Award Data

Clear Science Corp. and the University of Texas at Austin will develop and demonstrate technology that accurately quantifies aero-optical distortion associated with high-energy laser (HEL) weapons on rotorcraft and will utilize the information in designing adaptive optics (AO) systems to maximize HEL system performance over the full range of flight conditions. Aero-optical distortion arises from v ...

TDA and its University partner, Cornell University, first address the stress assisted corrosion crack growth from concurrent multi-scale modeling through atomistic simulations in order to formulate and calibrate mesoscale Peridynamics model. Initially, the multi-scale CADD simulations will utilize reactive force field potentials for the 7075-T6Al in water to simulate stress corrosion cracking and ...

Susceptibility to delamination is one of the major weaknesses of ceramic matrix composites (CMCs). Knowledge of the resistance of composite to interlaminar fracture is essential for life cycle prediction analyses of structural components. The current test method for Mode I-interlaminar fracture toughness, the double cantilevered beam (DCB), is not satisfactory for thin CMC specimens because the co ...

MZA partnered with the University of Notre Dame proposes to conduct high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations providing volumetric time-resolved aero-optical disturbance modeling for rotary-wing aircraft flow dominated by wing-tip vortices. We will develop detailed wave-optics models of a baseline Navy helicopter beam director including engineering-level simulations of the beam ...

For Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to operate seamlessly in both the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS) and abroad, it will be crucial that they possess a sense-and-avoid (SAA) capability that can ensure safe operations among maneuvering, non-cooperative aircraft. Numerica Corporation, in partnership with Johns Hopkins University, proposes to develop a set of algorithms to model the uncertaintie ...

Integrally bladed rotors (IBR), also called blisks, are becoming increasingly common in the compressor and fan sections of modern turbine engines. The integration of the blades and disks into a single part has the advantages of reduced part count, reduced weight, increased reliability, and increased performance. However, a drawback of this technology is that individual blades cannot be easily repl ...

Autoclaves are typically used to fabricate high-quality composite components with acceptable thermal properties and low void volume. They provide elevated temperature processing cycles and external pressure required for adequate compaction to achieve these desired properties. However, autoclaves represent large capital and energy investment while limiting the size of fabricated parts and productio ...

Large aerospace composite structures currently require autoclaves and ovens to achieve desired performance which are expensive to purchase, costly to operate, and often limit part size and production rate. Ovens and autoclaves rely on convective heating which is inefficient, consumes large amounts of energy, and can be difficult to predict. Alternative cure processes using external heaters or hot ...

For this research program, Mainstream will collaborate with Colorado State University (CSU) to develop a nanostructured heater capable of curing aerospace grade composites out-of-autoclave (OOA). The use of autoclaves is the primary cost driver in composite manufacturing due to size limitations, long processing times, and inefficient energy usage. Therefore, the Navy is looking to develop a nanost ...

To realize the full potential of autonomous systems, it is imperative that they behave safely, correctly, ethically, and legally. Providing these assurances through offline verification alone is insufficient, due to the complex and changing nature of autonomous systems. Online monitoring and corrective actions are necessary to account for uncertainties, and to increase trust between a human superv ...