Department of the navy (don) 17. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions introduction

In order to enable future compact, affordable, and higher-performance T/R modules, the Navy seeks a circulator technology for full integration at the MMIC level. Specifically, a technique compatible with RF MMIC fabrication in GaN on silicon carbide (SiC) is desired. Furthermore, a purely passive circulator for S-Band operation and radar application (nominal bandwidth of 1.5 GHz) is desired. The technology may employ additional semiconductor fabrication steps to form the circulator or may make use of follow-on processes (i.e., following the traditional semiconductor device fabrication) such as additive manufacturing techniques that complete the circulator fabrication. However, a process that is compatible with wafer-level semiconductor device fabrication and is consistent with the level of automation common to the integrated circuit industry is required. That is, a solution that requires manual assembly steps (including attachment of biasing magnets) is undesirable. Overall performance of the circulator should be shown to meet or exceed that possible with separate (component-level) circulators on organic or ceramic substrates. Low insertion loss (<0.5 dB objective), high isolation (>25 dB objective), high reliability (assume a 20-year service life), good temperature stability (e.g., a CTE compatible with the GaN MMIC), and high device-to-device repeatability (equaling the repeatability expected of the MMIC) are critical design considerations.

PHASE I: The company will define and develop a concept for circulator technology for full integration at the MMIC level, compatible with Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology, and meeting the technical objectives and consistent with the application stated in the topic description. The company will demonstrate the feasibility of its concept in meeting Navy needs and will establish that the concept can be feasibly and affordably produced. Feasibility will be established by some combination of initial prototype testing, analysis, or modeling. Affordability will be established by analysis of the proposed materials and processes and by comparison to existing and established semiconductor, additive, and automated manufacturing techniques. The Phase I Option, if awarded, will include the initial design specifications and capabilities description to build a prototype in Phase II.

PHASE II: Based on the Phase I results and the Phase II Statement of Work (SOW), the company will produce and deliver prototype circulators consistent with MMIC-level integration for evaluation. It is not necessary that the prototype circulators be actually integrated with other components such as amplifiers and phase shifters. However, it is imperative that the prototypes be built in GaN on SiC semiconductor and proven compatible with other device fabrication. Circulators will be evaluated to determine their capability in meeting Navy requirements and for the level of integration achieved. Evaluation will primarily be accomplished by electrical testing of multiple prototype circulators accompanied by appropriate data analysis and modeling. Affordability will be addressed by refining the affordability analysis performed in Phase I to reflect the knowledge gained in Phase II execution. The affordability analysis will propose best-practice manufacturing methods to prepare the circulator technology for Phase III transition. The company will prepare a Phase III development plan to transition the technology for Navy and potential commercial use.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The company will be expected to support the Navy in transitioning the technology to Navy use. The company will further refine the fully integrated MMIC-level circulator technology according to the Phase III development plan for evaluation to determine its effectiveness and reliability in an operationally relevant environment. The company will perform test and validation to certify and qualify initial production components for Navy use. The final product will be produced by the company (or under license) and transitioned to the Government directly through technology upgrades to existing programs (tech refresh) or through insertion into new program baselines in partnership with prime contractors. Private Sector Commercial Potential: MMIC technology is pervasive in consumer as well as military electronics (cellphones and tactical radios are common examples). Advances made in this area have wide application in industries employing MMIC technology.

REFERENCES:

1. Wang, Sen, et al. "Fully Integrated 10-GHz Active Circulator and Quasi-Circulator Using Bridged-T Networks in Standard CMOS.” IEEE Trans. Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Systems [to be published, preprint available online] , 2016: 9 pages, URL: ht

2. Kodera, Toshiro, et al. "Magnetless Nonreciprocal Metamaterial (MNM) Technology: Application to Microwave Components.” IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory and Techniques, 61, March 2013: 1030-1042.

3. Saib, Aimad, et al. "An Unbiased Integrated Microstrip Circulator Based on Magnetic Nanowired Substrate.” IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory and Techniques, 53, June 2005: 2043-2049.-

KEYWORDS: MMIC Compatible Circulators; Magnet-Free Circulator; Self-Biasing Circulator; GaN MMIC; Additive Manufacturing for Circulators; Microwave Integrated Circuit

Questions may also be submitted through DoD SBIR/STTR SITIS website.

