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Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Nozzles for Focusing Aerosol Particles
Several nozzles have been designed to aerodynamically focus aerosol particles into a small-diameter jet, so that individual particles can be illuminated by a laser beam and their light scattering and/or laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectra can be measured. An additional nozzle can aerodynamically puff...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Parallel Hybrid Vehicles Using Fuzzy Logic Control
A fuzzy logic controller for hybrid vehicles with parallel configuration was proposed. Using the state-of-charge (SOC) of the energy storage, the driver command, and the motor/generator speed, a set of rules was developed. The fuzzy logic controller can determine the split between the electric...
Briefs Nanotechnology
Functionalized Silk Materials
T he goal of this work was to exploit the novel structural, physical, and biological features of silk proteins towards functionalization of materials systems generated from this family of protein. A new generation of functional silk systems is sought to provide novel materials with precise control of material features....
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Membrane Pump for Synthetic Muscle Actuation
A synthetic muscle has been developed that uses inflatable balloons to produce a tensile force from a positive pressurization. Mechanical supply and ducting is used to provide the required pressurization. However, the mechanical supply and ducting that is currently used is limited in several respects. To...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Nonlinear, High-Fidelity, Aeroelastic Analysis for Novel Configurations
Efforts to develop morphing air vehicles with multiple mission capabilities have recently been undertaken by several research teams, including NASA’s Aircraft Morphing program and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Morphing Aircraft Structures program....
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Designing a Sensorless Torque Estimator for Direct Torque Control of an Induction Motor
Induction motors often are the preferred choice among industrial motors due to the modern power electronics that improve their speed control. Vitally...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Eccentric Mounting and Adjustment System for Belt-Driven Devices
This design relates to an eccentric mounting and adjustment (EMA) system for belt driving, or for belt-driven devices, that is installed and operated within the restricted confines of an engine compartment, typically a motor vehicle. It satisfies two essential requirements for...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Lightcraft Propulsion for Launching a Small Satellite
A study of lightcraft propulsion systems in general has led to the conception and analysis of such a system for launching a small (having a mass no more than a few kilograms) satellite into...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Developing Fleets of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have a demonstrated capability to collect valuable data for scientific and military purposes. Historically, individual vehicles have been used. To reduce the overall time and cost of acquiring data over large areas, multiple vehicles must be used. A fleet of...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Stability Analysis of Distributed Engine Control Systems
Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC), based on a centralized architecture framework, is being widely used for gas turbine engine control. However, current FADEC is not able to...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Using a Steering Shaping Function to Improve Human Performance in By-Wire Vehicles
Currently, there is a performance issue regarding vehicle control at higher speeds for some indirect-vision, by-wire military vehicles; that is, those vehicles...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Sensing for Controls and Propulsion Health Management in Turbine Engines
Advances in engine performance and reliability require sensor components that operate reliably under extreme engine operating conditions (e.g., takeoff, max thrust) and in...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Water Mist System for Shipboard Machinery Space Fires
Water mist has been determined to be a preferred alternative to Halon 1301 total flooding to extinguish fires occurring in ship machinery spaces and pump rooms, because it is toxicologically...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Axial Field Electric Motor
An axial field electric motor comprises one or more elements such as a rotor mounted for rotation and multiple axial flux permanent magnets carried by the rotor. The axial flux permanent magnets are oriented such that...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Stability of Rotors Supported by Hydrodynamic Film Bearings
The document, "Hydrodynamic Fluid Film Bearings and Their Effect on the Stability of Rotating Machinery" represents a lecture in a series "Design and Analysis of High-Speed Pumps," held in 2006 under the auspices of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The document introduces the basic...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Prototype Rocket Engine for a Nanosat Launch Vehicle
A paper discusses a prototype rocket engine for a suborbital Reusable Nanosat Launch Vehicle (RNLV). The engine must operate with thrust levels from 3,000 to 5,000 lbf. The engine is comprised of three major subassemblies: the injector, igniter, and the combustion chamber nozzle. Propellants are...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
SparkJet Actuators for Controlling Flows
SparkJet actuators are under investigation as means of controlling flows — especially supersonic and hypersonic flows. In one important class of potential applications, SparkJet actuators would be...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Biaxial and Shear Testing Apparatus With Force Controls
An apparatus for in-plane biaxial tension/compression and in-plane shear testing of fabrics, other flexible sheet materials, or relatively rigid thin plate materials has been invented. The...
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 Mechanical & Fluid Systems
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...
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