Engineering Commons^™

A Study Of Fidelity Level And Task/Non-Task Based Testing Scenarios On The Effectiveness Of Usability Testing, Joshua R. Dolecal

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Advances in usability are directing developers towards creating a better and all around friendlier environment for users. Unlike when buying a physical product where you purchase it first and then experience its usability, web site usability is immediately present. So, if a site doesn't meet our needs, we as users, are quick to look elsewhere. Some research has suggested that fidelity makes no significant impact on users' ability to locate errors or problems in a web site. This paper is intends to investigate the interaction between fidelity and task vs. non-task user testing with regards to the types of problems …

Development & Validation Of The Acoustic Analogy Code For Jet Noise Predictions, Leonardo A. Bueno-Benitez

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

In this thesis, the numerical code for predicting the far-field sound radiated from a localized sound source is developed based on Lighthill's acoustic analogy theory. The acoustic analogy equation allows calculating the sound intensity in terms of the integral over the volume with distributed Lighthill tensor of unsteady flow fluctuations. A FORTRAN code is written to perform the integration using Simpson's numeric technique. The procedure for validating the code against the test case for the sound source in the form of a Gaussian pulse is examined. Future application of the code to predict acoustic radiation from turbulent jets is briefly …

An Analysis Of The Effects That Several Design Variables Have On The Accuracy And Precision Of Glass’ Delta And Hedges’ G, Joshua N. Dryer

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Effect size is the standardized effect that some treatment has on a sample of a population. In particular, Hedges' g and Glass delta are mean difference effect size estimators that are used to compute the effect sizes found in an experimental situation. A confidence interval is an interval placed around a point estimate that indicates the precision with which the point estimate can be made. This paper provides an explanation of the concept of effect size estimation and confidence interval calculation, the different methods that can be used to calculate effect sizes and confidence intervals, and applies these methods in …

Are Four-Year Universities Better Than Two-Year Colleges At Preparing Students To Pass The Faa Aircraft Mechanic Certification Written Examinations?, Jeffrey Bruce Summey, Marian C. Schultz, James T. Schultz

Publications

This study evaluates differences between two-year and four-year schools offering a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 147 aviation maintenance technician program. The actual average test scores were analyzed to determine whether students from four-year university programs were better prepared for the test than students from two-year college or technical school programs. Test scores can be viewed as a direct indication of the quality of the aviation maintenance programs at these schools. The study found that there was no statistically significant difference in the test scores between two-year college and four-year university students taking the FAA examinations. These results support previous …

Airports And Loci Of Aviation: Security Guidelines For Physical Design And Modification, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article provides guidelines for the design and modification of loci and aviation from a security perspective.

The Evaluation Of Aviation Security And Security Incidents, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes several difficulties in evaluating the efficacy of aviation security policies, programs, strategies, and tactics.

Motivation And Aviation As A Terrorism Target, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes the content and dynamics of terrorist motivation towards targeting aviation.

Weapons On Aircraft And Aviation Security, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article presents Issues to consider in developing aviation security policy on the deployment and employment of weapons on aircraft by aircrew and air marshals.

Trends. Legislation, Bias, And The Funding Of Security Technology And Services, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses the funding of security technologies and services, and the costs of potential bias in terms of legislation and procedures.

Biometric, Psychometric, And Sociometric Profiling, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article articulates basic Issues in developing security-based profiling technologies.

Intelligence Support For Aviation Security, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes an introduction to and critique of intelligence support for aviation security.

Variations In Control And Display Gain In A First Control Order Compensatory Manual Tracking Task, Micah N. Morris

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

There exist many factors that contribute to the optimal manual control of a system by a human operator (HO). Two such variables include control gain and display gain. Of particular interest to the following experiment is the contribution of these two variables to the manual tracking performance of any HO conducting a compensatory tracking task while using a first control-order tracking system. Since the optimal level of control gain required for maximal manual control of a tracking device is system dependent, it may be expected that the same holds true of display gain. Regardless, it is the purpose of the …

The Search For The Opto-Kinetic Cervical Reflex And Reduced Roll Reversals In Pilots Viewing A 3-D Perspective Display, John Carl Faust

