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(1 - 20 of 411)
Pages
- Title
- Test of a 40 hp Halladay chasis
- Creator
- Fors, A. F., Kuehn, H. R., Semerak, A. W.
- Date
- 2009, 1913
- Publisher
- Armour Institute of Technology
- Description
-
http://www.archive.org/details/testof40hphallad00fors
Thesis (B.S.)--Armour Institute of Technology
- Title
- A test of an evaporative condenser to determine the coefficient of heat transmission
- Creator
- Evans, Robert T.
- Date
- 2009, 1909
- Publisher
- Armour Institute of Technology
- Description
-
http://www.archive.org/details/testofevaporativ00evan
Thesis (B.S.)--Armour Institute of Technology
- Title
- A study of motor cycle engine characteristics
- Creator
- Ott, C. L., Pimstein, S.
- Date
- 2009, 1916
- Publisher
- Armour Institute of Technology
- Description
-
http://www.archive.org/details/studyofmotorcycl00ottc
Thesis (B.S.)--Armour Institute of Technology
- Title
- NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF AIR FLOW OVER A THIN OIL FILM
- Creator
- Dziedzic, William M.
- Date
- 2014, 2014-12
- Description
-
Turbulent boundary layer flow research uses oil film and oil drop interferometry to measure wall shear stress of air flows. Oil film...
Show moreTurbulent boundary layer flow research uses oil film and oil drop interferometry to measure wall shear stress of air flows. Oil film interferometry determines the rate oil decreases on a surface as the function of the shear stress magnitude. Current traditional methods have proven to be accurate but the solution is obtained by assuming a linear height distribution [3]. This assumes a constant shear stress along the oil drop and assures that there is no effect of the oil drop on the incoming boundary layer [3]. This effect maintains the continuity of shear stress at the air/oil interface, but the stream-wise velocity at the interface is discontinuous. It is thought that these approximations contain small errors but this has not been verified for zero pressure gradient turbulent boundary layer [3]. A computational fluid dynamics numerical study was performed to simulate the two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) effects of air flow over an oil drop and the drop’s movement across the channel surface.
M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, December 2014
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- Title
- EARTH ORIENTATION PARAMETER FAULT MONITOR FOR HIGH INTEGRITY GNSS AVIATION APPLICATIONS
- Creator
- James Meno, Joel Patrick
- Date
- 2013-05-01, 2013-05
- Description
-
This paper develops threat models and mitigation techniques for mutually consistent satellite faults that are not detectable using Advanced...
Show moreThis paper develops threat models and mitigation techniques for mutually consistent satellite faults that are not detectable using Advanced Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (ARAIM) methods but are potentially hazardous to aviation users. Faults in the generation of Earth Orientation Parameters (EOPs), EOP Predictions (EOPPs) and their subsequent processing by the GPS Operational Control Segment (OCS) are of particular interest. In principle, if such faults are not detected by OCS, GPS satellite ephemerides could be corrupted constellation-wide in a consistent way, rendering existing ARAIM algorithms ineffective. The initial credibility of the EOP threat is established by the fact that it is explicitly listed as a potential integrity failure mode in the current GPS Standard Positioning Service Performance Standard (GPS SPS). Additionally, an observed EOP fault occurred on June 17, 2012. The dynamics of EOP faults can be reliably modeled as an initial bias with additive linear time variations. An initial broadcast ephemeris (A) is assumed to be EOP fault free and is verified as such via a ground monitor. If the second ephemeris (B) contains an EOP fault, then all satellite positions computed using ephemeris (B) would be rotated with respect to satellite positions obtained from ephemeris (A). Using the difference between the two computed satellite positions as the monitor 'measurement' in conjunction with the dynamic fault model, the parameters defining the EOP fault can be estimated using weighted least squares estimation. The two monitor components (airborne and ground) are bridged together by an Integrity Support Message (ISM). The ISM is needed to provide airborne users with essential information to bound nominal error distributions and fault prior probabilities. xiii The ISM also provides a means to inform airborne users of which ephemerides have passed civil ground monitor validation. The frequency of ISM updates needed to protect airborne GNSS users from the EOP threat is specified. Finally, global availability analysis show that the inclusion of the EOP fault detection algorithms does not cause any availability loss for LPV-200 aircraft precision approach applications.
