Award Data

Although technologies derived under the Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET) initiative should result in higher performance of gas turbine engines, the durability of engine components continues to be one of the most important design issues which impacts their affordability and robustness. It is currently very difficult to measure or predict the fatigue life of engine com ...

Continuous attenuation of ambient light without image distortion is of great importance in helmet mounted displays. To accomplish this, we propose a device based on liquid crystal-dichroic dye mixture. The system is electrically controllable, light weight, with full grey scale capability for all light conditions. It addresses all of the requirements and restrictions of visor based helmet mounte ...

New materials such as continuous fiber reinforced aluminum matrix composites exceptional performance, but often at the expense of incompatibility with conventional joining techniques. Spacecraft structures require high stiffness for stable structures and launch vibration resistance, as well as low outgassing characteristics, especially when cryogenic sensors are in use on the spacecraft. Solutio ...

Austral Engineering and Software, Inc. proposes to develop a computer platform for simulation-and-optimization-based design of multiple-stage manufacturing processes. Phase I will use metal forming processes to demonstrate feasibility of embedding analytical models of basic transport phenomena into design models that include geometric, microstructure, and processing features. Each stage of a me ...

The research and development (R&D) costs and more importantly the projected production costs of airborne fighter aircraft, multi-mode radars are increasing significantly. Albeit, the performance and reliability are also increasing. Ways reducing these costs without reducing the other CRISP (Cost, Reliability, Installation, Supportability and Performance) costs are necessary. The radar ...

This proposal describes a new optical phase-shifter technology incorporating analog ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) materials. This technology will be used to produce a phased-array beamsteerer that can be reconfigured in under 100 microseconds. Due to the analog behavior, the device promises high diffraction efficiency and low sidelobe amplitude. Because FLC materials are used, rapid switchi ...

We propose to develop a high frame-rate, large-area, amplitude-only SLM for use in atmospheric correction. The Phase I will demonstrate the concept through the fabrication/evaluation of amplitude-only modulators, as well as an addressing structure that is economical for large-areas. Phase II will scale the addressing structure to 128X128 or higher density, for fabrication of large area amplitude ...

Spectrally and spatially coherent, high pulse energy, tunable mid-IR sources remain elusive. Solid-State and semiconductor lasers do not operate over the 1.5 to 5 micron wavelength range, leaving laser-pumped frequency converters, such as Optical Parametric Oscillators (OPOs), as the most viable technology. Achieving high conversion efficiency and continuous tunability in rugged OPOs has present ...

A novel, adaptive waveform coherent LADAR concept is proposed to provide a robust Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) sensor with the capability to meet Air Force objectives. The compact, rugged solid-state LADAR operates at eyesafe wavelengths and is capable of stand-off detection ranges to 20 km or more. Simultaneous precision range, Doppler and micro-Doppler target signatures are extracted wit ...

A novel, adaptive waveform coherent LADAR concept is proposed to provide a robust sensor capability to meet Air Force objectives. The LADAR operates at an eyesafe solid-state wavelength in order to achieve a compact, rugged design capable of stand-off ranges of 20 km or more. Simultaneous precision range, Doppler and micro-Doppler target signatures are extracted with an extremely efficient proc ...