Advanced CT Inspection and Data Analysis

Learn about the ways to ensure that your composite designs are structurally sound.

Designing With Plastics for Military Equipment

U.S. soldiers carry loads of equipment and protective gear that can weigh anywhere from 45 to 130 pounds. This is more than enough to quickly tire even the most well-conditioned personnel,...

Engine Air-Brakes

Airplanes, one of humanity's greatest inventions, evoke feelings of awe and amazement for most people, unless you live uncomfortably close to a major airport, in which case the feeling may become annoyance and irritation....

Measuring Propellant Stress Relaxation Modulus Using Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer

Structural analysis of solid rocket motors is challenging for several reasons, but the most important of these is the complex behavior of the propellant. The...

Certifying Composite Designs for Aerospace and Defense

Wherever you find newer and particularly larger aircraft these days, you're seeing the use of composite materials. The latest commercial planes, as well as innovative defense prototypes,...

Multi-Scale Analysis of Deformation and Failure in Polycrystalline Titanium Alloys Under High Strain Rates

Extensive use of titanium alloys in critical industrial and military applications, such as compressor blades of jet engines and armor...

Optimizing Thermal Management to Meet SWaP-C Requirements

As defense systems continue to shrink, corresponding thermal management concerns expand exponentially. Designers have learned that overheating can be the downfall of even the most...

Development and Evaluation of the Stingray Amphibious Maritime Unmanned Ground Vehicle

Every year, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps conduct thousands of Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIOs) to enforce embargoes, intercept contraband,...

Reduced Order Modeling for Rapid Simulation of Blast Events of a Military Ground Vehicle and its Occupants

Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) pose a significant threat to military ground vehicles and soldiers in the field. Full-system...

Software for Material/Structural Characterization Across Length Scales

Synthetic and natural micro-architectures occur frequently, and multiphase functionally graded composites are becoming increasingly popular for applications requiring...

Electromagnetic Simulation Accelerates Design of Microwave Amplifiers

An automated simulation-based design cycle has become a fundamental part of the success of one of today’s leading designers of traveling wave tube (TWT) microwave...

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...

Wide-Field Imaging System and Rapid Direction of Optical Zoom

A breadboard system has been developed for demonstrating nonmechanical zoom using flexible thin films. The project consists of three major task areas: material characterization,...

Realistic Simulation Makes Army Helmets Safer

As materials, ergonomic design, and ballistics protection have evolved, the U.S. Army helmet has improved in form and function, from the M1 of WWII, to the 29-layer Kevlar PASGT (Personnel Armor...

Process for Testing Aeromedical Equipment

Medical devices are designed to function in environmentally controlled locations, such as stationary hospitals, and not within the harsh, dynamic aircraft environment. Yet, the same medical devices...

Performance of Steel Stud Walls Subjected to Blast Loads

Construction trends have brought about an increase in the use of cold-formed steel studs in Air Force facilities. These steel stud walls have significant potential for mitigating large...

Characterization of a MEMS Directional Sound Sensor

There is a wide range of potential military applications in which ambiguity in bearing occurs with respect to sound. For example, autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) could employ a...

Thermal Trends and Improvements for Rugged COTS Cards

Thermal management of rugged COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) cards destined for defense applications has always been a challenge due to the high operating temperatures and other harsh...

Textile Capacitor

The Air Force (AF) is evolving from a Cold War-era force with a large, containment- focused infrastructure to a smaller, more responsive and affordable Air and Space Expeditionary Force. In support of this transformation,...