Award Data

This program will demonstrate how additive manufacturing technologies can be used with reactive and high energy materials to create rapid and flexible fabrication of payload and munitions. Our primary approach to this problem will be to use powder bed binder printing techniques to print reactive structures. The anticipated feedstock will consist of composite particles containing all reactant spe ...

Establish a radiation-aware analysis capability in a commercial EDA design flow that will enable first-pass success in radiation-hardened by design (RHBD) for DoD ASICs in much the same way that existing EDA design suites ensure first pass functionality and performance success of complex ASICs destined for commercial applications. Layout-aware, calibrated single-event radiation models that captur ...

MATSYS proposes to adapt emerging additive manufacturing techniques (so-called 3-D Printing) for use with reactive structural materials and demonstrate this capability to rapidly fabricate reactive case. Our concept incorporates two major manufacturing steps: 3D printing of green compacts from pure Al or Al-based reactive powder blend; and Microwave (MW) sintering of green compacts into net-shaped ...

MATSYS proposes to develop, test and evaluate a scalable metal-based reactive structural material that will self-fragment to micron or sub-micron scale fuel particles when subjected to explosive shock loading, resulting in significantly enhanced metal combustion efficiency. Use of reactive material casings offers the potential for several-fold increases in blast and overpressure by generating rapi ...

For effective protection against EMP and HPM threats, it is important to understand the physics of the threats, and also to quantify the effects they have on electrical systems. EMP and HPM vulnerability testing requires delivery of high peak power and electric fields to distant targets. The most practical solution to simulate such environments is to develop a modular, optically-isolated MV-antenn ...

We propose to mature LG-X glider technology by manufacturing full-scaled prototypes and characterizing them in land-based flight-testing by using commercial aircraft to drop the gliders. Validated components such as the landing parachute, folding wing mechanism, and autopilot control system will undergo integrated flight-testing. Logistic Gliders will provide a considerable cost share to support ...

It has long been known that analog computers can be faster and more power efficient than digital processors by many orders of magnitude. Until the 1970s analog computers were the dominant controllers in most industrial and military applications. Even today digital processors are still slower and more power consumptive than analog, but offer much more flexibility (programmability) and precision. ...

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has been supporting research of energetic materials and incendiaries as payloads for weapons to defeat targets containing chemical and biological agents. Several universities and Navy labs have been involved in this research, and have narrowed down on a few material formulations that are efficient biocides. These formulations contain a chemical ingredient ...

Terrorist use of radioactive nuclear materials via nuclear and/or radiological dispersion devices (dirty bombs) is a serious threat. Therefore, it is critical to detect the proliferation of nuclear material. Critical challenges facing this objective include: (a) high sensitivity detection of signature emissions (e.g., gamma rays) from common radioactive isotopes behind shielding, and (b) cost-effe ...

With missions surrounding counterproliferation, nonproliferation and WMD reduction, the stakes for DTRA are incredibly high. Effectively conducting this work involves cooperation and coordination across a wide range of military and government organizations throughout the United States and the world. The decentralization of threats has led to an explosion in the sources and types of data needed to ...