Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 47
Description
An in-depth analysis on the effects vortex generators cause to the boundary layer separation that occurs when an internal flow passes through a diffuser is presented. By understanding the effects vortex generators demonstrate on the boundary layer, they can be utilized to improve the performance and efficiencies of diffusers and other internal flow applications. An experiment was constructed to acquire physical data that could assess the change in performance of the diffusers once vortex generators were applied. The experiment consisted of pushing air through rectangular diffusers with half angles of 10, 20, and 30 degrees. A velocity distribution model was created for each diffuser without the application of vortex generators before modeling the velocity distribution with the application of vortex generators. This allowed the two results to be directly compared to one another and the improvements to be quantified. This was completed by using the velocity distribution model to find the partial mass flow rate through the outer portion of the diffuser's cross-sectional area. The analysis concluded that the vortex generators noticeably increased the performance of the diffusers. This was best seen in the performance of the 30-degree diffuser. Initially the diffuser experienced airflow velocities near zero towards the edges. This led to 0.18% of the mass flow rate occurring in the outer one-fourth portion of the cross-sectional area. With the application of vortex generators, this percentage increased to 5.7%. The 20-degree diffuser improved from 2.5% to 7.9% of the total mass flow rate in the outer portion and the 10-degree diffuser improved from 11.9% to 19.2%. These results demonstrate an increase in performance by the addition of vortex generators while allowing the possibility for further investigation on improvement through the design and configuration of these vortex generators.
ContributorsSanchez, Zachary Daniel (Author) / Takahashi, Timothy (Thesis director) / Herrmann, Marcus (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Dogs' health and wellbeing is of great importance to their owners. The most common nutritional problem for pet dogs is obesity, with 22-40% of pet dogs being classified as overweight or obese. With many adverse health effects associated with obesity, this is a major concern for owners and veterinarians. The degree to which dogs enjoy consuming certain foods can have substantial implications for their body weight, so it is important to understand which aspects of foods make them appealing to dogs. This study aimed to determine whether nutritional aspects of commercial dog foods predict dogs' preferences for those foods. It was found that consumption preference is positively correlated with protein content (p < .001), therefore implying that the protein content of commercial dry dog foods may predict dogs' consumption preferences. Consumption preferences were not predicted by other available measures of food content or caloric value. Dogs' preference for foods high in protein content may be due to the satiating effect of protein. Since foods high in protein both reduce the amount of energy consumed and are found to be palatable to dogs, high-protein dog foods may offer a way for dog food manufacturers, veterinarians, and pet owners to combat obesity in pet dogs.
ContributorsPrevost, Emily Danielle (Author) / Wynne, Clive (Thesis director) / Hall, Nathaniel (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This experiment used hotwire anemometry to examine the von Kármán vortex street and how different surface conditions affect the wake profile of circular airfoils, or bluff bodies. Specifically, this experiment investigated how the various surface conditions affected the shedding frequency and Strouhal Number of the vortex street as Reynolds Number is increased. The cylinders tested varied diameter, surface finish, and wire wrapping. Larger diameters corresponded with lower shedding frequencies, rougher surfaces decreased Strouhal Number, and the addition of thick wires to the surface of the cylinder completely disrupted the vortex shedding to the point where there was almost no dominant shedding frequency. For the smallest diameter cylinder tested, secondary dominant frequencies were observed, suggesting harmonics.
ContributorsCoote, Peter John (Author) / Takahashi, Timothy (Thesis director) / White, Daniel (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The purpose of this paper is to discover what geometric characteristics of a wing and airfoil help to maximize leading edge suction through experimental testing. Three different stages of testing were conducted: a Proof of Concept, a Primary Experiment, and a Secondary Experiment. The Proof of Concept shows the effects of leading edge suction and the benefits it can posses. The Primary Experiment provided inconclusive data due to inaccuracies in the equipment. As a result, the Secondary Experiment was conducted in order to reduce the error effect as much as possible on the data. Unfortunately the Secondary Experiment provided inaccurate data as well. However, this paper does provide enough evidence to begin to question some of the long held beliefs regarding theoretical induced drag and whether it is true under all circumstances, or if it is only a good approximation for airfoils with full leading-edge suction effects.
