AIR FORCE

SBIR 07.3 Proposal Submission Instructions

 

 

The AF proposal submission instructions are intended to clarify the DoD instructions as they apply to AF requirements.

 

The Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is responsible for the implementation and management of the Air Force SBIR Program.

 

The Air Force Program Manager is Mr. Steve Guilfoos, 1-800-222-0336.  For general inquires or problems with the electronic submission, contact the DoD Help Desk at 1-866-724-7457 (1-866-SBIRHLP) (8am to 5pm EST).  For technical questions about the topic during the pre-solicitation period (19 Jul through 19 Aug 07), contact the Topic Authors listed for each topic on the website.  For information on obtaining answers to your technical questions during the formal solicitation period (20 Aug  through 19 Sep 07), go to http://www.dodsbir.net/sitis/.

 

The Air Force SBIR Program is a mission-oriented program that integrates the needs and requirements of the Air Force through R&D topics that have military and commercial potential

 

PHASE I PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

 

Read the DoD  program solicitation at www.dodsbir.net/solicitation for program requirements.  When you prepare your proposal, keep in mind that Phase I should address the feasibility of a solution to the topic.  For the Air Force, the contract period of performance for Phase I shall be nine (9) months, and the award shall not exceed $100,000.  We will accept only one cost proposal per topic proposal and it must address the entire nine-month contract period of performance.

 

The Phase I award winners must accomplish the majority of their primary research during the first six months of the contract.  Each Air Force organization may request Phase II proposals prior to the completion of the first six months of the contract based upon an evaluation of the contractor’s technical progress and review by the Air Force Technical point of contact utilizing the criteria in section 4.3 of the DoD solicitation    The last three months of the nine-month Phase I contract will provide project continuity for all Phase II award winners so no modification to the Phase I contract should be necessary.  Phase I technical proposals have a 20 page-limit (excluding the cost proposal, cost proposal itemized listing (a – h), and Company Commercialization Report).  The Air Force will evaluate and select Phase I proposals using review criteria based upon technical merit, principal investigator qualifications, and commercialization potential as discussed in this solicitation document.

 

ALL PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS TO THE AIR FORCE PROGRAM MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY.

 

 

Limitations on Length of Proposal

 

The technical proposal must be no more than 20 pages (no type smaller than 10-point on standard 8 1/2 " X 11" paper with one (1) inch margins).  The Cost Proposal, cost proposal itemized listing (a-h), and Company Commercialization Report are excluded from the 20 page limit.  Only the Proposal Cover Sheet (pages 1 & 2), the Technical Proposal (beginning with page 3), and any enclosures or attachments count toward the 20-page limit.  In the interest of equity, pages in excess of the 20-page limitation (including attachments, appendices, or references, but excluding the cost proposal, cost proposal itemized listing (a-h), and Company Commercialization Report, will not be considered for review or award. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phase I Proposal Format

 

Proposal Cover Sheets.   Your cover sheets will count as the first two pages of your proposal no matter how they print out.  If your proposal is selected for award, the technical abstract and discussion of anticipated benefits will be publicly released on the Internet; therefore, do not include proprietary information in these sections. 

 

 

Technical Proposal:  The Technical Proposal should include all graphics and attachments but should not include the Cover Sheet or Company Commercialization Report (as these items are completed separately).  Cost Proposal information should be provided by completing the on-line Cost Proposal form and including the cost proposal itemized listing (a-h) specified in the Cost Proposal section later in these instructions.  This itemized listing should be placed as the last page(s) of the Technical Proposal Upload.  (Note:  Only one file can be uploaded to the DoD Submission Site.  Ensure that this single file includes your complete Technical Proposal and the cost proposal itemized listing (a-h) information.

 

Most proposals will be printed out on black and white printers so make sure all graphics are distinguishable in black and white.  It is strongly encouraged that you perform a virus check on each submission to avoid complications or delays in submitting your Technical Proposal.  To verify that your proposal has been received, click on the “Check Upload” icon to view your proposal.  Typically, your uploaded file will be virus checked and converted to PDF within the hour.  However, if your proposal does not appear after an hour, please contact the DoD Help Desk at 1-866-724-7457 (8am to 5pm EST)..

 

Key Personnel

 

Identify in the technical proposal key personnel who will be involved in this project, including information on directly related education and experience. A resume of the principle investigator, including a list of publications, if any, must be included. Resumes of proposed consultants, if any, are also useful. Consultant resumes may be abbreviated. Please identify any foreign nationals you expect to be involved in this project, as a direct employee, subcontractor, or consultant. Please provide resumes, country of origin and an explanation of the individual’s involvement.

 

Phase I Work Plan Outline

 

NOTE:   PROPRIETARY INFORMATION SHALL NOT BE INCLUDED IN THE WORK PLAN OUTLINE.  THE AF WILL USE THIS WORK PLAN OUTLINE AS THE INITIAL DRAFT OF THE PHASE I STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW).

 

At the beginning of your proposal work plan section, include an outline of the work plan in the following format:

1)       Scope

List the major requirements and specifications of the effort.

2)       Task Outline

Provide a brief outline of the work to be accomplished over the span of the Phase I effort.

3)       Milestone Schedule

4)       Deliverables

a.       Kickoff meeting within 30 days of contract start

b.       Progress reports

c.        Technical review within 6 months

d.       Final report with SF 298

 

 

 

Cost Proposal

 

The on-line cost proposal must be at a level of detail that would enable Air Force personnel to determine the purpose, necessity and reasonability of each cost element.  Provide sufficient information (a through h below) on how funds will be used if the contract is awarded. Include the itemized cost proposal information (a-h) as an appendix in your technical proposal.  The itemized cost proposal information (a-h)  will not count against the 20 page limit.

 

      a. Special Tooling and Test Equipment and Material:  The inclusion of equipment and materials will be carefully reviewed relative to need and appropriateness of the work proposed. The purchase of special tooling and test equipment must, in the opinion of the Contracting Officer, be advantageous to the government and relate directly to the specific effort. They may include such items as innovative instrumentation and / or automatic test equipment.

 

      b. Direct Cost Materials: Justify costs for materials, parts, and supplies with an itemized list containing types, quantities, and price and where appropriate, purposes.

 

      c. Other Direct Costs: This category of costs includes specialized services such as machining or milling, special testing or analysis, costs incurred in obtaining temporary use of specialized equipment. Proposals, which include leased hardware, must provide an adequate lease vs. purchase justification or rational.

 

      d. Direct Labor: Identify key personnel by name if possible or by labor category if specific names are not available. The number of hours, labor overhead and / or fringe benefits and actual hourly rates for each individual are also necessary.

 

      e. Travel: Travel costs must relate to the needs of the project. Break out travel cost by trip, with the number of travelers, airfare, per diem, lodging, etc. The number of trips required, as well as the destination and purpose of each trip. Recommend budgeting at least one (1) trip to the Air Force location managing the contract.

 

       f. Cost Sharing: Cost sharing is permitted. However, cost sharing is not required, nor will it be an evaluation factor in the consideration of a proposal. Please note that cost share contracts do not allow fees.

 

      g. Subcontracts: Involvement of university or other consultants in the planning and / or research stages of the project may be appropriate. If the offeror intends such involvement, described in detail and include information in the cost proposal. The proposed total of all consultant fees, facility leases or usage fees and other subcontract or purchase agreements may not exceed one-third of the total contract price or cost, unless otherwise approved in writing by the contracting officer.

 

(NOTE): The Small Business Administration has issued the following guidance:

     “ Agencies  participating in the SBIR Program will not issue SBIR contracts to small business firms that include provisions for subcontracting any portion of that contract award back to the originating agency or any other Federal Government agency.”  See Section 2.6 of the DoD program solicitation for more details.

 

      Support subcontract costs with copies of the subcontract agreements. The supporting agreement documents must adequately describe the work to be performed (i.e. cost proposal). At the very least, a statement of work with a corresponding detailed cost proposal for each planned subcontract.

 

      h. Consultants: Provide a separate agreement letter for each consultant. The letter should briefly state what service or assistance will be provided, the number of hours required and hourly rate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PHASE I PROPOSAL SUBMISSION CHECKLIST

 

Failure to meet any of the criteria will result in your proposal being REJECTED and the Air Force will not evaluate your proposal.

 

1) The Air Force Phase I proposal shall be a nine month effort and the cost shall not exceed $100,000.

 

2) The Air Force will accept only those proposals submitted electronically via the DoD SBIR website (www.dodsbir.net/submission).

 

3) You must submit your Company Commercialization Report electronically via the DoD SBIR website (www.dodsbir.net/submission).

 

It is mandatory that the complete proposal submission -- DoD Proposal Cover Sheet, Technical Proposal with any appendices, Cost Proposal, and the Company Commercialization Report -- be submitted electronically through the DoD SBIR website at http://www.dodsbir.net/submission. Each of these documents is to be submitted separately through the website. Your complete proposal must  be submitted via the submissions site on or before the 6:00am EST, 19 September 2007 deadline.  A hardcopy will not be accepted.  Signatures are not required at proposal submission when submitting electronically.  If you have any questions or problems with electronic submission, contact the DoD SBIR Help Desk at 1-866-724-7457 (8am to 5pm EST).

 

 

The Air Force recommends that you complete your submission early, as computer traffic gets heavy near the solicitation closing and could slow down the system.  Do not wait until the last minute.  The Air Force will not be responsible for proposals being denied due to servers being “down” or inaccessible.  Please assure that your e-mail address listed in your proposal is current and accurate.   By the end of September, you will receive an e-mail serving as our acknowledgement that we have received your proposal. The Air Force is not responsible for notifying companies that change their mailing address, their e-mail address, or company official after proposal submission.

 

 

AIR FORCE SBIR/STTR VIRTUAL SHOPPING MALL

 

As a means of drawing greater attention to SBIR accomplishments, the Air Force has developed a Virtual Shopping Mall at http://www.sbirsttrmall.com.  Along with being an information resource concerning SBIR policies and procedures, the Shopping Mall is designed to help facilitate the Phase III transition process. In this regard, the Shopping Mall features: (a) SBIR Impact / Success Stories written by the Air Force; and (b) Phase I and Phase II summary reports that are written and submitted by SBIR companies. Since summary reports are intended for public viewing via the Internet, they should not contain classified, sensitive, or proprietary information. Submission of a Phase I Final Summary Report is a mandatory requirement for any company awarded a Phase I contract in response to this solicitation..

 

 

AIR FORCE PROPOSAL EVALUATIONS

 

Evaluation of the primary research effort and the proposal will be based on the scientific review criteria factors (i.e., technical merit, principal investigator (and team), and commercialization plan).  Please note that where technical evaluations are essentially equal in merit, and as cost and/or price is a substantial factor, cost to the government will be considered in determining the successful offeror. The Air Force anticipates that pricing will be based on adequate price competition. The next tie-breaker on essentially equal proposals will be the inclusion of manufacturing technology considerations.

 

The Air Force will utilize the Phase I evaluation criteria in section 4.2 of the DoD solicitation in descending order of importance with technical merit being most important, followed by the qualifications of the principal investigator (and team), and followed by commercialization plan.  The Air Force will use the phase II evaluation criteria in section 4.3 of the DoD solicitation with technical merit being most important, followed by the commercialization plan, and then qualifications of the principal investigator (and team).      

 

 

NOTICE:  Only government personnel and technical personnel from Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), Mitre Corporation and Aerospace Corporation, working under contract to provide technical support to Air Force product centers   (Electronic Systems Center and Space and Missiles Center respectively), may evaluate proposals.  All FFRDC employees at the product centers have non-disclosure requirements as part of their contracts with the centers.  In addition, Air Force support contractors may be used to administratively process or monitor contract performance and testing.  Contractors receiving awards where support contractors will be utilized for performance monitoring may be required to execute separate non-disclosure agreements with the support contractors.

 

 

On-Line Proposal Status and Debriefings

 

The Air Force has implemented on-line proposal status updates and debriefings (for proposals not selected for an Air Force award) for small businesses submitting proposals against Air Force topics. At the close of the Phase I Solicitation – and following the submission of a Phase II via the DoD SBIR / STTR Submission Site (https://www.dodsbir.net/submission) - small business can track the progress of their proposal submission by logging into the Small Business Area of the Air Force SBIR / STTR Virtual Shopping Mall  (http://www.sbirsttrmall.com). The Small Business Area (http://www.sbirsttrmall.com/Firm/login.aspx ) is password protected and firms can view their information only.

 

To receive a status update of a proposal submission, click the “Proposal   Status / Debriefings” link at the top of the page in the Small Business Area ( after logging in ). A listing of proposal submissions to the Air Force within the last 12 months is displayed. Status update intervals are: Proposal Received, Evaluation Started, Evaluation Completed, Selection Started, and Selection Completed. A date will be displayed in the appropriate column indicating when this stage has been completed. If no date is present, the proposal submission has not completed this stage. Small businesses are encouraged to check this site often as it is updated in real - time and provide the most up - to- date information available for all proposal submissions. Once the “Selection Completed” date is visible, it could still be a few weeks ( or more ) before you are contacted by the Air Force with a notification of selection or non – selection.  The Air Force receives thousands of proposals during each solicitation and the notification process requires specific steps to be completed prior to a Contracting Officer distributing this information to small business.

 

The Principal Investigator (PI) and Corporate Official (CO) indicated on the Proposal Coversheet will be notified by Email regarding proposal selection or non - selection.  The Email will include a link to a secure Internet page to be accessed which contains the appropriate information. If your proposal is tentatively selected to receive an Air Force award, the PI and CO will receive a single notification. If your proposal is not selected for an Air Force award, the PI and CO may receive up to two messages. The first message will notify the small business that the proposal has not been selected for an Air Force award and provide information regarding the availability of a proposal debriefing. The notification will either indicate that the debriefing is ready for review and include instructions to proceed to the “ Proposal Status / Debriefings “ area of the Air Force SBIR / STTR Virtual Shopping Mall or it may state that the debriefing is not currently available but generally will be within 90 days (due to unforeseen circumstances, some debriefings may be delayed beyond the nominal 90 days). If the initial notification indicates the debriefing will be available generally within 90 days, the PI and CO will receive a follow – up notification once the debriefing is available on - line. All proposals not selected for an Air Force award will have an on – line debriefing available for review. Available debriefings can be viewed by clicking on the “ Debriefing “ link, located on the right of the Proposal Title, in the “ Proposal Status / Debriefings “  section of the Small Business Area of the Air Force SBIR / STTR Virtual Shopping Mall.  Small Businesses will receive a notification for each proposal submitted. Please read each notification carefully and note the proposal number and topic number referenced. Also observe the status of the debriefing as availability may differ between submissions (e.g., one may state the debriefing is currently available while another may indicate the debriefing will be available within 90 days).

 

IMPORTANT: Proposals submitted to the Air Force are received and evaluated by different offices within the Air Force and handled on a topic - by- topic basis. Each office operates within their own schedule for proposal evaluation and selection. Updates and notification timeframes will vary by office and topic. If your company is contacted regarding a proposal submission, it is not necessary to contact the Air Force to inquire about additional submissions.  Check the Small Business Area of the Air Force SBIR / STTR Virtual Shopping Mall for a current update. Additional notifications regarding your other submissions will be forthcoming

 

We anticipate having all the proposals evaluated and our Phase I contract decisions by mid-January.  All questions concerning the status of a proposal, or debriefing, should be directed to the local awarding organization SBIR Program Manager.  Organizations and their Topic numbers are listed later in this section (before the Air Force Topic descriptions).

 

PHASE II PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS

 

Phase II is the demonstration of the technology that was found feasible in Phase I.  Only those Phase I awardees that are invited to submit a Phase II proposal and all FAST TRACK applicants will be eligible to submit a Phase II proposal.  The awarding Air Force organization will send detailed Phase II proposal instructions to the appropriate small businesses.  Phase II efforts are typically two (2) years in duration and do not exceed $750,000. (NOTE) All Phase II awardees must have a Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) approved accounting system. Get your DCAA accounting system in place prior to the AF Phase II award timeframe. If you do not have a DCAA approved accounting system this will delay / prevent Phase II contract award. If you have questions regarding this matter, please discuss with your Phase I contracting officer.

 

All proposals must be submitted electronically at www.dodsbir.net/submission.  The complete proposal - Department of Defense (DoD) cover sheet, entire technical proposal with appendices, cost proposal and the Company Commercialization Report – must be submitted by the date indicated in the invitation.  The technical proposal is limited to 50 pages (unless a different number is specified in the invitation).  The commercialization report, any advocacy letters, SBIR Environment Safety and Occupational Health (ESOH) Questionnaire, and cost proposal itemized listing (a through h) will not count against the 50 page limitation and should be placed as the last pages of the Technical Proposal file that is uploaded.  (Note:  Only one file can be uploaded to the DoD Submission Site.  Ensure that this single file includes your complete Technical Proposal and the additional cost proposal information.)  The preferred format for submission of proposals is Portable Document Format (PDF).  Graphics must be distinguishable in black and white.  Please virus check your submissions.

 

 

FAST TRACK

 

Detailed instructions on the Air Force Phase II program and notification of the opportunity to submit a FAST TRACK application will be forwarded with all AF Phase I selection E-Mail notifications.  The Air Force encourages businesses to consider a FAST TRACK application when they can attract outside funding and the technology is mature enough to be ready for application following successful completion of the Phase II contract.

 

NOTE:

1)       Fast Track applications must be submitted not later than 150 days after the start of the Phase I contract.

2)       Fast Track phase II proposals must be submitted not later than 180 days after the start of the Phase I contract.

3)    The Air Force does not provide interim funding for Fast Track applications.  If selected for a phase II award, we will match only the outside funding for Phase II.

 

For FAST TRACK applicants, should the outside funding not become available by the time designated by the awarding Air Force activity, the offeror will not be considered for any Phase II award.  FAST TRACK applicants may submit a Phase II proposal prior to receiving a formal invitation letter.  The Air Force will select Phase II winners based solely upon the merits of the proposal submitted, including FAST TRACK applicants.

 

 

AIR FORCE PHASE II ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM

 

On active Phase II awards, the Air Force will select a limited number of Phase II awardees for the Enhancement Program to address new unforeseen technology barriers that were discovered during the Phase II work.  The selected enhancements will extend the existing Phase II contract award for up to one year and the Air Force will match dollar-for-dollar up to $500,000 of non-SBIR government matching funds.  Contact the local awarding organization SBIR Manager for more information. (See Air Force SBIR Organization Listing) .  If selected for a Phase II enhancement, the company must submit a Phase II Enhancement application through the DoD Submission Website at www.dodsbir.net/submission.

 

 

AIR FORCE SBIR PROGRAM MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENTS

 

The Air Force reserves the right to modify the Phase II submission requirements.  Should the requirements change, all Phase I awardees that are invited to submit Phase II proposals will be notified.  The Air Force also reserves the right to change any administrative procedures at any time that will improve management of the Air Force SBIR Program.

 

 

PHASE I SUMMARY REPORTS

 

In addition to all the Phase I contractual deliverables, Phase I award winners must submit a Phase I Final Summary Report at the end of their Phase I project. The Phase I summary report is an unclassified, non-sensitive, and non-proprietary summation of Phase I results that is intended for public viewing on the Air Force SBIR / STTR Virtual Shopping Mall. A summary report should not exceed 700 words, and should include the technology description and anticipated applications / benefits for government and / or private sector use. It should require minimal work from the contractor because most of this information is required in the final technical report. The Phase I summary report shall be submitted in accordance with the format and instructions posted on the Virtual Shopping Mall website at http://www.sbirsttrmall.com.

