Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

Synthetic Jet Actuator-Based Aircraft Tracking Using A Continuous Robust Nonlinear Control Strategy, N. Ramos-Pedroza, W. Mackunis, M. Reyhanoglu

Publications

A robust nonlinear control law that achieves trajectory tracking control for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with synthetic jet actuators (SJAs) is presented in this paper. A key challenge in the control design is that the dynamic characteristics of SJAs are nonlinear and contain parametric uncertainty. The challenge resulting from the uncertain SJA actuator parameters is mitigated via innovative algebraic manipulation in the tracking error system derivation along with a robust nonlinear control law employing constant SJA parameter estimates. A key contribution of the paper is a rigorous analysis of the range of SJA actuator parameter uncertainty within which asymptotic …

Design, Manufacture, And Structural Dynamic Analysis Of A Biomimetic Insect-Sized Wing For Micro Air Vehicles, Jose Enrique Rubio

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The exceptional flying characteristics of airborne insects motivates the design of biomimetic wing structures that can exhibit a similar structural dynamic behavior. For this purpose, this investigation describes a method for both manufacturing a biomimetic insect-sized wing using the photolithography technique and analyzing its structural dynamic response. The geometry of a crane fly forewing (family Tipulidae) is acquired using a micro-computed tomography scanner. A computer-aided design model is generated from the measurements of the reconstructed scanned model of the insect wing to design the photomasks of the membrane and the venation network required for the photolithography procedure. A composite …

Investigation Of 2195 And 2219 Post Weld Heat Treatments For Additive Friction Stir Lap Welds, Matthew Champagne

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

To evaluate potential uses for friction stir welding in additive manufacturing, two separate parts were fabricated, one of 2195-T84 and the other 2219-T87, utilizing fixed pin techniques and additive lap welds. The parts were cut into samples, artificially aged and subjected to Rockwell hardness (HRB), Vickers hardness, micrographic photography, and metallographic imaging on both pre- and post- heat treatment. Additionally, tensile testing was performed on the heat-treated samples. A comparisons of test results showed a minimal increase in the yield strength of the 2195-T84 samples compared to as-welded tensile results obtained from a previous project. The ultimate tensile strength was …

Outer Space: A Steam Voyage, Jancy Mcphee

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

SciArt Exchange offers multi-disciplinary art contests, artwork events, consulting, training and community resources to support science and technology education, collaboration, and innovation. Using a science-integrated- with-art approach, SciArt Exchange supports, prepares, and convenes people of all ages, backgrounds and affiliations to discuss and potentially solve space, science, and technology challenges. This field note shares the Humans in Space Art Program and the Project Mars Competition.

The Effect Of Z-Binding Yarns On The Electrical Properties Of 3d Woven Composites, Mohamed Nasr Saleh, Arief Yudhanto, Gilles Lubineau, Constantinos Soutis

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Electrical resistance monitoring (ERM) has been used to study the effect of the z-binding yarns on the initial electrical resistance (ER) and its change of three architectures of 3D woven carbon fiber composites namely (orthogonal "ORT", layer-to-layer "LTL" and angle interlock "AI") when tested in tension. Specimens are loaded in on-axis "warp" and off-axis "45°" directions. In situ ERM is achieved using the four-probe technique. Monotonic and cyclic "load/unload" tests are performed to investigate the effect of piezo-resistivity and residual plasticity on resistance variation. The resistance increases for the off-axis loaded specimens (∼90%) is found to be higher than that …

A Comparison Of The Aerodynamic Centers For Panel Code Compressible Corrections And Openfoam 5 For Mach 0.1 To 0.8, Dustin Weaver

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

It is known that the aerodynamic center changes from quarter chord to half chord from incompressible to compressible flows on airfoils. Compressible corrections are derived and implemented in a vortex panel code. These results will be used to find the aerodynamic centers for the specified Mach range of 0.1 to 0.8 in 0.1 increments within - 6 to 6 degrees angle of attack. OpenFOAM 5 cases will be created with specific meshes and settings. The results calculated from OpenFOAM 5 will be compared to the results obtained from the compressible corrections.

