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

- A minimum of three Aluminum alloys will be demonstrated

- Test samples showing joining a minimum of two joint configures of (1”) thick aluminum plates. Three examples of each joint configuration, per each aluminum alloy.

- Example repair of three damage scenarios; crack, hole and gauge. Three examples of each damage, per each aluminum alloy.

Deliverables shall be process development documentation, test samples showing joining and repairing of minimum of (1”) thick aluminum plates, material tests results and the prototype system developed under this effort.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: In the final Phase of the project, the contractor shall determine the capabilities for process control and the development of a strategy for qualification. Additionally, the contractor shall integrate and test the solution on several vehicle platform and demonstrate a path to commercialization and certification.

REFERENCES:

1. Cheng Liu, D.O., Northwood, S.D., (2004) “Tensile fracture behavior in CO2 laser beam welds of 7075-T6 aluminum alloy. Journal: Materials and Design, 25 p. 573-577.

2. Pao, P.S., Gill, S.J., Feng, C.R., & Sankaran, K.K. (2001), “Corrosion–fatigue crack growth in friction stir welded Al 7050,” Journal: Scripta Materialia 2001, Vol. 45, Issue 5, Pages 605-612.

3. Dickerson, P., & Irving B., (1992) “Welding aluminum: Its not as difficult as it sounds,” Welding Journal 1992; (April):45.

4. Li, B., & Shen, Y. (2011). “The investigation of abnormal particle-coarsening phenomena in friction stir repair weld of 2219-T6 aluminum alloy,” Materials & Design, 32(7), 3796-3802.

5. Fox, S. L. (2010). “Refill friction stir spot weld repair of a fatigue crack” (Doctoral dissertation, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology).

6. Liu, Q. C., Baburamani, P., Zhuang, W., Gerrard, D., Hinton, B., Janardhana, M., & Sharp, K. (2010). “Surface modification and repair for aircraft life enhancement and structural restoration,” In Materials Science Forum (Vol. 654, pp. 763-766). Trans Tech Publications.

7. Palanivel, S., Nelaturu, P., Glass, B., & Mishra, R. S. (2015). “Friction stir additive manufacturing for high structural performance through microstructural control in an Mg based WE43 alloy,” Materials & Design, 65, 934-952.

8. Isanaka, S. P., Karnati, S., & Liou, F. (2016). “Blown powder deposition of 4047 aluminum on 2024 aluminum substrates. Manufacturing Letters,” 7, 11-14.

KEYWORDS: Welding, Aluminum, Non-Weldable Aluminum, 7035, 7075, Friction Stir Welding, Additive Manufacturing

A17-091

TITLE: Vibration & Pressure Reducing, Soldier Health Seat Cushion Padding

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground/Sea Vehicles

OBJECTIVE: Develop a seat cushion that will mitigate vibration transferred to the Soldier during dynamic vehicle missions and provide even pressure distribution to aid in blood flow circulation of the legs while in the seated position. Soldiers must be mission ready at all times and in good health after long hours in Military vehicles.

DESCRIPTION: Ground vehicles transfer vibrations to the Soldiers through the seats. The extent of the vibrations depend upon the vehicle dynamics and the mounting of the seat. Current and future seating need to improve isolation of the vibration input from the seat structure to the Soldier while maintaining an even pressure distribution along the seat cushion to reduce health issues and keep the Soldier mission ready. The cushion shall be able to form to the seat pan and work with any additional padding required for maintaining even pressure distribution. The seat cushion padding shall additionally accommodate the central 90th percentile Soldier population while fully encumbered.

PHASE I: Define and determine the technical feasibility of developing a seat cushion pad that is lightweight (Threshold: 0.5kg, Objective: 0.25kg) and can replace a current existing seat cushion or be included during a new seat design. The cushion pad or pad assembly shall be able to form to seat pan structures. The seat cushion pad assembly shall not change the H-Point of a seat. The seat cushion pad shall accommodate the central 90th percentile Soldier population while fully encumbered and shall be durable enough to handle the rugged conditions encountered by ground vehicles. Part Cost per part/assembly to the government Threshold: $100, Objective $50.

