Engineering Commons^™

Lean Integrated Design And Production: A Contractor's Perspective, Fiacra Mcdonnell

Articles

The scenario I have chosen for my paper concentrates on my experiences while employed as a senior estimator with Aidan Elliott Construction Ltd in 2009. Aidan Elliott Construction Ltd was a medium sized building contractor based in the Republic of Ireland. The company in question had an annual turnover of €15m, and was engaged in procuring construction contracts through competitive tendering. The contracts in question ranged in value between €200,000 and €12m. My responsibilities included pricing individual tenders, and compiling all the necessary documentation surrounding the procurement process for that company.As a company, we were pricing work on a competitive …

An Investigation Of Fast And Frugal Heuristics For New Product Project Selection, Fatima Mohammed Albar

Dissertations and Theses

In the early stages of new product development, project selection is dominantly based on managerial intuition, rather than on analytic approaches. As much as 90% of all product ideas are rejected before they are formally assessed. However, to date, little is known about the product screening heuristics and screening criteria managers use: it has been suggested that their decision process resembles the "fast and frugal" heuristics identified in recent psychological research, but no empirical research exists. A major part of the product innovation pipeline is thus poorly understood.

This research contributes to closing this gap. It uses cognitive task analysis …

Automatic Registration Of Multiple Texel Images (Fused Lidar/Digital Imagery) For 3d Image Creation, Scott E. Budge, N. Badamikar

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Creation of 3D images through remote sensing is a topic of interest in many applications such as terrain / building modeling and automatic target recognition (ATR). Several photogrammetry-based methods have been proposed that derive 3D information from digital images from different perspectives, and lidar- based methods have been proposed that merge lidar point clouds and texture the merged point clouds with digital imagery. Image registra­ tion alone has difficulty with smooth regions with low contrast, whereas point cloud merging alone has difficulty with outliers and lack of proper convergence in the merging process. This paper presents a method to create …

Mylife, Lauren Furumoto, Will Truettner

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

As we continue to utilize the web to manage organizations and institutions such as Santa Clara University Law School, we are challenged with the problem of keeping all of the different services in concise, cohesive interfaces. myLife attempts to consolidate currently scattered services relevant to SCU Law students and faculty into one dashboard for easy access and utilization. myLife requires only one set of credentials and displays the relevant mail, news, events, and course information for a given user on one userfriendly page.

Kysat-2 Electrical Power System Design And Analysis, Brandon L. Molton

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the College of Science & Technology Morehead State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science by Brandon L. Molton on June 4, 2013.

The Impact Of Knowledge Inflows On The Performance Of National Laboratories In Technological Latecomer Countries, Pattravadee Ploykitikoon

Dissertations and Theses

The national laboratories (NLs) play a critical role in the economic and social development of technological latecomer countries, yet no academic study has ever quantified how knowledge inflows and internal knowledge impact the performance of the NLs. This dissertation identifies and ranks the importance of factors pertaining to knowledge inflows and project-internal knowledge, which determine the success or failure of research projects in the NLs of Thailand. A survey of 123 project managers in the NLs, which covers 208 R&D projects, has been conducted. It consists of a questionnaire and unstructured interviews in which the project managers discuss their project(s). …

Climate Change Impact On The Spatio-Temporal Variability Of Hydro-Climate Extremes, Mohammad Reza Najafi

Dissertations and Theses

The rising temperature of the earth due to climate change has shown to alter the variations of hydro-climate variables, including their intensities, frequencies and durations. Extreme events such as floods are, in particular, susceptible to any disturbances in climate cycles. As such it is important to provide policymakers with sufficient knowledge about the probable impacts of climate change on hydrologic extremes and most importantly on floods, which have the highest impacts on the societies. For this reason analysis of hydro-climate extremes is commonly performed using data at each site (or grid cell), however due to the limited number of extreme …

Antenna Coupled Detectors For 2d Staring Focal Plane Arrays, Michael A. Gritz, Borys P. Kolasa, Brian A. Lail, Robert J. Burkholder, Leonard Chen

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

Millimeter-wave (mmW)/sub-mmW/THz region of the electro-magnetic spectrum enables imaging thru clothing and other obscurants such as fog, clouds, smoke, sand, and dust. Therefore considerable interest exists in developing lowcost millimeter-wave imaging (MMWI) systems. Previous MMWI systems have evolved from crude mechanically scanned, single element receiver systems into very complex multiple receiver camera systems. Initial systems required many expensive mmW integrated-circuit low-noise amplifiers. In order to reduce the cost and complexity of the existing systems, attempts have been made to develop new mmW imaging sensors employing direct detection arrays. In this paper, we report on Raytheon's recent development of a unique …