 

 

AIR FORCE SUBMISSION OF FINAL REPORTS

 

All final reports will be submitted to the awarding Air Force organization in accordance with the Contract.  Companies will not submit final reports directly to the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

 

Air Force SBIR 07.3 Topic Index

 

AF073-002           Adaptive Optics Compensation in Deep Atmospheric Turbulence

AF073-003           Cryogenic High Powered Laser Pump Diodes

AF073-004           Integrated Wide-Bandgap Semiconductor Photoconductive Switch with a Terahertz Antenna

AF073-005           Non-Linear Transmission Line Microwave Source

AF073-007           Interactive Beam Control in Laser Resonators

AF073-008           Solid State Switch for High Voltage Sub-microsecond Pulsed Power

AF073-009           High Average Intensity High Repetition Rate Short Pulsed Neutron Source

AF073-010           User Definable 4-D Common Operating Picture (COP)

AF073-011           Participant Tracking in Immersive Training and Aiding Environments

AF073-012           Terahertz Source

AF073-013           Integration of Psychophysiological and Performance Measures into an Adaptive Aiding System

AF073-014           Rapidly Configurable Modular Litter System for Use in Aeromedical Transport

AF073-016           Architecture Methodology Integration

AF073-017            Distributed Multi-Dimensional Analysis of Battlespace Weather

AF073-018           Using Next Generation Processors

AF073-019           Airborne Network Routing Protocol Security

AF073-020           Reservation Based Quality of Service (QoS) in an Airborne Network

AF073-025           Metadata & Information Tagging Technologies for Application Interoperability and Services

AF073-026           Interface Design and Versioning Framework 

AF073-027           Variable Continuity of Operations/Service-Oriented Architecture (COOP/SOA) Services

AF073-029           Proactive Determination of Network Node Vulnerability

AF073-031           Consolidating Entity Information from Heterogeneous Text Sources for Multi-INT Fusion

AF073-033           Advanced Insider Threat Detection and Response

AF073-034           Passive and Active Mission Modeling

AF073-035           Biomolecular Tagging for Covert Tracking and Watermarking

AF073-037           Novel High Power Microwave (HPM) Hardening Materials for Aircraft, Ground, & Space Systems

AF073-038           Surface Processing for Enhanced Environmental and Creep-Fatigue Resistance

AF073-039           Development of Electrically Conductive Skins for Morphing Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs)

AF073-040           Bearing Sensor Data Transmission for Engine Health Management

AF073-041           Advanced Ultra-Lightweight Hybrid/Composite Mirrors (ULHCMs)

AF073-042           Materials for Terahertz Detectors

AF073-043           Development of High-Definition (HD), Low-Light-Level Detector

AF073-044           High Energy Density Storage for Solar Power Generation Systems

AF073-045           Carbon Nanofibers, Testing, and Fabrication

AF073-046           High Capacity, Lightweight, and Compact Thermal Energy Storage (TES) Technologies and Systems

AF073-047           Stand-Off Detection of Functionalized Nanoparticles

AF073-048           Temperature-Tolerant Processor for Reliable Control

AF073-049           Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) Cooling

AF073-050           Advanced Heat Exchanger (HEX) Scaling Methodologies for High-Performance Aircraft

AF073-051           Test Method for Inducing Steep Thermal Gradients in Thin-Walled Structures

AF073-052           Full-Field Temperature and Strain Measurement Capability for Turbine Engine Applications

AF073-053           Spall Propagation-Resistant Hybrid Bearings for High-Performance Turbine Engines

AF073-054           Conjugate Heat Transfer Analysis Capability for Gas Turbine Component Design

AF073-055           Improved Damping Modeling for Afterburners

AF073-056           Advanced Heat Exchanger Materials

AF073-057           High-Speed Thermal Sensing System for On-Engine Monitoring of Ceramic Coatings

AF073-058           Hypersonic Propulsion

AF073-059           Measurement Techniques for High Pressure, Liquid-Fueled Combustors with High Soot 

AF073-060           Computational Fluid Dynamics Enhancements for Scramjet Flow Simulations

AF073-061           Longer Length Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) for Electronic Power Applications

AF073-063           Generation of Multiple-Input Radar Waveforms

AF073-064           Wideband, Duel-Polarized, High-Frequency (HF) Element

AF073-065           Tunable Filters for the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS)

AF073-066           Low Profile Wideband Antennas for the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) 

AF073-067           Efficient Radar Search Modes for Deep Space (DS) Surveillance

AF073-068           Three Dimensional (3D) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Image Formation and Exploitation

AF073-069           Featured-Aided Tracking, and Identification for Moving Targets Using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)

AF073-070           Waveform Optimization Algorithms for Electronic Warfare Countermeasures Development

AF073-071           Nonlinear Signal Processing for Advanced Digital Receive Systems

AF073-072           Material/Techniques for Small/Dense Global Positioning System (GPS) Antenna Arrays

AF073-073           Digital Beam-Forming (DBF) for Satellite Operations (SATOPS) Support

AF073-074           Multi Channel Radio Frequency Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (RFASIC) for Handheld GPS Receiver Anti Jam Enhancement

AF073-075           Agile Optics and Optical Systems for Autonomous Aerial Surveillance Cameras

AF073-076           Exploitation of Large-Format Electro-Optical (EO) Data (ELF ED)

AF073-077           Enhancing Trust Via End-Node Security in Sensorweb Decision Support Systems

AF073-078           Technology Enablers for Integrated Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Applications

AF073-079           Reconfigurable Subaperturing for Endo-Clutter Processing

AF073-080           Managing Uncertainty in Anticipatory Exploitation

AF073-081           Anticipating Emergent Threat Propensity Using Human/Machine Perceptual Sensing

AF073-082           Vertically Integrating Sensing, Tracking, and Attack (VISTA)

AF073-083           Polarization Selective Infrared Detection

AF073-084           Actively Exited Bio-Taggant Sensor

AF073-086           Store Trajectory Response to Unsteady Aerodynamic Loads

AF073-087           Enhanced Acoustical Environment for Modern Weapons Bays

AF073-088           Innovative Structural Concepts for Deep-Winged Large Transports

AF073-089           Autonomous Control Technologies for Terminal Area Operations

AF073-090           Towards a Systematic Approach for Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) Flight-Enabling Technologies

AF073-091           High-Speed Air-Breathing Propulsion Integration

AF073-093           Pre-processing Algorithms for Exploitation of Remotely Sensed Optical Spectral Imagery for Automated Target Recognition/Cueing and Multi-INT Fusion 

AF073-094           Design-Hardened Radiation Tolerant Microelectronics

AF073-095           Radiation Resistant Solar Cell Coverglass Adhesives

AF073-096           Advanced Lithium Ion Batteries for Space Applications

AF073-097           Space Qualified SDRAM Memory

AF073-098           Thin Multi-Junction Solar Cells

AF073-099           Ultra-Dense Three Dimensional Electronics for Space

AF073-100           Ultra-Low-Power Radiation-Hard Electronics

AF073-101           Low Cost Deployable Reflector Support Structure

AF073-102           Satellite Structures with Engineered or Variable Electromagnetic Properties

AF073-103           High Performance Miniaturized Space Weather Instruments

AF073-105           Just In Time (JIT) Component Presentation

AF073-106           Penetration Material Waste Reduction and Process Improvement

AF073-107           SF6 Replacement or Reduction in high voltage switchgear and airborne radar

AF073-108           Distributed, Multi-Echelon Logistics Management

AF073-109           Airframe Structural Remote Detection for Stress and Corrosion Crack Damage

AF073-110           Handheld Real Time Climatic/environment Sensor

AF073-111           Compact Immersive Display Components

AF073-113           Hydrophobic/Non-Delaminating Radome Material

AF073-114           Identification of the Anisotropic Rigidities and Damping of Composite Panels for Radomes and Shelters

AF073-115           Restoration of Dimensional Tolerances

AF073-117           Damage Detection and Identification in Advanced Composites

AF073-118           Aircraft Corrosion Inspection

AF073-119           Inspection of Subsurface Flaws Around Fasteners on Aircraft

AF073-121           Development of Novel Cooling and Temperature Monitoring for High Velocity Oxygen Fuel (HVOF) Coating Applications

AF073-123           Trace Level Sulfur Sensor

AF073-125           Multi-Spectral Projection Sources

AF073-130           Wireless Fire Detector

AF073-131           Linear Cryo-Motion for Space Simulation Testing

AF073-132           High Temperature Hypersonic Force Measurement System

AF073-133           Mass Flow-Through Measurement System for Transient Jet Interaction Testing

AF073-134           Fiber-Based Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy System

AF073-135           Vibration Analysis of Rotating Plant Machinery

AF073-136           Secure Plant Operations Data Network

AF073-138           Low Temperature Multi-Spectral Image Projector

AF073-139           Field Sensor for Measuring Total Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Concentrations in Drinking Water

AF073-140           Test and Evaluation Metadata Support Tools

AF073-141           Portable Biomass Liquid/Gaseous Fuel Reactor

AF073-142           Aeroelastic Model Updating

AF073-144           Wireless Brake and Tire Monitoring System (WBTMS)

AF073-145           Aerothermoelastic Simulation

AirForce SBIR 07.3 Topic Descriptions

 

 

AF073-002           TITLE: Adaptive Optics Compensation in Deep Atmospheric Turbulence

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors, Battlespace, Weapons

 

OBJECTIVE: Determine requirements & evaluate performance for adaptive optics prototype devices that perform well in deep turbulence. Innovation may be required in beacons, wavefront sensors & deformable mirrors.

 

DESCRIPTION: Adaptive optics systems can be very effective for compensating low to moderate atmospheric turbulence levels where the intensity variance is less than one. Astronomical systems and many defense applications fall in this turbulence regime. For applications that involve imaging or transmitting energy over long paths near the ground the cumulative turbulence effects can easily defeat the conventional technologies for adaptive optics. Such applications include tactical laser weapons, ground imaging systems, laser designators, and laser communications. The turbulence effects manifested in this regime are high levels of scintillation, branch points, and very small phase coherence length (r0). New approaches for turbulence compensation at this level may require many innovations, including advanced beacon concepts, new wavefront sensors, and very high resolution deformable mirrors. In addition suitable reconstruction and control algorithms for compensating phase or phase and amplitude will be required. 

 

Proposals for novel adaptive optics prototype devices that perform well in these regimes are sought for this effort. Thorough analysis of requirements and performance evaluation should be included. This will include wave optics evaluation of performance metrics appropriate for the application, such as Strehl ratio or image quality. The proposer should demonstrate a good grasp of all realistic effects such as signal to noise in high scintillation and all forms of anisoplanatism (conventional, extended beacon, & focus).

 

PHASE I: The proposer should select a deep atmospheric turbulence application and develop a prototype device for the Phase I effort. A performance analysis based on wave optics simulation should be performed. Advanced hardware that will be available in the near future should be considered.

 

PHASE II: The Phase II effort will include a thorough analysis of the Phase I prototype device over a wide range of turbulence scenarios. Advanced performance extensions to the basic design should be considered. One or more additional applications should be addressed with perhaps other system architectures. A laboratory demonstration of one concept would be desirable for the Phase II effort.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Such applications include tactical laser, ground imaging systems, laser designators, and laser communications. Commercial application: Broad commercial uses such as astronomical, ground imaging systems and commercial laser communications.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Fried, David L., "Branch point problem in adaptive optics," JOSA A, Vol. 15, Issue 10, pp. 2759-2768.

 

2. Barchers, Jeffrey D., "Closed-loop stable control of two deformable mirrors for compensation of amplitude and phase fluctuations,"  JOSA A, Vol. 19, Issue 5, pp. 926-945.

 

3. Tyler, G.A., " Adaptive optics compensation for propagation through deep turbulence: initial investigation of gradient descent tomography," JOSA A Vol. 23, pp. 1914-1923.

 

4. Roggemann, Michael C. and Lee, David J., " Two-Deformable-Mirror Concept for Correcting Scintillation Effects in Laser Beam Projection through the Turbulent Atmosphere," Applied Optics, Vol. 37, pp.  4577-4585.

 

KEYWORDS: tactical laser,ground imaging systems,laser communications,adaptive optics,turbulence,scintillation

 

 

 

AF073-003           TITLE: Cryogenic High Power Laser Pump Diodes

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes, Sensors, Weapons

 

OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate 77K operation of high power diode laser arrays for solid state laser pumping

 

DESCRIPTION: Eventual deployment of high power solid state lasers will require compact, lightweight and environmentally friendly cooling systems. In addition, the efficiency requirements of these laser systems strongly suggest the use of cryogenic cooling systems. The only viable cryogen candidate appears to be liquid nitrogen (LN). Liquid nitrogen is commonly available on Air Force bases, it is non-explosive, non-toxic and environmentally friendly. Other cryogens such as liquid oxygen, liquid air or liquid helium do not meet these criteria. Cryogens which deplete the ozone layer, are not readily available or are oxidizing/explosive are not of interest. Single diode stacks can be successfully immersed in LN but this is not the case for high power diode stacks with outputs in excess of 5kW and thermal power densities approaching 700 W/cm2. The most likely candidates for high power solid state lasers are Yb:YAG and Nd:YAG which are pumped at 942nm and 808nm at room temperature respectively. Pump diodes must be designed which will match the pump bands of Yb:YAG or Nd:YAG at cryogenic temperatures. A cooling system must be designed which will remove thermal energy and allow for prolonged operation of the diode laser at cryogenic temperatures. The successful research program will determine the parameters necessary for the successful LN operation of high power laser diode stacks for the optical laser pumping of cryogenic Yb:YAG or Nd:YAG, design a cryogenic cooling system with a non-toxic, non-explosive cryogen which is commonly available on Air Force bases or a high power diode stack of at least 5kW optical output power and then build a prototype device and demonstrate its operation.

 

PHASE I: Design cryogenic LN diode cooling system and determine laser diode design parameters for LN operation.

 

PHASE II: Build prototype cooling system and mate it to high power laser diode stack capable of optically pumping Nd:YAG or Yb:YAG.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Develop and market LN cooling conversion kits to DoD customers. Commercial application: Develop and market LN cooling conversion kit to commercial customers. They will find use in high power applications in the pumping of narrow pump bands such as the 975nm line of Yb:YAG.

 

REFERENCES: 1. R. L. Aggarwal et. al, “Thermo-Optic Properties of Laser Crystals in the 100-300 K Temperature Range: Y3Al5O12 (YAG), YAlO3 (YALO), and LiYF4(YLF),” SPIE 5707, pages 165-170.

 

2. Daniel J. Ripin et. al, "300-W Cryogenically Cooled Yb:YAG Laser," IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Volume 41, Number 10, October 2005, page 1274-1277.

 

KEYWORDS: Liquid Nitrogen;Diode Pump Lasers;Nd:YAG;Yb:YAG;Cryogenic lasers;Solid State Lasers

 

 

AF073-004           TITLE: Integrated wide-bandgap semiconductor photoconductive switch with a terahertz antenna

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors, Electronics, Weapons

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop an integrated laser-induced wideband gap semiconductor switch and terahertz antenna device based on femtosecond laser triggering and highly directional terahertz antennas.

 

DESCRIPTION: A high power terahertz (THz) device, operating in sub-millimeter wavelengths, offers the possibility of high resolution imaging of objects at relatively far distances (i.e., with relative to the distance seen by infrared devices) and establishing an undetectable THz communication link in the field operation. These applications demand higher power density and operating voltages of switches to enable superior performance and widebandwidth capabilities. While silicon is the material of choice for most current devices, it is not suited for high voltage/power operation due to uncontrolled generation of intrinsic carriers affecting its material properties. Wideband gap semiconductors, specifically SiC and GaN, have large breakdown voltages and high thermal conductivities, and they are good candidates for next generation high power density switches. A major technological challenge in developing high power widebandgap semiconductor switches is the development of new switching technology that allows 500 fs risetime at 100kW peak power or 50 fs risetime at 1kW peak power. Among many design concepts investigated in the recent years, laser-induced semiconductor switches (LSS) are most likely candidates to satisfy both the high power and spectral bandwidth requirements for use in the high power wideband THz applications. Photo-excitation, with an optical pulse of 100 femtosecond duration and pulse energy of 100 pico-joule, is known to generate a THz pulse at the typical pulse energy of 0.5 femto-joule in frequencies around 5–6 THz, which correspond to the region of sub-millimeter waves. For high power terahertz applications, this topic seeks the use of currently available high quality substrates and epitaxially grown photoconductive semiconductor materials, desirably the widebandgap materials but not limited to, that are capable of releasing the stored energy by increasing the resistivity to at least 10 orders of magnitude during the carrier excitation stage, which takes place in the sub-picosecond timescale, as a result of triggering by femtosecond optical pulses. The THz antenna part of the device must be highly directional, having a low impedance mismatch with a photoconductive switch, to ensure optimum high power throughput operations.

 

PHASE I: Perform the survey of LSS materials and THz antenna technologies. Design and develop concepts for integrated LSS and THz antenna devices. Perform performance and reliability analysis for the initial design concept as functions of distance, triggering output power, and bandwidth.

 

PHASE II: Design, develop, and establish fabrication and other capabilities for one or more prototypes to yield high performance, high reliability, and reproducible THz high power device based on photoconductive semiconductor switches. Develop models to accurately predict device performance including thermal management. Conduct comprehensive reliability tests to demonstrate long-term performance.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: High resolution imaging of objects at relatively far distances and establishing an undetectable THz communication link in the field operation. Commercial application: THz time-domain spectroscopy for unique fingerprinting of DNAs due to sensitivity of its vibrational modes. It is basically a DNA analysis tool serving as a THz micro-biosensor.

 

REFERENCES: 1.  Y. C. Shen, P. C. Upadhya, H. E. Beere, and E. H. Linfield, A. G. Davies, I. S. Gregory, C. Baker, W. R. Tribe, and M. J. Evans, “Generation and detection of ultrabroadband terahertz radiation using photoconductive emitters and receivers,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 85 (2), pp. 164-166, 12 July 2004.

 

2.  Masato Suzuki and Masayoshi Tonouchi, “Fe-implanted InGaAs photoconductive terahertz detectors triggered by 1.56 mm femtosecond optical pulses,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 86 (16), pp. 163504-1 - 163504-3, 18 April 2005.

 

3. B. M. Fischer, M. Walther and P. U. Jepsen, “Far-infrared vibrational modes of DNA components studied by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy,” Phys. Med. Biol. 47, pp. 3807–3814, 2002.

 

4. H. Yoneda, K. Tokuyama, H. Nagata, S. Ohta, R. Nakamura, K. Ueda, H. Yamamoto, K. Baba, “Generation of high-peak-power THz radiation by using diamond photoconductive antenna array,” pp. 644-645, Vol. 2, LEOS 2001: The 14th Annual IEEE Meeting, 12-13 Nov. 2001.

 

5. K. S. Kelkar, “Silicon carbide as a photo-conductive switch material for high power applications,” PhD Thesis, Electrical & Computer Engineering Department, The faculty of the graduate school at the University of Missouri‑Columbia, December 2006.

 

KEYWORDS: High power wideband terahertz devices,Terahertz antennas,Laser-induce semiconductor photoconductive switches,Femtosecond laser pulse interaction with widebandgap semiconductors

 

 

AF073-005           TITLE: Non-Linear Transmission Line Microwave Source

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors, Weapons

 

OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate and validate innovative technology that can be used to develop high Q mesoband (damped sine) microwave sources that will operate at discrete frequencies in the 500MHz-1GHz range.

 

DESCRIPTION:   The DoD requires very effective high power microwave (HPM) sources in order to carry out their counter electronics missions.  To this end, the Air Force Research Laboratory has been developing and testing lightweight, compact HPM sources suitable for portable applications such as the mesoband sources described in Reference 1 below.  Such sources produce a damped sine waveform using high voltage pulsed power and an oscillator rather than vacuum electron beam technology like a magnetron.  At present, mesoband sources generally produce a low Q signal with the waveform damping out in 5 to 10 oscillations, giving a 10-15% bandwidth.  The thrust of this effort is to develop technology and concepts to design high Q mesoband sources to generate HPM radiation in the 500MHz-1GHz range.  The final system is expected to be capable of delivering a high voltage pulse of at least 100kV, a repetition rate of 1 kHz, and have programmable frequency agility while operating into a 100-ohm load.  For future DoD applications, it is necessary to develop the technology that will allow us to produce such sources.  Present literature suggests a solid-state, non-linear transmission line oscillator as one possible solution.  Small business bidders are invited to submit creative and innovative solutions to this challenging problem.    

 

PHASE I: This phase will require innovative research on new high voltage, high Q repetive pulse generator technology. Design a prototype device to be fabricated in Phase II.  Demonstration of the technology through a working model is desirable.  Develop an initial commercialization concept and plan.

 

PHASE II: Execute the Phase II planning developed as part of the Phase I effort.  Build and demonstrate a prototype of a high voltage, damped sine generator capable of delivering the required output. Provide a report on the technology developed.  Develop an executable engineering development and marketing program.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Uses of this technology include airborne and ground-based pulsed radar, target identifications, and counter electronics. Commercial application: Civilian sector applications include pulsed radar, electromagnetic interference testing, counter mine, and numerous manufacturing applications.

