Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

Digital Twin Technologies For Battery Systems: Advancements, Applications, And Future Directions, Seyed Saeed Madani, Yasmin Shabeer, Michael Fowler, Satyam Panchal, Carlos Ziebert, Hicham Chaoui, François Allard

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The relationships among deep learning, edge computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and the most recent advancements in digital twin (DT) technology for battery energy storage systems are discussed in this paper. The study highlights the need for improved cloud-edge coordination, AI model development, and stronger cybersecurity features by demonstrating real-world applications of digital twin technology in electric vehicles (EVs), aircraft, and grid storage. It also described DT-based structures for fault detection, real-time monitoring, and optimization through standardization and battery management system (BMS) fusion. Because DT-based solutions for distributed energy resources (DERs) offer improved energy management systems, various studies have been conducted …

Active Altitude Control For High Powered Rockets, Henry Allen, Jason Secora, Charles Williams, Donavon Sanchez, Caleb Nedoma

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The International Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) is the premier collegiate high power rocketry competition in the world hosted by the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA). The Akronauts Rocket Design team has been competing in IREC since 2015 and have won several awards. The main goal of IREC is to launch a rocket to a specified altitude of 10k, 30k, or 45k ft while carrying a payload and successfully recover with little to no damage.

The control of a typical high-powered rocket is purely passive; the center of pressure of the rocket must be behind the center of gravity with respect …

Effects Of Back-Pressure On Pseudo-Shock Systems, Emil C. Alunno

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

The isolator of a scramjet engine houses a pseudo-shock, a compressive flow structure that raises the static pressure and decelerates the incoming supersonic flow for efficient combustion while shielding the inlet from the elevated pressure downstream. Under sufficient back pressure the leading shock bifurcates and forms a shock train followed by a shockless mixing region, and the resulting system oscillates even under nominally steady conditions; this unsteadiness distorts the flow, can drive the pseudo-shock out of the isolator and unstart the inlet. This thesis experimentally examines how a pseudo-shock in a constant-area isolator at a measured entrance Mach number of …

Performance Of Adaptive Wingtips On A Tailless Supersonic Business Jet, Khushi Piparava

2025 Fall Honors Capstones Projects - Archive

The growing interest in supersonic business travel has renewed focus on efficient, low-drag configurations that can achieve high performance while maintaining stability and structural integrity. This research investigates the aerodynamic and structural implications of adaptive folding wingtips on a tailless supersonic business jet (SBJ) concept designed under the SkyBreaker senior design program. Using a conceptual aerodynamic model based on linearized supersonic theory, the Polhamus leading-edge suction analogy, and an empirical compression-lift correlation, the study evaluates how varying wingtip droop angles influence lift, drag, lift-to-drag ratio (L/D), and static stability. The analysis was performed parametrically in MATLAB, using geometry inputs derived …

Sustainable Practices For Aircraft Decommissioning And Recycling In A Circular Aviation Economy, Eva Maleviti, Dimitra Papadaki

Publications

The aviation industry requires a series of actions that will transform its current status, aiming for sustainable operations. Aviation’s end-of-life stream is a pivotal lever for circularity, yet current dismantling and recycling practices leave significant value unrealized. Circular Economy could be considered as a transformational approach to the aviation industry and address its environmental and economic challenges, meeting sustainability principles. This study conducts a PRISMA-guided qualitative systematic review across academic and industry sources to synthesize regulations, technologies, and economics of aircraft decommissioning. It aims to quantify material recovery potential and environmental gains at the aircraft level and assess technology readiness …

High-Fidelity Modeling Of Evtol Rotor Unsteady Aerodynamic And Aeroacoustic Response To Time-Harmonic Gust, Vadim Voropayev

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The rapid emergence of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) demands accurate prediction and mitigation of noise generated by electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft operating in complex urban environments. Among the various noise sources, the aerodynamic and acoustic response of rotors to unsteady inflow represents a major uncertainty in community-noise assessment and certification. This thesis investigates the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic behavior of a representative eVTOL rotor subjected to time-harmonic inflow disturbances, providing a detailed numerical framework to quantify how periodic gusts influence rotor performance, unsteady loading, and sound radiation.

