Mechanical & Fluid Systems
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Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
MEMS Offset-Beam Torsional Electrothermal Actuators
Prototypes of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) rotational actuators based on a principle of torsion induced by thermal expansion of electrically heated offset beams have been designed,...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Tethered, Remotely Operated Miniature Submarine
A tethered, remotely operated, armed underwater vehicle has been conceived to satisfy a need for an uninhabited vehicle for Navy missions in which positive identification of targets is needed....
Products Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Actuator Protection Boot
Polymer Technologies (Clifton, NJ) has developed a transparent calibrated moisture boot that protects the rotating shaft and seal in the UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter Pitch Trim Actuator, a flight control component that...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The Future of Space Propulsion
A paper presents an overview of state of the art of space propulsion, oriented toward attempting to understand recent history in order to make some predictions about future developments. As used here, "space propulsion" refers generally to what are now called "spacelift" and "spacecraft propulsion." Further, as used...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Miniature Wheel-Leg Mobile Robots
Mini-Whegs™ are small mobile robots, designed according to abstracted cockroach locomotion principles, that can run and can climb obstacles taller than themselves. Mini-Whegs are derived from larger mobile...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Simulations of Brush Contacts of Homopolar Motor/Generators
A computational- simulation study of distributions of electric current and temperature in brushes and slip rings in two model homopolar- motor/generator configurations was performed in...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Generic Miniature Airplane for Research and Development
The Air Force Research Laboratory has promulgated the geometrical design of a miniature airplane denoted the Generic Micro Aerial Vehicle (GENMAV). This design is intended to serve as a...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Establishment of a Center for Defense Robotics
A document presents an overview of the recently established Joint Center for Unmanned Ground Vehicles (JC-UGV), located at the Army's Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Michigan. The JC-UGV is intended to become the central facility for managing all phases of the life cycles of military robotic ground...
Tech Transfer Reports Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Piezoelectric Actuator Amplifies Small Motions
Engineers at Dynamic Structures and Materials, LLC (DSM, Franklin, TN) have used funding from a Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant to squeeze an...
Briefs Materials
Castable, Relatively Stiff Acoustic-Damping Materials
A recently invented family of acoustic-damping materials offers advantages over prior acoustic-damping materials:
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Hybrid Three-Axis Vibration Reducers
Hybrid (passive/active) devices have been developed to reduce the magnitudes of possibly threedimensional vibrations coupled from vibrating equipment on platforms to bases that support the platforms. These...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Some Advances in Reducing Drag and Suppressing Convection
Theoretical and computational research has yielded some advances in the art of designing active feedforward and feedback controllers to suppress thermal convection and reduce drag (by...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Simulations of Stall and Stall Control in Turbocompressors
Anumerical-simulation study of stall and stall control in radial and axial compressor stages of gas turbine engines has been performed. This and other similar studies are needed because...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Thrust-Augmented Nozzles for Rocket Engines
The thrust-augmented nozzle (TAN) has been invented as a means of obtaining high performance from a rocket engine both during liftoff at sea-level atmospheric pressure and later during flight under...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Thermal Design and Analysis of a Rocket-Engine TAN Injector
A subscale thrust-augmented-nozzle (TAN) rocket engine was designed, built, and hot-fire tested to demonstrate the validity of the TAN concept. As described in more detail in the...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Near-Precision Soft Landing Resupply Dispenser
AFRL munitions experts teamed with engineers from Systima Technologies, Inc., under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to develop a Covert Resupply (COVRES) dispenser. The team...
Briefs Aerospace
Blended Wing Body Aircraft
Scientists from Boeing Phantom Works, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and AFRL are testing a new aircraft with the potential to realize up to 30% better fuel efficiency because of its unique...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Improved Accuracy of Computational Fluid Dynamics Calculations
Understanding how air flows over the surfaces of an air vehicle can help AFRL designers maximize the vehicle's performance and minimize its cost. AFRL scientists recently developed...
Briefs Medical
Remote-Controlled Aerial Vehicle for Application of Pesticides
AFRL demonstrated its Remotely Controlled Aerial Vehicle for Application of Pesticides (RCAVAP) at the Force Protection Equipment Demonstration (FPED) conducted at Quantico Marine...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
AFRL Proves Feasibility of Plasma Actuators
AFRL is laying the groundwork for the development of revolutionary hypersonic aerospace vehicles (see Figure 1). Accordingly, AFRL engineers are examining the feasibility of replacing an air vehicle's...
Briefs Power
Film Cooling Using Pulsed Coolant
Turbine engine designers routinely use film cooling to cool engine components in the hot-gas flow-path. Film cooling is the process of injecting coolant fluid at one or more discrete locations along a surface...
Briefs Unmanned Systems
Unmanned SkyTote Demonstrates Capabilities
AFRL scientists are working on SkyTote, a novel unmanned air vehicle (UAV) that will take off and land vertically like a helicopter (see figure) but also transition into horizontal flight like a...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The Propulsion - Safety, Affordability, and Readiness Program
Propulsion - Safety, Affordability, and Readiness (P-SAR) is a new and unique program effort intended to achieve common engine sustainment goals across the Army, Navy, and Air Force...
Briefs Aerospace
AFRL Finding Ways to Decrease Unmanned Air Vehicle Costs
In support of the Aeronautical Systems Center's (ASC) Global Hawk Systems Group, AFRL has undertaken a program to study manufacturing tolerances for laminar flow on aircraft wings. On the...
Briefs Unmanned Systems
AFRL Supports Desert Hawk Program
AFRL aeronautical engineers collaborated with the Electronic Systems Center's (ESC) Force Protection Program Office, Hanscom Air Force Base (AFB), Massachusetts, to conduct an in-house effort assessing the...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Microelectromechanical Systems Inertial Measurement Unit Flight Test
AFRL and Boeing engineers conducted successful flight tests of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) inertial measurement units (IMU) on the Joint Direct Attack Munition...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Fruit Flies
He refers to them as "nature's fighter jets" and has devoted his life's work and an entire lab to monitor their every move. Thus is the relationship existing between Dr. Michael Dickinson and the objects of his attention—fruit...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Active Flow Control Demonstrated on “Airborne Wind Tunnel”
AFRL engineers, collaborating with aerospace manufacturers and other Air Force groups, recently demonstrated the first-ever airborne active flow control system when they manipulated...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Total In-Flight Simulator 50th Anniversary
AFRL's Total In-Flight Simulator (TIFS), a Convair C-131 Samaritan aircraft, entered service on March 22, 1955. The C-131 aircraft had performed various transport operations for approximately a decade...
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