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A02-077 TITLE: Active Control Rotor Using No Swashplate TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform OBJECTIVE: Develop a flying prototype of an active-control rotary wing vehicle. The active controls must provide primary and high-frequency control of the rotating wings in the rotating system such that control of the blade pitch by conventional swash-plate is unnecessary. Only electrical control signals must be passed from the controller (human or autonomous) across the rotating interface to the rotor system. DESCRIPTION: This project will require the demonstration of methods for using the energy of the rotating wings to provide control power (servo tabs). To stabilize and control the rotating wing system a feedback control system must be demonstrated that effectively addresses rotor dynamics and stability issues. Sensors may be added in the rotating system to address noise and vibration sources. The project will encompass 3 phases: (1) Analysis, (2) Scale article testing, and (3) Full scale prototype. PHASE I: Conduct analysis as needed to determine effectiveness of sub-rotor controls. Secondary and tertiary aerodynamic surfaces may be used to develop control power needed to control the main rotor. Sizing of the aerodynamic surfaces and their phase delay characteristics may be substantially different at differing scales - micro-UAV to macro-lifter. A full range of scales must be investigated with time-accurate tools. PHASE II: This is the technical demonstration phase. A scale model must be developed and demonstrated to insure that the analytical relations developed for scaling of the controls is correct. The model may be flown using a captive system (wind-tunnel) or in free-flight to demonstrate the robustness of the controls. Measurements of the power required to develop sufficient control moments are needed. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: During this phase, the program will develop the robustness needed to assure airworthiness of the control methodology. Redundancy of the primary controls and fault tolerance must be developed and demonstrated. A full-scale demonstrator to prove out the efficiency of the concept is needed to overcome the natural inertia of the industry to keep the primary control methods that have proven to be effective on the current generation of rotary-wing vehicles. OPERATING AND SUPPORT COST (OSCR) REDUCTION: Military rotorcraft encounter violent maneuvers whose stall-induced loads quickly consume the allowable fatigue life and require replacement of dynamic components. A servo-tab control is envisioned to adapt to the local aerodynamic influen ces and smooth the rotor's reaction. This smoothed response to abrupt aerodynamic input will extend the life of rotor dynamic components. REFERENCES: 1) Ormiston, R. "Aeroelastic Considerations for Rotorcraft Primary Control with On-Blade Elevons", 57th Annual Forum of the American Helicopter Society, Washington, DC, May 2001. 2) Straub, F. "Active Flap Control for Vibration Reduction and Performance Improvement", 51st Annual Forum of the American Helicopter Society, Fort Worth, TX, May 1995, pp 381-392. 3) Lemnios, A. and Smith, A. "An Analytical Evaluation of the Controllable Twist Rotor, Performance and Dynamic Behavior", USAMRDL TR 72-16, May 1972. 4) Straub, F. and Charles, B., "Preliminary Assessment of Advanced Rotor/Control System Concepts (ARCS)", USAAVSCOM TR-90-D-3, August 1990. 5) Derham, R., Weems, D., Mathew, M. B., and Bussom, R, "The Design of an Active Materials Rotor", 57th Annual Forum of the American Helicopter Society, Washington, DC, May 2001, pp 633-649. 6) Toulmay, F., Kloppel, V., Lorin, F., Enenkl, B., and Gaffiero, J., "Active Blade Flaps - The Needs and Current Capabilities", 57th Annual Forum of the American Helicopter Society, Washington, DC, May 2001, pp 650-663. 7) Milgram, J. and Chopra, I., "A Parametric Design Study for Actively Controlled Trailing Edge Flaps", Journal of the American Helicopter Society, Vol 43, No. 2, April 1998, pp 110-119. 8) Bernhard, A. and Chopra, I., "Mach-Scale Design of a Rotor-Model with Active Blade Tips", 55th Annual Forum of the American Helicopter Society, Montreal, Canada, May 1999, pp 579-598. KEYWORDS: rotors, active control, independent blade control, low-drag rotorcraft, advanced rotor controls, fly-by-wire, rotor system development A02-078 TITLE: "OpenGl" Optimization for Army Rotorcraft Displays TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Human Systems OBJECTIVE: Open GL has been identified as a candidate graphics processing language for use on US Army aviation platforms. Use of a common graphics language and commercial graphics processor chip sets will greatly shorten avionics development timelines. The use of these standards enables the use