Engineering Commons^™

Long Endurance Multi-Rotor Drone, Trenton Griffiths, Jacob Kaiser, Zachary Nelson, Patrick Ollerton, Zachary Page

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Develop a multi-rotor drone with the following characteristics:

• Has a 2 hour flight time
• Can carry a 5 kg payload
• Fuel source readily available
• Autonomous flight capabilities
• Easily transportable by pickup truck

Special Needs Tricycle - Lower Cost Alternative, Liz Housley, Nathan Linville, Conner Toone, Zachary Wilson

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

There are thousands of children across the country who are not able to ride a standard bicycle due to physical disabilities. There are special tricycles that exist to accommodate such riders, but cost between $1500 and $4000 and have limited adjustability. The goal of this project was to design a functional and repeatable tricycle that that would meet the needs of these children at a much lower price.

Autoliv Testing Buck, Derek Hatch, Presli Hutchinson, Mckay Ogden

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The purpose of this project is to build a testing buck to test airbags for out-of-position passengers.

Autoliv is the world's largest automotive safety supplier. Their vision as a company is to save more lives and reduce serious injuries. This fixture is helpful in achieving their vision and continuing to make advancements in airbags for everyday vehicles.

The fixture replicates various sized cars and passengers. The testing buck will run airbag tests on mannequins ranging in size from a small child to a small statured woman.

Ease of use is highly emphasized throughout the project. The components of the fixture …

Thermal Battery, Jake Miles, Cody Barrie, Daniel Pratt, Cody Petterborg

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The objective of the Thermal Battery Project was to design an energy storage tank with an energy capture device for a greenhouse. The design would release the captured energy into the greenhouse to warm the greenhouse and extend the growing season of day-neutral strawberries.

These greenhouses often do not receive enough sunlight to maintain optimal interior temperatures for the strawberries during colder and darker months. Farmers must rely on various heating methods to keep their greenhouses warm. Most of these methods require the use of nonrenewable energy to maintain a desired temperature range.

The problems addressed by the thermal battery …

University Rover Competition Manipulation Sub-Team, Merrill Hall, Kyler Hendrickson, Kaden Ledbetter, Rachael Paskett, Nicholas Wallace

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The rover was designed to complete the tasks laid out in the 2019 Mar’s Society University Rover Challenge (URC) competition rules.

1. Science mission- The rover must conduct an in-situ analysis to determine the presence of life, either extinct or extant, at designated sights.
2. Extreme retrieval and delivery- The rover must pick up and deliver objects in the field while traversing a wide variety of terrain no further than 1 km.
3. Equipment servicing- The rover must perform operations on an equipment system after traveling up to 0.25 km.
4. Autonomous traversal mission- The rover must autonomously traverse between …

University Rover Competition Navigation Sub-Team, Seth Horne, Kaden Archibald, Derek Workman

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

University Rover Competition (URC) Navigation Requirements:

1. The rover shall be an off the grid mobile platform that is controlled by operators in a command station.
2. The rover must autonomously navigate between start and end markers, while performing object detection.
3. The rover must be able to recognize a tennis ball end marker and signal when it is within 2 m of the tennis ball.

University Rover Competition Power/Drive Sub-Team, Cleon Horne, Brady Kalt, Mason Moore

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The rover was designed to complete the tasks laid out in the 2019 Mar’s Society University Rover Challenge (URC) competition rules.

1. Science mission- The rover must conduct an in-situ analysis to determine the presence of life, either extinct or extant, at designated sights.
2. Extreme retrieval and delivery- The rover must pick up and deliver objects in the field while traversing a wide variety of terrain no further than 1 km.
3. Equipment servicing- The rover must perform operations on an equipment system after traveling up to 0.25 km.
4. Autonomous traversal mission- The rover must autonomously traverse between …

University Rover Competition Science Sub-Team, Samuel Parastino, Tyler Wallentine, Brandon Kenison

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The University Rover Competition is held annually near Hanksville, UT at the Mars Desert Research Station. Each team must design and build a rover compete in four different tasks:

1. Science Mission. The rover is required to conduct an in-situ analysis to determine the presence of extinct or extant life at designated sites
2. Extreme Retrieval and Delivery. The rover is required to pick up and deliver objects in the field while traversing a wide variety of terrain no further than 1 km from the base station.
3. Equipment Servicing. The rover is required to perform operations on an equipment system after traveling …

University Rover Competition, Nicholas Huld

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The Mar’s Society University Rover Challenge (URC) is a robotics competition held annually in the desert of Southern Utah. The competition tasks the engineers with building a remotely operated rover to accomplish four primary missions:

1. Science mission- The rover must conduct an in-situ analysis to determine the presence of life, either extinct or extant, at designated sights.
2. Extreme retrieval and delivery- The rover must pick up and deliver objects in the field while traversing a wide variety of terrain no further than 1 km.
3. Equipment servicing- The rover must perform operations on an equipment system after traveling …

High Intensity Uv Light, Kelsey Payne, Ryan Reid, Travis Smith

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

“Mechanics at Extreme Temperatures” is Dr. Berke’s lab. His experiments involve observing specimens at extreme temperatures (i.e. 1500°C) under various load states to simulate jets in hypersonic flight, reentry of spacecraft, and other aerospace applications.

Smart Control Of Automatic Voltage Regulators Using K-Means Clustering, Brook Abegaz, J. Kueber

Engineering Science Faculty Publications

The future cyber physical systems consist of voltage regulators distributed across wide geographical areas. In this paper, a smart control approach of voltage regulators is presented for cyber physical system applications. The approach is implemented using K-means clustering algorithms that use data from voltage and current sensors, compute the correlation of changes across the regulators and generate a proportional feedback. Advanced estimation methods are used in cases where the data from the sensors was not available. The results show that the approach could be used to improve the performance of networked, power dependent systems by 94.5% in terms of overshoot …

Hydropower Potential Of The Central Asian Countries, Bahtiyor Eshchanov, Alina Abylkasymova, Indra Overland, Daniyar Moldokanov, Farkhod Aminjonov, Roman Vakulchuk

All Works

This data article surveys the hydropower potential of the five Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The dataset presents the theoretical hydropower supply capacity of all the river basins of Central Asia. It was prepared using data from national and international sources, and it provides information on installed small and medium hydropower capacities and planned projects in the above-mentioned countries.

Ultrafine Aluminium: Quench Collection Of Agglomerates, Tejasvi K, Y Pydi Setty, Vemana Venkateswara Rao

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Combustion of aluminized solid propellants exhibits phenomena associated with accumulation, agglomeration, ignition, and combustion of ultra-fine aluminium particles. In this study, agglomeration phenomenon of ultra-fine aluminium in solid propellant combustion is investigated using quench collection experimental technique over the pressure ranges from 2MPa to 8MPa. The ultra-fine aluminium powder synthesized by Radio Frequency Induction Plasma technique having harmonic mean size of 438nm is used for agglomeration study. The quenching distance is varied from 5mm to 71mm from the propellant burning surface to estimate the effect on agglomerate size. The morphology and chemical compositions of the collected products were then studied …

Strategies In Developing An Aviation & Aerospace Skill Ecosystem For The State Of Telangana, India – Case Study Of Task -Telangana Academy For Skill And Knowledge, Kim Chua, Sujiv Nair, M.P Ganesh Dr.

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The aviation & aerospace sector in India has been expanding and growing through partnerships and new research facilities, thereby encouraging more players to invest and optimize the manufacturing process. Improving green and fuel-efficient technologies have contributed to a steady rise in fuelling the demand for aerospace engineers.

The state of Telangana is fast emerging as a new aviation cluster with some of the country’s best-qualified engineers and technicians. The potential of the aerospace industry is immense as it continuously requires skilled technicians and engineers. Considering the precision of skill required, it is imperative that rigorous training be imparted to all …

Satellite Maintenance: An Opportunity To Minimize The Kessler Effect, Bettina M. Mrusek Dr.

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Recently, there has been an emphasis on the growing problem of orbital debris. While the advantages of placing satellites into space are numerous, advances in satellite technology combined with the growth of the industry have resulted with a significant amount of debris in the orbits surrounding our planet. The harshness of the space environment has also contributed to the debris, as evidenced by the number of objects currently in orbit which are not operational. As the amount of debris grows, so too does the likelihood of collisions, ultimately culminating in the Kessler Effect. However, recent advances in propulsion, advanced navigation, …

Big Five Technologies In Aeronautical Engineering Education: Scoping Review, Ruth Martinez-Lopez

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The constant demands that technology creates in aerospace engineering also influence education. The identification of the technologies with practical application in aerospace engineering is of current interest to decision makers in both universities and industry. A social network approach enhances this scoping review of the research literature to identify the main topics using the Big Five technologies in aerospace engineering education. The conceptual structure of the dataset (n=447) was analyzed from different approaches: at macro-level, a comparative of the digital technology identified by cluster analysis with the number of co-words established in 3 and 8 and, a keyword central structure …

