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Manufacturing & Prototyping

Fabrication of Lightweight Armored Doors for HMMWVs

A document describes a concept for fabricating lightweight armored doors for the Army’s high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWVs). Essentially, the concept is to reinforce high-hard (HH) steel armored doors used on some HMMWVs with a laminated, woven, high-tensile-strength glassfiber/...

Briefs
Physical Sciences

AFRL’s Demonstration and Science Experiments Mission

A document describes the Air Force Research Laboratory's Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX) mission, dedicated to research needed to advance the ability to operate spacecraft in the harsh radiation environment of medium earth orbit (MEO). The DSX spacecraft, to be launched in late 2009...

Briefs
Information Technology

Multiscale Virtual Design and Testing of Materials

Progress has been made in research on several fronts in an effort to develop computational simulation capabilities for use in virtual design and testing of advanced structural materials. It is...

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Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Life Tests of a Microwave MEMS Capacitive Switch

Life tests have demonstrated the longevity of an electrostatically actuated capacitive switch of a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) type suitable for handling radio signals having...

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Briefs
Physical Sciences

Measuring Corrosion-Related Properties of Coupled Metals

Amethod and apparatus have been conceived for using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) for determining rates of corrosion of coupled metals. EIS has been used heretofore for...

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Briefs
Test & Measurement

Scaling of Flight Tests of Unmanned Air Vehicles

A program of research has addressed a methodology of scaling of flight tests of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) intended primarily for military use in observing and/or attacking targets on the...

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Briefs
Test & Measurement

Small-Scale Combustion-Chamber Testing Facility

A small-scale combustion-chamber testing facility has been designed and partly built for use in evaluating advanced combustor designs for future gas turbine engines. The specific model combustor...

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Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Interactive DataWall

The Interactive DataWall (IDW) is a computer-driven, high-definition display, large enough to be visible simultaneously to multiple observers, that presents information from multiple sources and exploits advanced techniques...

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Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Miniature Semiconductor Diodes as Pumps and Motors

Experiments have shown that when a miniature semiconductor diode floats in an aqueous solution and an alternating electric field is applied, (1) the diode rectifies the alternating potential...

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Briefs
Photonics/Optics

Optical-Fiber Infrasound Sensors

Optical-fiber infrasound sensors (OFISs) are being developed for detecting acoustic pressures in the frequency range from a few millihertz to a few hertz. As explained below, these sensors were conceived to...

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Briefs
Photonics/Optics

Study of Membrane Optics for Lightweight Space Telescopes

Astudy has been performed to establish a foundation for the analysis, design, and further development of inplane- actuated deformable membrane mirrors for lightweight spaceborne...

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Briefs
Medical

Implantable Electrochemical Sensors for Metabolic Monitoring

Arrays of electrochemical sensors that include specially coated (as described below) gold electrodes on flexible polyimide sheets have been fabricated and tested in a continuing...

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Briefs
Medical

Portable Simulator for Training in Robot-Assisted Surgery

Aportable apparatus is being developed as a means of training surgeons in robot-assisted surgery, including laparoscopic and other forms of minimally invasive surgery. The apparatus can be characterized as a virtual reality system that includes not only a computer and a visual display...

Briefs
Physical Sciences

Imaging System for Characterizing Materials and Processes

Ahigh-performance digital imaging system has been assembled to provide enhanced capabilities for characterizing materials and processes. Highspeed imaging is needed for observation and analysis of such fast dynamic processes as impact fracture (including ballistically induced fracture) in...

Briefs
Physical Sciences

Progress in Research on Bacteria-Powered Motors

Progress has been made on several fronts in research on biomotors and especially on microscopic motors powered by bacteria. The progress consists mostly of advances in the art of attaching motile bacterial cells to surfaces in specific, pre-designed microarrays.

Articles
Aerospace

Advanced Training and Simulation Technology Helps Produce Mission-Ready Warfighters

Today's warfighters operate some of the most technologically advanced vehicles, aircraft, and weapons systems, and to do so effectively and safely, they require...

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Articles
Defense

Perspective - Colonel Lewis F. Setliff III

Colonel Lewis F. Setliff III Commander/District Engineer, St. Louis District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and became one of the largest natural...

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Briefs
Sensors/Data Acquisition

Dense Functionalized-Nanowire Biosensor Arrays

Progress has been made in the development of compact sensor arrays containing molecular electronic devices for detecting molecules of interest (especially biomolecules) with high sensitivity and...

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Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Nanowire-Based Chemical and Biological Sensor Arrays

Acontinuing effort that supplements and complements the one summarized in the immediately preceding article is dedicated to the development of nanowire-based sensor arrays, with emphasis on maximizing the utility of such arrays for real-time sensing of molecular species associated with chemical...

Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Improved Magnetic Sensor Based on Giant Magneto-Impedance

A low-power, highly stable electronic sensor circuit for measuring a small change in the ambient magnetic field with high sensitivity exploits the giant magneto-impedance (GMI) effect,...

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Briefs
Photonics/Optics

Miniature Hyperspectral Sensors for Imaging on Small UAVs

As unmanned vehicles get smaller and smaller, operational expectations and mission objectives demand a much broader array of platform capabilities — a necessity even with reduced...

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Briefs
Materials

Solid-State Viscosity Sensors For Military and Aerospace Applications

Embedded OEM application markets such as the military and aerospace industries are experiencing a growing demand for sensors that provide instantaneous and continuous process...

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Briefs
Electronics & Computers

Progress in Canted Sector Antennas and Non-Periodic Arrays

Progress has been made in a continuing effort to develop low-geometric-profile, wide-frequency-band microwave antennas intended for incorporation into wide-band aperiodic arrays for use...

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Briefs
Sensors/Data Acquisition

Photonic Analog-to-Digital Converters

Early steps have been taken toward the development of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) that would incorporate photonic quantizers based on the technology of InP semiconductors. These photonic ADCs are...

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Briefs
Photonics/Optics

Photonic-Crystal-Based Devices for Commercial Applications

Several analog-to-digital converter (ADC) devices and part of a multispectral receiver have been designed, fabricated, and tested to demonstrate their feasibility as part of an effort...

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Briefs
Photonics/Optics

Infrared Data Link Using an MQW Modulator on a Retroreflector

A n infrared data link between a ground station and a small uninhabited helicopter in flight has been demonstrated in an effort to develop a type of system for free-space optical...

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Briefs
Materials

Self-Lubrication of Hot YSZ-Ag-Mo Nanocomposite Coatings

An experimental study has been performed to learn about the physical and chemical mechanisms of self-lubrication of coatings that comprise nanostructured composites of yttria-stabilized...

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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...

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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...

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