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Materials

Streamlining Advanced Composites Testing

As the use of composite materials continues to expand in the aerospace industry, test standards and corresponding customer requirements will continue to evolve. While qualification of these unique...

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Aerospace

Technique Predicts Early Warning Signs of Structure’s “Wellness”

Researchers from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory have shown that early fatigue damage behavior in structures may be predicted through the study of the microscale...

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Materials

Rare Material Could Shorten Air Travel Times

An average flight from Miami to Seattle takes about six hours and 40 minutes, but imagine being able to reduce that time to 50 minutes or less. A recent study by NASA and Binghamton University...

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Materials

Shaping Aviation: Metal with Memory

Through NASA’s Convergent Aeronautics Solutions (CAS) Project, a team of engineers working within its Spanwise Adaptive Wing (SAW) project is investigating the feasibility of bending or shaping portions...

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Articles
Materials

Using Sintered Fiber Metal Composites for Aircraft Acoustic Attenuation

Sintered fiber metal composites are used in aircraft as an acoustic media within environmental ducting, inlet and exhaust systems. The material can be engineered to meet...

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Materials

Strong and Stretchable “Super Steel”

In aerospace applications of materials, increasing strength often leads to a decrease in ductility. Engineers have developed a Super Steel that addresses this strength-ductility tradeoff. In addition...

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Defense

Energized Fabrics Could Keep Soldiers Warm in Frigid Climates

Soldiering in arctic conditions is tough. Protective clothing can be heavy and cause overheating and sweating upon exertion. And hands and feet can grow numb despite wearing such...

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News
Electronics & Computers

Researchers Print the Unprintable: Kapton

Kapton, a material used in electronics and aerospace applications, has only been available in sheet form. Researchers from Virginia Tech have found a way to 3D-print a polymer with Kapton's structural...

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Briefs
Photonics/Optics

Erbium Doped GaN Lasers by Optical Pumping

The main objective of this research was to construct an optical pump system that would allow the study of Er:GaN materials under 980 nm resonant excitation to be carried out. The results obtained from...

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Briefs
Materials

Hydrodynamic Drag Force Measurement of a Functionalized Surface Exhibiting Superhydrophobic Properties

With superhydrophobic properties being extended to a variety of metallic substrates through the process of ablation due to femto-second...

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Materials

Optical Method Detects Weak Spots in Jet Engine Coatings

Researchers have demonstrated, for the first time, that an optical analysis method can reveal weak areas in ceramic thermal barrier coatings that protect jet engine turbines from high...

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Materials

New Form of Carbon Is Hard as a Rock, But Elastic Like Rubber

A team of scientists has developed a form of ultra-strong, lightweight carbon that is also elastic and electrically conductive. A material with such a unique combination of...

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Materials

Army Discovers New Energy Source

Army scientists and engineers recently made a groundbreaking discovery – an aluminum nanomaterial they designed produces high amounts of energy when it comes in contact with water, or with any liquid...

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Sensors/Data Acquisition

Researchers Achieve Breakthrough in Nuclear Threat Detection Science

Taking inspiration from an unusual source, a Sandia National Laboratories team has dramatically improved the science of scintillators — objects that detect nuclear...

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Energy

Batteries That “Drink” Seawater Could Power Long-Range UUVs

The long range of airborne drones helps them perform critical tasks in the skies. Now MIT spinout Open Water Power (OWP) aims to greatly improve the range of unpiloted...

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Materials

Super-Strong 'Glassy Carbon' is Elastic and Electric

A new compressed form of glassy carbon opens up possibilities for applications requiring low weight and high strength — from aerospace parts to football helmets.

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Articles
Aerospace

Verifying Structural Integrity of 3D Metal-Printed Parts

Interest in 3D printing is remaking the manufacturing landscape. Consulting firm IDC says global spending on 3D printers, both desktop and industrial, hit about $11 billion in 2015 and...

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Materials

Navy Chemists Develop Field-Repairable Transparent Armor

Research chemists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have developed and patented a transparent thermoplastic elastomer armor to reduce weight, inherent in most bullet-resistant...

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Materials

Researchers Study Ceramic Material as Possible Lightweight Vehicle Armor

The U.S. Army Research Lab (ARL) and Australian Defence Science and Technology Group are collaborating to study ceramic materials for potential use in the design of...

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Materials

Polymer Material Decreases Mass of Aircraft

Lomonosov Moscow State University engineers created unique polymer matrices for polymer composites based on novel phthalonitrile monomers. The materials can sufficiently decrease the mass of...

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Defense

US Navy Synthesizes Slime to Assist Military Personnel

A team of U.S. Navy scientists and engineers at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) have successfully re-created a natural material used for marine wildlife...

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Aerospace

Researchers Develop High-Performance, Clean Solid Rocket Propellant

A Purdue-related startup is developing a new rocket fuel formulation that could make rockets used in military and space applications travel further, carry greater payloads,...

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Materials

Army Explores 3-D Printing's Future Applications

A soldier heads back to camp, grabs a power bar and unloads his gear. The power bar, which was "printed" minutes earlier, contains all the nutrients his body currently needs, according to...

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Briefs
Defense

Spectrum Fatigue of 7075-T651 Aluminum Alloy Under Overloading and Underloading

Most structural members and machine components are subjected in service to cyclic loadings of varying amplitude. The variation in stress level follows either a...

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Briefs
Defense

Abrasion Testing of Products Containing Nanomaterials

This SOP describes how to detect and quantify the release of nanoparticles from surface coatings into the air using a mechanical process that employs abrasion to simulate sanding. A material...

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Briefs
Defense

Multi-Scale Analysis of Deformation and Failure in Polycrystalline Titanium Alloys Under High Strain Rates

Extensive use of titanium alloys in critical industrial and military applications, such as compressor blades of jet engines and armor of...

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Briefs
Defense

Processing and Characterization of Polycrystalline YAG (Yttrium Aluminum Garnet) Core-Clad Fibers

YAG-based fiber lasers could offer efficient operation at power levels beyond those achievable in current state-of-the-art silica-based fiber...

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Briefs
Materials

Epitaxial Growth of Rhenium with Sputtering

Epitaxial superconducting films of refractory metals are a promising new template for single crystal tunnel barriers in Josephson junction quantum bit (qubit) devices. In existing Josephson junction...

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Articles
Electronics & Computers

Advances in Lightweight Electronics Protection

Lightweighting continues to be a key topic for the aerospace, avionics and defense industries as new metals and composites are being integrated into end products and assemblies with the goal of...

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