Computational Study Of Flow Interactions Over A Close Coupled Canard-Wing On Fighter, Setyawan Bekti Wibowo, Sutrisno Sutrisno, Tri Agung Rohmat

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

There have been many attempts to improve the flying performance of a fighter. By modifying the flow that occurs along the fuselage is expected to improve the performance of the aircraft. One of the indicators of combat aircraft performance is the ability to perform maneuver movement. Adding a canard as forewing on the fighter wing configuration is considered capable of raising the ability in maneuver movement. The use of canard-delta pairs will affect the performance and aerodynamic characteristics of the plane. Wings and canards with delta configuration will make the rolled-up vortex as a lifting force producer on the aircraft. …

Urban Flow And Small Unmanned Aerial System Operations In The Built Environment, Kevin A. Adkins

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has put forth a set of regulations (Part 107) that govern small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) operations. These regulations restrict unmanned aircraft (UA) from flying over people and their operation to within visual line of sight (VLOS). However, as new applications for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are discovered, their capabilities improve, and regulations evolve, there is an increasing desire to undertake urban operations, such as urban air mobility, package delivery, infrastructure inspection, and surveillance. This built environment poses new weather hazards that include enhanced wind shear and turbulence. The smaller physical dimensions, lower mass and …

Aircraft Interior Design And Satisfaction For Different Activities; A New Approach Toward Understanding Passenger Experience, Golnoosh Torkashvand, Lucas Stephane, Peter Vink

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Among airlines and aircraft manufacturers there is much attention for passenger experience. However, there is not much literature on how the activities of passengers can be supported by the aircraft interior. The current study focuses on the need finding and requirements analysis of flight passengers. Twenty-three activities were defined based on retrospective interviews and brainstorming sessions. Respondents were asked to rate their overall perception related to the importance of each of those 23 activities on a Linkert scale, from “not at all important” to “extremely important”. On a separate question they were also asked to rate their overall satisfaction by …

Crew Resource Management For Large Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations, Peter S. Neff

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Abstract

The author explored the application of crew resource management (CRM) principles to commercial flight operations conducted by large unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Currently, there is no regulatory structure governing the operation of large UAS in commercial flight operations. However, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) forecasted the future by demonstrating the feasibility of large remotely piloted UAS flight in June 2018 by flying Ikhana, a modified MQ-9 Predator B aircraft, over a 415-mile route in Class A and in Class E airspace over southern California (Kooser, 2018). Ikhana is a 10,500-pound aircraft with a wingspan of 66 feet …

Aerodynamic Design And Exploration Of A Blended Wing Body Aircraft At Subsonic Speed, Sam Dakka Dr, Oliver Johnson

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Blended Wing Body (BWB) is a novel aircraft concept which provides many different aerodynamic benefits over conventional aircrafts design. This research investigated the BWB design, L/D characteristics, surface pressure distribution and span-wise lift distribution of a BWB aircraft at low to medium subsonic speeds. A BWB model was designed, manufactured and tested in a subsonic wind tunnel to validate the CFD simulation. The results gained from the investigation proved that BWB has a L/D improvement of 9.4% than conventional aircrafts and 21% increase at medium subsonic speeds (Mach 0.6) compared to lower subsonic speeds of 25 m/sec. It was found …

On Atmospheric Lapse Rates, Nihad E. Daidzic

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

We have derived and summarized and most important atmospheric temperature lapse rates. ALRs essentially govern vertical atmospheric air stability and creation of some cloud types. The sensitivity analysis of various atmospheric lapse rates and their dependence on actual ideal-gas air properties and gravitational attraction was conducted for the first time to the best of our knowledge. SALR, which has DALR as the upper asymptote, showed steepest decrease at around 9 degrees Celsius then flattening out and apparently approaching another asymptotic solution which has not been investigated as it falls outside of the terrestrial temperature range. ISA lapse rates are adopted …

Brand Awareness, Purchase Intention And Price Premium Of International Airlines Operating Between Australia And The United Kingdom, Yi Gao, Nigel Wai Keong Choy

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Brand equity has a profound impact on the pricing and sales of consumer products and services. Inspired by existing literature on customer-based brand equity in various domains, this study examines brand awareness (a dimension of brand equity), purchase intention and price premium of international airlines operating on a specific aviation market, Australia - the United Kingdom. Through surveying a sample of 259 participants in the metropolitan Melbourne area, the study captures a snapshot of brand recognition and brand preference of international airlines among local travelers. Statistically significant association is found between brand awareness and purchase intention, and between brand awareness …

A New Method For The Prediction Of The Downwash Angle Gradient, Mondher Yahyaoui Dr.

