Award Data

The objective of the proposed Phase-I effort by Spectral Energies LLC is to design and develop a fiber-coupled hyperspectral LWIR thermal imaging sensor suite for temperature measurements in practical combustors. The proposed sensor suite will be capable of performing spectrally resolved imaging to achieve accurate temperature measurements in practical gas-turbine engines while resolving optical i ...

The overall goal of the proposed research program is to design a ruggedized imaging system capable of visualization and analysis of the particle field and product gases in a multiphase blast. This will be accomplished by combining kHz-MHz-rate burst-mode laser technology with tomographic particle image velocimetry (PIV) and new nonlinear particle tracking methods to resolve dense particle fields. ...

The objectives of this research effort are to experimentally derive the scaling laws up to 30 bar for key combustion species and temperature for reactions involving various hydrocarbon fuels in such a way so that the spatio-temporally resolved measurements would not be influenced by signal-degrading processes such as quenching, photolytic interference, Stark shift, and stimulated Raman. This build ...

Spectral Energies and the University of Notre Dame is developing a new class of point-wise sensors for high-enthalpy conditions that rely on the use of a weakly ionized AC discharge between two electrodes as the main sensing element. The advantages of this approach include a native high bandwidth with a theoretical maximum in excess of 15 MHz and a simple mechanical design that is inherently robus ...

Thermoelastic structures poses a critical challenge to designers due to the inherent proportionality of the thermal loading on the structural thickness. This is further exacerbated by structural nonlinearity where any out-of-plane deformation further increases the effective loading on the structure. As a result of this, conventional design optimization procedures, which are typically based on line ...

The Phase-II research is a natural extension and a significant advancement over the Phase-I research, which has successfully demonstrated high-speed, burst-mode, polarization-based, dual-plane, stereoscopic PIV measurements synchronized with OH-PLIF imaging of turbulent swirling combustion in a generic gas-turbine combustor with and without acoustic forcing. We propose to conduct high-speed, burst ...

This proposal addresses the need for development of room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) for use in electrolytes for reversibly electroplating films with specific optical, emissive and electrical properties on demand. Target applications for these electrolytes are devices using reversible electroplating for tuning/regenerating functional surfaces, such as mirrors or thermal emitters, deployed on ...

Investments by the Department of Defense (DOD) have led to the development and demonstration of electronic textiles capable of transforming traditional textile systems into wearable power and data systems. The Defense Health Agency (DHA) has identified an opportunity to leverage advancements in smart garment systems for military personnel to aid in the prediction in performance declines and healt ...

High Velocity Penetrator Weapons experience severe stress in terms of high frequency vibration and shock during launch, flight, and on impact. The extreme conditions have significant impact on the survivability of the weapon due to damage of the energetic material and fuze compartment. Molecular dynamics is often used to understand the effect of external shock on the material. However, molecular ...

High speed air vehicles, already operating at material strength performance limits, are at significant risk when subjected to additional localized heating from sources such as directed energy. This localized heating may result in material softening, pitting and burn through causing structural damage and alteration of the structural profile. This damage can disrupt the aerodynamic performance and ...