Put the Title of the Experiment Here
Your Name, Group Number, Experiment Day
Team members: Put group members here
The abstract is written using a bold font so it stands out. Anywhere between five and one
hundred articles might appear in a volume of an academic journal, so it is important to have
a concise abstract that outlines your work so people will read it. There are several questions
that you will want to answer in the abstract. What is the report about? What was the objective
of the experiment? In a few sentences, what were the major results obtained? What are your
conclusions about the experiment? In the nomenclature section below, you will want to list
any terms that you used in the text so the reader understands them. For example, q is
commonly used to describe heat flux. However, it also is often used for dynamic pressure,
electric charge, and the ratio of momentum flux. You want the reader to know which meaning
you are using. The abstract should be self-contained (i.e. it should not contain references to
sources, figures, tables, or equations). It can contain numerical results. It is also left-right
justified and indented 0.5” on both sides of the page.
Nomenclature
k
q
T
ε
V(t)
Vi
=
=
=
=
=
=
Thermal conductivity, W/(m·K)
Heat flux, W/m2
Temperature, K
Error
Analog Signal
Digital Signal
I. Introduction
In this section, you should introduce the experiment and the objectives that you have for it. You should state the
motivation behind the experiment, any physical principles that are involved, and any results that you expect to obtain.
It should cover only motivation, physical principles, background information, and expected results. It should not
contain any experimental setup and procedure. That is what the next section is for.
The nomenclature section above is not optional. It is used to define the variables in the equations (or non-standard
constants) you use in the report. All variables used in equations and figures (including the data flow diagram) must be
defined there, though commonly-known constants such as π (the ratio of a circle’s diameter to its circumference) need
not be defined. Acronyms (such as SCB, Shielded Connection Block) should be defined in the text, not the
nomenclature. As with common constants, mundane acronyms (such as PC, Personal Computer) need not be defined.
Fig. 1 Color Schlieren images of a Mach 1.85 supersonic nozzle [1].
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MAE 2381 – Fall 2022 Lab Report – University of Texas at Arlington
The default text for AIAA papers is Times New Roman, 10-point size, and single spaced. In the electronic
template, use the “Text” or “Normal” style from the pull-down menu to format all primary text for your report. It is
also justified (i.e. aligned on both the left and right sides) with one space between sentences. Paragraphs are indented
0.2” on the first line, and margins are 1” on all sides of the page. Feel free to type over this document to preserve its
formatting for your report. It has been provided to you in this format for exactly that purpose.
Sources are cited in square brackets [2], and references listed at the end of the document in the order in which they
are cited in the text. Cite images in the figure caption (see Fig. 1 above) if they are taken from external sources (if you
make them yourself, a citation is unnecessary). See the Conclusions for more information about how to format
references. When citing a figure in the text, use the abbreviation “Fig.” except at the beginning of a sentence. Do not
abbreviate “Table.” Number each different type of illustration (i.e., figures, tables, images) sequentially with relation
to other illustrations of the same type.
II. Experimental Setup and Procedure
This section should be used to describe the experiment. It is acceptable to copy a picture from the lab manual
depicting the equipment used as long as the picture is referenced. Questions that should be addressed are: What was
measured and what were the instruments used? What was the range of operation of your system and how did you
control the experiment? The data flow diagram from your pre-lab notes should appear in this section. It should be a
narrative description of what was done, and not a list of instructions.
It should only consider things of scientific or experimental interest. This means only things which are relevant to
the results: the equipment used, the specifications thereof, the manner in which the experiment was conducted. The
following are examples of things which might be included in the lab manual but are not of scientific interest: “the
equipment was inspected”, “everything was switched on”, “the data was transferred to a hard drive for future use and
the computer turned off”, etc. If you are in doubt if something is of scientific interest, ask your TA.
When you use a picture or graph in your report, it should appear with a caption and number so it can be referenced
in the report. There are several ways to format pictures and graphs. However, you must make sure that they appear
with the text and large blank spaces are not created. Figures 1–3 have been formatted with captions using a table with
clear borders. This formatting style is usually more stable than text boxes, although another option might work better
for you. Make sure to see the graph formatting rules on Blackboard - the graphs shown below are not examples from
this course! It is also important that you never begin a section with a figure. Text should always come first.