M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, May 2013
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- Title
- Some experiments on heat transmission
- Creator
- Ruef, J. E.
- Date
- 2009, 1912
- Publisher
- Armour Institute of Technology
- Description
-
http://www.archive.org/details/someexperimentso00ruef
Thesis (B.S.)--Armour Institute of Technology
- Title
- THERMODYNAMICS AND PHASE EQUILIBRIA OF HEUSLER ALLOYS
- Creator
- Chung, Yoonsung
- Date
- 2011-09, 2011-07
- Description
-
Heusler compounds are of great interest for their properties such as shape memory, thermoelectric, ferromagnetic and spin polarization effects...
Show moreHeusler compounds are of great interest for their properties such as shape memory, thermoelectric, ferromagnetic and spin polarization effects that could lead to new mechanical and electronic devices. Currently, the study of Heusler alloys is focused on their electronic and magnetic properties, but the high temperature thermodynamic properties of these compounds have not been covered as much. A thorough knowledge of the thermodynamic properties and phase equilibria is required for developing this kind of alloys. This thesis is part of a systematic investigation of the thermodynamics and phase equilibria of ternary Heusler alloy systems. In this work, the high temperature reaction calorimeter was used to obtain the standard enthalpy of formation of compounds in the Ni2XSn (X = Ti, Zr, Hf, V and Nb) and Ni2TiX (X = Ga and In) ternary systems. It was confirmed the compound Ni2TaSn does not exist in the Heusler structure A Setaram Ligne 96 drop calorimeter was used to measure the heat content of Ni2TiSn as a function of temperature. Phase equilibria and crystal structures of Ni2TiSn, Ni2TiGa and Ni2TiIn were determined using XRD, SEM and EDS.
M.S. in Materials Science & Engineering, July 2011
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- Title
- Thermal conductivity
- Creator
- Bauer, W. Ernest, Jr
- Date
- 2009, 1917
- Publisher
- Armour Institute of Technology
- Description
-
http://www.archive.org/details/thermalconductiv00baue
Thesis (B.S.)--Armour Institute of Technology; Includes folded leaves in back pocket
- Title
- RECEIVER AUTONOMOUS INTEGRITY MONITORING AGAINST ORBIT EPHEMERIS FAULTS IN CARRIER PHASE DIFFERENTIAL GPS
- Creator
- Stevanovic, Stefan
- Date
- 2013-04-18, 2013-05
- Description
-
This work investigates the potential of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to enable a safe approach for rendezvous applications including...
Show moreThis work investigates the potential of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to enable a safe approach for rendezvous applications including shipboard landing of military aircraft. GPS has been shown to have the necessary accuracy for such an operation, and could potentially replace the existing radar or laser based systems. [Kha08][WPF08]1 However, to ensure safe operation, GPS must also be able to avoid hazardous situations. Shipboard aircraft approach navigation is an example rendezvous application requiring both high accuracy and high integrity. In this work, GPS measurement error models and orbit ephemeris fault (OEF) detection algorithms are developed for rendezvous applications, and performance is analyzed for the aircraft shipboard landing application. Both reference station and user based monitors can be used for orbit ephemeris fault detection. The available reference monitors either require a stationary reference receiver, or cannot protect against all types of orbit ephemeris faults. As an alternative, this work develops and investigates the use of receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM), which is user-based. Two contrasting algorithms, differential RAIM (DRAIM) and relative RAIM (RRAIM) are derived and analyzed for a realistic shipboard landing application. DRAIM is most effective when the aircraft first begins the approach. On the other hand, RRAIM performs best near the end of the approach. Assessing integrity risk is shown to be a major challenge for the RRAIM algorithm. Thus, a new unified RAIM (URAIM) concept is introduced. It seamlessly integrates DRAIM and RRAIM into a single detection algorithm, and also facilitates integrity risk evaluation. This is because the URAIM measurement equation can be used for both position estimation as well as fault detection. 1Corresponding to references in the Bibliography. xii Since high accuracy is desired, fixing integer cycle ambiguities is required. The Enforced Position-Domain Integrity-Risk Cycle Resolution Algorithm (EPIC) method of integrity risk bounding is used along with the URAIM fault detection algorithm in what we call the EPIC-URAIM algorithm. In general, the OEF will interfere with the cycle resolution process. In this work, the EPIC integrity risk bound formula is modified to account for the presence of an OEF. The EPIC-URAIM algorithm is simulated for 1507 sea-based locations around the globe. An average global availability of accuracy and integrity of 98.6% is achieved. This work illustrates the feasibility of detecting orbit ephemeris faults with integrity, while simultaneously meeting stringent accuracy requirements for real-time rendezvous navigation applications.