of a common display authoring toolkit to further enhance aviation display development. Consideration must be given to the differences in the way the various hardware vendors implement OpenGL function calls. For optimum avionics development, the developer must have control of the way the code is generated. Candidate Offerors shall demonstrate intimate knowledge of, and experience with, Army aviation display development methodology and associated problems. The toolkit developed shall allow the avionics developer to modify the way the tool generates code so the output can be tailored to specific hardware using any desired programming languages and versions. A toolkit for shortening development timelines for avionics displays would be very beneficial to Army aviation and with additional symbology and controls could be applied to avionics development in many other military and commercial applications. DESCRIPTION: This effort will develop a what you see is what you get (WYSWYG) Flight Display Authoring Software toolkit utilizing the JAVA programming language. The use of JAVA for the toolkit will enable the toolkit to run on any development platform being used by the display developer. The toolkit will output optimized C++ code with Open GL function calls to be implemented in a target avionics software package. This toolkit shall be written such that it manages a library of default and user provided controls that can be added to any target display. These controls shall be capable of being optimized for specific target hardware. PHASE I: Review standards to identify and categorize symbology requirements for current and future aviation missions including attack, reconnaissance, cargo handling, and troop handling operations. Research should document overlays and other techniques necessary to control visibility and clutter of avionics displays. Investigate programming options (e.g., line graphics vs. bit maps) to determine the best option considering performance criteria of memory optimization and processor speed. Develop programming techniques for graphics processing that optimize the memory and processing resources in the generation and display of symbology in US Army rotorcraft systems. Demonstrate the feasibility of the techniques for use in generating the engagement symbology previously identified. A preliminary design for a Flight Display Authoring Software Toolkit shall be outlined in this phase. PHASE II: Develop a WYSWYG Flight Display Authoring Software Toolkit utilizing the JAVA programming language to generate flight worthy, documented Open GL and C++ code and define any API necessary between the application software and the display software generated by the tool. Graphics primitives and objects shall be tailorable by the toolkit user to optimize code for individual target hardware. This should also allow the toolkit user to update the code generator to use alternate or updated languages and versions. The tool shall be capable of sharing data files with tools currently being used in the aviation industry. PHASE III: Identify appropriate symbology for civilian rotorcraft and fixed wing applications. Also identify the symbology used for military applications other than Army helicopters. Modify the existing Flight Display Authoring Software Toolkit to include the additional symbology. Demonstrate the applicability of this modified Flight Display Authoring Software Toolkit as a flexible tool for creating display software in a wide number of critical control applications, such as emergency medical helicopters used in organ delivery and accident victim transport, border patrol, police operations, search and rescue (land and sea) etc. REFERENCES: 1) OpenGL homepage; http://www.opengl.org KEYWORDS: OpenGL, Avionics, Displays, Symbology A02-079 TITLE: Guidelines for Countering Turbulence in Hovering Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform OBJECTIVE: To develop practical guidelines and methodologies for designing ducted fan Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) control systems for operation in turbulent environments. DESCRIPTION: UAV vehicles are often designed for dull, dirty, or dangerous missions in all weather conditions. These vehicles utilize a range of propulsion configurations from conventional rotor blades to ducted fans. A critical mission requirement for all VTOL UAVs is the ability to perform precision low speed/hover tasks in turbulent environments while the control system rejects external disturbance inputs. While some studies have been done on full-scale rotorcraft (Ref. 1 and Ref. 2), there is little, if any, validated disturbance rejection criteria available for ducted fan VTOL UAVs, the configuration most sensitive to the adverse effects of turbulence. This SBIR effort would develop and demonstrate an innovative flight test program