Fig. 2 Comparison of experimental detonation wave
speed and a model vs. equivalence ratio.
Fig. 3 Fuel injector performance in terms of τ vs. π
for several gases (with 95% confidence intervals).
Several equation editors are available to format equations. The shortcut for inserting an equation is “alt + =”.
Tables can also be used for this. Remember that all equations should have a number to reference them in the report.
For example, Eq. (1) shows how to calculate the Mach number of a gas flow using total and static pressure
measurements. The equations can be centered or left-aligned, as long as your formatting is consistent. Equations
should always be typed using an equation editor, never using plain text.
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MAE 2381 – Fall 2022 Lab Report – University of Texas at Arlington
2
𝑃𝑡 (𝛾−1)/𝛾
𝑀 = √(
) ([ ]
− 1)
𝛾−1
𝑃𝑠
(1)
Equations will typically appear in the introduction (to describe the experiment and give background) and in the
results and discussion. An easy way to format the equation and equation number is to use a table with invisible borders.
Put the equation in one large cell, and the number in a small cell at the far-right of the page. Equation (1) above if
formatted in exactly this way. If you cannot see where the borders of the table are, turn on the “View Gridlines” option
in the Borders and Shading dropdown menu; this is illustrated in Figure 3.
Fig. 4 Location of the View Gridlines setting.
III. Experimental Results and Discussion
This section contains the results from your analysis of the experimental data. Several graphs will usually be
included. You should discuss about what trends are seen in the data and how the results compare with what you
expected. For instance, did the results support the theoretical model that was presented for the system in the lab
manual? This is typically the longest section in the report. A table like Table 1 may be needed for certain data sets.
Note that tables should never wrap pages – all rows should be on the same page. Similarly, figures must always be on
the same page as their captions.
There should never be large blocks of white space at the bottom of a page. When this happens, it is perfectly
acceptable to resize or move around figures and/or tables to ensure that the text goes all the way to the bottom of a
page. It is helpful for figures and tables to be near the place in which they are mentioned, but not absolutely necessary.
Table 1. Voltage and current versus power setting.
Power setting
1
2
3
4
5
Voltage, V
2.16
4.65
8.34
10.39
14.72
Current, A
0.03
0.14
0.85
1.20
1.78
Be sure to answer all of the questions posed in the lab manual. They are not optional and should be discussed after
you have discussed the experimental results.
IV. Conclusions
There should be several concise conclusions made in this section about the experiment. Do not introduce new
concepts or statements; everything presented here should have been discussed earlier in the report. Use the conclusions
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MAE 2381 – Fall 2022 Lab Report – University of Texas at Arlington
to sum up and collate your results and observations, and discuss what they mean to you. Your conclusions should be
concrete and discuss specific findings your reports. They should not discuss ephemeral things such as “understanding”
or “learning”. You may give specific numbers: for example, if the experiment was to determine the natural frequencies
of an object, you can (and probably should) give the specific natural frequencies you found.
You must introduce the evidence that supports the conclusion you are making. For instance, Fig. 3 shows the
performance of a fuel injector in terms of the non-dimensional parameters τ and π. Although there is significant
uncertainty associated with some of the data points, the parameter τ appears to have a linear relationship with π.
Moreover, the relationship appears to hold for different types of gases used in the fuel injector.
Note that external references to figures, tables, and references are strongly discouraged in the Conclusions. They,
along with the abstract, should be self-contained. (The above figure reference is to provide context, and not meant as
an example to be followed.)
The References section appears after the Conclusions and Appendix. There must be at least one reference for each
lab report: the lab manual; you are encouraged to use more if you wish. Each lab manual includes a sample citation at
the end, please use the appropriate one. Examples of formatting for different types of references in AIAA format is
given in the Appendix to this template. Please use the examples givens here for AIAA format, and not ones from an
online citation generator or other references. Note especially that online sources must include both the URL and the
date that they were cited.
Note that the conclusion section is the last section of the paper that should be numbered. The appendix (if present)
and references should be listed without numbers.
References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
Lu, F.K., and Webb, M.B., “Flow Rate Measurement,” Mechanical Methods and Measurements Laboratory Manual, 2009,
pp. 58–72.
