Air force 17. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Phase I proposal Submission Instructions

OBJECTIVE: Develop super low inductance HV Fireset System, focused on enhanced performance for CDU switches and HV capacitors subsystem technology with very low ESR, high peak current capability, and ultra-fast di/dt current rates operating from 1kV to 60kV.

DESCRIPTION: Both the DoD and DoE explosive research community heavily rely upon high voltage (HV) Fire-set and Pulsed Power Systems to conduct detonation transfer reliability research to characterize the performance of explosive trains for future Air Force (AF) weapon systems. In addition, the described research is strongly tied to developing high fidelity hydro-code numerical models of detonation trains, which provides tremendous cost-savings when it comes to weapon and experimental design implementations.

Furthermore, HV Fire-set systems are used for initiation studies to discharge large amounts of energy at ultra-fast di/dt current rates into Explosive Foil Initiators (EFIs) to quantify detonation transfer performance of various flyer materials, geometries, and thicknesses into insensitive munition (IM) booster materials. Within the Air Force Research Lab, it has been discovered with their current HV fire-set systems that HV capacitor discharge unit (CDU) capacitance & CDU switch performance is a critical technology base that needs refined development, and is a significant contributor to the overall performance reliability and repeatability of these systems. More importantly, the available energy, energy transfer efficiency, and peak current transfer rate of the HV Fireset system allows for optimum flyer velocities to be achieved. The advancement of CDU switch, HV capacitor, and trigger technologies may vastly expand the DoD’s and DoE’s capability to conduct more robust experiments in controlling the resolution of achieving various flyer velocities. As a result, higher fidelity data sets can be attained to improve our understanding for detonation train performance and foster robust and reliable designs for future DoD weapon systems.

Key HV Fireset System design problems are prevalently associated with deficiencies in inductance, energy density transfer, and di/dt rates within the overall electrical performance limited by CDU switch performance & HV capacitor parasitic inductance. Development efforts should focus on leveraging both existing HV Pulsed Power switch and capacitor technologies. Switch technologies considered for Fireset integration may include spark gaps, rail gaps, and surface planar discharge gap switches that are either electrically or optically triggered, with consideration for other state of the art options. Additionally, the proposers are encouraged to investigate the various cathode, anode, potting, and dielectric insulating materials, implemented for future designs to significantly decrease inductance, increase the life cycle, and ease of maintenance for both switch & capacitor technology. A suite of HV capacitor & CDU switch design solutions to cover various ranges of operating voltages are acceptable, with the goal to achieve the widest range as possible to achieve super high peak current outputs at ultra-fast di/dt current transfer rates. Ideally, the proposers should have extensive expertise in HV pulsed powered system & capacitor design.

PHASE I: Investigate state of the art HV switching and capacitor technologies to improve overall performance of conventional fireset systems. Develop an initial design concept of a HV Fireset system that will be used to characterize performance capabilities for EFI technologies specified by the Air Force Research Laboratory. The design concept should be validated by an electrodynamic multi-physic code.

PHASE II: Develop and construct a prototype design of a proposed system from phase I. Perform laboratory bench level experiments to demonstrate the performance of the fireset system design. Establish operating voltage range along with the entire systems lump sum R, L, & C parameters including the output load representative to an EFI. In addition, provide ring down and load current waveforms at the various operating voltages and load conditions.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The DoE and DoD will benefit from the utilization of highly optimized fireset systems, which will advance capabilities to test EFIs beyond conventional energy levels. As a result, extensive experimentation may be performed for advanced detonation transfer studies of novel IM and EFI technologies

REFERENCES:

1. H. Chau, G. Dittbenner, W. Hofer, C. Honodel, D. Steinberg, J. Stroud, R.

2. R. C. Weingart, R. K. Jackson and C. A. Honodel, "Shock Initiation of PBX-9404 by Electrically Driven Flyer Plates," Propellants and Explosives 5, pp. 158-162, 1980.

KEYWORDS: HV Pulsed Power, HV Pulsed Power Discharge Capacitor, HV Fireset, HV Electric Gun, Capacitor Discharge Unit Switch, Sparkgap, CDU Switch Technology

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 5.4.c.(8) of the solicitation and within the AF Component-specific instructions. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. Please direct questions to the AF SBIR/STTR Contracting Officer, Ms. Gail Nyikon, gail.nyikon@us.af.mil.

