"Propulsion jet engine and drive train components are critical to our forward deployed military aircraft. Key components within are the bearings designed to make dependable operations a reality. Currently, drive train bearing life is based uponmanufacturer projections which address a nominal… More

Failure of solid rocket motor propellants due to structural or chemical breakdown from either manufacturing or aging effects can result in potential failure of the rocket and significant maintenance requirements. Defects in rocket propellants are asignificant issue particularly for new propellants,… More

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will perform research aimed at characterizing subsurface residual stresses induced through surface treatments in single crystal and complex polycrystalline materials. Photon Induced Positron Annihilation (PIPA) will be used to… More

Damage detection in aircraft structural components is a critical issue, particularly with the increased lifetimes expected from aging aircraft. Development of a reliable inspection technology that can assess current damage levels and remaining performancelife for aircraft components requires… More

The ability to detect cracks within Taper-Lok fastener holes associated with thick, multi-layer wing structures without removing the fastener presents significant challenges to existing nondestructive inspection technologies. Critical fastener hole inspections for sections of the B-1B wing… More

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a field use, nondestructive measurement capability for hydrogen embrittlement (HE) damage in high-strength alloys based on induced positron annihilation. The primary objective of this project will be to demonstrate this… More

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II research project will develop a prototype Induced Positron Manufacturing Damage System (IPMDS) to be used to assess initial component quality, and manufacturing damage effects for Ti-6Al-4V and IN738 components. The IPMDS is based on the… More

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II research project will develop a prototype Induced Positron Manufacturing Damage System (IPMDS) to be used to assess initial component quality, and manufacturing damage effects for Ti-6Al-4V and IN738 components. The IPMDS is based on the… More

Corrosion is becoming an increasing problem in the Air Forces aging fleet. Corrosion is developing in airframes in inaccessible areas never intended for disassembly. Mitigation efforts are proving to be costly and time consuming. A methodology to locate and evaluate hidden corrosion in-situ is… More

Corrosion is becoming an increasing problem in the Air Forces aging fleet. Corrosion is developing in airframes in inaccessible areas never intended for disassembly. This potentially leads to premature failure due to fatigue or significant reduction of material integrity. Mitigation efforts are… More

The proposed effort in Phase II is to develop, produce, and demonstrate a prototype inspection platform and complementary damage modeling tool as a complete nondestructive evaluation solution referred to as the X-Ray Corrosion Detection System (XCDS). This system will be based on the state of the… More