31-40 of 61 results

  • Modeling Plume Afterburning Shutdown With a Double-Conditioned CMC

    PI Scott Martin

    ​This project will develop the double conditioned Conditional Moment Closure (CMC) turbulent combustion model for afterburning shutdown of hypersonic rocket exhaust plumes.

    ​This is an Army Sequential Phase II STTR program in collaboration with Reaction Systems Inc., University of Central Florida and Propulsion Systems Inc.  This project will develop the double conditioned Conditional Moment Closure (CMC) turbulent combustion model for afterburning shutdown of hypersonic rocket exhaust plumes.

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Behavior of superalloys subjected to fatigue loads under high temperature

    PI Alberto Mello

    CO-I Paulina De La Torre Morales

    CO-I Open Position - New students are welcome

    This study is evaluating what initial conditions can activate cubic slip planes, then the level of accommodation and strain homogenization within the grain, and how a given initial condition affects the material behavior when subjected to operational cyclic loads under high temperature.

    Ni-based super alloys are widely used in turbine engines mainly due to its high strength and fatigue resistance at elevated temperatures. One hypothesis to explain its atypical characteristic among metals is that a cross-slip mechanism is in place. The activation of {100} cubic slip systems along of the octahedral slip planes {111} in Ni-based superalloys has been verified when under high strain and  temperature. The material would exhibit a more homogeneous strain distribution and less strain localization. We seek for the ideal precondition that will improve the endurance of Ni-based superalloy (IN 718) samples subjected to operational loading. We evaluate the initial conditions that activate cubic slip planes, the level of accommodation, and strain homogenization within the grain. With focus on the deformation mechanism, the sample microstructure can be fully characterized by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and the slip systems, after the applied pre-condition, can be tracked via digital image correlation (DIC).

    Accomplished tasks:

    (a) samples’ manufacturing, (b) sample polishing and preparation, (c) furnace installation and operational tests, (d) development of laboratory procedures, equipment and microscopes (optical and SEM), (d) calibration and controller fine tuning for the MTS tensile testing machine, and (e) fatigue test with several specimens, including control samples and modified pre-conditions

    Next steps:

    Characterization of the microstructure of tested specimens under special conditions via EBSD to identify the slip planes and confirm or not the activation of cubic slip systems.

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Pilot-in-the-Loop UAS Mobile Research Test-Bed

    PI Hever Moncayo

    CO-I May Chan

    CO-I Ashwini Agrawal

    CO-I Agustin Giovagnoli

    This project aims to develop and implement a Mobile UAV Ground Control Station (GCS) supporting aviation safety research with pilot-in-the-loop capabilities using unmanned aerial systems platforms, in which flight conditions, such as systems failures, could be simulated in real-time to characterize pilot response, control laws performance, and human-machine and control laws interactions.

    ​A fruitful achievement of this project will provide a platform to validate and assess new concepts and technologies that are beneficial for improving engineering fidelity of early systems integration testing based on pilots feedback and their interaction with on-board flight controls systems.

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Shielded UAS Operations Detect and Avoid

    PI Hever Moncayo

    ​This effort is intended to identify risks and recommend solutions to the FAA that enable shielded UAS operations

    ​This project is funded under the FAA ASSURE program. Certain small UAS (sUAS) Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations, such as structural inspection, may be in close proximity to structures that are collision hazards for manned aircraft. These types of operations that are in close proximity to manned aviation flight obstacles such that they provide significant protection from conflicts and collisions with manned aircraft are termed “shielded” operations. This effort is intended to identify risks and recommend solutions to the FAA that enable shielded UAS operations. Several topics related to this project include simulation of dynamic systems, simulation environment programming, guidance, control and dynamics, and hardware implementation.

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Vision and Wireless-Based Surveying for Intelligent OSAM Navigation (VISION)

    PI Hever Moncayo

    CO-I Kadriye Merve Dogan

    ​In this project, which is a SpaceWERX Phase I STTR program with Orbital Prime, we are developing algorithms to increase autonomy of OSAM applications. 

    ​In this project, which is a SpaceWERX Phase I STTR program with Orbital Prime, we are developing algorithms to increase autonomy of OSAM applications. This includes the application of machine learning techniques to improve accuracy of position and orientation estimation for proximity operations in space. Machine learning include deep learning combined with vision-based navigation designed and tested in both, virtual simulation environment and actual thrust-based spacecraft system.

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Mitigating GPS and ADS-B Risks for UAS

    PI Hever Moncayo

    ​In this project, the research team is investigating different strategies to mitigate such risks and proposing methodologies to increase safety of UAS operations within the National Airspace.

    This project is funded under the FAA ASSURE program. Unvalidated or unavailable GPS and “ADS-B In” data poses security and safety risks to automated UAS navigation and to Detect and Avoid operations. Erroneous, spoofed, jammed or dropouts of GPS data may result in unmanned aircraft position and navigation being incorrect. This may result in a fly away beyond radio control, flight into infrastructure or flight into controlled airspace. Erroneous, spoofed, jammed or dropouts of “ADSB-In” data may result in automated unmanned aircraft being unable to detect and avoid other aircraft or result in detecting and avoiding illusionary aircraft.