Multiphase Flow Modeling For Design And Optimization Of A Novel Down-Flow Bubble Column, Mutharasu Lalitha Chockalingam

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The application of the Euler-Euler framework based Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models for simulating the two-phase gas-liquid bubbly flow in down-flow bubble columns is discussed in detail. Emphasis is given towards the modelling and design optimization of a novel down-flow bubble column. The design features of this novel down-flow bubble column and its advantages over a conventional Plunging Jet down-flow bubble column are discussed briefly. Then, some of the present challenges in simulating a conventional Plunging Jet down-flow bubble column in the Euler-Euler framework is highlighted, and a sigmoid function based drag modification function is implemented to overcome those challenges. …

Flight Dynamics: Flying Qualities Of Handling Factors Are Engineered Into The Aircraft Design, Nihad E. Daidzic

Aviation Department Publications

Flight dynamics is an aerospace engineering discupline that addresses aircraft stability and controllability. It is also mathematically very intensive and is traditionally the most difficult in the pilot training curriculum. Ultimately, it does not matter how good steady-state performance of an aircraft design is if its flying (handling) qualities are deficient. Paradoxically, the first airplane Wright Flyer, was statically and dynamically unstable, had large control authority, and was difficult to fly. We've come a long way since those early days, but stability is still vitally important in aircraft design and flight ops. The focus of this article will be airplane …

Rotordynamic Enhancement By Utilizing The Controlled Hydrostatic Injection Of Hybrid Air Foil Bearing, Behzad Zamanian Yazdi

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Air foil bearings (AFBs) are introduced as promising bearings for oil-free turbomachinery applications. Air foil bearing (AFB) technology has made substantial advancement during the past decades and found its applications in various small turbomachinery. AFBs provide reliable operation at high speed and high temperature with negligible power loss. However, rotordynamic instability, friction and drag during the start/stop, and thermal management are still challenges for further application of the technology. Hybrid Air Foil Bearing (HAFB) technology utilizes the radial injection of externally pressurized air into the traditional hydrodynamic AFB’s film thickness through orifices attached to the top foil. HAFB is one …

Optimization Of Aircraft Tow Steered Composite Wing Structures, Micheal Chamberlain Henson

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

An efficient methodology for design of aircraft composite wing structures is presented. The developed approach provides a flexible and integrated strategy to leverage advantages of composite material tow steering to achieve more effective wing designs. This is accomplished by including the coupling between OML geometry, aerodynamics and structural response. Structural and aerodynamic analyses are derived from parametric aircraft geometry and assembled into a framework for aero-structural wing sizing. A Ritz equivalent plate solution is extended to model composite materials with variable fiber path geometry. The structural modeling approach is implemented to automate creation of both Ritz and finite element analyses. …

A Micromechnics Approach To Predicting The Onset Yielding Envelope Of Particulate Composite Materials, Behrooz Karimi

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Composite materials fail for various reasons and extensive research has been conducted both experimentally and theoretically. However, theoretical prediction of composite failure by yielding seems scarce. Adding reinforcing elements to matrix significantly affects the structural behavior of composite materials. The inserted particles on one hand obstruct the progress of cracks and on the other hand cause stress concentration on the interface of the particle-matrix and eventually influence the ultimate strength of the material. In this research, we study the interface stresses and strength in particulate reinforced composites under uniform mechanical and thermal loading. We theoretically obtain failure envelopes for particulate …

Towards The Fabrication Of Bioresorbable Constructs With Customized Properties Using Additive Manufacturing, Prashanth Ravi

