Award Data

Current depot-level manufacturing systems are not responsive to changing requirements and flexible specifications. The serial arrangement of individual work cells results in a lengthy timeline to complete the critically-needed part; thus, critical assets

High pressure compressor blades are subject to damage due to debris strikes and warping due to the elevated pressures and temperatures within the engine. Blade repair is currently performed manually using grinding to blend out the damaged regions. Reliance on manual grinding operations requires highly skilled operators, fails to reach the optimal blade shape, lacks repeatability, and is extremel ...

Classical approaches to aircrew training are characterized by several shortcomings, including high costs and lack of realism. These issues have motivated the desire to advance the state-of-the-art in virtual aerial refueling training environments. Such an advance has the potential to provide a cost-effective way of introducing a more realistic environment in performing repetition training. A vi ...

Vadum will develop an innovative, rugged, reliable low-cost, visual aircraft tire pressure indicator system to enable quick, objective assessment at standoff. The wheel-mounted Visual Tire Pressure (VTiP) Stem is an electronic tire pressure sensor stem/cap solution containing a distinct and easy to understand numerical display. A single VTiP Stem offers full 0-400 PSI coverage and will deliver mea ...

Vadum will develop Chemical, Heterogeneous sensor fusion Incident awareness Module (CHIME)asoftware module that will ingest data from a large number of asynchronous, heterogeneous and multi-tiered sensors to automate the process of estimating the source attributes of a chemical or biological release. CHIME generates estimates from a continuous stream of raw sensor data with successive estimates al ...

ABSTRACT: Spacecraft power management relies upon DC-DC converters to provide multiple voltages from the storage battery. Currently available converters have shortcomings in areas of power density, tolerance to radiation and wide operating temperatures, and excessive development cost. We propose to develop a high density power converter that is compatible with spacecraft operational environments a ...

Inspection of inserted compressor blades is difficult due to the complicated geometry of the blades, the need for high accuracy, and the safety risk posed by undetected cracks. At present, the time and cost associated with airfoil inspection forces many

Three-dimensional woven and braided fiber architectures provide important advantages to composites, including suppression of delamination, high damage tolerance, improved through-the-thickness properties, simplicity and cost-effectiveness of manufacturing complex composite structural components. However, in order to diversify applications and reach high volumes of utilization of these materials in ...

DNA microarray technology, in combination with statistical and predictive modeling tools, could be used to evaluate thousands of genes against distinct gene expression patterns induced by chemical/biological agents to provide early identification and speed therapeutic intervention. The overall objective of this Phase II effort is to leverage existing public domain resources and commercial tools t ...

"Critical gears and engine bearings in our newest vertical thrust aircraft must operate with absolute reliability under high loads, high heat, corrosive salt air and intervals without lubricant. Current gear and bearing materials meet the design requirements, however, it is desirable to improve the component durability under unexpected severe operation (longer oil off) or extreme environmental (c ...