Award Data

Widely used composite materials reduce aircraft weight and cost, improve structural performance, and boost fuel efficiency. However, composites are susceptible to adhesive bond line quality issues, both in initial fabrication and in service related bonding failures. Detection of weakened bonds requires an easy diagnostic approach to routinely monitor composite aircraft health. Our proposed solutio ...

During Phase I and Phase II, M4 Engineering, Inc. and Sandia National Laboratories have created a unique bonded joint analysis methodology and associated software. During Phase II.5, the developed techniques will be further enhanced and a fully functional commercial analysis code (SIMULIA/Abaqus) plug-in will be created. The software plug-in will make the advanced technology accessible to all leve ...

Using its Phase I program results, M4 Engineering, Inc. and Sandia National Laboratories will continue to create a unique bonded joint analysis methodology and associated software. Surrogate traction-separation models will be created that efficiently capture the behavior that occurs for real bonded joints. Mixed mode loading, including compressive normal tractions and relative displacements will b ...

Toyon Research Corporation, together with the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) propose to demonstrate a GPS-denied Local Carrier-based Precision Approach and Landing System (LC-PALS) that enables 3-D position, navigation and time (PNT) for platforms within range of an aircraft carrier equipped with one or more ADEPT-compliant beacons. Unlike the Global Positioning System (GPS), which ...

This proposal is a collaborative effort between MRV Systems and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The goal is to develop a new, small, inexpensive autonomous vehicle to investigate mixed layer dynamics and turbulent mixing. The preliminary Phase I design, a Diagonally Operating Platform (DOP), is a profiling float with moveable fins. DOP will turn toward an intended direction within a few ...

Rechargeable lithium ion battery systems can provide power throughout the aircraft, including engine or Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) starting, avionics, emergency, and other systems. Because of their high specific energy/power and potential thermal instability, they can present hazards if improperly designed, tested, handled, or stored. To address the thermal safety issue of Li-ion batteries, EIC La ...

The goal of Phase II of this STTR project is to optimize the GaN transistor obtained in Phase I to deliver a 100-W power amplifier with 90% power added efficiency (PAE) at 1 GHz. Emphasis will be put on optimizing output capacitances, improving gate control and further improving epitaxial wafers. We will finalize our design of power amplifier circuit module based on the improved device and our pro ...

In this Phase II Small Business Innovation Research project we will be developing extremely efficient (40G), and compact modulators suitable for microwave analog links, next generation radar and other military applications. III-V semiconductor nanowires a

Towing of a Magnetic Anomaly Detection (MAD) system is an important aspect of rotorcraftmaritime operation. The oscillatory rotorcraft combined with the long and flexible towingcable, the low mass ratio of the towed body to the towing aircraft, and the rotor wake effecton the towed body presents a challenge for integration of a modern MAD system withrotorcraft platform. The research objective is t ...

Combustion thermophotovoltaics (TPV) has the potential to achieve power and energy densities five to ten times that of rechargeable batteries. To date, however, TPV converter devices have not become commercially viable due to their low conversion efficiencies. The poor conversion efficiencies are primarily attributed to a mismatch between the bandgap of the TPV diode and the spectrum of the emitte ...