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The Refill Friction Spot Joining (RFSJ) is an emerging solid-state spot welding technology that thermo-mechanically creates a molecular-level bond between the work-pieces. RFSJ does not consume any filler or foreign materials so that no additional weight is introduced to the assembly. As the solid-to-liquid phase transition is not involved in RFSJ in general, there is no lack of fusion or material deterioration caused by liquefaction and solidification. Unlike the conventional friction stir spot welding, RFSJ produces a spot joint with a perfectly flush surface finish without a key or exit hole. Currently, the aerospace industry employs solid rivets for fastening the primary structures as they meet the baseline requirements and have well-established standards and specifications.

While operational airships globally number in the low dozens, interest in buoyant or semi-buoyant platforms continues to arouse imaginations of commercial and military planners and developers alike. The airship-as-advertisement business model is the only model that has proven sustainable on any scale since the crash of the initially successful LZ-128 Hindenburg effectively ended regular passenger and cargo transport by airship, and the 1962 termination of the US Naval airship program terminated regular large-scale surveillance from airships. Efforts in the US and Japan during the 2000's to have a self-sustaining sight-seeing business model using the modern semi-rigid Zeppelin NT both failed. In theory, the buoyant nature of airships provides compelling endurance and cost-per-ton-mile capability which fills a niche arguably not currently occupied by other modes of transportation.

While most industries have already adopted the use of IP networks to exploit the many advantages of network connectivity, the aircraft industry still has not significantly deployed networked devices in the aircraft. Security and reliability are two main concerns that have slowed the transition to this technology. The ability for Air Traffic Control to send digital communications to aircraft could significantly improve the aircraft safety by improving the speed and efficiency of communications. In addition, if devices could offload flight data to servers on the ground for analysis, the accuracy and efficiency of maintenance and other decisions impacting the aircraft could significantly improve. The purpose of this research is to propose an IP-based LAN architecture for the aircraft which provides a scalable solution without jeopardizing flight safety.

The fatigue behavior of Hilok fastener joints under constant amplitude loading has been investigated experimentally. The effects of load transfer in an unbalanced joint configuration was characterized in terms of a stress severity factor relative to the open-hole configuration. The experimental data indicates that the clamp-up forces dominate the performance of fastener joints with the open-hole fatigue life being the lower bound at the stress levels investigated. The failure modes were observed to transition from a net-section type failure across the minimum section to a fretting induced failure at some distance from the hole. The experimental data has been used to develop stress severity factors to be used as a measure of the fatigue quality of the fastener joints.

An experimental study was performed to investigate large droplet dynamics in the vicinity of an airfoil. The investigation was conducted using the NASA Glenn Droplet Imaging Flow Tunnel (DrIFT). Mono-dispersed large droplets were released at the tunnel inlet and accelerated toward an airfoil that was mounted in the test section. The dynamic behavior of a droplet's encounter with the airfoil, which may involve droplet distortion, break-up, impingement and splashing, was recorded using a high-speed imaging system. The effects of the droplet size, tunnel velocity and airfoil configuration on the droplet dynamics were investigated in a parametric study. The droplet sizes used in the experimental study were 96 and 375 μm whereas tunnel velocities were varied from 80 to 130 mph. Three different airfoil geometries were used in the experimental study; a ‘clean’ and ‘iced’ airfoil, and a ‘clean’ three-element high-lift airfoil. The incidence angle of these airfoils was set to zero degrees.

An algorithm is developed and validated for automatic avoidance of restricted airspaces. This method is devised specifically for implementation with an advanced flight control system designed for general aviation application. The algorithm presented here implements two inputs to the aircraft; the bank angle, and the airspeed, while the control system always ensures coordinated maneuvers. Unlike collision avoidance systems, the current method is not designed to serve in an advisory role, but to assume complete control of the aircraft if necessary. It is demonstrated that in order to implement this technique, the aircraft must be assigned an immediate domain whose size would have to depend on the aircraft performance and flight conditions. The strategy is designed such that as the domain surrounding the aircraft approaches that of the restricted airspace, aircraft control would switch gradually away from the pilot and to the controller, which would initiate an evasive maneuver.

