Engineering Commons^™

A Numerical Blade Element Approach To Estimating Propeller Flowfields, Doug F. Hunsaker

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

A numerical method is presented as a low computational cost approach to modeling an induced propeller flowfield. This method uses blade element theory coupled with momentum equations to predict the axial and tangential velocities within the slipstream of the propeller, without the small angle approximation assumption common to most propeller models. The approach is of significant importance in the design of tail-sitter vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, where the propeller slipstream is the primary source of air flow past the wings in some flight conditions. The algorithm is presented, the model is characterized, and the results (including the results …

Delivering Core Engineering Concepts To Secondary Level Students, Jenny Daugherty, Yong Zeng, Martin Westrick, Rodney L. Custer, Chris Merrill

Reports of Center Studies

Within primary and secondary school technology education, engineering has been proposed as an avenue to bring about technological literacy (Dearing & Daugherty, 2004; Lewis, 2005).Different initiatives such as curriculum development projects (i.e., Project ProBase and Project Lead The Way) and National Science Foundation funded projects such as the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) have been developed to infuse engineering into primary and secondary education. For example, one key goal of the Technology Teacher Education component of NCETE is to impact the focus and content of the technology education field at the secondary level (National Center for Engineering …

Should There Be A National Curriculum For Technological Literacy?, Laura J. Hummell, Ethan B. Lipton, Melissa Morrow, Jerry Streichler, Karen Zuga

Publications

The author discusses her belief that the United States should have a national curriculum for technological literacy. The author asserts that there are huge discrepancies and deficiencies existing in technology-based curricula, and as a result students in the United States are being ill-prepared for living and working in a globally based economy and society. The author believes that if a national curriculum for technological literacy is developed it should resemble the Standards for Technological Literacy (2000/2002), which was created by the International Technology Education Association. The author points out that in order for such a curriculum to be successful it …

Resources: Student Friendly Modeling Materials, Todd R. Kelley, Jared Berrett

Publications

The article presents cost-effective materials for elementary classrooms that allow students to create models. These materials include card stock, clay, cable or zips ties, fasteners and bolts, and commercially manufactured building kits such as LEGOs, Erector Sets, Tinkertoys and K'Nex. In addition, the author asserts the importance of using such materials in promoting student learning of technology and engineering.

Resources: Building Big (And Small), Todd R. Kelley

Publications

The article offers a set of videos and web resources for elementary teachers to help them explore five different structures, including bridges, domes, skyscrapers, dams, and tunnels, that have been built big to meet the human needs and wants. It includes the miniseries video "Building Big" by David Macaulay and the website www.pbs.org/buildingbig.com.

Curricular Value And Instructional Needs For Infusing Engineering Design Into K-12 Technology Education, David K. Gattie, Robert C. Wicklein

Publications

An overarching objective of Technology Education in the U.S. is to improve technological literacy among K-12 students (DeVore, 1964; Savage and Sterry, 1990; International Technology Education Association, 1996, 2000, 2003). This is addressed in part through a focus on end-product technology and the use and importance of various technologies in society (Savage and Sterry, 1990). While such a focus is certainly necessary, it may not be sufficient if the objective is to infuse engineering into the technology education field. Current efforts at the University of Georgia propose adjusting the focus of Technology Education to a defined emphasis on engineering design …

Critical Features Of Engineering Design In Technology Education, Paul A. Asunda, Roger Hill

Publications

The purpose of this study was to find critical features of engineering design that can be incorporated within technology education learning activities, and develop a rubric for assessing these features. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with three professors actively involved in engineering education. Supporting documents such as engineering design course outlines and rubrics were also examined. Using a phenomenological approach, this study identified the concept of engineering design, key features of the engineering design process, and critical elements that should be assessed in an engineering design activity in the context of technology education. A key product of the study …

Features Of Engineering Design In Technology Education, Paul A. Asunda, Roger Hill

Reports of Center Studies

The purpose of this study was to find critical features of engineering design that can be incorporated within technology education learning activities, and develop a rubric for assessing these features. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with three professors actively involved in engineering education. Supporting documents such as engineering design course outlines and rubrics were also examined. Using a phenomenological approach, this study identified the concept of engineering design, key features of the engineering design process, and critical elements that should be assessed in an engineering design activity in the context of technology education. A key product of the study …

Critical Inquiry Into Urban African American Students' Perceptions Of Engineering, Cameron D. Denson, Zanj K. Avery, John W. Schell

