Latest Stories
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
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
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 Software
A Predictive Model for Cognitive Radio
A computational model that predicts effects of changing operational parameters of a cognitive radio has been developed as part of continuing research on cognitive / software - defined radio (C/SDR)...
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
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
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
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 Aerospace
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 Software
Materials Knowledge Base
A team of scientists, engineers, and developers from AFRL and RJ Lee Group, Inc., recently completed functional prototype development of the Materials Knowledge Base (MKB), an object-based data repository for laboratory...
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 Aerospace
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
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
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 Software
Computational Model of a Plasma Actuator
Controlling subsonic aerodynamic flow through the use of plasma actuators is an active area of research in both the Air Force (AF) and the general scientific community. A typical plasma actuator consists...
Briefs Materials
Strain-Induced Porosity Model
AFRL scientists developed advanced computer models to improve the processing and quality of titanium alloys used in manufacturing gas turbine engine parts and critical structural components for military aircraft....
Briefs Aerospace
Dynamic Air Battle Planning
An air tasking order (ATO) implements air operations supporting the joint force commander's campaign by assigning aircraft and munitions to targets and specifying the timing and grouping of air missions. Currently,...
Briefs Defense
Advanced Hardware-in-the-Loop Sensor Simulation
AFRL researchers and their counterparts at CG2, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quantum3D, Inc., are collaborating through a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to...
Briefs Mechanical & Fluid 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 Materials
Super-High-Strength Aluminum Alloy
AFRL researchers developed a super-high-strength aluminum alloy that engineers can use to improve the capability and performance of aerospace components—cryogenic rocket engine components, in particular....
Briefs Manufacturing & Prototyping
Rapid Model Fabrication for Responsive Aerodynamic Experimental Research
Technicians machine traditional metal wind tunnel models in a process that can span months. Although these models are highly precise, the meticulously slow manufacturing...
Briefs Software
Unified Flow Solver
A variety of gas flow problems are characterized by the presence of rarefied and continuum domains. In a rarefied domain, the mean free path of gas molecules is comparable to (or larger than) a characteristic scale of the...
Briefs Imaging
Geo*View
Visualization of geospatially correct, remotely sensed data is a key element of many government and commercial applications. It enables a user to analyze and assess ground activities and other conditions of interest. Because remotely...
Briefs Software
Coordination of Autonomous Unmanned Air Vehicles
Future autonomous unmanned air vehicles (UAV) will need to work in teams to share information and coordinate activities in much the same way as current manned air systems. Funded by AFRL,...
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 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 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
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...
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...
Top Stories
INSIDERRF & Microwave Electronics
FAA to Replace Aging Network of Ground-Based Radars
PodcastsDefense
A New Additive Manufacturing Accelerator for the U.S. Navy in Guam
NewsSoftware
Rewriting the Engineer’s Playbook: What OEMs Must Do to Spin the AI Flywheel
Road ReadyPower
2026 Toyota RAV4 Review: All Hybrid, All the Time
INSIDERDefense
F-22 Pilot Controls Drone With Tablet
INSIDERRF & Microwave Electronics
L3Harris Starts Low Rate Production Of New F-16 Viper Shield
Webcasts
Energy
Hydrogen Engines Are Heating Up for Heavy Duty
Energy
SAE Automotive Podcast: Solid-State Batteries
Power
SAE Automotive Engineering Podcast: Additive Manufacturing
Aerospace
A New Approach to Manufacturing Machine Connectivity for the Air Force
Software
Optimizing Production Processes with the Virtual Twin
