In this thesis, the lifting-line approximation of a flat, unswept wing, originally attributed to Prandtl, is investigated. The original formulation for a flat wing is examined in detail. The governing integro-differential equation is developed from its components. The optimum and general solutions to the original formulation are presented and discussed. An expanded formulation is presented, which includes the effect of the wake of non-planar wings. The self-induced velocities of the bound vortex on the wing are assumed to be small for practical cases and not included in the model. The case of simple dihedral is considered and the general formulation is simplified to better illustrate the effect of the geometry on the governing equation. For the simplified dihedral case, the optimal solution remains the same as for a flat wing. A simplified finite element model is also included, which accounts for the bending due to the force generated by the bound vortex. This finite element model is combined with the non-planar lifting-line equation to create a static aeroelastic model for a wing. The solution of this problem is iterative, but converges quickly. Lift coefficient and span efficiency factor are provided for a set of wing geometries for cases of dihedral and wing bending, and the trends are examined compared to flat wings. Additionally, the resulting geometries after deformation of the wing are presented and the effect of circulation distribution on the resulting shape is discussed. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Aerospace Engineering.

This thesis studies amplify-and-forward (AF) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) beamforming relay networks based on the minimum mean square error (MMSE) criterion under various transmit power restraints (TPRs). The primary contribution of this thesis is the derivation of a set of optimal relay amplifying matrices and source-destination beamforming vectors under diverse conditions of TPRs on the source and the relay for the AF MIMO wireless relay network. By comparing the bit error rate (BER) performance of each case, an efficient design of a half-duplex (HD) AF relay system is presented / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Every vehicle manufacturing company invests time and money in researching all the possible ways of eliminating the serious injury to the occupants. These efforts are concentrated on making the vehicle structure and interior robust enough to absorb all the impact loads, as well as development of means to contain the occupants by seatbelts and airbags, thereby reducing the possibilities of impact injuries. The approach might vary but the intent will always remain the occupant safety. The objective of this study is to analyze the barrier design safety performance deployed on the highway roadsides. Having many different designs of roads, it is impossible to have similar kind of roadside barriers on all locations. Some barriers will perform better on particular road designs and some will not. Hence, a detailed study is conducted here to analyze and document the behavior of vehicles after impact onto different types of design barriers at different road conditions. A finite element analysis is conducted using the LS-DYNA finite element (FE) code with a modeling tool HYPERMESH. The analytical results from simulation are compared with the test results from literature. Next, the influence of many different parameters such as road curvature, slope on barrier design, vehicle speed etc., on the occupant safety are studied. The study also focuses on analyzing the effect of these parameters on vehicle lift, roll, occupant impact velocity, occupant ride-down acceleration and angular acceleration. The results from this study indicate that even though New Jersey barrier design increases the vehicle lift and occupant impact velocity, it makes sure that the vehicle does not vault the barrier and enter the other side of the traffic. The study also identifies the impact angle to be more critical than the road curvature. Hence, deploying the proper barrier designs based on the road curvature will ensure occupant safety. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

This research explores the Populist era in Kansas and the life of the state's twelfth governor, Lorenzo D. Lewelling. Lewelling is an important figure in the Populist movement in Kansas and his rise to power, and subsequent fall, mimics that of the movement as a whole. Through close examination of primary and secondary sources, this research paints the picture of Lewelling's life before and during his political career to give a better understanding of the state's past. This research gives context to the broader Populist movement by examining the intricacies of one of the state's leading figures. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of History.

Frequency synchronization in a distributed wireless network is a challenging issue in recent times. Some frequency synchronization techniques are used in the distributed wireless network. However, due to the presence of noise, the simultaneous synchronization of all nodes to a common frequency is difficult, therefore an alternative solution for distributed network frequency synchronization using the Kalman filter is studied in this thesis. This thesis will show that existing frequency synchronization techniques in the wireless network fail in a noisy environment, and that the proposed scheme can be effective to suppress updating error noise using the Kalman filter. In particular, the proposed method can reduce the negative effects of updating error noise even if it is of high power (e.g., 50 dB). The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm over the existing algorithm will be verified by simulation results. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