OBJECTIVE: Apply recent advances and develop innovative solutions in deep learning techniques to support future autonomous weapons.

DESCRIPTION: Next generation weapons will incorporate increased levels of autonomy. They will require rapid critical decision making based on limited sensory inputs while ensuring high levels of trust. The AF desires deep learning architectures, analytical tools to evaluate machine learning architectures and technologies as applied to weapon navigation, control, multi-modal information processing, target evaluation, and other air-launched weapon functions.

Offeror will use advances in nonlinear dynamics theory to characterize and understand deep learning networks or other machine learning architectures. Innovative solutions incorporating dynamic learning, efficient hardware design and high levels of trust are a priority. Proposed solutions will focus on particular applicability to air-launched weapons. Approaches incorporating weapon cooperation, multi-modalities and multi-sensor compressed data fusion are acceptable. Offeror will develop a prototype machine learning architecture and evaluation toolset suitable for integration into AF weapons and weapon development.

PHASE I: Phase I will entail development of the basic concept of the deep learning technology with supported modeling or analysis. It will conclude with a clearly laid out design for prototype deep learning architecture for munitions and toolset specifications.

PHASE II: Phase II will result in a developed deep learning architecture and toolset using the design generated in Phase I.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Phase III will transition the technology to an appropriate platform.

REFERENCES:

1. Schmidhuber, J., "Deep Learning in Neural Networks: An Overview," Neural Networks, V. 61, Elsevier, Jan. 2015.

2. LeCun, Yann, Yoshua Bengio, and Geoffrey Hinton, “Deep learning,” Nature

3. Ciresan, Dan, Ueli Meier, and Jürgen Schmidhuber, “Multi-column deep neural networks for image classification,” Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition

4. Marc’Aurelio Ranzato, Y., Lan Boureau, and Yann LeCun, “Sparse feature learning for deep belief networks,” Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, vol. 20, 2007, pp. 1185-1192.

KEYWORDS: deep learning, neural networks, dynamic learning

AF171-091

TITLE: Corrosion Indicating Coatings for Aircraft Bilges and Wheel Wells

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials/Processes

OBJECTIVE: Develop a coating for application in aircraft bilge and wheel well locations that will change color upon corrosion of substrate, indicating where corrosion maintenance needs to be performed.

DESCRIPTION: Bilge and landing gear wheel well locations are considered severe corrosion environments on aircraft. Bilges of transport aircraft are exposed to contaminants leaked from cargo, such as sand and salt laden support equipment, tanks, etc. Additionally, any leaks from lavatory or other moisture intrusion settle into bilge locations. Landing gear are exposed to corrosive elements from runway debris and conductive runway deicers, and suffer impact damage which can serve as initiation spots for corrosion. To facilitate inspections for hydraulic leaks and other maintenance, these locations are painted gloss white for visibility. However, corrosion develops underneath these locations and is difficult to assess, until significant corrosion has already occurred. A coating for these locations that changes color upon initial corrosion would enable maintainers to identify and repair corrosion, before it becomes too severe and costly to repair. The color change must result from corrosion, not just changes in pH, as temporary changes in pH do not by itself necessarily result in corrosion. This coating shall be qualified to either MIL-PRF-85285 or MIL-PRF-32339 at the end of Phase III. The use of government materials, equipment, data, or facilities can be accessed through the existing CRADA.

PHASE I: Develop prototype coating system, including topcoat and specific primer, if required, that will change color from white to another color readily identifiable by maintainers as requiring maintenance, when corrosion occurs on substrate. The color change cannot be on pH alone. Demonstrate coating color change in comparison to baseline MIL-PRF-85285 gloss white coatings under salt fog evaluation.

PHASE II: Perform long-term outdoor exposure as described in MIL-PRF-32239 to evaluate long-term corrosion performance of Phase I developed coating. Demonstrate reparability of coatings where the coating used in the repaired area corrosion at the same level the original coating performed. Demonstrate compatibility of coatings with Air Force maintenance chemicals.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Working with AFLCMC/EZP, identify testing required to transition technology across Air Force weapon system platforms. Perform coatings testing on all substrate materials identified, and qualify coating to MIL-PRF-23377/MIL-PRF-85285 or MIL-PRF-32339 as required.

REFERENCES:

1. http://corrosion.ksc.nasa.gov/.htm.