Sutton, G.P. and Biblarz, O.B. “Rocket propulsion elements,” John Wiley & Sons, 7th Ed., New York, 2001.
Stuessy, W.S., Murtugudde, R.G., Lu, F.K., and Wilson, D.R., “Development of the UTA Hypersonic Shock Tunnel,” 28th
AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, AIAA Paper 90-0080, Reno NV, Jan. 1990.
Nicholls, J.A. and Cullen, R.E., “The feasibility of a rotating detonation wave rocket motor,” University of Michigan report
RPL-TDR-64-113, April 1964.
Lu, F.K., Ortiz, A.A., Li, J., Kim, C.H., and Chung, K., “Detection of shock and detonation wave propagation by cross
correlation,” Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, Vol. 23, No. 4, 2009, pp. 1098–1111.
The above five references are examples of how the reference section should be formatted. The following pages are
intended to provide examples of the different reference types, as used in the AIAA Style Guide. To enter references,
select the “references” style from the drop-down style menu to automatically format your references. (You may need
to tab them to create the hanging indent.) You are not required to indicate the type of reference; different types are
shown here for illustrative purposes only. The DOI (digital object identifier) should be incorporated in every reference
for which it is available (see Ref. 1 sample); for more information on DOIs, visit www.doi.org or www.crossref.org.
Periodicals
[1] Vatistas, G. H., Lin, S., and Kwok, C. K., “Reverse Flow Radius in Vortex Chambers,” AIAA Journal, Vol. 24, No. 11, 1986,
pp. 1872, 1873.
doi: 10.2514/3.13046
[2] Alyanak, E. J., and Pendleton, E., “Aeroelastic Tailoring and Active Aeroelastic Wing Impact on a Lambda Wing
Configuration,” Journal of Aircraft, published online 10 Nov. 2016.
doi: 10.2514/1.C033040
[3] Dornheim, M. A., “Planetary Flight Surge Faces Budget Realities,” Aviation Week and Space Technology, Vol. 145, No. 24, 9
Dec. 1996, pp. 44–46.
[4] Terster, W., “NASA Considers Switch to Delta 2,” Space News, Vol. 8, No. 2, 13–19 Jan. 1997, pp. 1, 18.
All of the preceding information is required. The journal issue number (“No. 11” in Ref. 1) is preferred, but the
month (Nov.) can be substituted if the issue number is not available. Use the complete date for daily and weekly
publications. Transactions follow the same style as other journals if punctuation is necessary, use a colon to separate
the transactions title from the journal title.
Books
[5] Peyret, R., and Taylor, T. D., Computational Methods in Fluid Flow, 2nd ed., Springer-Verlag, New York, 1983, Chaps. 7, 14.
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MAE 2381 – Fall 2022 Lab Report – University of Texas at Arlington
[6] Oates, G. C. (ed.), Aerothermodynamics of Gas Turbine and Rocket Propulsion, AIAA Education Series, AIAA, New York,
1984, pp. 19, 136.
[7] Volpe, R., “Techniques for Collision Prevention, Impact Stability, and Force Control by Space Manipulators,” Teleoperation
and Robotics in Space, edited by S. B. Skaar and C. F. Ruoff, Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics, AIAA, Washington,
DC, 1994, pp. 175–212.
Publisher, place, and date of publication are required for all books. No state or country is required for major cities:
New York, London, Moscow, etc. A differentiation must always be made between Cambridge, MA, and Cambridge,
England, UK. Note that series titles are in Roman type.
Proceedings
[8] Thompson, C. M., “Spacecraft Thermal Control, Design, and Operation,” AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control
Conference, CP849, Vol. 1, AIAA, Washington, DC, 1989, pp. 103–115
[9] Chi, Y. (ed.), Fluid Mechanics Proceedings, NASA SP-255, 1993.
[10] Morris, J. D., “Convective Heat Transfer in Radially Rotating Ducts,” Proceedings of the Annual Heat Transfer Conference,
edited by B. Corbell, Vol. 1, Inst. of Mechanical Engineering, New York, 1992, pp. 227–234.
