Systems Engineering and Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Commons^™

Project Nightshade: Carrier-Based Multirole Navy Strike Fighter Aircraft, Matthew Kaplan, Alex Gardner, Adam Wanner, Sara Gonzalez, Joseph Deleo, Canyon Swaffar

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Project Nightshade: Detail Design for a Carrier-Based Multirole Strike Fighter This project focuses on the structural detail design of the wing box for a carrier-based multirole strike fighter, emphasizing strength, stiffness, and fatigue resistance under maneuver and carrier landing loads. The objective is to develop a structurally efficient configuration capable of supporting critical loading conditions while maintaining realistic weight and structural integrity. Classical aerospace structural analysis methods were used to size primary load-carrying components including spar caps, shear webs, and skin panels. Maneuver and gust load cases were applied to determine internal shear forces and bending moments, enabling calculation of …

Mars Rover Wheels And Drive, Presley S. Sacavitch, Ryan W. Trevena, Dylan A. Mack, Daniel Hudak

Mechanical Engineering

Cal Poly’s Poly1Rover team, advised by Professor Rich Murray, aims to deploy four student-designed mini-Mars rovers, each equipped with a sample-tube retrieval claw, before 2030. However, the wheels of Poly1Rover’s current 6th generation rover are not ready for deployment to Mars, as they do not utilize space-grade materials, are not optimized for manufacturability, and lack sufficient spoke compliance to absorb landing and high-impact loads. This project will be developed by a team of Mechanical Engineering students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly): Daniel Hudak, Dylan Mack, Presley Sacavitch, and Ryan Trevena. Next Intent is providing funding …

Hamster: Hybrid-Actuated Mobile Spherical Terrain Exploration Rover, Winnie Gao

Master's Theses

The expansion of space exploration to increasingly challenging planetary environments requires mobility systems capable of extreme traversal capabilities and operational reliability. This thesis presents the design, development, and testing of a low-cost Hybrid-Actuated Mobile Spherical Terrain Exploration Rover (HAMSTER) intended for use on a planetary surface exploration mission. HAMSTER uses a pendulum-based actuation method for steering and an actuated internal shaft to propel the vehicle forward. The internal structure includes a two-tiered central case composed of the navigation control module, accelerometer, motor controller, primary DC motor, battery, voltage regulators, Raspberry Pi, pendulum servo motor, and drive shafts. Additive manufacturing through …

Instrumentation And Control Of A Novel Device To Simulate A Hypersonic Environment, Andrew Marcello

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The hypersonic flow regime poses several challenges regarding the design of hypersonic vehicles. Among them is the massive energy and economic expense associated with ground- testing evaluation of material responses within this extreme environment. In order to provide a low-cost, rapid option for preliminary material analysis within hypersonic applications, a novel device is under production to replicate this environment on the surface of these materials. This device has been designed to work in conjunction with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) Advanced Photo Source (APS) synchrotron, to allow for in-situ characterization of ablation and oxidation on the sample surface.

To achieve this, …

Students For The Exploration And Development Of Space (Seds) Air Brake Subsystem: High-Altitude Autonomous Apogee Modulator System For High-Powered Rockets (Haamshr), Camden J. Maclean, Matthew Wharton, Nick Revis, Colin Guido

Honors Theses and Capstones

The objective of this project was to research, design, fabricate, and analyze an autonomous apogee modulation air brake system for the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Students for Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) high-powered rocket as competitors in the Friends of Amateur Rocketry – Oxidizers Uninhibited Tournament (FAR-OUT) competition.

This air brake system would be developed with considerations for full autonomy, structural reliability, and repeatable deployment. The design would also be easily integrated into the existing high-powered rocket airframe and mechanically simple to increase reliability and practical functionality. The final design would be evaluated using finite element analysis simulation …

Large Telescope Mount For Long Exposure Photos, Payne M. Landis, Anna J. Gray

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

When viewing the stars through a telescope, it is common that the object you are viewing drifts out of view. Many amateur astronomers seek to capture long exposure images of the stars, planets, and galaxies with commercially available sky tracking telescope mounts. The complication is that these telescope mounts are both incredibly expensive and have low weight limits. These issues limit accessibility to these products based on the telescope. For each person, telescope parameters determine the amount of light and magnification that can be viewed, which then determines exposures time for adequate photo results. The options on the market for …

Automated Soil Resetting System For Extraterrestrial Regolith Simulation, Parker W. Brennan, Anthony C. Daniels

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project focuses on designing an automated soil resetting system for extraterrestrial regolith simulation. The system will prepare a regolith simulant testbed to a desired, repeatable density, enabling reliable wheel–terrain testing for planetary rover research. Manual soil preparation currently exposes testers to hazardous particulates and produces inconsistent results.

