Air Force sbir 04. 1 Proposal Submission Instructions
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| DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: The fully developed active calorimeter will be actively testing thermal control coating materials and devices on an actual space flight experiment, and will be providing actual, real-time data on the performance of these materials back to earth. This system will be applicable for testing materials that will be used both by military, as well as commercial space satellite, vehicles, and platforms ranging from the low earth to the geosynchronous orbits.
REFERENCES: 1. Karem, Robert D., "Satellite Thermal Control for Systems Engineers," Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics, Vol. 181, published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. 1998. 2. Brunetti, M.T., Codino, A., Federico, C., Giacomucci A., Grimani, C., Menichelli, M., Minelli, G., Miozza, M., Salvatori, I., and De Bortoli, L., "Readout Architecture of a Highly Segmented Silicon Calorimeter Operating in Space," IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Vol. 41, No. 4, August 1994, pp. 1714-20. KEYWORDS: active calorimeters, calorimeters in space environment, calorimetric measurement, active thermal control, thermal control coatings AF04-149 TITLE: Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) for Vehicle Health Monitoring TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes OBJECTIVE: Development of a wireless vehicle health monitoring system, using presently available MEMS or related technology to enable minimization of system size. DESCRIPTION: Wireless sensors/MEMS technology presents a new opportunity for vehicle health monitoring without need for wire or optical interconnects. Such systems would not be vulnerable to some of the major traditional concerns of vehicle health monitoring, for example, how the degradation of one unit or one wire or interconnect, or battle-damaged or environmentally degraded regions thereof, may affect the entire health monitoring system. The concerns regarding repair of embedded wiring or optical interconnects are also eliminated. Wireless sensors/MEMS have been successfully applied to measure the response characteristics of composites under environmental and mechanical loading conditions. Although the technology exists in different forms, there is a need of concerted effort to bring it into routine use. Further, the inherent characteristics of composites lend themselves to the use of MEMS and present an opportunity for attractive dividends on further work in this field, thereby enhancing the utility and applicability of composites. PHASE I: Develop and demonstrate a wireless system using MEMS or miniature sensors for measuring response, failure initiation, and crack propagation in composites, coupled with miniaturized transmission and remote recording capability. The phase I program should develop a circuit technology that can be produced as an integrated circuit chip in phase II. The system should permit interrogation of the damage sensors once an equipped aircraft has completed its mission, via inductive coupling. No on-board power source should be required. The interrogating, or "read," coil should be capable of reading signals from the transmitting antenna of the damage sensor at a minimum distance of 6 inches; the 6 inches must include a 1 inch thick composite plate covered with an Air Force compatible paint system. The crack location(s) can be detected using crack propagation strain gage technology for sensing potential multiple circuit breaks on a single strip. (See e.g. reference 4.) The signal transmission/reception characteristics of the phase I system should be demonstrated on an F-22 aircraft or a substitute aircraft acceptable to the F-22 System Program Office. The demonstration should simulate the inductively-coupled remote detection of a crack. An example potential detection system candidate could be based on existing RFID tag (RFID chip, antenna and connector) technology for multiple open/closed circuit remote inductively-coupled detection (see e.g. reference 3). PHASE II: A working prototype system will be developed and demonstrated in simulated service environments during the Phase II effort. In-service vibrational, temperature and humidity environments will be simulated during testing. The product or products will be applicable for retrofits of existing aircraft systems, as well as for incorporation into new systems. The ideal product would limit processing circuitry to approximately 1 square inch (excluding antenna and potential external capacitors), with the processing circuitry mounted directly to a 12-18 inch crack detection strip capable of sensing multiple open (strain/crack) circuits per inch. The Phase II program is expected to produce a product or products which can be transitioned to an Air Force system development program within 2 years following Phase II completion. Composite material systems are the primary target for the technology, but additional applicability to non-composite systems is encouraged. If further work is supported by system program offices, a Phase II Enhancement Program may be considered. DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: A further application for this technology is the remote sensing of strains and/or damage in test articles, which can then be transmitted to a remote data acquisition system. This strategy eliminates many complicated and cumbersome wire connects, which are prone to failures and require substantial effort to strand effectively so as to permit viewing of the test article and avoid fixture and part obstacles. REFERENCES: 1. Krantz, Donald G., Belk, John H., Biermann, Paul J., Troyk, Philip R., "Project summary: applied research on remotely queried embedded microsensors." Smart Structures and Materials 2000: Smart Electronics and MEMS, Proc. SPIE Vol. 3990, Vijay K. Varadan, Ed. June 2000, pp. 110-121. 2. Walsh, Shawn M., Butler, John C., Belk, John H., Lawler, Robert A., "Development of a structurally compatible sensor element." Advanced Nondestructive Evaluation for Structural and Biological Health Monitoring, Proc. SPIE Vol. 4335, Tribikram Kundu; Ed., July 2001, pp. 63-73. 