similar to that in Ref. 1 utilizing a ducted fan VTOL UAV to determine realistic control system bandwidth requirements to reject external disturbances due to turbulence. The control system bandwidth information extracted from flight data in turbulence would then provide a key piece of information in the design of an overall disturbance rejection control system, which has direct implications on control law design, sensor bandwidth, actuator bandwidth, voltage, and torque requirements. PHASE I: Perform a comprehensive review of ducted fan VTOL UAV platforms and their associated low speed/hover task requirements. Select a candidate ducted fan platform and develop a disturbance rejection control system design methodology for the platform. The method should address the specification of realistic flight maneuvers and the associated turbulent environments to determine the necessary control system bandwidths, which will be used to develop candidate control laws. Demonstrate the feasibility of the prototype design methodology through simulation analysis. PHASE II: Demonstrate the design methodology by conducting prototype flight-testing in a range of turbulent environments equivalent to those specified in the analysis. PHASE III: The commercialization potential is in developing a ducted fan VTOL UAV control system package designed to enhance platform stability in turbulent environments. The package would include control system bandwidth specifications and control laws, as well as specifications for sensors and actuators. DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: The control system package would be applicable not only to military VTOL UAVs, but also to commercial variants of ducted fan VTOL UAVs for use in areas such as law enforcement surveillance, building and bridge inspection, and hazardous site observation. REFERENCES: 1) Labows, Steven J., Blanken, Chris L., and Tischler, Mark B., "UH 60 Black Hawk Disturbance Rejection Study for Hover/Low Speed Handling Qualities Criteria and Turbulence Modeling," Presented at the American Helicopter Society 56th Annual Forum, Virginia Beach, Virginia, May 2-4, 2000. 2) Baillie, S. W. and Morgan, J. M., “An In-flight Investigation into the Relationships Among Control Sensitivity, Control Bandwidth and Disturbance Rejection Bandwidth Using a Variable Stability Helicopter,” 15th European Rotorcraft Forum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September 1989. KEYWORDS: UAV, ducted fan, actuator, bandwidth, turbulence, disturbance rejection A02-080 TITLE: Automated Wingman TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems OBJECTIVE: Develop the capability to add a second aircraft to the Army flight simulations and simulators in a distributed simulation environment without incurring the prohibitive materials and personnel costs associated with multiple manned simulators. This simulation will replicate the behavior and tactics of the wingman of the tactical aviation flight pair. DESCRIPTION: The problem is that the Army has a rich store of highly immersive flight simulations/simulators, but often only a single aircraft is represented, independent of a realistic operational environment. Modern Tactical Army Aviation rarely flies solo, rather flying at a minimum in ownship and wingman pairs. To add a high fidelity second aircraft into a simulated exercise, another “full-up” simulator, along with its associated personnel is required. Often to avoid these costs, simulation fidelity is sacrificed by using low-cost desktop simulations that do not provide the precision and accuracy necessary in modern simulated warfighting exercises. Making the automated behavior of the wingman application responsive, via voice or data messaging, to a real pilot flying another aircraft in a distributed simulation application has not yet been accomplished. Representing the behavior of a pilot in a tactically correct, responsive way for all-digital Modeling and Simulation (M&S) is a challenge that is being addressed by several programs such as Modular Semi-Automated Forces (ModSAF), One Semi-Automated Forces (OneSAF), Advanced Tactical Combat Model (ATCOM) and Interactive Tactical Environment Management System (ITEMS), etc. To respond to this problem, we are looking for a methodology to converge several new technologies for research and development of an automated wingman at an acceptable level of performance for both concept evaluation and system performance trade studies. With current hardware and software technologies, it may now be possible to automate this wingman at an acceptable level of performance for both concept evaluation & system performance trade studies. These technologies include, but are not limited to, voice recognition and response, cognitive decision aids, computer-generated forces, three-dimensional audio, and real-time distributed simulation. The benefits are many, perhaps principal among them the reduced requirement for flight-qualified pilots to conduct human-in-the-loop studies, a smaller number of highly immersive simulated flight environments, and of course reduced overall cost. If we think about the UAV test bed being developed, the flight dynamics work being done, etc., these technologies very easily lend themselves to an automated wing man which has application to multiple Army Aviation fixed wing and rotor craft domains. This will also leverage the multi-purpose technologies developed within government facilities. PHASE I: 1. Develop comprehensive requirements for an automated wingman capability. 