Award Data

ULTRASOUND FLOW MEASUREMENT AND PARTICULARLY COLOR FLOW MAPPING (CFM) SYSTEMS PROVIDE A VALUABLE TOOL FOR MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS. THESE TECHNIQUES PRIMARILY EXPLOIT THE DOPPLER EFFECT WHICH, DESPITE ITS GREAT SUCCESS, RESULTS IN TWO FUNDAMENTAL DRAWBACKS: (1) THE INABILITY TO MEASURE NONAXIALFLOW COMPONENTS AND (2) THE INABILITY TO MEASURE HIGH VELOCITIES AT LARGE DEPTHS. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A SY ...

A HERMETICALLY SEALED, ALUMINUM-ELECTROLYTIC CAPACITOR WILL BE DEVELOPED AS A REPLACEMENT FOR TANTALUM CAPACITORS IN SPACE POWER SYSTEMS. THIS WILL SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE POWER SUPPLY VOLUME AND WEIGHT. THESE CAPACITORS WILL OPERATE FROM -55 DEGREES CENTIGRADE TO 105 DEGREES CENTIGRADE, HAVE AN ESTIMATED 20-YEAR LIFE, AND HAVE A HIGH CV PRODUCT: FOR EXAMPLE, 1000MUF250 WV. THE AVAILABILITY OF A FAMI ...

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS ARE DIRECTED TOWARD PROMOTING THE THERMODYNAMICALLY DOWNHILL METHANE OXIDATIVE DIMERIZATION REACTION TO YIELD ETHYLENE ACROSS MIXED IONIC AND ELECTRONIC CONDUCTING PEROVSKITE CERAMIC MEMBRANES AT 750 DEGREES CENTIGRADE. THIS PROCESS RESULTS IN THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF NATURAL GAS TO AN INHERENTLY MORE VALUABLE CHEMICAL COMMODITY WITHOUT REQUIRING ANY ENERGY INPUT OR CAP ...

PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP A DISTRIBUTED FIBER OPTIC SENSOR INCORPORATING IMMOBILIZED TRANSITION METAL COMPLEXES COMPATIBLE WITH ACHIEVING BOTH SELECTIVE AND REVERSIBLE DETECTION OF ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2). THE ADOPTED STRATEGY RELIES ON THE DETECTION OF OPTICAL CHANGES INDUCED ON A FIBER OPTIC SUBSTRATE BY TRANSITION METAL COMPLEXES THAT HAVE DEMONSTRATED PREVIOUS EVIDENCE F ...

THIS PROPOSED PROGRAM IS DIRECTED TOWARDS THE EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF MIXED IONIC AND ELECTRONIC CONDUCTING MEMBRANES FOR PROMOTING THE ELECTROCHEMICAL CATHODIC DECOMPOSITION OF N0X WITHIN AUTOMOBILE EXHAUSTS. THE APPROACH WILL RELY UPON THE SYSTEMATIC APPLICATION OF PEROVSKITE CATHODE ELECTROCATALYSTS WHICH, WE FEEL, WILL PROVIDE RAPID KINETICS FOR PROMOTING THE ELECTROCHEMICAL REDUCTION OF TH ...

WEAPONS DELIVERY SYSTEMS FOR ARMAMENTS REQUIRE MODERNIZATION TO REFLECT THE "SMART SKINS" PACKAGING CONCEPT WHICH IS UNDER DEVELOPMENT FOR AIRCRAFT. ARMAMENTS ARE GENERALLY SMALLER AND RADAR SENSORS AND SEEKERS WILL OPERATE AT SHORTER WAVELENGTHS, OFTEN IN MILLIMETER WAVELENGTHS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A UNIFIED ANTENNA/TRANSCEIVER FOLLOWING "SMART SKINS" TECHNOLOGY REQUIRES AN ELECTRONICALLY SCANNED ...

WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A MULTI-CHANNEL FIBER OPTIC INTERCONNECTION DEVICE THAT CAN WITHSTAND THE SEVERE CONDITIONS OF THE MILITARY AIRCRAFT ENVIRONMENT. THE PROPOSED INTERCONNECT DEVICE CONSISTS OF AN ADAPTER AND A CONNECTOR FOR RIBBON FIBERS OR MULTI-CHANNEL CABLES. THIS DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITY WILL FOCUS ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES AND ADVANCED ENGINEERING MATERIALS. SPECIFICALLY, WE INTEND TO USE ET ...

ILLINOIS SUPERCONDUCTOR CORP. WILL DESIGN AND TEST FAULT CURRENT LIMITERS WHICH USE RECENTLY DISCOVERED HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING MATERIALS TO PROTECT VITAL SPACECRAFT COMPONENTS FROM UNPREDICTABLE POWER SURGES AND SPIKES. THESE DEVICES WILL ALSO FIND USE IN THE ULTRA-HIGH SPEED SWITCHING OF VERY LARGE CURRENTS, A KEY TO FUTURE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEMS. THE KEY TO THESE COMPONEN ...

A MAJOR AND PRESSING PROBLEM IN NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION (NDE) OF MATERIAL USING ULTRASOUND IS THE DETECTION OF MICROSTRUCTURAL ECHOES OF LOW SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO (SNR). THE LOSS OF SIGNAL BY SCATTERING AND ABSORPTION IMPOSES A LIMIT ON THE DETECTION CAPABILITY OF ULTRASONIC SYSTEMS. THIS PROBLEM OFTEN ARISES IN EXAMINING COMPOSITES, CERAMICS, CAST COMPONENTS, WELDS OR ANY THICK SECTION OF MATER ...

IN THIS PROJECT, SOME NOVEL SIGNAL-PROCESSING TECHNIQUES FOR FEATURE-ENHANCED, ULTRASONIC NDE SYSTEMS WILL BE EXAMINED AND IMPLEMENTED. THE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES HAVE TWO OBJECTIVES: TO REDUCE THE BACKGROUND NOISE IN ORDER TO IMPROVE FLAW VISIBILITY AND SIZING, AND TO OBTAIN SIGNAL PARAMETERS THAT CAN BE CORRELATED TO THE MICROSTRUCTURE FOR CHARACTERIZATION. AN INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE PACKAGE FOR AN ...