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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 Aerospace
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 Mechanical & Fluid Systems
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 RF & Microwave Electronics
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 Aerospace
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 Aerospace
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...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A New Method for Determining Aeroballistic Parameters From Flight Data
Dr. Gregg Abate, an AFRL exchange engineer, developed a new method for determining aeroballistic parameters from projectile flight data. Assigned to the Fraunhofer Institute...
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