Physical Sciences

Briefs: Test & Measurement

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...

News: Green Design & Manufacturing

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...

Briefs: Defense

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...

Briefs: Test & Measurement

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...

Briefs: Aerospace

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Test & Measurement

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

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...

Briefs: Physical Sciences

Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing for Homeland Security

To address the need to protect our borders and critical infrastructure, fiber optic sensing technology developed for antisubmarine warfare applications has been adapted to homeland...