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Battlespace, Electronics, Sensors

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: AN/UYQ-100 Undersea Warfare Decision Support System (USW-DSS)

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

OBJECTIVE: Design an innovative and expandable data transportation scheme for the AN/UYQ-100 Undersea Warfare Decision Support System (USW-DSS) that translates bi-directional data exchanges between disparate and diverse data sources into a common language.

DESCRIPTION: An increase of systems in use by the US Navy presents a significant data exchange and collaboration problem within the Fleet. The typical Navy platform infrastructure consists of a combat system such as weapons, command and control, situation awareness, mission planning, and logistics and readiness systems. These systems typically employ their own databases and do not share information with each other. The Navy’s desired paradigm of coordinated mission execution requires an exchange of intra-platform information but also inter-platform information exchange. Successful implementation of this technology would have a significant impact on the AN/UYQ-100 Undersea Warfare Decision Support System (USW-DSS). This technology would simplify USW-DSS external interfaces. An exchange of track data provides an excellent example. Today’s USW-DSS has to account for more than twenty different formats in order to consume track data; however, the core information provided in each individual track is largely similar. This is further complicated by the fact that this data is provided by a multitude of protocols. The Navy requires a capability that will eliminate the need to understand all the source system data formats and protocols by providing a technology with a single, common interface and expandable data transportation scheme.

The latest cloud technologies in the civilian and commercial environments are being integrated into Navy environments. This requires systems to be able to post or submit their data to the cloud for other systems to query and retrieve. Research and development is required to design and propose a methodology and a plan for implementation that will provide existing systems a means to post/submit their information to a data cloud, and convert or translate that information into a uniform and unified data model for fast and efficient storage in and retrieval from the data cloud.

Data from existing systems must also maintain their pedigree, provenance and security restrictions. Fast and efficient, in-line information translation modules are required so that systems retrieving data from the cloud can receive the information in the types and formats typically used by the system. That information should be provided via the physical and logical communications links and protocols that the system normally uses. Technologies such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Hadoop, Accumulo, ZooKeeper, MapReduce, etc. show promise as potential frameworks, patterns, methods, models and paradigms for use in the solution space.

PHASE I: The company will develop a concept for an innovative and expandable data transportation scheme in a single, common interface to eliminate the need to understand all source system data formats and protocols. Feasibility will be established through testing and analytical modeling that comport with description parameters to meet the needs of USW-DSS data exchange and collaboration environments and result into a useful product for the Navy.

PHASE II: Based on the results of Phase I and the Phase II Statement of Work (SOW), the company will develop and deliver a prototype for an innovative and expandable data transportation scheme for evaluation. The prototype will be evaluated by the Navy in a land-based USW-DSS test environment to determine its capability in meeting the performance goals defined in the Phase II statement of work and the Navy requirements for an innovative data transportation scheme. The system performance will be demonstrated through prototype evaluation and analytical methods for the specified data types. Evaluation results will be used to refine the prototype into an initial design that will meet Navy requirements. The Navy will provide facilities and test environments. Test and evaluation periods will be determined based on the prototype development schedule and program of record test events when practical. Fleet input may be utilized for in-depth evaluation. Secure access to classified data may be required in Phase II. The company will prepare a Phase III development plan to transition the technology for Navy and potential commercial use.

The Phase II effort will likely require secure access, and NAVSEA will process the DD254 to support the contractor for personnel and facility certification for secure access. The Phase I effort will not require access to classified information. If need be, data of the same level of complexity as secured data will be provided to support Phase I work.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The company will be expected to support the Navy in transitioning the technology for Navy use. The company will further refine the innovative data transportation and exchange scheme for evaluation to determine its effectiveness in an operationally relevant environment. The company will support the Navy for test and validation to certify and qualify the system for Navy use. The data transportation scheme will be implemented and integrated into a current USW-DSS build under development. Product test, integration and validation will be conducted during the program of record development cycle where appropriate. The company will participate in associated Integrated Product Teams (IPT) such as, but not limited to, development, architecture, test and integration. The company may be expected to engage with the Configuration Control Board. Private Sector Commercial Potential: The potential commercial application of this technology exists in any instance where data is shared between disparate systems. As an example, the medical industry could benefit from this technology. Multiple medical facilities are often required to share data on a patient that is common to all facilities. This technology would provide a framework that would support the exchange of this data with the transformation into the proper format for the receiving facility.

