Award Data

Mechanical damage (typically from third party excavations) is the most frequent source of leaks and ruptures in pipelines. The most common type of mechanical damage is dents, sometimes associated with secondary features such as gouges, external corrosion, or cracks. Currently used techniques for assessing dents are not accurate enough for reliable determination of fitness for service. In this p ...

This proposal seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of using impulse radar techniques to detect and identify explosive detonators. It relies on the fact that a radar impulse will excite natural electromagnetic resonances which characterize the size, shape, and material composition of an object. These resonances are present in the scattered transient return from the object and can be extracted by ...

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Anti-glare visors and rearview mirrors for cars can be constructed by inserting a photochromic layer in the focal plane of an optical system. Rays from intense glare souces are focused and create dark spots on the photochromic layer and thus self attenuate. Rays from dim objects are left unaffected. The optics can be achieved with either conventional lenses or microlens arrays. Anti-glare devi ...

Extensive research (Ukraine) has shown that high strength continuous fibers of basalt can be produced. These fibers are inexpensive and have exceptionally high strength, stiffness and corrosion resistance. Basalt is a naturally occurring volcanic mineral, consisting a variety concentration of oxides. The product envisioned is a low-cost, corrosion resistant replacement for steel bar in reinforc ...

Transportation planning currently relies on extensive and expensive household surveys, which are so costly that they are rarely conducted more than once every ten years and are often out-of-data within a year or two. Research is proposed that would test the feasibility of supplementing or supplanting these surveys with commercial data bases. To accomplish this, existing data sources will be revi ...

COAL IS AN ATTRACTIVE FUEL FOR RAILROAD LOCOMOTIVES BECAUSE OF ITS DOMESTIC ABUNDANCE AND LOW COST PER UNIT OF HEAT. ONE RESTRAINT IN COAL AS A LOCOMOTIVE FUEL IS ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION. CONSIDERING THESE CONFLICTING CONDITIONS OF ATTRACTIVENESS AND DIFFICULTY IN USING COAL AS A FUEL, IT BECOMES QUITE IMPORTANT HOW THE COAL IS HANDLED AND CONVERTED TO HEAT FOR LOCOMOTIVE POWER. A STUDY OF HEAT EN ...

A SIX MONTH PROGRAM IS PROPOSED TO DEVELOP RIGID SYNTOCTIC POLYIMIDE FOAM PANELS POSSESSING FLAME RESISTANCE, NO-SMOKE EMISSION AND LOW THERMAL CONDUCTANCE FOR REPLACING INTERIOR MATERIALS OF TRANSPORTATION VEHICLES NOW DESIGNATED AS POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS. AT LEAST FOUR CANDIDATE MATERIALS WILL BE PREPARED AND TESTED TO SELECT THE MOST PROMISING CANDIDATE FOR SCALE-UP IN A PHASE II PROGRAM.

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SOLAR ELECTRICAL GENERATION CELLS ARE SUBJECT TO RADIATION AND THERMAL BREAKDOWN FROM EXPOSURE. THE PURPOSE OF THE PRESENT STUDY IS TO IMPROVE THERMAL STABILITY OF ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT IN ENERGY-EFFICIENT STRUCTURES. OBJECTIVES ARE TO DESIGN, CONSTRUCT AND TEST AN INNOVATIVE PROTECTIVE SYSTEM FOR SOLAR COLLECTORS THAT WILL IMPROVE THE THERMAL STABILITY AND RADIATION DETERIORATION OF SUCH CELLS. A ...