The proposed system will integrate mechanical and control elements to reset the soil bed safely and efficiently. A combination of raking and vibrational methods will be explored, with feedback sensors and automation to achieve target density control. The research will proceed through literature review, benchtop experimentation, prototype design, and full-scale testing over …

Improvement Of The Fatigue Behaviour Of Additive Manufatured Scalmalloy By Using Surface Improvement Processes, Francisco José Boby Alcaide, Irene Eras, José Manuel De Los Santos, Alejandro Munoz Castro, Antonio Perinan Butrón, Jorge Sogorb

15th International Conference on Shot Peening

The use of light metals such as Aluminum alloys has experienced a remarkable increase for the additive manufacturing (AM) industry, especially in aerospace.

AM Scalmalloy®. (an Al-Mg-Sc alloy) shows outstanding behavior with much higher mechanical performance with respect to other alloys for powder bed fusion laser-based (PBF-LB) process like AlSi10Mg or AlSi7Mg. Recent studies have mainly focused on static loading, with minor attention to cyclic loading despite its vital importance in many applications.

In this work, the fatigue performance of PBF-LB Scalmalloy was investigated considering the effects of surface treatments to identify the set of optimal post-processes. Shot peening with …

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, …

Discrete Particle Dynamics Models: Computational Aspects And Applications, Yuxuan Wu

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Particle dynamics considers discrete particles as Newtonian point masses in diverse domains such as, pedestrian particles in pedestrian movement modeling and molecules in material science modeling. These dynamic modeling approaches share a commonality in computational approach where a series of ordinary differential equations are solved for the particle’s motion and equilibrium under active interactions and boundary conditions. In general, particle dynamics approaches are computationally intensive and address problems that require a vast parameter design space. In this dissertation, a computational paradigm is developed for large-scale particle dynamics modeling and demonstrated by three process design applications, (a) infection risk modeling for …

Martian Atmospheric Rover Simulation (M.A.R.S.), Matt Berard, Shelby Beddard, Alexander Brunette, Emma Conti, Collin Duke, Delaney Novak, Keelin Weaver

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Student Publications

While rovers have been used by various agencies to explore Mars, their travel is limited by terrain obstacles, which may prevent mission completion. Creating a vehicle equipped with both driving and flight capabilities would allow greater range of motion on extraterrestrial planets. Integrating the technology for both transportation modes into one rover allows for efficiency and advancements in technological and planetary research.

Development Of A 3d Printed Optimization-Driven Aeroelastically Scaled Wind Tunnel Model For High Aspect Ratio Flying Wings, Mikaela K. Leevy

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Design optimization coupled with 3D printing and parametric CAD offers a unique approach to investigating flutter phenomena by creating low-cost iterative aeroelastic wind tunnel models. Recently, there is an interest in studying flutter phenomena at low air speeds in flying wing configurations. The X-56 experimental flying wing was designed to investigate flutter phenomena and flutter suppression, which makes the X-56 a logical choice for the full-scale model. The goal of this work is to optimize, physically print, and geometrically characterize a scaled aeroelastic wind tunnel model. The 18% reduced scale X-56 model was optimized by matching the mode shapes to …

Short Strand Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polylactic Acid Filament For Additive Manufacturing, Dale Chenoweth, Lukas Seggi, Luke Phillips

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this design project, the additive manufacturing filament of short strand carbon fiber (SSCF) reinforced polylactic acid (PLA) composite was developed. The micro-size, precision cut SSCFs were mixed with the PLA pellets through a melting homogenization process. Through this process the composite material block is cut and divided into pieces for ease of pelletizing. The material block pieces are then pelletized to be fed through the single screw extruder to develop the SSCF-PLA composite filament. The SSCF-PLA filaments were manufactured with a varying amount of SSCF ranging from 0.5% to 10% of the material block's weight. Development of a 1% …

Kwad - Ksu All Weather Autonomous Drone, Nick Farinacci, Sebastian Gomez, Stewart Baker, Ed Sheridan

Symposium of Student Scholars

"KWAD" or "KSU all-Weather Autonomous Drone" project was sponsored by Ultool, LLC to the KSU Research and Service Foundation to create a lightweight drone capable of capturing HD video during all-weather operations. The conditions of all-weather operation include rainfall of one inch per hour and wind speeds of up to twenty miles per hour. In addition, a global minimum structural safety factor of two is required to ensure the system's integrity in extreme weather conditions. Potential mission profiles include autonomous aerial delivery, topological mapping in high moisture areas, security surveillance, search and rescue operations, emergency transportation of medical supplies, and …

Mechanical Design And Fabrication Of Rotating Test Stand For Supersonic Wind Tunnel, Suren I. Sanai, Sam Groom, Peter Kim, Nandeesh Hiremath