Reports of Center Studies

The purpose of this study was to critically examine the perceptions that African- American high school students have towards engineering. A qualitative research design using criterion sampling and snowballing was used to select seven African-American students from urban high schools to participate in the research. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from participants attending urban high schools on the east and west coast. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as the theoretical framework, the study was able to produce “emergent themes” from collected data. Findings from this study will help researchers understand how African-American students may perceive the field of …

Cognitive Processes Of Students Solving Technical Problems, Todd Kelley, Roger Hill

Reports of Center Studies

The purpose of this study was to better understand cognitive strategies used by high school technology education students who have participated in technology education instruction with an engineering design focus. Specifically, this study evaluated the cognitive strategies of students participating in Project Lead the Way curriculum programs compared with students participating in technology education programs partnering with the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE). High school students from these two groups were studied as they worked through an ill-defined problem: moving drinking water in developing countries. The data collected from these protocols was analyzed using a coding process …

Identifying The Essential Aspects And Related Academic Concepts Of An Engineering Design Curriculum In Secondary Technology Education, Cameron Smith, Bob Wicklein

Reports of Center Studies

Technology education is a fi eld of study which seeks to promote technological literacy for all students. Some recent research in the fi eld has focused on integrating content and methodology from engineering design into technology education classes, particularly at the secondary level. This study contributes to the research base in technology education on the subject of incorporating the engineering design process into the technology education curriculum. It addressed the need for the development of a framework for understanding engineering design and the related academic concepts that can be used by professionals in the fi eld of technology education seeking …

Young Women’S Perceptions Of Technology And Engineering: Factors Influencing Their Participation In Math, Science And Technology?, Leah C. Roue

Reports of Center Studies

The current number of women in technology and engineering only represents a fraction of today’s workforce. Technological innovation depends on our nation’s best and brightest, representing all segments of our diverse society. Sanders (2005), in talking about women in technology and engineering, stated that women’s lack of participation can only be measured in jobs not filled, problems not solved, and technology not created. Research in the area of how young women view technology will provide insights into how to better encourage and prepare them for careers in technology and engineering.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine four …

The Effects Of Charging By Ultraviolet Light On Granular Lunar Simulant In A Microgravity Environment, Sydney J. Chamberlin, Troy Munro, Sarah Isert, Tracy Garin Savage

Reports and Proposals

No abstract provided.

A Multisite Case Study Of Faculty And Teacher Perceptions Of Ncete Professional Development Workshops On Engineering Design Content, Paul A. Asunda

Reports of Center Studies

The purpose of this study was to describe a process of preparing technology education teachers to teach engineering design concepts in the context of technology education. This process was identified through a study of professional development activities that were organized and conducted by technology teacher education partner universities of the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) to prepare middle school and high school technology teachers to infuse engineering design, problem solving, content, and analytical skills into the K-12 curriculum. A collective multisite case study formed the methodology for this study. Data were collected through individual interview sessions that …

Pyrene Mineralization By Mycobacterium Sp. Strain Kms In A Barley Rhizosphere, R. Child, C. Miller, Y. Liang, Ronald C. Sims, A. J. Anderson

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

To determine whether the soil Mycobacterium isolate KMS would mineralize pyrene under rhizosphere conditions, a microcosm system was established to collect radioactive carbon dioxide released from the labeled polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. Microcosms were designed as sealed, flow-through systems that allowed the growth of plants. Experiments were conducted to evaluate mineralization of ¹⁴C-labeled pyrene in a sand amended with the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons degrading Mycobacterium isolate KMS, barley plants, or barley plants with roots colonized by isolate KMS. Mineralization was quantified by collecting the ¹⁴CO₂ produced from ¹⁴C-labeled pyrene at intervals during the 10-d incubation period. Roots …

Temperature Effect On Tert-Butyl Alcohol (Tba) Biodegradation Kinetics In Hyporheic Zone Soils, M. H. Greenwood, Ronald C. Sims, J. E. Mclean, W. J. Doucette

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Background

Remediation of tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) in subsurface waters should be taken into consideration at reformulated gasoline contaminated sites since it is a biodegradation intermediate of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE), and tert-butyl formate (TBF). The effect of temperature on TBA biodegradation has not been not been published in the literature.

Methods

Biodegradation of [U ¹⁴C] TBA was determined using hyporheic zone soil microcosms.