2. Develop a prototype common user interface for simulation management and control of the simulation. 3. Develop a plan for communication between wingman and ownship. 4. Define the interoperable simulation framework for communication with other simulation participants.
1. Define data requirements to pass necessary information between the automated wingman and the ownship. 2. Develop simulation framework that is tailorable to various tactical aviation applications. The tailorability must include the ability to modify the following aspects of the flight simulator: flight dynamics, voice recognition command sets, simulation interoperability data sets, mission planning functionality. 3. Verify capability through Proof of Principal demonstration. 4. During demonstration and fielding, collect user and Government representative inputs concerning improvements, problems, or concerns.
1. Explore additional applications of this technology to other weapon and defense systems or to commercial applications such as ground based weapon systems, artificial intelligence and cognitive reasoning. DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The added capability of a wingman aircraft to the Army flight simulations and simulators would provide general technology to assist civil and military aviation manufactures in developing, testing and training wingman designs at a reasonable cost. To date, there is no known cost-effective capability for the civil or military aviation community on how to simulate current wingman capability. The technology could apply to commercial products such as flight dynamics for commercial airlines, voice recognition command sets such as those used for medical services or residential security systems, simulation interoperability data sets, or mission planning functionality such as those used for emergency and crisis response. REFERENCES: 1) Rouse, William B., Boff, Kenneth R., "System design: behavioral perspectives on designers, tools, and organizations", New York: North-Holland, c1987. 2) Wang, Yao, "Multimedia communications and video coding", "Proceedings of a symposium ... held October 11-13, 1995, at Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, New York"--T.p. verso. New York: Plenum Press, c1996. 3) Alongi, Robert E., Lee, Abner, "BEWSS Self-Assessment for Computer Generated Forces", Report Number AMSMI-TR-RD-SS-95-9, AD-B198 788, Army Missile Command Redstone Arsenal AL Systems Simulation and Development Directorate, April 1995. KEYWORDS: voice recognition, cognitive decision aids, computer generated forces, three-dimensional audio, and real-time distributed simulation, UAV, rotor craft. A02-081 TITLE: Turbine Engine Component High Cycle Fatigue Life Enhancement by Surface Treatment TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Materials/Processes ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM, Utility Helicopters OBJECTIVE: Develop and validate affordable surface treatment technologies for attainment of improved High Cycle Fatigue (HCF) life of turboshaft engine compressor blades. DESCRIPTION: Foreign object damage (FOD) of compressor blades which can lead to HCF failure is one of the top two causes of engine removal for the Army fleet of rotorcraft. Shot peening is a conventional process that has been used for years to enhance the HCF properties of turbine engine compressor blades by putting compressive residual stresses into the surface of the blades. However, currently some promising new surface treatment technologies are being developed to provide significantly better HCF life enhancement over shot peening by putting compressive residual stresses deeper into the surface of the blades without compromising the base component or its other critical properties. Examples of some of these technologies are: Laser Shock Peening (LSP), gravity peening, and advanced burnishing methods. Some of these methods have been shown to provide superior HCF resistance even after FOD has occurred when compared to undamaged shot peened airfoils. Although significant R&D effort has been expended on LSP, a significant barrier that remains for this technology is the