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This research project focuses on the design and manufacturing of a rotating test stand for the Cal Poly Supersonic Wind Tunnel (SSWT). In order to establish essential design parameters, the project employs compressible flow isentropic relationships to calculate the Mach number within the test section and determine static pressures. This comprehensive effort integrates preliminary design and manufacturing processes, utilizing CAD designs and a range of machinery for component fabrication, while also highlighting initial testing of the rotating test stand's ability to withstand predicted aerodynamic loads. As part of the research's future work, rigorous structural stability testing and the implementation of …

A Systematic Study Into The Design And Utilization Of Burn Wire As A Means Of Tensioning And Releasing Spacecraft Mechanisms Through Applied Joule Heating, Chandler Dye

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The joule heating characteristics of Nichrome burn wires, often used as a thermal cutting device in mechanisms designed to fasten and release CubeSat deployables, are examined in the following thesis. Wires ranging from 0.125 inches to 2 inches long, and diameters of 30 Ga and 40 Ga, are investigated through analytical calculations and thermal simulations based on heat transfer due to joule heating, and through physical circuitry-based experiments. The temperature data is used to generate heating curves to predict the time it takes for Nichrome wires to fail under varying testing parameters. This research aims to catalog a series of …

Development Of New Space Systems Architecture In Sysml Using Model-Based Pattern Language, Bhushan Lohar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

This manuscript presents an approach to the application of the Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and Model-Based Systems Architecting (MBSA) principles to develop a Model-Based Pattern Language (MBPL). It takes considerable time for systems engineers and mission architects to develop a new system from scratch, particularly new space-based systems derived from the existing space system architectures. The use of a pattern language which is a holistic view of reusable logical model artifacts, can improve the process.

The main benefit of the pattern language is to reduce the time and validation required to generate a new space-based system architecture; this approach will …

Kentucky Re-Entry Universal Payload System (Krups): Hypersonic Re-Entry Flight, John Daniel Schmidt

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

The Kentucky Re-entry Universal Payload System (KRUPS) is a small capsule designed as a technology testbed for re-entry experiments. For its first incarnation, KRUPS has been designed to test Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) and instruments in re-entry flights. Because of the unique environment a vehicle undergoes during re-entry, there is a high-demand for experimental data from re-entry experiments. KRUPS has been developed at the University of Kentucky (UK) over the past seven years to meet this demand. After completing sub-orbital campaigns, the first KRUPS hypersonic re-entry mission was attempted. The mission involved building three 11-inch diameter capsules each outfitted with …

Fuel System To Envelope Interface, James Campbell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

*NOTE THIS PROJECT IS CONFIDENTIAL*

In this project, I will investigate solutions to interfacing a fuel system with a fabric skin section

Digital Image Correlation System Design, Verification And Analysis, Tyler Kraft, Matthew J. Riczo, Andrew Chong

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Two dimensional digital image correlation provides an accurate and effective way to capture strain data on test sections with unusual or oblique geometries. The system requires a camera to record video footage, alignment fixtures and software to convert the footage into strain values. The system works by capturing the video footage of a specific portion of the specimen and comparing the movement of selected pixels. This is all done in the software GOM Correlate and Tracker. This test document outlines the setup, procedure, and validation steps to fulfill this goal. The setup involves a camera, tripod, blue lighting, and laser …

Autonomous Payload Design With Systems Engineering, Michael Downs, Christopher James Liebhart 2nd

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The design will be an autonomous payload consisting of auto deployment of a drone running an autonomous mission of mapping the terrain around a grounded rocket. The project is part of the Akronauts payload project for the 2022 Spaceport competition. It will include the development of a ground station for monitoring and controlling the drone and the transfer of live data to the station and a computer on board the rocket. The project will aim to use system engineering techniques to accomplish this in the hope of providing documentation and thus insight into the best way to develop a multi-disciplinary …

The Design Of The Payload System Of An Aircraft, Ryan Cooper

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The project group will design and build a system to unload packages for the Zips Aero Design Team's aircraft for the 2021-22 competition year.

Lupa: An Excursion Vehicle For The Moons Of Mars, Shannon Kavanagh, Bo Lewis, Alex Odinamba, Joshua Mulhern

Senior Design Project For Engineers

Our team has designed a spacecraft and mission for exploring the moons of Mars. The Lithological and Ultraviolet Photometry Assessment (LUPA) excursion vehicle is capable of crew habitation, autonomous rendezvous, and in-vacuum sample collection all in support of a parallel Mars surface mission to be carried out in the year 2040. Our project's key focus areas revolve around orbital mechanics, space vehicle propulsion analysis, scientific exploration, and the management of various interconnected spacecraft subsystems.