 

REFERENCES: 1. W.D. Prather, et al., "Survey of Worldwide Wideband Capabilities," IEEE Trans on EMC, Special Issue on Intentional EMI, 2004, August 2004.  

 

2. "Proceedings of the IEEE, Special Issue On Pulsed Power: Technology & Applications," Edl Shamiloglu and R.J. Barker, eds., Vol. 92, No. 7, July 2004.

 

3. J. Benford, J.A. Swegle, and Edl Shamiloglu, "High Power Microwaves, Second Edition," Taylor & Francis, New York, 2007.

 

4. Y.K. Fesitov, "Bistable microwave oscillator based on nonlinear magnetostatic wave transmission line," Journal de Physique IV, Vol. 7, No. C1, March 1997.

 

5. E.L. Mokole, M. Kragalott, and K.R. Gerlach, "Ultra-Wideband, Short-Pulse Electromagnetics 6," Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, 2003.

 

KEYWORDS: non-linear,transmission line,high power microwaves,HPM,directed energy,damped sinewave,oscillator,frequency agile

 

 

AF073-007           TITLE: Intracavity Beam Control in Laser Resonators

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors, Weapons

 

OBJECTIVE: Beam control functions like fine steering as well as aberrations such as atmospheric disturbances could be corrected inside the laser resonator.

 

DESCRIPTION: Over the years of development of high energy lasers, system engineers have gravitated toward handling the generation of the laser power separately from the beam control functions, like fine tracking and beam clean-up.  As the systems mature in their development, there may be good reasons to integrate the laser power generation and beam control functions.  For instance, the fine tracking function, usually relegated to a final fine track mirror in the pointer tracker, could be accomplished inside the resonator at lower power and hence higher bandwidth if the intra-cavity adaptive optics system was redesigned.  Other functions such as beam clean-up due to mirror thermal loading in the final optical train or even atmospheric disturbances could be handled in much lower power sections of the optical train, with significant cost and performance ramifications.The contractor should develop intracavity systems for beam cleanup, and perform modeling and experiments to validate concepts.  The beam cleanup task is primary in importance.  Additionally, the contractor should develop intracavity systems for fine tracking, and perform modeling and experiments to validate concepts.

 

PHASE I: Components, techniques and/or architectures should be designed and modeled.  Experimental demonstrations of key aspects of the concepts should be performed.

 

PHASE II: The provider should demonstrate the proposed concepts and the ability to integrate laser resonator and beam control functions.  Field tests are encouraged.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: This technology is applicable to lightweight laser systems for multiple tactical platforms. Commercial application: There may be a significant number of industrial laser systems which have similar thermal loading or fine tracking issues.

 

REFERENCES: 1. X. Zhang, B. Xu, W. Yang, “Theoretical analysis of tilt perturbation and aberration correction for unstable laser resonators,” Opt. Eng., Vol. 45(10), 104203-1-9, October 2006.

 

2. G. Rabczuk and M. Sawczak, “Control of a high-power cw CO2 laser output beam properties by a using an adaptive mirror,” Proc. SPIE, Vol. 5777, 733-736, (2005).

 

3. U. Wittrock, I. Buske, H. Heuck, “Adaptive aberration control in laser amplifiers and laser resonators,” Proc. SPIE, Vol. 4969, 122-136, (2003).

 

4. H. Baumhacker, G. Pretzler, K. J. Witte, M. Hegelich, M. Kaluza, S. Karsch, A. Kudryashov, V. Samarkin, and A. Roukossouev, “ Correction of strong phase and amplitude modulations by two deformable mirrors in a Ti:sapphire laser,” Opt. Let., Vol. 27, No. 17, Sept. 2002.

 

5. F. Druon, G. Cheriaux, J. Faure, J. Nees, M. Nantel, A. Maksimchuk, G. Mourou, J. C. Chanteloup, and G. Vdovin, “Wave-front correction of femtosecond terawatt lasers by deformable mirrors,” Opt. Let., Vol. 23, No. 13, July 1, 1998.

 

KEYWORDS: Laser resonators,fine tracking,beam stabilization,beam control

 

 

AF073-008           TITLE: Solid State Switch for high voltage sub-microsecond pulsed power

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors, Weapons

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a compact, solid state pulsed power switch capable of switching 20-50 kV, and I > 5 kA with low-jitter, fast rise time (~20 ns), L < 20 nH, pulse length 100 to 1000 ns, and up to 1000 Hz prf.

 

DESCRIPTION: Compact, reliable solid state pulsed power switches can be an enabling technology for many Air Force applications such as radar drive circuits, power modulators for high peak power electrical systems for manned and unmanned air vehicles and narrow band high power microwave systems.  Compact, high speed opening and closing switches are needed to reduce the size and weight and improve the reliability of pulse power modulators and pulse forming networks. Currently available vacuum based technology such as thyratrons, krytrons and spark gaps are large and require extensive peripheral equipment such as gases handling equipment, pumps and extensive electronics and/or triggering circuits.  This topic is designed to examine the current state-of-the-art in solid state switches and develop a design that goes beyond the capabilities of what is currently available.  Innovative designs (junction field effect transistor (JFET), insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), emitter turn-off (ETO), heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT), stacked arrays, ...) and advanced material utilization (GaAs, SiC, GaN, diamond, ...) should be explored.  Methods for achieving the maximum performance that is possible are dependent on the fundamental limitations of the material of choice, and device design should be examined through modeling and simulation.  The program should address technical challenges in materials development to improve performance, as well as, device design for compact size and weight, long lifetime, fast turn on or turn off time, high efficiency, triggering, and packaging.

 

PHASE I: Examine device design and material utilization through modeling and simulation.  Perform feasibility experiments of materials and designs.  Test initial switch design; a scaled design must verify the essential functionality of the concept. Define system requirements for a functional packaged switch.

 

PHASE II: Develop, fabricate and demonstrate a prototype, solid state pulsed power switch capable of switching 20-50 kV, and I > 5kA with low-jitter, fast rise times (20 ns or less), minimal inductance (<20 nH), modest pulse length (100 to 1000 ns), and up to 1000 Hz pulse repetition frequency.  Develop a business and commercialization plan for the Phase II engineering development and marketing program.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Modulators for high peak power electrical systems for manned and unmanned air vehicles, military radar drive circuits, directed energy systems. Commercial application: Modulators for high peak power electrical systems for high speed rail traction, utility power distribution substations, power modulators for particle accelerators, uninterruptible power supplies.

 

REFERENCES: 1. S. C. Glidden and H. D. Sanders, “Solid State Spark Gap Replacement Switches,” 2005 IEEE Pulsed Power Conference, Monterrey, CA, June 2005.

 

2. J. Casey, et al., “Solid-State Modulators for the International Linear Collider,” 2005 IEEE Pulsed Power Conference, Monterrey, CA, June 2005.

 

3. J. D. Sethian, et al., “ELECTRA: A Repetitively Pulsed, Electron Beam Pumped KrF Laser to Develop the Technologies for Fusion Energy,” 2005 IEEE Pulsed Power Conference, Monterrey, CA, June 2005.

 

4. H. O’Brien, et al., “Evaluation of Advanced Si and SiC Switching Components for Army Pulsed Power Applications,” IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 43, No. 1, Pt. 2, Jan. 2007, pp. 259-264.

 

KEYWORDS: solid state switch,pulsed power,high power microwave,IGBT,JFET,GaAs,SiC,GaN,laser triggered switch,light activated switch

 

 

AF073-009           TITLE: High Average Intensity High Repetition Rate Short Pulsed Neutron Source

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors, Electronics, Weapons

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a high energy neutron source with a short pulse, high repetition rate, and time-average high intensity.

 

DESCRIPTION: Improved methods for the remote detection of concealed high explosives are of critical importance to the military for applications such as convoy protection and mine clearing. Present techniques are too short in range to be used at a safe distance in case the explosive detonates.

 

A neutron source with a pulse width of about 5 nanoseconds, a repetition rate of order 100 kHz, and a time-averaged intensity of at least 10^9 n/s would be valuable for intermediate (~10 m) to long range (~100 m) sensor applications of this nature. The emitted neutrons would interact with nuclei in the environment, which would emit gamma rays. Gamma rays received by sophisticated detectors under development (not a part of this solicitation) can theoretically identify the nuclei's species, direction, and (from time-of-flight) distance. Obtaining a detailed three dimensional elemental map of the environment is required for adequate background discrimination. This requires an intense short-pulse neutron source, ideally with only sufficient delay between firings to process the secondary signals. The stated parameters are intended to be suggestive of this requirement for real-time applications, but significantly greater time averaged intensity would given greater consideration.

 

High time-averaged intensity is needed to obtain sufficient statistics in a timely manner due to the rapid drop off in the signal with range for a given target. High repetition rate is needed due to the maximum number of neutrons interaction gammas that can typically be processed per shot. A short pulse width is needed due to the time-of-flight requirement. Existing devices are at least upgradeable to the minimum time-average intensity levels, but have much lower repetition rates and longer pulse widths than specified. Conversely, high repetition rate technologies with short pulses have much lower time-averaged intensities. Innovative approaches are sought to achieve all the desired parameters in a given system.

 

The size and weight of the ultimate commercial system envisioned is an important consideration for most applications. That is, it should be readily transportable on a modestly sized ground vehicle for field use. 

 

Coordination with independently funded efforts addressing the detector issue is highly desirable.  Such coordination will help optimize performance parameter goals, for example. 

 

Detection of fissile materials using secondary neutron detectors is an additional potential application of the proposed source.

 

PHASE I: Investigate innovative approaches to achieving target intensity, repetition rate, and pulse width parameters. Deliver documented results quantifying these parameters and demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach. Deliver a Phase II Plan that includes a prototype design for further tests.

 

PHASE II: Finalization of the design and fabrication of the prototype device. Perform functional, reliability, etc. testing to demonstrate the desired application. Deliver a Phase II Final Technical Report and Marketing Plan.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Such a neutron source would be a great benefit for military detector systems wherever mapping of hazardous materials such as high explosives and/or fissiles is required, such as convoy protection. Commercial application: Such a neutron source would be great benefit for civilian concealed hazard material imaging systems at ports of entry, for example.

 

REFERENCES: 1. G. Viesti, et al, "The EXPLODET project: advanced nuclear techniques for humanitarian demining," Nucl. Instrum. and Methods in Phys. Research A 422, 918-921, 1999.

 

2. J. Csikai, ed., Handbook of Fast Neutron Generators, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida (1987).

 

3. J. M. Koh, et al, "Optimization of the high pressure operation regime for enhanced neutron yield in a plasma focus device," Plasma Sour. Sci. Technol. 14, 12 (2005).

 

KEYWORDS: high energy neutron source, gamma, explosives, fissile, detector, intensity, high repetition, explosives detection, hazardous material detection

 

 

AF073-010           TITLE: User Definable 4-D Common Operating Picture (COP)

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Human Systems

 

OBJECTIVE: To create a 4-D common operating picture (COP) the elements of which are user selectable and are automatically correlated in time and space.

 

DESCRIPTION: In today's net centric warfighting environment, personnel in Air Operations Centers (AOCs) have access to an abundance of information about the operational environment. However, this information resides in multiple databases both in and outside the AOC. Users often must log on to several different systems to access all needed information. The information from these various sources is generally not correlated in time or space. In addition, current software depicts the 3-D operational environment in a 2-D display format. To facilitate tasks such as airspace management, mission planning and precisions targeting, a 3-D depiction of the operating environment is needed which can be played back or forward in time. The ability for a scenario or task to be played backward or forward in time is considered the 4-D aspect. Typical methods to visualize the warfighting environment include geospatial and temporal perspectives, but fail to link the two in a coherent way. Linking the two methods is risky because they are traditionally decoupled. Linking geospatial and temporal perspectives enables operators to move within the time dimension to see plans, the current situation, archived data, or to change resolution from tactical to theater/operational to global/strategic perspectives and continue to have data presented in a framework that remains context-relevant within the dynamic 4-D range. A refresh rate of no slower than 30 Hertz is required. An emphasis should be placed on developing a user definable/user selectable operational picture that links tactical to strategic, analyst to executor to planner (past/present/future). Predicting the future battlespace is difficult, but being able to display possible outcomes will enable the warfighter to better plan missions. The operational picture should supply temporal data, have metadata querying and meta-analysis. These desired features increase program risk. An innovative operator interface design is required that optimizes the 4-D visual presentation for user tasks. The tool(s) used to interact with the design should be appropriate for the interface. Presented information should be displayed in such a way that would enable the user to define/select his dataset in no more than three seconds. Metadata, including age and source of information, must be accessible and the information must be correlated in time (+/- 1/30 second) and space (+/- 1 display pixel). Situational information (task specific) must be accessed using no more than three applications and in less than five seconds without overload, such as information not needed for that situation (task) or without inducing fatigue effects (eye strain).

 

PHASE I: Identify and evaluate user definable/user selectable strategies that demonstrate how data from databases, text, text chat, voice communications, outside sources, etc, can be correlated and presented to users to create an easily understandable 4-D COP linking geospatial and temporal perspectives in a high level functional design. The results will be documented in a report.

 

PHASE II: Construct a working prototype that demonstrates how data from databases, text, text chat, voice communications, outside sources, etc., can be correlated and presented to users to create an easily understandable 4-D common operating picture. The 4-D COP will be user definable/user selectable and link geospatial and temporal perspectives. Software/hardware deliverable will be robust enough for laboratory testing.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Military applications include AOCs and other command and control environments. One example would be the ability to develop courses of action based on the known and the projected battlefield. First responders, control centers, and the Department of Homeland Security would also benefit. Commercial application: Applications include activities where information from multiple sources is needed to understand the operating environment. This technology could also be used for time-based analysis of collected data.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Phister, P., Plonisch, I. & Humiston, T. The Combined Aerospace Operations Center (CAOC) of the Future. 6th International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium. U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, (2001).

 

2. Vego, M.N. Operational Command and Control in the Information Age. Joint Force Quarterly, Autumn 2004. http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/jfq_pubs/1935.pdf

 

3. http://www.darpa.mil/sto/strategic/cpof.html

 

KEYWORDS: common operating picture (COP), 4-D, air and space operations center (AOC), command and control (C2), net centric, user definable

 

 

AF073-011           TITLE: Participant Tracking in Immersive Training and Aiding Environments

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Human Systems

 

OBJECTIVE: Individual and simultaneous precision tracking of the location and face direction of multiple participants in large volume immersive simulation environments.

 

DESCRIPTION: Immersive simulation environments may be used to support personnel learning, training, and aiding functions. Visual and auditory information are the primary stimuli presented to participants in such environments, and such stimuli may be presented via transducers that are personally worn. Some environments may simulate the ground or interiors of buildings, in forward locations or in analysis/command/control locations. In all cases, participants must interpret large volumes of complex information and make decisions accordingly. Participants may move around in some environments, and specific content in the various stimuli presented to each participant may vary depending on their role, their location, and the direction in which they are facing. If a hand-held display (HHD) such as a simulated binocular or a head-mounted display (HMD) is used or worn by a participant, optimal decision making requires that the imagery displayed by that HHD or HMD be contextually appropriate at all times for the direction in which the HHD is aimed and/or the wearer of the HMD is facing. The same requirement holds true if spatial audio cues are presented to the participant. Multiple participants may train or operate at the same time in one environment. Individual tracking information is required to continuously determine the location and direction in which each participant, as well as any imaging devices they are holding, are facing in a multiparticipant simulation environment. Low latency and high angular accuracy of tracking is of particular importance for HHD and HMD imagery. If participants are walking in a simulated ground environment, no cables or other obvious physical manifestations used for tracking should be present that would not be present in the real world. Walls or other obstacles may be present in a ground environment such as a building, but such obstacles must not interrupt or interfere with individual tracking data.

 

The Air Force is seeking tools and concepts to create immersive simulation environments for learning, training and aiding applications spanning the gamut from tactical to strategic. For this topic the Air Force is specifically seeking unobtrusive means of wirelessly and simultaneously tracking the location and orientation of multiple individuals and simulated imaging devices they may carry in an environment measuring at least 25,000 cubic feet in volume projected onto a floor area of at least 2500 square feet. Such tracking information must be continuously updated in real time on a by-individual person and device basis, in any posture or orientation, in scenarios of at least one hour duration each, and must have positional accuracy, angular accuracy, and drift rate suitable for uninterrupted high-fidelity learning, training and aiding of participants either closely grouped or separated from one another. The conspicuity, weight, and volume of any equipment individually worn or attached for such tracking purposes must be minimal. Such tracking means must introduce no safety or health hazards to any users, and must be compatible with any other RF or optically-based data transferal or imaging systems in such environments.

 

PHASE I: Examine, compare, and document requirements on candidate tracker technologies. Define and document technical solution options, and design a tracker concept capable of meeting all requirements in “Description” 

 

PHASE II: Prototype proposed Phase I design concept and demonstrate it for at least three individuals simultaneously using government-furnished HMDs.   Durability, operating duration are considerations.  Submit complete technical report documenting all work.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Any system needing realistic untethered high-resolution data transfer to/from dismounted trainees. Examples: USAF Joint Terminal Attack Control Trainer Simulator, US Army Dismounted Soldier Simulator. Commercial application: Entertainment and gaming industries, also education, training or maintenance applications which would benefit from continuous roaming access to high-resolution imagery or reference materials.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Lanzagorta, Rosenberg, Rosenblum and Kuo, (2000). “Rapid Prototyping of Virtual Environments,” IEEE Computing in Science and Engineering, Vol. 2, No. 3 (ISSN: 1521-9615), pp. 68-73, May/June 2000.

(http://csdl2.computer.org/persagen/DLAbsToc.jsp?resourcePath=/dl/mags/cs/&toc=comp/mags/cs/2000/03/c3toc.xml&DOI=10.1109/5992.841798)

 

2. Anliker, Beutel, Dyer, Lukowicz, Thiele and Troster, “A Systematic Approach to the Design of Distributed Wearable Systems,” IEEE Transactions on Computers, vol. 53 (8), pp. 1017-1033, August 2004.

 

3. Hix, Deborah, "Enhancing a CAVE with Eye Tracking Systems for Human-Computer Interaction Research in 3D Visualization." Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, (1999). (http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=A363070&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf)

 

4. Wang, Yifei, Human Movement Tracking Using a Wearable Wireless Sensor

Network, (2005). Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. http://www.hci.iastate.edu/TRS/THESES/MS-Yifei-Wang-2005.doc

 

KEYWORDS: tracker, human performance, wireless, high resolution, simulator, immersive, high fidelity, sensory cues, visual display, auditory

 

 

AF073-012           TITLE: Terahertz Source and Spectrometer

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Biomedical, Sensors, Weapons

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a terahertz spectroscopy system consisting of a tunable terahertz source that can generate energy from 0.1 to 7 terahertz (THz) with 1 Watt (W) continuous wave (CW) output power and a terahertz spectrometer capable of better than 200MHz spectral resolution. 

 

DESCRIPTION: The terahertz range of the electromagnetic spectrum lies between the infrared and radiofrequency regions of the spectrum. Recent technological advances have allowed for exploration of the possible applications within this region of the spectrum. The terahertz region has many potential applications including medical imaging and security (1-3). Terahertz spectroscopy can be used for detecting and identifying biological, chemical and explosive materials. The spectroscopic database in the terahertz range of the electromagnetic spectrum is currently being compiled by labs throughout the world. In order to ensure safe employment of terahertz sources for such applications, the spectroscopy of biological materials and the interaction of terahertz frequencies with biological materials need to be studied in greater depth. Data of terahertz interaction with skin currently exists only from 0.1 to 2 THz (4,5). The remaining portion of the terahertz spectrum (2 to 30 THz) remains unexplored. To enable to fielding of terahertz sources in many groundbreaking applications, it is necessary to further study the terahertz portion of the spectrum. A terahertz source and spectrometer would enable the biological research necessary to better understand the interaction of terahertz frequencies with biological tissue. Our requirements are for a tunable terahertz source capable of producing energy from 0.1 to 7 THz at power levels of 1 W, CW and reflectance spectrometer capable of better than 200MHz spectral resolution. The two items must be developed together and coupled as a system.

 

PHASE I: Determine the feasibility of designing a terahertz source that can generate 1 W, CW terahertz energy from 0.1 to 7 THz coupled with a spectrometer with spectral resolution of better than 200MHz. Breadboard a prototype version.