At a minimum, proceedings must have the same information as other book references: paper (chapter) and volume
title, name and location of publisher, editor (if applicable), and pages or chapters cited. Do not include paper numbers
in proceedings references, and delete the conference location so that it is not confused with the publisher’s location
(which is mandatory, except for government agencies). Frequently, CP or SP numbers (Conference Proceedings or
Symposium Proceedings numbers) are also given. These elements are not necessary, but when provided, their places
should be as shown in the preceding examples.
Reports, Theses, and Individual Papers
[11] Chapman, G. T., and Tobak, M., “Nonlinear Problems in Flight Dynamics,” NASA TM-85940, 1984.
[12] Brandis, A. M., Johnston, C. O., and Cruden, B. A., “Nonequilibrium Radiation for Earth Entry,” AIAA Paper 2016-3690,
June 2016.
[13] Steger, J. L., Jr., Nietubicz, C. J., and Heavey, J. E., “A General Curvilinear Grid Generation Program for Projectile
Configurations,” U.S. Army Ballistic Research Lab., Rept. ARBRL-MR03142, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, Oct. 1981.
[14] Tseng, K., “Nonlinear Green’s Function Method for Transonic Potential Flow,” Ph.D. Dissertation, Aeronautics and
Astronautics Dept., Boston Univ., Cambridge, MA, 1983.
Government agency reports do not require locations. For reports such as NASA TM-85940, neither insert nor
delete dashes; leave them as provided. Place of publication should be given, although it is not mandatory, for military
and company reports. Always include a city and state for universities. Papers need only the name of the sponsor;
neither the sponsor’s location nor the conference name and location is required. Do not confuse proceedings references
with conference papers.
Electronic Publications
Regularly issued electronic journals and other publications are permitted as references. Include the doi if provided;
otherwise provide the full URL. Archived data sets also may be referenced as long as the material is openly accessible
and the repository is committed to archiving the data indefinitely. References to electronic data available only from
personal websites or commercial, academic, or government ones where there is no commitment to archiving the data
are not permitted in the reference list (see Private Communications and Web sites).
[15] Atkins, C. P., and Scantelbury, J. D., “The Activity Coefficient of Sodium Chloride in a Simulated Pore Solution
Environment,” Journal of Corrosion Science and Engineering [online journal], Vol. 1, No. 1, Paper 2, URL:
http://www.cp/umist.ac.uk/JCSE/vol1/vol1.html [retrieved 13 April 1998].
[16] Vickers, A., “10-110 mm/hr Hypodermic Gravity Design A,” Rainfall Simulation Database [online database], URL:
http://www.geog.le.ac.uk/bgrg/lab.htm [retrieved 15 March 2006].
Always include the citation date for online references. Break website addresses after punctuation, and do not
hyphenate at line breaks.
Computer Software
[17] TAPP, Thermochemical and Physical Properties, Software Package, Ver. 1.0, E. S. Microware, Hamilton, OH, 1992.
Include a version number and the company name and location of software packages.
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MAE 2381 – Fall 2022 Lab Report – University of Texas at Arlington
Patents
Patents appear infrequently. Be sure to include the patent number and date.
[18] Scherrer, R., Overholster, D., and Watson, K., Lockheed Corp., Burbank, CA, U.S. Patent Application for a “Vehicle,” Docket
No. P-01-1532, filed 11 Feb. 1979.
Websites
Lastname, A. B., “Title of Article,” Title of Website, Authoring Organization, Location, Publication Date,
URL: http://www.url.com [cited Day Month Year].
For example:
[21] Doe, J. D., “How to Cite in AIAA Format,” AIAA Format Guide, American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, Reston, VA, 22 January 2014, URL: https://www.aiaa.org/aiaaformat.html [cited 23 January
2014].
[#]
Note that websites are strongly discouraged in journals and technical publications, but as they are allowed in
MAE2381, they should be cited according to the format above. Give as much information as you possibly can. Include
at the very minimum the title of the article, the title of the website, the URL, and the citation date (the date you
accessed the website to get information from it). If a field is not available (for example, author or publication date),
simply omit it; do not attempt to use “N/A” or “N.D.” to substitute.
