Award Data

Adroit Systems, Inc. will develop a Pulse Detonation Synthesis (PDS) process to manufacture ceramic powders from gas-powder reactant mixtures more efficiently and inexpensively than current methods. A high combustion rate and simple design make the PDS system capable of mass producing these powders, which are used as raw materials for high-temperature, high-performance ceramics and ceramic composi ...

N/A

BRIMROSE CORPORATION PROPOSES TO INVESTIGATE, DESIGN AND DEMONSTRATE A NOVEL OPTICAL BISTABLE DEVICE WITH A THRESHOLD OPTICAL INTENSITY SEVERAL ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE LOWER THAN THE CONVENTIONAL DEVICES. THIS DEVICE WILL OPERATE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE USING A LOW POWER CW LASER. ADVANTAGE OF SUCH A DEVICE WILL SIGNIFICANTLY FACILITATE THE NUMBER OF PROCESSING OPERATIONS IN OPTICAL COMPUTING AND SIGNAL P ...

IR DETECTOR MATERIAL, MERCURY CADMIUM TELLURIDE HAS BEEN THE MOST MATURES AND OFTEN A MATERIAL OF CHOICE FOR ADVACNED INFRARED DETECTION. HOWEVER, IT IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO PRODUCE THE MATERIAL FOR DETECTION AT A WAVELENGTH GREATER THAN 14um. THIS PROBLEM IS DUE TO EXCCESSIVE FUNNELLING AND SURFACE LEAKAGE RELATED TO DARK CURRENTS. IN RECENT YEARS MERCURY ZINC TELLURIDE (MZT) HAS EMERGED AS A S ...

AT MULTI-UNIT NUCLEAR GENRATING STATIONS, CONTROL ROOM OPERATORS ARE GENERALLY LICENSED TO OPERATE ALL SIMILAR UNITS. SIMULATOR TRAINING CONDUCTED AT THE LICENSEE TRAINING FACILITY OCCURS ON ONE SIMULATOR WHICH MAY NOT EXACTLY MIMIC ANY UNIT. INADEQUATE TRAINING ON UNIT-TO-UNIT AND UNIT-TO-SIMULATOR DIFFERENCES, IN CONJUNCTION WITH LIMITED PER-PERSON SIMULATOR TRAINING HOURS, CAN RESULT IN INCREAS ...

WE PROPOSE TO SEARCH FOR NEW SUPERCONDUCTORS THAT ARE SIMILAR TO THE PEROVSKITE-BASED HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS (HTS), BUT WITH THE OXYGEN REPLACED BY A CHALCOGEN, THAT IS SULFUR, SELENIUM OR TELLURIUM. WE BELIEVE THAT THE HTS COPPER OXIDES ARE NOT A UNIQUE ACCIDENT OF NATURE, BUT THAT THERE ARE OTHER COMPLEX CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS THAT COULD ALSO BE SUPERCONDUCTING. AN OBVIOUS PLACE TO LOOK WO ...

WHEN ROTATING MACHINERY DETERIORATES, VIBRTION PATTERSN CHANGE. WHEN BEARING FREQUENCIES APPEAR, THEN INCREASE IN AMPLITUDE, BEARING FAILURE LOOMS. THE SAME WITH VALVES; WHEN THEY LEAK, THEY VIBRATE. AS LEAKAGE INCREASES, THE VIBRATION PATTERN CHANGES. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS. THE KEY IS KNOWING WHERE AND HOW DEEPLY TO LOOK. THE KEY IN OLDER REACTOR PLANTS IS TO UNOBTRUSIVELY, ECONOMICALLY BACKFIT S ...

CHANGES IN PLANT STATUS, EITHER BEFORE OR DURING AN ACCIDENT SEQUENC CAN CONSIDERABLY AFFECT ITS OUTCOME; BOTH THE ACTURAL OUTCOME AND THAT PREDICTED BY PROBABILISTIC RISK ASSESSMENT. IN ORDER TO ACCURATELY REPRESENT THE POSSIBLE ACCIDENTS AND THEIR PROBABILITIES, THE PRA MODEL MUST CONSIDER THE DYNAMIC CHARACTER OF THE PLANT, IT'S SYSTEMS AND OPERATORS. A LIVING, DYNAMIC PRA IS ONE IN WHICH ALL T ...

N/A

The primary result of the Phase I effort will be an optimized polarimeter which can be used in Phase II for military, remote sensing, and astronomical observations. Also the feasibility of assembling a user friendly polarization code running on a Silicon Graphics workstation will be established. Initial work in the area of polarization has been done by the principal investigator and by the subcont ...