Engineering Commons^™

Design And Development Of A Multi-Mode Monopropellant Electrospray Mircropropulsion System, Steven P. Berg, Joshua L. Rovey

Small Satellite Conference

Multi-mode spacecraft propulsion is the use of two or more types of propulsive devices on a spacecraft that share some commonality in terms of either hardware or propellant. An example is the Mars Global Surveyor, which made use of hydrazine as both a monopropellant for attitude control and a bipropellant for primary maneuvering. Specific to this study is a multi-mode propulsion system making use of a high-thrust chemical mode and a high-specific impulse electric mode. Using these two modes can be beneficial in two primary ways. One way is by designing a mission such that the high-thrust and high-specific impulse …

Iitmsat: Innovative Packet Protocol And Concept Of Operations, Akshay Gulati, Sourbh Bhadane, Joseph Samuel, Harishankar Ramachandran, R. David Koilpillai

Small Satellite Conference

No abstract provided.

Microscope, A Cnes Microsatellite To Check Einstein Equivalence Principle, And Its Rf Equipments, Clement Dudal, Romain Mathieu, Yves André, Marie Vialard, Hervé Guillon, M. Fernandez, Anis Latiri, G. Guillois, Y. Richard, P. Bataille

Small Satellite Conference

No abstract provided.

Characterizing Chromatic Effects In Small Star Trackers, Tom Dzamba, John Enright, Doug Sinclair

Small Satellite Conference

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Low-Flying Cubesat Mission For F-Region Characterization, Jonathan Black, Gregory Earle, Robert Mcgwier, Anthony Wolosik

Small Satellite Conference

Plasma irregularities in the F-region (200-800 km) of the night-time equatorial ionosphere have been shown to significantly influence the performance and reliability of space borne and ground based radio communication systems. Equatorial Spread-F (ESF) episodes may cause the disruption of satellite operations, communications, and navigation due to backscatter and radar scintillation. Current records of rocket, satellite, and radar data are not of sufficient quantity to allow for accurate models and predictions of the spectrum of irregularities. To provide a better understanding and predict F-region phenomena that may disrupt communications, it is important to perform in situ, or local, real-time measurements …

The Conceptual Design Of Cubesat Based System For Gnss Radio Occultation/Reflective Mission, Jer Ling, Chen-Tsung Lin

Small Satellite Conference

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Radio Occultation/Reflective (RO/R) instrument collects global atmospheric data and oceanic wind speed data for weather prediction and climate researches. This paper proposes the conceptual design of the satellite constellation and the satellite to realize the GNSS-RO/R mission based on the cubesat platform, with the goal to achieve cost effectiveness and minimum deployed schedule. The cubesat considered in the study is 6U and within 10 kilogram. The proposed innovative constellation consists of 12 (minimum required) plus 6 (backup) satellites on three 500 km altitude sun synchronous planes, 6 satellites even phasing on each plane. It …

Miniaturized Phonon Trap Timing Units For Pnt Of Cubesats, Mina Rais-Zadeh, Adam Peczalski, Serhat Altunc, Yun Zheng, Obadiah Kegege, Harry Shaw, Greg Heckler

Small Satellite Conference

This research is directed towards development of a chip-scale timing unit (clock) to be used in new systems that aim to improve the quantity and quality of data transmittal from small spacecrafts. The quantity and quality of data transmission are directly influenced by the speed and accuracy of the on-board clock. NASA roadmap identifies major technical challenges for space clocks using current technologies (i.e., quartz resonators), namely sensitivity to on-board thermal environment conditions and susceptibility to g-force, and ionizing radiation effects. The timing units developed under this project will enhance the current Small Satellites capabilities. With this technology Small Sats …

Modular Payload-Centered Cubesat, Saleh Al-Shidhani

Small Satellite Conference

CubeSats gained a lot of popularity recently after many successful missions and due to the availability of pico-components for these satellites. Although miniaturizing the electronic circuits, sensors and attitude control hardware are progressing very well, there are other components that cannot be miniaturized such as imaging lenses while maintaining spacial resolution. As results, bigger CubeSats were introduced. To maintain smaller size we developed a new Cubesat structure that's likely to reduce the size by 50%. The frame structure design offers the demanded rigidity around the payload and surrounded with eight slots for other components. the slots offer direct access to …

Utilizing Electroencephalography Measurements For Comparison Of Task-Specific Neural Efficiencies: Spatial Intelligence Tasks, Benjamin J. Call, Wade Goodridge, Idalis Villanueva, Nicholas Wan, Kerry Jordan

