A pressurized arch-shell structural component made of flexible material is considered. The component is inflated with high internal pressure. The behavior of similar types of structures, such as a pair of leaning pressurized arches and pressurized arch-supported membrane shelters, has been investigated in the past. More recently, several types of pressurized structures have been incorporated as part of the framework for a variety of structural systems. Particularly, the U.S. Army has been investigating the use of large lightweight and transportable pressurized arch-shell structures to be used as maintenance shelters for vehicles, helicopters, and airplanes. The formulated equations using thin shell theory are applied to a pressurized arch-shell component. A numerical investigation based on the Rayleigh-Ritz method is utilized to determine the behavior of arch-shells under various types of loading. The types of loading include a uniformly distributed vertical load representing snow, a wind load, and a horizontal side load distributed along the arc length. Deflections, stress resultants, and moments at various locations are computed for two types of shapes: circular and non-circular arch-shells. / Master of Science

Space Time Trellis Coding (STTC) is a unique technique that combines the use of multiple transmit antennas with channel coding. This scheme provides capacity benefits in fading channels, and helps in improving the data rate and reliability of wireless communication. STTC schemes have been primarily designed assuming perfect channel estimates to be available at the receiver. However, in practical wireless systems, this is never the case. The noisy wireless channel precludes an exact characterization of channel coefficients. Even near-perfect channel estimates can necessitate huge overhead in terms of processing or spectral efficiency. This practical concern motivates the study of the impact of channel estimation errors on the design and performance of STTC. The design criteria for STTC are validated in the absence of perfect channel estimates at the receiver. Analytical results are presented that model the performance of STTC systems in the presence of channel estimation errors. Training based channel estimation schemes are the most popular choice for STTC systems. The amount of training however, increases with the number of transmit antennas used, the number of multi-path components in the channel and a decrease in the channel coherence time. This dependence is shown to decrease the performance gain obtained when increasing the number of transmit antennas in STTC systems, especially in channels with a large Doppler spread (low channel coherence time). In frequency selective channels, the training overhead associated with increasing the number of antennas can be so large that no benefit is shown to be obtained by using STTC. The amount of performance degradation due to channel estimation errors is shown to be influenced by system parameters such as the specific STTC code employed and the number of transmit and receive antennas in the system in addition to the magnitude of the estimation error. Hence inappropriate choice of system parameters is shown to significantly alter the performance pattern of STTC. The viability of STTC in practical wireless systems is thus addressed and it is shown that that channel estimation could offset benefits derived from this scheme. / Master of Science

This report, presents an analytical framework for analyzing two-branch diversity systems for a Rayleigh fading channel. In many cases the fading received at both branches (i.e. a two-antenna element system) is correlated because of the proximity of the antenna elements to each other. It is also not uncommon for a diversity system to use antennas with different patterns or polarizations, this usually results in differences in average signal-to-noise ratios at both branches depending on which element is better matched to the signal environment. As will be shown, the performance of a diversity system depends greatly on the envelope correlation, average power imbalance and the combining scheme used on both branches. An analytical expression for the probability density function of the signal-to-noise ratio at the output of a two-branch maximal ratio and selection diversity system is developed in this report. The two branches are assumed to be Rayleigh fading, correlated, as well as of unequal signal-to-noise ratios. Measurements were made in Rayleigh fading channels and compared to the analytical results. The analytical cumulative distribution functions (derived using probability distributions) were found to be within 1 dB of the measured results (statistics obtained from time combining) for both maximal ratio and selection diversity attesting to the validity of the analytic results. Also developed in this report are the exact analytical average probabilities of symbol error for coherent BPSK and coherent QPSK before and after maximal ratio combining for this environment. The diversity gain for selection, maximal ratio, and equal gain combining for the 10% probability level is presented as a function of power imbalance and correlation between branches for a two-branch Rayleigh diversity system / Master of Science

