Award Data

Hemp-based clothing are excellent for outdoor active wear, due to high strength, UV-protective qualities, mold resistance, and excellent moisture absorption and desorption. While academic research on hemp-based textiles in the US is increasing, it has naturally also become an area of interest to competing countries. Specifically, China is outperforming the US in hemp fiber technological advanceme ...

A new approach is proposed for high fidelity analysis of aeroelastic characteristics of integrally bladed rotors. This new multiscale approach for nonequilibrium flow path analysis will yield high fidelity solutions including all turbulence scales at a fraction of the computational cost of RANS. Integration of this advanced capability within an existing multidisciplinary, multifidelity, transien ...

Hemp fibers have been used in textile applications for thousands of years, but have been limited to textiles for home furnishing, rope, sacks, and other non-clothing textile applications. However, new treatment methods for hemp fibers to improve their hand, as well hemp’s general softening properties with time and wear, make these fibers attractive for use in performance clothing due to hemp’s ...

Hepburn and Sons LLC teamed with North Carolina State University (NCSU) proposes an analysis of alternatives (AoA) to design and optimize a megawatt class, solid state transformer rectifier (SSTR) supporting maintainability of U.S. Navy shipboard power infrastructure. The design will convert 13.8kV AC to +-850V DC with modular, line-replaceable units (LRUs) that are compact and lightweight such th ...

The proposed research is to model, design and develop a prototype backpack harness that is capable of generating electricity due to the differential forces between the wearer and a backpack that occur during walking while minimizing the weight and effect on the soldier. The design will replace the traditional harness system with a prototype harness that incorporates piezoelectric polymer PVDF. P ...

Over the past three years, Lightning Packs LLC has invented, developed, tested, and patented the innovative Suspended-load Backpack which extracts mechanical energy from the vertical movement of carried loads and converts it to unprecedented levels of electricity during normal human walking (up to 7.4 W, about ~300-fold greater than the previously published attempts of only 20 mW). Our human testi ...

Hepburn and Sons LLC proposes to design a ground fault detection system for 440VAC three phase radial Navy shipboard power distribution, while teaming with their partner Florida State University, Center for Advanced Power Systems (FSU CAPS). Existing Navy ground fault detection systems can detect and locate single line to ground faults on a given phase, but a second ground fault on a separate phas ...

The objective of the proposed research is to use chemistry to modify single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and engineer the interfacial interaction with polymers to synthesize composite materials with enhanced mechanical, electrical and thermal properties. We will conduct research on the synthesis and properties characterization of SWNT-reinforced composites based on epoxies and vinyl esters. Our ...

ACTA Incorporated and the Center for Systems Reliability (CSR) at Sandia National Laboratories propose a seven month STTR Phase I Project to demonstrate the feasibility of developing Fault Diagnostics, Prognostics, and Self-Healing Control of Navy Electric Machinery. The new generation of Navy high power electric ships and electro-mechanical machinery challenge the predictive maintenance of ships ...

The objective of this project is to develop an integrated condition monitoring, fault diagnostics and prognostics scheme for power electronic converters and electromechanical devices, e.g., advanced induction motors, specifically targeting the DD(X) platform and subsequently expanding the scope for addressing the needs of other defense-related and commercial applications. An additional goal of th ...