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Spatial intelligence is often linked to success in engineering education and engineering professions. The use of electroencephalography enables comparative calculation of individuals' neural efficiency as they perform successive tasks requiring spatial ability to derive solutions Neural efficiency here is defined as having less beta activation, and therefore expending fewer neural resources, to perform a task in comparison to other groups or other tasks. For inter-task comparisons of tasks with similar durations, these measurements may enable a comparison of task type difficulty. For intra-participant and inter-participant comparisons, these measurements provide potential insight into the participant's level of spatial ability and different …

High-Grade, Compact Spectrometers For Earth Observation From Smallsats, Len Van Der Wal, Bryan De Goeij, Rik Jansen, Han Oosterling, Bart Snijders

Small Satellite Conference

The market for nano- and microsatellites is developing rapidly. There is a strong focus on 2D imaging of the Earth's surface, with limited possibilities to obtain spectral information. More demanding applications, such as monitoring trace gases and aerosols, or water quality still require advanced spectral imaging instruments, which are large, heavy and expensive.

In recent years TNO has investigated and developed different innovative designs to realize advanced spectrometers for space applications in a more compact and cost-effective manner. This offers multiple advantages: A compact instrument can be flown on a much smaller platform (nano- or microsatellite); a low-cost instrument opens …

Miniaturized Ion And Neutral Mass Spectrometer For Cubesat Atmospheric Measurements, M. Rodriguez, N. Paschalidis, S. Jones, E. Sittler, D, Chornay, P. Uribe

Small Satellite Conference

A presentation about the Mini Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS).

Catalytic Pyrolysis Of Poly Vinyl Chloride As A Viable Way Of Waste Management, Randy Santos, Foster A. Agblevor

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The main purpose of this investigation is to achieve the dechlorination and cracking of PVC producing a low chlorinated oil using a single step process; finding and using a suitable adsorbent that captures the chlorine released in the decomposition of the Poly Vinyl Chloride in the solid phase; then use the adsorbent to enhance red mud chlorine absorption activity. Find an alternative viable use for the waste PVC and red mud that will reduce landfilling. Calcium Hydroxide was selected as the main chlorine adsorbent since it captured 75% chlorine in the solid phase. The calcium hydroxide was mixed with red …

Engineering Professor Receives Prestigious Dam Safety Award | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Aug 1, 2016 – Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Dr. Blake Tullis will be awarded the 2016 ASDSO Terry L. Hampton Medal from the Association of State Dam Safety Officials.

The award will be presented Sept. 12 as part of the Dam Safety 2016 conference in Philadelphia, Penn. The Terry L.Hampton Medal was established in 2007 by ASDSO’s Advisory Committee (ADCOM) to recognize Terry L. Hampton’s lifetime achievements in the field of hydrology and hydraulics and his contribution to the ADCOM. Dr. Tullis will be the fifth to receive the award.

Enhanced Thermal Conductance Of Polymer Composites Through Embedding Aligned Carbon Nanofibers, David S. Wood, Dale K. Hensley, Nicholas A. Roberts

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

The focus of this work is to find a more efficient method of enhancing the thermal conduc-tance of polymer thin films. This work compares polymer thin films embedded with randomly oriented carbon nanotubes to those with vertically aligned carbon nanofibers. Thin films embedded with carbon nanofibers demonstrated a similar thermal conductance between 40–60 µm and a higher thermal con-ductance between 25–40 µm than films embedded with carbon nanotubes with similar volume fractions even though carbon nanotubes have a higher thermal conductivity than carbon nanofibers.

Summer Ozone Concentrations In The Vicinity Of The Great Salt Lake, John Horel, Erik Crosman, Brian Blaylock, Seth Arens, Ansley Long, John Sohl, Randy S. Martin

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Residents near the Great Salt Lake in northern Utah, USA have been exposed to ozone levels during recent summers exceeding the current United States National Ambient Air Quality Standard. Accurately forecasting those exceedances has been difficult as a result of the complex meteorological and photochemical processes fostering them. To help improve such forecasts, a low-cost field study was conducted during summer 2015 to provide comprehensive observations of boundary-layer ozone concentrations in the context of the prevailing meteorological conditions. A network of surface ozone sensors was supplemented by sensors mounted on vehicles, a public transit light-rail car, news helicopter, tethered sonde, …

Civil And Environmental Engineering Phd Student Wins Major Award | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

July 26, 2016 – Civil & Environmental Engineering PhD student Caleb Buahin has won a major award at the 8^th International Congress on Environmental Modeling & Software. He received one of the best student paper awards at the event held in Toulouse, France July 10-14.