Dynamic behavior of flexural-torsional coupled vibration of rotating beams using the Rayleigh-Ritz method with orthogonal polynomials as basis functions is studied. The present work starts from a review of the development and analysis of four basic types of beam theories: the Euler-Bernoulli, Rayleigh, Shear and Timoshenko and goes over to a study of flexural-torsional coupled vibration analysis using basic beam theories. In obtaining natural frequencies, orthogonal polynomials used in the Rayleigh-Ritz method are studied as an efficient way of getting results. The study is also performed for both non-rotating and rotating beams. Orthogonal polynomials and functions studied in the present work are : Legendre, Chebyshev, integrated Legendre, modified Duncan polynomials, the eigenfunctions of a pinned-free uniform beam, and the special trigonometric functions used in conjunction with Hermite cubics. Studied cases are non-rotating and rotating Timoshenko beams, bending-torsion coupled beam with free-free boundary conditions, a cantilever beam, and a rotating cantilever beam. The obtained natural frequencies and mode shapes are compared to those available in various references and results for coupled flexural-torsional vibrations are compared to both previously available references and with those obtained using NASTRAN finite element package. / Master of Science

Experimental results and simulations of imploding fusion concepts have identified the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability as one of the largest inhibitors to achieving fusion. Understanding the origin and development of the RT instability will allow for the development of mitigating measures to dampen the instability growth, thus improving the chance that fusion concepts such as inertial confinement fusion (ICF) are successful. A study of 1D and 2D simulations are presented for investigating RT instability growth in deceleration stage of imploding geometries. Two cases of laser-driven implosion geometry, Cartesian and cylindrical, are used to study late stage deceleration-phase RT instability development on the interior surface of imploding targets. FLASH's hydrodynamic (HD) and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modeling capabilities are used for different laser and target parameters in order to study the RT instability and the impact of externally applied magnetic fields on their evolution. Several simulation regimes have been identified that provide novel insight into the impact that a seeded magnetic field can have on RT instability growth and the conditions under which magnetic field stabilization of the RT instability is observable. Finally, future work and recommendations are made. / Master of Science / The direction for the future of renewable energy is uncertain at this time; however, it is known that the future of human energy consumption must be green in order to be sustainable. Fusion energy presents an opportunity for an unlimited clean renewable energy source that has yet to be realized. Fusion is achieved only by overcoming the earthly limitations presented by trying to replicate conditions at the interior of stellar structures. The pressures, temperature, and densities seen in the interior of stars are not easily reproduced, and thus human technology must be developed to reach these difficult stellar conditions in order to harvest fusion energy. There are two main branches of developmental technology geared towards achieving the difficult conditions controlled nuclear fusion presents, magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) and inertial confinement fusion (ICF)[17]. Yet in both approaches barriers exist which have thwarted the efforts toward reaching fusion ignition which must be addressed through scientific discovery. Successfully reaching ignition is only the first step in the ultimate pursuit of a self sustaining fusion reactor. This work will focus on the experimental ICF configuration, and on one such inhibitor toward achieving ignition, the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability. The RT instability develops on the surfaces of the fusion fuel capsules, targets, and causes nonuniform compression of the target. This nonuniform compression of the target leads to lower pressures and densities through the material mixing of fusion fuel and the capsule shell, which ultimately leads to challenges with reaching fusion ignition. The work presented here was performed utilizing the University of Chicago's FLASH code, which is a state-of-the-art open source radiation magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) code used for plasma and astrophysics computational modeling [11]. Simulations of the RT instability are performed using FLASH in planar and cylindrical geometries to explore fundamental Rayleigh-Taylor instability evolution for these two different geometries. These geometries provide easier access for experimental diagnostics to probe RT dynamics. Additionally, the impact of externally applied magnetic fields are explored in an effort to examine if and how the detrimental instability can be controlled.