PHASE II: Develop and test 5 prototype seat cushions using a surrogate seat to show improvement of reduced vibration transmission to the Soldier, improved even pressure distribution of the seat cushion, and improved blast mitigation when compared to the existing seat pan cushion. Based on the findings in Phase I, refine the concept, develop a detailed design, and fabricate a simple prototype system for proof of concept. Identify steps necessary for fully developing a commercially viable seat cushion pad.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The Phase III product will be easily applied in an existing vehicle or as part of a new seat development. Commercialization to the M88A2 HERCULES as a potential. Potential additional military applications include, but are not limited to other up-armored Tactical Wheeled Vehicles, Light Armored Vehicles, and Combat Vehicles. The resulting product could also be used in motorcycle, farm equipment, and medical scooters.

REFERENCES:

1. Multi-Axis Vibration Mitigation and Habitability Improvement for Seated Occupants (2014); Desjardins, Wilhelm, Kennedy, Williams
https://www.dtic.mil/DTICOnline/home.search?tabId=allresultTab&q=ADB402909

2. Multi-Axis Vibration Mitigation and Habitability Improvement for Seated Occupant (2015); Deiters

3. Multi-Axis Vibration Mitigation and Habitability Improvement for Seated Occupants (2010); Shulhise

4. Transmission Characteristics of Suspension Seats in Multi-Axis Vibration Environments (2008); Smith, S. Smith, J. Bowden, D.

KEYWORDS: Vibration, Padding, Seat, Cushion, Pressure Distribution

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: Design and develop a material solution for wide-band lasers that has at least 80% transmissivity across the electromagnetic spectrum between 300nm – 8500nm when the incident angle of light is perpendicular to the material plane. Optical coatings can be used to meet this bandwidth requirement. This material must be manufacturable enough to be grown/machined into a hemispherical dome and must be durable enough to endure dripping water as described in MIL-STD-810, Method 506.5, endure icing conditions/freezing rain as described in MIL-STD-810G, endure immersion in salt water at a depth of 1 meter for a period not greater than five (5) seconds as described in MIL-STD-810G Method 512.5, and operate in a temperature range between -54°C to +71°C. The Phase II shall conclude in a test that measures the listed specifications, and a hardware deliverable is required along with the report.

DESCRIPTION: Transmissivity is an optical property of a material, which describes how much light is transmitted through material in relation to an amount of light incident on the material. The light that is not transmitted is either reflected or absorbed. Transmissivity depends on the wavelength of light, direction of the incident and transmitted light, polarization, type of the material (metal, plastic, etc.), chemical composition and structure of the material, and state of the material and its surface (temperature, degree of oxidation and contamination). Optical requirements for Infrared Countermeasure (IRCM) systems is now driving larger bandwidth lasers. Because there are limited material solutions that can accept this growing bandwidth, and those that can have durability issues with either temperature or water, an innovative concept along with the limited testing of materials is required to advance transmissivity. The purpose of this SBIR is to design and develop a material solution for wide-band lasers that has at least 80% transmissivity at both ends of the aforementioned desired wavelength. A material solution shall be designed, an iterative growing and fabrication process will be undertaken, and a concluding test will ultimately be conducted.

PHASE I: Identify and conduct a trade space of existing materials and composites that can be fabricated and tested for determining a material structure best suited for high transmission across the desired wavelength range. Research and document current material designs used in optical components similar to an IRCM dome. Work with the Government for identification of parameters that are important to track and compare in a trade study (transmission, hardness, brittleness, etc.), and to determine acceptable thresholds and weighting criteria of all parameters. Conclude which existing approach has the best potential for high transmission across the desired wavelength range, and then compare that solution with industry materials currently in design and theoretical materials. This phase will determine which material design offers the highest transmission and best durability while also being practically attainable.

PHASE II: Using the results from Phase I, perform an iterative process of growing and fabricating materials. This will include providing a detailed plan for measuring imperfections and transmission across the desired wavelength bandwidth, and performing design optimization based off of measured results. Quarterly material deliverables shall be required, and the contractor shall perform the following two quantifications on said material before delivering to the government.

1) These quarterly deliverables shall include multiple examples of the working material so that tracking can be done on the stability of the process used to make them, the homogeneity of the material supply, and performance with some statistical assurance.

2) These quarterly deliverable should include the working material as currently designed, and additional variants of composition, processing, and post-processing so that individual variables can be isolated to quantify what impacts they provide to the overall design.