Uwrl Director Mac Mckee Named Friend Of Ucowr | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

July 20, 2016 — Mac McKee, Utah Water Research Lab Director, was recently named a Friend of UCOWR at the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) Annual Conference awards ceremony held this year in PensacolaBeach, Florida. UCOWR recognizes no more than three individuals each year who have “made substantial contributions in time and effort toward the goals of UCOWR.” Mac held the office of UCOWR President twice and served on the board of directors for nearly a decade.

Student Spotlight | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

July 2016 - Q&A with Biological Engineering student Harsh Singh

Methods For Culturing Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells: A Review Of Current Protocols And Future Recommendations, Aaron H. Fronk, Elizabeth Vargis

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

The retinal pigment epithelium is an important part of the vertebrate eye, particularly in studying the causes and possible treatment of age-related macular degeneration. The retinal pigment epithelium is difficult to access in vivo due to its location at the back of the eye, making experimentation with age-related macular degeneration treatments problematic. An alternative to in vivo experimentation is cultivating the retinal pigment epithelium in vitro, a practice that has been going on since the 1970s, providing a wide range of retinal pigment epithelial culture protocols, each producing cells and tissue of varying degrees of similarity to natural retinal pigment …

A Tool For Downscaling Weather Data From Large-Grid Reanalysis Products To Finer Spatial Scales For Distributed Hydrological Applications, Avirup Sen Gupta, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

A downscaling tool was developed to provide sub-daily high spatial resolution surfaces of weather variables for distributed hydrologic modeling from NASA Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications reanalysis products. The tool uses spatial interpolation and physically based relationships between the weather variables and elevation to provide inputs at the scale of a gridded hydrologic model, typically smaller (∼100 m) than the scale of weather reanalysis data (∼20–200 km). Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) measures greater than 0.70 were obtained for direct tests of downscaled daily temperature and monthly precipitation at 173 SNOTEL sites. In an integrated test driving the Utah Energy …

Deposition Of Carbon Nanotube Films On Polyamide And Polypropylene Substrates: A Computer Simulation Approach, Alejandro Heredia, Maria Colin-Garcia, Maria Del Pilar Carreon-Castro, Debarati Mukherjee, Bruno Abreu, David William Britt, Joana Catarina Mendes

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

In this work we study hydroxylated carbon nanotube (CNT) assembly on polyamide (PA) and polypropylene (PP) polymers activated by UV radiation from a theoretical and experimental perspective. Molecular computer simulation was done to understand the stable conformations and bulk properties (molecular dynamics) of the polymers before and after exposure to UV radiation at the molecular level. Our experiments suggest that PA presents more -OH active groups, producing a more hydrophilic surface, whereas PP exhibits less potential UV activation. These results suggest that it is possible a facile covalent functionalization method to tune organic polymer surface properties through SWCNT anchoring for …

Repair Of Failing Spirit Lake Outlet Tunnel At Mount St. Helens, J. P. Britton, S. K. Askelson, C. M. Budai, D. H. Scofield

International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures

The 18 May 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens resulted in one of the largest debris avalanches recorded in history. The debris avalanche blocked the natural outlet of Spirit Lake. To prevent an uncontrolled and catastrophic lake break-out, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) constructed the Spirit Lake Outlet Tunnel from 1984 to 1985. Because Spirit Lake is located in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, the project was transferred to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) for ownership and management. During original tunnel construction, the most difficulty occurred within the 90-m-wide Julie and Kathy L. shear zone complex. …

Optimization Of Air Entrained Grout Enriched Roller Compacted Concrete For Improving Freeze-Thaw Resistance Of Hydraulic Structures, E. S. Musselman, R. J. Flynn, G. J. Zimmer, J. R. Young Pe

International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures

Roller compacted concrete (RCC) is frequently used to construct gravity dams, stepped spillways, and to armor earthen embankments for passing extreme floods. Early experience on RCC dam applications in the 1980s showed a tendency for seepage to develop along the lift lines. Therefore, RCC dam designers started including an upstream facing system as a watertight barrier. An alternative facing material that has been used extensively overseas and is starting to gain more widespread acceptance in the United States is Grout Enriched RCC (GERCC). The grout enriched method of face construction has been shown to be less expensive than other facing …

South Channel Dam Rehabilitation Project - Successfully Addressing Dam Rehabilitation Challenges, M. D. Graeser, M. C. Jensen

