Award Data

Manufacture of polymer matrix composite (PMC) jet engine parts is expensive due to the high cost of needed high temperature materials and fabrication processes currently in use. To reduce costs and improve quality, automated composite fabrication methods such as filament winding, automated tape placement, and fiber or tow placement coupled with non-autoclave processing offer great promise for use ...

Nano forms of graphite and carbon, such as flakes, worms, and tubes, can significantly modify the properties of polymers when used as reinforcements. Challenges remain in processing composites with these nano-reinforcements in the form of attaining uniform dispersions. Many of these difficulties are due to a lack of wetting of the nano-reinforcements by the polymer. Poor wetting is caused by th ...

Changes in the state of polarization of scattered laser radiation can be utilized to discriminate among targets according to surface microstructures on the wavelength scale. Newly-developed rigorous electromagnetic coherence theory is applied to the inverse problem of laser discrimination of unresolved space and airborne targets based on the effects of surface correlations on the backscattered st ...

This work researchs the use of a novel, patented Moire fringe wavefront sensor for fast, high density wavefront correction in an adaptive optics system. Based around existing technology for lightweight, durable and inexpensive membrane deformable mirrors already under development at Intellite (in transition to AgilOptics in 2005), this innovative adaptive optical system with a fast optical comput ...

Imaging laser radar is evolving into an important tactical sensor, which may be fielded on UAVs. However, UAV systems range in size from micro systems, which have payload requirements of a few ounces to the mini UAVs with payload requirements of tens of pounds. This provides the designer of UAV based laser radars with considerable problems in selecting laser sources to fit in these vehicles. Th ...

The Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet (APPJr) technology invented at Los Alamos National Laboratory and exclusively licensed to APJeT, Inc., is a revolutionary platform technology enabling economic application of atmospheric pressure plasma technology in an array of applications. APPJr is a non-thermal, stable, uniform discharge having 50-1000 times greater power density than conventional atmospheri ...

The development of a high pulse repetition rate (PRR) Marx generator, and the coupling of the Marx generator to the appropriate antenna system, will enable the development of a new series of radiation sources that not only have a high peak power output, but can be operated at high PRR. Such a pulsed power source will address the limitations of many current sources and provide a solution for many ...

The ASR Corporation has developed a novel pulse forming system based on a variable geometry Blumlein source. ASR Corporation proposes to design and fabricate a variant of this new pulse forming network to explore it's usefulness in fulfilling the requirements in SBIR topic number AF05-006. The novel Blumlein pulse forming system utilizes a demonstrated approach to obtaining tunability in a pulse ...

There is a need for a low profile, simple, accurate, localized, responsive sensor to measure shear stress in fluid flow. The unusual properties of shape memory alloys, and of Ni2MnGa in particular, suggest they could be sensing elements for shear. In recent years, single crystal films of Ni2MnGa have been grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE). Once released from their substrate, these films hav ...

Armors that provide protection against blast do so through a number of mechanisms. Simple elastic mechanisms include reflection of the blast wave because of the armor's high impedance relative to air, and distribution of energy over a large area by wave propagation through the armor. Non-linear effects, such as plasticity and damage evolution, enhance the armor's effectiveness by dissipating mec ...