Army 17. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions

PHASE II: Optimize the down-selected approach(es) that were demonstrated during Phase I. Create robust engineering data related to the capabilities of the techniques to allow evaluation in a full-scale cyclic engine endurance tests following the completion of the Phase II program. During the Phase II, the gas generator bladed disk (blisk) or nozzle vane assembly substrate with the proposed self-regenerative solution (self-regenerative layered or graded environmental barrier coatings (EBC) bonded to functionally graded CMC material or unique functionally graded bulk CMC material substrate with inherent self-regenerative EBC properties) for blades, nozzles and shrouds should survive a combusted sand and a combination of salt and water vapor exposure at the feed rate of 25 gm/min for 3 minutes each for a minimum of 100 hot/cold cycles of steady-state flame temperature of 1550 deg Celsius or higher. This will be followed by a relevant engine mission profile test cycle as defined by US Army Research Laboratory. The estimated life increase over baseline CMC bulk substrate component should be over 100%.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The optimized enhanced self-regenerative protective coating and bulk substrate CMC technology shall be incorporated into test engines or onto test components for full scale engine test validation to TRL-6 or higher in conjunction with Gas Turbine Engine manufacturers. A targeted platform would be technology transition to Army Aviation's Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) which is the enhanced new replacement engine for UH60 and AH-64 Army helicopters.

DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The resulting technology will enable significantly enhance time-on-wing/durability of hot section components of future advanced engines with high turbine inlet temperatures operating in particle laden environments. Both military and commercial aircraft applications are likely to benefit from this technology.

REFERENCES:

1. Murugan, M., Ghoshal, A., Barnett, B. D., Pepi, M., Kerner, K.A., “Blade Surface-Particle Interaction and Multifunctional Coatings For Gas Turbine Engine,” 51st AIAA/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Propulsion and Energy Forum, (AIAA 2015-4193) Orlando, FL July 2015

2. Lee, K. N., Fox, D. S., Robinson, R. C., and Bansal, N. P, "Environmental Barrier Coatings for Silicon-Based Ceramics. High Temperature Ceramic Matrix Composites," High Temperature Ceramic Matrix Composites, Edited by W. Krenkel, R. Naslain, H. Schneider, Wiley-Vch, Weinheim, Germany, 224-229 (2001)

3. Bhatt, R.T., Choi, S.R., Cosgriff, L.M., Fox, D.S., Lee, K.N.; “Impact Resistance of Environmental Barrier Coated SiC/SiC Composites”, Mater Sci. Eng., A 476 8-19 (2008)

4. K.M. Grant, S. Kramer, J.P.A. Lofvander and C.G. Levi, Surf. And Coat. Technol., 202 (2007) 653-657

KEYWORDS: Self Regenerative Environmental Barrier Coatings; Gas Turbine Engine; Particle Laden Degraded Engine Environments; Ceramic Matrix Composites

A17-031

TITLE: High-Fidelity Design Tools and Technologies for High-Pressure Heavy Fuel Injectors

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform

OBJECTIVE: Develop high-fidelity science-based tools for the design and demonstration of innovative high-pressure heavy fuel injector technology for Aerial and Ground Engines.

DESCRIPTION: The Army is developing new heavy fuel engines for platforms that exclusively rely on direct injection fuel delivery systems. Combat vehicles such as the Gray Eagle MQ-1C, and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) are powered by commercial diesel engines running primarily on JP-8 or F-24 fuel. To meet and exceed the range and operational requirements, the new engines need to provide significant advancements in fuel flexibility and fuel conversion efficiencies leading to highly optimized, high performance combustion engines. However, there are significant technical barriers towards the performance evaluation of new fuel propositions and injector concepts. These challenges can be primarily attributed to the insufficient physical understanding and the restricted experimental access to the atomization zone near the injector, the so called primary atomization region [1], and the absence of science-based tools that enable an accurate prediction of atomizing diesel sprays. Although existing computational tools can provide quantitative data as well as visual images with ease, they are missing critical capabilities, which means significant parameter tuning is needed based on experimental data often not accessible in real engine operating conditions [2].

The direct numerical simulation (DNS) continuum model, is a predictive approach with high-fidelity, but its computational cost would not be affordable for several decades for practical engineering purposes [3]. An attractive alternative with reasonable cost is the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approach. However, existing subgrid-scale (SGS) models for two-phase LES flows applicable to primary atomization still lack an adequate physical description of the interface breakup and thus are limited to predict the effect of under-resolved breakup phenomena [4-5]. Therefore, a critical need exists to develop novel concepts for subgrid-scale LES models based on the underlying physical principles governing the breakup at the interface scales. The subgrid-scale models should capture the gas-liquid interactions and interface dynamics at the under-resolved scales and correctly predict the droplet size distributions due to atomization. The model should be demonstrated in an LES framework and coupled to a phase-interface capturing method, such as level-set or Volume of Fluids (VoF) [3-4]. The software should be scalable to take full advantage of the state-of-the-art high performance computing (HPC) systems. The advancements made in the design tools should be validated by experimental measurements on high-pressure nozzle components and concepts. The nozzle shall be a stand-alone component, accommodating 1 to 6 orifices at the nozzle tip with orifice diameter in the range of 0.1-0.3mm, and a k-factor between -2.5-2.5. The tool should be well validated with experimental data covering a range of injection pressures (500-1500bar), oxidizer density variations (10-35 kg/m3), and fuel properties including JP-8, F-24 fuels or alternatives. The tool should be applicable to the range of vehicle designs in consideration by Army platforms. To enhance the data analysis and interpretation of results, the large data sets generated should also be ready to integrate with interactive visualization packages [6]. The development of these science-based design tools and experimentally validated concepts for demonstration will solve existing critical Army bottlenecks; accelerate technology development; and lead to widespread commercialization for civilian applications. Liquid fuel atomization is highly relevant and controls the fuel conversion efficiency of propulsion systems such as automotive engines, aircraft engines, and land based power generation devices.

PHASE I: Investigate the underlying physical principals necessary to create a proof-of-concept subgrid-scale analytical models for evaluating fuel atomization and injector performance. Develop feasible concepts and provide a methodology within a computational framework to model sub-grid scale breakup that is modular and can easily integrate with engineering software tools. The methodology will be part of an extended LES framework that will describe liquid-gas interfacial effects accurately based on level set or VoF methods. Demonstrate the potential for enhanced accuracy over existing atomization models that do not account for sub-grid scale interfacial effects by at least 5% in atomization quality and behavior. The results will also consider comparison to existing DNS or experimental data for concept vetting and validation. Develop methods to fabricate nozzle components; methods for experimental testing; and concepts for subsequent validation of design tools. The deliverables should also include a report that will describe the physical basis of the new technology, including mathematical formulation, engineering description, and algorithms employed in the feasibility study.

PHASE II: Demonstrate the selected concept subgrid-scale analytical model capabilities for assessing and evaluating fuel atomization and injector performance. Demonstrate a methodology within an LES framework to model sub-grid scale breakup that is modular and can be integrated with engineering software tools. Demonstrate that the methodology is capable of describing liquid-gas interfacial effects accurately based on level set or VoF methods. The methodology should be capable of accurately resolving the mechanism of primary atomization from a complex diesel injector including drop-size distribution and fuel/air mixture. Fabricate nozzle components/concepts and experimentally obtain data and assess performance. Analyze the experimental data and the integrated software design tool simulations of direct injection liquid fuel delivery in the spray dense region (to validate and demonstrate improvements in atomizing quality and behavior). Experimental testing and demonstration of the designed atomizer components are desired in these realms: injecting fuel at high-pressures (500-1500bar), gaseous density variations (10-35 kg/m3), and fuel properties including JP-8, F-24 or alternatives. A documented design framework is required including models and algorithms that allows flexible additions, modification and adaptations for the envisioned capability enhancements based on a demonstrated predictive LES framework.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The enhanced version of the high-fidelity computational design tool resulting from this project will have wide-range of commercial applications. Direct applications include designing prototypes of new injector concepts and components for Army combat vehicle diesel engines. The injector components will demonstrate a significant improvement in fuel conversion efficiency and atomization quality over existing industrial atomizers. The concepts components; models, numerical methods, and design tools will be transitioned to the Army and also commercialized or licensed to leading industrial fuel injector nozzle and engine manufacturers.