The study employs a three-stage computational methodology using the open-source solver …

Improving Fatigue Strength And Life Of Single Crystal Cmsx-4, Jochen Peter Fuhr, Lloyd Hackel, Nicolau I. Morar, Noah Holtham, Keivan Davami, Montu Sharma, Rajkumar Roy

15th International Conference on Shot Peening

The deep penetration of laser peening (LP) and retention of residual stress at high temperature by LP is significant in improving fatigue life and strength of superalloys exposed to high temperature and corrosion. Single crystal CMSX-4, was evaluated for stress relaxation and both fatigue life and fatigue strength of material that was LP-treated compared to non-LP and shot-peened (SP) specimens. LP was done with multiple layers using a 20 J/pulse laser where the laser high energy enabled using a 5 mm spot size on the metal surface. Stress measurements by the slitting technique showed the plastic penetration depth exceeded SP …

A Feasibility Study Into The Usability And Application Of An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle For Aircraft Inspection And Quality Assurance Inspections, Reece P. Bhave

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

The global aviation industry is often characterized as one of the safest modes of transportation in the modern world. With an abundance of quality assurance inspections and checks to determine operations safety, modern-day commercial aircraft that are utilized for passenger and cargo flights are held to a higher safety standard defined by regulatory bodies, such as the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States of America and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in the European Union. While these quality standards are maintained via a series of inspections, checks, and preventative maintenance procedures, they are limited to only visual or …

A Framework For Test Planning Of A Vision System Supporting Aerial Refueling, Jonathon K. Parry, Donald H. Costello, Michael D. M. Kutzer, Charles J. Doherty, Sarah M. Hubbard

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

This essay presents a framework for evaluating a computer vision system providing perception for an uncrewed aircraft completing the automated air-to-air refueling (A3R) task. As the Department of Defense acquires capabilities that exhibit increasing levels of autonomy, the test and evaluation community must adapt the current framework to provide airworthiness officials the information required to accurately access the risks associated with the system underdoing testing. Following a brief introduction to A3R, this essay lays out a testing framework that leverages dendritic analysis and effectively deconstructs the critical issue into measurable data elements that can be used to support test and …

Contributing Factors To Low Airspeed On Climb-Out As A Precursor To Loss Of Control In Flight, Owen D. Poborsky

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

The nature of aviation is not without inherent risk. Conducting training flight operations increases these inherent risks. Flight data monitoring and voluntary safety action programs seek to reduce risk, as seen in their success at commercial airlines. These successes are slowly permeating into general aviation through programs such as the National General Aviation Flight Information Database (NGAFID). The NGAFID is a program funded by the Federal Aviation Administration that allows general aviation operators to have the ability to collect and share de-identified flight data on an aggregate level to identify trends and increase safety margins during flight operations. This study …

Mission-To-Designs: Automating Uav Conceptual Design Generation, Nana A. Adjei

All Theses

The conceptual design stage of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is an exploratory phase where designers are tasked with developing and evaluating a wide range of viable design concepts, considering different geometries and configurations based on mission requirements. The goal is to identify the most suitable design after the exploration for further development and progression to the next phase. Several tools and frameworks have been developed to assist designers in this stage, each offering unique capabilities, but all with the common aim of aiding in the efficient development and evaluation of conceptual designs. This is important in the UAV design process …

Navigating Perceptions: How Organizational Type And Message Source Affect Willingness To Fly In Automated Air Taxis, Cody James Sweatt

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

A new era of transportation and business is beginning to emerge. Advanced air mobility (AAM), which uses highly automated aircraft that transport passengers and cargo in the underutilized, low-altitude airspace above and around urban areas, is rapidly becoming a reality (FAA, 2023). These new companies will utilize air taxis, which are automated, electric, vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and will potentially foster a revolutionary new commerce infrastructure. Unfortunately, it is not currently understood how the credibility of a message source or specific type of organization that owns and operates an automated air taxi company influences a customer’s willingness to …

A Discrete-Time Adaptive Sliding Mode Controller For A Multicopter With A Suspended Payload, John Helzer

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis presents a Discrete-time Adaptive Sliding Mode Controller (DASMC) for control of a multicopter with a suspended payload. DASMC is designed to stabilize the multicopter at a desired position while minimizing the load oscillations induced by a significant hanging payload. The proposed DASMC minimizes the need for system-specific parameters like tunable gains and improves robustness to both external disturbances and model uncertainties compared with existing controllers. The controller is designed for direct digital implementation on a variety of multicopter platforms with considerations like discrete-time design, adaptive gain shrinking, and saturation handling. When deployed on a real multicopter in an …

