Physical Sciences

Circuit Models for Robust, Adaptive Neural Control

This project seeks to reproduce the neural circuits used by the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans for locomotion. Caenorhabditis elegans is a small (~1.2 millimeter) nematode found in rotting...

Space Debris Orbit and Attitude Prediction for Enhanced and Efficient Space Situational Awareness

This research deals with the problem of modelling the orbit and attitude motion of uncontrolled manmade objects in orbit about the Earth, which...

New Grasses Neutralize Toxic Pollution From Bombs and Munitions

On military live fire training ranges, troops practice firing artillery shells, drop bombs on old tanks or derelict buildings and test the capacity of new weapons. But those...

Detecting Trace Levels of Explosives Using Vibrational Sum Frequency Spectroscopy

The threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to human life is grave, and countering this threat is a high priority for force protection during military...

Next-Generation Spectrometers for Rapid Analysis of Complex Mixtures

Molecules have internal motions that are characteristic of their structure and identity. These motions can be studied by spectroscopy in different regions of the...

Analysis of an In-Ear Dosimeter for a Single Hearing Protection Device

US national and many international hearing conservation programs (HCPs) have adopted a noise exposure criterion of 85 dBA for a time-weighted average of 8 hours, with a 3...

Automatic-Alignment Fiber Optic Coupling System for Optimal Signal Transmission

Using the current method of characterizing waveguides manufactured for research in optical communications, it can take up to 8 hours to characterize the...

Detecting Maritime Radiological/Nuclear Threats with Hybrid Imaging

The SuperMISTI detection system is a hybrid detection, identification, and imaging system for sources of gamma-ray radiation at stand-off distances. The system is based on...

Testing Particle Counters for Detection of Fuel Contamination

Fuel quality assurance is accomplished by conducting periodic fuel sampling for the condition monitoring of aviation fuel by detecting, measuring, and reporting the levels of...

Simultaneous Vibration Suppression and Energy Harvesting

The goal of this work was to investigate the concept of using harvested energy to directly control the vibration response of flexible aerospace systems. Small, lightweight, flexible...

Confocal Imaging System for Ultra-Fast, Three-Dimensional Transport Studies in Thermal Management Applications

The objective of this work was to develop a high-speed, three-dimensional (3D) confocal imaging system to study coupled fluidic...

Evaluating a Data Clustering Approach for Lifecycle Facility Control

Given the current emphasis on sustainability, there is a growing interest in monitoring various facets of building resource consumption. Building monitoring and automation...

Portable Data Recorder for Measuring Sand Grain Fracture After Blasts

Abullet cannot penetrate through a sandbag while an arrow can, so understanding the behavior of granular materials such as sand and its energy absorption in a blast is...

Localization of Head-Mounted Vibrotactile Transducers

T he human sensory systems most frequently used in military displays (vision and audition) are sometimes overloaded. When soldiers rely on visual or auditory displays, their situation...

High-Resolution, Measurement-Based, Phase-Resolved Prediction of Ocean Wavefields

Given remote and direct physical measurements of a realistic ocean wavefield, the goal of this work was to obtain a high-resolution description of the...

Measuring Impact Damage to Toughened CFRP Laminates with Time Domain Reflectometry

Laminated Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) composites are very effective in weight saving in aeronautical structural components. For these laminated...

Testing Mechanical Properties of Polymer-Based Multi- Phase Particulate Composites

Polymer composites comprised of metallic particles distributed throughout a contiguous polymer matrix can often be modified to produce advanced composites...

Humanlike Articulated Robotic Headform for Respirator Fit Testing

The testing of individual respiratory protection (IRP) devices is now accomplished with panels of human wearers. Historical at tempts to simulate the human face and head have...

Bi-Axial Vibration Energy Harvesting

For air platforms, the installation of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems is complicated by the fact that the majority of SHM devices need to be fitted on internal aircraft structure, underneath...

Quantitative Analysis of a Hybrid Electric Humvee for Fuel Economy Improvement

The Army has acquired several hybrid platforms to assess the applicability of hybrid technology for military missions. These hybrid platforms include both series...

Target Detection and Classification Using Seismic and PIR Sensors

Unattended ground sensors (UGS) are widely used in industrial monitoring and military operations. Such UGS systems are usually lightweight devices that automatically monitor...

Wheel Force Transducer for Field Testing

This project endeavors to develop, validate, and calibrate cost-effective field test equipment for measuring tire characteristics on vehicles while driving off-road. The four wheel force transducers...

Thermal Mechanical Fatigue Crack Growth Testing

Turbines in aircraft turbojet engines are being subject to increasingly higher temperatures to improve fuel efficiency. High turbine efficiency requires the ability of turbine blades to...

Evaluation of Three Extremity Armor Systems

The US Marine Corps and the US Army have been engaged in efforts to evaluate improved body armor, including armor to protect the extremities. These efforts are focused on both body armor...

Development of High-Resolution Eddy Current Imaging Using an Electromechanical Sensor

An oscillating current flowing through a coil produces an oscillating magnetic field. When an electrically conducting material like a metal is brought...

Fuzzy Fiber Sensors for Structural Composite Health Monitoring

The onset of local damage in structures, such as delamination, cracking, and fastener loosening, can often be difficult to detect and has long-term implications on the...

Fatigue Crack Detection Via Load-Differential Guided Wave Methods

Guided waves (e.g., Lamb waves) have been considered for many structural health monitoring (SHM) applications because of their ability to travel long distances and maintain...