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Pilots using conventional instrumentation can suffer spatial disorientation (SD) when unexpectedly forced to transition from visual flight to instrument flight during roll maneuvers. This simulator study was conducted to see if a 3-D perspective display could prevent this form of spatial disorientation by eliciting the opto-kinetic cervical reflex (OKCR), an instinctive postural response that humans use to maintain awareness of their spatial orientation. The current research found evidence of the OKCR in pilots viewing both a 3-D perspective display and an electronic attitude indicator. Pilots viewing a standard moving-horizon attitude indicator produced little or no OKCR response. However, pilots still …

Vibration Analysis Of A Fan/Compressor Blade, Daisaku Inoyama

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The vibration of blades in gas turbine engines has become an important issue during the last decade because of its significant impact on high cycle fatigue failure due to resonant vibrations. The main objective of this thesis is the vibration analysis of compressor/fan blade using three-dimensional finite element analysis together with various analytical approaches. First, the analytical solutions were established using various analytical methods, Bernoulli-Euler, Rayleigh, Rayleigh-Ritz, two-dimensional plate, and Timoshenko beam methods. Then, the vibration behaviors of the blade are analyzed in full extent using commercially available finite element solver, MSC.NASTRAN, and correlated with the analytical solutions. The finite …

Copious Electronic Text On Small Screen Interfaces: A New Method Of Displaying Text On Cell Phones, William Fitzpatrick

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

A modified form of RSVP (rapid serial visual presentation) was presented to 15 male and 15 female undergraduate and graduate students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The participants read 9 short passages electronically presented as 2, 4, or 6 lines of text in rapid sequence on a simulated cell phone display interface, at three speeds. Comprehension of text passages was examined in an attempt to find an ideal method of presenting lengthy text on a small screen interface. The results indicated that as participants were exposed to greater speeds and an increasing number of lines their comprehension of the passages decreased. …

Commentary On Philosophy And Aviation Security, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article outlines how the formal study of philosophy can be applied to aviation security, considering the merits of the inclusion of philosophers in the international working groups tasked with discerning and commenting on aviation security trends and their relevance for intelligence and security activities.

A Full-Wave Investigation Of The Use Of A 'Cancellation Factor' In Gw-Airglow Interaction Studies, Yonghui Yu

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Atmospheric gravity waves (GWs) perturb minor species involved in the chemical reactions of airglow emissions in the mesopause region of the earth's atmosphere. The so-called 'Cancellation Factor' (CF) is defined as a transfer function relating the amplitude of airglow brightness fluctuation to the amplitude of GW-induced fluctuation in temperature [Swenson and Gardner, 1998]. This transfer factor can be used to determine GW fluxes and the forcing effects of GWs on the mean state through airglow observations, because GW fluxes are proportional to the square of GW amplitude.

Numerical models [Walterscheid et al., 1987; Schubert et al., 1991] have previously shown …

Microburst Recovery For Jet Transport Aircraft: A Comparison Between Constant And Variable Pitch Guidance Trajectories, Mark Cadmus

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this research was to compare, in a simulator, the safety of a variable pitch strategy with the established constant pitch strategy in transitioning through a microburst during an abort maneuver in the approach to landing phase of flight. In numerous mathematical and computer studies of microburst penetrations, the variable pitch strategy provided a greater recovery altitude than the constant pitch strategy. A Boeing 737 level C aircraft simulator was employed to evaluate these findings in a dynamic environment. Three appropriately qualified subjects piloted 35 flights through a microburst, while computer generated data were collected. "Safety", defined as …

An Original Method For Computing Complex Non-Premixed Flows In Chemical Equilibrium, Raphael Cioffl

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

A novel method for computing chemical equilibrium reactions in three-dimensional reacting fluid flows is introduced in this paper. The originality of the method is that continuity equations are solved for the atomic densities rather than for the molecular species densities, as is the case for non-equilibrium flow calculations. The method is suited for applications to mixing flows in rocket engine combustors, where, due to the typical low convective speed, chemical reaction is best modeled as an equilibrium process. Equilibrium formulations usually describe the flow as a perfect, atomically uniform mix between the fuel and the oxidizer. This assumption tends to …

Special Article. Space Security In A World Of Security And Insecurity, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article provides a theoretical analysis from which a space security expert could appreciate the complexity and richness of the space security challenge.