3. Remotely Interrogatable Apparatus and Method for Detecting Defects in Structural Members, U.S. Patent 5,969,260. 4.http://www.vishay.com/company/brands/measurements-group/guide/500/lists/cpg_list.htm KEYWORDS: MEMs, miniature, sensor, transmit, receive, damage, composite AF04-151 TITLE: In-Flight Protective Transparency, and Personnel Armor TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Materials/Processes OBJECTIVE: Enhance personnel/aircraft survivability in hostile environments through advanced ballistic protection, aircraft windscreen transparencies, and advanced personnel armor protection materials. DESCRIPTION: Improved protection of aircraft windscreens from hostile environments and ballistic threats offers operational forces the potential for enhanced survivability in low flying environments. Advanced materials, such as aluminum oxynitride transparencies, provide significantly reduced weight; greater resistance to birdstrikes, runway debris, crazing, hard particle scratching, rain erosion (no damage at 650 mph), and ballistic penetration; and lower cost, higher durability alternatives for the protection of sensors for navigation and targeting equipment. Coatings for this transparent material will also improve anti-reflection performance. With special treatments, the resistance to ballistic penetration by .30 and .50 caliber projectiles, as well as armor-penetrating rounds, for aluminum oxynitride transparencies can be improved significantly over its current capability. This provides the potential not only to reduce windscreen weight, but also offers the opportunity to increase personnel armor protection without weight increase as an insert to standard Kevlar personnel jackets and armor appliqués for in-flight protection. Additional improvements to mission readiness result from an increase in windscreen service life and the reduction in windscreen weight. Low/slow flying aircraft and numerous special-purpose ground combat vehicles that are routinely exposed to a variety of lethal/hostile threats will be better protected through the use of this tremendously improved ballistic transparency. PHASE I: Develop and optimize improvements to ballistic performance of aluminum oxynitride transparency material and develop other protective surface treatments. Conduct ballistic testing on up to 10 panels to quantify improvements. The major aim of this development is to enable reduction of aereal density by 70 percent over current state-of-the-art transparent armor and by 30 percent over personnel body-armor inserts. PHASE II: Scale optimized designs to full size windscreen transparencies through process improvements and reduce cost per aereal unit by 20 percent over Phase I costs. Conduct ballistic testing on one full size, or its equivalent, aluminum oxynitride windscreen and ballistically test the standard windscreen material for quantitative comparison. Deliver one full size aluminum oxynitride windscreen for disposition at the convenience of the program manager. DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Commercial applications include barcode scanner windows, commercial transparent armor, semiconductor chip processing carriers, and high-intensity lighting envelopes. REFERENCES: 1. Goldman, L.M., Hartnett, T.M., Wahl, J.M., Ondercin, R.J. and Olson, K.R., "Recent Advances in Aluminum Oxynitride (ALONTM) Optical Ceramic," SPIE Proceedings, Vol. 4375, pp. 71-78 (2001). 2. Maguire, E.A., et al., "Aluminum Oxynitride's Resistance to Impact and Erosion," SPIE Proceedings, Vol. 297 (1981). KEYWORDS: ALON, aluminum oxynitride, transparent armor, ceramic powder processing, aircraft windscreens, personnel protection, laser protection AF04-153 TITLE: Wiring System In-Situ Health Monitoring Diagnostics TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes OBJECTIVE: Develop in situ sensors and associated controlsystems to monitor the health of aircraft wires and wiring systems. DESCRIPTION: A study on Air Force aircraft mishaps/accidents revealed 5 percent were related to electrical system failures, of which 43 percent were related to the wiring interconnection system, which includes numerous types of connector failures, wiring faults, and circuit breaker failures. The Navy currently expends approximately 1.8 million staff-hours annually troubleshooting and repairing aircraft wiring systems. The objective of this activity is to develop a wiring and wiring connector diagnostics capability suitable for near-real-time on-board sensing of system health to capture system failures as they occur to reduce can not duplicate (CND) or re-test OK” (RTOK) that occur during post-flight or on ground diagnostics. The ability to capture trends in the wiring system such as degradation, increased impedance, data bus anomalies, corrosion in metallic wiring elements, misfit connectors, degraded connector conductivity, wire insulation degradation, and moisture intrusion will enable the growth of a prognostic capability that will give the ability to plan detailed maintenance actions as required as opposed to as scheduled. This wiring health monitoring capability will be designed to retrofit into aging aircraft as well as new system designs. PHASE I: Review the current wiring systems designs and investigate access to wires, wire harnesses and wiring connectors to optimize placement of diagnostic sensors, sensor control logic and data management networks. Investigate the integration of wiring prognostics and diagnostic sensor systems that can be placed within the present wiring architecture to provide system coverage. Investigate existing and planned system level architectural capabilities/systems with which a wiring health monitoring capability can be integrated. Fabricate hardware and develop software to demonstrate a proof-of-principal prototype incorporating sensors integrated into the wiring for fault detection and fault isolation. Implement a wiring fault reporting system compatible with the chosen aircraft system. The initial demonstration can be a