Award Data

The imaging vibrometer development will be based on a representative Directed Energy (DE) aperture assumed to be 30 cm. This effort will provide both DE and Combat IDentification (CID), modes for relative short range DE operations, and an ISR Combat IDentification (CID) mode for operation at extended range. A combination of analytic derivations and wave optics simulations will be used to define a ...

Locating objects that vibrate is a way to discern potential threats and locate targets. However, current vibrometry technology typically measures only the global vibration of target and cannot create an extended spatial measurement of the vibration profile of the target. These solutions cannot identify what the target is, nor can they locate potential weak spots on the target, because they lack sp ...

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 ...

The objective of the Phase I proposal is to investigate the application of controlled cavitation cleaning technology in conjunction with gecko-inspired mechanical adhesion and soft elastomeric applicators for use in non-intrusive EOD operations. This investigation requires the proof-of-concept testing and validation of a controlled cavitation cleaning mechanism, and a soft robotic gecko-inspired m ...

The U.S. Navy seeks methods to improve the fuel economy of marine diesel engines through utilization of waste heat. Low temperature engine jacket water, lubrication oil, and aftercooler air are largely untapped streams of thermal energy on these ships, but their utilization circumvents many operation challenges associated with exhaust gases. For example, variable and high exhaust gas temperatures ...

Waste heat from Naval diesel generators provides significant opportunity to introduce organic Rankine cycles (ORC) to increase their fuel efficiency. The objective of the proposed effort is to design and demonstrate a high-speed, spinning scroll expander (HiSSSE) ORC as a power dense waste heat recovery system for diesel generators on ships. The system will leverage Air Squared’s spinning scroll ...

The STTR topic N19A-T013 seeks innovative technology to improve the power density and efficiency of propulsion and power generation devices. To address this challenge, Spectral Energies in collaboration with its academic partner Dr. Rory Roberts at Wright State University proposes to develop a compact heat recovery system based on a supercritical CO2 based Rankin Cycle. At the end of the STTR prog ...

Wireless charging of unmanned aerial system (UAS) platforms from the environment has the potential to greatly increase flight and mission times. A promising option is to use electromagnetic fields from the power transmission infrastructure as an energy source. EH Group and the University of Alabama propose a design for UAS wireless charging in the near-field environment of the commercial power tra ...

Navy has identified refractory high entropy alloy (RHEA) and metal additive manufacturing as two potential areas of interest. This includes designing new RHEA and optimizing metal additive manufacturing with specific material property requirements. Developing materials and processes via applying traditional experimentation and process optimization techniques is painfully slow due to the large numb ...

Metamaterials and photonic crystals are engineered composites that exhibit novel and interesting properties not found using ordinary materials. They have been shown to allow extraordinary control over the electromagnetic field, including molding the flow of energy, amplitude profile of the field, phase of the waves, intermodal coupling, and more. To achieve such control, a set of tools and procedu ...