 

PHASE II: Develop, demonstrate, and validate an operational terahertz source/spectrometer system that was designed during Phase I.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Use by government to generate terahertz energy for medical imaging and security applications. This source could also be used in academia for basic scientific exploration of terahertz energy. Commercial application: Use by industry and academia, to generate terahertz energy for medical imaging and security applications. This source could be used in academia for basic scientific exploration of terahertz energy.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Dobroiu A, Otani C, Kawase K. Terahertz-wave sources and imaging applications. Measurement Science and Technology 17:R161-R174; 2006.

 

2. Dragoman D, Dragoman M. Terahertz fields and applications.  Progress in Quantum Electronics 28:1-66; 2004.

 

3. Fitzgerald AJ, Berry E, Zinovev NN, Walker GC, Smith MA, Chamberlain JM. An introduction to medical imaging with coherent terahertz frequency radiation. Physics in Medicine and Biology 47:R67-R84; 2002.

 

4. Pickwell E, Cole B, Fitzgerald AJ, Wallace V, Pepper M. Simulation of terahertz pulse propagation in biological systems. Applied Physics Letters 84:2190-2192; 2004.

 

5. Pickwell E, Fitzgerald A, Cole B, Taday P, Rye R, Ha T, Pepper M, Wallace V. Simulating the response of terahertz radiation to basal cell carcinoma using ex vivo spectroscopy measurements. Journal of Biomedical Optics 10:064021; 2005.

 

KEYWORDS: terahertz, directed energy, radio frequency radiation, dosimetry, spectroscopy

 

 

AF073-013           TITLE: Integration of Psychophysiological and Performance Measures into an Adaptive Aiding System

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Human Systems

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a closed-loop, real-time prototype that integrates psychophysiological (i.e., EEG activity) and performance (i.e., reaction time) signals for adaptive automation in complex human systems

 

DESCRIPTION: The increased tempo of military operations, reduced manning and round the clock operations puts high levels of stress on Air Force personnel. Adaptive aiding or automation on demand can be used to reduce the cognitive demands on operators. This system would detect operator problems, look at the current mission situation and then provide the exact mitigation required to provide optimal performance. Procedures are needed to determine the momentary operator functional state (OFS) and in the context of the mission determine how to aid the operator to avoid errors and improve mission success.

Psychophysiological data have been shown to provide accurate and reliable estimates of OFS in operational environments in real time. Studies have shown that closed loop procedures using psychophysiological data significantly improve mission success. Additionally, models based upon operator performance have also resulted in improved mission success. Combining these two procedures (physiological and performance- based) should produce a synergistic effect that would provide even greater mission success. Further, by monitoring the development of the mission it will be possible to provide context-sensitive adaptive aiding. In other words, a system is needed that continuously monitors OFS using psychophysiological and performance data to detect overload and in the context of the mission evolution provide the most appropriate aiding. The operator’s situation awareness (SA) of the mission can also be assessed with embedded nonintrusive SA probes.

The critical feature of such a procedure would be the ability to predict future mission demands and future status of the operator. Procedures that are reactive only to the current OFS may have limited impact on mission effectiveness. However, a procedure that can predict upcoming mission demands and also predict what the operator’s capabilities will be at that time would greatly improve the warfighters effectiveness. While developed to demonstrate its utility with the Uninhabited Air Vehicle (UAV) task, the procedure should be designed so that it has universal applicability.

 

PHASE I: Identify and define salient psychophysiological measures, isolate critical performance measures, develop a task model, design SA measures, select classifier to integrate measures and develop mitigations which improve human performance.

 

PHASE II: Build, optimize, and test the psychophysiological and performance based adaptive aiding prototype demonstration in realistic UAV simulation.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: This application will be useful for UAV operations by decreasing mission errors and improving mission success and allow one operator to control multiple Air Force systems. Commercial application: It will be useful in civilian situations that place high levels of stress on operators such as air traffic control, nuclear reactor operators, and process control operators.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Air Force Research Laboratory, Human Effectiveness Directorate, Warfighter Interface Division, Flight Psychophysiology Laboratory, http://www.hec.afrl.af.mil/Organization/HECP/fpl.asp

 

KEYWORDS: adaptive automation, operator functional state, human performance modeling, psychophysiology, situation awareness, human performance

 

 

AF073-014           TITLE: Rapidly Configurable Modular Litter System for use in Aeromedical Transport

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Human Systems

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop technology concepts for an innovative patient litter system usable in military transport aircraft and the civil reserve fleet.

 

DESCRIPTION: The current patient litter is a canvass sheet 22 by 72 inches secured on poles. It is too narrow for many patients and cumbersome when loaded with critical patients plus medical equipment. Treatment items, supplies, and a vast array of medical equipment are haphazardly mounted to or around the litter or at locations scattered around the aircraft. The litter as a platform does not succinctly accommodate the large quantities of medical equipment such as ventilators, defibrillators, monitors, IV Pumps and suction devices.  Separate pieces dangle in the aisles each with their plasma screens pointing in different directions. Each has a separate battery. Lighting is deficient, the patient microclimate temperature control is substandard and the background noise is prohibitive for voice communications. Urine and biological secretions are collected in bags hanging by hook off the litter creating clutter and spill hazards. Mounting the current litters in military transport aircraft requires first a skeleton of stanchions, power lines, oxygen lines, and emergency oxygen masks to be installed. This preconfiguration consumes precious manpower and time. Patient loading cannot begin until this stage is complete.  Ground transport is also awkward. Each of the numerous pieces of equipment has to be powered in this phase by their own battery packs which results in a heavy, bulky, and awkward configuration.  Medical oxygen must be provided by separate heavy carry along tanks. The litter loaded with the patient and equipment often weighs over 300 pounds. The canvass litter, as the basic platform for aeromedical patient transport, arose pre WWII, and all innovations since then including incorporation of modern medical equipment and upgrade to modern aircraft have been crudely adapted to this platform. 

  A Systems Engineering approach is required to develop an integrated self-contained Patient Transport Unit (PTU) with a focus on Human Systems Integration and greatly reduced logistics footprint.  The numerous pieces of medical equipment should be merged and bundled into a minimal number of composite devices that are integrated as part the PTU, which would provide power to all from a single battery and from a single external power supply.  The multiple plasma screens for each piece of equipment should be condensed to one user-friendly Multi-Function Display screen, integrated into the PTU, that would allow the care takers to quickly and easily access any of the patient information.  The medical equipment should ultimately have the ability to record and telemeter the patient information throughout the patient’s journey from the battlefield to state-side, and be integrated into the TRANSCOM Regulating and Command and Control Evacuation System (TRAC2ES).

  The PTU should be light weight, durable, lockable to the aircraft bed and more airworthy than current systems. It should accommodate large and heavy patients and contain ergonomic features for efficient moving and improved comfort. It should be compatible with use in the field facilities, ground transport vehicles, staging facilities and receiving facilities so that the patient can stay on the same device all the way through the patient movement system. Supplies and treatment items should be kept in special compartments within each PTU. There should be collection chambers for biological fluids, provisions for microclimate control and provisions for avoidance of skin pressure ulcers.  The modularity of the PTU will result in supporting the full range of patient complexity from very simple to very critical. Each unit should be stand-alone structurally such that no preconfiguration of the aircraft bay is required to permit rapid loading and unloading from aircraft and ground vehicles.  It should be rigid to allow mounting of devices such as video cameras for telemedicine and hoods for infectious disease control. Each PTU should also be able to be easily integrated into a stable cluster of units for stacking and interlocking to the one below and those to the side allowing erection of structures with patients stacked up to three high. Each cluster would provide the ability to network and share power, oxygen and communications systems from a common source independent of the aircraft. The clusters should also enable the ability for a Remote Monitoring station for the entire cluster. This standalone, stackable, interlocking nature will permit use additional type of military and civil aircraft.

 

PHASE I: Propose design concepts to develop a light-weight modular litter assembly that can rapidly be secured within a variety of airframes. Investigate means of merging and integrating medical equipment and patient services into the system and interconnecting the configurations into clusters to share common resources.

 

PHASE II: Refine the design and identify specific medical equipment that can be integrated with the system. Demonstrate modularity of the system and ability to interconnect systems to network power, oxygen and communications systems. Fabricate a flight testable prototype that can be tested in US Air Force (USAF) or Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) aircraft.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Used for aeromedical transport in multiple aircraft including those that currently cannot be used for aeromedical transport. Commercial application: Civilian ground and aviation transport can use for ambulance and life flight. Agencies planning for large-scale disaster management such as Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

 

REFERENCES: 1. Loyd, Herb. Deficiencies of Current Aeromedical Evacuation Litter Systems., Biodynamics Database Web Site, http://www.biodyn.wpafb.af.mil/Study%20Reports/AE/Litter Deficiencies.pdf, February 2007.

 

2. Blake, Butch O., Testing and Evaluation of the Northrop Grumman Corporation Model 9602 Life Support for Trauma and Transport (LSTAT) Unit Part Number ATBX01006A002, AFRL-HE-BR-TR-2000-0027, (DTIC accession number ADA 377368)March 2000.

 

3. Powell, John A., Aeromedical Evacuation : How Will We Clear the Next Battlefield?, Army War College (U.S.), Carlisle Barracks, PA : U.S. Army War College, 2002.

 

4. Carlton, P.K., Hurd, William W., and Jernigan, John G. Aeromedical Evacuation: Management of Acute and Stabilized Patients. Springer Verlag, ISBN: 0387986049, October 2002.

 

KEYWORDS: aeromedical evacuation, combat casualty care, military operational medicine, in-flight medical equipment, litter, NATO gurney, biomedical equipment, medical electronics

 

 

AF073-016           TITLE: Architecture Methodology Integration

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: Provide increased agility to provide effective interoperable architectures with associated cost savings.

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop new architecture methodology constructs for information technology systems to provide effective translation of structured architectures into object oriented architectures.

 

DESCRIPTION: Object orientated architectures are based on the interactions of objects which have clearly defined responsibilities. This is established by combining data and behavior into single objects, as opposed to structural analysis architectures, where data and attributes are separated. Well written object orientated codes are modular in nature, and are much less expensive to maintain that structural analysis programs over the software lifecycle. Today almost all Air Force information systems are based on structural analysis architectures, and 70% of the software lifecycle costs are in maintenance. Savings of millions of dollars of maintenance costs per year can be realized by converting legacy structural analysis codes to object orientated architecture codes. Currently object orientated software code can be translated from structured analysis software code by using an assortment of converters, but the results are merely programs written in object oriented languages that still retains much of the structured analysis characteristics. The inability to accommodate this results in stove-piped architectures and costly inaccurate requirements-derived architectures. There is a clear need for examining the theoretical underpinnings of the two architecture methodologies and proposing new constructs that effectively bridge the gap between structured analyses and object oriented architectures. Given a theoretical basis for methodology integration, this effort should then consider approaches that allow for efficient design and fielding of the system architecture from captured user requirements contained in the operational architecture. Commercial applicability of the above is manifested in the need for similar technologies and approaches in the private sector.

 

PHASE I: Develop a theoretical basis for effective methodology integration. Propose, as needed, new architecture constructs to accommodate architecture integration.

 

PHASE II: Propose and demonstrate prototype tools in a realistic environment that implement the new constructs developed in Phase I.  Proposed tools should address existing product-product limitations. Conduct testing to demonstrate the approach is scalable and adaptable to mission objectives.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Tools and approaches based on new theoretical constructs will be directly applicable to current and future Command and Control (C2) systems, such as the Combatant Commanders Integrated C2 System. Commercial application: This tool/toolset would also be used in a broad range of civilian applications which demand that architecture methodologies evolve and change or otherwise coexist with disparate methodologies.

 

REFERENCES: 1. M. Eriksson, K. Borg and J. Borsler, The Far Approach- Functional Analysis/Allocation and Requirements Flowdown Using Use Case Realizations, Proceedings of the 16th International Symposium of the International Council of Systems Engineering, Orlando, FL (Jul 2006).

 

2. DoD Architecture Framework Version 1.5 (http://www.defenselink.mil/cio-nii/docs/DoDAF_Volume_I.pdf), 23April 2007.

 

KEYWORDS: Operational Architecture, System Architecture, Object Oriented, Structured Analysis

 

 

AF073-017           TITLE: Distributed Multidimensional Analysis of Battlespace Weather

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Battlespace

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: Dramatically enhance AF Weather’s ability to support the warfighter

 

OBJECTIVE: Improve situational awareness by analyzing complex multidimensional relationships among weather and military operational data and thereby provide opportunities to quickly mitigate operational risk

 

DESCRIPTION: Weather can adversely impact military operations. Relating the state of the atmosphere, operational thresholds, and operational intentions is profoundly complex. Representing the state of the atmosphere alone has been extremely difficult. To adequately describe past, present, and future states, weather data is arranged in five dimensions (latitude, longitude, altitude, time, and measures (e.g., pressure, temperature, and wind vectors)). The Joint Meteorological and Oceanographic (METOC) Conceptual Data Model, an official subset of the DoD Enterprise Data Model was developed to format, store, and disseminate multidimensional weather data. Current military weather systems instantiate this data model in relational databases. Using relational schemas places the burden of joining tables on the application. This is highly undesirable now that modern architectures require separation of metadata from the business logic. Current dependencies on relational schemas and emphasis on disseminating raw data also slows everything down thereby hindering military decision-makers’ ability to keep up with the ever-increasing speed of military operations. Properly transformed and stored data would streamline data flows, increase storage efficiencies, and dramatically speed up near- and long-term weather forecasting and the application of those forecasts to operational risk management. There is clear need for better multidimensional representations that enable integration of metadata of various data sources as well as efficient fusion of many heterogeneous data sources. Computing multiple related groupings, aggregates by various hierarchies, and statistics are operations which do not scale well using non multidimensional storage techniques. Applications need to consume the data through the views of their choosing, which requires not only making all of the views available, but highly compressing the storage of those views. The Government is looking for revolutionary ways of dealing with the multidimensional complexities of weather forecast processes and weather-advice-in-air-battle-management applications. Figures of merit in assessing capability include scalability, speed of analysis, and ultimately, enhanced efficiencies in conducting military operations. With such new capabilities, military decision-makers will gain the situational awareness and virtual assistance necessary to keep up with the ever-growing information streams and services available to them.

 

PHASE I: Design revolutionary concept for relating highly dynamic complex multidimensional data to accomplish either 1) Continuous, rapid, distributed weather forecasting, or 2) Incorporation of weather affects within the air battle management process. Develop approaches for determining technical feasibility

 

PHASE II: Implement Phase I design using real-world and/or simulated data streams/sources. Demonstrate the efficacy of multidimensional analysis of weather data against relevant military operational data to glean situational awareness and discover opportunities to mitigate operational risk.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Weather forecasting applications by shortening forecasting cycles, and air battle planning by mitigating adverse impact of the weather (air task order production, efficient time-phased deployment). Commercial application: Weather forecasting, weather impact mitigation to supply chain management, retail category management.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Xiaoguang Tan, 2006: Data warehousing and its potential using in weather forecast, Institute of Urban Meteorology, CMA, Beijing, China, unpublished http://ams.confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/99796.pdf

 

2. Sismanis, Y., N. Roussopoulos, 2004: The Polynomial Complexity of Fully Materialized Coalesced Cubes, Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Very Large Data Bases (VLDB), Toronto, Canada, August 31 - September 3 2004, pp. 540-551.

 

3. Sismanis, Y., A. Deligiannakis, Y. Kotidis, N. Roussopoulos, 2003: Hierarchical Dwarfs for the Rollup Cube, Proceedings of the 6th Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) International Workshop on Data Warehousing and OLAP (DOLAP '03) Nov. 2003, pp. 17-24.

 

4. Sismanis, Y., A. Deligiannakis, N. Roussopoulos, Y. Kotidis, 2002: Dwarf: Shrinking the PetaCube, Proceedings of the 2002 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group on Management of Data (SIGMOD) International Conference on Management of Data, Madison, Wisconsin, June 3-6, 2002, pp. 464-475.

 

KEYWORDS: weather, multidimensional analysis, Data Warehouse

 

 

AF073-018           TITLE: Using Next Generation Processors

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Information Systems

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: To better understand and utilize next generation computational resources for compute intensive systems.

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a model that maps computationally intensive problems, broken down into their computing kernels to next generation multi-core processors.

 

DESCRIPTION: Multi-core processors represent the next generation of processors. Companies such as IBM, AMD, Intel, NVIDIA and ATI are introducing a variety of these multi-core processors. IBM has introduced the Cell processor, an eight core processor, while both AMD and Intel have been introducing multi-core architectures to their line of desktop and server processors. Finally, graphics processor manufacturers NVIDIA and ATI have recently opened up the numerous shader or “stream” processors, NVIDIA’s 8800GTS contains 128 processors and ATI’s R580 has 48, in their latest Graphics Processing Units for general computational use. These new multi-core processors offer a new paradigm in processing technology and are already showing promise for extremely high FLOPS count in a single processing package.

 

Unfortunately, the shift from a single core processor to a multi-core processor comes with new challenges. Each multi-core processor utilizes a different internal architecture that leads to different programming techniques and requires different strategies for optimizing problems to fully utilize the processor. The challenge then is to match the right problems with the right multi-core processor and the right optimization techniques. One possible way to tackle this problem is by categorizing the different multi-processor architectures, the optimization techniques available, and identifying the different categories of high performance problems. With this information, it would then be possible to select the optimal processor for each category of problem and apply the appropriate optimization to utilize the multi-core processor to its fullest.

 

Developing a tool that first maps computationally intensive problems, broken down into their computing kernels (FFTs, stencil computations, and matrix multiplication, etc.,) to next generation multi-core processors in order to identify the most appropriate next generation processor for each problem, and second assists the developer with optimizing code to run on these different processor architectures will allow scientists and engineers to easily make design and acquisition decisions based on the problem space in addition to simple FLOP counts.

 

PHASE I: Investigate parameters that distinguish computationally intensive problems. Identify & investigate processor characteristics that can be used to determine the suitability of a processor to the problem parameters. Identify optimization techniques for the processor characteristics, not the processors.

 

PHASE II: Identify which processor characteristics are observed for the different multi-core processor architectures. Develop an extendable wizard to help a developer select a multi-core processor based on the high performance problem type, through the use of the Phase I parameters, they are working with. Develop an Integrated Development Environment to alleviate optimization issues for developers.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: A potential result is in applying huge processing power from affordable COTS hardware to rapidly accomplish complex tasks not previously attempted, such as airborne, combined "INTs" correlation/fusion Commercial application: A potential result is a tool that organizations will be able to use to optimize the utility of their computational resources and aide in building investment strategies for acquisition of resources.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Jim Kahle. The Cell Processor Architecture. Proceedings of the 38th annual IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Microarchitecture MICRO 38, IEEE Computer Society, Nov 2005.

 

2. Samuel Williams, John Shalf, Leonid Oliker, Shoaib Kamil, Parry Husbands, Katherine Yelick. Multithreaded, multicore, and SoC systems: The potential of the cell processor for scientific computing. Proceedings of the 3rd conference on Computing frontiers CF '06, ACM Press, May 2006.

 

3. Filip Bkagojevic, Dimitris S. Nikolopoulos, Alexandros Stamatakis, Christos D. Antonopoulos. Accelerators: Dynamic multigrain parallelization on the cell broadband engine. Proceedings of the 12th ACM SIGPLAN symposium on Principles and practice of parallel programming PPoPP '07, ACME Press, Mac 2007.

 

4. Trendall, C. and Steward, A.J. General Calculations using Graphics Hardware, with Applications to Interactive Caustics. In Proceedings of Eurogaphics Workshop on Rendering 2000, Springer, 287- 298. 2000.

 

5. Tulloch, P. Supercomputing’s Next Generation. Wired.com. http://www.wired.com/gadgets/pcs/news/2006/11/72090?currentPage=all

 

KEYWORDS: multi-core processors, cell processors, stream processors, shader processors, high performance computing, scientific computing

 

 

AF073-019           TITLE: Airborne Network Routing Protocol Security

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Information Systems

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: Develop solutions to secure Airborne Network routing protocols

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop innovative solutions to secure routing protocols within dynamic, ad hoc groups for airborne networking platforms in a tactical environment.