A History Of Space Security, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article provides a conceptual infrastructure for thinking about the history of space security.

Investigating The Effects Of The Mission Status Graphics Polar Star Display On Failure Detection Time And Situation Awareness For Mission And System Monitoring In General Aviation Aircraft, Anthony P. Bartolone

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

For years, the aviation industry has been under severe scrutiny over the safety of flight when cockpit automation is over relied on and when it is under utilized. This double-edged sword raises the question of situation awareness in aviation. With the recent boom in cockpit automation and advanced avionics some fear that the pilots are being put outside "the loop". Unfortunately, humans are notoriously poor monitors of reliable systems over time. However, research is currently being conducted into a new form of display that has the ability to group a myriad of aircraft mission and system status information onto one …

The Effect Of An Unconscious Auditory Stimulus On Pilot Performance Under Varying Instrument Flying Conditions, Christina Eleni Christakou

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Human error remains a significant contributing factor with respect to accidents in civil air transportation. It is therefore crucial to establish avenues by which performance on the flightdeck can be enhanced under conditions of distress. The purpose of this study was to examine whether an unconscious auditory stimulus (UAS) could enhance pilot performance under varying instrument flight (IFR) conditions on the aircraft flightdeck. Forty IFR student pilots underwent two eight-minute simulated flights, whereupon they were presented with different IFR weather conditions. During the trial, the experimental group listened to a UAS, whereas the control group listened to white noise (WN). …

Numerical Analysis Of An Airfoil Response To An Impinging Gust, Claire M. Lessiau

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The BASS code, a nonlinear high-order prefactored compact code is validated on a benchmark problem. The nonlinear response of a loaded airfoil to an impinging vertical gust is investigated in the parametric space of gust intensity and frequency. Computational resources, involving a Linux cluster, were set up and maintained. The code was corrected and adapted to this particular problem. Results are compared with linear solution from the GUST3D solver.

Cappsii: Caveats On Progress, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article identifies potential security shortfalls even in the context of improvements in counterterrorist profiling.

Security Watch: No-Fly Zones And Flying Blind, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The article evaluates the gain in security from no-fly zones from a security perspective.

Controlling Lead Exposure During The Process Of Cleaning Aviation Spark Plugs, Curtis E. Beers

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

This study examines the process of removing lead bromide from aircraft spark plugs and the health hazards associated with the present method of cleaning the lead bromide accumulation from aviation spark plugs. Aviation maintenance technicians can be inadvertently exposed to lead while cleaning the lead bromide accumulation from the spark plug electrode during scheduled engine maintenance.

This study explores controlling the lead bromide particulate matter after it is removed from the spark plug electrode. Various control methods and/or procedural changes that may be employed to control the spread of lead bromide dust throughout the shop environment and the prevention of …

Trends. Aviation Security: Thinking About Capps, Capps Ii, And Beyond, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses computer assisted passenger prescreening systems (CAPPS) and aviation security.

An Experimental Investigation Of The Differences In Subjective Pilot Workload Across Simulated And Real Flight Conditions, Todd V. Denning

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

An investigation was undertaken to determine the difference in workload between simulated and real flight conditions. The results from the Modified Cooper-Harper and NASA-TLX did not show significance, however, the theoretical implications from the NASA-TLX subscales were of interest. As this is the first study comparing these two environments utilizing subjective workload measures, more research needs to take place in order to provide reliable and valid findings.

Development Of A Force And Airspeed Data Acquisition System For The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University 30x40 In. Subsonic Wind Tunnel, Toon Hong Foo

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The very first objective of performing most experiments is collecting numerical data. Values can be read from instruments or gauges by eye and recorded by hand. However, in certain experiments the amount of data collected may become so large that a human alone can not observe and record the data fast enough. This is where a data acquisition system comes into play. A data acquisition system is a network of devices that collects data from instruments and outputs it to hard copies or storage devices. A data acquisition system can also control instruments to take the data at the exact …