This study presents the prediction of the dimensional variation of holes due to sheet metal bending using the hydroforming technique. Sheet metal with pre-drilled holes was evaluated for a bending operation using a hydroforming technique. Sheet metal with a variety of thicknesses, bending radii, and bending angles was evaluated. Variation in the dimensional tolerance due to the bending was attained using the minimum radial separation method. A dataset of dimensional variation in the holes was developed and used for development of the artificial neural network, which was able to predict the dimensional variation of the hole if an unknown pattern of inputs was provided.

The reliability and maintenance of electrical wiring and electrical components in aging aircraft have become areas of concern for the aviation industry. Numerous investigations have been conducted on the aging aspects of wiring and systems of large transport and military airplanes, with funding primarily from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), Air Force, and NASA. However, because of the large number of smaller general aviation aircraft in service, a need for examining the condition of wiring, electrical components and maintenance procedures for smaller aircraft exists. The Aging Aircraft Research Laboratory at the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), Wichita State University, has conducted a comprehensive teardown evaluation of three high time commuter class airplanes. This teardown included assessment of aircraft wiring, electrical systems and circuit breakers through general and intrusive visual inspections and laboratory tests.

An envelope protection scheme is proposed for responding to a microburst. This approach is based on limiting the allowable maximum inertial deceleration of the aircraft when flying at low airspeeds. This technique is shown in simulations to be very effective at preventing stall and resulting in minimal loss of altitude. It is speculated that the same scheme can also protect an aircraft in the event of other forms of windshear encounters, such as making a sudden turn to downwind.

A unique cascade test facility has been developed for use in the Wichita State University (WSU) water table. Although small in scale, the WSU water table has the advantage of low cost and the ease with which test conditions can be varied. Water table facilities have been used in the past for cascade experiments, especially as analogies for compressible flow visualization of turbine cascades. However, the lack of a quantitative measurement technique at low speeds has precluded the use of the water table as an analogy for testing subsonic compressors and turbines. In the present experiment, the hydrogen bubble flow visualization technique is used to generate bubble time lines, and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) video camera system captures and digitizes these time line images. A VisualBASIC® computer program is then used to determine the wake velocity profile based on the difference in bubble line positions at successive intervals of time.

An aging aircraft accumulates fatigue cracks commonly referred to as multiple site damage (MSD). A simplified engineering fracture mechanics model, generally referred to as the linkup model (or plastic zone touch model), has been used with some success to describe the MSD fracture phenomenon in 2024-T3 aluminum panels. A disadvantage of the linkup model is that it gives excessively inaccurate results for some configurations. A modified linkup model has been developed through empirical analysis of test data taken from unstiffened panels with MSD cracks at open holes. The modified linkup model was then validated with test data from stiffened panels including single-bay panels with the lead crack centered between stiffeners and two-bay panels with the lead crack centered beneath a severed stiffener. Further validation of the modified linkup model was done with test data from panels with bolted lap joints. Test results were obtained from 112 different panels.

This paper presents the experimental study of hole quality parameters in the drilling of titanium alloy (6Al-4V). Titanium alloy plates were drilled dry using three types of solid carbide drills i.e. 2-flute helical twist drill, straight flute and three-flute drill. The objective was to study the effects of process parameters like feed rate, speed and drill bit geometry on the hole quality features. Typical hole quality features in a drilling process are the hole quality measures such as surface roughness, hole diameter, hole roundness and burr height. The results indicate that proper selection of speed, feed rate, and drill geometry can optimize metal removal rate and hole quality.

The competitive market has forced the industry to develop methodologies to reduce lead-time of the products without sacrificing quality. One of the major metal removal operations in the aerospace industries is drilling. Over 100,000 holes are made for a small single engine aircraft. Naturally, demand for faster production rate results in the demand for high-speed drilling. But the cost of hole-making operations becomes a significant portion of the total manufacturing cost. This paper discusses the high speed drilling of Al-2024-T3 alloy, the effect of feed and speed on hole quality features like oversize, roundness error, burr height and surface roughness.

This paper presents a method by which artificial neural networks can be trained and used to identify a possible spin entry, differentiate between an incipient spin and a stabilized spin, and predict required recovery controls. These were then implemented into a simulation and tested using data from actual flight tests conducted by NASA Langley Research Center, to verify that artificial neural networks can successfully be used for this application. The spin avoidance and recovery system functioned properly. In addition, a weighting system was developed to predict possible spin characteristics of aircraft, depending on the relative magnitude of the three principal moments of inertia.

The residual strength of an aluminum panel with a centric hole and one cracked ligament was investigated experimentally. Each of the 7075-T6 aluminum panels which were tested included a cracked ligament of varying length on one side of the centric hole and an uncracked ligament on the other side of the hole. The failure of such a panel subjected to uniform tensile loading normally occurs according to the lower of two modes: brittle fracture or a net section type of yielding. On the other hand, the question of whether one or both ligaments fail is not easily answered. Results show that one or two ligament failure depends upon test conditions such as crack length and loading method. For short crack lengths, the uncracked ligament will fail almost simultaneously with the failure of the cracked ligament.

Multiple site damage (MSD) on aging aircraft accumulates from fatigue loading over a period of time. For ductile materials such as 2024-T3 aluminum, MSD may lower the strength below that which is predicted by conventional fracture mechanics. An analytical model referred to as the linkup (or plastic zone touch) model has previously been used to describe this phenomenon. However, the linkup model has been shown to produce inaccurate results for many configurations. This paper describes several modifications of the linkup model developed from empirical analyses. These modified linkup models have been shown to produce accurate results over a wide range of configurations for both unstiffened and stiffened flat 2024-T3 panels with MSD at open holes. These modified models are easy to use and give quick and accurate results over a large range of parameters.

An experimental study was conducted to investigate ice-adhesion on clean and coated aluminum surfaces. A test apparatus using the parallel plate linear shear technique was designed along with a data acquisition system for conducting the tests and recording the experimental data. A low pulling rate was applied to specially prepared test specimens for measuring the strength of ice adhesion for a range of test conditions. The effects of surface roughness, surface contamination, and water impurity on ice adhesion were investigated. In addition, tests were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a low ice-adhesion coating applied to aluminum test specimens. The results obtained showed that the bond between ice and metal was considerably lower for tap water than for distilled water. For the clean and coated aluminum surfaces the strength of ice adhesion varied with specimen roughness. However, no clear trend was established between ice adhesion strength and surface roughness.

Drilling is one of the most widely applied manufacturing operations. Millions of holes are drilled today in manufacturing industries especially in aerospace industry where high quality holes are essential. Rejection and rework rate of the products because of the bad hole is quite high. In this research graphite/honeycomb composite material and aluminum sheet metal has been used. The results show that drill geometry, speed and feed rate have substantial effects on the hole quality and also there was gradual variation of the thrust and lateral forces with feed rates.

Laminated metal-metal composites can have attractive fracture toughness properties; they also offer potentially good fatigue performance. These attributes are reviewed and prospects for improvement discussed. Weak interlaminar bonds are seen to be important, while quite thin layers seem to be most promising for laminates of higher strength materials. The experimental program utilized 0.033 in (0.84 mm) thick laminae of 7075-T6 aluminum alloy, adhesively bonded. Eight-layer composites were compared with solid sheets of nearly the same total metal thickness. Both fracture toughness and fatigue properties were determined. Kc values of more than double the KIc for this alloy were observed in the laminates, while fatigue performance as indicated by comparative S-N curves was found to be slightly improved.

Wind tunnel tests have been carried out to develop a spoiler lateral control system for use with the GA(W)-1 airfoil with a 30% Fowler flap. Tests show that unfavorable aerodynamic interactions can occur between spoiler and flap for large flap deflections. Providing venting of lower surface air through the spoiler opening substantially improves performance. Results of tests with a number of spoiler and cavity shapes are presented and discussed. Applications of two-dimensional wind tunnel results to the design of satisfactory manual lateral control systems are discussed.