REFERENCES:

1. Fansler, T.D., Parrish, S.E., “Spray measurement technology: a review”, Measurement Science and Technology, 26 (1), 2015

2. Bravo, L., Kweon, C.B., “A review on liquid spray models for diesel engine computational analysis”, ARL Technical Report, TR-6932, May 2014

3. Gorokhovski, M., Herrmann, M., “Modeling primary atomization”, Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics 40 (1), 343–366, 2008

4. Bravo, L., Ivey, C.B., Kim, D., Bose, T., “High-fidelity simulation of atomization in diesel engine sprays”, Center for Turbulence Research Proceedings of the Summer Program, 2014

5. Bode, M., Diewald, F., Broll, D., Heyse, J, Le Chenadec, V., Pitsch, H., “Influence of the Injector Geometry on Primary Breakup in Diesel Injector Systems", SAE Technical Paper 2014-01-1427, 2014

6. Simon Su, Aashish Chaudhary, Patrick O’Leary, Berk Geveci, William R. Sherman, Heriberto Neito, Luis Francisco-Revilla, “Virtual reality enabled scientific visualization workflow,” 2015 IEEE 1st Workshop on Everyday Virtual Reality (WEVR) (23-23 March 2015), dio: 10.1109/WEVR.2015.7151692

KEYWORDS: Fuel Injectors, Internal Combustion Engines, Primary Atomization, Large Eddy Simulation, Subgrid Scale Model

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform

OBJECTIVE: Develop a revolutionary design concept and technologies for modular multi-mode adaptive advanced cycle gas turbine engines for Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft/UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles).

DESCRIPTION: The role of Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft/UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) is becoming more vital for Army’s tactical megacity warfare operations. The tactical requirements for performance, agility, reliability, maintainability, sustainability, and most importantly affordability, have created the need for an advanced cycle, multi-mode propulsion system for enabling hover efficient and high speed next generation VTOL UAV. Efficient, compact, durable, lightweight turbomachinery with adaptive engine-on-demand concepts are needed to innovate future modular advanced cycle gas turbine engines [1]. Such an engine, must address the conflicting requirements of large amounts of power generation, while producing substantial increases in power-on-demand capability. The need for a modular adaptive engine at both low and high altitudes, necessitates a design that is optimized around multiple operating points [2]. The increasing need for innovative gas turbine engine adaptive concepts to power the future VTOL UAVs by as much as 75% more engine power necessitates the need to rapidly test and field gas turbine engines of differing sizes and changing engine configurations on the fly [3, 4]. A highly efficient engine is needed to allow for VTOL with hover and high speed capabilities while generating additional power (75% increase in engine power) to power future sophisticated sensors and communication electronics.

The innovative design technologies and concepts must provide maximum flexibility of design in multi-mode while on-demand mode to provide engine power to thrust conversion at 90% efficiency or higher. Issues regarding lubrication, starting and engine control must be addressed. The engine power range should be modular to enable scalability from a small to medium unmanned aerial vehicle engine class range. The net engine size may be selected in the range 100hp to 200hp and be capable of multi-mode operation (i.e., hybrid turboshaft – turbofan or turbojet) with the ability to change mode during flight maneuvers for better fuel efficiency. The innovative adaptive engine concept can consist of optimized operating capabilities requiring multiple points of engine design optimization and adaptive configurability. Provision needs to be made for power take off and its conditioning and control during multi-mode adaptivity with a goal of 90% efficiency in converting engine power to thrust. Design technologies/simulations which are validated through experimental measurements on engine components will transition to Army engine programs and lead to commercialized engine development.

PHASE I: Demonstrate feasibility of an adaptive/variable cycle engine concept through a preliminary conceptual design layout and computer simulations of thermodynamic cycle efficiency analysis. The preliminary design layout of concept should fall within the engine size power range (100 hp – 200 hp), and include Multi-mode capability (on-demand switching of engine mode from turboshaft to turbofan or turbojet). The Concept engine must be capable of demonstrating VTOL with efficient hover capabilities while being able to transition to high speed forward flight operations. A minimum goal of 80% efficiency is desired for the conversion of engine power to thrust mode during high speed forward flight operation.

PHASE II: Design, develop, and conduct detailed thermodynamic cycle performance simulations for the selected engine size in Phase 1. The performance simulations should include thermodynamic cycle efficiency calculations for part-power (50% power) to maximum power (100% power) operating conditions at 2 – 25 kft altitude range. A minimum goal of 90% efficiency is desired in the conversion of engine power to thrust mode operation from part-power (50% power) to maximum power (100% power) range of engine operation. Experimentally validate key bench level prototype modular engine concept/component technologies. Conduct ground testing of key prototype engine components to demonstrate performance at sea level. The goal of the testing and validation should be to achieve a TRL level of 4. Include an estimated cost/budget analysis for an engine fabrication.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Transition design technologies/simulations and experimentally validated engine/component measurements to Army engine development programs. Commercialize the design technologies/simulations and prototype engine components for full-scale engine development and production for Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft/UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles).

REFERENCES:

1. Zelina, J., Sturgess, G. J. and Shouse, D. T. 2004 “The Behavior of an Ultra-Compact Combustor (UCC) Based on Centrifugally-Enhanced Turbulent Burning Rates”, AIAA-2004-3541, AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference.

2. Zelina, J., Ehret, J., Hancock, R. D., Shouse, D. T. and W. M. Roquemore 2002 “Ultra-Compact Combustion Technology Using High Swirl For Enhanced Burning Rate”, AIAA-2002-3725, AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference.

3. Welch, G.E., Giel, P.W., Ameri, A.A., To, W., Skoch, G.J., Thurman, D.R., “Variable-Speed Power Turbine Research at Glenn Research Center,” Proc. AHS Int. 68th Annual Forum, May; also NASA/TM—2012-217605, July.

4. Murugan, M., Booth, D., Ghoshal, A., Thurman, D., and Kerner, K., "Adaptable Gas Turbine Blade Concept Study", AHS 2015 Conference Proceedings, May 5-7, 2015, Virginia Beach, VA.

KEYWORDS: Gas turbine engine; Modular power; Multi-mode engine for VTOL aircraft/UAV; High power density; Adaptive, Advanced cycle hybrid mode fuel efficient gas turbine engine

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials/Processes

OBJECTIVE: Develop lightweight metallic or polymer composite sabots for medium and small caliber ballistic applications utilizing new and novel materials and manufacturing methods.

DESCRIPTION: A kinetic energy (KE) projectile is comprised of a sabot disposed around a long rod penetrator. The sabot supports and accelerates the long rod penetrator during gun launch. The sabot accelerates the penetrator through mechanically interlocking grooves located along the penetrator-sabot interface which transfers the load from the sabot to the penetrator during gun launch. The sabot is discarded at muzzle exit and therefore is considered to be parasitic. The accelerated mass is a primary performance driver and since the sabot is parasitic, great effort is made to minimize the sabot mass through topography optimization and the employment of lightweight materials. Considerable research in large caliber (i.e. projectiles with diameters in excess of 70 mm) KE projectiles such as the M829 series of KE projectiles has resulted in the transition from an aluminum alloy sabot material used in the M829A1 to the optimized lightweight carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite sabot material used in the M829A3 which has led to a 40% increase in muzzle KE through reduction in the parasitic sabot mass. However, the manufacturing technologies used to fabricate large caliber, lightweight composite sabots are not scalable to medium (i.e. projectiles with diameters in the range of 25-70 mm) and small caliber (i.e. projectiles with diameters less than 25 mm) systems.

Current medium caliber kinetic energy projectiles use aluminum alloy sabots which limit their lethality. Additionally, the aluminum sabots are fabricated from aluminum bar stock using conventional machining processes that are laborious and expensive. Injection molded short fiber polymer composites have been investigated as a fabrication process and material, respectively, able to increase lethality while decreasing cost. However, structural failures of these injection molded sabots were observed during experimental demonstration. The structural failures were due to the injection molded sabots having weak, polymer-rich grooves. Additional analysis revealed that the polymer-rich grooves are due to the injection molding process being unable to locate the short fiber reinforcement in the millimeter length scale groove features which protrude from the bulk sabot geometry.

We seek novel lightweight metallic or plastic materials and manufacturing processes such as non-conventional injection molding or additive manufacturing that enable the development of lightweight sabots fabricated with a low-cost, near-net shape process that are able to achieve key structural material properties in both millimeter length scale protruding features as well as the bulk resulting in significant increases in lethality and a reduction in fabrication cost. The candidate material is lightweight and stiff and has a threshold specific stiffness, i.e. the ratio of the material’s elastic modulus to its density, greater than 25.9 MPa/(kg/m3) which corresponds to the nominal specific stiffness of aluminum alloys (nominal aluminum alloy elastic modulus E=70 GPa and density = 2700 kg/m3). The objective specific stiffness for the candidate material is 40 GPa/(kg/m3). The candidate material must achieve moderate ductility by having an elongation to failure of at least 8%. The candidate material threshold shear strength is 150 MPa and the objective shear strength is 200 MPa. Demonstration of threshold shear strength in millimeter length scale protruding features is required.