A test will be conducted at the end of this program, in either a laboratory environment and/or field environment, to measure the parameters called out in the “Objective” section of this document. This phase shall result in a detailed report of all testing results and a cost analysis that projects cost per unit of the expected product, which the government shall provide details on what the expected product is at the time of report generation. The final material deliverable will be prototype equipment used to synthesis or process the wideband material as well as five (5) domes, between 6.0-6.5 inches in diameter, made of the subject material solution that can be used to demonstrate initial integration feasibility with an IRCM Pointer-Tracker unit.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The identified material solution should attain the appropriate Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) to qualify and transition to an Army Manufacturing Technology (MANTECH) program or other appropriate Research and Development (R&D) activity.

MILITARY APPLICATION: This technology has applications in infrared missile countermeasures (IRCM), free-space optical communications, and light detection and ranging (LIDAR).

COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Improvements in commercial optics manufacturing processes and materials would benefit both medical and environmental products.

REFERENCES:

1. MIL-STD-810G – Department of Defense Test Method Standard: Environmental Engineering Considerations Laboratory Tests (31 Oct 2008). Retrieved from http://everyspec.com/MIL-STD/MIl-STD-0800-0899/MIl-STD-810G_12306/

2. H. Mendlowitz, "Optical Transmissivity and Characteristic Energy Losses*," J. Opt. Soc. Am. 50, 739-740 (1960)

3. Bayram, C., Pau, J.L., McClintock, R., & Razeghi, M. (2008)., Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics

KEYWORDS: Transmissivity, Optics, infrared countermeasure, IRCM

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials/Processes

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: The Army has interest in finding innovative ways to manipulate and control as much of the electromagnetic spectrum as possible. The objective of this effort is directed primarily at finding a material that absorbs radio-frequency (RF) waves while remaining transparent in the visible and at near- and mid-IR frequencies.

DESCRIPTION: An innovative approach is sought to realize a microwave absorber fully transparent in the optical, near- and mid-IR ranges. Recent decades have seen the development of novel composite materials, including photonic band gap structures, deeply subwavelength metal gratings, metal-based nanostructures, and metasurfaces. These types of composite materials may more generally be classified as metamaterials. The properties of metamaterial range vastly, depending on specific designs. For example, at their inception, it was clear that photonic band gap structures could be used to engineer properties that ranged from complete transmission in certain wavelength band, to complete reflection in other wavelength ranges [1]. As another example, the insertion of metals in photonic band gap structures [2] made it possible to open up a single transmission window in the visible or near-IR range, while rejecting or reflecting the remaining portion of the electromagnetic spectrum (from near-IR down to static fields.) By the same token, deeply subwavelength metal gratings are able to channel the incident radiation in multiple, relatively narrow frequency ranges over a wide field of view [3], that have stimulated applications to beam steering [4]. Under certain circumstance it is desirable to engineer the metamaterial in a way that it remains transparent to visible and/or across the IR range, and that it absorb incident RF radiation thus minimizing backscattering/reflection by three orders of magnitude or more. More generally, the goal of this effort should be directed at understanding electromagnetic wave-matter interactions more broadly, in the presence of either simple or complex metal components; epsilon-near-zero materials; graphene; or other pure materials chemically doped, or hybrid composite structure that may support surface plasmon propagation, the enhancement of the local field, and ultimately influence the optical basic properties like transmission, reflection, and absorption across the electromagnetic spectrum.

PHASE I: Conduct a feasibility study of either a pure material appropriately doped or a composite structure that is able to absorb microwaves and yet remain transparent to visible and possibly near- and mid-IR incident light. The approach may include metals, pure or doped semiconductors, dielectrics, as well as novel materials like graphene. The primary product of this phase of the solicitation is a of proof-of-principle device that is transparent in the visible, near- and mid-IR, and absorbs incident microwave radiation. Total microwave transmittance should be at most 1%. Reflections are undesirable but may be tolerated. Visible transparency is expected to be above 80%, while it may be somewhat reduced compared to that in the IR range. Reduced microwave transmission over a narrow range may be desirable under certain conditions, while more bandwidth may be required depending on the application. A proof-of-principle demonstration calls for no particular requirement for material properties, for instance, hardness. However, during an eventual phase II stage it may be beneficial to demonstrate that a sample may be environmentally stable in terms of strength and temperature variations, or other harsh settings, for example.

PHASE II: Finalize the device and material parameters from the Phase I. Conduct basic experimental observation of the expected performance of the transparent microwave absorber; optimize against environmental conditions, such as chemical and mechanical stresses and temperature. Design and fabricate a prototype consisting of several small and large area unit cells.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The ability to fabricate optically transparent microwave absorber that could lead to a significant shift in the management of both optical and RF radiation.