ContributorsMorrow, Martin (Author) / Takahashi, Timothy (Thesis director) / Middleton, James (Committee member) / School for the Engineering of Matter, Transport, and Energy (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
A model has been developed to modify Euler-Bernoulli beam theory for wooden beams, using visible properties of wood knot-defects. Treating knots in a beam as a system of two ellipses that change the local bending stiffness has been shown to improve the fit of a theoretical beam displacement function to edge-line deflection data extracted from digital imagery of experimentally loaded beams. In addition, an Ellipse Logistic Model (ELM) has been proposed, using L1-regularized logistic regression, to predict the impact of a knot on the displacement of a beam. By classifying a knot as severely positive or negative, vs. mildly positive or negative, ELM can classify knots that lead to large changes to beam deflection, while not over-emphasizing knots that may not be a problem. Using ELM with a regression-fit Young's Modulus on three-point bending of Douglass Fir, it is possible estimate the effects a knot will have on the shape of the resulting displacement curve.
ContributorsSexton, Thurston Bryant (Author) / Takahashi, Timothy (Thesis director) / Jones, Donald (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Brief memory tasks for use with pet dogs were developed using radial arm maze performance as a standard comparison measurement of memory capacity. Healthy pet dogs were first tested in a radial arm maze, where more errors made in completing the maze indicated poorer memory. These dogs were later tested with five novel memory tests, three of which utilized a treat placed behind a box with an identical distracter nearby. The treat placement was shown to each dog, and a 35 second delay, a 15 second delay with occluder, or a 15 second delay with room exit was observed before the dog could approach and find the treat. It was found that errors on the delayed match to sample (35 second delay) and occluder/object permanence (15 second delay with occluder) tasks were significantly positively correlated with the average number of errors made in the 8th trial of the radial arm maze (r =.58, p<.01** and r =.49, p<.05*, respectively) indicating that these new brief tests can reliably be used to assess memory in pet dogs.
ContributorsBoileau, Rae Nicole (Author) / Wynne, Clive (Thesis director) / Knight, George (Committee member) / Bimonte-Nelson, Heather (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
There are many anecdotal stories of dogs rescuing their owners from dangerous situations, but this rescue behavior has yet to be shown in an experimental setting. Studies have shown that dogs behave differently towards crying humans, but do not seek help for their owners when they are in distress. This study sought to determine if a dog could recognize when its owner was in distress and would attempt to rescue the owner. The experiment consisted of three conditions: a distress condition to determine how dogs respond to an owner calling for help, a reading condition to control for proximity-seeking and sound, and a food control to use as a basis for motivation and door-opening ability of the dog. Sixty dogs were tested in all three conditions in a pseudo-random order so that an equal number of dogs completed the conditions in each order. 38% of the dogs opened the apparatus for any condition, while 32% opened for the food and distress conditions and 27% opened for the reading condition, which shows that rescue in general is unlikely. There was no significant difference in the proportion of dogs who opened the apparatus for each condition, indicating that dogs are no more likely to rescue their distressed owners than they are to open the apparatus for other conditions and may not be able to sense that the owner is in distress. The similarities in the success rates also show that the owner can be just as motivating for a dog as food. Overall, the low success rates suggest that dogs are not generally likely to rescue a person who is trapped, even when they are calling for help.