M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, May 2013
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- Title
- BOUNDING ESTIMATION INTEGRITY RISK FOR LINEAR SYSTEMS WITH STRUCTURED STOCHASTIC MODELING UNCERTAINTY
- Creator
- Langel, Steven Edward
- Date
- 2014, 2014-05
- Description
-
Safety critical estimation applications require quantification of integrity risk, which is the probability of the state estimate error...
Show moreSafety critical estimation applications require quantification of integrity risk, which is the probability of the state estimate error exceeding predefined bounds of acceptability. Integrity risk can only be evaluated when the state estimate error probability density function is precisely known, necessitating stochastic models that exactly describe measurement noise and disturbance inputs. Uncertainty in these models directly results in inaccurate assessments of integrity risk. This dissertation develops the first implementable methods to upper bound integrity risk when the autocorrelation functions of stochastic inputs reside between upper and lower bounding functions. The first part of this work considers real-valued estimation applications that use the Kalman filter or batch weighted least squares estimator. Explicit relations are developed between the estimate error variance and autocorrelation functions using a new generalized covariance matrix derived in this dissertation. From these expressions, two methods are provided to upper bound integrity risk. The first method enables fast computation of a conservative bound, and the second method produces the minimum upper bound via semi-definite optimization. Mixed real/integer estimation applications utilizing integer bootstrapping are the focus of the second part of this work. The integrity risk bound is formally defined as the global solution to a non-convex optimization problem over a polytope. Determination of the polytopic region is difficult, and two bounding approaches are initially developed for a circumscribing hyper-rectangular feasible region. Using an innovative method to define the polytope together with linear programming, a third method is derived to upper bound integrity risk over the true polytopic feasible region.
PH.D in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, May 2014
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- Title
- EBSD CHARACTERIZATION OF LOW TEMPERATURE DEFORMATION MECHANISMS IN MODERN ALLOYS
- Creator
- Kozmel, Thomas S Ii
- Date
- 2015, 2015-05
- Description
-
For structural applications, grain re nement has been shown to enhance mechanical properties such as strength, fatigue resistance, and...
