Cal Poly Human Powered Helicopter, Josiah Auer, Eric Behne, Dave Berry, Rebecca Hennings, James Koch, Ian Marquardt, Josiah Mayfield, Sean Miller

Mechanical Engineering

The following report encompasses the Cal Poly Human Powered Helicopter team’s efforts during the 2010-2011 academic year. The intention of this project is to further the knowledge of human powered helicopter design and to validate an ideal configuration through experimental tests and analysis. 

A. Background

The Sikorsky Prize offered by the American Helicopter Society has been the catalyst for many attempts at Human Powered Helicopter (HPH) flight. The requirement to win the prize is a continuous, human powered flight of more than 60 seconds that stays within a 10 meter square box and reaches an altitude greater than 3 meters …

Rayleigh Test Apparatus Design Report, Josef Duller, Owen Raybould, James Nicovich

Mechanical Engineering

The Rayleigh Test Apparatus is a device that will be used to test the thermodynamic properties of Nitrous Oxide to assess the feasibility of using this fluid as a coolant for a hybrid rocket aero spike. The aero spike is intended to redirect the propulsion flow as it leaves the engine to create a more efficient flow pattern at low and high altitudes. However, there are issues of overheating which leads to melting of the aero spike. For this reason, the use of nitrous oxide (N2O) as a coolant is being explored. N20 is being considered because it is already …

Boom Stability Control Final Project Report, Michael Barnes, Justin Carnahan, Daniel Fluitt, Alicia Johnstone

Mechanical Engineering

The BOOMStiC Gravity Gradient Boom and Turnstile Antenna project was developed to provide a passive attitude control system and better communications for future CubeSat satellites developed by California Polytechnic State University. The system utilizes the energy from a coilable metal spring to deploy a tip mass to a length of one meter from the side of the satellite. Calculations show the resulting gravity gradient torque causes to the satellite to settle two degrees from normal to the earth’s surface.

Development Of A Cubesat Instrument For Microgravity Particle Damper Performance Analysis, John Trevor Abel

Master's Theses

Spacecraft pointing accuracy and structural longevity requirements often necessitate auxiliary vibration dissipation mechanisms.  However, temperature sensitivity and material degradation limit the effectiveness of traditional damping techniques in space.  Robust particle damping technology offers a potential solution, driving the need for microgravity characterization.   A 1U cubesat satellite presents a low cost, low risk platform for the acquisition of data needed for this evaluation, but severely restricts available mass, volume, power and bandwidth resources.  This paper details the development of an instrument subject to these constraints that is capable of capturing high resolution frequency response measurements of highly nonlinear particle damper dynamics.

Hybrid Rocket Based Combined Cycle Test Rig Design, Construction, And Testing, Mark Costa, Matthew Handfelt

Aerospace Engineering

No abstract provided.

Construction Of Naca 66-415 Nlf Composite Wing For Acoustic Turbulence Testing, Scott Sawyer, Sean Stewart

Aerospace Engineering

A design is developed for a Natural Laminar Flow (NLF) wing, to be used at California Polytechnic State University for acoustic turbulence testing. Composite materials are used to produce high-quality surface finishes necessary for laminar flow. A design for the test apparatus is presented and justified. A manufacturing procedure is proposed for the carbon fiber skin, using Vacuum Resin Infusion (VRI). This procedure is tested on a scaled part with satisfactory results; lessons learned are discovered and integrated into the final manufacturing process. The test section has been fit to the Cal Poly wind tunnel, but full implementation has not …

A Space Based Particle Damper Demonstrator, John Brown

Master's Theses

The structure and payload of a CubeSat flight experiment that investigates the performance of particle dampers in a micro-gravity environment was designed, built, and tested, and will provide on orbit data for model validation and improved performance predictions for space applications of particle damping.

A 3-D solid model of the integrated CubeSat structure and payload was created satisfying all constraints from CubeSat and the System Dynamics Department at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. The model was verified using commercially available Finite Element Analysis software (FEA), and a prototype structure part was fabricated. The prototype was tested and verified the FEA. A …

The Effects Of A Damage Arrestment Device On The Mechanical Behavior Of Sandwich Composite Beams Under Four-Point Bending, Richard Anthony Davis

Master's Theses

The demand for an insert on composite sandwich structures to aid in the arrestment of face-core delamination is of great need.  This research studies the use of a damage arrestment device (DAD) that connects the carbon fiber face sheets to the foam core to find whether an increase in the structural integrity of the sandwich beam results.  Experimental analysis was employed to test the samples and was verified by a theoretical and finite element approach.

