focus of the preliminary examination development, theorizing that it is a potential indicator present among competent cyber operators. This research makes use of the Suspicion Propensity Index (SPI), a reliable measure of one’s tendency to be suspicious, along with the highly cited Mayer’s trust questionnaire in order to compare the attributes that appear in successful …
Defense Contractor Profit,
2020
Air Force Institute of Technology
Defense Contractor Profit, Clayton S. Eilert
Theses and Dissertations
This research seeks to achieve two objectives: 1) to provide a comprehensive survey of research related to defense contractor profitability, and 2) to conduct an updated analysis of such profitability. No previous comprehensive survey of the topic was found in the academic literature. Therefore, the provision of such a survey may significantly benefit future researchers. A paucity of recent defense contractor profit research related was identified; only one published study analyzed data after 2000 and none used data more recent than 2010. This research reconciles the gap in recent defense contractor profit studies via objective two. Panel data analysis is …