    In this project, the research team is investigating different strategies to mitigate such risks and proposing methodologies to increase safety of UAS operations within the National Airspace. Several topics related to this project include simulation of dynamic systems, artificial intelligence, flight testing of UAS and hardware implementation.

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Nanoscale Design of Interfacial Kinematics in Composite Manufacturing

    PI Sirish Namilae

    CO-I Marwan Al-Haik

    This NSF-funded research will elucidate the role of interfacial kinematics and energetics in the evolution of inter-ply interfaces in composite structures during manufacturing. The research team will develop a novel experimental method for in-situ characterization of surface and interface deformations during composite processing, utilizing a customized commercial composite autoclave with a digital image correlation system. The surface strain and displacement measurements will be combined with ex-situ X-ray tomography and thermal characterization to map the interfacial thermomechanical response as a function of design and processing parameters. Additionally, the interfacial behavior will be engineered through the rapid and controlled growth of ZnO nanowires on carbon fibers to create a nanoscale interfacial component that increases the fiber bending resistance and creates an interlocking effect at the interfaces to mitigate defects propagation. The experimental research will be complemented by molecular dynamics simulations of the sliding of amorphous polymer interfaces and mesoscale simulation of flow in porous media. This comprehensive approach of in-situ characterization, interface design, and modeling will lead to a fundamental understanding of the ply movement during composite manufacturing and development of methods to reduce the occurrence of processing-induced defects.



    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Software Infrastructure For Analysis of Infection Propagation Through Air Travel

    PI Sirish Namilae

    This NSF funded  project seeks to develop a novel software that will provide a variety of pedestrian dynamics models, infection spread models, as well as data so that scientists can analyze the effect of different mechanisms on the spread of directly transmitted diseases in crowded areas. The initial focus of this project is on air travel. However, the software can be extended to a broader scope of applications in movement analysis and epidemiology, such as in theme parks and sports venues. Development of the proposed software will involve several innovations. It will include a novel phylogeography model that links fine-scale human movement data with virus genetic information to more accurately model geographic diffusion of viruses. New models for pedestrian movement will enable modeling of complex human movement patterns. A recommendation system for the choice of pedestrian dynamics models and a domain specific language for the input of policies and human behaviors will enhance usability by researchers in diverse fields. Community building initiatives will catalyze inter-disciplinary research to ensures the long-term sustainability of the project through a critical mass of contributors and users.



    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Experimental Testbed for the Validation of Autonomous ISAM/OSAM Systems

    PI Morad Nazari

    CO-I Kadriye Merve Dogan

    CO-I Thomas Lovell

    The ability to validate individual hardware and software components of these technologies on a large scale is still in its early stages. Thus, the goal of this research is to establish an effective experimental testbed for the validation of autonomous in-space servicing and maintenance (ISAM) / on-orbit servicing and maintenance (OSAM) systems.


    A new era of affordable space flight, satellite refueling, on-orbit inspection, orbit transfer and end-of-life servicing has begun as a result of the space industry's continued focus on safe, resilient and adaptable space vehicles. These developments have laid the groundwork for assembly and manufacturing in orbit or space for potential use in active debris removal, reuse and recycling of materials. Advanced navigation and control technologies are required to ensure and lengthen the mission life cycles of these orbital assets, which include launch vehicles, satellites and space stations. Orbit/attitude determination, relative motion, robot manipulator kinematics and spacecraft rendezvous/docking can benefit from new advances in geometric mechanics Udwadia-Kalaba, adaptive control, learning, sensor fusion, computer vision and data communication. These efforts aim to equip future enterprises with the ability to perform in-space servicing and maintenance (ISAM) and on-orbit servicing and maintenance (OSAM) of failed or damaged space assets, as well as in-space manufacturing and platform assembly. However, the ability to validate individual hardware and software components of these technologies on a large scale is still in its early stages. Thus, the goal of this research is to establish an effective experimental testbed for the validation of autonomous ISAM/OSAM systems.

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

  • Flexible Body Control Using Fiber Optic Sensors, Florida Space Grant Consortium

    PI Morad Nazari

    CO-I Daewon Kim

    ​This project would build on previous research that developed the dynamics formulation and control of a rigid-flexible system.

    This project would build on previous research that developed the dynamics formulation and control of a rigid-flexible system. A cantilevered beam attached to a rotating central body is considered and analyzed through the finite element method. A set of matrix differential equations are obtained to describe the dynamic behavior of the system, and a control law based on a Lyapunov function is obtained and applied to the system. The development of this dynamics formulation and control also considers the rigid-flexible coupling present in the system. The control law is designed such that the system can achieve and maintain a set of desired states for the central rigid body and flexible structure. The experimental measurements obtained from the implementation of FOS sensors on the flexible body and inertial sensors on the rigid body will be utilized as the input in this control design. The research portion of the project is anticipated to require one or two graduate student research assistants and a part-time academic advisor over a one-year period.

    Categories: Faculty-Staff

31-40 of 61 results