The mechanical properties of LTM45/CF1803 pre-impregnated carbon fiber and Last-A-foam FR 6710 polyvinylchloride foam were experimentally analyzed using ASTM D3039 and ASTM D1621 standards respectively …

Designing The Human-Powered Helicopter: A New Perspective, Gregory Hamilton Gradwell

Master's Theses

The concept of human-powered vertical flight was studied in great depth. Through the manipulation of preexisting theory and analytical methods, a collection of design tools was created to expediently conceptualize and then analyze virtually any rotor. The tools were then arranged as part of a complete helicopter rotor design process. The lessons learned as a result of studying this process—and the tools of which it consists—are presented in the following discussion. It is the belief of the author that by utilizing these tools, as well as the suggestions that accompany them, future engineers may someday build a human-powered helicopter capable …

Adaptive Component Usage For The Thermal Management Of Picosatellites, William D. Whalen

Master's Theses

The CubeSat standard originated in 1999.  It was a joint development led by Dr. Jordi Puig-Suari of California State Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo and Professor Robert Twiggs of Stanford University. The engineering challenges that have come from this picosatellite class have created incredible educational opportunities for engineering students throughout the world.  Since the challenges of engineering a CubeSat abound the designers are always looking at novel and even revolutionary solutions to each one.  One of those opportunities is in thermal subsystem design, implementation and characterization.  A potential solution for CubeSats is adaptive component usage.

This thesis is the written …

Development Of A Laboratory Experiment To Simulate Upper-Stage Rocket Explosions, Timothy J. Price

Aerospace Engineering

This report is a summary of the senior project entitled Development of a Laboratory Experiment to Simulate Upper-Stage Rocket Explosions. The goal of the experiment was to recreate a NASA experiment which used aluminum soft drink cans to approximate the shape of an Ariane third stage rocket. The cans were placed in a vacuum chamber and fired upon with a projectile from a light gas gun. The resulting debris was collected and analyzed allowing several conclusions to be made regarding the behavior or rocket breakups and the formation of space debris. In lieu of a light gas gun, energy drink …

A Computational Study Of Engine Deflection Using A Circulation Control Wing, Bryan Holly Blessing

Master's Theses

In the past, research into Short Takeoff and Landing aircraft has led to the investigation of the coupling of a Circulation Control Wing and Upper Surface Blowing engine. The Circulation Control Wing entrains the flow of the engine to be deflected downward such that a component of the thrust is now in the vertical direction. The unfortunate consequence of the Upper Surface Blowing engine is the poor cruise performance due to scrub drag. Cal Poly's research into a Cruise Efficient Short Takeoff and Landing Aircraft offers a solution by pylon mounting over the wing engines. Analysis shows that the engine …

High-Frame-Rate Oil Film Interferometry, Jonathan Charles White

Master's Theses

High-Frame-Rate Oil Film Interferometry

Jonathan Charles White

This thesis presents the design and implementation of a high-frame-rate oil film interferometry technique (HOFI) used to directly measure skin friction in time dependent flows. Experiments were performed to determine the ability of a high-speed camera to capture oil film interferometry images. HOFI was found to be able to capture these interferometry images at frequencies up to 10⁵ Hz. Steady laminar and turbulent flows were tested. Transient flows tested consisted of a wind tunnel ramping up in velocity and a laminar boundary layer which was intermittently tripped to turbulence by puffing air …

Conical Probe Calibration And Wind Tunnel Data Analysis Of The Channeled Centerbody Inlet Experiment, Samson Siu Truong

Aerospace Engineering

For a multi-hole test probe undergoing wind tunnel tests, the resulting data needs to be analyzed for any significant trends.  These trends include relating the pressure distributions, the geometric orientation, and the local velocity vector to one another.  However, experimental runs always involve some sort of error.  As a result, a calibration procedure is required to compensate for this error.  For this case, it is the misalignment bias angles resulting from the distortion associated with the angularity of the test probe or the local velocity vector.  Through a series of calibration steps presented here, the angular biases are determined and …

Scale Modeling Of Cessna 172, Chee-Woon Kim

Aerospace Engineering

This report describes how the scale-model aircraft can be built when the Reynolds number is out of range for using dynamic similitude method. Due to lack of time and budget for designing an actual model for testing, Cessna 172 was used to calculate the size of the temporary scale-model aircraft. The method that was used for this project was matching aerodynamic coefficients such as drag coefficient or lift coefficient of the prototype and the model. Based on this method, the takeoff distance, landing distance and the rate of climb of the model came out to be 218 ft, 91 ft …

An Investigative Study Of Gurney Flaps On A Naca 0036 Airfoil, Gregory F. Altmann

Master's Theses

This project examined the effect of Gurney flaps on a 2D, 2-ft chord NACA 0036 airfoil in the Cal Poly 3’x4’ low speed wind tunnel at 25 m/s.  It also covered the numerical simulation of the experiment in computational fluid dynamics (CFD).  During the study, problems with the wind tunnel data were seen.  After a careful diagnosis, the problem was traced to dirty flow conditioners which were subsequently replaced.

