Award Data

This proposal is a collaborative effort between MRV Systems and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The goal is to develop a new, small, inexpensive autonomous vehicle to investigate mixed layer dynamics and turbulent mixing. The preliminary Phase I design, a Diagonally Operating Platform (DOP), is a profiling float with moveable fins. DOP will turn toward an intended direction within a few ...

The purpose of this project is to demonstrate the feasibility of using an innovative, durable, low friction, and non-toxic solid lubricant coating for foil air bearings for air cycle machines (ACM). Acrees coating provides superior wear characteristics at all temperatures and provides a substantial improvement over polyimide type coatings that are currently used on ACMs. The coating consists of tw ...

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a very promising technique for rapid, low-cost production of aircraft parts directly from a CAD file. AM is especially appealing for complex parts that would be costly or impossible to fabricate by machining or casting. At the current time there are no reliable, cost-effective techniques to qualify the finished parts. Several government studies have noted this gap an ...

Reconstruction of dynamic scenes is at the limits of the state of the art. It is still challenging to accurately reconstruct models in static scenes. Dynamic scenes add a list of challenges that further complicate the problem:separating the dynamic objects from the motion created by the camera motionMorphological changes to the dynamic object itself. Not only is the system moving, but it is actual ...

Traditional approaches to accelerated fatigue testing rely on heuristic methods with thresholds based mostly on experience and engineering judgment. These methods generally do not apply to the multiaxial dynamic loading situations characteristic of most aerospace applications and often result in uncharacteristic fatigue damage and failure modes during testing. To overcome the limitations of tradit ...

The Department of the Navy has a need for the development of an additive manufacturing (AM) process for key vacuum electronic device components to meet on-demand, flexible, and affordable manufacturing requirements. The goal of this Phase II effort is to develop and validate Electron Beam Melting (EBM) additive manufacturing (AM) technology for the production of vacuum electronic devices meeting t ...

This STTR project develops an innovative seed fabrication technology to address the fundamental size-quality limitation of gallium nitride (GaN) substratesthe indispensable key component for GaN-based vertical high-power devices. Currently, there is no viable GaN technology to realize large-area and low-defect substrates simultaneously. The technology producing 6" and larger GaN wafers results in ...

To meet the U.S. Navy, specifically PMA-201, need for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of concrete, including evaluating its strength, material properties, and damage localization, Luminit, LLC, and Southern Illinois University (SIU) propose to develop a novel Concrete Materials Characterization (COMAC) system, combining several methods of concrete characterization into a single sensor/software com ...

Active imaging systems are used to for imaging in degraded visual environments like that found in marine fog and other environments with a high level of attenuation and scattering from obscurants like fog, rain, smoke, and dust.These systems are still limited in range and resolution. SA Photonics is taking advantage of multiple image enhancement techniques, like wavelength tunability, pulse contro ...

Friction stir welding (FSW) is an attractive joining method where high strength low porosity welds can be attained. However, the high temperatures and forces required for welding high strength materials like steel require the use of exotic tools. Cubic boron nitride (cBN)-based tools offer attractive tool wear characteristics in steels, but are very costly. Conversely, refractory metal alloys are ...