REFERENCES:

1. Rubin, Stuart H. and Lee, Gordon K. “Integration of reusable systems, ch. Cloud-Based Tasking, Collection, Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination in a Case-Based Reasoning System." pp. 1-26, Springer International Publishing, Cham, Switzerland, 20

2.Zaerens, Klaus. "Enabling the Benefits of Cloud Computing in a Military Context." Asia-Pacific Conference on Services Computing. 2006 IEEE, pp. 166-173, 2011 IEEE Asia -Pacific Services Computing Conference, 2011.

3. Office of Naval Research. “Data Focused Naval Tactical Cloud (DF-NTC).” Office of Naval Research, 24 June 2014. http://www.onr.navy.mil/~/media/Files/Funding-Announcements/BAA/2014/14-011-Attachment-0001.ashx.-

KEYWORDS: Data exchange; Data Models; Data Cloud; Ontology for Information Sciences; Web Data Services; Data Translation Services

Questions may also be submitted through DoD SBIR/STTR SITIS website.

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Ground/Sea Vehicles

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMS450 VIRGINIA Class Program Office; PMS397 OHIO Replacement Program

OBJECTIVE: Develop and validate a design tool for use in the creation of finite element models (FEM) and assessing the accuracy of finite element analysis results of complex submarine structures in critical areas of joints and stress concentrations.

DESCRIPTION: The Navy is interested in the development of a design tool to be used when developing FEMs of large and complex submarine structures to ensure that results accurately reflect the response of a real-world structure. The design tool must be applicable to a wide range of FEA software and be cost effective to implement. The intended end product will be a design procedure or manual (the design tool), which will be validated against physical model tests, and will define a set of parameters to be used by the Shipyard when performing finite element analysis (FEA) on complex structures.

The current structural design methodology of submarine pressure hulls involves the use of empirically developed and historically validated stability equations in conjunction with extensive computational analysis to assess the stress state of the pressure hull under hydrostatic pressure. The computational effort requires the development and evaluation of numerous finite element models comprising the pressure hull and pressure hull support structure. The engineering effort associated with the execution of these calculations and development of the associated deliverable reports forms a significant portion of the overall Non Recurring Engineering (NRE) budget for a submarine program.

The status quo in terms of creating FEMs of a submarine pressure hull is to model the bulk of the hull, frame, and bulkhead structure with two-dimensional (2D) plate elements. 2D models are easier to create, modify, and require less computational power to analyze than three-dimensional (3D) solid element models. The underlying math for 2D elements is based on thin-shell theory, and 2D elements have been demonstrated to be accurate in predicting the stress state in thin-walled structures. However, the structure of a submarine pressure hull is significantly more complex than a simple stiffened pressure vessel. There are multiple areas in typical submarine pressure hulls where the applicability of thin shell theory is highly dependent on the modeling methodology used. Examples of these geometries would include offset tapers between thick and thin portions of the pressure hull shell and at the intersections of thick bulkhead and hull plating. As submarine designs have become more optimized and the use of finite element analysis (FEA) has become more prevalent to predict stresses in areas of complex geometry, the modeling techniques used, including the choice of element type, size, and boundary conditions, becomes more critical. As FEM usage expands to evaluate different structural configurations, use of a certain modeling technique is assumed by the Shipyard to apply to all structural configurations, without performing the necessary evaluations to assure that the FEM technique used are appropriate and applicable. Conflicts between the Navy and the Shipyards occur when there is disagreement about the adequacy and accuracy of a chosen technique used to evaluate a certain structural configuration. Because of the differences in position between Design Yard and the Navy concerning the correct modeling strategy to use for a certain structure, the Navy technical community often raises concerns during reviews of shipbuilder design products. These technical concerns often lead to additional analyses, design cost increases and schedule delays for current submarine programs.

The Navy desires a design tool to provide the design agent with clear and specific modeling and analytical requirements, which explicitly defines how complex geometries shall be modeled and with what level of fidelity. By providing clear analytical requirements, the tool will limit disagreements between the Design Yard and NAVSEA concerning the technical adequacy of the modeling technique used by the Design Yard to predict stresses in the submarine structure. By limiting the amount of rework performed by the Design Yard, NRE and schedule cost increases will be avoided.