2. https://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/pnkpaint.htm.

3. http://www.corrosion-club.com/smart.htm.

KEYWORDS: bilge, color change, corrosion, paint, wheel well

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials/Processes

OBJECTIVE: Incentivize small business to develop additives that can be integrated into currently qualified aerospace coating systems (primers and/or topcoats) to regulate strippability with near-infrared (IR) laser systems. The coating systems with the additives included shall be qualified to either MIL-PRF-23377, MIL-PRF-85285, MIL-PRF-32239, TT-P-2760, or MIL-P-81733. Additionally, the proposed additives cannot result in coatings with higher environmental, safety or occupational health risks than the current coatings.

DESCRIPTION: USAF aircraft are currently coated with epoxy primers qualified to MIL-PRF-23377 and polyurethane topcoats qualified to MIL-PRF- 85285. These coating systems deteriorate over time and must be removed periodically to allow for substrate inspections and to apply fresh coatings. The current removal processes include chemical depaint, abrasive media blasting, and hand sanding. These processes are difficult to control making selective removal of different coating layers extremely difficult. As a result the coating systems are completely removed.

The USAF is implementing robotic and handheld laser depaint systems to replace the current coating removal processes for both full aircraft and off-aircraft components to reduce process times and waste generation. The robotic systems are based on either continuous wave or pulsed fiber lasers with 1070nm wavelengths while the handheld systems are pulsed Nd:YAG lasers with 1064nm wavelengths. The lasers interact with the organic component of the coating to break down the coating for removal. The continuous wave lasers remove the coatings by pyrolizing them while the pulsed lasers ablate the coatings through thermal shock resulting from the high pulse energy. Color recognition systems on the current continuous wave robotic laser system have shown the ability to distinguish between colors of topcoats and primers allowing for basic selective removal however complete removal of the primer layer requires multiple passes increasing processing times. The handheld laser systems currently do not have such capability so it is not possible to remove topcoats without damaging the primer underneath.

The USAF is seeking either additives that can be incorporated into the current topcoats and primers making make them easier to remove or additives that can be incorporated into the primers to make them more resistant to removal by the laser systems. The proposed solution should provide the same performance properties as the current coatings. The proposed additives also cannot result in coatings with higher environmental, safety or occupational health risks than the current coatings.

PHASE I: Develop additives that can be incorporated into current coatings and evaluate laser interactions with the modified coatings. Provide an initial cost/benefit analysis.

PHASE II: Further investigate replacement solution to optimize performance. Develop a test matrix to demonstrate additional test criteria for the acceptance of the proposed solution change and perform tests. Work with aerospace community to preform field evaluation tests on materials/components of interest to evaluate system in “real word” environment. Update cost/benefit analysis. The use of the technology is geared specifically to facilitate stripping or non-stripping of AF coating systems. The additives will have to work with a particular type of laser that is already in use in AF depot facilities.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Work with one or more aerospace depots to demonstrate the use of the proposed solution change and explore implementation and qualification on the repair line.

REFERENCES:

1. Executive Order 13423 of January 24, 2007 “Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management.” March 19, 2015 - EO 13423 has been revoked with the publication of the new EO, "Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade." As guidance and instructions are issued for the new EO, a new EO 13693 Program Area is being built.

2. Memorandum (DTM) 12-003 “Control and Management of Surface Accumulations from Lead, Hexavalent Chromium, and Cadmium Operations.”

KEYWORDS: aerospace coatings, coating removal, lasers, paint removal

AF171-093

TITLE: Low Hyrdrogen Embrittlement (LHE) Brush Plating Chemistries for Cadmium (Cd) Replacement

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials/Processes

OBJECTIVE: Incentivize small business to develop solutions that can replace the current cadmium (Cd) chemistries used on high strength steel aircraft components for corrosion protection.

DESCRIPTION: Cadmium (Cd) has been widely used in the aerospace industry and the Department of Defense (DoD) due to its excellent corrosion resistance, adhesion, and lubricity characteristics. Cd is a carcinogen, with heavily regulated use. DoD, Air Force, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) policies require the AF to eliminate Cd uses and exposures. OSHA has issued multiple citations against AF depots with respect to Cd use. Executive Order 13423 of January 24, 2007 “Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management” requires government agencies to reduce use and dispose of toxic and hazardous materials, including Cd. The Under Secretary of Defense Directive-Type Memorandum (DTM) 12-003 “Control and Management of Surface Accumulations from Lead, Hexavalent Chromium, and Cadmium Operations” directs the DoD to employ procedures to minimize accumulations of hazardous chemicals - lead, chromium, and cadmium.