Results

First order mineralization rate constants of TBA at 5°C, 15°C and 25°C were 7.84 ± 0.14 × 10^-3, 9.07 ± 0.09 × 10^-3, and 15.3 ± 0.3 …

Theory And Application Of Landfarming To Remediate Pahs And Mineral Oil Contaminated Sediments: Beneficial Reuse, J. Harmsen, W. Rulkens, Ronald C. Sims, P. Ritjema, A. Zweers

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

When applying landfarming for the remediation of contaminated soil and sediment, a fraction of the soil-bound contaminant is rapidly degraded; however, a residual concentration may remain, which slowly degrades. Degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and mineral oil can be described using a multi-compartment model and first-order kinetics, in which three degradable fractions are distinguished; (1) rapid, (2) slowly, and (3) very slowly degradable. Using this model populated with data from long-term experiments (initiated in 1990), it is shown that time frames from years to decades can be necessary to clean the soil or sediment to obtain a target below …

Mix Design For A Concrete Canoe, Ryan Thomas Christensen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Each year the American Society of Civil Engineers sponsors a concrete canoe competition. This paper details the work performed by Ryan Christensen for the 2006 concrete canoe competition. His primary focus was on formulating a concrete mix to be used for the Utah State University canoe. Basic information regarding the building and design of concrete canoes is also presented. Finally, general competition results for 2006 are presented for the Utah State University canoe team.

Classified Vector Spiht For Wavelet Image Coding, Y. Liang, Scott E. Budge

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Wavelet based image coding has been shown to be an effective method, especially at low bit rate. Two successful approaches, space-frequency quantization (SFQ) and set partitioning in hierarchical trees (SPIHT) were proposed to predict insignificant wavelet coefficients. However, both of them employ a simple scalar quantization scheme instead of powerful vector quantization for coding of the significant wavelet coefficients. In this paper we propose a new image coding method that combines the SPIHT type set partitioning technique with classified vector quantization. That is, the set partitioning technique is used to locate significant wavelet coefficient vectors based on vectors' energies. In …

A New Method For Determination Of Most Likely Landslide Initiation Points And The Evaluation Of Digital Terrain Model Scale In Terrain Stability Mapping, P. Tarolli, David G. Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper introduces a new approach for determining the most likely initiation points for landslides from potential instability mapped using a terrain stability model. This approach identifies the location with critical stability index from a terrain stability model on each downslope path from ridge to valley. Any measure of terrain stability may be used with this approach, which here is illustrated using results from SINMAP, and from simply taking slope as an index of potential instability. The relative density of most likely landslide initiation points within and outside mapped landslide scars provides a way to evaluate the effectiveness of a …

A Lifting-Line Approach To Estimating Propeller/Wing Interactions, Doug F. Hunsaker, Deryl O. Snyder

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

A combined wing and propeller model is presented as a low-cost approach to first-cut modeling of slipstream effects on a finite wing. The wing aerodynamic model employs a numerical lifting-line method utilizing the 3D vortex lifting law along with known 2D airfoil data to predict the lift distribution across a wing for a prescribed upstream flowfield. The propeller/slipstream model uses a blade element theory combined with momentum conservation equations. This model is expected to be of significant importance in the design of tail-sitter vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, where the propeller slipstream is the primary source of air flow …

Year Two Annual Report: Activities, Findings And Evaluators' Reports, Naida Tushnet, Jodie L.S. Hoffman, Jaclyn Ziobrowski, Khadijah Salaam, Isabel Ochoa

Reports to NSF

A major challenge in the work of the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education has been the need to strengthen the research climate across the institutional settings. A number of activities have been directed at that effort: internal funding of small student and faculty research projects; presentations by researchers at Center meetings; providing a research focus for the required core courses in cognitive science, design, problem solving, and creativity; and the evolution of the research framework for the Center. The internal research program has been successful in providing relatively non-threatening experiences with proposal preparation, review, negotiation, and the conduct …

Simulation And Modeling Of Return Waveforms From A Ladar Beam Footprint In Usu Ladarsim, Scott E. Budge, B.C. Leishman, R.T. Pack