 

DESCRIPTION: Military entities define the concept of the Airborne Network (AN) as the sum total of all capabilities required for conducting airborne network-centric operations to shorten the kill chain and facilitate the synchronized flow of relevant information by extending the Global Information Grid (GIG) to the airborne domain. It is presently being determined what mix of routing protocols (Mobile Adhoc Network (MANET), Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) and Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP)) will enable end-to-end, global connectivity. Information exchanges in the AN will be localized to tactical subnets while others will cross airborne, space and terrestrial transit networks. These information exchanges may leave themselves open to attack by malicious parties. Each node in the topology needs to be confident that routing information that it is acquiring to support these information exchanges comes from reliable sources and is accurate to ensure mission/time critical data can reach its intended destination. Additionally, the dynamic and resource-constrained nature of AN operations will place a premium on rapid convergence of routing tables and efficient mobility solutions. The control plane exchanges that achieve this convergence and mobility-enabling has been susceptible to attacks in big pipe, stable terrestrial networks and will certainly be vulnerable in the AN environment.

 

To combat these threats, there is a distinct need for innovative solutions that can secure commonly used routing protocols for AN platforms. Many of the security protocols (e.g., Secure Origin Border Gateway protocol (soBGP) and Secure-Border Gateway Protocol (S-BGP) associated with these routing protocols are heavily certificate/(public-key infrastructure (PKI) based and may not function well in a dynamic, ad hoc, Size, Weight, And Power (SWAP)-constrained environment. There has been a sizeable amount of research in the areas of secure key distribution for sensor networks and securing MANET protocols, but the techniques explored in those research efforts have not yet been applied to commonly used routing protocols like Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), or to the airborne network environment.  It is not yet known if any of the techniques developed for specialized ground based wireless networks would be suitable solutions for securing routing protocols expected to be used for inter-networking across heterogeneous airborne networks, but they should certainly considered to be part of the trade space

 

In order to counter perceived threats to the AN control plane and due to the slow deployment of security protocols like S-BGP and soBGP, innovation is required to develop a range of security options available for implementation with existing common routing protocols.

 

PHASE I: 1) Develop alternative approaches to securing commonly used routing protocols (ex.BGP,OSPF) leveraging terrestrial techniques that are communications efficient without degrading routing convergence. 2) Perform an analysis to show effects of secure routing protocols on routing efficiency and overhead while addressing vulnerabilities.

 

PHASE II: 1) Develop, test and demonstrate secure routing protocols in a laboratory setting. 2) Conduct test and evaluation of protocol alternatives to show route convergence and relative computational and communications overhead. 3) Demonstrate the operation of secure protocols in conjunction with a security assessment that shows how expected vulnerabilities are countered.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Innovation in this area would address important security issues to enable networking across airborne platforms. Commercial application: AN security features are of interest in the commercial world to enable the next generation of IP-enabled commercial aircraft and the future Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS)

 

REFERENCES: 1. Fortifying BGP: No quick fix by Jim Duffy, Network World, Oct 6, 2003 http://www.networkworld.com/news/2003/1006bgp.html

 

2. Routing Security by Steven M. Bellovin, http://www.dtc.umn.edu/resources/routesec.pdf

 

3.  Lightweight Key Management in Wireless Sensor Networks by Leveraging Initial Trust, Bruno Detertre et. al., http://icsd.i2r.a-star.edu.sg/SecureSensor/papers/sri-sdl-04-02.pdf

 

4.  Routing Security in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks, Hongmei Deng, Wei Li, Dharma P. Agrawal, http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=1039859

 

KEYWORDS: Security, Secure Routing, OSPF, BGP, S-BGP, soBGP

 

 

AF073-020           TITLE: Reservation-based Quality of Service (QoS) in an Airborne Network

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Information Systems

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: Develop resource reservation QoS for Airborne Networks

 

OBJECTIVE: Design and develop protocols for providing Integrated Services-model (IntServ) Quality of Service (QoS) in an airborne network composed of heterogeneous network technologies.

 

DESCRIPTION: The Department of Defense (DoD) is engaged in initial efforts to develop and IP-based airborne network which interconnects mobile airborne platforms and provides interconnectivity with space and terrestrial networks.  In general, the nodes of the airborne network will be interconnected by a heterogeneous mix of communications systems.  Most of these communications systems provide their own QoS mechanism, primarily with what’s known as Differentiated Services (DiffServ) QoS, where IP packets are marked to indicate different traffic classes/priorities, then queued and transmitted based on those classes/priorities on a hop-by-hop basis by routers in the network.  In DiffServ QoS, there are no service guarantees, but higher priority traffic does get preferential treatment.  Few of these communications systems make provisions for what’s known as Integrated Services (IntServ) QoS, which attempts to actually reserve a specified bandwidth for an application flow between nodes.  As an example, the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) increment 1 architecture restricts use of IntServ QoS (via the Resource Reservation Protocol [RSVP]) to within a secure (classified) network, employing DiffServ QoS in the unclassified (encrypted) network backbone between secure networks.  Furthermore, RSVP was not designed to support mobility and will not perform in an airborne network.  Mobile RSVP provides all the features of RSVP, but only operates over a single (first/last) hop.  It provides reserved bandwidth to a mobile node with changing access points to the terrestrial network.  The future locations of the mobile node must be known and put into a mobility specification.

There are several issues involved with providing IntServ QoS in an airborne network, particularly with the methods traditionally used.

• Overhead control traffic associated with the signaling can compete with application data traffic on narrow-band legacy radio links.

• Although cross-layer integration may provide optimum performance in a homogeneous environment, the variety of Media Access Control (MAC) and other lower layer protocols that will be used in the airborne network suggests that the QoS mechanism should be independent of these lower layer protocols.

• The dynamic topology of an airborne network makes IntServ QoS with hard guarantees on bandwidth/delay extremely difficult to implement

• Depending on the location and use of encryption devices in the airborne network, providing end-to-end IntServ QoS is complicated by the encryption/decryption process.

Innovation is required to determine the approaches, protocols, and general technologies that can be applied in an airborne network to provide IntServ QoS.  Possible alternatives to the traditional methods of implementing IntServ include use of network layer, in-band IntServ QoS signaling mechanisms that provide soft reservations.  Operating at the network layer of the protocol stack allows operation over and between any number of underlying MAC and lower layer protocols.  In-band signaling does not generate additional IP packets for making reservations.  The signaling is carried in the packets carrying user traffic.  In this way, in-band signaling keeps the control overhead to a minimum.  The disadvantage of this method is that soft reservations may occasionally be downgraded or dropped as the network topology changes. 

 

PHASE I: Investigate IntServ signaling protocol options suitable to a dynamic airborne network backbone.  Present the pros and cons of various protocol options.  Work with government sponsors to define scenarios for simulations.  Analyze the performance of proposed IntServ QoS protocols via simulation.

 

PHASE II: Complete design and development of prototype systems that implement candidate solutions.  Demonstrate within an emulated or actual experimental airborne network environment.  Demo environment should be heterogeneous, representing multiple MAC layer technologies (e.g. Tactical Targeting Network Technology [TTNT], JTRS Wideband Networking Waveform [WNW], etc., or surrogates) and routing algorithms.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: The capabilities developed under this effort could be implemented on military aircraft to provide improved quality of service for mission critical information flows. Commercial application: The capabilities could be modified to work over a commercial airline fleet for real-time weather reporting services. Router vendors may commercialize the selected protocol for 802.11 wireless systems.

 

REFERENCES: 1. ESC HERBB Airborne Networking web site,

http://www.Herb.hanscom.af.mil/Hot_Buttons/Airborne_Networking/index.htm

 

2. MIT’s Technology Review Magazine, http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/05/issue/feature_emerging.asp?p=0.

 

3. Airborne Internet Consortium, http://www.airborneinternet.org/

 

KEYWORDS: Airborne Network, IntServ QoS, Network Modeling and Simulation, resource reservation

 

 

AF073-025           TITLE: Metadata & Information Tagging Technologies for Application Interoperability and Services

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: Develop methods to support metadata and information tagging schemas to improve data interoperability

 

OBJECTIVE: Investigate, develop and demonstrate methods to support metadata and information tagging schemas to facilitate data interoperability and system application interaction through web based services.

 

DESCRIPTION: Web services are becoming a common mechanism to establish interoperability between systems and applications requiring data from a variety of sources.  In general, these capabilities use open standards, such as Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) technologies to establish communication and interact with other web applications for the purpose of exchanging data and metadata.  Web services can provide the means for different software applications to interact even when running on a variety of different platforms and/or operating system frameworks.  This service is made possible through the use of XML. Services can also be combined in a way to achieve very complex operations.  Combining the services of various application programs with others can provide sophisticated added-value services.  SOAP is a lightweight XML-based protocol for promoting web service oriented communications and exchanging information in a distributed environment.  SOAP uses three basic parts.  An envelope is used to define the framework for describing the contents of a message and how to process it.  Second, there are a set of rules for encoding application data types and third, a convention for remote procedure calls and responses.  Initially these capabilities were more predominantly used for the exchange of data on large more secluded enterprise networks, but now web services are evolving to include more common implementations for supporting transactions for the public on the Internet.  Web services technology is playing an important role in establishing net-centric operations for information gathering and data analysis by the intelligence analyst and the warfighter.  Given the vast number of systems, applications and data sources available to an intelligence analyst, a critical problem is how to make these capabilities available within new or evolving network environments where new potential services are being added dynamically.  These instances are especially true for deploying conditions where technologists are not available for implementing web services for the warfighter.  What is needed is an innovative Web Interoperability & Services Environment (WISE) Toolbox for the warfighter.  There are some initial instances of commercially available web services toolkits, but none have been directly tailored to meet the needs of the warfighter.  This topic will investigate the design, development and demonstration of a WISE Toolbox to meet the needs of the warfighter.  A toolbox shall be designed to allow analysts to readily establish, acquire and invoke web services for their systems and applications. This capability will facilitate federated searches for services and the delivery of new services.  WISE will also feature functions for tagging and labeling intelligence information for a variety of different data types providing a quick and effective means for finding and assessing available data in a services oriented architecture. To the extent possible we would like to see the WISE tool box built using Open Source components thus maximizing the reusability of the toolbox.

 

PHASE I: Develop an approach for the design and development of a WISE Toolbox for the warfighter.  The toolbox will be designed to allow analysts to readily establish, acquire and invoke web services for their systems and applications.  Build a proof-of-concept to demonstrate the approach to the Government.

 

PHASE II: Build a complete WISE Toolbox for the warfighter.  The toolbox will be developed to allow analysts to readily establish, acquire and invoke web services for their systems and applications. A representative demonstration of the entire WISE Toolbox will be accomplished in the Network Centric Enterprise Services Innovation, Integration and Interoperability Lab (NC) ESI3L in building 1607 Hanscom AFB.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: The technology will be useful for military applications that use web services. Warfighters will be able to readily establish, acquire and invoke web services for their systems and applications. Commercial application: Commercially the toolbox will be useful for new and novice Internet users to expose their web services to the public. This toolbox will allow entrepreneurs to build web sites to market their product.

 

REFERENCES: 1. World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), “Web Services Activity Statement,” http://www.w3.org/2002/ws/Activity.

 

2. World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), “SOAP Version 1.2 Part 0: Primer,” http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/REC-soap12-part0-20030624/#L1153

KEYWORDS: Web Services, Extensible Markup Language, Simple Object Access Protocol

 

 

AF073-026           TITLE: Interface Design and Versioning Framework

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: Provide a framework to design & version SOA interfaces.

 

OBJECTIVE: Provide a technical and governance framework to make the design and versioning of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) interfaces more efficient and cost effective.

 

DESCRIPTION: A Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a collection of services that communicate with each other. A greater knowledge in designing SOA interfaces will significantly increase the success of much of the DOD's Information Technology (IT) modernization efforts. Because the design of truly usable interfaces that describe structures and behaviors is poorly understood, it is common that the wrong granularity or state management strategy can make usage and, in particular versioning, almost impossible. Practical strategies need to be validated early in the program life cycle.

 

Versioning is one of the critical aspects of making integration efforts successful. Without designs that make versioning manageable, both providers and consumers of interfaces run the risk of creating a mesh of virtually unchangeable relationships that are costly to fix later in the life cycle process.

 

The scope of this problem goes beyond web services to numerous options such as Representative State Transfer (REST) and Really Simple Syndication (RSS). The problem of designing and versioning interfaces also impacts security, Web Services Description Language (WSDL), Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema, workflow, governance and performance engineering.

 

This is further exacerbated in large integrations when System of Systems effects magnify these emergent behaviors. The result of this is that it is unlikely that NetCentric environments can be fully protected by pre-production testing, and therefore test methodologies will by necessity need to be extended to full production systems.

 

PHASE I: Analyze the impact of design decision points such as extensibility versus versioning, additional WSDL operations, adding XML schema types, issues of non-backwards compatible interfaces, namespace strategies and other areas of impact to the design process.

 

PHASE II: Provide methodologies and tools that make the design and versioning of Service Orientated Architecture (SOA) interfaces more efficient and cost effective.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: This research is appropriate for any instance or node of a SOA. Commercial application: This research is appropriate for any instance or node of a SOA.

 

REFERENCES: 1. The Web Services-Interoperability Organization, 2006-04-10, Basic Profile Version 1.1, (http://www.ws-i.org/Profiles/BasicProfile-1.1.html) (2006).

 

2. Service Orientated Architecture SIG, (http://soa.omg.org/) (April 6, 2007).

 

3. Dan Harkley and Robert Orfali, Client/Server Programming with Java and CORBA, 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons (1998).

 

KEYWORDS: Service oriented architecture, versioning, interface design, versioning framework, representative state transfer, really simple syndication

 

 

AF073-027           TITLE: Variable Continuity of Operations/Service-Oriented Architecture (COOP/SOA) Services

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: Provide programs with the ability to automatically track their computing resources and set automated policies for geographic disaster recovery.

 

OBJECTIVE: Achieve survivability through automatic IT infrastructure discovery, trending and automated policy-based relocation and recovery of failed IT infrastructure from one geographic location to another.

 

DESCRIPTION: Existing Continuity of Operations/Service-Oriented Architectures (COOPs/SOAs) solutions are complex, inflexible and costly as currently demonstrated by long delays between failure and full restoration of critical operations (ranging from hours to days). This is primarily due to the inability of existing techniques to separate applications from their platform and location. In addition there is little or no ability to dynamically allocate resoures independently of physical infrastructure and location.The enduring legacy of stove-piped systems has created an environment where strategies and techniques for COOP are rigid, esoteric, and brittle. As a result, much of the Air Force application portfolio is lacking this essential protection at the level required to meet our dynamic operational mission requirements. The solution design is usually viewed as a static one time, all-or-nothing investment decision; instead, a solution is sought that virtualizes the infrastructure. This capability would allow applications to seamlessly move, in response to failure or based on operational needs, to other sites across geographical boundaries independent of hardware.  Relocation and recovery of failed processes (including data, executables, interfaces and management architecture) within a COOP/SOA framework must be policy-driven and not manually-driven. Recovery should be largely automatic - limiting or eliminating human intervention. Technical barriers include the virtualization of interfaces and automatic management of  increasingly complex configuration management data. 

We need a portfolio of business continuity services that are: less rigid, more affordable, easier to use, and are composed of shareable resources based upon real-time disaster recovery requirements.. Support for resource allocation should encompass Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Information Assurance (QoIA). Furthermore, the resources should not be logically affixed to any specific location or enterprise. They should be shared capabilities amortized over multiple applications in a SOA model. Tactically, these services need to be dynamically reused to support changing operational needs and priorities while in production. Strategically, these services should be evolvable to meet the needs of the application over its life-cycle as SOA services. A continuum of services that provides minimal operational continuity to real-time fail-over for transactions should offer intermediate options that exploit innovations such as virtualization of: operating systems, applications and data storage. Asymmetric fail-over for degraded operations and other shared innovative thinking would offer alternatives not currently available.

 

PHASE I: Design a COOP/SOA architecture that achieves survivability through automatic geographic relocation and recovery of failed processes that is managed by a policy engine.

 

PHASE II: Demonstrate a policy engine that can dynamically make re-assignment of COOP resources using this COOP/SOA management capability to meet real-time changes in priorities.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Dynamic COOP capabilities are a need common to all production environments and are independent of vendors and products. Commercial application: Roughly 3 out of 4 companies that lack business continuity measures do not survive emergencies. Dynamic COOP capabilities bring computers back to life and end users back to work.

 

REFERENCES: 1. ReferenceTitle: Leveraging the strengths of your extended enterprise to continue operations during and information warfare attack?

Journal: Computer Fraud & Security p.16-18

Publisher: Elsevier, July 2003

 

2. Reference Title: Business continuity and lean operations synergies and conflicts Author: Battler, John R. Corporate Source: JRB Process Development Services, Manahawkin, NJ 08050,United States

Conference Title: 05AIChE: 2005 AIChE Annual Meeting and Fall Showcase

 

3. MCI Expands Voice, Private IP Restoration TelecomWeb News Digest

August 15, 2005

 

KEYWORDS: Continuity of Operations, COOP, business continuity, fail-over, Service-oriented Architecture, SOA

 

 

AF073-029           TITLE: Proactive Determination of Networked Node Vulnerability

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: Develop  a proactive capability to scan network nodes for security vulnerabilities.

 

OBJECTIVE: Automate vulnerability scanning of network nodes and analyze the impact these vulnerabilities have on the network. Communicate this information to other nodes and users for appropriate responses.

 

DESCRIPTION: The number of known vulnerabilities found in common operating systems, network appliances and applications on our heterogeneous networks continues to grow as fast as fixes can be developed. To combat this threat, there are a large number of tools available for free and on the commercial market to detect specific sets of vulnerabilities on specific operating systems or types of devices. These tools are useful in detecting vulnerabilities on specific nodes, but lack an analysis of the risk to the overall system. Any non-trivial system has nodes relying on data and services provided by other nodes. These vulnerabilities and interdependencies greatly detract from the trustworthiness of networked computer systems and increase operational risk. Using a ‘best-of-breed’ set of tools, determine first the vulnerabilities exposed by a given machine on a network of multiple operating systems (which must at a minimum include multiple versions each of modern Unix, Linux, and Windows, and at least one network accessible and controllable device such as a network appliance, networked storage device or router). Such determination should be done via continuous passive network traffic sensing (“sniffing”) and manual input of known node configuration at a minimum. Create a representation of the nodes’ intercommunications leveraging this capability and update this representation in near-real-time. This will allow administrators and/or automated solutions to utilize this model of detected, possibly changing vulnerabilities and nodal interpendencies for the purpose of risk analysis. Examples of these multi-node risks include chains of vulnerabilities (a security weakness on one node leading to the compromise of others) and degradation in the accuracy of services or information provided, among others. Securely provide this representation in machine- and human-readable formats. This delivery is intended to enhance automated analysis & improvement of network security via adaptive configuration changes in response to the identified risks. Ideally, the proposed architecture would be general enough to be used in a variety of situations. These could range from the most obvious enterprise environment (a network operations center) for the analysis of a large and mostly transparent network, to a light-weight mobile platform for situational risk analysis in a mostly opaque and hostile environment. The primary research challenges involve: creating a best-of-breed set of scanning tools for heterogeneous node analysis, automated update of vulnerability profiles as visible through these scanning tools, system level risk analysis based on the vulnerabilities of member nodes, automated detection and comprehension of multi-platform chains of vulnerability/cascades of errors, and determination of ‘normal’ versus ‘abnormal’ behavior within the system.

 

PHASE I: Deliver and demonstrate an automated best-of-breed scanning capability to detect network nodes, vulnerabilities and interactions via passive network ‘sniffing’ and sporadic information input regarding system. Demonstration must output in near real time in one or more formats.

 

PHASE II: Take demo capability from Phase I and analyze that output with system risk analysis. Suggest remedial actions, indicating the degree of risk averted by the action as well as node(s) and communication(s)affected. Trivial cases are strongly discouraged.Recognition of ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ events events should be developed via both automated and human-centric methods – Complex Event Processing.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Determining vulnerabilities and risk prior to exploitation by an opponent to enhance network security. Improving detected vulnerabilities helps reduce system administration workloads Commercial application: Any networks processing non-public data (medical records, financial information, commercial R&D) would find such capabilities useful.

 

REFERENCES: 1. http://vulnerabilityassessment.co.uk/Penetration%20Test.html

 

2. http://nvd.nist.gov/nvd.cfm

 

3. http://www.cert.org

 

4. http://pavg.stanford.edu/cep

 

KEYWORDS: Sniffing, network scanning, vulnerability, vulnerability assessment, complex event processing

 

 

AF073-031           TITLE: Consolidating Entity Information from Heterogeneous Text Sources for Multi-INT Fusion

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems

 

REQUIREMENT SUPPORTED: Information and Data Correlation and Fusion

 

OBJECTIVE: Research and develop technology for high-accuracy consolidation of entity information, extracted from various unstructured and semi-structured textual data sources, for multi-INT fusion.