Show moreFor structural applications, grain re nement has been shown to enhance mechanical properties such as strength, fatigue resistance, and fracture toughness. Through control of the thermo-mechanical processing parameters, dynamic recrystallization mechanisms were used to produce microstructures consisting of sub-micron grains in 9310 steel, 4140 steel, and Ti-6Al-4V. In both 9310 and 4140 steel, the distribution of carbides throughout the microstructure a ected the ability of the material to dynamically recrystallize and determined the size of the dynamically recrystallized grains. Processing the materials at lower temperatures and higher strain rates resulted in ner dynamically recrystallized grains. Microstructural process models that can be used to estimate the resulting microstructure based on the processing parameters were developed for both 9310 and 4140 steel. Heat treatment studies performed on 9310 steel showed that the sub-micron grain size obtained during deformation could not be retained due to the low equilibrium volume fraction of carbides. Commercially available aluminum alloys were investigated to explain their high strain rate deformation behavior. Alloys such as 2139, 2519, 5083, and 7039 exhibit strain softening after an ultimate strength is reached, followed by a rapid degradation of mechanical properties after a critical strain level has been reached. Microstructural analysis showed that the formation of shear bands typically preceded this rapid degradation in properties. Shear band boundary misorientations increased as a function of equivalent strain in all cases. Precipitation behavior was found to greatly in uence the microstructural response of the alloys. Additionally, precipitation strengthened alloys were found to exhibit similar ow stress behavior, whereas solid solution strengthened alloys exhibited lower ow stresses but higher ductility during dynamic loading. Schmid factor maps demonstrated that shear band formation behavior was in uenced by texturing in these alloys.
Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, May 2015
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- Title
- PHASE EQUILIBRIA AND THERMODYNAMIC MEASUREMENTS OF SOME HEUSLER COMPOUNDS
- Creator
- Chen, Song
- Date
- 2012-08-14, 2012-07
- Description
-
Heusler alloys are compounds based on the original Heusler phase Cu2MnAl which are ternary intermetallics with a particular chemical...
Show moreHeusler alloys are compounds based on the original Heusler phase Cu2MnAl which are ternary intermetallics with a particular chemical stoichiometric formula X2YZ and face-centered cubic structure. Heusler alloys are of interest because of a range of physical phenomena which may occur in them that can be applied in mechanical or electronic devices, including shape memory property and disorder/order phenomenon. In this work, a high temperature drop calorimeters and Setaram calorimeters were used to obtain the enthalpy of formation and heat capacity of compounds in the Mn-based Heusler compounds (X2MnZ). Lattice parameters of these compounds were determined with XRD, and phase equilibria in these alloy system were studied in this work. Phase transformations were studied with DSC and dilatometry. The work is aimed at populating databases for computational thermodynamics, developing an understanding of alloying and clarifying phase equilibria.
M.S. in Material Science and Engineering, July 2012
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- Title
- THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES AND PHASE EQUILIBRIA OF SELECTED HEUSLER COMPOUNDS
- Creator
- Yin, Ming
- Date
- 2015, 2015-12
- Description
-
Heusler compounds are ternary intermetallics with many promising properties such as spin polarization and magnetic shape memory effect. A...
Show moreHeusler compounds are ternary intermetallics with many promising properties such as spin polarization and magnetic shape memory effect. A better understanding of their thermodynamic properties facilitates future design and development. Therefore, standard enthalpies of formation and heat capacities from room temperature to 1500 K of selected Heusler compounds X2YZ (X = Co, Fe, Ni, Pd, Rh, Ru; Y = Co, Cu, Fe, Hf, Mn, Ni, Ti, V, Zr; Z = Al, Ga, In, Si, Ge, Sn) and half-Heusler compounds XYSn (X = Au, Co, Fe, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt, Rh; Y = Hf, Mn, Ti, Zr) were measured using high temperature direct reaction calorimetry. The measured standard enthalpies of formation were compared with those predicted from ab initio calculations and the extended semiempirical Miedema's model. Trends in standard enthalpy of formation with respect to the periodic classification of elements were discussed. The effect of a fourth element (Co, Cu, Fe, Pd; Ti, V; Al, Ga, In, Si, Ge) on the standard enthalpy of formation of Ni2MnSn was also investigated. Lattice parameters of the compounds with an L21 structure were determined using X-ray powder diffraction analysis. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to determine melting points and phase transformation temperatures. Phase relationships were investigated using scanning electron microscopy with an energy dispersive spectrometer. The isothermal section of the Fe-Sn-Ti ternary system at 873 K was established using equilibrated alloys. Three ternary compounds including the Heusler compound Fe2SnTi were observed. A new ternary compound Fe5Sn9Ti6 was reported and the crystal structure of FeSnTi2 was determined for the first time.