ground-based demonstration. PHASE II: Demonstrate a wiring health management system integrated with the aircraft diagnostic system on an operational or operational evaluation aircraft. This system shall detect, isolate, and provide distance to fault type data in the wiring harness for a variety of conductor-based faults/anomalies as well as insulation degradation. The system should report the wiring system failure to the upper level diagnostic manager and provide the technician with enough knowledge necessary to make repairs. After the repair, the system should verify and validate that the repair action has restored the performance of the wiring harness. DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Transition the system into the fleet of aircraft as an enhancement to present health management systems. The system will also have the ability to be transitioned to the commercial aircraft fleet. Aircraft certification, vehicle safety, and manufacturer liability concerns are major reasons for utilization of this technology. With the continued aging of both commercial and military fleets, wiring problems will continue to grow. The diagnostic tools developed under this SBIR will have widespread use. REFERENCES: 1. C. Furse and R. Haupt, "Down to the Wire: The Hidden Hazard of Aging Aircraft Wiring," IEEE Spectrum, Feb. 2001, pp. 35-39. 2. G. Smith, J.B. Schroeder, K. Blemel, and R. McMahon, "Prognostics for Wiring: Managing the Health of Aging Wiring Systems," Proc. of the Aging Aircraft Conference, September 1999. 3. G. Smith, J.B. Schroeder, R. McMahon, and R. Beach, "Organized Wiring: 21st Century Aircraft Infrastructure Backbone (in 20th Century Aircraft)" Proc. Of the Aging Aircraft Conference, May 2000. KEYWORDS: wiring, diagnostics, health management, sensors, nondestructive evaluation AF04-155 TITLE: Modeling and Simulation for the Accelerated Development of Materials TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes OBJECTIVE: Develop and commercialize simulation and experimental techniques for reducing the time to develop new materials. DESCRIPTION: The Air Force depends upon the timely development of materials to deliver technically advanced systems. However, materials development is time consuming and evolutionary. Modification and insertion of known materials into systems often spans 7 to 15 years. New materials require even longer times for first use. Development and insertion proceeds by a protracted iterative sequence of processing materials or components, and experimental characterization and evaluation. A challenge for the 21st century is to shorten the materials maturation time and to insert materials earlier into systems. Proposed efforts should focus on one or more of the following needs: 1) The prediction of key parameters that determine the nonlinear optical behavior of optical limiting materials for agile laser eye protection applications. In the condensed phase, first principles calculations of ground and excited states properties, such as reverse saturable (RSA) and two-photon (TPA) absorbing molecules are required. Furthermore, these methods have to be combined with hierarchical simplified models in multiscale simulations, to study the effects of the environment, for example, on the excited state properties of the green fluorescent protein biological chromophore, using mixed classical/quantum mechanical techniques, and large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, while in modeling periodic 1-D nanostructures such as nanotubes, computationally intensive first principle methods have to be applied. Available commercial codes do not address these state-of-the art requirements, for example, for carrying out time-dependent density functional theory calculations for TPA cross-sections predictions, in order to gain a fundamental understanding of structure-to-property relationships, being assessed as potential materials in devices that protect from optical threats. Such simulation tools could significantly accelerate the development of materials for laser protection, to be integrated with a comprehensive experimental program in laser protection, to assist in tackling the very difficult task of developing materials for laser protection that meet specific requirements. 2) Multi-scale integration and visualization of materials modeling and experiments. With many different material systems and at many size scales, our ability to develop models of material behavior has advanced well beyond our ability to efficiently evaluate and calibrate these models. Evaluation and calibration of sophisticated, physics-based models are hampered by the relative paucity of data that is available through traditional test techniques. One approach for efficiently acquiring large amounts of good-quality data is through full-field, two- or three-dimensional (2-D or 3-D) deformation or strain mapping accomplished with machine vision. With these techniques, it is possible to study material behavior under a wide variety of conditions and at a wide variety of spatial scales. It is also possible to efficiently calibrate and evaluate probabilistic models through automated and extensive sampling. Study of both the experimental data acquired through these techniques and modeling results and the successful integration of the two would benefit greatly from advanced visualization techniques. Phase I of the proposed SBIR should concentrate on developing a system for acquiring full-field, 2-D data for regions of interest (ROI) of 200 mm or greater at room temperature. The physical translation, including focusing, of the acquisition system may be manual in Phase I. Also, correlation with model results and visualization of both experimental data and modeling results may be accomplished post-test in Phase I. Phase II should extend the accomplishments of Phase I to smaller size scales and to higher temperatures. Phase II should also incorporate automated machine-vision techniques for physical translation, including auto-focusing, and enable full communication between the experimental operations and the modeling, including feedback. Further, the modeling, correlation between the model and experiment, and visualization should be in real- or near-real time. The resulting system should be modular in design, enabling easy insertion of a wide variety of material models, including analytical and numerical models, and microstructural characterization of the experimental specimen through image-analysis techniques that would, in turn, be reflected in the material-behavior model. 