The performance of a mobile satellite communications link can be determined by the propagation path between a satellite and mobile users. Some of the most important factors are multipath propagation and vegetative shadowing. System designers should have the most reliable information about the statistics of fade duration in order to determine fade margin or to compensate for the fades using modulation and coding scheme. This report describes a simulator, PROSIM, developed at Virginia Tech for simulating a propagation model in land mobile satellite communications. The simulator is based on a random number generator that generates data sets to compute statistics of the propagation channel. Performance of the simulator was evaluated by comparing statistics from an analytical model and experimental data provided by W. Vogel of Univ. of Texas at Austin and J. Goldhirsh of the Applied Physics Laboratory. New expressions for phasor plot and its mathematical expression for lognormal channel were derived and were simulated. Finally, the advantages of the simulator using random number generator in simulating the propagation model are described. / Master of Science

Wireless technologies, such as satellite, cellular, and wireless internet are now commercially driven by ever more demanding consumers, who are ready for seamless integration of communication networks from the home to the car, and into the office. There is a growing need to quickly transmit information wirelessly and accurately. Engineers have already combine techniques such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) suitable for high data rate transmission with forward error correction (FEC) methods over wireless channels. In this thesis, we enhance the system throughput of a working OFDM system by adding turbo coding and adaptive modulation (AD). Simulation is done over a time varying, frequency selective Rayleigh fading channel. The temporal variations in the simulated wireless channel are due to the presence of Doppler, a sign of relative motion between transmitter and receiver. The wideband system has 48 data sub-channels, each is individually modulated according to channel state information acquired during the previous burst. The end goal is to increase the system throughput while maintaining system performance under a bit error rate (BER) of 10-2. The results we obtained are preliminary. The lack of resources prevented us from producing detailed graphs of our findings. / Master of Science

Recent concepts for controlled magneto-inertial fusion (MIF), such as magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF), have suffered from magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities that lead to degradations in fusion yield. High levels of azimuthally-correlated MHD instability structures have been observed on cylindrical liner experiments without a pre-imposed axial magnetic field (Bz=0) elsewhere in the literature and are believed to be seeded from surface machining roughness. This dissertation uses highly resolved (0.5 μm and less resolution) 1D and 2D resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) simulations of electrical wire explosions (EWEs) and liner implosions to show that micrometer-scale surface roughness seeds the electrothermal instability (ETI), which induces early melting in pockets across the conductor and leads to millimeter-scale instability growth. The relationship between the ETI and the MRTI in liner implosions is also described in this dissertation, which shows that the traditional growth rates associated with these modes are coupled together and are not linearly independent. This dissertation also describes the preliminary implementation of a Koopman neural network architecture for learning the nonlinear dynamics of a high energy density (HED) exploding or imploding electrical conductor. / Doctor of Philosophy / Researchers have been working on controlling nuclear fusion and harnessing it as a power source since the discovery that nuclear fusion powers stars. In many of these controlled nuclear fusion concepts the aim is to heat the fuel until it forms a high-temperature plasma state of matter and then compress it to the point that the atoms are close enough and at high enough speeds that they collide fuse together. In the magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF) concept these temperatures, densities, and pressures are achieved by surrounding the fusion fuel with a cylindrical piece of metal called a liner and using magnetic fields to implode the liner inward. Experiments have shown, however, that these liner implosions do not occur smoothly and that the system becomes unstable and can mix liner material into the fuel, which disrupts the fusion process. This dissertation investigates the stability of liner implosions and electrical wire explosions. In particular, this dissertation shows that surface roughness imparted on the surface of a solid fusion target by a machining process can grow into a millimeter-scale perturbation. It also describes the relationship between two common types of instabilities found in current-driven nuclear fusion: the magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor instability and the electrothermal instability. Finally, it looks at using neural networks to better understand the dynamics of electrical wire explosions.

Fast, sensitive, quantitative, and low-cost analysis of environmental pollutants is highly valuable for environmental monitoring. Due to its single-molecule sensitivity and fingerprint specificity, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been widely employed for heavy metal, organic compound, and pathogen detection. However, SERS quantitation is challenging because 1) analytes do not stay in the strongest enhancing region ("hot spots") and 2) SERS reproducibility is poor. In this dissertation, gold nanoparticle/bacterial cellulose (AuNP/BC) substrates were developed to improve SERS sensitivity by increasing hot spot density within the laser excitation volume. Environmentally relevant organic amines were fixed at "hot spots" by lowering solution pH below the analyte pKa and thus enabling SERS quantitation. In addition, a new SERS internal standard was developed based upon the electromagnetic enhancement mechanism that relates Rayleigh (elastic) and Raman (in-elastic) scattering. Rayleigh scattering arising from the amplified spontaneous emission of the excitation laser was employed as a normalization factor to minimize the inherent SERS signal variation caused by the heterogeneous distribution of "hot spots" across a SERS substrate. This highly novel technique, hot spot-normalized SERS (HSNSERS), was subsequently applied to evaluate the efficiency of SERS substrates, provide in situ monitoring of ligand exchange kinetics on the AuNP surface, and to reveal the relationship between the pKa of aromatic amines and their affinity to citrate-coated AuNPs (cit-AuNPs). Finally, colloidally stable stable pH nanoprobes were synthesized using co-solvent mediated AuNP aggregation and subsequent coating of poly(ethylene) glycol (PEG). These nanoprobes were applied for pH detection in cancer cells and in phosphate buffered aerosol droplets. The latter experiments suggest that stable pH gradients exist in aerosol droplets. / PHD / Traditional analytical methods, such as gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy, liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy, etc., cannot meet the demand for rapid screening of target environmental pollutants in drinking water. This issue arises due to the requirements for time-consuming sample pre-treatment, well-trained experts, complex instrumental parameter optimization, and scale challenges that limit onsite measurement. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy is a promising approach to overcome these limitations. To improve SERS quantitation, surface-enhanced elastic scattering was developed as a novel internal standard to account for the SERS signal variation caused by substrate heterogeneity (“hot spot” normalization). Compared with traditional SERS internal standards, using scattered light as an internal standard reduces cost, time, interference, and experimental complexity for SERS detection. With this novel approach, the kinetics of adsorption/desorption of guest ligands/citrate onto/from the AuNP surface were quantified in situ and in real time. In addition, the SERS intensities of organic amines acquired at different solution pH values were differentiated using “hot spot” normalization, which revealed the relationship between aromatic amine pK_a and their affinity to the AuNP surface. Finally, the chemistry in confined aqueous environments, such as aerosol droplets, membrane channels, and cells, is challenging to probe using conventional analytical tools due to their inaccessible small volumes. To address this problem, SERS pH nanoprobes were synthesized and used to detect the pH inside cancer cells and micrometer-sized aerosol droplets.

Doctor of Philosophy / Filtered Rayleigh scattering (FRS) is a laser-based measurement technique that makes use of the scattering of light off particles that are much smaller than the wavelength of light that hits them (i.e., Rayleigh scattering of air molecules). The scattered laser light is altered after encountering particles in predictable ways that can be related to changes in velocity, temperature, and density. However, other sources of scattered light interfere with the pure Rayleigh scattering signal such as Mie and background scattering. Mie scattering is the scattering of light off particles that are much bigger than the wavelength of light that hits them (i.e., dust particles suspended in air). Background scattering is the laser light scattered off physical objects that reflect back into the region of interest. The different types of scattering are accounted for with intensive modeling and iterative fitting schemes where the error between simulated data and experimental data is minimized. This fit allows for velocity, temperature, and density information to be extracted from the measured scattered light. This iterative scheme is then applied to experimental measurements on the ground with mini turbojet engines as well as full-scale turbofan engines. A data grouping technique is derived such that the total measured force using FRS can be divided into individual contributions from different parts of the engine. These developed techniques have laid the foundation for future in-flight measurements of engine forces.