Universal Avionics sometimes receives incorrect or inconsistent data from external inertial measurement and magnetic sensing units installed in its own attitude and heading reference system. The externally sourced units consist of gyros, accelerometers, and magnetometers and are classified as microelectromechanical system sensors. The sponsor has no way to test the external systems in-house and has to return them to the supplier. The team’s objective is to create a test system that enables the sponsor to validate the functionality of the external units in-house. The system design includes communication with the units via a software interface, electrical power and communication, and a mechanical test system that simulates the environment of the unit installed on an aircraft. The environmental test system can be calibrated in the pitch, roll, and yaw directions and is strapped to a cart for mobility. The roll and pitch are adjusted using a precision tilt and turntable with the sensors mounted on top of the structure. The desired yaw direction is achieved by aligning pins on the cart with the sponsor’s sight compass. Communication with the sensors is regulated via a graphical user interface and based on a custom circuit board containing three microprocessors and power regulators.

The purpose of this project was to develop portable remote sensor module to aid in troubleshooting by sensing real-world signals and recording the information over a selectable time period. The sensor module detects and records electrical current, temperature, light interruption, motion, and the presence of fluids. Recorded information is downloaded to a portable device such as a laptop or notebook, where users can view the data on an easy-to-understand graphical user interface. The sensor module uses the Texas Instruments MSP 430 microcontroller and several more of the company’s precision operational and instrumentation amplifiers. The team designed the module to be marketable, with 15 percent profit margin as a minimum goal.

The project required the team to create a computational way to analyze efficiently the data generated by the build process of Honeywell’s direct metal laser sintering additive manufacturing unit, which uses an EOSINT M80 3-D printer. The temperature of the material being sintered, and the rate at which the temperature changes, must be verified during printer operation. The high-powered laser used in the sintering process causes a major change in the temperature of each layer of the build. Printer data input to the software enables users to characterize the build in terms of heating and cooling rates, and peak temperature of material. The software notifies the user that analysis is complete and provides numerical and graphical data output for review and storage.

Residue on kitchenware in a dishwasher influences the decision to continue using a brand of detergent. The objective of this project is to design a system to quantify this residue and provide a cleanliness grade that mirrors how a human would visually grade the kitchenware. The team focused on measuring spotting and film left on knives, because knives can be modeled as mirrors. The team measured and graded cleanliness using distinctness of image, a metric that uses contrast degeneration to determine image degradation. For example, perfect mirrors reflect black and white stripes in sharp contrast, but a surface with degraded reflective properties blurs the distinction between the same black and white stripes. The team projected a striped pattern onto the knives and measured the degradation of distinction between segments imaged, investigating the correlation between cleanliness and distinctness of image.

Caterpillar tests electrical systems by simulating system failure using breakout boxes that communicate with various equipment subsystems via an electronic control module. The sponsor charged the team with designing an automated breakout box with a laptop-based graphical user interface to report results to the user. The designed system consists of an interface box in the cab, and a main box by the electronic control module being tested. The laptop connects to the interface box, where system power is provided by equipment being tested, and houses a microcontroller, LED indicators, and a memory card. The main box houses 18 printed circuit boards, each consisting of 14 relay boards, a power board, a signal control unit, and a fault rail. Relay boards control signals from the electronic control module, sending them through by default or sending signals to the fault rail, which performs tests and records results. The signal control unit facilitates testing and the power board distributes power from the truck to the test system. The entire automated breakout system is controlled by a custom user interface that allows tests to be performed at the click of a button. Tests can also be put in a queue and run without an operator.

Thermomechanical fatigue analysis studies how cyclic thermal loading and large operating temperature gradients cause material fatigue. Test equipment often uses induction as a heat source, which makes systems expensive and difficult to analyze, so the team set out to find an alternative heat source. Using combustion heating and forced convection cooling, the team has devised a way to simulate real, accurate thermomechanical fatigue conditions at a fraction of the cost. The design optimizes the geometry of a nickel-based superalloy specimen to achieve a target stress of 80,000 psi and temperature of 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit when heated and cooled simultaneously. The method involves heating the top face of the specimen with a high-temperature oxy-propane torch while a vacuum draws air through a slot in the specimen at extremely high velocity. Simultaneous heating and cooling produces a temperature gradient between the top and bottom of the specimen, causing it to expand and compress at the same time, thus creating the desired compressive stress. This method will allow the sponsor to efficiently and cost-effectively explore thermomechanical fatigue properties of proprietary materials for future use in jet turbine engines.

Aircraft bleed air at high temperature and pressure comes directly from the engine before jet fuel is added. This air is used to perform aircraft functions such as pressurizing the cabin and running the air-conditioning unit. Contaminants in bleed air can damage aircraft components, and the goal of this project is to create a system to detect contaminants when they reach significant levels. The mechanical subsystems were designed to reduce the extreme conditions of the bleed air stream to within the functional range of the sensor used to detect the contaminants. The electrical subsystem communicates information about contaminant levels to a microcontroller for processing. The microcontroller also provides an indicator to the user interface for aircraft operators.

The objective of this project was to repurpose a commercial smoke detector for use as a particle sensor on board an aircraft. The sensor software was modified using the Python programming language to extract obscuration data at 3-second intervals. The 3-second interval was necessary for response calibration. Particle response tests were conducted with an aerosol generator and two analyzers to determine the particle size and concentration response of the smoke detector. A robust mount was designed and assembled to fit the sensor and allow attachment near the air-circulation duct on the aircraft. Finite element analysis was performed and the mount was fitted with foam capable of absorbing at least 4 g of shock. Temperature tests were also conducted to see if the sensor could handle the temperature fluctuations typical on board aircraft.

Composites made using carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers, or CFRPs, are widely used in aerospace applications because of their stiffness and low weight, but their mechanical properties after processing, such as drilling, are not well understood. Software can emulate the mechanical behavior of CFRPs but physical tests are needed to validate such models are needed. The goal of this project is to quantify mechanical properties of CFRPs for a specific application using tests defined by the American Society for Testing and Materials. Acoustic perforated panels help reduce noise pollution inside aircraft, and CFRPs would be an ideal material for these panels, but would require extensive drilling. Because CFRPs are highly abrasive and tend to delaminate, high-speed steel drill bits quickly suffer catastrophic wear. The team ran ASTM tests to evaluate the tensile, shear, and compressive strength of the CFRPs before and after perforations. As part of the project, the team made a critical make/buy decision to produce the panels, made processing decisions to prepare testing specimens to specifications, oversaw material processing, ran the ASTM tests, and documented all results.

Airborne particles sucked into turbine engines can erode internal parts, necessitating extensive maintenance and increasing the possibility of failure. This project’s objective is to separate particles from an airstream and reduce internal erosion. The design uses an in-line swirl particle separator that relies on centrifugal forces to remove particles from an airstream. A swirler, consisting of rotated blades extending at 90 degrees from a central cylinder, is placed at the front of the separator system. The swirler forces the airflow to spin as it hits the blades, generating centrifugal forces that throw particles to the outer edge of the separator as they travel down the migration chamber to be removed from the system at the diffuser gap. The cleaned air flows through the outlet of the separator and into the turbine engine inlets. To optimize the particle separation of the system, a design of experiments was performed with three factors: inlet diameter, swirler length, and migration chamber length. Each factor had two levels: high and low. All combinations of the three factors at each of the two levels were tested and an analysis completed to determine the optimal design choice for each factor.