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Additive Manufacturing (AM) has been employed to fabricate medical constructs for over two decades. This dissertation investigates the effects of AM process parameters on raster level geometric features and structural properties of bioresorbable constructs. The development of an open architecture custom multi-process 3D printer employed for fabricating bioscaffolds and test structures is discussed. Bioresorbable polymers including a newly synthesized radiopaque polymer, poly (glycerol sebacate fumarate) gadodiamide (Rylar) and medical grade poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) were investigated. In the first part, the effects of process parameters on raster geometry were investigated to aid in the fabrication of structures with improved geometric features …

Numerical Study Of Droplet Evaporation, Ritul Gandhi

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Droplet evaporation plays a vital role in various engineering fields such as air/fuel premixing, inkjet printing and many more. The high rate of power dissipation from the integrated circuits and chips of electronic devices creates a need for cooling it to achieve their optimal functionality. The high rate of cooling can be achieved by thin film evaporation of water by phase change as compared to the air cooling methods. Therefore, the study of droplet evaporation is necessary to understand the underlying physics and effects of different parameters on cooling performance. Numerical study of droplet evaporation has been done by using …

Space Launch Vehicle Design: Conceptual Design Of Rocket Powered, Vertical Takeoff, Fully Expendable And First Stage Boostback Space Launch Vehicles, David Michael Woodward

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Engineering design can be broken down into three phases: conceptual design, preliminary design, and detailed design. During the conceptual design phase, several potential configurations are studied towards the identification of the baseline vehicle. Although the least amount of detail is known about the design during the early conceptual design phase, the decisions made during this phase lock in major features effecting life-cycle cost and overall product success. As the next big space race begins, it is critically important to have a readily available tool for launch vehicle designers that is intuitive to use, easy to modify, cost effective, and provides …

A Methodology For Topology And Lattice Structure Optimization Of A Cargo Drone Motor Mount, Nagadurga Srinivas Sripada

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

This work discusses a CAE driven methodology for designing a lightweight component by performing structural configuration on a given package space, creating a closed surface along this configuration using an interactive geometric modeling tool, and lastly generating lattice members that provide the required stiffness for the structure. The design process is explained starting with topology optimization performed on a single block with specific design constraints. It describes the effect of different parameters on the optimized results and how to analyze these results based on a given volume fraction constraint with the objective of minimizing the compliance. It then talks about …

Region Based Convolutional Neural Networks For Object Detection And Recognition In Adas Application, Sachit Kaul

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Object Detection and Recognition using Computer Vision has been a very interesting and a challenging field of study from past three decades. Recent advancements in Deep Learning and as well as increase in computational power has reignited the interest of researchers in this field in last decade. Implementing Machine Learning and Computer Vision techniques in scene classification and object localization particularly for automated driving purpose has been a topic of discussion in last half decade and we have seen some brilliant advancements in recent times as self-driving cars are becoming a reality. In this thesis we focus on Region based …

The Design And Linearization Of Flow Control Device And Pressure Forces On Valve, Penchala Sumanth Reddy Challa

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Emerging technologies are pushing the limits by reducing the size of the nodes, raising the heat densities of packages thereby demanding better thermal management. The cooling power requirement increases drastically when air is used as the cooling medium in high power density servers as air has a low heat transfer coefficient. Very viable replacements for air as the cooling medium are water and oil. Oil is not as widely used as it has its own disadvantages when compared to water. Water has appreciably higher heat transfer coefficient, which helps it to remove heat from the server at a much faster …

Computational Model For Steady State Simulation Of A Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (Sofc) Planar Stack Model Undergoing Reforming Process, Vaibhav Vijay Indulkar

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC), is a clean and low-pollution technology of generating power of high efficiency. Its applicability for both stationery and transportation power generation systems, adaptability for wide range fuel sources, as wells its process of direct conversion of fuel to energy make it an important source of power generation. An effective design of sub-systems or individual components play a key role in overall working of a plant. Thus, critical analysis at the component level is of importance for the overall plant efficiency. In the present study a heat transfer model of a planar SOFC stack to be …