Comparative Analysis Of Loss Of Control Definitions, Owen D. Poborsky

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

“Loss of control” (LOC) is a broad term in aviation used to describe an event or series of events that resulted in an accident or incident of an aircraft. Many definitions of LOC exist for aircraft while maneuvering on the ground and in the air. The purpose of this study is to synthesize the numerous LOC definitions found in the literature and from government and rulemaking organizations to better understand the importance of airspeed awareness as it relates to LOC events at low altitudes. Furthermore, emphasis shall be placed specifically on flight training within general aviation, as significant LOC statistical …

Sees Presentation: Small Satellites Power Systems, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint Presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs titled "SEES Presentation: Small Satellites Power Systems" from June 12, 2025.

How Education Sats Started, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint Presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs titled "How Education Sats Started" from June 12, 2025.

Space Program, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint Presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs titled "Space Program" from June 12, 2025.

Enhancement Of A Python Integral Boundary Layer Method, Jeffrey T. Azuma

Master's Theses

This thesis presents a series of additions to a Python based integral boundary layer software library known as PyBL. This library provides the user the means to calculate boundary layer properties using different models for boundary layer behavior. The additions feature the integration of a set of new laminar and turbulent integral boundary layer models originally developed for and currently found in the program XFOIL. These models were modified to fit the ODE solver method at the foundation of PyBL. A new method for PyBL that stitches a laminar and turbulent solution together has been developed to improve the ability …

Thermally Perfect Augmentation Of A Supersonic Inlet Design Tool That Uses Method Of Characteristics, Mario V. Guardado

Master's Theses

This work is the first in a series to augment a supersonic air inlet design tool based in Python 3 to incorporate new models that increase the range of applicability of the tool. This effort focuses on improving the thermodynamics model by incorporating a thermally perfect gas model. This tool utilizes method of characteristics to solve the governing equations for an inviscid, irrotational, isentropic, steady, supersonic flow field. Multiple test cases are used to assess the accuracy of all new models. A comparison is made between the original code’s test case for a supersonic inlet at low temperatures to verify …

Development Of A Novel Bio-Mimetic Ornithopter With Variable Flapping Angle, Geourg Kivijian

Master's Theses

From the beginnings of flight, flapping-winged flight has been a goal of many engineers to mimic and replicate. With gains in aerodynamic efficiency of flight and certain other favorable characteristics such as reduced noise, higher maneuverability, and surveillance opportunities in urban environments, flapping-wing aerial vehicle(FWAV) designs are consistently pursued in many corners of academia and industry. This thesis goes into the development of a flapping wing aerial vehicle with a Bio-mimetic novel drive mechanism that is cable-driven and can produce variable amplitude and frequency flapping stroke. Employing a Field-Oriented Control (FOC) Brushless Direct Current (BLDC) motor, paired with a bio-mimetic …

3d Printed Fixed Wing Aircraft Competition, Sidney E. Long, Mitchell Heise, Jack Bride, Daniel Salinas

Mechanical Engineering

Cal State LA and Arlington University, Texas are hosting the same 3D printed, fixed wing aircraft competition for 2025. Cal Poly requires a competitive plane that can adhere to each rule and be piloted remotely to achieve the longest time in the air. The plane must utilize solely 3D printing technology for the wings, body, and all other structures. The only off-the-shelf components can be the motor and electronics, as well as mechanical devices such as hinges.

Reconfigurable Python Autopilot Software For Rc Aircraft, Kate Doiron

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Characteristics Of Patterned Surface Dielectric Barrier Discharge Devices For Ionic Wind Propulsion, Ethan J. Graef

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Electroaerodynamic (EAD) or ionic wind propulsion is a growing area of research for small noiseless low speed aircraft. Previous flight demonstrations and experimentation have revealed that traditional methods of EAD propulsion utilizing corona discharge incur a large drag penalty due to their collector and emitter geometries. Recent publications detail flexible and geometrically conformable surface dielectric barrier discharge devices (SDBD) that could increase thrust and decrease drag as an ion source for an EAD propulsion system. This thesis explores the effects of different electrode sizes and geometries on total SDBD power consumption. SDBDs of a hexagonal, triangular, and square electrode geometry …

Nonlinear Control System Design And Hardware Testing Of An Overactuated Multicopter, William A. Wearren