Ph.D. in Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering
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- Title
- Thermostatic temperature control for gas engine jacket water
- Creator
- Gross, Morton G, Steiner, Albert J.
- Date
- 2009, 1921
- Publisher
- Armour Institute of Technology
- Description
-
http://www.archive.org/details/thermostatictemp00gros
Thesis (B.S.)--Armour Institute of Technology; Bibliography: leaves 3-4
- Title
- EXPERIMENTAL STUDY, TIME-RESOLVED OBSERVATION, AND ANALYSIS OF NANOSECOND LASER ABLATION AND LASER-INDUCED PLASMA
- Creator
- Zhou, Yun
- Date
- 2013, 2013-05
- Description
-
For lasers, there exist many current and potential competitive applications in the areas of manufacturing, materials processing, and so on....
Show moreFor lasers, there exist many current and potential competitive applications in the areas of manufacturing, materials processing, and so on. Nanosecond (ns)-pulsed lasers are often seen in these applications. This dissertation presents the experimental study, time-resolved observation and analysis of nanosecond laser ablation and laser-induced plasma due to ablation, and the analysis is based on physics-based numerical models. Specifically, the following topics have been studied: (1). Plasma induced by ablation using long-duration nanosecond laser pulse Plasma is often produced in laser-material interactions, and may play an important role in many laser-based or laser-assisted technologies, such as laser shock peening (LSP), laser micromachining (through the laser ablation process), laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), and laser propulsion, etc. However, despite the previous work in the literature, the study is still limited for the plasma induced by the ablation process using long nanosecond laser pulses (with durations on the order of ~100 ns). In this dissertation, investigations have been performed on this kind of plasma through fast photography (imaging) and emission spectroscopy techniques, and the experimental results have been analyzed using physics-based computational models. Based on the investigations, the following major interesting findings have been obtained under the investigated conditions: (i) Two high radiation intensity regions are observed in the plasma, and one of them disappears soon after laser pulse ends. The research work shows that this phenomenon is related to the vaporization process from the target surface and the confinement effect of the ambient air. (ii) Laser-induced plasma xvii backward growth phenomenon occurs for target ablation using 100-ns laser pulses, but not for that using 200-ns pulses. The investigation shows that the underlying mechanism is the backward growth of the boundary of the high temperature region without actual backward motion of vapor material. (iii) Under the studied conditions, the core region of the plasma (~100 μm above the laser-ablated target) has relatively low temperatures as compared to some other regions of the plasma, which contradicts the common intuition. (2). Semiconductor ablation utilizing infrared (IR) nanosecond laser pulses Semiconductor micromachining through laser ablation may have the advantages of high spatial resolution, high processing efficiency, good flexibility, and no tool wear. However, most of the prior investigations in the literature on ns laser ablation of semiconductors often employ lasers at the ultraviolet (UV) or visible wavelength. The work using IR ns lasers is limited, but IR ns lasers may often have lower cost and require less external energy consumption to produce the same average laser power output. In this dissertation, the ablation of semiconductors using IR ns lasers has been studied through time-resolved observations (fast photography) and the results have been analyzed utilizing physics-based numerical models. The research work shows that the ablation mechanism under the studied conditions is the surface vaporization process during the early stage followed by the subsequent liquid ejection process that occurs at a later time. The research work and analysis shows that the underlying mechanism for the observed liquid ejection should be due to the spatial gradient of the pressure exerted on the target surface, instead of phase explosion. (3). Laser-induced backside ablation (LIBA) of sapphire with IR ns laser pulses xviii LIBA may potentially provide a good solution for high-quality and highefficiency micromachining of wide-band-gap dielectrics (WBGD). However, the prior work on LIBA of sapphire (which is a very important WBGD material) using low-cost IR ns lasers has been rarely reported. This kind of work has been carried out in this dissertation, and the investigation shows that under the studied conditions LIBA can produce very high material removal efficiency and reasonably good quality of machining without obvious chemical contamination coming from the employed backing layer. The ablation rate and damage threshold are measured under different laser parameters, and the research work may provide useful information for the applications of LIBA in practical areas using IR ns lasers that may often have relatively lower cost than UV or visible ns lasers.
