In this study Track Before Detect (TBD) approach will be analysed for tracking of dim moving targets. First, a radar setup is presented in order to introduce the radar range equation and signal models. Then, preliminary information is given about particle filters. As the main algorithm of this thesis, a multi-model particle filter method is developed in order to solve the non-linear non-Gaussian Bayesian estimation problem. Probability of target existence and RMS estimation accuracy are defined as the performance parameters of the algorithm for very low SNR targets. Simulation results are provided and performance analysis is presented as a conclusion.

Analysis of aircraft structures are mainly performed by assuming that the structure behaves linearly. In linear finite element analysis, it is assumed that deformations are small, thus geometric nonlinearity can be neglected. In addition, linear analysis assumes that linear constitutive laws applicable, implying that material nonlinearity can also be neglected. One very common type of nonlinearity is associated with the boundary conditions. Contact between two deformable bodies or between a deformable and rigid body are typical examples of nonlinearity associated with boundary conditions. Linear structural analysis, in general, does not include contact analysis. Simplicity of linear analysis in terms modeling, interpreting the results and solution time makes the linear analysis approach very convenient in preliminary design and analysis stage of aircraft structures. However, simplicity of linear analysis may result in unconservative results which may occur due to neglecting the true nonlinear behavior of the structure. In this thesis, one such nonlinear eect called prying load eect on the tensile connections is studied. The eect of prying load on structures are initially described by referencing the analytical approaches presented in the literature. Finite element models of typical bolted connections such as L and T type are generated for various combinations of the chosen design parameters such as bolt diameter, flange thickness, washer diameter and edge distances. Parametric modeling approach is used to perform the high number of finite element analysis which involve contact for the purpose of calculating the prying load. Comparative study of the eect of prying load is then conducted by also including the results presented in the literature. Comparisons of the prying load are done with the experimental results presented in the literature. Series of finite element analyses are preformed for various cases such that eect of geometrical variables and bolt preload on prying ratio can be understood. According to the results obtained, it is concluded that main factors eecting the prying ratio are the distance of bolt center to the clip web, flange thickness of the clip and preload on the bolt where the eect of edge distance of the bolt is insignificant.

Various methods have been used, including airborne radars, LIDAR, observation of flying birds, towers, tethered balloons, and aircraft to gain both a qualitative and quantitative representation of how heat and moisture are transported to higher altitudes and grow the boundary or mixing layer by thermal updrafts. This paper builds upon that research using an instrumented glider to determine the structure and build a mathematical model of thermals in a desert environment. During these flights, it was discovered that the traditional view of a thermal as a singular rising plume of air did not sufficiently explain what was being observed, but rather another phenomenon was occurring. This paper puts forth the argument and a mathematical model to show that thermals actually take the form of a hexagonal convection cell at higher levels in the convective boundary layer when the thermal acts as if unrestrained by borders as in non-linear cases of free convection.

ITC/USA 2012 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Eighth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 22-25, 2012 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, California / We propose a spectrally-efficient multiple-access technique that is particularly suitable for aeronautical telemetry applications involving serial streaming of data from multiple test articles to a ground station. Unlike conventional frequency-division multiple access, we assign overlapping frequency bands to different users with a minimum carrier separation corresponding to the symbol rate. We utilize multiuser detection strategies at the ground station to separate the transmissions from different test articles. As shown by the simulation results, the proposed scheme is robust to large frequency offsets due to oscillator offsets and Doppler shifts commonly encounters in aeronautical telemetry applications.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a main field that contributes to the development of high efficiency aircraft. CFD accuracy depends on the flow solver and the meshing of the geometry, and while it is doable to determine why a certain solver is more accurate than another, it is much more difficult to discern why two meshes produce differently accurate solutions. A framework is presented to evaluate the performance or ``goodness" of a mesh and to compare meshes. The framework is composed of quantifiable mesh parameters which define a mesh, and three performance measures: functional accuracy, their order of convergence, and their behaviour under the adjoint correction method. Although it seems that the relationships between parameters and results are not trivial, there are trends from which optimal mesh parameters are deduced. The H topology performs best, and the most important parameters are related to spacings and cell quality around the aerofoil leading edge.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a main field that contributes to the development of high efficiency aircraft. CFD accuracy depends on the flow solver and the meshing of the geometry, and while it is doable to determine why a certain solver is more accurate than another, it is much more difficult to discern why two meshes produce differently accurate solutions. A framework is presented to evaluate the performance or ``goodness" of a mesh and to compare meshes. The framework is composed of quantifiable mesh parameters which define a mesh, and three performance measures: functional accuracy, their order of convergence, and their behaviour under the adjoint correction method. Although it seems that the relationships between parameters and results are not trivial, there are trends from which optimal mesh parameters are deduced. The H topology performs best, and the most important parameters are related to spacings and cell quality around the aerofoil leading edge.