The USAF is seeking alternative brush plating chemistries to replace the current Cd solutions used on high strength steel aircraft components such as landing gear and engine mounts. The proposed solution should provide the same, or enhanced corrosion resistance, adhesion, and lubricity characteristics while being considered environmentally friendly and reducing worker occupational health hazards. The proposed solution should not introduce hydrogen embrittlement into the components. Also, the proposed solution should not use any chemicals/compounds currently on the Office of the Secretary of Defense's (OSD's) Emerging Contaminants Watch and/or Action lists.

PHASE I: Develop a chemistry and solution that can be tested on coupons similar to AF application materials. Demonstrate preliminary evaluation criteria for application process, corrosion resistance, adhesion properties and absence of hydrogen embrittlement on limited sample size. Provide an initial cost/benefit analysis. The contractor will provide all necessary equipment and materials to perform this Phase I effort.

PHASE II: Further investigate replacement solution optimize performance. Develop a test matrix to demonstrate additional test criteria for the acceptance of the proposed solution change and perform tests. Work with aerospace community and Air Force representatives to identify and obtain test parts from aircraft to perform field evaluation tests on materials/components of interest in “real world” environment. Update cost/benefit analysis.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Finalize test matrix to demonstrate with additional test criteria for acceptance of proposed solution change. Work with aerospace community and the Air Force representatives to perform field evaluation tests on complete system/aircraft/platform using materials/components of interest and developed in the prior Phases to demonstrate and evaluate system in “real word” environment. Update cost/benefit analysis.

REFERENCES:

1. Executive Order 13423 of January 24, 2007 “Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management.”

2. Memorandum (DTM) 12-003 “Control and Management of Surface Accumulations from Lead, Hexavalent Chromium, and Cadmium Operations.”

KEYWORDS: cadmium (Cd) elimination, environmentally benign, green chemistry, low hydrogen embrittling brush plating, worker safety

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials/Processes

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 5.4.c.(8) of the solicitation and within the AF Component-specific instructions. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. Please direct questions to the AF SBIR/STTR Contracting Officer, Ms. Gail Nyikon, gail.nyikon@us.af.mil.

OBJECTIVE: Develop materials and processes to remove powder coatings from military weapon systems and associated equipment.

DESCRIPTION: DOD has been positioning strategically to develop new environmentally friendly anti-corrosion materials and processes. One of which is the development and usage of powder coating systems. These new coating systems are very difficult to remove with current state-of-the-art removal processes during maintenance. Millions of dollars are spent every year in repair/refurbish or condemning actions on aerospace weapon system components that have been de-painted using current technologies to remove the new coating systems. The current state-of-the-art process to remove these types of coatings usually involved chemical or a dry media removal. These coatings tend to be difficult to remove and current methods have hazardous waste issues.

The purpose of this effort is to develop methods to remove powder coating systems from the multiple substrates, especially soft substrates like magnesium on aerospace housings and other aerospace components. Various methods, such as (chemical, mechanical media in water and/or water blasting, or laser and flash jet removal technologies), need to be explored during this effort. Use of any government materials, equipment, data, or facilities will not be required for this effort since the proposed technology could be applicable to many powder coating refurbishing operations, both DoD and non DoD. The project will provide the government and industry with a non-damaging method of powder coating removal and not cause severe damage during the removal process. The result will be fewer condemned components due to substrate removal/damage during the coating removal process.

Additional objectives are as follows: (1) The process shall be non-toxic and environmental friendly, (2) it shall be easy to preform and be field-level implementable (using current utilities), and (3) when coating system is removed the surface profile should be without any defects and ready for a new coating system application. (Surface profile would be similar to a near white metal condition typified by the Near White Metal, SSPC-SP 10, NACE #2 for Steel.), (4) with no (objective) or minimal (threshold) new training and personal protection equipment to accomplish the difficult powder coating removal process.

PHASE I: Develop formulations and processes to remove the powder coating from metal and/or composites. These formulations and processes would also need to demonstrate no damage to the substrates. Develop a return on investment estimate and update it as the project progresses.