Reliability Assessment Of Solder Joint Using Bga Package – Megtron 6 Versus Fr4 Printed Circuit Boards Using Drop Testing, Pradnya Chandrakant Mundhe

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

In electronic industry Ball grid array (BGA) package, surface mount technology has been used widely, due to its robust design, high density connections and improved performance. In surface mount technology, solder joints are used to interconnect package and PCB board assembly. High frequency laminates use in PCB boards provides excellent performance for high speed, frequency devices. Nelco 4000-13EPSI, Panasonic Megtron 6, and Rogers 4350B are few popular laminates. Component size reduction and structural complexity because of increasing number of transistors are making it very difficult to protect the packages from mechanical, thermal, and electrical damage. Difference in material properties between …

Computational Morphology Modelling And Mixed Mode Fracture Analysis Of Zrb2/Sic Based Ceramic Nano-Materials Using Molecular Dynamics, Krutarth Shaileshkumar Patel

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Transition metal carbides, nitrides, and borides are a group of Ultra High-Temperature Ceramic (UHTC). Owing to their remarkable properties of the high melting point, high thermal conductivity and excellent strength at elevated temperature ZrB2 based composites are of high interest for use in the high-temperature environment. It is proved that addition of SiC in ZrB2 can advance composite’s oxidation resistance, mechanical strength, fracture toughness and sintering behavior. Firstly, molecular dynamics is used to simulate crack growth under mixed mode loading in Al, SiC, and ZrB2 single crystals by considering inclined crack under uniaxial tension and crack growth angle are compared …

A Study On The Turbulence Characteristics And Mixing Performance Of Streamwise Vortex Interactions In Supersonic Flow, Cody R. Ground

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The scramjet engine offers the unique capability to enable sustained airbreathing flight at hypersonic speeds. However, in order to reach its full application potential, further technological maturation of several system level components is necessary. One such component is the fuel injection system. The flow conditions characteristic of the scramjet combustor are such that the rate-limiting step in the fuel injection/mixing/combustion process is the mixing of the fuel and air. For this reason, the fuel injection system must be designed with the goal of enhancing the rate of fuel/air mixing. One method that has shown potential to enhance fuel/air mixing in …

Investigation On Metal-Composite Hybrid Flywheels Using Finite Element Method, Ching Huai Wang

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

This research is aimed to investigate the kinetic energy storage of a hybrid metal-composite flywheel rotating at high speeds. The upper limit of energy, which flywheel can supply, is restricted by the strength of material because both energy and stress are proportional to the density of the material and the square of the velocity. Metal flywheels operate at lower rotational speed and supply less energy than the composite flywheels. Composite flywheels have a very high density per unit mass, but lower energy density per unit of the design volume. The ultra-high speed of composite flywheels creates some engineering challenges such …

Reliability Assessment Of Solder Joint Interconnects Of Bga Package-Megtron Series Under Power Cycling, Mahesh Pallapothu

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Solder joint interconnects are the second level assembly in surface mount interconnection technology. Mismatch in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between package and substrate or PCB creates failure in solder joints such as excessive warpage, low-k dielectric cracking, solder mask cracking and bump cracking. Conventional accelerated thermal cycling tests are performed to evaluate the Solder Joint Reliability (SJR). But, in everyday application, the package is subjected to Power cycling. Power cycling is the phenomenon where the package experiences non-uniform temperature distribution in the package with the chip as an internal heat generating source when an electronic device is turned …

Effective Thermal Conductivity Of Porous Media By Inverse Heat Transfer Analysis, Oscar Javier Ii Fabela

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

This research describes the application of inverse analysis to estimate the thermal conductivity of a porous material using temperature measurements at the surfaces. Finite volume analysis code is implemented in MATLAB and it is utilized to solve the steady state, axisymmetric heat transfer governing energy equation. The analysis code is coupled with a numerical optimization method and utilized to predict thermal conductivity using the measurements. An experimental setup was developed to test a porous media composed of a mixture of small pellets and air. In experiments, temperature is measured at outer surface of copper tube. These data, serves as input …