Existence Of Negative Differential Thermal Conductance In One-Dimensional Diffusive Thermal Transport, Jiuning Hu, Yong P. Chen

Birck and NCN Publications

We show that in a finite one-dimensional (1D) system with diffusive thermal transport described by the Fourier's law, negative differential thermal conductance (NDTC) cannot occur when the temperature at one end is fixed and there are no abrupt junctions. We demonstrate that NDTC in this case requires the presence of junction(s) with temperature-dependent thermal contact resistance (TCR). We derive a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of NDTC in terms of the properties of the TCR for systems with a single junction. We show that under certain circumstances we even could have infinite (negative or positive) differential thermal conductance …

Effects Of Background Noise Alternating Between Two Levels At Varying Time Intervals On Human Perception And Performance, Andrew Hathaway, Lily M. Wang

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

This research experiment aims to better quantify human perception and performance under increased background noise levels of varying intervals. Twenty-seven participants were tested over five 30 minute sessions where they were subjected to RC-29(H) and RC-47(RV) conditions created by broadband noise fluctuating on different time intervals. These intervals varied from two minutes to ten minutes, simulating the conditions of a noisy HVAC system turning on and off. The performance results of an arithmetic test dealing with short-term memory and a subjective questionnaire will be presented and compared to a similar test using broadband noise bursts and correlated to noise metrics …

Effects Of Reverberation And Noise On Speech Comprehension By Native And Non-Native English-Speaking Listeners, Zhao Peng, Lily M. Wang, Siu Kit Lau, Adam M. Steinbach

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Previous studies have demonstrated the negative impact of adverse signal-to-noise-ratios on non-native English-speaking listeners' performance on speech recognition using recall tasks, as well as implied that comprehension skills were more impaired than recognition skills under reverberation and noise. The authors have themselves previously conducted a pilot study on three native and three non-native Englishspeaking listeners to examine the effects of reverberation and noise using speech comprehension tasks. Those results suggested that speech comprehension performance is worse under longer reverberation times (RT), and that a longer RT is more detrimental to speech comprehension by non-native listeners than native listeners. This paper …

North American Specification For The Design Of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members, 2012 Edition, American Iron And Steel Institute

American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Specifications, Standards, Manuals and Research Reports (1946 - present)

No abstract provided.

Mechanical Properties And Microstructures Of Incoloy 909 Rolled Rings Subjected To A Modified Forging Cycle, Colin Lee Elliott Glaves

Materials Engineering

The microstructure of rolled rings of Incoloy 909 nickel-iron-cobalt superalloy subjected to a standard customer solution and aging treatment exhibited unacceptably large grains. Samples cut from a failed ring were mounted and polished for analysis. The samples were etched with a modified Kalling’s waterless reagent and metallographic analysis was done to identify characteristic large grain structures distributed among the desired smaller grain structures. The large grains were identified and noted for comparison to later samples. Two test rings were forged out of Incoloy 909 using revised forging procedures involving reduced soak temperatures before each forging step. Metallographic samples were cut …

Control System Infrastructure For The Cal Poly Human Powered Helicopter: Upturn Ii, Douglas A. Thornber, Samuel J. Wahyou

Aerospace Engineering

The Upturn was donated to Cal Poly in October 2012 by Neal Saiki from NTS. Our project was to replicate the old system to decrease the turn-around time in case of a crash during a test flight. The control system for the Upturn II was designed with the same considerations that were used for the Upturn. The result we got was inconclusive for the sensor selection, the new control system is heavier than the old system, and we couldn’t validate the system without doing a flight test. For the next iteration if some of the replication requirements are relaxed the …

Ramjet Combustion Chamber, Paul Cameron Stone

Aerospace Engineering

A ramjet combustion chamber is designed and some initial assembly fabrication and test completed as a component of a ramjet graduate project for California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Supersonic Wind Tunnel. The combustor design is driven by a theoretical model created by a Cal Poly graduate student, Harrison Sykes. Temperature, pressure, and fuel flow will be measured.