Five Gurney flaps at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5% of the chord were tested.  The Gurney flaps had the effect of eliminating the lift reversal effect and lowering the profile …

Two Element Linear Strength Vortex Panel Method, Clifton A. Cox

Aerospace Engineering

A linear strength vortex panel method was developed to predict the C_p and C_l for a lifting two element airfoil. The linear strength vortex panel method was first validated against thin airfoil theory and experimental data for a single NACA 2412 airfoil. At 2 degrees angle of attack, the linear strength vortex panel method predicted a C_l of about 0.49. Experimental data and thin airfoil theory gave C_l estimations of 0.45 and 0.22 respectively. The Matlab code was then modified to accept a two element airfoil. The two key modifications were the separation of the two …

Integration Of Aeroservoelastic Properties Into The Nasa Dryden F/A-18 Simulator Using Flight Data From The Active Aeroelastic Wing Program, Alexander Wong Chin

Master's Theses

Aircraft structures have varying stiffness levels making them flexible. Consequently, this elastic property becomes increasingly important at high speeds affecting the flight dynamics of the aircraft.  In high speed aircraft such as the F/A-18, elastic structural properties must be accounted for to ensure confidence in predicted flight dynamics in order to avoid adverse aeroelastic phenomena throughout flight.

Data from the F/A-18 Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW) program was used to create aeroservoelastic (ASE) models at varying flight conditions. The discretized ASE models were integrated into the NASA Dryden F/A-18 simulator in parallel with the traditional 6-DOF (degrees-of-freedom) flight dynamics calculations to …

Compressor Performance Map Generation And Testing Per Sae J1723, Jeffrey Lee Freeman

Aerospace Engineering

A MATLAB program was written to plot compressor performance maps for a set of test data that was collected in accordance with SAE J1723 at Vortech Engineering, Inc. Paxton Automotive Corp.'s N2500 supercharger was used as a case example for the program, which was carried through from test stand installation to finalized compressor performance map. A sequence was also developed to interpolate the efficiency of the compressor for a given operational setting. The program was shown to be a great improvement from the previously applied technique for accomplishing the same tasks; it is more accurate in plotting the given data, …

Part 2: Preparation For Wind Tunnel Model Testing And Verification Of Cal Poly’S Amelia 10 Foot Span Hybrid Wing-Body Low Noise Cestol Aircraft, Kristina Jameson, David D. Marshall, Robert Ehrmann, Eric Paciano, Robert J. Englar, William C. Horne

Aerospace Engineering

A collaboration between California Polytechnic Corporation with Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and DHC Engineering worked on a NASA NRA to develop predictive capabilities for the design and performance of Cruise Efficient, Short Take-Off and Landing (CESTOL) subsonic aircraft. The focus of this work presented in this paper gives details of a large scale wind tunnel effort to validate predictive capabilities for this NRA for aerodynamic and acoustic performance during takeoff and landing. The model, Advanced Model for Extreme Lift and Improved Aeroacoustics (AMELIA), was designed as a 100 passenger, N+2 generation, regional, cruise efficient short takeoff and land (CESTOL) …

Investigation Of The Unsteady Behavior Of A Circulation Control Wing Using Computational Fluid Dynamics, Jonathon A. Lichtwardt, David D. Marshall

Aerospace Engineering

This paper details the results of an investigation into the unsteady behavior of a circulation control wing using computational fluid dynamics. Oscillations in the lift coefficient of up to 10% are observed for steady state simulations. An investigation into the source of the unsteadiness is underway, and the results to date are presented. It is shown that the periodic oscillations are independent of the above the wing mounted engine effects on the cruise efficient short take-off and landing aircraft. The oscillations are also a viscous phenomenon that does not dampen as the solution marches through steady state. It is proposed …

Improved Meshing Technique For The Engine Exhaust Of An Over-The-Wing Engine And Circulation Control Wing Configuration, John Pham, David D. Marshall

Aerospace Engineering

This paper details the results of ongoing efforts to improve upon the meshing techniques required to produce accurate RANS CFD solutions for attached and separated flows for a Circulation Control aircraft. Work, thus far, under the current NASA Research Announcement (NRA) project has revolved around an unstructured near-body volume mesh due to its robustness for complicated geometries. However, it has been found that this technique does a poor job capturing detailed flow features such as the boundary layer, shear layer, and wake of large velocity-gradient regions. Its hindrance is primarily due to the limitations of current computational resources, thus new …

A Meshless Finite Difference Scheme For Compressible Potential Flows, Alejandro Ramos, Robert A. Mcdonald

