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A full-system, end-to-end blast modeling and simulation of vehicle underbody buried blast events typically includes detailed modeling of soil, high explosive (HE) charge and air. The complex computations involved in these simulations take days to just capture the initial 50-millisecond blast-off phase, and in some cases, even weeks. The single most intricate step in the buried blast event simulation is in the modeling of the explosive loading on the underbody structure from the blast products; it is also one of the most computationally expensive steps of the simulation. Therefore, there is significant interest in the modeling and simulation community to develop various methodologies for fast running tools to run full simulation events in quicker turnarounds of time.

This paper presents a Military Space Plane design concept. While the current military space plane activity is focused on rocket-powered concepts, the concept presented here is powered by a rocket-based combined cycle engine that uses both rocket and air-breathing engine cycles. The design concept is the reference SSTO design concept used in the NASA HRST ANSER study. The reference concept is a derivative of the NASA air-breathing Access to Space study SSTO design concept. The Access to Space air-breathing vehicle's combined cycle engine was replaced by the Aerojet rocket-based combined cycle engine. The orbital performance capability of the reference design concept is presented for 100 n mi., polar, and 225 n mi., 51 deg. orbits. The sensitivity of GTOW to payload and margin is also presented.

Abstract An accurate Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Flight Dynamics Model (FDM) allows us to design its efficient controller in early development phases and to increase safety while reducing costs. Flight tests are normally conducted for a pre-established number of flight conditions, and then mathematical methods are used to obtain the FDM for the entire flight envelope. For our UAS-S4 Ehecatl, 216 local FDMs corresponding to different flight conditions were utilized to create its Local Linear Scheduled Flight Dynamics Model (LLS-FDM). The initial flight envelope data containing 216 local FDMs was further augmented using interpolation and extrapolation methodologies, thus increasing the number of trimmed local FDMs of up to 3,642. Relying on this augmented dataset, the Support Vector Machine (SVM) methodology was used as a benchmarking regression algorithm due to its excellent performance when training samples could not be separated linearly.

This course is verified by Probitas Authentication as meeting the AS9104/3A requirements for continuing Professional Development. In the Aerospace Industry there is a focus on Defect Prevention to ensure that quality goals are met. Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (PFMEA) and Control Plan activities are recognized as being one of the most effective, on the journey to Zero Defects. This two-day course is designed to explain the core tools of Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA), Process Flow Diagrams, Process Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (PFMEA) and Control Plans as described in AS13100 and RM13004.

This two-day foundational-level course teaches Advanced Concepts of GD&T as prescribed in the ASME Y14.5-2009 Standard. It offers an explanation of complex GD&T topics, such as the expanded use of composite position and profile tolerances, customized datum reference frames, the translation modifier, and applying GD&T to non-rigid parts. You’ll learn about functional dimensioning, form controls, the datum system, additional and complex datum feature types, expanded datum target concepts and usage on restrained parts, simultaneous, and separate requirements.

This 3-day advanced-level course teaches the advanced concepts of GD&T as prescribed in the ASME Y14.5M-1994 Standard. It can be conducted with flexible scheduling, including 5 mornings or 5 afternoons.   

This 2-day foundational-level course teaches advanced geometric dimensioning and tolerancing topics as prescribed in the ASME Y14.5M-1994 Standard. 

The aerospace industry is facing immense challenges due to increased design complexity and higher levels of integration, particularly in the electrification of aircraft. These challenges can easily impact program cost and product time to market. System electrification and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) have become critical issues today. In the context of 3D electromagnetics, EMC electromagnetic compatibility ensures the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that radiated emissions from various electronic devices, such as avionics or the entire aircraft for that matter, do not interfere with other electronic products onboard the aircraft.

The primary purpose of a Propellant Transfer Unit (PTU) is to temperature-condition and weigh a specific amount of propellant, and transfer if to a vehicle propellant tank. A secondary purpose of a PTU may be to drain propellant from the vehicle tank and return it to the transfer unit when required. The transfer unit may also be used for flushing the vehicle fill lines and transfer unit with appropriate flushing fluids, followed with nitrogen for the purpose of drying the lines and weigh tank. The transfer unit may include provisions for helium purging of the propellant transfer tank and lines, ad supplying a blanket of helium pressure to the transfer tank. Each PTU consists of a piping system with appropriate propellant and pneumatic valves, regulators, relief valves, filters and a propellant pump. Various components such as a scrubber, bubbler, propellant cooler (heat exchanger), propellant weigh tank, weigh scale and a chiller may make up the balance of the assembly.

This SAE Aerospace Standard (AS) defines the requirements for air cycle air conditioning systems used on military air vehicles for cooling, heating, ventilation, and moisture and contamination control. General recommendations for an air conditioning system, which may include an air cycle system as a cooling source, are included in MIL-E-18927E and JSSG-2009. Air cycle air conditioning systems include those components which condition high temperature and high pressure air for delivery to occupied and equipment compartments and to electrical and electronic equipment. This document is applicable to open and closed loop air cycle systems. Definitions are contained in Section 5 of this document.

This document is divided into five parts. The first part deals with flotation analysis features and definitions to acquaint the engineer with elements common to the various methods and the meanings of the terms used. The second part identifies and describes current flotation analysis methods. Due to the close relationship between flotation analysis and runway design, methods for the latter are also included in this document. As runway design criteria are occasionally used for flotation evaluation, including some for runways built to now obsolete criteria, a listing of the majority of these criteria constitutes the third part. The fourth part of this document tabulates the most relevant documents, categorizing them for commercial and civil versus military usage, by military service to be satisfied, and by type of pavement. This document concludes with brief elaborations of some concepts for broadening the analyst’s understanding of the subject.

