Engineering Commons^™

A Laboratory Study Of The Hydraulics Of Moderate-Sloped Stepped Chutes With A Labyrinth Crest, L. Kade Flake

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Evolving methods of dam construction and rehabilitation require unique and innovative spillways. Spillways provide passage for water impounded by a dam. Stepped chute spillways offer an efficient and economical solution for dam construction and rehabilitation. Labyrinth weirs, which allow high flow discharge within a compact footprint, are often an economical solution for the spillway crest at a chute entrance. Labyrinth weirs have recently been combined with stepped chutes in several locations. However, published literature is scarce for the flow properties and key design parameters of these combined structures.

This study researched the hydraulics downstream of a labyrinth crest for two …

Numerical Simulation Of Losses In Four-Way Pipe Junctions, Simon Barth

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

To design pipelines, engineers need to know how much energy the fluid in the pipe has at different locations in the pipe network. The energy the fluid has comes in the form of pressure, velocity, and elevation. As fluid travels through a pipe, it loses energy for many different reasons. Some of those reasons include friction between the fluid and the pipe wall, shear forces within the fluid, changes in flow direction, changes in elevation, or various pipe fittings like elbows, tee’s, valves, reducers, and expanders. Many of the causes of energy loss are well researched. One cause of energy …

Low-Fidelity Method For Rapid Aerostructural Optimisation And Design-Space Exploration Of Planar Wings, Jeffrey D. Taylor, Doug F. Hunsaker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student Publications and Presentations

During early phases of wing design, analytic and low-fidelity methods are often used to identify promising design concepts. In many cases, solutions obtained using these methods provide intuition about the design space that is not easily obtained using higher-fidelity methods. This is especially true for aerostructural design. However, many analytic and low-fidelity aerostructural solutions are limited in application to wings with specific planforms and weight distributions. Here, a numerical method for minimising induced drag with structural constraints is presented that uses approximations that apply to unswept planar wings with arbitrary planforms and weight distributions. The method is applied to the …

Intelligent Management Of Constrained Links For Distributed Autonomy, Troy R. Johnson, Nathan A. Jensen

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

This paper addresses one of the main underlying obstacles overlooked when adding autonomy to a cooperative cluster of nodes working together to complete global objectives. Whether these nodes are ground, sea, air, or space vehicles, a constrained link is used to distribute information between the vehicles. The limited bandwidth of the constrained link must be shared between all nodes and becomes a pinch point for distributed autonomy. Intelligently managing the shared information and controlling how it is replicated across all nodes is vital. Lack of communication results in poor team performance. Intermittent connectivity and delayed intelligence sharing leads to the …

Application Of A Self-Disinfecting Surface For Hemodialysis, Katie Christensen, Sierra Flores, Ivy Hansen, Cody Paraso, Andrea Peterson

Biological Engineering

The Biological Engineering Department at Utah State University (USU) is collaborating with Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) to develop a novel method of bacterial reduction for hemodialysis systems.

In the United States, approximately 34% of reported hemodialysis hospitalizations have been due to infections [1]. The water inlet line was identified as an area with potential to introduce bacteria into the system.

Nutrient Management: Heterotrophic Nitrification, Zac Mcclellan, Jaden Storrer, Anna Scribner, Jayce Bradley

Biological Engineering

The removal of nitrogen in the form of ammonia from wastewater is an important yet expensive step in treatment often done in two stages, typically by different autotrophic nitrifiers:

- Nitrification: Ammonia is converted to Nitrite and Nitrate.

- Denitrification: Nitrate is converted to nitrogen gas (N2)

Heterotrophic nitrifiers like Alcaligenes faecalis are able to perform both processes and reduce the two step treatment process to one.

Previously, experiments were performed on Alcaligenes faecalis in a synthetic wastewater environment to determine the kinetic constants for a substrate-dependent ammonia removal rate (Michaelis Mentin Kinetics).