 

DESCRIPTION: The goal of this effort is to research and develop innovative technology enabling high accuracy consolidation of entity information extracted from a variety of textual data sources, including both unstructured and semi-structured text. “Entities” refers to any real-world entities of interest to a given application domain. For example, in the military domain of multi-INT fusion, real-world entities of interest include people, facilities, locations, missions, Basic Encyclopedia Numbers (BENs), and organizations. Textual data sources that may contain information on these entities of interest include Human Intelligence (HUMINT), Initial Phase Interpretation Reports (IPIRS), Mission Reports (MISREPS), Bomb Damage Assessment Reports (BDAREPs), and Significant Activity Reports (SIGACTs). As another example, consider the legal domain. In the legal domain, real world entities of interest may include people (expert witnesses, judges, and lawyers), companies, and organizations. Textual data sources containing information on these real world entities may include trial case summaries, MEDLINE articles, professional-license records, and newspaper articles (Dozier and Jackson, 2005). “Consolidation of entity information” means pulling together all information extracted on a given real-world entity into a single record, also known as a cross-document entity profile. So, for example, to construct a person profile, we may extract and consolidate the person’s name, their birth date, address, phone number, name of employer, title, e-mail address, name of spouse, and so on.

 

The primary technical focus of this effort is to significantly advance the state-of-the-art of cross-document coreference resolution. Cross-document coreference resolution is a text extraction technology gap that needs to be addressed in order to determine, with high accuracy, which entity’s information in one document should be consolidated with which other entities’ information from other documents (i.e., which entities discussed in different texts actually refer to the same real-world entity).

 

Cross-document coreference resolution consists of two main sub-problems, cross-document name disambiguation and alias resolution. Cross-document name disambiguation determines whether the same name really refers to the same real-world entity (e.g., is “George H. W. Bush” in document #1 the same as “George Bush” in document #2? Can their information be merged?). Alias resolution, on the other hand, determines when different names really refer to the same real world entity (e.g., is there strong evidence that “Osama bin Laden” in document #1 and “Abu Abdallah” in document #2 are really the same person? Can their information be merged?).

 

Previous SBIR efforts have focused on within-document coreference resolution (enabling consolidation of entity information extracted within a single document).  Other Government research programs, such as the Knowledge Discovery and Dissemination (KDD) Program, have made good headway in the area of cross-document coreference resolution, as have a number of excellent universities that specialize in natural language processing (NLP).  However, cross-document coreference resolution is far from being a solved problem; it is still a major obstacle faced by real-world text exploitation applications today. Therefore, achieving high-accuracy cross-document coreference resolution is a key technology gap that must be addressed to effectively consolidate entity information extracted from a variety of document types, in support of multi-INT Fusion and other application domains.

 

PHASE I: Research and develop techniques for high-accuracy cross-document coreference resolution, and assess their feasibility. An unclassified corpus of at least two types of textual data will be made available as Government Furnished Information.  Develop and demonstrate an initial prototype design.

 

PHASE II: Research and develop a prototype capability enabling high accuracy consolidation of entity information extracted from across a variety of textual data sources (preferably real-world BDAREPS, MISREPs, IPIRs and HUMINT), per the Phase 1 design.  Demonstrate how this capability improves the accuracy of current approaches for cross-document merging of entity information.

 

MILITARY APPLICATION: Multi-INT fusion systems for Improvised Explosive Device (IED) predictive analysis will benefit from the addition of rich entity information, extracted and consolidated from a variety of text sources.

 

COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Law Enforcement Criminal Investigations would be greatly aided by the ability to access all info on a given entity, extracted from numerous diverse text sources, and consolidated into a single record.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Bagga, Amit and Baldwin, Breck. Entity-Based Cross-Document Coreferencing Using the Vector Space Model.  Proceedings of the 36th Annual Meeting of the Association of Computational Linguistics and 17th International Conference on Computational Linguistics, pp. 79-85, 1998.

 

2. Dozier, Christopher and Jackson, Peter.  Mining Text for Expert Witnesses.  IEEE Software, May/June 2005 (Vol. 22, No. 3), pp. 94-100.

 

3. Fleischman, Michael and Hovy, Eduard.  Multi-Document Person Name Resolution.  Proceedings  of the Workshop on Reference Resolution and its Applications: Association of Computational Linguistics (ACL) 2004, pp. 9-16.

 

4. Heong, Chung and Allan, James.  Cross-Document Coreference on a Large Scale Corpus.  Proceedings of Human Language Technology/North American Chapter of Association for Computational Linguistics annual meeting (HLT/NAACL), pp. 9-16, 2004.

 

5. Agenda for Session I of the Knowledge Discovery and Dissemination (KDD) 2006 Conference, www.mitre.org/register/kdd/ (see link: “View Complete Agenda for Session I [PDF, 34KB]”).

 

KEYWORDS: Cross-Document Coreference Resolution, Name Disambiguation, Name Discrimination, Name Resolution

 

 

AF073-033           TITLE: Advanced Insider Threat Detection and Response

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems

 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this effort is to define, develop, and demonstrate innovative approaches to detecting and countering insider threats to Air Force cyber systems.

 

DESCRIPTION: Insiders pose an especially serious threat to AF cyber systems. By their nature, insiders are trusted to some degree, and thus may have physical and/or logical access to cyber infrastructure. As such, detecting malicious activity by such an entity is exceptionally difficult. The Federal Plan for Cyber Security and Information Assurance R&D [1] identifies insider cyber attacks as some of the most damaging attacks to critical national security infrastructure. The private sector, where financial institutions maintain critical financial records, and corporations that store priceless intellectual property have similar concerns. Unfortunately, current cyber security devices are focused on repelling threats from unauthorized entities on the outside. Current techniques that have been designed to address insider threat only address the most blatant violations of policy or the grossest deviations from accepted behavior.  As such, there currently exists a great need across the Federal, military, and private sectors for a viable and robust means to detect, analyze, and counteract carefully-designed attacks from trusted entities on the inside. Many times, these trusted entities have detailed knowledge about the currently-installed host and network security systems, and can easily plan their activities to subvert these systems. [2-4]

 

Critical research categories for insider threat detection and response have been defined by the DoD’s Enterprise-wide Solutions Steering Group (ESSG) Insider Threat Technology Advisory Group (TAG) [5] and include: 1) insider characterization and modeling; 2) preventative countermeasures; 3) prediction, monitoring and detection; and 4) responsive countermeasures.  Within each of these research areas, there are a number of gaps relative to the state-of-the-art, as summarized below:

 

Table 1.  Insider Threat Research Gaps. [5]

Need       Gap        Areas for Exploration

Insider Characterization and Modeling          Typology / taxonomy of insiders     Typology with respect to DoD and IC and significant assets

                                Human characteristics, both individual and group; psychological profiling; examination of motivations and intentions

                Models of insider adversary behavior             Informal modeling

                                Statistical modeling

                Validation of insider adversary behaviors and models                Empirical studies

                                Experiments

                                Simulations

Preventative countermeasures against the insider        Accountability for insider actions, particularly in heterogeneous environments                 Multiple and coordinated forms of authentication across security domains or organizations

                                Watermarking, fingerprinting, and other forms of marking data to provide a deterrent to or a detection of unauthorized actions (disclosure, modification)

                Access control mechanisms sensitive to insider threats               Differential access controls depending on roles, rights, privileges, access context, and history

Monitoring and detection of adversarial insider behavior           Effective modeling / profiling of adversarial insiders   Social network analysis

                Monitoring techniques for different classes of insiders                Monitoring and analysis of system administrators

                                Application-based monitoring and analysis

                                Correlation across multiple monitoring mechanisms

                                Differential and adaptive monitoring

Reactive countermeasures for the insider adversary    Analysis capabilities           Tools for analyzing and correlating monitoring data and audit records

                                Forensic tools on machines and storage devices

                                Evidence collection and preservation

                Automated response capabilities     Dynamic determination of the need for, and implementation of, restricting access, initiating additional data collection or monitoring, compartmentalizing the organization’s network

 

Other high level requirements for such a system include the ability to fuse and correlate cross-layer information from multiple cyber sensors, the ability to compare activities with policy, rules, permissions, roles, accepted behaviors, etc., and the ability to locate, physically and logically, the source of insider activity. Finally, the solution must analyze the cyber sensory inputs, along with static information, in order to formulate appropriate responses and implement the same via cyber actuators.

 

PHASE I: Develop a prototype algorithm for detecting and countering insider threats to cyber systems. Design an implementing architecture that includes proposed cyber instrumentation (i.e., cyber sensors, cyber actuators). Perform a performance/feasibility analysis of the architecture/algorithm(s).

 

PHASE II: Implement the best approach from Phase I in an experimental hardware/software environment, representative of AF cyber infrastructure. Correlate Phase I analysis with experimental results. Analyze the prototype system with respect to performance, scalability, cost, security, and vulnerability.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: All operators and users of military cyber infrastructure are potential insider threats. This effort is applicable to all cyber resources used by the Services and the Intelligence Community. Commercial application: All commercial networks and cyber infrastructures are subject to insider activity. This effort is fully applicable to all private, commercial, industry and civilian gov't infrastructures.

 

REFERENCES: 1. "Federal Plan for Cyber Security and Information Assurance Research and Development," National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Cyber Security and Information Assurance (CSIA) Interagency Working Group (IWG), http://www.nitrd.gov/pubs/csia/csia_federal_plan.pdf, April 2006, esp. pp. 39-41.

 

2. Chinchani, R.; Iyer, A.; Ngo, H.Q.; Upadhyaya, S.; Towards a Theory of Insider Threat Assessment, 2005 International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks, 28 June-1 July 2005, pp. 108 - 117.

 

3. Hui Wang; Shufen Liu; Xinjia Zhang; A Prediction Model of Insider Threat Based on Multi-agent, 1st International Symposium on Pervasive Computing and Applications, Aug. 2006, pp. 273 - 278.

 

4. Martinez-Moyano, I.J.; Conrad, S.H.; Rich, E.H.; Andersen, D.F.; Modeling the Emergence of Insider Threat Vulnerabilities, Proceedings of the Winter Simulation Conference, Dec. 2006, pp. 562 - 568.

 

5. Gabrielson, Bruce; Solving the Insider Threat Problem (ESSG IT TAG), University of Louisville Cyber Security Days, October 5, 2006.

 

KEYWORDS: Insider, threat, anomaly, intrusion, detection, network, modeling, assessment, response

 

 

AF073-034           TITLE: Passive and Active Mission Modeling

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop a system that passively models an individual’s behavior to determine the relative importance of the resources that underly that behavior.

 

DESCRIPTION: More programs, such as effects-based operations and mission-driven network management, are becoming focused on leveraging “commander’s intent.”  The term “commander” includes the lowest ranking person in-charge of a small team, to a General commanding forces in the field.   The goal of integrating commander’s intent into systems is laudatory, but has the assumed requirement that those intentions be manually entered into the system.  To capture intent, a user or business process team must first spend countless hours/days educating the system on the various facets (and varying degrees of importance of those facets) of their job.  Few individuals have time to do this.  And even if they did, the job at-hand is often dynamic and therefore what was taught must now be unlearned as new priorities become apparent.  If we are able to model and prioritize an individual’s mission(s), we can then assign priorities to resources supporting that mission.  As resources become impaired, an individual can understand the relative-to-them impact of that failure.  This effort would look to passively examine a user’s observable behavior (e.g., their keystrokes, their common networked applications, their focus on the screen, the areas where they spend the most time, etc.) and build a hierarchy of “how they do their job.”  Actively, perhaps once a week/month, the modeling system would present the user its best-guess on the user’s mission model, enabling the user to adjust/remove/add-to those best-guess priorities.  Mechanisms for creating process models could be used to make models for tasks, processes, groups, and/or organizations based upon the same collection and parsing of passively collected data.

 

PHASE I: Phase I end products shall be: proof of concept prototype & demonstration showing the feasibility of meaningful, passively-derived (actively adjusted) mission models; a technical report documenting the design and demonstration; and, a development plan for the Phase II effort.

 

PHASE II: The end product for Phase II shall be a fully functional technology application demonstrated in the user environment and a technical report documenting the design and development. Technical and human performance measures in a dynamic environment will be documented.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: The capabilities developed under this effort could be used by any system which depends upon understanding of a user-level (also group, process, task, organization) business/mission model. Commercial application: Augment network security applications based on user-behavior.  Augment mgmt apps in showing actual user info/system dependencies; id critical resources to best apply tech refresh dollars.

 

REFERENCES: 1. The Global Information Grid Vision; http://www.nsa.gov/ia/industry/gig.cfm

 

2.Electronics Systems Center Strategic Technical Plan v2.0, March 10, 2005, http://www.afc2isrc.af.mil/itf/documents/ESC%20Strategic%20Technical%20Plan%20v2.pdf

 

3. C2 Constellation http://www.dodccrp.org/events/2004_CCRTS/CD/papers/164.pdf

 

4. An Automatic Business Process Modeling Method Based on Markov Transition Matrix in BPM; authors: LI Yan, FENG Yu-qiang http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/4094461/4037319/04104865.pdf?tp=&isnumber=4037319&arnumber=4104865

 

5.  Knowledge based decision making on higher level strategic concerns: system dynamics approach; authors: Yim, N-H; Kim, S-H; Kim, H-W; Kwahk, K-Y http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/6809/18271/00843280.pdf?arnumber=843280

 

KEYWORDS: intelligent agents, modeling and simulation, decision-making, business process modeling, behavior

 

 

AF073-035           TITLE: Biomolecular Taggants for Covert Tracking and Watermarking

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Human Systems

 

OBJECTIVE: This program seeks biomolecular taggant technology to covertly mark, detect or track objects, persons or Chemical/Biological/Radiological/Nuclear/Explosive agents and report from standoff distance.

 

DESCRIPTION: This technology utilizes biological media such as synthetic DNA or proteins to provide complex, molecular scale detectors to covertly track adversaries, material assets and detect Chemical/Biological/Radiological/Nuclear/Explosive, CBRNE targets.  Applications include the ability to mark an asset or person of interest with an amount of taggant material that is small enough that it is covert, and then track movement and contacts through transferred taggant material.  Simple taggants can be used to covertly watermark secure documents and systems to verify authenticity.  Complex taggant libraries will interact to provide information on networks of contacts.  Binary taggants could show evidence of tampering.  Taggants should be detectable from a distance either singly or in self-amplified aggregates using covert, easily detectable emission.  Taggants may mark military base-scale areas and provide covert evidence of intrusion or they may mark molecular-scale areas indicating evidence of bio-molecular agents.  Taggants operate by chemical means, enabling exquisite detection of biological and chemical agents and precursors.  Chemical operation, rather than electrical operation, makes bio taggants intrinsically radiation hard and enables the use of bio taggants to track nuclear materials with low taggant degradation while carrying a complex information store in the tag. Opportunities for research include work on taggant delivery mechanisms, environmental hardening and encapsulation, large scale taggant libraries and interactions, complex taggant operations, remote activation, signal emission, signal amplification, signal detection, stand-off detection, small sample detection, reaction mechanisms for CBRNE agents, controlled degradation or deactivation, long term energy storage, active taggants for CBRNE neutralization, transferability, and red team activities such as decontamination and signal blocking. Programs are sought in near term applications such as tracking and watermarking as well as far term applications such as complex contact network tracking operations, long distance detection and CBRNE remediation.  Research should include full taggant system development.  Research that focuses on medical or biological research such as drug watermarking or genomics is not desired for this program. 

 

PHASE I: Develop system design, plan for interface integration and identify key hurdles to development.  Gather commercial market information and identify potential Phase III partners and military concepts of operations.

 

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype system in a realistic working environment. Develop initial phase III engineering plan.  Show plan to transition technology to a commercially viable market. Provide evidence of interest by potential commercial transition partners.  Provide envisioned characteristics for planned DOD concepts of operations. 

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Applications could include watermarking and tracking of objects of interest, intrusion or tamper detection, and detection of CBRNE agents.  Application suggestions / con-ops are welcome. Commercial application: Applications include tracking and tamper detection, watermarking materials and drugs for authentication and numerous medical applications requiring complex indication of biological materials.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Yan, H.  et. al., "Directed nucleation assembly of DNA tile complexes for barcode-patterned lattices" PNAS, Jul 8 2003, V. 100, No. 14, p. 8103

 

2. Seeman, N. C., "DNA in a Material World", Nature, 2003, V. 421, p. 427

 

3. Shimanovsky, B., Feng, J., Potkonjak, M., "Hiding Data in DNA", Lecture  Notes in Computer Science 2002, V. 2578, p. 373

 

4. GOOGLE "DNA Taggants" provides many commercial examples

 

KEYWORDS: DNA Taggants, Molecular Bar Codes, Molecular Watermark, Covert Tracking

 

 

AF073-037           TITLE: Novel High Power Microwave (HPM) Hardening Materials for Aircraft, Ground, & Space Systems

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes, Weapons

 

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals, their country of origin, and what tasks each would accomplish in the statement of work in accordance with section 3.5.b.(7) of the solicitation.

 

OBJECTIVE: To develop and demonstrate conformal coating technology that provides broad band electromagnetic immunity (EMI) for sensitive electronics, systems, and shelters.

 

DESCRIPTION: With the emergence of readily available high power microwave (HPM) technology, the need for immunity from these systems is ever increasing (1,2). HPM devices produce high power bursts of microwave or RF radiation over distances ranging from a few meters upwards to 20 kilometers. The HPM microwave sources typically come in one of two varieties, narrow band and ultra-wide band. Narrow-band devices operate at a discrete frequency, tend to be very costly, and have a long range. Ultra-wide band devices by contrast are compact, operate at shorter distances, but emit over a very wide frequency range (such as 10MHz to 10GHz). These systems represent a much more difficult shielding problem. While many of the problems can be eliminated by going from copper wiring to fiber optic cables, there are always going to be areas containing electronics that will require novel shielding techniques. Here we are focused on development and demonstration of conformal wide-band shielding materials. These shielding materials must be compatible with traditional manufacturing processes, including prepreg composite manufacturing, conformal dip coating, spraying, or extrusion. Materials should exhibit a shielding effectiveness (SE) in excess of 80dB over the frequency range of 1MHz to 20GHz.

 

PHASE I: Develop and demonstrate a conformal shielding material with an SE greater than 60dB over 100MHz to 10GHz. Materials should exhibit durability in standard DoD operational environments (i.e., rain, snow, sand, and typical fluids).

 

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a conformal shielding material with an SE greater than 80dB over 1MHz to 20GHz. Technology demonstrated should be scaleable to manufacturing quantities. Materials should demonstrate durability in standard DoD operational environments (i.e., rain, snow, sand, and typical fluids). Specific testing guidance will be provided at the start of Phase II.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: These materials will be useful in a variety of Electromagnetic Shielding applications and can significantly reduce weight of traditional metal enclosures and parasitic Al foils. Commercial application: These materials would be useful in myriad medical environments where stray EM radiation can interfere with equipment in use as well in commercial EMI shielding apps such as cell phones and computers.

 

REFERENCES: 1. www.de.afrl.af.mil/Factsheets/HPM.pdf: HPM Fact Sheet.

 

2. www.fas.org/man/crs/RL32544.pdf: High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) and High Power Microwave (HPM) Devices: Threat Assessments.

 

3. High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) and High Power Microwave (HPM) Devices: Threat Assessments, DTIC Document #ADA447874 http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA447874

 

4. High Power Microwaves: Strategic and Operational Implications for Warfare,  Eileen M. Walling, Colonel, USAF, Occasional Paper No. 11, Center for Strategy and Technology, Air War College, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2000/occppr11.htm

 

5. HIGH POWER MICROWAVE EFFECTS ON CIVILIAN EQUIPMENT,Odd Harry Arnesen, et al. Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, Box 25, NO-2027 Kjeller, Norway. http://www.ursi.org/Proceedings/ProcGA05/pdf/E03.2(0528).pdf

 

KEYWORDS: HPM, microwave, high power microwave, aircraft, spacecraft, shelter, electromagnetic, hardening

 

 

 

AF073-038           TITLE: Surface Processing for Enhanced Environmental and Creep-Fatigue Resistance

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes

 

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals, their country of origin, and what tasks each would accomplish in the statement of work in accordance with section 3.5.b.(7) of the solicitation.