ContributorsPatterson, Jordan Elizabeth (Author) / Wynne, Clive (Thesis director) / McBeath, Michael (Committee member) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The thesis is an investigation on current regulations of commercial aircraft landing and take-off procedures and an analysis of potential weaknesses within the regulatory system for commercial aerospace. To determine such flaws, an area of worse-case scenarios with regard to the aforementioned flight operations was researched. The events selected to best-depict these scenarios where incidents of aircraft overrunning the runway, referred to as runway excursions. A case-study conducted of 44 federal investigations of runway excursions produced data indicating four influential factors within these incidents: weather, pilot error, instrument malfunction, and runway condition. Upon examination, all but pilot error appeared to have federal enforcement to diminish the occurrence of future incidents. This is a direct result of the broad possibilities that make up this factor. The study then searched for a consistent fault within the incidents with the results indicating an indirect relationship of thrust reversers, a technique utilized by pilots to provide additional braking, to these excursions. In cases of thrust reverser failure, pilots' over-reliance on the system lead to time being lost from the confusion produced by the malfunction, ultimately resulting in several different runway excursions. The legal implication with the situation is that current regulations are ambiguous on the subject of thrust reversers and thus do not properly model the usage of the technique. Thus, to observe the scope of danger this ambiguity presents to the industry, the relationship of the technique to commercial aerospace needed to be determined. Interviews were set-up with former commercial pilots to gather data related to the flight crew perspective. This data indicated that thrust reversers were actively utilized by pilots within the industry for landing operations. The problem with the current regulations was revealed that the lack of details on thrust reverser reflected a failure of regulations to model current industry flight operations. To improve safety within the industry, new data related to thrust reverser deployment must be developed and enforced to determine appropriate windows to utilize the technique, thus decreasing time lost in confusion that results from thrust reversers malfunction. Future work would be based on producing simulations to determine said data as well as proposing the policy suggestions produced by this thesis.
ContributorsCreighton, Andrew John (Author) / Takahashi, Timothy (Thesis director) / Marchant, Gary (Committee member) / Kimberly, Jimmy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This study aims to showcase the results of a quadrotor model and the mathematical techniques used to arrive at the proposed design. Multicopters have made an explosive appearance in recent years by the controls engineering community because of their unique flight performance capabilities and potential for autonomy. The ultimate goal of this research is to design a robust control system that guides and tracks the quadrotor's trajectory, while responding to outside disturbances and obstacles that will realistically be encountered during flight. The first step is to accurately identify the physical system and attempt to replicate its behavior with a simulation that mimics the system's dynamics. This becomes quite a complex problem in itself because many realistic systems do not abide by simple, linear mathematical models, but rather nonlinear equations that are difficult to predict and are often numerically unstable. This paper explores the equations and assumptions used to create a model that attempts to match roll and pitch data collected from multiple test flights. This is done primarily in the frequency domain to match natural frequency locations, which can then be manipulated judiciously by altering certain parameters.
ContributorsDuensing, Jared Christopher (Author) / Takahashi, Timothy (Thesis director) / Garrett, Frederick (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
It is a common assumption in the bicycle industry that stiffer frames generally perform better than flexible frames, because they transfer power more efficiently and absorb less energy from the rider's pedal stroke in the form of spring potential energy. However, in the last few years, Jan Heine of Bicycle Quarterly has developed an alternative theory, which he calls "planing", whereby a flexible frame can improve rider performance by not resisting the leg muscles as much, preventing premature muscle fatigue and allowing the rider to actually produce more consistent power, an effect which overwhelms any difference in power transfer between the different stiffness levels of frames. I performed several tests in which I measured the power input to the bicycle through the crankset and power output through a power-measuring trainer in the place of the rear hub. Heart rate data was collected along with most of these tests. Four bicycles were used with three distinct levels of stiffness. After performing several ANOVA tests to determine the effect of stiffness on the parameters of average power output during a sprint, maximum power output during a sprint, maximum heart rate during a sprint, difference between power-in and power-out during both sprints and longer efforts, and power quotient during a sprint, I found no effects of frame stiffness on any of these factors except power quotient. The finding for power quotient suggests a positive relationship between quotient and stiffness, which directly refutes the Planing Theory for the test riders and levels of stiffness represented in this test. Also, no statistically significant effect of stiffness on the difference between power-in and power-out was found, refuting the Power Transfer Theory for the riders and levels of stiffness represented in this test.
ContributorsSparks, Graham Philip (Author) / Takahashi, Timothy (Thesis director) / Middleton, James (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12