relatively high cost of this process which becomes even more pronounced for small size Army turbine engine components. Therefore, this topic will be limited to new innovative, more affordable surface enhancement processes such as Low Plasticity Burnishing or gravity peening, and not LSP. There are some critical barriers that must be overcome by these new methods, which are still in the feasability demonstration phase, before they can be economically and effectively applied to small turboshaft engine compressor blades. First, the process must be able to effectively treat the HCF critical areas of small, highly 3-dimensional compressor blades which are integrally fabricated into the disk or impeller since integrally bladed disks (blisks) and impellers are almost exclusively used in current and future turboshaft engines. Second, the process must be proven to be very economical since the cost of the surface treatment must only be a small portion of the cost to fabricate the integrally bladed disk or impeller in order to be cost competitive. This means that the method must be automated and be able to be optimized for a given blade geometry without significant re-development. Third, the process must be able to be applied to thin blade sections without deforming the blade or critically damaging other critical blade properties. The objective of this topic is to develop a new technology that shows the most promise in effectively addressing the barriers discussed above while significantly enhancing HCF capability over conventional shot peening. The result will be more robust, HCF free, high-performance engine components which are still affordable. This achievement will consequently lead to a significant reduction in development and operating and support (O&S)/logistics costs by significantly reducing the occurrence of HCF failures during engine development testing and during use in the field. In addition to increasing operational readiness, this technology will also enable the use of more aerodynamically advanced blade designs, which, without this technology, would not be able to meet HCF life requirements. This will ultimately lead to increased engine performance thereby providing increased range and fuel savings for future rotorcraft. The resulting increased range and reduced logistics footprint/cost is in direct support of the Chief of Staff of the Army’s vision for the objective force. PHASE I: Develop and conduct feasibility demonstration of proposed technology to achieve advanced, economical surface treatment for application to small turbine engines. PHASE II: Utilizing results of Phase I, further develop and validate the technology via testing on representative components including blisks and impellers. PHASE III: Focus on the commercialization of the technology through integration into engine manufacturer’s design system for use in future engine development programs. Also pursue application of technology to existing military and commercial turboshaft engines and drive system components for improved HCF capability. DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The resulting technology will facilitate achievement of engine components attaining robust design lives relative to high cycle fatigue. This will reduce development and O&S costs of both military aircraft and tank engines and commercial aircraft engines and improve optempo. It will reduce the risk of having catastrophic in-flight, HCF related engine failures for both military and commercial aircraft. This technology also has potential to significantly increase gear tooth bending fatigue life, thereby having application to both military and commercial gearbox and transmission components. REFERENCES: 1) P. Peyre and R. Fabbro, “Laser shock processing: a review of the physics and applications,” Optical and Quantum Electronics, Vol. 27, 1995, p 1213-1229. 2) A. H. Clauer and D. F. Lahrman, “Laser Shock Processing as a Surface Enhancement Process,” Durable Surfaces Symposium, International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, November 5-10, 2000, Orlando, FL, to be published in the Symposium Proceedings by Trans-Tech Publications, Switzerland. 3) P. S. Prevéy, D. Hornbach, et al., “Thermal Residual Stress Relaxation and Distortion in Surface Enhanced Gas Turbine Components,” ASM/TMS Materials Week, Indianapolis, IN, 1997. 4) H. Hanagarth, O. Vöringer, and E. Macherauch, "Relaxation of Shot Peening Residual Stresses of the Steel 42 CrMo 4 by Tensile or Compressive Deformation," Shot Peening, Editor K. Iida, The Japanese Society of Precision Engineering, Tokyo, Japan, 1993, p. 337-345. 5) J. J. Ruschau, R. John, S. Thompson, and T. Nicholas, “Fatigue Crack Growth Rate Characteristics of Laser Shock Peened Ti-6Al-4V,” Journal of Materials and Technology, Vol. 121, July 1999. 6) P. S. Prevéy, (1987), “The Measurement of Residual Stress and Cold Work Distributions in Nickel Base Alloys”, Residual Stress in Design, Process and Material Selection, ASM, Metals Park, OH 7) P. Prevey (2000) “The Effect of Cold Work on the Thermal Stability of Residual Compression in Surface Enhanced IN718”, Proceedings 20th ASMI Materials Solutions Conf., ASMI, Metals Park, OH. 8) P. Prevey, D. Hornbach, and P. Mason, (1998) “Thermal Residual Stress Relaxation and Distortion in Surface Enhanced Gas Turbine Engine Components”, Proc. 17th Heat Treating Society Conf., ASM, Metals Park, OH, pp 3-12. 9) D. Lombardo and P. Bailey, "The Reality of Shot Peen Coverage," The Sixth International Conference on Shot Peening, J. Champaign ed., CA, (1996), pp. 493-504. KEYWORDS: Gas Turbine Engine, High Cycle Fatigue, Surface Treatments, Residual Stress A02-082 TITLE: Low Cost Manufacturing Techniques for Small Airfoils/Blisks TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Materials/Processes ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM, Utility Helicopter OBJECTIVE: Develop and validate innovative, affordable manufacturing techniques for small turboshaft airfoils/blisks for manned and unmanned air vehicles. Requires advanced propulsion technology of 3000 horsepower or less. DESCRIPTION: Typically, compressor blades are manufactured by forging, then machining on a milling machine; turbine blades are cast and then final machined at the base; and disks are forged, then machined. In some cases such as the axial compressor rotors and impellers, design and fabrication is done as integrally bladed disks (or blisks) in which the blades and disks are one piece. Applying current manufacturing techniques to advanced small airfoils and blisks is very costly due to the size and detail of the components. Small airfoils/blisks are necessary to achieve high pressure ratios and performance in the desired gas turbine engine size of 3,000 or less horsepower. These airfoils/blisks have very complex designs including 3D geometry. The complexity of turbine components is significantly increased because of small cooling passages. Innovative techniques are sought to enable these components to be manufactured at a significant reduction in cost. This new technology is applicable to both new Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) engine programs and manned air vehicle engine programs conducted under IHPTET and Versatile Affordable Advanced Turbine Engine (VAATE) initiatives. In both cases, the engine cost reduction goal for production and maintenance costs is 35% relative to current fielded systems. The focus of this topic is to develop new manufacturing techniques such as near-net-shape or rapid prototyping technologies that will contribute to achieving overall cost reduction goals for advanced small turboshaft engines. PHASE I: Establish the feasibility of proposed technology to demonstrate innovative, economical manufacturing techniques for application to small advanced turboshaft engines. PHASE II: In conjunction with engine manufacturer and utilizing results of Phase I, further develop and validate the technology via testing on representative turboshaft engine components. PHASE III: Focus on the commercialization of the technology through integration into engine manufacturer’s design system for use in future engine development programs. Also pursue application of technology to existing military and commercial turboshaft engines for improved manufacturing capability. DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The resulting technology will facilitate low cost manufacturing of small airfoils/blisks applicable to both military and commercial gas turbine engine markets. REFERENCES: 1) Y. Sahai, editor, Casting of Near Net Shape Products, Warrendale: The Metallurgical Society of AIME (TMS), 1988. Kaufman, M., “Superalloys 1984”, pg 43, Metallurgical Society of AIME, 1984 KEYWORDS: Gas Turbine Engine, Small Airfoils, Small Blisks, Manufacturing, Affordability Directory: osbp -> SBIR -> solicitations solicitations -> Army sbir 09. 1 Proposal submission instructions dod small Business Innovation (sbir) Program solicitations -> Navy sbir fy09. 1 Proposal submission instructions solicitations -> Army 16. 3 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Air force 12. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Army 14. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Navy small business innovation research program submitting Proposals on Navy Topics solicitations -> Navy small business innovation research program solicitations -> Armament research, development and engineering center solicitations -> Army 17. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Navy 11. 3 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions Download 1.78 Mb. 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