Abstract The advancement in vision sensors and embedded technology created the opportunity in autonomous vehicles to look ahead in the future to avoid potential obstacles and steep regions to reach the target location as soon as possible and yet maintain vehicle safety from rollover. The present work focuses on developing a nonlinear model predictive controller (NMPC) for a high-speed off-road autonomous vehicle, which avoids undesirable conditions including stationary obstacles, moving obstacles, and steep regions while maintaining the vehicle safety from rollover. The NMPC controller is developed using CasADi tools in the MATLAB environment. The CasADi tool provides a platform to formulate the NMPC problem using symbolic expressions, which is an easy and efficient way of solving the optimization problem. In the present work, the vehicle lateral dynamics are modeled using the Pacejka nonlinear tire model.

Aluminum alloys are employed in agricultural equipment, aerospace sectors, medical instruments, machinery, automobiles, etc. due to their physical and mechanical characteristics. The geometrical shape and size of the parts are modified in turning operation by using a single-point cutting tool. A356 aluminum alloy is widely used in various engineering sectors, hence there is a necessity to produce A-356 components with quality. The inappropriate cutting parameters used in turning operation entail high production costs and reduce tool life. Box–Behnken design (BBD) based on response surface methodology (RSM) was used to design the experiments such that the experiment trials were conducted by varying cutting parameters like N-spindle speed (rpm), f-feed rate (mm/rev), and d-depth of cut (mm). The multi-objective responses, such as surface roughness (SR) and metal removal rate (MRR) were analyzed with the desirability method.

This course teaches the thought processes involved in assigning GD&T to components, and it changes the way many engineers think about part tolerancing. The course focuses on what constitutes good and poor drawing practices, common dimensioning methods used in industry, using GD&T to communicate system functions on component dimensions, and the logic of how to apply GD&T to components. You’ll also learn how to select datum features and how to fully define component surfaces using GD&T. Establishing tolerance values is not covered.   

The gear lubricants covered by this standard exceed American Petroleum Institute (API) Service Classification API GL-5 and are intended for hypoid-type, automotive gear units, operating under conditions of high-speed/shock load and low-speed/high-torque. These lubricants may be appropriate for other gear applications where the position of the shafts relative to each other and the type of gear flank contact involve a large percentage of sliding contact. Such applications typically require extreme pressure (EP) additives to prevent the adhesion and subsequent tearing away of material from the loaded gear flanks. These lubricants are not appropriate for the lubrication of worm gears. Appendix A is a mandatory part of this standard. The information contained in Appendix A is intended for the demonstration of compliance with the requirements of this standard and for listing on the Qualified Products List (QPL) administered by the Lubricant Review Institute (LRI).

The gear lubricants covered by this standard exceed American Petroleum Institute (API) Service Classification API GL-5 and are intended for hypoid-type, automotive gear units, operating under conditions of high-speed/shock load and low-speed/high-torque. These lubricants may be appropriate for other gear applications where the position of the shafts relative to each other and the type of gear flank contact involve a large percentage of sliding contact. Such applications typically require extreme pressure (EP) additives to prevent the adhesion and subsequent tearing away of material from the loaded gear flanks. These lubricants are not appropriate for the lubrication of worm gears. Appendix A is a mandatory part of this standard. The information contained in Appendix A is intended for the demonstration of compliance with the requirements of this standard and for listing on the Qualified Products List (QPL) administered by the Lubricant Review Institute (LRI).

The complete lifecycle of complex systems, such as ground vehicles, consists of multiple phases including design, manufacturing, operation and sustainment (O&S) and finally disposal. For many systems, the majority of the lifecycle costs are incurred during the operation and sustainment phase, specifically in the form of uncertain maintenance costs. Testing and analysis during the design phase, including reliability and supportability analysis, can have a major influence on costs during the O&S phase. However, the cost of the analysis itself must be reconciled with the expected benefits of the reduction in uncertainty. In this paper, we quantify the value of performing the tests and analyses in the design phase by treating it as imperfect information obtained to better estimate uncertain maintenance costs.

The modeling and simulation pyramid in defense states it clearly: Multi-Level modeling and simulation are required. Models and simulations are often classified by the US Department of Defense into four levels—campaign, mission, engagement, and engineering. Campaign simulation models are applied for evaluation; mission-level simulations to experiment with the integration of several macro agents; engagement simulations in engineered systems development; and engineering-level simulation models with a solid foundation in structural physics and components. Models operating at one level must be able to interact with models at another level. Therefore, the cure (“silver bullet”) is very clear: a comprehensive framework for Multiple Resolution Modeling (MRM) is needed. In this paper, we discuss our research about how to construct MRM environments.

This work covers the historical development of Built-In-Test (BIT) for fiber optic interconnect links for aerospace applications using Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (OTDR) equipped transceivers. The original failure modes found that installed fiber optic links must be disconnected before diagnosis could begin, often resulting in “no fault found” (NFF) designation. In fact, the observed root cause was that most (85%) of the fiber optic link defects were produced by contamination of the connector end faces. In March of 2006, a fiber optics workshop was held with roughly sixty experts from system and component manufacturers to discuss the difficulties of fiber optic test in aerospace platforms. During this meeting it was hypothesized that Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (OTDR) was feasible using an optical transceiver transmit pulse as a stimulus. The time delay and amplitude of received reflections would correlate with the position and severity of link defects, respectively.