Tooling Design Modeling For Composite Fuselage Of Beechcraft King Air 250 Using Catia, Miazor Fidelis Ekom

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

Aircraft’s constant operation in tough conditions necessitates the need for structural components of high strength yet low weight. Composite materials are being used as an alternative to conventional aluminum alloys because of their competitive strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios. In this paper, the detailed design procedure of a light-aircraft composite material fuselage tooling in three dimensions is shown. In its operation, the layup tools provide a surface for the composite part which is the correct shape of the part and is stable through the cure cycle, and also providing a means of indexing the part for the next manufacturing operation. This …

The Kentucky Re-Entry Universal Payload System (Krups): Orbital Flight, James Tyler Nichols

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Due to the uniqueness of atmospheric entry environments, ground facilities cannot accurately replicate re-entry conditions. Consequently, scientists primarily rely on numerical models to predict these conditions and inform Thermal Protection System (TPS) designs. These models often lack flight validation, which is necessary for increasing their fidelity. Thus, there is a substantial need to obtain such data to advance modeling capabilities.

The Kentucky Re-entry Universal Payload System (KRUPS) is an adaptable test-bed for scientific experimentation with initial application to TPS. This vehicle was designed at the University of Kentucky to serve as an inexpensive means of obtaining validation data to enhance …

Structural Optimization Of Space Transit Vehicle Concept, Hercules, James Philip Rogers

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

STRUCTURAL OPTIMIZATION OF SPACE TRANSIT VEHICLE CONCEPT, HERCULES:

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF STRUCTURAL OPTIONS

Hercules is a vehicle concept developed by NASA Langley's Vehicle Analysis Branch to satisfy the need for sustainable transit between Earth, the moon, and Mars. Hercules features unprecedented abort capabilities and mission flexibility to aid in NASA's Mars campaign. By utilizing modern software to perform structural analysis and optimization for a large selection of stiffened panel concepts, beam concepts, and materials trends in the structural optimization emerge. These trends will be invaluable for the design of future spacecraft needed to fulfill similar roles.

The structural optimization …

Design, Validation, And Verification Of The Cal Poly Educational Cubesat Kit Structure, Nicholas B. Snyder

Master's Theses

In this thesis, the development of a structure for use in an educational CubeSat kit is explored. The potential uses of this kit include augmenting existing curricula with aspects of hands on learning, developing new ways of training students on proper space systems engineering practices, and overall contributing to academic capacity building at Cal Poly and its collaborators. The design improves on existing CubeSat kit structures by increasing accessibility to internal components by implementing a modular backplane system, as well as adding the ability to be environmentally tested. Manufacturing of the structure is completed with both additive (Fused Deposition Modeling …

Sae Aero West Heavy Lift Competition Team - Eaglenautics, Anthony Pirone, Evan Stuart, Jessica Millard, Nathaniel Scott

Discovery Day - Prescott

ERAU’s SAE Aero Design West Competition team encourages students of all majors who have an interest in the design of heavy-lift cargo and passenger aircraft to design, build, and fly a large RC aircraft to meet a new set of regulations each competition year. Since the team, Eaglenautics, was founded in 2017 it has successfully been to competition once in April 2019 in California. The team’s aircraft flew 4 out of 5 flight rounds, passed all technical inspections, and is now on display in ERAU’s Aero-Fab in the AXFAB. The 2020 competition requirements are unique in that the cargo’s weight-to-volume …

Design Of Banner Tow Mechanism For Bush Plane, Kyle Ciarrone, Ivan Martin, Rishabh Gadi, Tyler Brandt

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The 2019-2020 AIAA DBF objective was to design, build, and test a banner-towing bush plane that carries wooden passengers and luggage. Senior members on the team undertook the creation of the banner tow mechanism subsystem as their senior design project on behalf of the design team due to the challenge of its mechanical design and the aerodynamic considerations regarding its placement and enclosure aboard the aircraft. The competition as well as access to campus resources were canceled due to COVID-19, so full testing and integration of the mechanism was not achieved. However, the engineering design process was experienced from the …

Performance Enhancement And Characterization Of An Electromagnetic Railgun, Paul M. Gilles

Master's Theses

Collision with orbital debris poses a serious threat to spacecraft and astronauts. Hypervelocity impacts resulting from collisions mean that objects with a mass less than 1g can cause mission-ending damage to spacecraft. A means of shielding spacecraft against collisions is necessary. A means of testing candidate shielding methods for their efficacy in mitigating hypervelocity impacts is therefore also necessary. Cal Poly’s Electromagnetic Railgun was designed with the goal of creating a laboratory system capable of simulating hypervelocity (≥ 3 km/s) impacts. Due to several factors, the system was not previously capable of high-velocity (≥ 1 km/s) tests. A deficient projectile …