Award Data

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) offers superior properties for structural applications. Existing UHPC design and production methods employ special materials and mixers. This project is developing mix design and fabrication methods for reliable production of UHPC with local materials and facilities. The Phase I project devised material selection criteria, proportioning methods and mixing pro ...

Living systems rely on pervasive vascular networks to enable a plurality of biological function, exemplified by natural composite structures that are lightweight, high-strength, and capable of mass and energy transport. In contrast, synthetic composites possess high strength-to-weight ratios but lack the dynamic functionality of their natural counterparts. CU Aerospace, with team partners the Univ ...

The Air Force, will benefit from the radiation-hard, lightweight, flexible, high-efficiency solar cells, which will enable greater capability on future spacecraft. Spacecraft will have a longer lifetime in high radiation orbits; alternatively, less radiation shielding, and hence less weight, will be required to provide the same endurance available at present. In the longer term, lightweight, flexi ...

ABSTRACT: Energetic composite materials comprise crystalline energetic particles embedded in a polymer matrix. There is a need to gain insight into the microstructure and damage mechanisms of energetic composites via nondestructive evaluation. Applications of x-ray computed micro-tomography to resolve the microstructure of energetic composites are challenged by the low density gradient between th ...

ABSTRACT: To unlock the power of cooperating teams of autonomous cyber-physical systems (CPSs), humans must be able to effectively, reliably, and safely task them using high-level goals. SIFTs Playbook interface approach provides goal-based tasking for multi-agent autonomous missions. SIFTs Cooperative Intelligent Real-time Control Architecture (CIRCA) automatically synthesizes and verifies r ...

ABSTRACT: In order to achieve precise guidance, navigation and control in re-entry vehicles, aerodynamic shape must be accurately known throughout the flight trajectory. For this Phase I program an ultrasonic-based technique for real-time, non-intrusive (5 KHz) measurement of recession during ablation will be developed. The system combines the elements of ultrasonic thickness gauging technology w ...

ABSTRACT: The next generation of hypersonic and reentry vehicles being designed for the Department of Defense (DoD) applications will require advanced Thermal Protection System (TPS). While new TPS shields are under development, a key difficulty is the ability to predict and diagnose TPS performance. ElectroDynamic Applications (EDA) has been developing an optical diagnosticfor use during testi ...

ABSTRACT: This proposal attepts to develop a new high efficiency process for conversion of carbon dioxide and water to syngas, as a first step in production of synthetic fuels. We have already demonstrated the conversion of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide at over 80% energy efficiency. The objective of the proposed work is to extend the process so that we can also produce syngas. BENEFIT: I ...

ABSTRACT: Under this collaborative effort between A Brown Design, Michigan State University, and Raytheon, a novel phase shifter design is proposed. The phase shifter design builds upon existing RF MEMS capacitive technology by co-integrating MEMS switches with metamaterial unit cells. The metamterial unit cell design is versatile and allows significant degree of freedom in integration and design ...

ABSTRACT: Michigan Aerospace Corporation, in cooperation with the University of Michigan"s Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences, will refine existing upper atmospheric models and apply them to the problem of predicting satellite drag. The primary goal of this Phase 1 project is to run a fully validated version of University of Michigan"s Global Ionosphere Thermosphere Model (GI ...