REFERENCES:

1. E. Yablonovitch, Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 2059 (1987); S. John, Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 2486 (1987).

2. M. Scalora, M.J. Bloemer, A. Manka, J. Dowling, S.D. Pethel, and C.M. Bowden, J. of Appl. Phys. 83, 1 (1998); M.J. Bloemer and M. Scalora, Appl. Phys. Lett. 72, 1676 (1998).

3. A. Alu, G. D’Aguanno, N. Mattiucci, M.J Bloemer, Physical Review Letters 106 (12), 123902

4. D. de Ceglia, M.A. Vincenti, M. Scalora, Optic. Lett. 37, 271 (2012).

KEYWORDS: metal optics, metasurfaces, metamaterials, absorption

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Weapons

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: Missile seeker dome design is generally a trade-off between minimizing drag for aerodynamics and maximizing seeker sensor performance. Designing for minimal drag creates challenges for visible and infrared imaging seekers due to the optical distortion created by the shape of the dome. The objective of this effort is to develop an optical device to correct for the distortions created by a non-hemispherical dome throughout the full field of regard of the sensor.

DESCRIPTION: Some missile seeker domes are optimized for aerodynamic effects and not for optimal optical performance. Existing commercial optics cannot meet the adaptive requirements needed to correct the optical distortions created by the aerodynamic dome shapes and materials. This effort seeks to develop a component that can be integrated into the missile seeker and provide full imaging performance over the entire Field-Of-View (FOV) regardless of the angle relative to the dome surface, allowing improved kinematic performance of the missile without sacrificing performance of the sensors. The goal is to develop an adaptive optical corrector that fits into a volume of 2 cubic inches or less. The device should operate in wavelengths from the visible through long wave infrared. Fixed correctors cannot correct over the full field of view and suffer from chromatic limitations. The device should provide full aperture diffraction limit performance.

PHASE I: Conduct a feasibility study for an optical correction device for a seeker that can be integrated with existing seeker designs. The study should provide seeker design configuration along with performance predictions for air-to-ground munition environments. It should also address the risks and potential payoffs of the innovative technology options and recommend the option that best achieves the objective. The Phase I effort should use scientific experiments and laboratory studies as necessary. Operational prototypes are not required to be developed during Phase I feasibility studies.

PHASE II: Using the technology approach developed in Phase I, fabricate and demonstrate a prototype to prove the concept of an adaptive optical corrector. Fully address integration and performance in a tactical vibration environment for current and future air-to-ground munitions. Given a viable technical approach and performance, sufficient information to refine estimated development, test and production costs should be included with technical concept data.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Based on results from Phase II, transition the Phase II product into a prototype seeker for an air-to-ground munition for detailed environmental testing, hardware-in-the-loop integration and testing, and captive flight testing. Prepare sufficient data products to support integration into air-to-ground missiles and munitions such as Joint Air-Ground Missile (JAGM). Other applications include airborne imaging sensors such as those carried by unmanned airborne systems or small form factor munitions.

REFERENCES:

1. Research strategy for the electro-optics sensors domain of the Materials and Components for Missile Innovative Technology Partnership, Mark Bray; Isabella Panella Proc. SPIE. 7668, Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) Systems and Applications VII, 76680W. (April 23, 2010) doi: 10.1117/12.849525

2. Nanhu Chen, Benjamin Potsaid, John T. Wen, Scott Barry, Alex Cable “Modeling and Control of a Fast Steering Mirror in Imaging Applications”, 6th annual IEEE Conference on Automation Science and Engineering, August 21-24, 2010

KEYWORDS: Adaptive optics, optical modulation, Optical Image Correctors

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform

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: Develop a cluster payload which can be launched and deployed from a GMLRS or ATACMS platform. The payload shall consist of multiple deployable smart quad-copters capable of delivering small explosively formed penetrators (EFP) to designated targets.

DESCRIPTION: The US Army has a desire for a missile launched payload consisting of multiple quad-copters. The missile will release the quad-copter payload during flight, after which the quad-copters must decelerate to a velocity suitable for deployment (unfolding), identify potential targets, maneuver to and land on the target, and detonate onboard EFP munition(s). Potential targets include tank and large caliber gun barrels, fuel storage barrels, vehicle roofs, and ammunition storage sites.