The Effects Of Fabrication Methods And Cure Cycle On The Mechanical Properties Of Carbon Fiber Laminate In Tensile And 3-Point Bend Testing, Adriano Agostino

Aerospace Engineering

This project was completed at the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Aerospace Engineering Structures and Composites Lab during Spring Quarter 2013. The purpose of this project was to research and to gain insight into the effects of fabrication methods and of modifying cure cycles for Newport NB-301 12l 2x2 Twill Weave Carbon Fiber material properties. The two fabrication methods used were autoclave and heat press (compression molding) methods. Each fabrication method used two cure cycles, a recommended cure cycle of 275°F for 1 hour and a modified cure cycle of 250°F for 1.5 hours. The exact product data …

Design And Fabrication Of A Ramjet Engine, Clinton C. Humphrey

Aerospace Engineering

In this report, the design and fabrication of the inlet to a ramjet engine is described. The inlet utilizes a single ramp and single sided three shock internal compression to slow the airflow from supersonic to subsonic speeds while providing maximum stagnation pressure to the combustor. The optimum angle for the inlet ramp is calculated to be 10° and it decelerates the airflow from Mach 3.3019 to Mach 0.5438. The stagnation pressure increases from 150 psi to 4.67 ksi. The material of the inlet is composed primarily of low carbon mild steel to accommodate the high pressure of the inlet.

Feasibility Of Cubesat Formation Flight Using Rotation To Achieve Differential Drag, Skyler M. Shuford

Aerospace Engineering

This paper presents the results of a study conducted to understand the feasibility of CubeSat formation flight. The mechanism for separation and formation studied was differential drag, achieved by rotating the CubeSats to give them different cross-sectional areas. Intuitively, lower altitude orbits provide much higher separation effects. Although the most influential orbital effects occur with maximum and minimum cross-sectional areas, an attitude-controlled and a tumbling CubeSat may provide enough differential drag to meet separation requirements of a mission. Formation flight is possible, but due to the non-linearity of the system, gain scheduling may be the most effective method of long …

Proof Of Concept For Propeller Performance Testing In The Cal Poly Wind Tunnel, Alex N. May, Clayton R. Green, Clinton J. Kirsop, Jason A. Schupp

Aerospace Engineering

The goal of this experiment was to execute a proof of concept for a potential propulsion systems laboratory. During the course of this experiment, a data acquisition system was designed, built, and tested in order to collect data from the Cal Poly 3x4 ft draw-down wind tunnel. By operating a brushless outrunner motor and propeller on the sting mount, data was collected for thrust, torque, RPM, current, voltage, and tunnel velocity. By obtaining data for each of these performance metrics, trends were analyzed to confirm the concept and apparatus was functional. The results of the experiment revealed that the concept …

Nozzle Design For The Supersonic Wind Tunnel Ramjet Attachment, Andrew Michael Carter

Aerospace Engineering

This document outlines the concept, design, and manufacturing stages of the nozzle section to the Ramjet Attachment. This project is a subsidiary of the thesis, Baseline Performance of Ramjet Engine”, developed by Harrison Sykes. The nozzle geometry is based off of theoretical calculations using Isentropic and Rayleigh line flow relations for a two-dimensional cross section. The nozzle sees an inlet temperature of 953 degrees Fahrenheit, pressure of 28 psi, and a Mach number of 0.356 after the combustion chamber. The nozzle section is a two foot long converging diverging nozzle to choke and accelerate the flow to achieve an exit …

Redesigned Aerospace Control System Platform For Laboratory Re-Purposing, Ryan W. Moskaluk

Aerospace Engineering

This senior project encompasses using an aircraft model in conjunction with the 3' by 4' low speed wind tunnel at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The aircraft model is controlled through piezoelectric actuators embedded inside the flexible tail structure via a PID controller. The objective for this project is to demonstrate the effect of tuning the individual PID controller gains with the aircraft model inside the low speed wind tunnel and to create an easy to use graphical user interface for doing so.

Coupled Flow Field Simulations Of Charring Ablators With Nonequilibrium Surface Chemistry, Hicham Alkandry, Iain D. Boyd, Alexandre Martin

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper describes the coupling of a Navier-Stokes solver to a material response code to simulate nonequilibrium gas-surface interactions. The Navier-Stokes solver used in this study is LeMANS, which is a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics code that can simulate hypersonic reacting flows including thermo-chemical nonequilibrium effects. The material response code employed in this study is MOPAR, which uses the one-dimensional control volume nite-element method to model heat conduction and pyrolysis gas behavior. This coupling is demonstrated using a test case based on the Stardust sample return capsule. Coupled simulations are performed at three different trajectory conditions. The effects of the …

A New Approach To Light-Weight Ablators Analysis: From Micro-Tomography Measurements To Statistical Analysis And Modeling, Nagi N. Mansour, Francesco Panerai, Alexandre Martin, Dilworth Y. Parkinson, Alastair A. Macdowell, Abdelmoula Haboub, Timothy A. Sandstrom, Tony Fast, Gerard L. Vignoles, Jean Lachaud