 

OBJECTIVE:  Establish innovative manufacturing techniques to enhance the temperature capability and environmental resistance of Ni-based superalloys.

 

DESCRIPTION:  Today's most advanced propulsion systems are enabled by materials that can survive for significant periods of time at high temperatures in harsh environments under highly loaded conditions.  Future long-term challenges of the USAF such as long-range strike (LRS), reusable access to space, and persistent strike will require even more capable and efficient propulsion systems.  Delivering the future turbine, rocket, ramjet, and scramjet engines with the desired increased capability will be highly dependent on advances in materials technologies providing resistance to exposure at even higher temperatures for longer times under increasingly corrosive environments.  One avenue being exploited to achieve improved performance is through local tailoring of microstructure.  Approaches such as dual alloy [1] and dual microstructure heat treatment [2] have been conceived to strike a balance between fatigue resistance (at the bore) and creep resistance (at the rim) of turbine disks utilizing the best available Ni-base superalloys.  However, recent tests have demonstrated that to reach the desired future capabilities creep-fatigue (also commonly referred to as “dwell fatigue”) may be life limiting for the next generation of Ni-based superalloys. [3]  One path to achieve increased materials capability is through development of advanced materials and alloys from which to fabricate an entire component.  Some chemistries being investigated such as Pt and/or Cr additions to Ni-based superalloys [4] increase density and expense, and there is no guarantee that the resulting materials will have the full suite of properties required by the components.  An alternative is to protect only select regions of a component, sites likely to experience the harshest conditions, with a protective skin of more environmentally resistant material. [5]  This would essentially create a graded material, where the outer surface has the desired chemistry and microstructure to impart increased environmental and creep resistance, while the bulk of the component retains the chemistry and microstructure necessary to meet strength and fatigue lives.  Toward this end, innovative manufacturing and processing methods need to be identified and developed, where local chemistry and microstructure can be controlled.  Therefore, the challenge issued in this solicitation is to identify (1) alloy additions to Ni-based superalloys that increase their environmental resistance and (2) fabrication routes that can tailor local chemistries and microstructures in an effort to achieve a balance of environmental and creep-fatigue resistance at “hot spots” while preserving strength and fatigue properties in the bulk of the material/component.  Partnering with an OEM is highly desirable as it increases the likelihood of the developed technology being transitioned, and an OEM will be instrumental in identifying envisioned components and the broader suite of properties for characterization in Phase II.  Access to unique research equipment within AFRL/MLL will be considered if warranted.  Please contact the topic author for information. 

 

PHASE I:  Based on the candidate chemistries and processing route identified in the proposal for achieving a graded chemistry/microstructure of interest, demonstrate feasibility on a small batch of material and characterize local microstructure and chemistry.  Define and/or assess potential impact on creep-fatigue properties via coupon-level tests.

 

PHASE II:  Demonstrate impact of graded chemistry/microstructure on a larger suite of properties—ideally those of interest for design of envisioned components (tensile, fatigue, creep, dwell fatigue, TMF, etc.).  Demonstrate process on prototypical shape and show feasibility to scale to component size.

 

PHASE III, DUAL USE APPLICATIONS:  Application of this technology would be in advanced military propulsion systems such as turbine engines, rocket engines, ramjets, and scramjets as they mature.  Commercial benefits include improved materials for propulsion systems and land-based turbines for power generation.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Mourer, D.P., et al., “Dual Alloy Disk Development,” Superalloys 1996, R.D. Kissinger, et al., Eds., TMS, 1996, pp. 637.

 

2.  Gayda, J., “Dual Microstructure Heat Treatment of a Nickel-Base Disk Alloy Assessed,” http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/RT2001/5000/5120gayda.html.

 

3. Telesman, J., et al., “Microstructural Variables Controlling the Time-dependent Crack Growth in a P/M Superalloy,” Superalloys 2004, K.A. Green, et al., Eds, TMS, 2004, pp. 215.

 

4.  Corti, C.W., Coupland, D.R., and Selman, G.L., “Platinum-Enriched Superalloys”, Platinum Metals Rev., 24, 1980, pp 2-11.

 

5.  Advances in Net-Shape Powder Metallurgy, http://www.afrlhorizons.com/Briefs/Feb04/ML0318.html

 

KEYWORDS: creep fatigue, dwell fatigue, environmental resistance, graded microstructure, high-temperature behavior, Ni-base superalloys, turbine disk

 

 

AF073-039           TITLE: Development of Electrically Conductive Skins for Morphing Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs)

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate conductive deformable materials to enable morphing unmanned aerial vehicles.

 

DESCRIPTION: Morphing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have the potential to significantly enhance the capability of multi-element missions that are enabled by disparate vehicle configurations. For example, UAVs that can quickly switch their structure from a long-endurance loitering configuration to a high-speed dash configuration allows a single asset to quickly adapt to the specific mission element of a combined hunter-killer mission. As a result, the morphing vehicle can achieve a better mission response than UAVs of either fixed configuration. The configuration change of current concept morphing vehicles requires skin materials to undergo large deformation while maintaining sufficient out of plane stiffness to endure aerodynamic loads. While many of the mechanical issues of morphing skins are being addressed with novel attachment of elastomers, application of shape memory polymers, use of novel reinforcement, and smart integration of actuating elements; the skins also need to maintain electrical conductivity in all configurations. Efforts to coat deformable skins with electrically conductive material typically results in materials that crack and debond from the deforming substrate. Filling the deformable skin with conducting particles typically compromises the reversible strain achieved and leads to a skin whose conductivity varies substantially with deformation. We seek novel concepts that will maintain electrical conductivity under the deformation associated with the reconfiguration of a morphing structure as well as the supporting reinforcement and coupling of the overall composite system.

 

PHASE I: Conceive and demonstrate a materials concept that can obtain a surface resistivity of less than 1 ohm per square, under reversible uniaxial deformations of at least 100 percent strain with less than a 20 percent variation in resistivity.

 

PHASE II: Apply to 6”x6”-reinforced plate not more than 1/8” thick showing <0.1” local deflection under subsonic aerodynamic loading conditions when the surface area is changed 100% from shearing/extension/bending. Calculate force required to achieve configuration change and develop appropriate electrical and mechanical connections to both electrical ground and securely attach skin to a substructure frame.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: The technology will have use in charge dissipation in morphing UAV skins; seamless control surfaces; cable sheathing; rapidly-assembled space structures; or for applications requiring flexibility. Commercial application: The technology will enable flexible conductive gasket materials, electrostatic dissipating flexible hoses, large strain/low load sensing, and flexible electronics.

 

REFERENCES: 1.  E. Livne and T. A. Weisshaar, “Aeroelasticity on Non-conventional Airplane Configurations – Past and Future,” Journal of Aircraft, 40(6) 2003.

 

2.  K. Kha and J. N. Kudva, “Morphing Aircraft Concepts, Classifications, and Challenges,” Smart Structures and Materials 2004, Proceedings of SPIE Vol.5388 p. 213.

 

3.  Wilson, J.R., Morphing UAVs change the shape of warfare. Aerospace America. pp. 28-29. 2004.

 

4. H. Koerner et al. “Deformation–morphology correlations in electrically conductive carbon nanotube-thermoplastic polyurethane nanocomposites,” Polymer 46 (12) 2005.

 

KEYWORDS: morphing, skins, conductive, elastomers, shape memory polymers, composites, UAVs, adaptive

 

 

AF073-040           TITLE: Bearing Sensor Data Transmission for Engine Health Management

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate the capability to transmit bearing sensor data for real time monitoring of turbine engine roller bearing health.

 

DESCRIPTION: Roller bearings are a critical component for engine rotor rotation as well as the lift fan and rotorcraft drivetrains. One of the leading causes of turbine engine failures and the leading cause of Category A air system mishaps related to turbine engines is directly related to roller element bearing failure[1]. A trade study sponsored by the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) has confirmed that significant financial and safety-related benefits can be achieved through a maturation and integration of Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) sensor technology into future Air Force (AF) systems [2]. Temperature and vibration measurements on bearing components provide an early warning of impending bearing failure and researchers at AFRL’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate (ML) have and continue to actively sponsor in-house and Small Business Innovation (SBIR) program development of micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS) and inductor-capacitor (LC) sensors that will detect temperature and vibration anomalies in bearing cage components. The sensor will be located on the bearing cage or race component and experience an oil wash within a temperature environment of 250 to 300ºC. In-house research has shown that temperature and vibration data can be acquired from an LC sensor with the stationary transceiver located less than an inch from the sensor. Successful transition of these sensors into actual AF systems will require the development of a data transmission capability measured in inches or feet rather than millimeters. This program seeks to develop the capability to efficiently transmit temperature and vibration data from a MEMS or LC sensor to a remote location where data processing and analysis can be performed. A very real potential exists that this capability could be integrated and used to assess turbine engine health prior to mission takeoff. However, despite whether the solution is a pre-flight or in-flight capability, successful integration and demonstration of this technology will require original equipment manufacturer (OEM) collaboration as well as collaboration with the manufacturer(s) of the bearing sensor. It is encouraged that the contractor maintains interactions with the AF Program Manager and the ML ISHM team. This will enable effective development and ensure the technology is operational within the engine environment and available for any future technology demonstration opportunities.

 

PHASE I: Develop the technology that will allow the transmission of temperature and vibration data from a bearing sensor operating at or near actual engine operating temperatures to a remotely located data collection unit.  Demonstrate the data transmission capability at 300°C in a lab environment.

 

PHASE II: Fully develop and optimize data transmission technology and its integration with the bearing sensor.  Demonstrate successful integration of the prototype technology in a simulated engine environment at 300°C for a period of 1,000 hours.  It is desired that a prototype bearing sensor and data transmission system be delivered to the government for further evaluation and testing.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Bearing sensor data transmission ability joined with a bearing sensor would have pervasive military apps such as air- and land-based turbine engines on aircraft and tanks and power systems on ships. Commercial application: A bearing sensor data transmission capability combined with a bearing sensor would have pervasive commercial applications including land based power plants and commercial aircraft engines.

 

REFERENCES: 1. MacConnell, James H., “Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) Design Study: Summary Report,” May 2006.

 

KEYWORDS: Bearing Sensor, Integrated Systems Health Management, Propulsion Health Management, Harsh Environment Sensors

 

 

AF073-041           TITLE: Advanced Ultra-Lightweight Hybrid/Composite Mirrors (ULHCMs)

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes

 

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals, their country of origin, and what tasks each would accomplish in the statement of work in accordance with section 3.5.b.(7) of the solicitation.

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate advanced ultra-lightweight hybrid/composite mirrors (ULHCMs; with areal density <5kg/m2) for air and space applications. Technology should be scalable to a 1.2m mirror size.

 

DESCRIPTION: The DoD requires visible quality mirrors for applications including transformation communication systems, directed energy weapons, missile seeker telescopes, and reconnaissance/surveillance systems for both unmanned air vehicles and satellites. Mirrors for these applications range in size from 0.1m to 1.2m for monolithic configurations and up to 20m for segmented configurations. The reduction of the mirror weight will allow additional weight savings throughout the telescope and bench structures, which could drastically impact system designs and capabilities. Current state-of-the-art (SOA) glass mirror designs have areal densities (AD) in the 15 to 30 kg/m2 range, while monolithic SiC-based mirrors can reduce this to the 10 to 15 kg/m2 range. ULHCM concepts have the potential to reduce the areal densities to the 1 to 5 kg/m2 range. Unfortunately, these concepts have only been demonstrated at the coupon level (1- to 3-inch diameters) and additional work is needed to advance their readiness level. As shown in recent glass, SiC, and Be mirror programs, scalability, handleability, and stability will be major technology challenges. In this program, ULHCMs will be fabricated at various sizes to assess their potential as 1.2m mirror segments similar to that of the Advanced Mirror System Demonstrator (AMSD) program. Issues that will be addressed include: understanding/quantifying the advantages of replication versus polishing of ULHCMs, fabricating on-axis and off-axis aspheres, reducing time (schedule) to half that achieved in the AMSD program, reducing cost to half that achieved in the AMSD program, assessing mounting and actuation schemes, achieving suitable stiffness (natural frequency of part) and vibrational damping, achieving suitable surface figure and finish error, assessing thermal and environmental stability, as well as demonstrating repeatability and reliability.

 

PHASE I: Fabricate a 4- to 6-inch diameter, space qualifiable, low authority mirror with an areal density below 5 kg/m2. Quantify the material behavior, process control, optical performance, and mounting issues. Assess the potential for scale up from a processing and infrastructure point of view.

 

PHASE II: Conduct a processing science-type program and produce a space-qualifiable 20-inch (0.5 m), on-axis aspheric mirror. Include processing and lay-up trials as well as thermal and mechanical property evaluation. Fabricate a 0.5m mirror segment and deliver its performance assessment and all associated data at the end of the effort.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Large segmented mirrors for reconnaissance/surveillance type telescopes as well as laser beam deflectors for directed energy weapons and telecommunications. Commercial application: Large segmented mirrors for land and space-based telescope systems at university observatories and NASA systems. Small mirrors could be used for hobby-based astronomical telescopes.

 

REFERENCES: 1.  David A. Williamson, Ed. “Advanced Materials and Processes for Large, Lightweight, Space-Based Mirrors," Proceedings of IEEE Aerospace Conference, Volume 2776, March 2003.

 

2.  “Advanced Materials and Processes for Large, Lightweight, Space–Based Mirrors,” AMPTIAC Quarterly Vol 8, Number 1, 2004.

 

3.  http://optics.nasa.gov/tech_days/tech_days_2004/index.html.

 

4.  http://optics.nasa.gov/tech_days/tech_days_2005/index.html.

 

KEYWORDS: lightweight mirrors, hybrid materials, composite materials, optics

 

 

AF073-042           TITLE: Materials for Terahertz Detectors

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop materials that enable highly efficient and compact detectors of coherent electromagnetic radiation at terahertz (THz) frequencies.

 

DESCRIPTION: The THz portion of the frequency spectrum (0.1 to 30 THz) has attracted interest for various potential applications such as seeing-through-clothes and other visual barriers for urban warfare and hidden weapons discovery, checking personnel and packages for guns and explosives, and even communications. However, the spectral region has been underutilized because of the inadequacy of THz detectors that are in turn limited by materials. We seek novel materials development that enables and demonstrates significant improvement in the operation of these detection systems in terms of all or some of the following measures for both imaging and spectroscopy: higher temperature operation (room temperature is the goal), smaller component size and weight, higher detectivity, faster response time, and possibly coherent detection for low noise and background subtraction. Our primary interest is 0.1 to 3 THz for spectroscopy and 0.1 to 1.0 THz for imaging. No specific detection scheme enabled by the proposed material is identified herein or required, and the scheme may include nonlinear optical devices, photo-mixing, and Mach-Zehnder interferometers or similar guided-wave electro-optic devices among others.

 

PHASE I: The emphasis of the effort is to develop processing techniques for material(s) that enable significant improvement in the operation of THz systems.  The materials shall also be characterized, and demonstrations shall be performed that show the potential for this improvement in system performance.

 

PHASE II: The contractor shall further develop the proposed material or relevant material processes as well as to fully demonstrate the materials properties and their usefulness for commercial and military applications.  The material(s) will demonstrate state-of-the-art performance in a component or device.  All manufacturing processes for commercialization of the material and/or product shall be developed.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: This work is applicable to military security for detecting weapons and explosives hidden behind visual barriers. Commercial application: This work is applicable to airline and airport security, along with any business that needs such security measures for detecting hidden weapons and explosives.

 

REFERENCES: 1.  J.E. Bjarnason and E.R. Brown. Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 87, 134105 (2005).

 

2.  J. Federici et al. Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 83, p. 2477 (2003).

 

3.  W. Shi, Y.J. Ding, N. Fernelius, and K. Vodopyanov. Optics Letters 27(16), 1454 (2002).

 

KEYWORDS: terahertz, detector, coherent

 

 

AF073-043           TITLE: Development of High-Definition (HD), Low-Light-Level Detector

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes

 

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals, their country of origin, and what tasks each would accomplish in the statement of work in accordance with section 3.5.b.(7) of the solicitation.

 

OBJECTIVE: Design and build a high-definition, low-light-level detector.

 

DESCRIPTION: Most Air Force reconnaissance and targeting systems contain color or black/white charge coupled devices (CCDs) for daytime imaging. These sensors typically function effectively from dawn to dusk, but cannot compete with other technologies for nighttime operation. This effort is designed to develop a new low-light-level detector that will extend the operational performance of current CCD detectors beyond dawn and dusk conditions. In addition, the new detector should have HD (1K by 1K). Together these advances will greatly improve the performance of visible/near-infrared camera systems.

 

PHASE I: Demonstrate the feasibility of a HD, low-light-level detector with improved performance compared to current state-of-the-art (SOTA) color and/or black/white CCDs.

 

PHASE II: Design and build HD, low-light-level detector with improved performance compared to current SOTA color and/or black/white CCDs.  Incorporate this detector into a realistic optical system and demonstrate improved performance with prototype testing in a lab environment.  It is desirable that a prototype detector be delivered to the govt for additional testing and evaluation in optical test beds.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: There is a well-documented, critical military need for improved sensor performance at dusk and dawn as well as application for all DoD sensor systems currently incorporating color or black/white CCDs. Commercial application: Consumer demand for better indoor video camera performance. An HD, low-light-level detector would directly benefit the indoor performance of video cameras.

 

REFERENCES: 1.  Atlas, Gene and Mark V. Wadsworth, “Hybrid imaging: a quantum leap in scientific imaging,” Proc. SPIE Vol. 5167, p. 121-126, 2003.

 

2.  Janesick, James R., “Charge coupled CMOS and hybrid detector arrays,” Proc. SPIE Vol. 5167, p. 1-18, 2003.

 

KEYWORDS: CCD, CMOS, hybrid, low light level, high definition

 

 

AF073-044           TITLE: High Energy Density Storage for Solar Power Generation Systems

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes

 

OBJECTIVE: To develop affordable, long-life, high-energy density storage devices for solar power generating systems.

 

DESCRIPTION: The Air Force has a requirement to store energy generated from photovoltaic sources for autonomous portable ground power applications. Such systems should have high power density, low rate of self-discharge, and perform in extreme conditions. Lead acid batteries currently used offer low cost; however, the current systems have low energy density (<50Wh/kg), high intensive maintenance, and low cycle life (200 to 400 cycles) that hinder system performance. The purpose of this topic is to seek energy storage devices that have four times the energy density and cycle life as compared to the cost of lead acid batteries technologies.

 

PHASE I: Investigate feasibility of new materials/methods/processes to design and build a breadboard prototype demonstrating the fundamental components of the energy storage device to meet the objective. The contractor must verify the device has the potential to perform in the -20°C to 60°C temperature.

 

PHASE II: Develop Phase I technology to fabricate an energy storage system capable of integration with commercial photovoltaic power generation systems to provide 24kWh of electrical energy. The system will be verified under actual operating conditions such as operational temperatures and loads. It is desired the prototype be delivered to the government for further evaluation at the end of the contract.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Deployable shelters, special operations, aircraft, small UAVs, and electric vehicles (EVs). Commercial application: Remote locations, utility systems, building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV), and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs).

 

REFERENCES: 1.  Rydh, Carl J. “Energy analysis of batteries in photovoltaic systems. Part I: Performance and energy requirements.” Energy Conversion & Management 46 (2005): 1957-1979.

 

2.  Rydh, Carl J. “Energy analysis of batteries in photovoltaic systems. Part II: Energy return factors and overall battery efficiencies.” Energy Conversion & Management 46: 1980-2000.

 

3.  Ludwig, Joerissen. “Possible use of vanadium redox-flow batteries for energy storage in small grids and standalone photovoltaic systems.” Journal of Power Sources 127 (2004):98-104.

 

KEYWORDS: Energy storage, energy density, batteries, energy conversion, photovoltaic, lead-acid, lithium-ion, electrochemical, self-discharge, capacitors, life cycle

 

 

AF073-045           TITLE: Carbon Nanofibers, Testing, and Fabrication

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes

 

OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate new nano-tailored carbon-fiber forms suitable for eventual incorporation into composites for high-performance satellite components.