PH.D in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, May 2013
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- Title
- MULTIPLE-INPUT MULTIPLE-OUTPUT NONLINEAR CONTROL OF SELECTIVE CATALYTIC REDUCTION SYSTEMS
- Creator
- Dong, Siwei
- Date
- 2015, 2015-05
- Description
-
Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is one of the most promising solutions to meet the future nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions regulations for...
Show moreSelective catalytic reduction (SCR) is one of the most promising solutions to meet the future nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions regulations for heavy-duty diesel vehicles. However, such vehicles often operate in highly transient operations in which mobile selective catalytic reduction systems encounter significant efficiency challenges, especially when the engine is under a low load. A detailed simulation model of the SCR system was developed in the Gamma Technologies simulation suite and a baseline model of feedback control on SCR was constructed. Experiment data for the exhaust gas composition and conditions from a Cummins ISB engine was used to provide the input parameters for the SCR model. The results reveal that in the low-load conditions, the efficiency of NOx reduction in the SCR system is very low, and the level NOx concentration exiting the vehicle could be over 5 times than the limitation set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, these issues are encountered in part due to the fact that current SCR controls focus solely on the aftertreatment components and treat the incoming engine output conditions as system disturbances. To address the low NOx conversion problems encountered in low load conditions, a new integrated engine and aftertreatment control model was designed. This integrated approach improves the SCR system efficiency by using available feedback and modulating the upstream air/fuel ratio to provide more favorable SCR inlet conditions. From experiment data analysis, the engine’s air/fuel ratio is shown to have a critical impact on exhaust gas temperature and exhaust oxygen fraction, which highly affect the SCR reactions. In order to integrate the engine and aftertreatment system, a model of the SCR dynamics was created and validated and a simple model of the relationship between the engine’s air/fuel ratio and resulting exhaust temperature and composition is leveraged. The new model-based control strategy is proven to be effective to improve SCR system performance at low-load operations. With a small value shift in air/fuel ratio, the efficiency of low-load SCR system can increase from 40% to 85% at low load operating conditions.
M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, May 2015
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- Title
- LINEAR AND NONLINEAR BEHAVIOR OF TRANSIENT LIFT RESPONSE TO PULSE-ACTUATION
- Creator
- An, Xuanhong
- Date
- 2014, 2014-07
- Description
-
The transient lift coe cient for a NACA0009 airfoil with pulsed jet actuation type of active ow control at stall conditions is investigated....
Show moreThe transient lift coe cient for a NACA0009 airfoil with pulsed jet actuation type of active ow control at stall conditions is investigated. The experimental mea- surements show the lift coe cient dependence to a single-pulse with di erent pulse widths and amplitudes. Based on the single-pulse with optimal parameters, multi- pulse and continuous pulse actuation cases are studied, which indicate that the pulse interval is the major factor of the active ow control system capability. Linear and nonlinear model are used to predict the lift coe cient variation for di erent input signals to the actuators. A combined nonlinear model is introduced to predict lift coe cient change due to arbitrary unsteady pitching motion with active ow control.
M.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, July 2014
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- Title
- ISOGEOMETRIC ANALYSIS VIA TRIANGULATION
- Creator
- Jaxon, Noah
- Date
- 2013-05-15, 2013-05
- Description
-
We present a method for isogeometric analysis on a triangulation of a domain bounded by NURBS curves. In this method, both the geometry and...