It is envisioned that the material technology developed in the execution of this SBIR will transfer to the commercial sector since stronger, lighter, cheaper, and more robust materials are always required as a product's size, weight, and/or frangibility are minimized. Current state of the art materials include ceramic particle filled injection molded polymer materials which possess enhanced compressive structural properties but typically inferior tensile properties, particularly ductility for materials with moderate ceramic particle loading densities. If successful, the materials produced by this effort will exceed the capabilities the current state of the art materials.

PHASE I: Identification and/or development of candidate materials and manufacturing processes capable of producing large quantities of low-cost medium caliber (25-70 mm diameter) sabots. The technical feasibility of the identified materials and manufacturing process is to be assessed through experimental mechanical analysis using standard test methods such as ASTM standards for bulk and refined length scales, when appropriate. When standardized testing methods are not appropriate or do not exist, non-standard test methods may be used to assess the material’s engineering properties, particularly at refined length scales (< 1 mm). Further, the candidate material cost should be comparable to the cost of conventional metals and or plastics.

Required Phase I deliverables include the manufacture and demonstration of key engineering properties. The material shall be fabricated with a high-rate production process. The threshold engineering properties in both the bulk and refined (~1 mm) length scale features shall be demonstrated using standard and non-standard testing and characterization methods. The candidate material shall possess a threshold minimum specific stiffness of 26 MPa/(kg/m3), a minimum ductility of 8%, and a shear strength of 150 MPa in both bulk and refined (~1 mm) length scale features. The candidate material objective engineering properties include a specific stiffness of 40 MPa/(kg/m3), a ductility of 12%, and a shear strength of 200 MPa in both bulk and refined (~1 mm) length scale features.

PHASE II: Using the demonstrated material identified during Phase I, develop and demonstrate a medium caliber sabot prototype fabricated using a near-net shaping manufacturing process. It is expected that a minimum of 10 lots of 100 sets of medium caliber sabots will be transferred to the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. The manufacture date of each lot is to be separated by a minimum of one week. The fabricated sabot sets supplied to U.S. Army Research Laboratory is for characterization and evaluation purposes including determination of uniformity between sets within and between lots. Subsequently, a subset of the supplied sabots will be integrated into demonstration projectiles for live fire testing.

Required Phase II deliverables include the demonstration of a medium caliber sabot with a threshold minimum specific stiffness of 26 MPa/(kg/m3), a minimum ductility of 8%, and a minimum shear strength of 200 MPa in both bulk and millimeter-length scale features. The candidate material objective engineering properties include a specific stiffness of 40 MPa/(kg/m3), a ductility of 12%, and a shear strength of 330 MPa in both bulk and refined (~1 mm) length scale features. The sabot is to be fabricated using a near-net shape manufacturing process. The sabot material must be resistant to corrosion and possess hygrothermal stability. Further, the cost of the sabots manufactured using the candidate material and fabrication method shall not exceed 90% of the cost to produce conventional sabots. The objective cost ratio of sabots manufactured under the auspices of this SBIR to the cost of conventional aluminum sabots is 75%. Finally, the offeror is to supply a minimum of 1000 sabot sets to U.S. ARL for characterization, evaluation, and live-fire testing. The sabot sets will be supplied in a minimum of 10 lots with each lot containing no less than 100 sabot sets. The U.S. ARL will select a subset of the supplied sabots for integration into demonstration projectile for live-fire testing. The failure rate of the live-fire testing conducted by U.S. ARL needs to be less than 5% in order to be considered successful.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Follow-on activities are expected to be pursued by the offeror, namely in seeking opportunities to substitute this material and/or manufacture process into automotive and aerospace applications where low-cost, lightweight structural materials are paramount. Applications include direct material substitution of such as plastic gears, electronic connectors, and plastic or metallic brackets. Commercial benefits include improved products through superior structural properties and capabilities and/or manufacturing processes that are amenable to low-cost, high-rate production.

Specific military applications include low-cost, high performance medium and small caliber sabots for KE projectiles, structural components for smart munitions, aerodynamic fins for projectiles, as well as the integration of this new material into armor and structural applications where aluminum alloys are currently employed.

Specific commercial applications include cell phone enclosures, laptop cases, and electrical connectors.

REFERENCES:

1. Drysdale WH, “Design of Kinetic Energy Projectiles for Structural Integrity,” ARBRL-TR-02365, Sept 1981

2. McLaughlin FA, “Molded composite polymeric materials for sabots,” Proc. Of 24th Intl. SAMPE Technical Conference, 20-22 Oct 1992. (Uploaded in SITIS on 1/10/17.)

3. McLaughlin FA, Carman C, Hughes K, and Rider W, “Composite Materials for Sabot Applications,” Report No. 316 Plastics and Rubbers Section, Army Armament Research and Development Command, 1981

4. Celmins I, “Final Report: Testing of Molded Composite 25 mm Sabots,” Gaylord, Morgan, and Dunn, Ltd., Contract No. DAAA21-89-D-0023, 1991

5. Minnicino MA, “Influence of Material Properties on Sabot Design,” ARL-TR-6203, Sept 2012

6. Xu W, et al., “A high-specific-strength and corrosion-resistant magnesium alloy,” Nature Materials, Vol 14 (2015) pp 1229-35

KEYWORDS: Sabot, manufacturing, lightweight, low-cost, near-net shape, fabrication, high-rate production

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials/Processes

OBJECTIVE: Develop a lightweight panel capable of reducing the reaction of a munition that is impacted by bullets or fragments.

DESCRIPTION: Current missile canisters loaded onto Army mobile missile launchers do not offer significant protection against bullet or fragment impacts as required by MIL-STD-2105D. These missile canisters are made of lightweight materials, such as thin-wall aluminum or filament wound fiberglass composite that have minimal capability of protecting internal energetics from bullets/fragments, while the missile is either stored or operational on a launcher. The kinetic energy from a bullet or metal fragment has sufficient energy to cause a violent reaction if the encanistered missile is subjected to these stimuli. Ballistic armor has been developed that can stop a 0.50 caliber armor piercing round in accordance with MIL-STD-2105D. The areal density of this armor is 22 lbs/sq ft. Due to space and weight constraints of typical mobile missile launchers and the weight limitations on handling equipment of shipping containers, use of this class of armor is not feasible. However, with emerging breakthroughs of innovative materials, coupled with multi-material configurations and structures the possibility exists for the development of a system solution that meets today’s Insensitive Munitions (IM) requirements.

Research and development is needed to explore these breakthroughs and synergistically exploit them in the design, fabrication, development, and demonstration of novel approaches to limit violent reaction of energetics from impacts of bullets and metal fragments. The proposed solution will reduce the energy of the impacting bullet/fragment on the munition to a level that meets MIL-STD-2105D requirements. The lightweight panel sought must demonstrate the capability of reducing the energy of the impacting projectiles to the point where the maximum IM reaction is Type V (ref 1). A multi-physics code has been employed to investigate the kinetic energy imparted on a typical aluminized ammonium perchlorate (AP) solid propellant (TP-H1207C) from a 0.50-cal APM2 projectile (ref 2). Without any protection system, the energy imparted by the APM2 projectile of approximately 16.4 kJ is sufficient to cause immediate unrestricted reaction of the AP solid propellant. Reduction of this energy by 50% provides a high probability of reaction no greater than Type V (ref 3 & 4). Increasing the fidelity of modeling and simulation capabilities are encouraged to guide the development of this prototype technology.

The objective baseline requirements for this development activity includes a desired total areal density for the panel of 5.0 lbs/sq ft. or less. Additionally, the protective panel size should be scalable to at least 16 inches x 16 inches and the desired thickness of the panel is less than 0.75 inches. The panel design shall meet the environmental requirements defined in MIL-STD-810 (ref 5), especially those related to transportation shock and vibration, temperature, and corrosion. The ability to make the panel as compact and lightweight as possible, while still achieving the desired energy absorption will ensure greater versatility protecting a missile. The desired system should be capable of multi-hit bullet performance and also effective at reducing the energy of a high velocity fragment (refs 6 & 7).

It is envisioned that the lightweight panels and approaches could serve as a novel technology baseline for the agile engineering and adaptation for a wide variety of protection applications for the Army and other federal agencies, such as the Department of Energy, which are required to protect high-value assets. Additionally, law enforcement and the commercial sector could take advantage of the lightweight technology to armor products against high velocity impacts. It is expected that applications outside the Department of Defense would include protecting hazardous material storage and shipping containers both stationary and transported via truck, rail, or sea. For assets that are stationary or have more weight tolerance when being shipped, the technology could be scaled up or used in conjunction with other existing technologies to completely arrest incoming threats.