Real-Time Minimum Jerk Optimal Trajectory Synthesis And Tracking For Ground Vehicle Applications, Naga Venkata Murali Veerapaneni

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Research on wheeled mobile robots has been an active research field for several decades with focus on the problems of stability, maneuverability and control. The trajectory generation for wheeled mobile robots is usually handled by considering a smooth function satisfying the boundary conditions. Even though this problem is well posed for several function classes, the real issue occurs in generating a feasible trajectory for the robot which takes into account the constraints of the system. Another problem from the control system perspective is, whether the derived controller is stable for the entire trajectory span to track the given trajectory. The …

Pseudo-Spectral Methods Based Real-Time Optimal Path Planning For Unmanned Ground Vehicles, Denish Kamleshkumar Baman

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Real-time optimal trajectory design and tracking for autonomous ground vehicles are maturing technologies with the potential to advance mobility by enhancing time and energy efficiency in application such as indoor surveillance robots or planetary exploration rovers. Pseudo-spectral methods based trajectory generation framework provides the desired trajectory which minimizes a prescribed objective function (i.e. minimum time, acceleration, and energy) while satisfying kinodynamics and various types of constraints (i.e. obstacle avoidance and smooth turning at waypoint transitions). In this thesis cyber-physical system architecture is used for the communication between rover-vehicle and the ground station. By using optimal state and control vector from …

Board Level Solder Joint Reliability Assessment Study Of Megtron 6 Vs Fr-4 Under Power Cycling And Thermal Cycling, Jyotirmoy Denria

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

High frequency laminates like Nelco N4000-13, Isola FR408 and Panasonic Megtron 6 packages gained popularity among the industry due to better and improved electrical performances, Improved impedance control, low moisture absorption, good thermal management. High speed laminates are extensively used in high-speed system-level interconnects like high speed network equipment, mainframes, IC testers and high frequency measuring instruments. When an electronic device is turned off and then turned on multiple times, it creates a loading condition called power cycling. The die is the only heat source causing non-uniform temperature distribution. In this paper, the solder joint reliability assessment of Megtron 6 …

Real Time And High Fidelity Quadcopter Tracking System, Tyler Mckay Hall

Computer Engineering

This project was conceived as a desired to have an affordable, flexible and physically compact tracking system for high accuracy spatial and orientation tracking. Specifically, this implementation is focused on providing a low cost motion capture system for future research. It is a tool to enable the further creation of systems that would require the use of accurate placement of landing pads, payload acquires and delivery. This system will provide the quadcopter platform a coordinate system that can be used in addition to GPS.

Field research with quadcopter manufacturers, photographers, agriculture and research organizations were contact and interviewed for information …

Model Predictive Power Management Of A Hybrid Electric Propulsion System For Aircraft, Tyler J. Wall

Masters Theses

This work presents the switched optimal power flow control for an aircraft with a hybrid electric propulsion system. The propulsion system is a switched system that operates in either of two modes: (i) battery discharging and electric motor propelling and (ii) battery charging and electric motor generating. The aircraft model and components that form the hybrid propulsion system are modeled as either an algebraic power source/sink or as a dynamic model with appropriate power and state interconnections. With the system model defined, a model predictive control power management strategy is set fourth which minimizes a performance index that includes altitude …

Whitespace Exploration, Jason Lloyd Daniel

Master's Theses

As engineering systems grow in complexity so too must the design tools that we use evolve and allow for decision makers to efficiently ask questions of their model and obtain meaningful answers. The process of whitespace exploration has recently been developed to aid in engineering design and provide insight into a design space where traditional design exploration methods may fail. In an effort to further the research and development of whitespace exploration algorithms, a software package called Thalia has been created to allow for automated data collection and experimentation with the whitespace exploration methodology.

In this work, whitespace exploration is …