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Briefs Materials
Corrosion Suppression Technologies and Techniques
Members of AFRL's Air Force Corrosion Prevention and Control Office (AFCPCO) teamed with corrosion experts from Warner Robins Air Logistics Center to assess environmentally induced damage to...
Briefs Test & Measurement
Composites Design and Structural Analysis Tool
AFRL researchers developed a unique design and structural analysis tool for composite materials, and they subsequently transitioned their product to manufacturers of helicopters and other...
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 Materials
Ground-Penetrating Radar
AFRL engineers used prototypes of recently developed ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electronic cone penetrometer (ECP) devices to determine whether voids and anomalies in a particular airfield's subsoil were...
Briefs Materials
Nonchromated Treatment for Aluminum Surfaces
AFRL scientists and engineers recently completed development of a nonchromated treatment for aluminum aircraft surfaces and structures. The new treatment method is the result of a collaborative...
Briefs Materials
Textile Capacitor
The Air Force (AF) is evolving from a Cold War-era force with a large, containment- focused infrastructure to a smaller, more responsive and affordable Air and Space Expeditionary Force. In support of this transformation, AFRL...
Briefs Sensors/Data Acquisition
Automated Material Deposition Chamber
AFRL materials scientists have acquired an automated deposition chamber (see figure on next page) that enables them to simultaneously or sequentially deposit solid-lubricant coatings onto target objectives...
Briefs Defense
Composite Material Fire Safety Training Course
AFRL scientists and engineers, working cooperatively with experts from academia and the firefighting community, have developed a Composite Material Fire Safety training program designed to improve...
Briefs Materials
Conductive Polymeric Nanocomposite Materials
AFRL scientists have developed a method for uniformly dispersing carbon nanofibers throughout polymeric materials to increase their conductivity. Engineers will be able to employ the resulting...
Briefs Manufacturing & Prototyping
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 Electronics & Computers
Microelectromechanical Systems Switch Simulator
AFRL materials scientists developed a highly sophisticated laboratory instrument that simulates the effects of physical forces and electrical current on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)...
Briefs Aerospace
AFRL Supports C-5A Evaluation Program
AFRL materials integrity experts are collaborating with the Aeronautical Systems Center's C-5 Systems Group, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC), and Air Mobility Command (AMC) in an effort to...
Briefs Materials
Composites Affordability Initiative
AFRL and Boeing have developed an innovative structural inspection technique for testing bonded structures. This technique provides materials engineers a first-time, validated, nondestructive capability to...
Briefs Materials
Geopolymers
The use of ceramics in an ancient culture is one measure of that society's overall technical sophistication. Combining the study of ancient ceramics with modern science and technology has led to the creation of new ceramics with...
Briefs Materials
Recent Advances in Insensitive Munitions
AFRL scientists from the High Explosives Research and Development facility successfully developed, demonstrated, and transitioned a next-generation melt-castable explosive formulation. The new...
Briefs Manufacturing & Prototyping
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 Materials
Dielectric Coolants
The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is the Department of Defense's affordable next-generation strike aircraft designed to meet the needs of the Air Force (AF), Navy, Marines, and US allies. Currently in development by Lockheed...
Briefs Materials
Monazite Deformation Twinning Research
AFRL scientists have significantly advanced the understanding of a phenomenon called deformation twinning, a major materials deformation mechanism that is particularly important at low temperatures and...
Briefs Materials
Design of Lightweight and Durable Composite Structures
In the field of engineering design, "factors of safety" are derivatives of inadequate knowledge and therefore are a necessary, but costly, element of engineering design. Designing...
Briefs Materials
Characterizing Mechanical Properties at the Microscale
Scientists from AFRL, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, and General Electric Aircraft Engines, working under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Accelerated Insertion of Materials...
Briefs Materials
Ceramic Matrix Composites Research
AFRL scientists characterized and evaluated the high-temperature mechanical behavior of fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials used in aerospace structural applications. Researchers examined...
Briefs Materials
New Capability to Characterize the Mechanical Properties of Explosive Materials
Improved targeting accuracy and the long-standing desire to minimize collateral damage are causing current and future munitions to become much smaller. As munitions...
Briefs Materials
Innovative Processes Strengthen F-15E Vertical Stabilizers
AFRL materials engineers resolved a potentially serious problem that affects the operational life of F-15E vertical stabilizers. Working with engineers from Warner Robins Air Logistics...
Briefs Materials
Predicting the Composition of Metallic Glasses
AFRL scientists made significant progress in developing bulk metallic glasses to improve the durability and performance of aerospace components. They also successfully created working scientific...
Briefs Materials
Fire-Resistant Hydraulic Fluid
An AFRL-developed fire-resistant hydraulic fluid recently completed a B-52 flight test, and based on successful test results, systems engineers from Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center (OC-ALC) will adopt the fluid...
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