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Ladar systems are an emerging technology with applications in many fields. Consequently, simulations for these systems have become a valuable tool in the improvement of existing systems and the development of new ones. This paper discusses the theory and issues involved in reliably modeling the return waveform of a ladar beam footprint in the Utah State University LadarSIM simulation software. Emphasis is placed on modeling system-level effects that allow an investigation of engineering tradeoffs in preliminary designs, and validation of behaviors in fabricated designs. Efforts have been made to decrease the necessary computation time while still maintaining a usable model. …

A Comparison Of Four-Step Model And Path Flow Estimator For Forecasting Network Flow: A Case Study Of Cache County In Utah, Siddareddy B. Pedaballi

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

Development of alternative methodologies for travel demand modeling has become important in recent years due to the lack of resources for small and medium communities to adopt conventional four step travel models. Many researchers have proposed alternative tools of travel demand modeling for these communities. But majority of them still require large amount of data and technical sophistication.

In this study, the Path Flow Estimator (PFE) is used to estimate the network traffic of Cache County. PFE estimations are based on the collected traffic counts, vehicle production and attractions of zones estimated using Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) trip generation …

A Sedimentation Study Of The Green River Irrigation Canal, Green River, Utah, Jan Michael Miller

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

This sedimentation study of the Green River irrigation canal provides the Green River Canal Company (GRCC) with a detailed aerial map of the Green River irrigation canal system to allow operators to quickly and accurately locate canal structures. Also, an Excel spreadsheet accounting model was created which provides the GRCC with the ability to determine where sedimentation likely occurs throughout the canal under given conditions. This model must be operated within set guidelines to provide reliable results and should be calibrated for increased accuracy. It was determined that with no irrigation (i.e., with no canal structures open except for the …

Nectar Clean 2006 A Complete Disk Utility Program, Matthew Areno

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The objective of this paper is to introduce a hard drive enclosure kit and program, named Disk Utility, which provides various utilities to a work-bench tech or a home user. Both the authors have worked in a tech-bench area and have found that this is a useful tool to have, as many times trouble-shooting type tasks are necessary to properly diagnose problems on a hard drive. It has also been found to be far easier to implement these changes on a hard drive that doesn't need to be moved from machine to machine.

Many design approaches are covered in this …

A Digital Design For A Plasma Impedance Probe, Jason Bingham

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

The Plasma Impedance Probe (PIP) electronics board is designed to measure the impedance of plasma in situ by emitting voltages at different frequencies from a probe. The PIP is launched as part of the Tropical Storm mission. The purpose of the mission is to launch the instrument aboard a sounding rocket that flies through the ionosphere during or immediately following a large tropical meteorological disturbance. As the PIP probe travels through the upper regions of Earth's atmosphere, data are gathered from the disturbed region by measuring the current flow in the antenna. This information contains both the phase and magnitude …

Steady State Simulations Of A Mars Entry Vehicle, Daniel Guy Schauerhamer

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Using computational fluid dynamics, steady state simulations of a capsule like Mars entry vehicle at certain trajectory points was performed. Trajectory points were chosen incrementally from 90 to 11.5 kilometers altitude. The Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method and the Overflow 2 Navier-Stokes solver were used depending on Knudsen number values greater than or less than 0.1, respectively. To compare flow effects of the maximum angle of attack error margin of three degrees, axially symmetric cases were computed and compared to three dimensional cases demonstrating an attack angle (α) of three degrees. Lift and drag coefficients are reported and compared. The …

Driveline For The Usu 2006 Mini Baja, Daniel Chase Swenson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The Mini Baja project is part of an intercollegiate engineering design competition sponsored by SAE. For this competition senior engineering students at USU design and build a small off-road racecar. The design of the car is broken up into several different subassemblies. The driveline subassembly is responsible for transmitting the power from the transmission to the rear wheels. This is accomplished using several different components that have all been analyzed and designed. The completed driveline is able to accommodate sixteen inches of suspension travel, is lightweight, and was inexpensive to build. The driveline along with the rest of the car …

Utilization Of Ultrasonic Consolidation In Fabricating Satellite Decking, Joshua L. George

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A fundamental investigation of the use of ultrasonic consolidation (UC) to produce deck panels for small satellites was undertaken. Several fabrication methods for producing structural panels and decking were analyzed. Because of its ability to create aluminum objects in an additive fashion, and at near-room temperatures, UC was found to be a powerful solution for creating highly integrated and modular satellite panels. It also allowed a lightweight and stiff deck to be fabricated without the use of adhesives.

A series of experiments were performed to understand the issues associated with creating a sandwich-type structure using UC. The experiments used a …