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

A new method for the prediction of the downwash angle gradient due to aircraft wings across the span of an aft horizontal tail in the incompressible regime is presented. The approach is quite general and accounts for all practical wing geometric parameters except for wing twist where it is shown that this parameter has very little effect on the downwash angle gradient. The method consists of an empirical law which requires the prior knowledge of three constants. These have been computed either based on experimental data when available or using numerical data obtained using the vortex-lattice method. These constants are …

Transforming The Professional Flight Program Curriculum: Justification, Process, And Future Development, Julius Keller, Flavio A. C. Mendonca, Brian G. Dillman, Michael Suckow

Publications

According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), by 2036 the aviation sector will need 620,000 new pilots, 125,000 new air traffic controllers, and 1.3 million aircraft maintenance personnel (ICAO, 2018);

Pilots seeking a first officer position (a common entry-level position at Part 121 air carriers) are required to possess an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) Certificate and 1,500 hours of total flight time;

There are some exceptions!

Support from administration

Quantity vs Quality;

How can flight faculty improve student learning and job readiness?

Notched Hollow Square Section Steel Column Buckling, Zia Razzaq, Solomon Tecleab

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Presented in this paper is an outcome of a study to assess the effect of section loss in the form of longitudinal notches on the buckling load of hollow square section steel columns. The theoretical study includes buckling load estimates based on both an iterative equilibrium as well as a non-iterative energy approach. Buckling loads based on sample laboratory experiments are also presented. The study shows that the presence of a notch can significantly reduce the axial load-carrying capacity of a steel column.

Determination Of Personalized Asthma Triggers From Multimodal Sensing And A Mobile App: Observational Study, Revathy Venkataramanan, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan, Utkarshani Jaimini, Dipesh Kadariya, Hong Yung Yip, Maninder Kalra, Amit Sheth

Publications

Background: Asthma is a chronic pulmonary disease with multiple triggers. It can be managed by strict adherence to an asthma care plan and by avoiding these triggers. Clinicians cannot continuously monitor their patients’ environment and their adherence to an asthma care plan, which poses a significant challenge for asthma management.

Objective: In this study, pediatric patients were continuously monitored using low-cost sensors to collect asthma-relevant information. The objective of this study was to assess whether kHealth kit, which contains low-cost sensors, can identify personalized triggers and provide actionable insights to clinicians for the development of a tailored asthma care plan. …

Vhf Transmitter Development For Wildlife Tracking, Bryan Westra

Masters Theses

Wildlife biologists often use collars with VHF transmitters to gather wildlife data. The purpose of this project is to determine the best approach to designing a wildlife tracking VHF transmitter on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB). A variety of frequency generation methods were considered for the transmitter, including transistor-based crystal oscillators and chip based solutions from the chip manufacturers Analog Devices and Silicon Labs. Prototypes of the feasible options were built and evaluated for cost, power consumption, efficiency, size, frequency range, signal bandwidth, and frequency stability. It was found that the Silicon Labs Si4010 chip was the best solution based …

Detecting Special-Cause Variation 'Events' From Process Data Signatures, Timothy M. Young, Olga Khaliukova, Nicolas André, Alexander Petutschnigg, Timothy G. Rials, Chung-Hao Chen

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The ability to detect the special-cause variation of incoming feedstocks from advanced sensor technology is invaluable to manufacturers. Many on-line sensors produce data signatures that require further off-line statistical processing for interpretation by operational personnel. However, early detection of changes in variation in incoming feedstocks may be imperative to promote early-stage preventive measures. A method is proposed in this applied study for developing control bands to quantify the variation of data signatures in the context of statistical process control (SPC). Control bands based on pointwise prediction intervals constructed from the Bonferroni Inequality and Bayesian smoothing splines are developed. Applications using …

Initial Implementation Of A Machine Learning System For Srf Cavity Fault Classification At Cebaf, A. Carpenter, K. M. Iftekharuddin, T. Powers, Y. Roblin, A. Solopava Shabalina, C. Tennant, L. Vidyaratne

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at Jefferson Laboratory is a high power Continuous Wave (CW) electron accelerator. It uses a mixture of of SRF cryomodules: older, lower energy C20/C50 modules and newer, higher energy C100 modules. The cryomodules are arrayed in two anti-parallel linear accelerators. Accurately classifying the type of cavity faults is essential to maintaining and improving accelerator performance. Each C100 cryomodule contains eight 7-cell cavities. When a cavity fault occurs within a cryomodule, all eight cavities generate 17 waveforms each containing 8192 points. This data is exported from the control system and saved for review. Analysis …