Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Numerical Simulations Of Reacting Flow In An Inductively Coupled Plasma Torch, Maximilian Dougherty

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

In the design of a thermal protection system for atmospheric entry, aerothermal heating presents a major impediment to efficient heat shield design. Recombination of atomic species in the boundary layer results in highly exothermic surface-catalyzed recombination reactions and an increase in the heat flux experienced at the surface. The degree to which these reactions increase the surface heat flux is partly a function of the heat shield material. Characterization of the catalytic behavior of these materials takes place in experimental facilities, however there is a dearth of detailed computational models for the fluid dynamic and chemical behavior of such facilities. …

Multi-Satellite Formation Trajectory Design With Topological Constraints Over A Region Of Interest Using Differential Evolution, David William Hinckley

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Satellite formation missions allow for scientific measurement opportunities that are only otherwise possible with the use of unrealistically large satellites. This work applies the Evolutionary Algorithm (EA), Differential Evolution (DE), to a 4-satellite mission design that borrows heavily from the mission specifications for Phase 1 of NASA's Magnetospheric Multi-Scale Mission (MMS). This mission specifies goals for formation "quality" and size over the arc when scientific measurements are to be taken known as the Region of Interest (ROI). To apply DE to this problem a novel definition of fitness is developed and tailored to trajectory problems of the parameter scales of …

Burst Pressure Properties And Ex Vivo Analysis Of Alginate-Based Hydrogels For Tissue Sealant Applications, Patrick Nelson Charron

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Lung diseases, cancers, and trauma can result in injury to the connective tissue lining the lung, i.e., the pleura. Pleural injuries lead to pneumothoraxes or pleural effusions, i.e., air or fluid leaking out of the lung respectively, and potential lung collapse - an immediately life threatening condition. While several bioengineered soft tissue sealants exist on the market, there is only one sealant FDA-approved for use in pulmonary surgery. In addition, very limited techniques are presented in the literature for characterizing the burst properties of hydrogel tissue sealants. For my thesis, I proposed to develop a protocol for characterizing the burst …

Monitor: Automation Tools For Landscape-Scale Acoustic Monitoring, Jonathan Edward Katz

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Climate change coupled with land-use change will likely alter habitats and affect state parameters of the animal populations that dwell in them. Affected parameters are anticipated to include site occupancy and abundance, population range, and phenophase cycles (e.g., arrival dates on breeding grounds for migrant bird species). Detecting these changes will require monitoring many sites for many years, a process that is well suited for an automated system. We developed and tested monitoR, an R package that is designed for long-term, multi-taxa automated passive acoustic monitoring programs. monitoR correctly identified presence for black-throated green warbler and ovenbird in 64% and …

Experimental Investigation And Analysis Of High-Enthalpy Nitrogen Flow Over Graphite, Andrew Lutz

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The high-enthalpy flow generated by hypersonic vehicles traveling within the Earth's atmosphere inherently delivers an elevated heat flux to the vehicle surface. In addition to conductive heating, the liberated energy generated by various exothermic chemical reactions occurring at the vehicle surface further augment the total heat load. Quantifying the rates at which these reactions take place is imperative and remains a significant challenge as developers attempt to design the next generation of thermal protection systems.

This study focused on nitrogen recombination and carbon nitridation, as these reactions are ubiquitous to the most aggressive atmospheric re-entry trajectories in which carbon-based ablative …

Effect Of Rainfall Events On The Thermal And Moisture Exposure Of Underground Electric Cables, Andrew Fuhrmann

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Cable ampacity analysis is generally performed assuming constant worst-state environmental conditions, which often correspond to a dry soil condition or to a condition with uniform ambient soil moisture content. The characteristic time scale of thermal variation in the soil is large, on the order of several weeks, and is similar to the time scale between rainfall events in many geographic locations. Intermittent rainfall events introduce significant transient fluctuations that influence the thermal conditions and moisture content around a buried cable both by increasing thermal conductivity of the soil and by increasing the moisture exposure of the cable insulation. This paper …