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

The morphology characteristics and ablation behavior of a highly porous carbon fiber preform are studied using a combined experimental/numerical approach. Morphological characterization of the three-dimensional structure of the material is performed by hard X-rays synchrotron micro-tomography at the Advanced Light Source of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The resulting micro-tomography voxels are used to compute geometrical properties of the carbon preform, like porosity, specific surface area and tortuosity, that are otherwise indirectly measured through experimental techniques. The reconstructed volumes are used to build a computational grid for numerical simulations of the fibers' ablation. By modeling the diffusion of oxygen through the …

Volume Averaged Modeling Of The Oxidation Of Porous Carbon Fiber Material, Alexandre Martin

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Charring ablators remain the premium choice for space exploration missions that involve atmospheric re-entry. This type of ablative material is composed of a carbon matrix, usually made of fibers, which is then impregnated with a resin. During re-entry, the high heat flux produced by convective heating causes the material to chemically react. First, the resin pyrolyzes, and is vaporized into a gas that travels through the material, and is eventually ejected at the surface. Then, as the temperature rises, the surface of the porous matrix recess through ablative processes. For re-entry conditions typical of space exploration missions, this is mainly …

Flow-Tube Oxidation Experiments On The Carbon Preform Of Pica, Francesco Panerai, Alexandre Martin, Nagi N. Mansour, Steven A. Sepka, Jean Lachaud

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Oxidation experiments on the carbon preform of a phenolic-impregnated carbon ablator were performed in the NASA Ames ow-tube reactor facility, at temperatures between 700 and 1300 K, under dry air gas at pressures between 103 and 104 Pa. Mass loss, volumetric recession and density changes were measured at different test conditions. An analysis of the diffusion/reaction competition within the porous material, based on the Thiele number, allowed us to identify low temperature and low pressure conditions to be dominated by in-depth volume oxidation. Experiments above 1000 K were found at transition conditions, where diffusion and reaction occur at similar scales. …

Multi-Dimensional Modeling Pyrolysis Gas Flow Inside Charring Ablators, Haoyue Weng, Alexandre Martin

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Using an ablative thermal/material response code, the importance of three-dimensionality for modeling ablative test-article is addressed. In particular, the simulation of the pyrolysis gas flow inside a porous material is presented, using two different geometries. The effects of allowing the gas to flow out of the side wall are especially highlighted. Results show that the flow inside the test-article is complex, and that the 0D or 1D assumption made in most Material Response (MR) codes might not be valid for certain geometries.

Tools For Assessing Climate Impacts On Fish And Wildlife, Chad B. Wilsey, Joshua J. Lawler, Edwin P. Maurer, Donald Mckenzie, Patricia A. Townsend, Richard Gwozdz, James A. Freund, Keala Hagmann, Karen M. Hutten

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

Climate change is already affecting many fish and wildlife populations. Managing these populations requires an understanding of the nature, magnitude, and distribution of current and future climate impacts. Scientists and managers have at their disposal a wide array of models for projecting climate impacts that can be used to build such an understanding. Here, we provide a broad overview of the types of models available for forecasting the effects of climate change on key processes that affect fish and wildlife habitat (hydrology, fire, and vegetation), as well as on individual species distributions and populations. We present a framework for how …

Acuta Enews June 2013 Vol. 42, No. 6

ACUTA Newsletters

In this Issue,.,

1 Building on the Conference

2 Evaluating Emergency Notification Systems i

Next Generation 9-l-l

3 Results of the 2013 Forum Competition

i ACUTA Discount for SIP Certification

4 Info Links

5 Ddjd Vu All Over Again: Can We Please Pttf SDNs in Context?

6 Do You ROCKZi?

6 Fall Seminar

6 Have You Paid Your Dues for 2013- 14?

7 Welcome New Members

7 Check It Out

Exploring A High-Tech Approach To Subterranean Dwelling Environments For Commercial Implementation, Matthew Richard Gordon

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

People are always looking to experience something interesting and unique when on vacation. What could be more unique than staying in a hotel that is completely underground? While people have always been amazed at natural caves and other subterranean structures, the idea of spending the night in one of these is a somewhat untried area, although it could be quite the selling point. This being the case, the idea of a subterranean hotel is not so farfetched, however there are a number of issues that arise with this project. These issues include construction and selecting the proper site and building …

Cal Poly Chocolates, Jason Ferrel, Taylor Fitzpatrick

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Our design for this project began with building a strong understanding of the current production process. A meeting with the manager, Anna Nakayama, provided a detailed overview of the entire process and outlined some areas of concern. In addition, she provided us with access to critical data such as standard operating procedures and inventory spreadsheets. From there, time studies were conducted for each of the 8 types of chocolate. These time studies helped identify three main issues facing Cal Poly Chocolates. The first issue is in the packaging area of production. The process is entirely manual and has become a …