PHASE I: Develop a conceptual design for a system that can meet the requirements highlighted in the description. The company will demonstrate the technical feasibility of the concept by material testing to demonstrate the prototype design and analytical modeling grounded with basic material details and performance expectations. Experimental fabrication and preliminary validation of material properties would be the preferred endpoint of this Phase. At the end of Phase I, the company will provide a Phase II demonstration plan for the proposed solution.

PHASE II: After successful completion of Phase I activities, the Phase II performer(s) will complete the following activities: (1) manufacture prototype panels for testing (4 panels minimum), (2) test at least 2 prototype panels against bullet and/or fragment impacts according to MIL-STD-2105D, (3) collect sufficient data during this testing to determine the kinetic energy dissipation of the bullet and/or fragment by the prototype panel, (4) provide at least 2 prototype panels to the government for verification testing and (5) provide test data for increasing the fidelity of performance models currently in existence (both government and contractor). If feasible within the time and funding constraints, testing of the prototype panel against live energetics (rocket motor or warhead) would greatly increase the probability of rapid transition to a program of record.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Support the certification, qualification, and manufacturing readiness of the protection system for use on a program of record. Commercialize the panel and scale up the manufacturing capabilities to support use of the technology on mobile missile launcher systems as well as other Army, federal, law enforcement, and commercial applications that require high velocity impact protection.

REFERENCES:

1. Department of Defense., MIL-STD-2105D, Department of Defense Test Method Standard: Hazard Assessment Tests for Non-Nuclear Munitions, 19 April 2011. Found at http://quicksearch.dla.mil/Analyse/ImageRedirector.aspx?token=5710921.72079',5710921

2. A Model for the Energetic Response of 1.3 Propellants under Shock Loading Conditions, Sandia Report: SAND2009-6338

3. Reactive Flow Models for Three Types of Explosive and Two Propellants, Wing Cheng, Shigeru Itoh and Scott Langlie, Material Science Forum, Volumes 465-466 (2004), pp 403-408. Found at http://www.scientific.net/MSF.465-466.403.pdf

4. Benching ALE3D modeling with Army Burn-To-Violent Reaction (ABVR) Sub-Scale Rocket Motor Impact Experiments, H.K. Springer, L.D. Leininger, A.L. Nichols III, J.E. Reaugh, J.A. Stanfield and J.B. Neidert, JANNAF paper published in CPIAC JSC CD-70, Abstract Number: 2012-0004IW

5. Department of Defense., MIL-STD-810G, Department of Defense Test Method Standard: Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests, 31 Oct 2008, http://www.atec.army.mil/publications/Mil-Std-810G/Mil-std-810G.pdf

6. North Atlantic Treaty Organization, STANAG 4241, Bullet Impact, Munition Test Procedure, 15 April 2003. Found at http://infostore.saiglobal.com/store/details.aspx?ProductID=457421

7. North Atlantic Treaty Organization, STANAG 4496, Fragment Impact, Munition Test Procedure, 13 December 2006. Found at http://infostore.saiglobal.com/store/details.aspx?ProductID=461892

KEYWORDS: Insensitive Munitions, IM, armor, protection, bullet, fragment

A17-035

TITLE: Inspection System for Body and Vehicle Ballistic Armor

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials/Processes

OBJECTIVE: Develop a man-portable, Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) system for expedient body armor and vehicle ballistic armor damage assessment.

DESCRIPTION: Personnel and vehicle ballistic armor are typically composed of a multilayer, composite structure composed of various combinations of ceramic, Kevlar, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, metal alloys and ceramics. These armors can be damaged by severe ballistic and shock impact, and are also subject to damage in handling and use. Relatively minor impacts could cause damage in a number of ways. Dropping a ceramic armor plate onto a hard surface, or a non-ballistic impact (diving for cover, etc.) could fracture the ceramic, cause fiber/matrix damage in the retention layer, or could de-laminate any of the adjacent layers. The current armor inspection systems utilized by the Army often require disassembly and removal from vehicles or return of individual body armor and components to facilities that have larger scale instrumentation and inspection capabilities. Current inspection capabilities require armor to be removed from the troops or vehicles and sent to higher maintenance levels, often out of theater, for testing. The limitations of these systems have the potential for delaying replacement and depends upon additional logistical support, which creates supplementary manpower requirements and supply issues. Any delay in providing replacement armor for the combat Soldiers has potential negative survivability issues. Additionally, there are significant material and control costs for unnecessarily replacing serviceable armor.

The Army has a critical need to for innovative technology solutions that will lead to the development of a man-portable, Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) system for expedient body armor and vehicle ballistic armor damage assessment. The system should be transportable in its entirety by a single Soldier-operator (e.g., weight less than 80 pounds); capable of expediently (less than 15 minutes) assessing a 2 square foot area of a 2 inch thick composite material; detecting submillimeter delamination of ceramic-composite interfaces; capable of the identification of micro-deformations and micro-cracking before they evolve into critical defects capable of weakening or threatening the structural integrity of the material and to detect weaknesses in adhesive bonds before they disbond; capable of identifying millimeter cracks in ceramics; operate on both flat and curved surfaces; and be capable of operating using vehicle power or independently on battery power. Solutions that utilize x-rays will not be considered under this topic in order to avoid radiation effects and shielding requirements. The technology will be transitioned to Army research and development and commercialized for Army and wider DoD armor assessment applications and civilian applications for damage assessment of composite structures.

PHASE I: Develop innovative concept designs based upon modeling and simulation; perform laboratory experiments and testing of components and materials as needed; and perform analysis of envisioned approaches and solutions. Estimate the feasibility of the recommended solution to meet weight constraints (less than 80 pounds); assess a 2 square foot area of a 2 inch thick composite material in less than 15 minutes; and the capability of identification of micro-deformations and micro-cracking on flat and curved, monolithic and layered configurations with a 90% probability of success.

PHASE II: Complete component design using modeling and simulation and complete laboratory characterization experiments. Establish and validate all performance metrics and performance parameters through experiments (weight constraints (less than 80 pounds); assess a 2 square foot area of a 2 inch thick composite material in less than 15 minutes; and the capability of identification of micro-deformations and micro-cracking on flat and curved, monolithic and layered configurations with a 90% probability of success). Demonstrate a man-portable configuration of a Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI) system on composite and composite-ceramic armor materials configurations.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The proposed technology innovations will be advanced through the developed commercialization plan to develop marketable products to government and/or commercial sectors. This includes a man-portable NDI inspection system for composite and ceramic-composite systems, and technology licensing.

REFERENCES:

1. T. Meitzler, G. Smith, M. Charbeneau, E. Sohn, M. Bienkowski, I. Wong, A. Meitzler, "Crack Detection in Armor Plates Using Ultrasonic Techniques", Journal of Materials Evaluation, American Society for Nondestructive Testing, June 2008

2. V. Godínez-Azcuaga, R. Finlayson, J. Ward, "Acoustic Techniques for the Inspection of Ballistic Protective Inserts in Personnel Armor", SAMPE Journal, September/October 2003

3. F. Margetan, N. Richter, D. Barnard, D. Hsu, T. Gray, L. Brasche, R. Thompson, "BASELINE UT MEASUREMENTS FOR ARMOR INSPECTION", AIP Conference Proceedings 1211, pp. 1217-1224, 2010

4. W. Swiderski, D. Szabra, M. Szudrowicz, “Nondestructive testing of composite armours by using IR thermographic method”, 9th International Conference on Quantitative InfraRed Thermography, July 2-5 2008

5. K. Schmidt, J. Little, W. Ellingson, "A Portable Microwave Scanning Technique for Nondestructive Testing of Multilayered Dielectric Materials", Advances in Ceramic Armor IV: Ceramic Engineering and Science Proceedings 29 (6), April 2009

6. K. Van Den Abeele, A. Sutin, J. Carmeliet, P. Johnson, "Micro-damage diagnostics using nonlinear elastic wave spectroscopy", NDT&E International 34 pp 239-248, 2001

7. K.E.-A.Van Den Abeele, P. A. Johnson, A. Sutin, "Nonlinear ElasticWave Spectroscopy (NEWS) Techniques to Discern Material Damage", Part I: Nonlinear Wave Modulation, Res. Nondestr. Eval. 12, pp.17-30, 2000

8. I. Solodov, D. Döring, G. Busse, "New Opportunities for NDT Using Non-Linear Interaction of Elastic Waves with Defects", J. Mech. Eng. 57 (3), pp.169-182, 2011

KEYWORDS: Nonlinear Elastic Wave Spectroscopy, Man-portable Non-destructive Inspection System, Ballistic Protection, Body Armor, Armored Vehicles

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Human Systems

OBJECTIVE: Develop simulation, analytic, and visualization capabilities of the complex sociocultural landscape of a megacity to produce a civil affairs common operating picture.