International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures

The Post Falls South Channel Dam is located on the Spokane River in Post Falls, Idaho. The concrete gravity dam was constructed in 1906 and was recently rehabilitated. The rehabilitation project included several design elements; the primary objectives were the replacement of the six spillway gates and hoists and significant rehabilitation of the concrete. The South Channel Dam rehabilitation encountered several challenges due to the age and condition of the existing structure, the large scale of the rehabilitation, and the location of the project. The concrete rehabilitation addressed several challenges which are presented in detail. The existing concrete consisted of …

Optimizing A New Flow Diversion Structure For The Planned Expanding Of The Spillway For The Malter Dam In Germany Using A Physical Hydraulic Model, J. Schmidt, J. Wieland, J. Jensen

International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures

The State Reservoir Administration of Saxony is planning to expand the spillway discharge capacity of the 102-year-old Malter Dam. After a catastrophic flood in 2002, updated hydrologic modeling indicated that the design discharges for the dam had increased significantly. As a result, the original spillway discharge capacity was insufficient to pass the revised design flows. A design concept was developed to add a second spillway and stilling basin to the dam, and to pass flow into this spillway using a novel vertical flow separator. The design and performance of this system was evaluated using a 1:25-scale physical model. The modeling …

St. Mary Diversion Dam – Case Study Of A 100 Year Old Diversion, B. J. Heiner, J. Wagner

International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures

After 100 years of service, the St. Mary Diversion Dam is being replaced with a new design that will provide more effective fish passage and protection. The diversion is located in northern Montana, adjacent to the east side of Glacier National Park. It diverts water from the St. Mary River 1.21 km (0.75 mile) downstream of Lower St. Mary Lake. The existing 60.35-meter-long and 1.83-meter-high (198-foot-long and 6-foot-high) concrete weir diverts up to 24 cubic meters per second (850 cubic feet per second) design flow from the St. Mary River into the North Fork of the Milk River through a …

Evaluation Of Flexible Barrier And Sabo Dam To Control Effects Of Debris Flow In Santo Domingo Ravine, J. W. Cabrera Cabrera, L. F. Castillo Navarro

International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures

Coast of Peru is characterized for the presence of ephemeral creeks which drain water only on wet season. The extremely dry soil and pebble combined with precipitation produce debris flow in a seasonal geodynamic. This is the case of Santo Domingo ravine which is located at eastern Lima, and drains their water to Rimac River. In this article the vulnerability of villages near to Santo Domingo ravine by debris flow and use of flexible barrier and sabo dams are analyzed. In a first stage, the liquid hydrograph to a 100 years return period was built and a solid hydrograph, a …

Fish Passage Behavior Behavior Through Baffled And Nonbaffled Culvert, M. A. Khodier, Blake P. Tullis

International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures

Culverts can have a negative impact on fish passage. Installing baffles inside culverts can potentially improve culvert fish passage by decreasing the flow velocity and increasing the flow depth. Fish passage behaviors of wild brown trout through a small prototype-scale (0.6 m diameter), 18.3 m in length, baffled, and non-baffled culverts were observed in the laboratory for a variety of discharges and pipe slopes (up to 6%). The baffle height and spacing was 0.15 and 0.9 times the culvert diameter, respectively. The correlation between successful fish passage, sample fish population, and the fish length was evaluated. The influence of baffles …

The Role Of Physical And Numerical Modeling In Design Development Of The Priest Rapids Fish Bypass, T. C. Lyons, M. Politano, C. Dotson, L. J. Weber, D. Hay

International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures

This paper describes a number of years of physical and numerical modelling that were instrumental in the development of the final fish bypass design at Priest Rapids Dam. Three physical models and multiple numerical models were used to guide the design of the fish bypass including its location on the dam, impact on forebay and tailrace flow patterns, intake configuration, design flow rates, flow control scheme, tailrace egress, potential for scour near the dam, potential impacts on total dissolved gas (TDG), impacts on spillway and powerhouse operation, and overall fish friendliness of the bypass.

Throughout those years of design work, …

Study On The Proceeding Of Hydraulic Problem Of Simulating Natural Fish Passage, Zhijuan Wang, Qingyuan Yang, Minghai Huang, Yong He

International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures

Fish passage in water conservancy projects is an important means of improving river connectivity, and reducing the impact on the ecological environment. Simulating natural fish passage, which aims at the purpose of the river ecological corridor by the means of ecological optimization on the structure and section type based on the traditional fish passage, is promoted and applied in recent years gradually. At the same time, the hydraulic research related to the simulating natural fish passage has made great progress. In this paper, we firstly collected and summarized the research experience of the domestic and foreign typical fish passage, analyzed …