Award Data

Adaptive optics (AO) can compensate for the aberrating effects of atmospheric turbulence which degrade the performance of high energy laser (HEL) weapon systems and, as such, is an enabling technology for effective deployment of HEL weapon systems. A key component in an HEL AO system is the deformable mirror (DM). However, mechanical constraints in currently available DMs limits AO system performa ...

Hazard assessment tools that model the transport and dispersion of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) materials through urban areas are only as good as the 3D models that inform the physics model. Maintaining accurate, up-to-date 3D models of urban areas is challenging. Even in the commercial world, urban construction and demolition may result in the models created a ...

Transmission loss (TL) is a key input to the sonar equation for predicting the ability of an active sonar system to detect and track a target of interest. The proposed technical effort centers on developing physics-based models to interpret and predict TL variability. The concept under development consists of a model that consumes modeled and in situ oceanographic information, estimates the likeli ...

In order to travel faster, travel longer, and carry larger payloads, new Navy ships are being designed with light weight alloys and composite materials. High magnesium AA5xxx series alloys provide a high strength to weight ratio and excellent corrosion resistance, but suffer from sensitization as anodic ß precipitates (Al¬3Mg2) are form along grain boundaries due to a combination of elevated tem ...

Exfoliation corrosion of 5XXX series aluminum alloy is an issue related to sensitization of the aluminum substrate wherein internal stresses drive delamination of highly elongated outer layers due to preferential corrosion paths and volumetric expansion. The Navy is interested in preventing this corrosion to decrease lifetime costs on Littoral Combat Ships, Ship-to-Shore Connector vessels, and Tic ...

Our Phase I effort showed that spectrum compression could be successfully achieved via Wavelet Transform (WT) based Fatigue Spectrum Editing (FSE) techniques for uniaxial HCF spectra cases. For example, 85% reduction in spectrum length can be achieved in the case of the original FELIX spectrum. However, the extension of the same FSE technique to multi-axial HCF cases showed less desirable results ...

There is a military and industry need for easy-to-use, versatile alloys for metals additive manufacturing (3D printing) that print consistently regardless of the specific process or machine and without requiring in-depth metallurgical or manufacturing knowledge. Such capability is critical for soldiers to be able to make needed items on demand in the theater of war. In addition, the alloy will be ...

Autonomous vehicles are being used for many applications varying from small indoor robots, to large-scale mining trucks, and military vehicles operating in fast-changing environments. Global position systems (GPS) have traditionally been used for vehicle positioning. GPS works well in open environments, but suffers from significant degradation due to terrain, certain operating conditions, and even ...

Physically uncloneable functions (PUFs) have the potential to revolutionize cybersecurity by forming the basis for next-generation secure networks and trusted computing environments. During Phase I, Potomac Research and OSU evaluated of three physically uncloneable function (PUF) designs that can be implemented on COTS FPGAs. One design based on hybrid Boolean networks (HBN-PUFs) emerged as the cl ...

Predicting the emission signature and radar cross-section of rocket exhaust plumes is of vital interest to the Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Army to protect the U.S. homeland and our forces abroad.  The current STTR Phase II project has shown that a single-conditioned Premixed Conditional Moment Closure (PCMC) can employ detailed chemical kinetic mechanisms while efficiently modeling combustion ...