DESCRIPTION: Megacities are expected to be the future environment for US military combat operations. Global trends indicate that megacities are rapidly becoming the epicenter of human activity on the planet and will generate most of the friction which will compel military intervention in the future (ref 1). Megacity environments exhibit unique characteristics which can significantly thwart successful military operations and humanitarian aid efforts. Population density, varying size and structure of buildings, and interconnected networks of communication and transportation as well as migration, separation, gentrification, environmental vulnerability, resource competition, and hostile actors in some fashion are just a few of the obstacles the military is faced with when conducting military operations in a megacity environment.

Compounding this problem for the Army is the fact that US military forces have been trained for two conditions, peace and war, but lack readiness in other points on the war and peace continuum. A September 2015 USSOCOM white paper titled “The Gray Zone” defines the Gray Zone as conflicts or competitions that fall between the traditional war and peace duality such as acts of civil unrest, criminal gangs, asymmetric threats, and black market economies (ref 2). When the Army enters these dense urban environments it must be prepared to work with community leadership, successfully interact with the local population, and correctly assess and incorporate the social and cultural factors that will impact mission success. The issue of sociocultural changes within a megacity environment is clearly a human domain problem, its complexity, how to understand it, and its implication and impact on military success have now become a key focus for not only the Army but all services and is pointed out in numerous literature on the subject (ref 4,5,6). In order to conduct effective combat operations and provide humanitarian aid, the Army needs to develop a much more thorough understanding of dense urban environments and the space between peace and war. This will require a comprehensive understanding of the Human Domain with emphasis on the physical, cognitive and moral frames, within the environment (ref 3) in order to develop the simulations, predictive models, and analytics to support effective and successful mission planning in a dense urban environment.

When operating in a megacity environment, data about the civilian population is collected from a variety of sources and available in repositories (i.e. Join Civil Information Management System.). The problem the Army and other US military forces face is this raw data must be integrated and analyzed to extract meaningful and actionable knowledge about the megacity civil environment. Current capabilities such as the Civil Affairs Targeting Framework exist but are time consuming and requires significant training to perform. A capability is needed to quickly integrate and analyze civil affairs data to produce a current civil operating picture through the use of a geospatially-based product covering the megacity area of operation and that visually depicts centers of gravity in the civilian communities, critical requirements or needs within these civil communities, vulnerabilities to opposing actors and forces, and how these dynamic variables change with time. This capability will provide Army and Joint decision makers and mission planners, who are generally non-civil affairs experts, the ability to exploit the variety of information available in order to quickly assess and understand the civil situation and to better plan for and conduct operations within a megacity environment.

PHASE I: Conduct a feasibility study to identify and obtain relevant social, cultural, and civil affairs data for a representative megacity within the United States (i.e., Chicago) which will provide a large set of data from a wide variety of sources for early stage development and assessment simulation, predictive models, and analytics. Develop and demonstrate a conceptual framework for integrating the social, cultural and civil affairs data in an automated or semi-automated way from the sources that will serve as basis for modeling and visualization. Research, develop, and demonstrate a proof of concept modeling and geospatial visualization techniques (e.g., feature distance modeling, feature importance analysis, visualization of change, and co-occurrence in space and time methods, etc.). The effort should focus on using a large set of available data to demonstrate the feasibility of the innovative methodologies and techniques being used against known outcomes or known events to determine if these methodologies can provide a common operating picture that can inform and influence operational planning and interaction with the civilian population for a given megacity. The success of phase I will be determined by the degree to which the model predicts known outcomes with a minimum accuracy of sixty percent from existing data for a representative megacity chosen.

PHASE II: Based on research findings in Phase I, continue development to expand the models and refined the geospatially based visualization methods for civil situational assessment based on sociocultural factors, patterns of life, and real-time data about current conditions within a megacity. Develop and assess the feature importance analysis models and their ability to provide actionable information on which urban features are most important to describing the civilian activities in the megacity. Develop and assess the geospatial visualization methods of both change and co-occurrence of social, cultural, and civil affairs activities within the megacity for both broad and narrow spatial and temporal contexts to generate a wide range of visualizations that can inform commanders and mission planners of changing and possibly the evolving nature of social, cultural, and civil affairs activities and events in a megacity. The success of the prototype tools will be evaluated against a rich set of data from a given megacity where actual events and outcomes are known. Metrics for success should include at a minimum, counts of false positives, false negatives, and area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (ROC curve). Predictive model success should achieve a minimum of seventy percent accuracy against known outcomes from existing data and represented geospatially over a megacity terrain map as a probability density display for conveying changing sociocultural conditions within a megacity environment. Additionally, computational time for the algorithmic analytics should be tracked to gauge the potential for computational bounding. A minimum of two demonstrations will be conducted during Phase II to endorsing stakeholders and additional potential stakeholders developed during Phase II to demonstrate the ability to geospatially visualize the current state of social, cultural, and civil affairs activities within the megacity and to geospatially visualize the predicted changes of these activities (Gray Zone State Changes) to provide actionable knowledge and value to Army and Joint military operational planners.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Technologies developed under Phase II will be demonstrated and transitioned to Army and Special Operations Command (SOCOM) Civil Affairs units to provide a geospatial visualization that clearly and concisely conveys the civil affairs common operating picture supporting intelligent preparation of the battlespace and operational planning.

REFERENCES:

1. Chief of Staff of the Army, Strategic Studies Group (2014). Megacities and the United States Army: Preparing for a complex and uncertain future. (https://www.army.mil/e2/c/downloads/351235.pdf)

2. United States Special Operations Command (2015). White Paper: The gray zone. (https://army.com/sites/army.com/files/Gray%20Zones%20-%20USSOCOM%20White%20Paper%209%20Sep%202015.pdf)

3. Memorandum thru Director, Joint Staff for Director, Operations (2016). Strategic multilayer assessment of the gray zone. (http://www.soc.mil/Files/PerceivingGrayZoneIndicationsWP.pdf)

4. Felix, K. M., & Wong, F. D. (2015). The case for megacities, Parameters 45(1), 19-32. (http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/parameters/Issues/Spring_2015/Parameters_Spring%202015%20v45n1.pdf)

5. Caerus, City As a System Analytical Framework.

6. ( http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/city-as-a-system-analytical-framework-a-structured-analytical-approach-to-understanding-and)

7. Freedberg Jr, S. J. (2015). Don’t forget COIN, because COIN threat’s getting worse: CNAS. Intel & Cyber, Land, Strategy, and Policy. (http://breakingdefense.com/2015/12/dont-forget-coin-because-coin-threats-getting-worse-cnas/)
KEYWORDS: Dense Urban Environments, Megacity, Sociocultural, Culture

A17-037

TITLE: Data Security and Integrity Enhancements for Databases in the Tactical Environment

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Information Systems

OBJECTIVE: Currently, Apache Accumulo is the primary Database solution with native support for cell-level visibility with associated pedigree and provenance attribution. While Accumulo is optimized for clustered “Cloud Computing” environments, there is a need for a secure database solution within non-clustered environments for implementation within the Tactical Space where computing and storage resources are limited. Implementing a cell-level visibility solution within a traditional relational database would provide these capabilities in a form that can be employed within the tactical environment, while continuing to support existing relational database implementations.

DESCRIPTION: The development of cell-level visibility within Apache Accumulo was a large step forward in accomplishing the vision of a true multi-security-domain data architecture, allowing for users of differing permissions (Clearances/Roles/etc.) to access data within a single data store while maintaining and tracking the pedigree and provenance of that data. However, implementing Accumulo within the Tactical Space has been troubled by resource limitations. Traditional tactical implementations have leveraged relational databases to provide data persistence, however there are currently no relational database solutions that support cell-level visibility to adequately protect data in a converged environment. Incorporating cell-level visibility within a data persistence solution optimized for the tactical environment would allow for the protection of data at all echelons and platforms. In addition, the ability to track pedigree and provenance of that data would allow for full attribution of where the data came from, how it was generated, and how and why it has changed over time. We are not interested in solutions that merely use column-level grant permissions or provide complex join commands that would decrease performance while increasing storage and processing requirements. The solution could consist of a pluggable module to an existing system as long as access to tables created after the pluggable module has been installed are required to use cell-level visibility. In addition, solutions should enforce cell-level visibility for administrators. Solutions that provide cell-level encryption in addition to cell-level visibility will be highly favored.

PHASE I: Develop a system design that incorporates cell-level visibility, pedigree, and provenance within a relational database for implementation in the tactical space to include Data Ingress, Egress, Persistence, and Query.