In air traffic, safety is the key word. Safety is kept in numerous ways. One of these ways is with the help of Aeronautical Information (AI). AI is all information regarding air traffic, i.e. aerodrome hours of operation, weather reports and information about unserviceable navigational aids. Sometimes it happens that some of the information does not reach the pilots in the aircraft, which can have a negative impact on safety. This thesis examines the flow of AI all the way from the originator of the information to the end-user, and analyzes it to find where the errors occur. The thesis is based on the rules and regulations set by ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization, two field trips to the Swedish AI provider LFV, and interviews with four airlines, Novair, NextJet, Malmö Aviation, and SAS. The results exposes where in the flow the weakness exists, and finally gives advice as to how these weaknesses can be addressed.

No description available.

Micro Air Vehicles (MAV’s) have small size and extreme maneuverability which makes them ideal for surveillance. Propulsion mechanisms include propellers, rotors, and flapping airfoils. Flapping motions, along with biologically-inspired wing profiles, are of interest due to their use of natural physics. Corrugated airfoil structures appears to have poor aerodynamic performance at higher Reynolds numbers, but serve well at Re<10,000. Understanding flow structures around corrugated profiles and comparing them to a standard airfoil will aid in understanding how these corrugated profiles perform well and have been adopted by some of nature’s most acrobatic flyers. Motivation for this investigation is to compare static flow visualizations of corrugated profiles to a standard National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) airfoil from low to high angles of attack and further observe flow structure development of a pitching and plunging flat plate at a Re<10,000 and a Strouhal number relevant to natural fliers. The static visualization was conducted at Re=1,000 with a NACA 0012 airfoil and two corrugated models. The Pitch and Plunge Fixture (PPF) developed was constructed by simplifying flapping wings as a two degree of freedom motion in plunge (translation) and pitch (rotation). Results obtained from the PPF were compared with a numerical simulation.

The wireless networks of the future are likely to be tiered, i.e., a heterogeneous mixture of overlaid networks that have different power, spectrum, hardware, coverage, mobility, complexity, and technology requirements. The focus of this dissertation is to improve the performance and increase the throughput of tiered networks with resource/interference management methods, node densification schemes, and transceiver designs; with their applications to advanced tiered network structures such as heterogeneous networks (i.e., picocells, femtocells, relay nodes, and distributed antenna systems), device-to-device (D2D) networks, and aeronautical communication networks (ACN). Over the last few decades, there has been an incredible increase in the demand for wireless services in various applications in the entire world. This increase leads to the emergence of a number of advanced wireless systems and networks whose common goal is to provide a very high data rate to countless users and applications. With the traditional macrocellular network architectures, it will be extremely challenging to meet such demand for high data rates in the upcoming years. Therefore, a mixture of different capability networks has started being built in a tiered manner. While the number and capabilities of networks are increasing to satisfy higher requirements; Modeling, managing, and maintaining the entire structure has become more challenging. The capacity of wireless networks has increased with various different advanced technologies/methodologies between 1950-2000 which can be summarized under three main titles: spectrum increase (x25), spectrum efficiency increase (x25), and network density (spectrum reuse) increase (x1600). It is vital to note that among different schemes, the most important gain is explored with increasing the reuse and adding more nodes/cells into the system, which will be the focus of this dissertation. Increasing the reuse by adding nodes into the network in an uncoordinated (irregular in terms of power, spectrum, hardware, coverage, mobility, complexity, and technology) manner brought up heterogeneity to the traditional wireless networks: multi-tier resource management problems in uncoordinated interference environments. In this study, we present novel resource/interference management methods, node densification schemes, and transceiver designs to improve the performance of tiered networks; and apply our methodologies to heterogeneous networks, D2D networks, and ACN. The focus and the contributions of this research involve the following perspectives: 1. Resource Management in Tiered Networks: Providing a fairness metric for tiered networks and developing spectrum allocation models for heterogeneous network structures. 2. Network Densification in Tiered Networks: Providing the signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) and transmit power distributions of D2D networks for network density selection criteria, and developing gateway scheduling algorithms for dense tiered networks. 3. Mobility in Tiered Networks: Investigation of mobility in a two-tier ACN, and providing novel transceiver structures for high data rate, high mobility ACN to mitigate the effect of Doppler.