Show moreWe present a method for isogeometric analysis on a triangulation of a domain bounded by NURBS curves. In this method, both the geometry and the physical eld are represented by bivariate splines in Bernstein B ezier form over the triangulation. We describe a set of procedures to construct a parametric domain and its triangulation from a given physical domain, construct Cr-smooth basis functions over the domain, and establish a rational Triangular B ezier Spline (rTBS) -based geometric mapping that Cr smoothly maps the parametric domain onto the physical domain and exactly recovers NURBS boundaries. As a result, this approach can achieve automated meshing of objects with complex topologies and allows highly localized re nement. Isogeometric analysis of problems from linear elasticity and advectiondi usion analysis are demonstrated.
M.S. in in Mechanical Engineering, May 2013
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- Title
- Study of automatic electric fire pumps
- Creator
- Ross, L. R., Ballard, L. E., Swearingen, R.e.
- Date
- 2009, 1906
- Publisher
- Armour Institute of Technology
- Description
-
http://www.archive.org/details/studyofautomatic00ross
Thesis (B.S.)--Armour Institute of Technology
- Title
- INSTANTANEOUS DETECTION OF SPATIAL GRADIENT ERRORS IN DIFFERENTIAL GNSS
- Creator
- Jing, Jing
- Date
- 2014, 2014-12
- Description
-
Differential GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) is currently being ex- tended using a high integrity Ground Based Augmentation System ...
Show moreDifferential GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) is currently being ex- tended using a high integrity Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) to enable civil aircraft precision approach and landing. Differential GPS carrier phase measure- ments between ground-based GBAS reference antennas can provide the means to de- tect and isolate certain signal-in-space (SIS) failures and anomalies that are hazardous to aircraft, most notably ionospheric anomalies and ephemeris failures, which can be characterized as spatial range error gradients. In this research, we develop a monitor capable of instantaneously detecting multi-dimensional spatial gradient faults. The existence of large gradients, while rare, has prompted the development of numerous ground monitors for their detection. One drawback of previously proposed monitors is that their performance for a given ground antenna con guration is de- pendent on how antennas are paired to form measurement differences. In contrast, in this work a new monitor approach is developed to provide consistent detection performance, regardless of how the antennas are paired, by combining measurements from multiple, spatially separated ground antennas through a null space transforma- tion. It is shown that the `null space' monitor signi cantly improves the detection performance over existing fault detection algorithms and enables GBAS to support Category III precision approach and landing. The instantaneous carrier phase monitor cannot detect all gradients due to the presence of integer cycle ambiguities. These ambiguities cannot be resolved because the gradient magnitude is unknown a priori. Furthermore, it has been shown that the performance of such monitors is highly dependent on the reference antenna topol- ogy. The range of detectable gradients for all carrier phase monitors depends on two factors: the number of antennas and their con guration. One can always expand the detection range by using many antennas, but only at greatly increased operational cost. Optimizing antenna con guration has been overlooked as a means to improve performance; simple, heuristic arguments typically prevail in the associated siting decisions. For example, when given four antennas it is generally assumed that they should be sited in a square arrangement to balance performance in all directions. However, such heuristics do not provide the maximum detectable range of gradients, and exploiting the freedom to choose the antenna topology can dramatically expand the detectable range. Due to the presence of carrier phase cycle ambiguities, the re- sulting optimization problem is a constrained, mixed integer nonlinear programming problem. By solving the nonlinear program, the optimal GBAS antenna topology that maximizes the range of detectable gradients can be found for any number of antennas. For ionospheric fronts, the magnitude of the resulting gradient is bounded. However, orbit ephemeris faults can be arbitrarily large. The monitor must be able to detect all large gradients. To detect gradients beyond the capability of the car- rier phase monitor, code phase measurements are integrated into the monitor. Al- though we show this allows for the detection of all gradients, the number and spacing of ground antennas may not be suitable for all ground stations. Therefore, dual frequency carrier phase measurements are also considered to reduce the number of antennas required to achieve the desired detection performance. Finally, a search algorithm is developed to nd the antenna topology that enables the null space mon- itor to detect all hazardous gradients using code and dual frequency carrier phase measurements.
Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, December 2014
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