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype system that implements cell-level visibility, pedigree, and provenance within a relational database. Demonstrate Data Ingest, Persistence, Query, and Egress that is limited based on users with differing access controls (Clearance/Roles/etc.)

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: This database solution could be used to replace traditional implementations within the Intelligence or Mission Command Domains, supporting multiple security domains in a converged environment. Commercially, this database solution could provide protected access to sensitive data in the Shipping, Finance, Banking, and Health Industries.

REFERENCES:

1. Lunt, Teresa F., et al. "The SeaView security model." Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on 16.6 (1990): 593-607

2. Davis, Benjamin, and Hao Chen. "DBTaint: Cross-Application Information Flow Tracking via Databases." WebApps 10 (2010): 12

3. Schultz, David, and Barbara Liskov. "IFDB: decentralized information flow control for databases." Proceedings of the 8th ACM European Conference on Computer Systems. ACM, 2013

4. Schoepe, Daniel, Daniel Hedin, and Andrei Sabelfeld. "SeLINQ: tracking information across application-database boundaries." ACM SIGPLAN Notices. Vol. 49. No. 9. ACM, 2014

5. Ram, Sudha, and Jun Liu, “A New Perspective on Semantics of Data Provenance”, http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-526/InvitedPaper_1.pdf

KEYWORDS: Accumulo, Cell-level visibility, Multi-Level Security, Pedigree, Provenance, Database, SQL, NOSQL, Unified Data

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics

OBJECTIVE: Identify technical approaches and potential technical solutions to the threat of employed anti-helicopter mines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

DESCRIPTION: In the past different mine/IED countermeasures have been developed and fielded for naval vessels, land vehicles, and dismounted personnel. Recently, analogous threats to the extensive helicopter fleet of the U.S., and its allies, have emerged with the fielding of anti-helicopter mines by Russia and Bulgaria. The threat to rotary wing aircraft included the employment of IEDs as well. It is preferable to identify the best potential countermeasures before this emerging threat can adversely impact U.S. and allied operations. In order to effectively address Anti-Helicopter Mines/IED Countermeasures, a comprehensive understanding of the threat will be required. The targeted rotary wing aircraft have technical and operational vulnerabilities that include flight below 1000 feet Above Ground Level (AGL), a unique set of audio signatures as well as the operational requirement to land on short notice on unsecured terrain.

PHASE I: Phase I will consist of a feasibility study which includes an overview of relevant historical and technical data. The study will identify technical and tactical characteristics of current and emerging Anti-Helicopter Mines and IED threats, to include fuzing, kill mechanisms and employment techniques. Finally, the study will identify potential innovative countermeasures, including their current technical maturity and their tactical and technical advantages and disadvantages.

PHASE II: Phase II will consist of the vendor providing a developmental prototype of the preferred approach, identified in Phase I, for testing against a variety of anti-helicopter mines and IEDs in conjunction with one or more rotary wing aircraft in an operational flight profile.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Phase III will consist of the vendor providing a technology demonstrator that incorporates the lessons learned from testing and analysis conducted in phase II. This technology demonstrator will be used to support the establishment of a program of record through the requirements development process of the US Army and other interested elements of the Department of Defense.

REFERENCES:

1. "Jane's Mines and Mine Clearance," by Colin King

2. “Helicopter Damage by Mines and Booby-traps in the Republic of Vietnam (1962 Through June 1970) (U),” by Raymond D. Blakeslee, Technical Report No. 51, Army Materiel Systems Analysis Agency, July 1971, in the collection of the Marine Corps University Library at Quantico Marine Base, Virginia

3. “Russia Unveils Anti-helicopter Mine Project,” Jane’s International Defense Review, 1/1998, page 16

4. "Viet Cong Boobytraps, Mines, and Mine Warfare Techniques," TC 5-31, Department of the Army, 1969

KEYWORDS: Anti-Helicopter Mine, Anti-Aircraft Mine, Mine Countermeasures, Air Defense, Suppression of Enemy Air Defense, Countermine, Counter-IED, Improvised Explosive Device

A17-039

TITLE: Signal Processing at Radio Frequency (RF) for Position Navigation & Timing Co-Site Interference

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals, their country of origin, and what tasks each would accomplish in the statement of work in accordance with section 5.4.c.(8) of the Announcement.

OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate an approach for reducing co-site interference on Position Navigation & Timing systems.

DESCRIPTION: As the Army integrates new and innovative Position Navigation & Timing (PNT) systems to its various platforms managing co-site interference with other Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) equipment will be a challenge. This challenge will require innovative solutions to address operating in the congested electromagnetic spectrum found on an Army platform. The increasing demand for data at the tactical edge has resulted in an increase of data radios and spectrum dependent systems on tactical platforms. Co-site interference issues are further exacerbated by the shrinking amount of spectrum provisioned for military in spectrum sell offs. New and innovative technologies are required for mitigating Global Positioning System (GPS) interference due to co-site C4ISR.

Traditional solutions to these problems focus on antenna separation, frequency management, and co-site filters. As the electromagnetic spectrum becomes increasing dynamic and autonomous spectrum agile systems become fielded, new co-site mitigation techniques will be required. Specifically, traditional radio frequency filters (either fixed or tunable) may not be suitable. To combat this issue, innovative solutions for signal processing at RF are required. Such solutions may include frequency selective limiters and other passive technology capable of handling high power and adapting to a dynamic spectrum situation.

The solutions envisioned here are technologies or devices that are capable of reducing interference to communications systems while having minimal effect on the signals of interest. Passive devices with low size and weight that are capable of reducing undesired high power (up to 1 Watt) interferers from desensitizing the subsequent radio receivers are desired. Devices which have properties that reduce third order intermodulation effects will contribute to restoring the effective range of radios systems located in an interference-laden environment. All such devices need to operate without damage in two-way radio links where transmitter power may be as high as 50 Watts. The general frequency band of interest is 225-2000 MHz.

PHASE I: The Phase I effort shall include feasibility study outlining problem considerations and potential solutions. An analysis of theoretical limits of the various technical approaches shall be presented in additional to practical limitations. The Phase I effort will identify the best approach and develop key component technological milestones for the Phase II effort. A trade study analyzing design approaches has to be supported with some Modeling and Simulation.

PHASE II: The Phase II effort shall construct and demonstrate the operation of a prototype(s) devices that will reduce the desensitization of GPS systems in the presence of high interference. The prototype(s) shall cover the 225 MHz – 2000 MHz military bands. The Phase II prototype will be tested in both a hardware-in-the-loop coaxial test bed, as well as, over-the-air anechoic chamber testing at a government facility and shall demonstrate at least 25 dB restoration in receiver sensitivity in the presence of interference.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Phase III efforts will focus on expanding the covering range of the Phase II prototype(s) and integrating into Army Program of Record Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR), Rifleman Radio, Mid-Tier Networking Vehicular Radio (MNVR), and Handheld, Manpack and Small Form-Fit (HMS) radios. This work will include extending the Phase II prototype to cover additional frequency band. The Phase III work can also target additional commercial off the shelf (COTS) GPS applications.

REFERENCES:

1. Jacob Gavan, Elya Joffe, Non Linear Radio Mutual Interference Main Effect Analysis and Mitigation Methods, General Assembly and Scientific Symposium, p. 1-4, 2011

2. Ketih Allsebrook, Chris Ribble, VHF Cosite Interference Challenges and Solutions for the United States Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle Program, Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE Military Communications Conference, p. 548-554, 2004

3. Dionne, “A review of ferrites for microwave applications,” IEEE Proceedings, 63, 777 (1975)

4. Pardavi-Hovath, “Microwave applications of soft ferrites,” J. Magn. Magn. Mater, 215, 171 (2000)

5. T. Roome and H. A. Hair, “Thin ferrite devices for microwave integrated circuits,” IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., 16, 411 (1968)

KEYWORDS: Cosite interference, interference mitigation, communications, electromagnetic interference

A17-040

TITLE: UHF L-band Transmitter Receiver Antenna (ULTRA)

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Information Systems

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this topic is to research and develop a low-profile antenna that covers a frequency ranges of 950-2150MHz and 200-440MHz.

DESCRIPTION: The survival of any military is to have reliable knowledge of the battlefield. Today the DoD depends on many systems to establish and update position information of our forces. PLI is critical to our forces and systems such as Blue Force Tracking (BFT) system and Production Rifleman Radio (PRR) critically consume this information. Low powered emissions are the only media feasible for the antenna signaling structures that remain in the realm of practicality with lightweight tactical units.

The current forces are limited to a select few service providers. By adding flexibility to the RF media interface to these systems, the market of service providers increases dramatically thereby reducing price and providing greater value along with more dependability. Developing an antenna to span these multiple frequency bands allows the desired flexibility for operating over multiple service providers. In many places service could be provided by two or more allowing not only competitive capabilities but also increased communications reliability.