PHASE I: The company will develop a concept for the development of a design tool to improve finite element modeling (FEM) practices for complex geometries within submarine pressure hulls. The company will provide plans for physical model testing of various submarine structures (e.g., Bridge Access Trunk B Main Sea Water hull insert, hard tanks) for comparison with analytical methods that will be employed to develop the design tool. The company will indicate how the testing and analytical efforts will be combined to produce a useful product for the Navy. Phase I should include proposed geometries to be examined in Phase II. The Phase I Option, if awarded, will include the initial design specifications and capabilities description to build a prototype in Phase II.

PHASE II: Based on the results of Phase I effort and the Phase II Statement of Work (SOW), the company will develop and deliver a prototype Finite Element Modeling design tool for evaluation. The prototype will be evaluated to determine its capability to clearly and specifically define analytical requirements as defined in the Phase II SOW. The Phase II design tool will incorporate lessons learned from analytic results performed on the geometries proposed in Phase I. Since test data for this topic does not currently exist, the design tool will be evaluated based upon the analytic results provided and the proposed testing plan that will be used to correlate the results. Phase II will include detailed test plans to be followed in Phase III. Test plans will include proposed test sites, model procurement, and instrumentation guides. The company will prepare a Phase III development plan to transition the technology for Navy and potential commercial use.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The company will be expected to support the Navy in transitioning the technology to Navy use. The company will further refine, build and test complex geometries mimicking those examined analytically in Phase II. Test data will be processed and correlated to the plate and solid models. With the accuracy of the correlations established, the company will finalize the design tool according to the Phase III SOW. The company will support the Navy in verifying and validating the tool for Navy use across all submarine platforms. Depending on the length of Phase III, the first platform to realize benefits from the design tool is expected to be the OHIO Replacement. Private Sector Commercial Potential: The design tool is applicable whenever finite element modeling is used to predict stresses in complex steel structure due to hydrostatic or uniform pressure. Two examples in the shipbuilding industry are the modeling of connections of ballast tank bulkheads to the hull of semi-submersible heavy lift vessels, and the modeling of transitions of thick bow and keel plating to thinner typical plate on icebreakers.

REFERENCES:

1. Timoshenko, Stephen. “The Theory of Plates and Shells.” 2nd Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1959.

2. Zienkiewicz, O.C., Taylor, R. L., and Fox, D.D. “The Finite Element Method for Solid and Structural Mechanics.” 7th Edition. Waltham, MA: Elsevier Ltd, 2014.-

KEYWORDS: Finite Element Modeling; Verification Testing; Structural Analysis; Complex Geometry; Stress Concentrations; Submarine Hull Structure.

Questions may also be submitted through DoD SBIR/STTR SITIS website.

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials/Processes

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Cross Platform Systems Development (CPSD)

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

OBJECTIVE: Develop explosive feedstock for use in commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) 3-D printer systems.

DESCRIPTION: The U.S. Navy requires a near-term, affordable solution to develop explosive feedstock for use in the additive manufacturing (3D printing) of warheads, propellants, and pyrotechnic systems. Additive manufacturing is a collection of seven technologies (material extrusion, material jetting, binder jetting, powder bed fusion, vat photo polymerization, directed energy deposition, and sheet lamination) that have been revolutionizing manufacturing across the country due to the reduction in development time, potential cost savings, and the precision deposition of material to produce unique products. The rapid development of these technologies by industry, academia, and government groups has focused exclusively on the utilization of inert (non-explosive) production of feedstock. Inert feedstock has quickly expanded from soft and hard thermoplastics to metals, ceramics, and even paper. However, explosive formulations for use in military applications have traditionally utilized elastomeric (polymer) materials, which provide the requisite mechanical, chemical, and aging properties necessary for ordnance. Thus, a gap has formed between additive manufacturing of explosives for use in Navy ordnance and the availability of feedstock applicable to explosive printing.

The development of explosive feedstock for commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) 3D printer systems will require innovation that combines polymer chemistry, experience in working with explosives, and expertise in additive manufacturing. Efforts to develop the feedstock could begin by understanding the current elastomeric requirements of explosive formulations, which typically utilize hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) elastomeric systems. From there numerous paths become possible, such as exploring thermal-elastomers that can be extruded by COTS systems such as Makerbot, which utilizes fused deposition modeling (material extrusion), that could meet ordnance requirements. Other possibilities include development of more advanced binder jetting feedstock, such as developing jetted elastomeric binders into optimized powder beds.