Award Data

The primary objective is to develop electric machine/drive topologies and power architectures that achieve the power densities required for 50% more power without the increase in weight or space requirements. In addition to PMSM-based designs, two new machine topologies will be considered. The first is a trapped flux coreless (TFC) machine that utilizes superconducting pucks made of YBCO to produc ...

The development of a catastrophic optical damage model for quantum cascade lasers describing instantaneous laser damage at high optical power levels is proposed. The model will be validated by comparison to experimental data. Based on obtained results, changes to laser design and laser fabrication resulting in an increased damage threshold will be implemented. The work will ultimately result into ...

Large aerospace composite structures currently require autoclaves and ovens to achieve desired performance which are expensive to purchase, costly to operate, and often limit part size and production rate. Ovens and autoclaves rely on convective heating which is inefficient, consumes large amounts of energy, and can be difficult to predict. Alternative cure processes using external heaters or hot ...

For this research program, Mainstream will collaborate with Colorado State University (CSU) to develop a nanostructured heater capable of curing aerospace grade composites out-of-autoclave (OOA). The use of autoclaves is the primary cost driver in composite manufacturing due to size limitations, long processing times, and inefficient energy usage. Therefore, the Navy is looking to develop a nanost ...

In resource limited settings, rapid and accurate diagnosis of infections is critical for managing potential exposures to highly virulent pathogens,whether occurring from an act of bioterrorism or a natural event. This is especially important for hard to detect intracellular bacterial andalphavirus infections, that overlap symptomatically and often treated empirically due to a lack of reliable and ...

Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) are currently limited in the type of missions they can perform. Limited available power limits which sensors can be run or for how long, and also limits the duration and range of the mission. More efficient propulsion systems would increase the power available to the UUV payload. Improved power distribution systems and control systems would also increase the ava ...

In this proposal, a meta model-based scaling law will be used to represent each system component. A components meta model-based scaling law describes the tradeoffs between performance metrics for that component or subsystem as a function of its ratings in relation to the system. This greatly reduces the number of degrees of freedom for each component, and at the same time, retains the information ...

The use of laser technologies and high-power electronics is rapidly being incorporated into tactical platforms for imaging, target designation, and range finding. Electronic equipment including lasers demand power from a tactical aircraft and produce large amounts of thermal energy as a waste product. Current thermal management technologies will not be sufficient for future aircraft as thermal man ...

The US Navy operates a vast fleet of combat and support vessels with complex power control systems under the control and decision authority of human operators. Several current resources such as SPY-1D radar and Vertical Launch System (VLS) and future resources such as railgun, AMDR, and high energy laser (HEL) are energy hungry, exceeding current and planned power generation capability when deploy ...

Degraded weather conditions particularly, dense maritime fog, reduces the US Fleet EO/IR systems ability to maintain situational awareness and detect/identify and track targets of interest. It is the Navys goal to develop an active EO/IR imaging system that jointly optimizes illumination source properties and implements advanced image processing to improve performance and operational range of curr ...