The effort that is specifically required, is the design and development of an antenna solution that will operate in the frequency bands in the UHF range of 200-440MHz and in the L-Band range of 950-2150MHz. The antenna will support Right Hand Circular Polarization (RHCP) and Left Hand Circular Polarization (LHCP). The antenna will be designed to operate at the 0-80° elevation and will have the threshold average gain calculated in this operational elevation range of 0dB in the 950-2150MHz range and -3dB in the 200-440MHz range. The objective requirement for the average gain in the same elevation operational range will be 3dB in the 950-2150MHz range and 0dB in the 200-440MHz range. The antenna will be designed to have an operational azimuth of 360° with the lowest axial ratio possible. The antenna will also be designed to have a Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) of 2:1 or better. This antenna design will allow this antenna to operate multiple UHF and L-Band satellites such as the Mobile UHF Objective System (MUOS), Iridium Satellite, Inmarsat III and Inmarsat IV, Light Squared and Thuraya constellations. The size of the antenna will be no larger than H3” x W7.5” x L7.5”. The antenna itself will be mountable within a fixture of 8.5” x 8.5” mounted on vehicles and should possess the ruggedness to withstand rapid vibration associated with rough terrain. The antenna design must demonstrate full duplex operation at full elevation (0-80°) and azimuth (0-360°) capability as the antenna base remains parallel to the Earth.

PHASE I: Explore and provide a prototype design that will produce a proof-of-concept design that meets the threshold requirements of this SBIR to include the operational frequency range of 200-440MHz and 950-2150MHz, elevation range of 0-80°, operational azimuth of 360°, threshold average gain of 0dB at 950-2150MHz and -3dB at 200-440MHz and VSWR of 2:1 or better. The design shall be delivered in the level of detail of a computer aided design which will be capable of demonstrating each of the required antenna capabilities.

PHASE II: Develop and deliver a prototype that implements the design demonstrated in Phase I in a low-profile. The prototype must be capable of simultaneous transmission and reception utilizing circular polarization. The prototype should make maximum use of standards wherever possible for interfacing, replication and marketing strategies. The interfaces specifically should include connectivity that utilizes standard connectors as appropriate with frequency and direction (transmit and receive).

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Aside from military applications, any commercial satellite communications or mobile radio applications using vehicle deployment across multiple bands for tracking or communicating will gain robustness and greater servicing advantages.

REFERENCES:

1. Design of a Low-Profile Antenna for Vehicular Communications System, IEEE, 2013. LINK: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/icp.jsp?arnumber=6546483

2. A New Method To Design a Multi-Band Flexible Textile Antenna, IEEE, 2014. LINK: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=6867723&newsearch=true&queryText=multi-band%20antenna

3. The Simulation of the Multi-Band Triangle Fractal Nesting Printed Monopole Antenna, IEEE, Microwave and Millimeter Wave Technology (ICMMT), 2010 International Conference. LINK: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=5524888&newsearch=true&queryText=multi-band%20antenna

KEYWORDS: Antenna, Multi-band, SATCOM, Satellite, UHF, MUOS, BFT, L-band, Mobile Radio

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform

OBJECTIVE: Achieving communications and data links at required ranges for the Warfighter utilizing tunable RF filters with small form factor.

DESCRIPTION: Manually RF filters are a means of suppressing RF interference between radio systems located in close proximity to one another, such as on a small airborne or ground platform. Manually tunable filters can also be effective at controlling radio transmit spectrums and reducing system noise temperature, thus providing enhanced Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and increased link performance. While such fixed filter solutions are effective at targeted frequencies, they lack the flexibility to be easily adapted to other frequency bands. Electronically tunable filters provide a means of performing in a dynamic operational environment, with constantly changing frequency requirements.

The current state of the art for electronically tunable filter solutions has been found inadequate due to the Size, Weight and Power Handling (SWaP) characteristics needed for airborne military applications. While small form factor filters exist, their performance is often compromised and lack the flexibility to be used with multi-radio tuning interfaces. Currently size and performance share a direct relationship where as one parameter decreases so does the other. This is due to the limitation of integrating multi-pole designs which physically cannot fit in the reduced sizing. As a result small filter sharpness performance and power handling are not suitable for applicable systems which have stricter operational requirements. The typical size and weight for a filter with sufficient power and performance characteristics range in weight from seven to ten pounds and have a length by width by depth volume in excess three hundred and sixty inches cubed. In addition many filters lack a tuning interface or the necessary tuning speed to be able to work with multiple waveforms. A filter incorporating SWaP, performance, and multi-tuning interfaces requirements would advance the current technology and improve communications for small airborne military systems.

The government seeks proposals for a low cost, Small, Agile Filter – Tunable (SAF-T) of a small form factor, capable of being tuned via a variety of different control protocols (platform data bus, radio interfaces, etc.). The filters shall operate and be tunable in the 30-512 MHz frequency band, supporting waveforms such as SINCGARS, HAVEQUICK, WNW and SRW. The filter shall tune fast enough to support frequency hopping functions of the aforementioned and similar waveforms. The filter shall not in any way inhibit the receive function of the host radio. It should be designed as to meet the S&TCD tunable filter specification in Phase 1 with intent for further improvement to meet the specifications documented in Phase II.

PHASE I: Develop a description of the potential solution capable of being demonstrated in a Lab environment. Create a Proof Of Concept prototype that satisfies the following technical characteristics:

S&TCD tunable filter specification

Deliverables to include:

1. A paper documenting the technology and development of the filter
2. Bread board prototype
3. Design schematics

PHASE II: Create a packaged prototype for demonstration on a specified Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) with the maximum size constraints (4x4x7 inch, 3lbs) to meet the requirement.

Deliverables to include:

1. A paper documenting the technology and development of the filter

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: In addition to the Military application, identify potential use in commercial applications, perhaps vehicles or commercial drones.

REFERENCES:

1. S&TCD tunable filter specification (Specifications included in Phase I description)

2. https://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-030514-160043/unrestricted/Tunable_Filter_Design_for_the_RF_Section_of_a_Smartphone_WPI_Skyworks_MQP_2014.pdf

3. http://www.arrl.org/files/file/QEX_Next_Issue/2016/January_February_2016/Chuma_QEX_1_16.pdf

4. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=7273850&url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fxpls%2Fabs_all.jsp%3Farnumber%3D7273850

5. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=7540054&url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fxpls%2Fabs_all.jsp%3Farnumber%3D7540054

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals, their country of origin, and what tasks each would accomplish in the statement of work in accordance with section 5.4.c.(8) of the Announcement.

OBJECTIVE: To create a short pulse, femtosecond (fs), high power laser system. The laser system should operate in the 3.0 µm to 5.0 µm wavelength with output powers no less than 1 TW at pulse widths at or below 900 fs and pulse cyclic frequency of 50 GHz.

DESCRIPTION: The Army is exploring the effects of Ultra-Short Pulse (USP) Laser emitters as a means of IR countermeasure. An Ultra-Short Pulse Laser has the capability of delivering tremendous power within a short-duration energy pulse which can then be repeated at a pulse frequency.

In the past, USP Lasers have been used in applications in the medical and machining fields. The USP Laser is capable of pathogen inactivation and has been used experimentally on HIV, norovirus and influenza. As well, USP Lasers have been used in micromachining applications which require highly accurate material modifications. The benefit of a high-energy, ultra-short pulse is that modifications can be delivered in a very constrained time period and spatial area. In addition, research has been recently completed by the Naval Research Laboratory in an effort to investigate the effects of USP lasers as an infrared countermeasure.

This SBIR effort will leverage this existing technology and research. This effort will change the application to an in-band, mid-wave infrared (MWIR), pulse train while maximizing power levels. The following described phases will transition these existing technologies to the desired band of interest and develop a prototype for demonstration.

PHASE I: The Phase I scope will include specifying hardware, procuring and testing key components. These would include the laser emitter, power supply, and optics to control the beam path, reflectance and power output. This effort shall include confirmation and characterization of the beam temporal and spectral attributes. This confirmation can be performed via frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) and other average power measurements.

PHASE II: The Phase II effort entails tailoring the parameters of the short pulse setup (pulse width, power, repeat frequency, wavelength) to desired effect on the sensor. In order for this to occur, HgCdTe (MCT) Amplified Photodetectors (or similar) shall be procured. Additional sensors may be specified of the InSb type.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Develop, integrate and transition for military applications in Air Force, Army, and Marine Corp for laser targeting devices. The system developed in this program can be used by research and development organizations and test ranges to evaluate sensor devices.