Unpublished Papers and Books
Unpublished works can be used as references as long as they are being considered for publication or can be located
by the reader (such as papers that are part of an archival collection). If a journal paper or a book is being considered
for publication, choose the format that reflects the status of the work (depending upon whether it has been accepted
for publication):
[19] Doe, J., “Title of Paper,” Name of Journal (to be published).
[20] Doe, J., “Title of Chapter,” Name of Book, edited by…, Publisher’s name and location (to be published).
[21] Doe, J., “Title of Work,” Name of Archive, Univ. (or organization), City, State, Year (unpublished).
Unpublished works in an archive must include the name of the archive and the name and location of the university
or other organization where the archive is held. Also include any cataloging information that may be provided.
Appendix
The Appendix appears before the References if you have additional tables of data or figures to present. It is useful
if you are having formatting problems caused by having too many graphs in the Results and Discussion. The following
section is directly from the AIAA Technical Presenter’s Resource Template. 1 It is a good review of common mistakes
which are to be avoided.
A. General Grammar and Preferred Usage
Use only one space after periods or colons. Hyphenate complex modifiers: “zero-field-cooled magnetization.”
Avoid dangling participles, such as, “Using Eq. (1), the potential was calculated.” [It is not clear who or what used
Eq. (1).] Write instead “The potential was calculated using Eq. (1),” or “Using Eq. (1), we calculated the potential.”
Use a zero before decimal points: “0.25,” not “.25.” Use “cm2,” not “cc.” Indicate sample dimensions as “0.1 cm
x 0.2 cm,” not “0.1 x 0.2 cm2.” The preferred abbreviation for “seconds” is “s,” not “sec.” Do not mix complete
spellings and abbreviations of units: use “Wb/m2” or “webers per square meter,” not “webers/m2.” When expressing
a range of values, write “7 to 9” or “7-9,” not “7~9.”
A parenthetical statement at the end of a sentence is punctuated outside of the closing parenthesis (like this). (A
parenthetical sentence is punctuated within parenthesis.) In American English, periods and commas are placed within
quotation marks, like “this period.” Other punctuation is “outside”! Avoid contractions; for example, write “do not”
instead of “don’t.” The serial comma is preferred: “A, B, and C” instead of “A, B and C.”
1
https://www.aiaa.org/techpresenterresources/
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MAE 2381 – Fall 2022 Lab Report – University of Texas at Arlington
If you wish, you may write in the first person singular or plural and use the active voice (“I observed that…” or
“We observed that…” instead of “It was observed that…”). Remember to check spelling. If your native language is
not English, please ask a native English-speaking colleague to proofread your paper.
The word “data” is plural, not singular (i.e., “data are,” not “data is”). The subscript for the permeability of vacuum
µ0 is zero, not a lowercase letter “o.” The term for residual magnetization is “remanence”; the adjective is “remanent”;
do not write “remnance” or “remnant.” The word “micrometer” is preferred over “micron” when spelling out this unit
of measure. A graph within a graph is an “inset,” not an “insert.” The word “alternatively” is preferred to the word
“alternately” (unless you really mean something that alternates). Use the word “whereas” instead of “while” (unless
you are referring to simultaneous events). Do not use the word “essentially” to mean “approximately” or “effectively.”
Do not use the word “issue” as a euphemism for “problem.” When compositions are not specified, separate chemical
symbols by en-dashes; for example, “NiMn” indicates the intermetallic compound Ni 0.5Mn0.5 whereas “Ni–Mn”
indicates an alloy of some composition NixMn1-x.
Be aware of the different meanings of the homophones “affect” (usually a verb) and “effect” (usually a noun),
“complement” and “compliment,” “discreet” and “discrete,” “principal” (e.g., “principal investigator”) and “principle”
(e.g., “principle of measurement”). Do not confuse “imply” and “infer.”
Prefixes such as “non,” “sub,” “micro,” “multi,” and “"ultra” are not independent words; they should be joined to
the words they modify, usually without a hyphen. There is no period after the “et” in the abbreviation “et al.” The
abbreviation “i.e.,” means “that is,” and the abbreviation “e.g.,” means “for example” (these abbreviations are not
italicized). If desired, more detailed style and formatting instructions can be found in the AIAA style guide, AIAA
Style (available from AIAA upon request).
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MAE 2381 – Fall 2022 Lab Report – University of Texas at Arlington