Managing Lake Urmia, Iran For Diverse Restoration Objectives: Moving Beyond A Uniform Target Lake Level, Somayeh Sima, David E. Rosenberg, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Sarah E. Null, Karin M. Kettenring

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

There is widespread interest in restoring drying saline lakes. At Iran’s hypersaline Lake Urmia, managers have sought a uniform target lake level of 1274.1 m above sea level to lower salinity below 263 g L−1 and recover Artemia to sufficient densities to support flamingos. We suggest that addressing a broader range of objectives will allow more flexibility for managing the lake. We define eight restoration objectives to lower salinity, sustain Artemia and flamingo populations, separate islands from each other and the mainland, reduce lakebed dust, maintain commercially valuable ions, and improve recreational access from resort beaches. We use 40 years …

Engineering Students’ Perceptions Of Mathematical Modeling In A Learning Module Centered On A Hydrologic Design Case Study, Madeline F. Merck, Melissa A. Gallagher, Emad Habib, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Engineering students need to spend time engaging in mathematical modeling tasks to reinforce their learning of mathematics through its application to authentic problems and real world design situations. Technological tools and resources can support this kind of learning engagement. We produced an online module that develops students‚Äô mathematical modeling skills while developing knowledge of the fundamentals of rainfall-runoff processes and engineering design. This study examined how 251 students at two United States universities perceived mathematical modeling as implemented through the online module over a 5-year period. We found, subject to the limitation that these are perceptions from not all students, …

Collaborative Research: 3d Ambient Noise Tomography (3d Ant) For Natural Hazards Engineering, Brady Cox

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Career: Support Our Troops: Re-Storying Student Veteran And Service Member Deficit In Engineering Through Professional Formation And Community Advocacy, Angela L. Minichiello

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Aircraft Input Files For Pylot And Machupx, Jaden Thurgood

Browse all Datasets

This data was used in an attempt at system identification for rudderless aircraft using simulation.

Deciphering And Engineering An Unprecedented Fungal Biosynthetic Pathway For Expanded Chemical Diversity In Flavonoids, Jixun Zhan

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Sensitivity And Estimation Of Flying-Wing Aerodynamic, Propulsion, And Inertial Parameters Using Simulation, Jaden Thurgood, Douglas F. Hunsaker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student Publications and Presentations

This paper explores the difficulties of aircraft system identification, specifically parameter estimation, for a rudderless aircraft. A white box method is used in conjunction with a nonlinear six degree-of-freedom aerodynamic model for the equations of motion in order to estimate 33 parameters that govern the aerodynamic, inertial, and propulsion forces within the mathematical model. The analysis is conducted in the time-domain of system identification. Additionally, all the parameters are estimated using a single flight rather than a series of shorter flights dedicated to estimating specific sets of parameters as is typically done. A final flight plan is developed with a …

Practical Implementation Of A General Numerical Lifting-Line Method, Cory D. Goates, Douglas F. Hunsaker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student Publications and Presentations

A general numerical lifting-line method provides corrections to overcome the singularities inherent in the lifting-line downwash integrals in certain cases. These singularities have previously limited the scope of lifting-line theory to straight wings not in sideslip; in all other cases, more traditional numerical approaches to solving Prandtl's hypothesis fail to grid converge. However, this general numerical lifting-line method grid converges even for swept wings and wings in sideslip. In the current work, we apply the general numerical lifting-line method to any number of wings with arbitrary geometry. We also provide a dimensional derivation of the basic general numerical lifting-line equations …

3d-Printed Wings With Morphing Trailing-Edge Technology, Benjamin C. Moulton, Douglas F. Hunsaker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student Publications and Presentations

In recent years, various groups have attempted to improve aircraft efficiency using wings with morphing trailing-edge technology. Most of these solutions are difficult to manufacture or have limited morphing capability. The present paper outlines a research effort to develop an easy to manufacture, fully 3D-printed morphing wing. This approach is advantageous due to the low cost, minimal man-hours required for manufacturing, and speed at which design iterations can be explored. Several prototypes were designed and tested and lessons learned from these iterations have been documented. Additionally, printer settings have been tested and catalogued to assist others attempting to reproduce these …

Comparison Of Theoretical And High-Fidelity Aerostructural Solutions, Jeffrey D. Taylor, Douglas F. Hunsaker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student Publications and Presentations

As contemporary aerostructural research in aircraft design trends toward high-fidelity computational methods, aerostructural solutions based on theory are often neglected or forgotten. In fact, in many modern aerostructural wing optimization studies, the elliptic lift distribution is used as a benchmark in place of theoretical aerostructural solutions with more appropriate constraints. In this paper, we review several theoretical aerostructural solutions that could be used as benchmark cases for wing design studies, and we compare them to high-fidelity solutions with similar constraints. Solutions are presented for studies with 1) constraints related to the wing integrated bending moment, 2) constraints related to the …

Characterization Of The Common Research Model Wing For Low-Fidelity Aerostructural Analysis, Jeffrey D. Taylor, Douglas F. Hunsaker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Student Publications and Presentations

A characterization of the Common Research Model (CRM) wing for low-fidelity aerostructural optimization is presented. The geometric and structural properties are based on the CAD geometries and finite-element models for the CRM wing and the undeflected Common Research Model Wing (uCRM). Three approximations are presented for the elastic axis from previously-published studies on wing boxes similar to the uCRM, and approximations of the flexural and torsional rigidity are presented from a previously-published study using the uCRM wing. The characterization presented in this paper is intended to be used within low-fidelity aerostructural analysis tools to facilitate rapid design optimization and exploratory …

Open Source Software Problems In Heat Transfer To Explore Assumptions And Models, Benjamin Pepper, Amir Behbahanian, Nick Roberts

Course Materials

Energy2D software can be downloaded here: http://energy.concord.org/energy2d/

After opening the application, choose File -> Open and select one of the .e2d files available for download here under additional files. Click the Run button to get started.

The main download has a document that provides a detailed description of the adaptation of a freely available software program, Energy2D, for problems focused on the exploration and limitations of assumptions made in models commonly used in an undergraduate heat transfer course. The motivation for creating homework problems that use Energy2D is to explore the accuracy and limitations of the models used in heat …

Computational Modeling For Decision-Making Under Climate Change Uncertainty: Reservoir Simulation Game, Julianne Quinn

All ECSTATIC Materials

Almost every decision you make is under uncertainty. Will I need a rain jacket in the afternoon? Will they say yes if I ask them out? Is 1 hour enough time to finish this assignment? Oftentimes, we can use computational modeling to simulate different scenarios of what might happen in the future to inform what decisions are best on average, or what decisions minimize the worst case outcome. For example, you could decide what player to draft for your Fantasy Football team by simulating player performance. In this activity, we will simulate how much water to release from a dam …

How Does Lake Powell Water Storage Influence Release Temperatures And Grand Canyon Fishes?, David Rosenberg, Lindsey Bruckerhoff

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Current Lake Powell reservoir operations for equalization and the Upper Basin drought contingency plan are articulated as target reservoir surface elevations and storage volumes. This analysis asks and answers the question how does water storage in Lake Powell influence release temperatures and Grand Canyon fishes?

Toward Open And Reproducible Environmental Modeling By Integrating Online Data Repositories, Computational Environments, And Model Application Programming Interfaces, Young-Don Choi, Jonathan L. Goodall, Jeffrey M. Sadler, Anthony M. Castronova, Andrew Bennett, Zhiyu Li, Bart Nijssen, Shaowen Wang, Martyn P. Clark, Daniel P. Ames, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Hong Yi, Christina Bandaragoda, Martin Seul, Richard Hooper, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Cyberinfrastructure needs to be advanced to enable open and reproducible environmental modeling research. Recent efforts toward this goal have focused on advancing online repositories for data and model sharing, online computational environments along with containerization technology and notebooks for capturing reproducible computational studies, and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for simulation models to foster intuitive programmatic control. The objective of this research is to show how these efforts can be integrated to support reproducible environmental modeling. We present first the high-level concept and general approach for integrating these three components. We then present one possible implementation that integrates HydroShare (an online …

Causey Reservoir Access Project: Improving Visitor Safety And Access Now And For The Future, Michael Merrill, Carly Jo Petersen, Isaiah Norman, Jordan Jones, Nathan Chidester

Civil and Environmental Engineering

In coordination with the Central Federal Lands Highway Division, the Causey Reservoir Access Project is a multidisciplinary endeavor to address infrastructural deficiencies around Causey Reservoir. The reservoir is a high-use land- and water-based recreation site on Cache National Forest, about a half hour east of Ogden, Utah. This project addresses a deteriorating bridge, insufficient parking, and roads damaged by landslides as shown in Figure 1.

Utah Transit Authority (Uta) Frontrunner Extension – Ogden To Brigham City, Ut, Cortni Chandler, Ned Mcfarlane, Kyler Nielsen, Tyson Roper, Joshua Ward

Civil and Environmental Engineering

UTA is planning to extend the FrontRunner commuter rail line (Fig. 1) from Ogden, Utah, to Brigham City, Utah, to enhance interurban transportation in Northern Utah between Box Elder, Weber, and Davis counties. UTA asked SpotOn Engineering to perform a feasibility analysis on extending the FrontRunner commuter rail line northward and to design a possible station location for the Brigham City area.

Design Of A Concrete Canoe For The Asce Competition With Washout Improvement And Hydraulic Testing, Nick Rogers, Izzy Timms, Minjie Kim, Jodiah Andresen, Hayden Quinn, Rex Guyer, Tyson Hymas

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The concrete canoe project is put together as a response to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) issuance of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for their yearly competition. This year, the RFP expanded beyond its usual scope due to the influence of COVID-19, allowing more variability in the approach. While the requirements to design a hull, a mix design, and perform a structural analysis remained the same, the construction of the prototype was left as optional for each school. In place of the construction requirement, enhanced focus areas are implemented, letting the project have a broader scope with more …

Identification And Mitigation Of Harmful Algal Blooms In Mantua Reservoir, Jeffrey Kennedy, Timothy Place, Tyler Wallace, Steven White, Carolina Williams

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are capable of emitting cyanotoxins which are harmful to humans and animals. Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) occur when cyanobacteria multiply to great densities. Mantua Reservoir in Box Elder County, UT, experiences seasonal HABs, which has resulted in seasonal reservoir closures.

The EnVision team investigated the cause of HABs at Mantua Reservoir by collecting samples from the reservoir’s known point sources and frequently visited recreation areas. The samples were analyzed to determine total phosphorus, nitrate, and cyanotoxin concentrations. The team concluded that excessive phosphorus loading in the reservoir is most culpable for the annual HABs …

Idaho National Laboratory Water Test Bed: Improving The Security Of Water Distribution Systems, Sadie Boyer, Caleb Child, Maren Hulse, Emma Lyon, Dalton Richins, Andrew Walker

Civil and Environmental Engineering

To protect the water supply in our nation's cities, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) built a test facility to evaluate how pollution moves in a water system. Mitigating harmful pollutants in municipal water distribution networks is crucial for the protection of city residents.

JARVIS Engineering worked with the INL to create the plans for a proposed expansion of the current, straight-line Water Security Test Bed to better model a city block.

An expanded looping system was designed by the JARVIS team and modeled in EPANET to provide flow values for various scenarios.

Logan Pass Improvement Project: Glacier National Park, Devan Peterson, Jordan Duncan, Kyle Horton, Luke Martineau, Jake Egley, Cooper Karras

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Glacier National Park has seen drastic increases in park visitation. The number of visitors has increased from 2.3 million to 3 million visitors in the past 5 years.

The Going to the Sun Road at Logan Pass exhibits an iconic overlook of the park. The parking lot is often full before 10:00 AM and remains full the remainder of the day during peak season (See Figure 1).

The purpose of the Logan Pass Improvement Project is to enhance visitor experience at Logan Pass. This will be accomplished by reducing traffic congestion and increasing safety and accessibility while maintaining the environmental …

Providence Ridge Subdivision, Karter Issacson, Seth Robertson, Skyler Allred, Brayden Chamberlain, Cody Zohner

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Cache Valley has a housing shortage. There is prime real estate in Providence to subdivide. The State of Utah is the first fastest growing State in the United States of America (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020)*

Temple Fork Dam, Riley Manwaring, Kendall Maedgen, Taylor Kesler, Logan Thackeray, John Sumsion, Adam Pack

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Constructing a dam in Temple Fork will provide additional water storage to meet the needs of a growing population in Cache County. A roller-compacted concrete (RCC) style dam is best suited for the current conditions at Temple Fork, which will provide a total of 10,000 acre-ft of water storage.

Timpanogos Wastewater Treatment Plant, Laura Christiansen, Silas Schneider, Marissa Croft, Melanie Sullivan, Brent Jacobson, Steven Wright

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The Timpanogos Special Service District (TSSD) wants to improve their Wastewater treatment facility. They requested that the new facility accounts for the following:

• Smell coming from the drying beds.

• Future population growth in the area.

• New phosphorus limitations in the effluent set by the state of Utah.

• Treat wastewater to meet Type 1 reuse standards.

In Figure 1, the image displays the current service area for TSSD. TSSD serves 10 different cities, and currently discharges the effluent wastewater into Utah Lake. Utah Lake has problems with algal blooms. Reducing the amount of nutrients discharged into Utah …