REFERENCES:

1. The development and application of femtosecond laser systems, W. Sibbett, A. A. Lagatsky, and C. T. A. Brown, 2012

2. US Navy backs femtosecond lasers for IR countermeasures, 30 Nov 2012 http://optics.org/news/3/11/46

3. Mid-IR Ultrashort Pulsed Fiber-Based Lasers, Irina T. Sorokina, Vladislav V. Dvoyrin, Nikolai Tolstik, and Evgeni Sorokin, 2014

KEYWORDS: Solid state laser, diode -pumped laser, mid-infrared laser, optical pulse generation, mode-locked laser, ultrafast laser, ultrafast optics

A17-043

TITLE: Fused positioning using imaging cameras and digital elevation data

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics

OBJECTIVE: Determine vehicle location with affordable uncooled infrared (IR) imaging cameras from a situational awareness system.

DESCRIPTION: This effort shall develop a system to determine the location of a host vehicle with celestial navigation using imaging sensors installed as a distributed-aperture situational awareness and driving system. Celestial navigation solutions, landmarks, potentially topographic information shall be correlated with digital terrain data to more precisely determine the vehicle location. Since the situational awareness sensors are already available on the vehicle, and since digital altimeters are inexpensive, the proposed solution could provide a low-cost positioning capability in a GPS-denied environment.

PHASE I: Conduct an analytical study to predict the expected location accuracy using the proposed technique, and identify specific performance required of the imaging cameras to include the instantaneous field of view (IFOV).

PHASE II: Assemble a distributed aperture situational awareness system based on off-the-shelf IR cameras and install on a vehicle. Integrate celestial navigation algorithms with the situational awareness system to determine first order location. Fuse this system with a digital altimeter, which improves location by comparing altitude to Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED) database.

Evaluate this system by performing dynamic tests to compare computed location with actual location and determine accuracy. Identify key system characteristics that affect overall accuracy. Deliverables shall include identified key system characteristics that affect overall accuracy, processing software, and celestial navigation subsystem integrated with IR imaging system with CEP performance not to exceed 3x that of current GPS on the vehicle.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Integrate celestial navigation algorithms on GFE processor on tactical ground vehicle with GFE distributed aperture IR cameras, digital altimeter, and inertial navigation system for demonstration. This demonstration system shall consider validation settings in a realistic, potentially controlled range environment. Components shall be integrated into a meaningful form factor and packaged for use on wheeled vehicle on secondary roads. System size, weight, and power need to be optimized for functionality and reliability. Transition opportunities include future Bradley ECP, Abrams ECP, Stryker ECP and Future Fighting Vehicle (FFV) for military applications under GPS denied scenarios. Potential commercial applications include civilian aviation, shipping/transportation, as well as UAV applications.

1. Reda, I., Andreas A., 2008, Solar Position Algorithm for Solar Radiation Applications, Technical Report, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, #DE-AC36-99-GO10337

KEYWORDS: positioning; celestial navigation; GPS denied environment

A17-044

TITLE: Algorithms for ground vehicle on-the-move detection of Unmanned Aerial Systems

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics

OBJECTIVE: Develop On the Move Infrared Search ant Track (IRST) algorithms for an IRST consisting of multiple distributed aperture uncooled IR cameras for ground vehicles.

DESCRIPTION: This effort would develop an algorithm approach to automatically detect and track small slow UAS (unmanned aerial systems) from a moving tactical platform using distributed aperture system (DAS) of uncooled IR cameras mounted on the hull of the vehicle. The applicable UAS targets vary from micro through Class 2. Threat UAS targets are either hovering or in flight in various clutter environments from blue sky to terrain / urban backgrounds.

PHASE I: Conduct an analytical study to evaluate algorithmic approaches for detecting small dim air targets at range from a moving ground platform for Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (CUAS). Implement on the move IRST algorithms using recorded imagery sets in non-real time to demonstrate feasibility of approach.

PHASE II: Implement on-the-move IRST algorithms in real time on COTS processor and integrate on host vehicle with GFE DAS uncooled IR sensors. Demonstrate real time IRST algorithms to detect and track surrogate threat UAS while on-the-move.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Integrate real time on-the-move IRST algorithms on GFE processor on tactical ground vehicle with DAS uncooled IR sensors to detect and track surrogate threat UAS at tactical relevant ranges while on-the-move. Deliver On- the- move IRST algorithms to provide the capability to detect and track UAS in support of CUAS objectives for Bradley ECP 3a, ECP3b, Stryker ECP2 and Future Fighting Vehicle.
REFERENCES:

1. Tracking Small Targets in Wide Area Motion Imagery Data, Alex Mathew, SPIE-IS&T Electronic Imaging, SPIE Vol. 8663, 86630A

KEYWORDS: IRST, CUAS, on-the-move

A17-045

TITLE: Night Sky Characterization System

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics

OBJECTIVE: Develop a ruggedized non-imaging, spectrally sensitive night sky characterization system that can record the spectrally separated irradiance of the night sky across spectral bands from 400-2500nm.

DESCRIPTION: The US Army is critically interested in the ability to image under low light level conditions in areas that our troops may be operating. In an effort to properly quantify these conditions and feed this information into future camera development efforts, a need has arisen for a field collection system that is capable of performing calibrated, reliable night sky irradiance measurements of the available downwelling incoming zodiacal light across the visible, NIR, & shortwave infrared spectral bands.

This sensor should be able to measure ambient light levels in a radiometrically calibrated manner from daylight down to overcast starlight illumination levels (~10-9 W/cm^2/m). This should be accomplished across no less than 256 spectral channels. This sensor should be reasonably well hardened against most atmospheric conditions (rain, snow, fog) and temperature variations (-20C to 50C).

In addition to the visible, near infrared, and shortwave infrared measurements, the sensor should also be able to measure the apparent temperature of the atmosphere in both midwave infrared and longwave infrared spectral bands, though these channels do not require further spectral fidelity than a single temperature value per channel.

The proposed sensor should be man portable, be able to log data for extended periods of time, be able to recover automatically from a loss and recovery of power (hard reboot), and be able to survive shipment through standard commercially available shipping channels.

PHASE I: The vendor should design and model their proposed sensor solution at minimum. This sensor design should include discussions of how the full dynamic range of illumination levels will be handled while maintaining extremely low noise.

PHASE II: Produce the sensor solution designed in phase 1. Accompany the sensor on at least two test events to ensure proper operation and calibration of radiance data.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Refine product developed in Phase II into a ruggedized package for military applications. Military applications can include environmental conditions monitoring and threat detection. Nonmilitary commercialization opportunities would be a high sensitivity, low noise spectrometer for radiometric measurements.

REFERENCES:

1. R. Littleton, K. Dang, P. Maloney, P. Perconti, and C. Terrill, Spectral Irradiance of the Night Sky for Passive Low Light Level Imaging Applications, Military Sensing Symposium on Passive Sensors (2005)

KEYWORDS: Shortwave Infrared (SWIR), Night Sky, Visible Near infrared (VNIR), infrared, radiometer, spectrometer

A17-046

TITLE: Image Enhancement in Heavily Degraded Visual Environments using Image Processing Methods

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics

OBJECTIVE: Produce an enhanced image suitable for driving ground vehicles in heavily degraded visual environments with minimal latency (<80 ms) using image processing methods. This is not a solicitation for new camera hardware.

DESCRIPTION: This effort would develop a method to enhance IR video imagery in heavily degraded visual environments using image processing. In heavily degraded environments, it has been shown that in many cases some photons do get through the obscurant, but typical image processing techniques (acutance/contrast/edge enhancement) are inadequate because the SNR is too low. This topic seeks new computational image processing techniques that can be used to extract very small signals (SNR<1) from noisy, degraded images, with the goal of safely driving vehicles in such an environment. Inherent in this method must be the ability to function when the camera (vehicle) is in motion. A priori knowledge of the un-degraded scene should not be assumed.

PHASE I: Demonstrate a computational methodology that can extract small, SNR<1 signals from heavily degraded video imagery. The resultant imagery should be sufficiently enhanced to allow driving in the degraded environment at low speeds.

PHASE II: Implement the enhancement from Phase I in real time with minimal latency (<80 ms) suitable for driving a ground vehicle at 16 kph in heavy dust. Implement the method in hardware (e.g. GPU, FPGA) and demonstrate the ability to implement in real time.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Test the ability of humans to safely drive using the Phase II system in a degraded environment. Modify the algorithm as required to improve detection accuracy and processing speed to maximize vehicle speed in the degraded environment. Successful testing should allow deployment of the system on any vehicle in degraded environments, such as supply convoys, or ground patrols. Similar capabilities might be useful in the commercial world for long haul truckers and similar vehicles that must keep moving under poor visibility conditions. Eventually autonomous vehicles could use similar technology, with computer vision instead of human drivers.
REFERENCES: