Award Data

The United States has a vast network of pipelines used for fuel transport. This infrastructure, installed in 1950–1970, is one of the largest in the world. Yet poor/missing records of the materials used, combined with the overall age and associated environmental degradation effects, often results in unsafe operation. Current non-destructive inspection techniques are only capable of detecting mat ...

Knowledge Based Systems, Inc. (KBSI) is pleased to propose the further design and development of MySidewalk mobile application facilitating the crowd-sourced collection of sidewalk inventory and condition data. The MySidewalk application utilizes advances in social networks and data mining to provide integrated sidewalk datasets. Phase I and II research was facilitated by inputs from City of Colle ...

With this research, we would like to provide new materials joining methods to the DOT. This will be achieved with a pulse energy store that has already demonstrated game changing capability in welding a wide variety of metals and alloys. The process we are proposing is known as Homopolar Welding. The weld is created by a solid state fusion welding process whereby high current is passed through the ...

Water expansion during freeze-thaw cycles can cause deterioration in concrete, leading to scaling, cracking, and crumbling over a period of years. Resistance to this damage is achieved with a system of voids formed by adding surfactants to the fresh concrete to stabilize air bubbles naturally entrained during mixing. The volume fraction, size, and spacing of these voids are critical. It is importa ...

Broken rails are a common cause of mainline derailments and a particular concern given the increasing use of our rail system for passenger traffic and petroleum products. The progressive nature of the defects provides an opportunity for early detection of cracks before they become significant enough to cause a derailment. Unfortunately, current inspection technology does not allow these inspection ...

Additional passenger fatalities and injuries can occur during derailments due to interaction with wayside structures, such as catenary poles, bridge abutments, and discontinuities in third rails at highway grade crossings. Resilient wayside structures can reduce these risks, by lessening the amount of intrusion, penetration, and passenger motion. PEC and Arup will work together to develop resilien ...

Use of motorcycles helmets significantly reduces the risk of fatality or serious brain injury to riders in the event of a crash, but riders often do not wear helmets in warm weather because of thermal discomfort. We propose to develop an innovative ventilation and cooling system that will maintain a cool, dry environment inside the helmet while also meeting applicable safety standards. The key the ...

A RESEARCH EFFORT COMPLETED RECENTLY FOR THE AIR FORCE IDENTIFIED NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR ANGULAR MOTION MEASUREMENT. TWO CONCEPTS WERE FOUND WHICH APPEAR TO OFFER POTENTIAL FOR AN EXCELLENT COMBINATION OF SMALL SIZE, WIDE DYNAMIC RANGE, WIDE BANDWIDTH AND EASE OF FABRICATION AND UTILIZATION. ONE DEVICE, CALLED A FLUID-FILLED BENDER BEAM, USES PIEZOCERAMICELEMENTS TO PRODUCE A SIGNAL PROPORTIONAL TO ...

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN UNPRECEDENTED PUBLIC SECTOR/PRIVATE SECTOR BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP AMONG PRIVATE BUS OPERATORS, VISITOR AND CONVENTION BUREAUS (C&VB) AND PUBLIC TRANSIT AGENCIES TO MEET THE GROWING TRANSPORTATION NEEDS OF THE MEETING MARKET (E.G., CONVENTIONS AND CORPORATE MEETINGS). THIS WILL DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A FIXED-ROUTE SHUTTLE SERVICE BETWEEN HOTELS AND CONVENTION ...

THIS PROJECT AIMS AT DEVELOPING A HIGHLY ACCURATE AND ECONOMICAL AIRCRAFT ALTIMETER. THE MOTION OF AN EVACUATED BELLOWS WILL BE MONITORED BY AN OPTICAL POSITION SENSOR WHICH WILL GIVE AN ELECTRICAL ANALOG SIGNAL LINEARLY RELATED TO THE ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE. WHILE THE SENSOR IS VERY SMALL, RUGGED AND INEXPENSIVE, IT HAS A LARGE DYNAMIC RANGE (100,000), HIGH LINEARITY (0.01%) AND HIGH SENSITIVITY (M ...