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

For the concept of Urban Air Mobility to be implemented into everyday life, the safety of passengers, bystanders, and surrounding infrastructure needs to be held paramount [1]. In previous work done at the University of South Alabama Facility for Aerospace Systems and Technology (FAST) lab, a reconfigurable control law was derived and tested on a scratch built multicopter [2]. The goal of the control law was to stabilize an X8 model multicopter in the event of motor outages [2]. The control law was tested on a simulated model and flight tested on a small-scale X8 multicopter to verify the effectiveness …

Team Safe Skies: Project Talon Interceptor, Cole Carlson, Peter Dinh, Sebastian Gomez, Alex Widner

Senior Design Project For Engineers

This report aims to lay out our design process for the missile interceptor aircraft. Our Talon Interceptor is an inexpensive, scaled-down, autonomous F-16 for mass production. The aircraft can ascend quickly for mission requirements while avoiding detection with its internal weapons bay. Multiple decisions have been made to ensure the initial and maintenance costs are reasonable without compromising the missions. TOPSIS reviews have been used to measure significant components unbiasedly and objectively. Our aircraft meets all the AIAA requirements while coming in under budget.

G.W.A.I.H.I.R. Guided Wing Aircraft For Intelligent Hybrid Insertion And Recovery, Abdirahman Ahmed Shirwa, Zach Richards, Derek Harwood, Alex Duncan

Senior Design Project For Engineers

The paper outlines the conceptual and preliminary design of a hybrid vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) heavy lift unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for autonomous cargo transport missions. The primary design objective was to create an aircraft capable of carrying a 15 kg payload over a range of 33 km, achieving a top cruise speed of 45 km/h and maintaining an endurance capacity of at least 90 minutes.

A comprehensive literature review informed key design decision, including airfoil selection, structural material, propulsion system configuration, and control. Key requirements were established early in the design process, such as payload capacity, energy efficiency, …

40 - Design, Fabrication, And Installation Of Morphing Control Surfaces For Small-Scale Uas, Kyle Purser

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Morphing control surface technology, inspired by organic structures and compliant mechanisms, offers significant potential for enhancing the aerodynamic efficiency and performance of unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Despite these benefits, its adoption has been hindered by complexities in design, manufacturing, and installation, particularly when compared to traditional flap systems. This research explores the design, fabrication, and integration of morphing control surfaces for small-scale UAS using additive manufacturing techniques. To reduce costs and streamline the design process, fused deposition modeling (FDM) additive manufacturing was employed for component fabrication. An off-the-shelf Horizon Sport Cub S2 served as the testing platform, modified with a …

L2 Certification Rocket Launch, Seungyou Cho

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

The LOC 835 high-power rocket with J275W-12 motor at Argonia, KS, for L2 certification, was auspiciously launched and returned. J means the motor can exert 640-1280 Ns of impulse, which makes a sizeable propelling sound. Even though four main hindrances occurred from the construction to the launch, the issues were revised correctly. The rail button and the tracker were severe issues, so I devised the method of drilling a hole for the rail button, but there was no way to replace a broken tracker. The wind speed on the launch day was so strong that the rocket flew 1-2 miles …

Aeroacoustics Applications To Jets And Rotors, Michael Marques G.

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Aeroacoustics plays a critical role in the advancement of propulsion technologies for both conventional and emerging aerial systems. This dissertation investigates two key topics: noise suppression in supersonic rectangular jets and rotor noise characterization in hover and ground effect. Using high-fidelity numerical simulations and theoretical analyses, this research aims to develop effective noise mitigation strategies and improve predictive methodologies.

The first part of this study focuses on the reduction of noise in supersonic rectangular jets through active control techniques. A novel approach utilizing unsteady microjet actuation at the nozzle lip is explored to disrupt the formation of large-scale turbulent structures …

Modeling The Dynamics Of Flexible Aerospace Vehicles Using The Theory Of Functional Connections, Carlo Lombardi

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Modeling and control of flexible vehicles is a topic of high interest in the aerospace field and a key challenge lies in finding accurate mathematical representations of the flexible dynamics of continuous elastic structures that allow simple integration into estimation and control algorithms. The answer was found in approximating the dynamics of these systems with sets of coupled Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE) for which a well-established estimation and control theory is available. Each of the techniques employed to achieve this goal is characterized by its own strengths and limitations. Hence, the main objective of this research is to develop the …