Aerospace Engineering

A meshless solution algorithm for the full potential equation has been developed by applying the principles of the Taylor Least Squares (TLS) method. This method allows for a PDE to be discretized on a local cloud of scattered nodes without the need of connectivity data. The process for discretizing the full potential equation within a meshless framework is outlined along with a novel Hermite TLS technique for enforcement of Neumann boundary conditions. Several two-dimensional test cases were solved that compare well with analytical and benchmark solutions. The first test case solved for the subcritical compressible flow over a circular cylinder …

Part 1: The Wind Tunnel Model Design And Fabrication Of Cal Poly's Amelia 10 Foot Span Hybrid Wing-Body Low Noise Cestol Aircraft, Kristina K. Jameson, David D. Marshall, Rory Golden, Eric Paciano, Robert J. Englar, Richard J. Gaeta, Jay Paterson, Dave Mason

Aerospace Engineering

A collaboration between California Polytechnic Corporation with Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and DHC Engineering worked on a NASA NRA to develop predictive capabilities for the design and performance of Cruise Efficient, Short Take-Off and Landing (CESTOL) subsonic aircraft. In addition, a large scale wind tunnel effort to validate these predictive capabilities for this NRA for aerodynamic and acoustic performance during takeoff and landing has been undertaken. The model, Advanced Model for Extreme Lift and Improved Aeroacoustics (AMELIA), was designed as a 100 passenger, N+2 generation, regional, cruise efficient short takeoff and land (CESTOL) airliner with hybrid blended wing-body with …

A Scientific Software Verification Library Based On The Method Of Manufactured Solutions, David D. Marshall

Aerospace Engineering

A software library, avali, is being developed in the C++ programming language that applies the Method of Manufactured Solutions (MMS) to a variety of partial differential equation (PDE) problems. This library will allow researchers to utilize MMS as a software verification process without developing significant amounts of testing code. The library is split into 3 components: solution classes which can be used as manufactured solutions to PDE problems; PDE problem classes which represent specific types of PDEs to be solved (such as linear convection-diffusion equation or Poisson's equation); and post-processing classes that collect the convergence information and can perform various …

Aether, Thomas Cameron, Kristine Colton, Daren Childers

Electrical Engineering

Aether is a RC-style autonomous air vehicle that utilizes GPS positioning along with a wireless communication system to achieve a computer-controlled flight.

This report will incorporate the acquisition, design, integration, implementation and testing phases of the UAV development. Furthermore a discussion of troubleshooting as well as improvements for future projects will be included.

X-51 Composite Airframe, Brendon J. Townshend

Aerospace Engineering

This paper gives an overview of the progress that has been made in the design build of the X-51.  The X-51 is a composite scale replica of a P-51D fuselage integrated with a P-51H wing.  Issues with the airframe as well as current action items are discussed, as well as findings so far in preliminary design.

Mapping Galileo's Trajectory, Mark Woods

Aerospace Engineering

The NASA Galileo mission was mapped out using a patched conics approximation.  Galileo launched from Earth, underwent a gravity assist from Venus back to Earth for another gravity assist.  Galileo then came back to Earth for one more gravity assist to propel it to Jupiter.  A simulation ignoring all perturbations (i.e. third body effects, zonal (harmonics, solar wind, drag) was carried out.  The simulation was able to make it to the final Earth flyby before diverging from the actual trajectory.  The simulated and actual flyby dates all differed by less than 5 hours, and the simulated and actual flyby altitudes …

Analysis Of Surface Augmentation Of Airfoil Sections Via Flow Visualization Techniques, John Louis Vento

Aerospace Engineering

This report details an experiment done to verify the effectiveness of two passive flow control systems on two-dimensional airfoil sections. The flow control was tested on two types of airfoils: a symmetric NACA 0011, intended to represent an airplane in cruise, and a NACA16611, intended to represent an aircraft with flaps extended.  Two types of passive systems were employed, a dimple surface augmentation, similar to a golf ball, and a grit system located at 20% chord. Airfoils without either augmentation were tested as a control case. Using a water tunnel and dye to perform flow visualization, the effects of each …

Flight Testing In A Simulation Based Environment, David W. Babka

Aerospace Engineering

Over the past two decades performance flight testing of full scale aircraft has transferred some of the testing workload to simulation based systems.  Flight testing full scale aircraft in the real world environment has always been expensive, especially now with the rise in aviation fuel costs. Additionally, new emerging technologies require extensive testing and doing so in the full scale environment is cost prohibitive.  A cheaper alternative is to test systems in a simulation based environment.  Not only can aircraft be simulated via a computer, but all the aircrafts systems can be modeled in the simulation.  Furthermore, most of the …