Award Data

Luna Innovations Incorporated and CURBC (Calspan – University of Buffalo Research Center) are proposing to develop miniature, high-speed, high-temperature, fiber-optic pressure sensors that will fill the void that currently exists between ground and flight test instrumentation. The sensors small size (ø 0.007”) and high-sensitivity (better than ±0.01 psi) combined with a high-speed fiber-op ...

The ever-decreasing size of the electronic microchips and the ever-increasing density of electronic components required to support future Air Force platforms are creating the problem of substantial localized heat generation that can impair component operation. State of the art thermal interface materials (TIMs), that are used to dissipate heat from the source to the spreader in a microchip, are se ...

The need for faster highly resolved solutions coupled with the advent of General Purpose Graphics Processing Unit (GPGPU) architectures and the development of GPGPU algorithms at the University of California, Davis present an opportunity that JMSI Inc. proposes to leverage by developing algorithmic and software solutions for GPGPUs in “Innovative CFD Algorithms, Libraries & Python Frameworks for ...

We propose algorithm development and efficient GPU implementation of numerical PDE solvers based on four novel high-order methodologies: 1) High-order Discontinuous Galerkin approaches, 2) Fast High-Order boundary integral methods, 3) Convergent FFT-based methodologies for evaluation of computational boundary conditions, and 4) Fourier Continuation methods. These methodologies are applicable to a ...

The objective of Phase I is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the various multi-reference coupled-cluster (MRCC) methods that have been proposed for the description of molecular states depending upon near degeneracies and non-dynamic electron correlation. Such effects are encountered in bond breaking, at transition states, for complex open shell systems like transition metal atoms, and f ...

Quantitative predictions of reactive flow dynamics from large-scale simulations of Liquid Rocket Engines (LRE) appear to be model dependent. Relationships and coupling among the dominant mechanisms most responsible for destabilization are obscured by the complexities of the model and subtle consequences of inherent ad hoc approximations not supported by mathematical rationale. The reliability of ...

AEDC personnel have developed and demonstrated the effectiveness of coupling a control volume model with a wind tunnel control system. The performance of the model was hampered because parameters of the model were assumed to be constant, when they are likely variables. A method for using facility data to determine functional relationships defining these parameters would allow them to vary during ...

This Small Business Technology Transfer Research phase I program will develop a new class of uncooled THz detectors for the 1-10THz band with a novel design using surface plasmon resonant cavities with integrated metal-insulator-metal tunneling diodes as the detecting element. Tunneling diodes provide ultrafast broadband response, potentially into the visible (300THz), but demonstrated performanc ...

We propose to develop a commercial weakly ionized plasma modeling capability based off of Tech-X’s high energy density plasma fluid code TxFluids. The new additions will be able to be used to model hypersonic vehicle physics including shock waves, plasma chemistry and innovative techniques for blackout mitigation and hypersonic vehicle control through the application of electric and/or magnetic ...

We apply the theory of partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) to the design of guidance algorithms for controlling the motion of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with on-board sensors for tracking multiple ground targets. While POMDPs are intractable to optimize exactly, principled approximation methods can be devised based on Bellman’s principle. We introduce a new approximation ...