This study explored the relationship between motivation and ethnicity in upper elementary aged students, specifically comparing Hispanic to European-American participants. The purpose was to determine whether there was a link between one's culture identity and motivation. This study utilized Carol Dweck's theories of beliefs about intelligence and achievement goals and Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. These three theories were compared to ethnicity and gender as the predictor variables used during this exploration. There were a total of 129 fourth and fifth grade students, 89 of whom were European-American and 40 of whom were Hispanic. Participants completed a questionnaire including demographic questions, questions pertaining to their beliefs about intelligence and achievement goals, adapted from Carol Dweck (1999), part of a Life Motivation Scale, adapted by Goebel and Brown (1981) addressing Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and a modified cultural influence section, adapted from Chirkov, Lynch, and Niwa (2005). Main analyses revealed a significant relationship between ethnicity and beliefs about intelligence and rankings of Maslow's needs. Hispanic participants showed a stronger belief in fixed intelligence and a stronger need for esteem and security or safety compared to European-American participants. European-American participants showed a stronger need for the self-actualization need compared to Hispanic participants. Girls also had stronger performance goals when compared to boys. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--Wichita State University, College of Education, Dept. of Counseling, Educational Leadership, Educational and School Psychology.

Today, sophisticated consumers drive an organization's market share. They demand timely innovation and challenge an organization's capacity to manage its competencies. Communities of Practice (CoPs) harvest and disperse the competencies and innovative synergy that reside in an organization's knowledge reservoirs. The theory of CoPs as a knowledge network requires quantitative measurement to enhance its effectiveness and sustainability. This research seeks to validate this knowledge generating mechanism by first, examining a CoP through a functional decomposition process model (IDEF0-Integration Definition for Function Modeling). Second, by developing a "Cultivate a CoP" assessment scale and finally, validating the scale of "Cultivate a CoP". This is an exploratory pilot study with a first attempt to quantify the CoP. The "Cultivating a CoP" scale is a Likert 5-point six-dimension survey that assesses the validity and reliability of the CoP scale. The results demonstrates four (4) of the six (6) constructs have significant internal reliability at p = .05. The significant constructs with rank of reliability strength are Convey domain, Align vision, Share expertise and Grow trust while Motivate participants and Build artifacts did not demonstrate internal reliability. The six dimensionality of the scale is challenged with significant correlation between Align vision with Build artifacts and Convey domain. The quantitative metaphor for the CoP theory that seeks to validate "Cultivate a CoP" scale enhances the understanding of abstract inter-relationships among the constructs (latent attributes). The resulting correlations through factor analysis will justify and enhance a CoP's sustainability. A healthy and sustainable CoP improves problem-solving synergy because of an increased capability for change management and knowledge production. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering.

The time-varying dynamics of a tiltrotor during its transition from the helicopter mode to the fixed wing aircraft mode are investigated from a flight dynamics perspective. The time scales over which the nacelle angle variation occurs are considered to be of the same order as the flight dynamics of the tiltrotor, due to which the time-varying aspects of the dynamics become significant. A characterization of the influence of different time trajectories of the nacelle angle on the flight dynamics is performed. The concept of a time-varying pole is used and the flight dynamic properties of the time-varying modes are determined using this concept. This time-varying pole is used to determine time-varying short period and phugoid modes, which are generalization of the conventional short period and phugoid modes. An analytical tool that evaluates the sensitivity of these time-varying modes to different nacelle angle trajectories is demonstrated, along with the degree of controllability of the tiltrotors flight dynamics for each such trajectory. An H-infinity controller is designed to influence the time-varying dynamics and to stabilize the system when it is hit by a wind gust during transition from both- the hover regime to airplane regime and airplane regime to hover regime. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) are one of the most important techniques used for WAN optimization. CDN service providers install a cache server/distribution server close to the end users of the original data. The data from the original server of the CDN client is taken and pushed into the network of distribution servers, to make sure end-user is served from the nearest distribution server. Many algorithms were proposed for coordination between distribution servers, to exchange the information regarding content between distribution servers in the CDN environment with minimal error or minimal usage of resources. Different coordinating algorithms that currently exist include Internet Cache Protocol (ICP), cache digest algorithms and more. Most of these algorithms lacked an important factor of providing certainty of the information shared during process. Due to this issue, most algorithms use if-modified packets to validate information, sending them whenever a user requests CDN service. In this research work, a certainty factor was introduced and its effect on the environment is shown. Simulation was done to show the effect of using the certainty factor; simulation was also done with an increasing number of servers in the group, to show the scalability of the approach. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

The distributed network has been considered the future's wireless networking. A key challenge to implementing a distributed network is time synchronization of nodes in a network in a noisy environment. A few parallel synchronization schemes have been proposed. But when the data rate is high, the performances of these algorithms are degraded because of timing error noise. Thus thesis deals with the problem of timing error noise using the Kalman filter, which is highly effective for additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) but also restrains other kinds of noise, although not as effectively as for AWGN. By means of the Kalman filter, the effect of timing error noise can be reduced. Simulation results provide the effectiveness of the algorithm used. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.