3) Tools for simulation of unplanned thermal and chemical effects on component parts during heat treatment and, particularly in service, non-ideal conditions can occur in which parts can be exposed to atmospheres containing out-of-specification amounts of impurities or thermal spikes can occur during heating in which the temperature is out-of-specification. This could happen, for example, when an engine fire occurs or an unusual substance is ingested. To assess the air worthiness of parts subjected to these out-of-specification conditions, their effects must be estimated. Insofar as the microstructure is concerned in component parts, structures can be altered either through the appearance of an additional phase or the growth of existing phases within the microstructure. Ideally, a tool that would be able to simulate the effects of both of these conditions would be extremely helpful in assessing the effects of these out-of-specification conditions. This would involve both thermodynamic as well as kinetic modeling. That is, thermodynamics can predict evolutions that can happen and rule out those that cannot. Kinetics can predict the extent to which a phase would evolve and the extent to which it would compete with other relaxation mechanisms. A Phase I project should implement the thermodynamic modeling aspects of a simulation tool for predicting the effects of unplanned events on microstructure. In particular, this tool would predict, given an approximate environmental and thermal history, the set of phases that could have formed during these excursions from the ideal. A user interface would consist of methods of inputting (1) alloy composition, (2) gas composition, and (3) approximate time-temperature profiles. It would provide, in graphical form, a display of the phases that could have formed under these conditions. In addition to constructing the interface described above and integrating the technology for making thermodynamic computations in commercial alloy systems, this work would involve constructing a database of impurity elements expected to be present as environmental contaminants. Phase II efforts should extend the work to include kinetic modeling of microstructural effects to allow assessment of the likelihood of undesirable formation and growth of phases. PHASE I: Focus on 1 or 2 well defined critical issues or uncertainties, which when successfully addressed, provide a deliverable proof of concept for the new simulation or experimental tool. This must include an early software/hardware demonstration, or a complete detailed description of how the new tool will be constructed, implemented, and affect shortening materials insertion time. This may also include working drawings, critical software modules or other tangible, proposer-defined proof of concept. The proposal should demonstrate reasonable expectation that proof of principle can be attained within Phase I, and that both commercial potential and commercialization paths exists. PHASE II: Develop and test the simulation/experimental method from the Phase I effort, such that a commercial simulation/experimental tool or object is made available. Proposers should expect that Phase II may result in delivering a commercialization plan and a working version of the tool, with documentation, to AFRL for use in the laboratory. DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: The developed approaches would have broad commercial applicability due to the large number of commercial air, space, and engine systems that have materials requirements of a very similar nature to those faced by the DoD. REFERENCES: 1. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Proposer Information Pamphlet,BAA 98-03, Accelerated Insertion of Materials (AIM), Defense Sciences Office, January 2000, www.arpa.mil/ito/Solicitations/PIP_9803.html. KEYWORDS: materials simulation, materials representation, materials insertion, development time, computational materials science, materials performance prediction, materials affordability AF04-156 TITLE: Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSEL) TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Weapons OBJECTIVE: Exploit advances in the fiber optic communications to develop higher power and more reliable devices for replacing edge-emitter diode technology. DESCRIPTION: There are basically two concepts which have been developed for semiconductor lasers operating at wavelengths in the 0.8-1.0 micron region: edge emitters and surface emitters. Edge emitters were developed first and have been used since the 70`s for both pulsed and continuous-wave operation in single and multiple emitter and array (bar) configurations. The single emitter devices suffer from inherent optical damage, divergence and wavelength stability due to temperature dependence which limit the utility for many pulsed laser radar type applications. The optical damage is a rapid heating problem at the output facet (where the fluence is highest) and is exacerbated by residual absorption in the coating materials. When the pulse durations are short (less than 20 nanoseconds) there is no effective heat sinking to the bulk material and the coatings undergo large temperature excursions. The divergence problem is coupled to the damage problem. To compensate, the width of the diode must be increased to provide the sufficient energy, the increased width leads to multi-transverse modes and associated poor beam quality. The wavelength shift with temperature (approx. 0.3 nm per oC) is material dependent and has significant performance implications when transceivers must work over the temperature (-54 to 160) ranges required for military systems. 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