Award Data

A suite of diagnostic tools along with a ground test facility are proposed for development to aid in the characterization of an aerothermal environment pertaining to hypersonic flight and to evaluate the material response of ultra-high temperature ceramics that are typically used as vehicle components. The interaction between the environment and the material is evaluated through measurements of ch ...

An instrument is proposed for detecting damage to coatings on aircraft canopies using a hand-held probe that can detect anomalies in either the protective coatings, structural plies, interlayers, or functional coatings such as shielding or electrostatic discharge (ESD) control layers in a laminated canopy. The instrument will utilize optical coherence tomography (OCT) to produce a three-dimensiona ...

A suite of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques is proposed for monitoring the condition of high temperature carbon-based ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials during manufacturing. Measurements of surface roughness, microstructural makeup, and chemical species will be performed in real time using a laser source that is common to two of the three techniques and noncontact optical detectio ...

Missile plumes emit electromagnetic radiation that can alert adversaries to their presence, cause troublesome thermal loads to the missile, or temporarily blind the pilot of the release aircraft. Techniques are needed to measure the three-dimensional (3D) plume structure and associated spectral emission to obtain a better understanding of the physical processes governing plume radiation. A method ...

A method is proposed for obtaining volumetrically resolved measurements of emission intensity in a missile plume at multiple wavelength bands selected to characterize features of interest for studies of plume signature, thermal radiation loads, and visual emission hazards. The method involves light field imaging with a plenoptic camera, and will utilize state-of-the-art data processing methods for ...

A suite of diagnostics is proposed for measurements of temperature, displacement and strain in a very high temperature environment needed for the determination of creep behavior and fatigue lifetime of ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTC) for hypersonic flight applications. A low-cost non-contact test apparatus is proposed to produce a controlled, high-temperature environment to serve as a test ...

In hypersonic flight, airborne particles such as water or ice can penetrate and alter the bow shock and flow field, enhance erosion mechanisms and alter aerodynamics. Particles break up as they pass through the shock wave, impact the surface, erode and increase surface roughness, increase turbulence and heat transfer, and augment heating that can destroy heat shields prematurely. Many tests and th ...

Schlieren visualization, an important imaging method in aerodynamic testing for viewing density gradients caused by turbulence, shock waves, and temperature gradients, has seen few changes in over 100 years. The schlieren systems at AEDC, with near-perfect optics and vibration isolation, are extremely sensitive when properly aligned, which also makes existing systems difficult and expensive to use ...

NAS2 13932 $69 962.00 1 994 Monday, January 24, 1994 Monday, July 25, 1994- 11:15am Compact, Airborne, Particle-Sizing Sensor National Aeronautics and Space Administration SBIR METROLASER, INCORPORATED Phase I 1 ...

An instrument prototype using an unseeded measurement technique based on filtered Rayleigh scattering (FRS) is proposed for development for simultaneous spatially resolved measurements of density, and velocity components for AEDC transonic and supersonic wind tunnels with the future potential for time-resolved volumetric measurement capability. The method, named two-cell filtered Rayleigh scatteri ...