USMA Digital Commons (United States Military Academy, West Point)
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Development of Solid Rocket Igniter System for Turn-Key Space Access
No full textA new two-stage sounding rocket required a reliable and proven second stage ignition for the commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) motor intended to operate as a first stage booster and thus was not designed for high altitude ignition. The design is a perforated Garolite ignition chamber to retain boron potassium nitrate pellets and a COTS nozzle for interfacing between the first and second stage. The design was validated in a flight test that resulted in successful second stage ignition at 13 km, while experiencing 30G’s and travelling at a speed exceeding Mach 5. This resulted in an apogee exceeding 85 km, with no visible damage to the nozzle or inner bore of the COTS motor
Methods to Increase the Relevancy of the Octane Number Tests
No full textThe Octane Number test was unveiled in 1928 with a lukewarm response from the oil and automotive industries. The test represented a noble attempt for capturing the antiknock performance of a fuel given the limited knowledge of knock at the time. The test compares the antiknock performance of a fuel in a test engine to a reference fuel. Though simplistic, the test is ingrained in society and has undergone only minor revision despite dramatic changes in engines and fuels. Many studies have discussed the inadequacies of the test, with recent ones questioning their relevancy. This paper provides an overview of these issues, focusing on how to make the tests relevant to modern engines and fuels. Three techniques are recommended for updating the tests. The first technique adjusts the definition for the antiknock index, which is the “Octane Number” displayed on the fuel pump. The antiknock index is currently the average of the Octane Number measured at two test conditions, but recent studies indicate a more complicated relationship. The second technique changes the test’s references fuels, which are currently paraffins. By replacing iso-octane with toluene in the reference fuel blend, it behaves more similarly to modern fuels. The third technique involves changing the test conditions to better replicate the range of knock-limited conditions in modern engines. In particular, the tests would need to achieve higher in-cylinder pressures and lower in-cylinder temperatures. This paper discusses the merits of each of these three approaches while also looking at the challenges with implementing these changes
The conversion of used cooking oils into biodiesel
No full textIn the past decade, we have seen technological advancements in motor vehicles that run on renewable energy sources. The increasing threat of fossil fuel depletion coupled with the need to maintain renewable sources continues to push for the demand for biofuel.We live in a world where the global market for biofuels and renewable sources continues to grow in order to maintain the growing population. Our reliance on energy is a global necessity as our government attempts to mitigate the growing issue of climate change as a direct result of increased demand for automobile fuel.
The most obvious benefit of replacing fossil fuels is the environmental impact it will have on carbon emissions. Since biofuels burn faster and cleaner than fossil fuels, it will release greenhouse gases at a lower and slower rate. Secondly, the use of biofuels will allow the economy to reap its benefits
The Need for a Comprehensive Facility Decision Making Process
No full textPurpose – The facility decision-making process (FDMP), as described in this paper, is a framework based on decades of proven effectiveness in analogous military applications. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate key factors which justify the need for the FDMP before describing the FDMP. Design/methodology/approach – This paper conducts a literature review as it relates to facilities specific decision-making, puts forward a new concept for those processes and provides an abridged case study of the concept in application. Findings – Facilities management is a key function for nearly every type of business or enterprise. As part of facilities management, many decisions are made about physical assets that a business or enterprise owns or maintains. Currently, there is no uniform decision-making framework, in literature or in practice, which enables consistency, robustness and scalability for facility management decisions. Such a framework would enable facility managers to effectively justify decisions related to capital and operational expenses. Practical implications – The FDMP provides a robust procedure for facilities managers and engineers that enables enhanced strength in the face of business enterprise scrutiny as compared with the often-intuitive decision-making processes currently used in practice. Originality/value – This novel conceptual process articulates the opportunity to provide for a comprehensive facilities decision-making process that enables better decisions especially as it relates to what are often ill-defined problem sets in facilities management
Engineering Design for Policy: Generating Value-Focused Diversity and Inclusion Strategies at West Point
No full textIn 2015, the United States Military Academy (USMA) published a five-year Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan (DISP) to help achieve a key organizational objective: to prioritize diversity and inclusion throughout USMA. Between 2015 and 2020, the DISP contributed to significant progress in the institution’s diversification efforts, but it still left much to be desired in areas of equity and inclusion. To leverage the power of their increasingly diverse student-faculty population, USMA must establish strategic level, policy-driven directives that provide a greater level of organizational focus on equity and inclusion. This approach not only helps redress existing structures of inequity and exclusion within USMA, but also provides cadets with opportunities to develop into inclusive leaders of character who are more prepared and more inspired to lead a diverse Army organization. This research applies a rigorous engineering design method—the Systems Decision Process (SDP)—to identify instances of inequity and exclusion, design and evaluate policy alternatives, and present seven stakeholderdriven policy recommendations that foster more inclusive and equitable conditions. These recommendations call for increased data collection and internal organizational assessments, heightened levels of subordinate empowerment, and an integration of diversity, equity, and inclusion into key areas of cadet academic and professional development to better enable their growth into leaders of character
Design and Development of a Portable Auditory Situation Awareness Training (PASAT) System
No full textAuditory situation awareness (ASA) is essential for safety and survivability in military operations where many of the hazards are not immediately visible. Unfortunately, the Hearing Protection Devices (HPDs) required to operate in these environments can impede auditory localization performance. Promisingly, recent studies have exhibited the plasticity of the human auditory system by demonstrating that training can improve auditory localization ability while wearing HPDs, including military Tactical Communications and Protective Systems (TCAPS). As a result, the U.S. military identified the need for a portable system capable of imparting auditory localization acquisition skills at similar levels to those demonstrated in laboratory environments. The purpose of this investigation was to design and develop a Portable Auditory Situation Awareness Training (PASAT) system capable of reproducing acoustically accurate localization cues similar to a proven laboratory grade system. Extensive research of components and equipment helped ensure optimal performance and packaging of the PASAT system. Selection of these components included a formal decision algorithm developed for optimizing component selection decisions for human-equipment systems. The innovative PASAT system consists of an accordion-style, collapsible frame housing 32-loudspeaker capable of training 360-degrees of azimuth and 60-degrees of elevation operated by a user-controlled tablet computer. Two human factors experiments and a usability study demonstrated the effectiveness of the PASAT system to test and train localization and to detect differences in performance between hearing protection devices