 

DESCRIPTION: Composites provide highly effective, multifunctional performance and are utilized on most current satellite systems. Future systems are expected to have an even greater percentage of composites. Continuous, aligned carbon-fibers are the dominant constituent for several key structural properties and also provide thermal and electrical conductivity paths as the polymeric matrix offers such low thermal/electrical properties. State-of-the-art high-performance carbon-fibers are based on polyacrylonitrile (PAN) or pitch precursors and are utilized in product forms of tows consisting of 3,000 to 12,000 fibers of diameters in the 7 to 10 micron range. Key properties such as modulus and tensile strength and electrical and thermal conductivity are related to the microstructure and are dependent upon the precursor and the fiber manufacturing process. For example, PAN-based fibers have disordered microstructures that translate to high tensile and compressive strengths. Pitch-based fibers have a more crystalline ordered microstructure that translates to high-tensile modulus and thermal conductivity. Users of advanced composites typically trade between the performances of existing PAN- and pitch-based fibers. Advanced satellites require superior stiffness, thermal management, and electrical management at very low weights and within small volumes. A fiber with a new balance of high-strength, high-modulus, and high-thermal and electrical conductivity could enable novel new satellite concepts, structures, and components. Several forms of nanocarbon are currently available such as single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT), multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNT), and various types of carbon nanofibers. Continuous fibers based on carbon nanotubes may offer a new property trade space for high-performance composites. The Air Force seeks a process that can fabricate and supply fibers based on carbon nanotubes that offer new and application-specific combinations of strength, stiffness, and thermal and electrical conductivities unachievable with currently available carbon-fibers. Such fibers could be integrated into composites to provide tailorable and multifunctional materials for high-performance, multimission tactical spacecraft.

 

PHASE I: Demonstrate feasibility of producing nano-tailored carbon fibers. Address process stability and scale up. Characterize structural, thermal, and electrical properties. Develop structure-property relationships to guide optimization. Propose surface modification for good interface in composites.

 

PHASE II: Demonstrate the carbon nano-tailored fiber in product forms amendable to composite fabrication.  Integrate within a polymeric matrix through processes that could be transitioned to production.  Perform characterization of the final composite properties.  Demonstrate enhancement of properties of importance to a proposed satellite component and validate the benefits of the new material

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: New multifunctional carbon fibers will have applications on military satellites and aerospace platforms. Commercial application: Applications for high-performance, multifunctional fibers with new properties range from commercial satellites to electronics.

 

REFERENCES: 1.  J. W. Gillespie, "High-Performance Structural Fibers for Advanced Polymer Matrix Composites", The National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2005.

 

KEYWORDS: carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers, composite, multifunctional

 

 

AF073-046           TITLE: High Capacity, Lightweight , and Compact Thermal Energy Storage (TES) Technologies and Systems

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop integrated TES technologies with goals of 1000 kJ/kg at 20 to 70°C and 180 MJ/m^3 that can store peak or transient heat loads representative of future high-power electronics or weapon systems.

 

DESCRIPTION: Cyclically and intermittently powered thermal systems are candidates for TES and transport technologies where the average thermal dissipation requirement is substantially lower than the peak requirement. Thermal management (TM) systems can then be reduced in size as a result of being able to store peak waste heat and dissipate it slowly. Depending on the specific application, cycle times may vary from relatively long (500 kW for an hour) or relatively short (900 kW for 20 seconds). A variety of phase change material (PCM) systems may be envisioned for such thermal storage; and depending on heat load to be stored and working temperature, include paraffin-based systems, molten salts, eutectic metals, and reversible chemical reactions. The TES system must be tailored towards specific requirements as the various platforms require quite different performance. For example, reversible chemical reactions hold promise for high-energy densities applicable to directed energy weapons (DEW) if they can be controlled and suitably large heats of reaction can be married with a low or nonvolatilizing reaction for use on military aircraft.  PCMs with heats of reaction approaching the high latent heats associated with vaporization (water, 2200 KJ/Kg; ammonia, 1100 KJ/Kg), without substantial increase in volume, are also desirable for DEW systems. We seek novel TES technologies and integration approaches for managing transient heat loads representative of future weapon requirements, 1000 kJ/kg at 20°C for laser applications and 1000 kJ/kg at 70°C for high-power microwave applications, with volumetric goal of at least 180 MJ/m^3 and bulk thermal conductivity of 100 W/mK if applicable.

 

PHASE I: Develop a feasibility study for proposed innovation to include analysis, design, and experimental approach for TES concept demonstration. Address a specific weapon’s TM need, including operating temperatures, energy magnitudes, interfaces, and weight requirements.

 

PHASE II: One or more of the systems identified in Phase I will be designed and built at a breadboard level of technical readiness to demonstrate proof of concept. Strong relationships with suitable aerospace primes should be demonstrated for potential enhancement and Phase III-type opportunities.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Perform integration and packaging of the high-capacity TES system into high-power, solid-state laser or high-power, microwave TM systems. Commercial application: There are several commercial requirements for improved TM, both in the aerospace and nonaerospace markets, including actuator cooling and hybrid automotive applications.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Du, J., Chow, L.C., and Leland, Q., "Optimization of High Heat Flux Thermal Energy Storage with Phases Change Materials", ASME IMECE, 5-11 Nov 2005.

 

2. Wierschke, K.W., Franke, M.E., Watts, R., and Ponnappan, R., "Heat Dissipation With Pitch Based Carbon Foams and Phase Change Materials," 38th AIAA Thermophysics Conf., Toronto, Ontario, 6-9 June 2005.

 

3. Baxi, C.B. and Knowles, T., “Thermal Energy Storage for Solid-State Laser Weapon Systems,” Journal of Directed Energy, Vol. 1, pp. 293-308, Winter 2006.

 

4. Park, C., Kim, K.J., Gottschlich, J., and Leland, Q., “High Performance Heat Storage and Dissipation Technology,” ASME International Mechanical Engineering Conference & Exposition, Orlando, FL, 2005.

 

KEYWORDS: integrated thermal management, phase change materials, PCM, thermal energy storage, TES, thermal management, TM

 

 

AF073-047           TITLE: Stand-Off Detection of Functionalized Nanoparticles

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate a system for remote monitoring of the presence and behavior of functionalized nanoparticles in the environment.

 

DESCRIPTION: Metal and metal oxide nanoparticles exhibit specific opto-electronic and physical properties that can be exploited for environmental monitoring.  The material’s optical properties can be enhanced by incorporation of phosphorescent and fluorescent molecules.  The interaction of the particles with selected targets can be directed by grafting ligand molecules onto particle surfaces.  For example, functionalizing the particle with an antibody could allow selective binding to a bacterial cell surface.  That conceptual approach is clearly adaptable to a broad range of recognition elements; specific ligands may be developed for most conceivable chemical, biological, or explosive (CBE) agents. 

 

A system is needed in order to exploit the selective binding and distinct signatures of functionalized nanoparticles. In the present topic, a separate approach will be used to disperse functionalized nanoparticles within a defined area or upon a surface. The system developed will interrogate the dispersed particles, then monitor resulting spectral signal from particles. Changes in response due to interactions with selected chemical or biological targets must be detectable by system. In order to allow covert monitoring, the system should detect and monitor signature in the near-IR-to-microwave spectral regions.

 

PHASE I: Demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed monitoring system.  Identify the approach and assemble lab instrumentation to demonstrate the detection of response from functionalized nanoparticles.

 

PHASE II: Develop a commercial prototype system for interrogation, activation, and detection of functionalized nanparticles at over 100 meter distance.  Document system requirements such as power, weight, space, etc.  Demonstrate system performance in field conditions.  It is desired that the prototype system be delivered to the AF at the end of Phase II for further testing and evaluation.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Covert monitoring of operations area and materiel for presence of selected CBE. Commercial application: Design of optical materials, surveillance for contraband trafficking, homeland security/counter-terrorism monitoring.

 

REFERENCES: 1.  Huang, Genin Gary, Wang, Chien-Tsung, Tang, Hsin-Ta, Huang, Yih-Shiaw, Yang, Jyisy, “ZnO Nanoparticle-Modified Infrared Internal Reflection Elements for Selective Detection of Volatile Organic Compounds,” Analytical Chemistry, 2006.

 

2.  Kouassi, Gilles K., Irudayaraj, Joseph, “Magnetic and Gold-Coated Magnetic Nanoparticles as a DNA Sensor,” Analytical Chemistry, 2006.

 

3.  “Testing and Evaluation of Standoff Chemical Agent Detectors,” Committee on Testing and Evaluation of Standoff Chemical Agent Detectors, National Research Council, 2003.

 

KEYWORDS: surface plasmon resonance, stand-off detection, microwave

 

 

AF073-048           TITLE: Temperature-Tolerant Processor for Reliable Control

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Information Systems, Materials/Processes

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: Improve the capability of engine full authority digital engine controls (FADECs) and aerospace controls

 

OBJECTIVE: Significantly improve the capability of engine controls and aerospace electronics to remove heat and withstand harsh environments. The focus is on achieving high-temperature conditions.  

 

DESCRIPTION: Aerospace engine controls and electronic systems are designed to operate with wide environmental temperature excursions, from -67 to >275°F. They may also experience sustained extreme temperature and duty cycles that increase stress. Operating life, mission completion, and reliability of controls are significantly affected under these conditions. However, current trends are not favoring designs that cope with this environment.  Increasing use and quantity of commercial components, coupled with projected rise in semiconductor power density in control electronics will likely reduce actual mission capability margins of aerospace systems. Current state-of-the-art microprocessor controllers operate with core power densities of 24 W/cm². Fabrication advances, resulting in increased transistor density and speed, are expected to enable power densities up to 200 W/cm² in the future. Semiconductor switches for power control are also expected to achieve these high power densities as well. Allowable temperature rise in controls and electronic enclosures in harsh environments is maintained using air or liquid cooling. Current state-of-the-art military engine controls use fuel cooling.  However, current trends are projected to result in higher thermal loading of fuel-cooled electronics that will limit future advanced mission applications. The ability to effectively operate aerospace controls in a harsh temperature environment, greater than 275°F. without a fuel cooling loop is desired.  It is also desired to develop a cost-effective conceptual design that maintains current state-of-the-art reliability.  Appropriate technical approaches may include hybrid techniques that take advantage of advanced device technology, commercial components, circuit design and health/condition monitoring algorithms.  Potential high-temperature electronic devices include silicon carbide (SiC), silicon on insulator (SOI), gallium arsenide (GaAs), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) fabrication materials.  The use of circuit design to reduce the effects of leakage current, processor errors, and component variability as temperature increases may be employed.  The use of analog, discreet, or integrated circuits are appropriate.  The use of condition monitoring and prognostic techniques may be employed to gain temperature tolerance.  Prognostics may be used to manage power usage, reduce temperature concentrations, and tailor electrical stress to achieve design life.    

 

PHASE I: Design a conceptual engine controller employing  a hybrid approach using advanced device technology, temperature-tolerant circuit design, and electronics prognostics.

 

PHASE II: Develop and test prototype electronic control hardware employing a temperature-tolerant design. The design should be applicable to the harsh military engine and vehicle environment and accommodate planned advanced system architectures.     

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Applications include advanced engine and flight controls, unmanned aerial vehicles, and directed energy systems, military control units, actuators, and more-electric systems. Commercial application: Projected applications for the developed control technology include commercial aircraft, ground-based power generation, oil industry, and harsh industrial processing applications.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Jacob M. Li, “Packaging Design & Manufacture of High Temperature Electronics Module for 225ºC Applications utilizing Hybrid Microelectronics Technology”, Vectron International 267 Lowell Road Hudson, NH, 03051

 

2. Ovidiu Vermesan, Lars-Cyril Blystad, Roy Bahr, Magnus Hjelstuen, Lionel Beneteau, Benoit Froelich “A BiCMOS Ultrasound Front End Signal Processor for High Temperature Applications”, Proceedings of ESSCIRC, Grenoble, France, 2005

 

3.  P.L. Ilreike, D.M. Fleetwood, D. King, D.C. Sprauer, and T.E. Zipperian, “An Overview of High-Temperature Electronic Device Technologies and Potential Applications,” IEEE Transaction on Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology - Part A, Vol. 17, No. 4, December 1994

 

KEYWORDS: controls, silicon carbide electronics, electronic circuits, prognostics, digital engine controller, temperature mitigation, robust circuit design

 

 

AF073-049           TITLE: Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) Cooling

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Materials/Processes

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: Improve FADEC performance in hot ambient installation environment

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop innovative methods to cool an aircraft FADEC to make it independent of the fuel cooling system.

 

DESCRIPTION: The FADEC is a critical system in which the thermal management system determines a maximum allowable fuel temperature that is used to cool electronics.  The FADEC could produce heat loads in excess of 300 W at 0.3 W/cm² and must operate in environmental temperatures up to 340 °F.  The FADEC needs to be maintained at a temperature lower than 145 °F.  The heat load needs to be transported to a sink typically located 2m away at an ambient temperature 120 °F. 

 

Integration of loop heat pipe technology with the FADEC could alleviate the problem of increasing fuel temperature and completely isolating it from the fuel cooling system.  Loop heat pipes are two-phase thermal transport devices that operate passively.  They use the latent heat of vaporization to transport heat from one location to another and consist of an evaporator, compensation chamber, wick, liquid and vapor transport lines, and condenser.  Integration of the loop heat pipe or other approach must be accomplished without a significant increase in weight to the aircraft (as low as 2 to 3 kg).

 

PHASE I: Develop a model of a thermal management system that will be capable of acquiring and rejecting heat loads generated by the FADEC. Complete analytical modeling of the system, such as a loop heat pipe, along with the integration of the loop heat pipe with the FADEC and heat sink is expected.

 

PHASE II: Build a full-scale loop heat pipe or other prototype approach capable of rejecting the required thermal loads to the heat sink.  Testing should be conducted to verify proper operation of the loop heat pipe for the environmental characteristics of the FADEC.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: This loop heat pipe has a direct application to cooling the FADEC on current and future fighter aircraft platforms. Commercial application: This loop heat pipe could satisfy cooling requirements for the FADEC on commercial aircraft engines as well as other miscellaneous cooling requirements.

 

REFERENCES: 1.  Maidanik, Jury et al., "Heat Transfer Apparatus," U.S. Patent #4515209.

 

2.  Maidanik, Jury, "Review:  Loop Heat Pipes," <i>Applied Thermal Engineering</i>, Vol. 25, pp. 635–657, 2005.

 

3.  Baldassarre, Gregg et al., "Loop Heat Pipes for Avionics Thermal Control," SAE Paper #961318, 1996.

 

4.  Hashemi, Ab et al., "Aircraft skin cooling system for thermal management of onboard high power electronic equipment," Proceedings of the 1996 31st ASME National Heat Transfer Conference.

 

KEYWORDS: full authority digital engine control, FADEC, loop heat pipe, LHP, fuel cooling, thermal management

 

 

 

AF073-050           TITLE: Advanced Heat Exchanger (HEX) Scaling Methodologies for High-Performance Aircraft

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Materials/Processes

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: Improve scaling methodologies for aircraft advanced HEXs.

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop characterization and scaling methodologies for aircraft advanced HEXs and corresponding modeling tool that incorporates these scaling methodologies.

 

DESCRIPTION: Current and future advanced high-performance aircraft are experiencing higher heat loads over legacy systems that are driving the need for improved heat sink capability to coolants. A primary mechanism to transfer excess heat to on board coolants (fuel, air, and oil) is through HEXs. Current systems are volume and weight constrained, so there is further need for HEXs that can provide improved heat transfer capability without increased size or weight over state-of-the-art products. Several HEX manufacturers have developed processes and designs to increase heat transfer per surface area and increased surface area within specific volumes. In addition, composite and other new materials that offer improved thermal conductivity, higher temperature strength capability, and unique manufacturability also have a direct impact in the development of new HEX designs. However, analytical approaches to characterize new HEX designs are immature and currently highly empirical, thus making the ability to optimize these advanced heat transfer devices improbable without comprehensive characterization efforts. The Air Force is seeking novel approaches for accurately characterizing and scaling new HEX designs, along with a modeling tool to facilitate timely trade studies of several concepts, all to help accelerate the typical concept initiation to development to hardware fabrication timeframes. To ensure accuracy of the characterizations and scaling laws, the development and verification of the most promising approaches is desired that takes into account installation effects, materials, manufacturing and costs. Also desired is the conceptualization and development of a robust easy to use modeling tool that accurately captures the characterization methods, scaling rules, and production influences of new HEXs. This tool is to be transitional to industry and the government. The focus of the Phase I effort will be to develop characterization methodologies and scaling laws for advanced HEXs, along with a modeling approach that takes into account installation effects, materials, manufacturing configurations, and cost. These will be used to investigate potential candidate technologies and heat transfer mechanisms that can lead to improvements in HEX volumetric efficiency over current technology.

 

PHASE I: Develop characterization methodologies and scaling laws for advanced HEXs suitable for use in high performance aircraft.  Incorporate these methodologies into an easy to use, robust modeling approach that takes into account installation effects, materials, manufacturing configurations, and cost; all while having the capability of interfacing with other application tools. 

 

PHASE II:  Develop and validate the modeling approach from Phase I.  Demonstrate the model by applying it to evaluate several potential candidate technologies and heat transfer mechanisms that can lead to improvements in HEX volumetric efficiency.  Bench-level or laboratory experiment testing on at least one advanced HEX concept to verify the results is encouraged. 

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Smaller and lighter heat exchangers will increase cooling capabilities and enhance the performance of the warfighter. Commercial application: More-electric commercial aircraft, experiencing increased heat loads, will benefit from the smaller and lighter HEXs.

 

REFERENCES: 1.  Smith, Eric M., Thermal Design of Heat Exchangers: A Numerical Approach: Direct Sizing and Stepwise Rating, New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, 1997.

 

2. Hewitt, Geoff F. and Pugh, Simon J., “Approximate Design and Costing Methods for Heat Exchangers," <i>Heat Transfer Engineering</i>, Vol. 28 No. 2, February 2007, pp. 76-86.

 

3. Kuppan, T., Heat exchanger design handbook, New York: Marcel Dekker, 2000.

 

KEYWORDS: heat exchanger, heat transfer, scaling laws, materials, heat sink, high-temperature materials, modeling tools

 

 

AF073-051           TITLE: Test Method for Inducing Steep Thermal Gradients in Thin-Walled Structures

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Materials/Processes

 

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals, their country of origin, and what tasks each would accomplish in the statement of work in accordance with section 3.5.b.(7) of the solicitation.

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: To develop affordable turbine airfoil thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) test capability

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop an economically viable test methodology to generate known thermal gradients in thin-walled structures. 

 

DESCRIPTION: Thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) is a leading failure mode for the hot-section components of modern gas turbine engines.  To improve the safety, reliability, and affordability of modern fleets, methodologies must be developed that allow more accurate modeling of TMF damage.  Further, emerging technologies and vehicle concepts will pose a much more challenging environment in the future.  The success of these programs depends on the ability to predict TMF capability.  To this end, science and technology (S&T) programs are underway to develop a first-principles-based approach to modeling TMF behavior.  This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) topic is needed to develop test capabilities to support these S&T programs and provide critical calibration and validation data.

 

Since TMF is most commonly experienced by high-pressure turbine airfoils, the Air Force is particularly interested in understanding the behavior of components under severe local thermal gradients.  Turbine airfoils are subject to thermal loads that induce temperature gradients of several hundred degrees Fahrenheit through-wall thicknesses less than one-tenth of an inch.  The ability to experimentally replicate these conditions will provide valuable data for a first-principles-based material model.  To date, there are no economically feasible experimental techniques to simulate the dramatic through-wall gradients experienced by turbine airfoils.

 

A testing methodology is needed to generate severe thermal gradients in thin-walled structures.  The approach should provide thermal gradients that simulate the conditions experienced by high-pressure turbine airfoils in modern gas turbine engines.  Further, the approach should provide for experimental testing that is substantially less expensive than pressurized burner or full-engine testing.  The testing method should support the following:

 

• Surface temperature generation up to 2000°F

• Capability to generate steep thermal gradients of several hundred degrees Fahrenheit through specimen walls less than 0.1 inch in thickness

• Automatic cycling and transient capability (up to 160°F/s)

• Representative turbine airfoil materials and geometry, including thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) and/or metallic coated specimens

• Compressive and tensile loading capability up to 5000 lb.

• Small feature testing capability (e.g., specimens with film cooling holes)

 

Since the intended purpose of the technology is to simulate the conditions within a modern gas turbine engine, it is strongly recommended that the development team include an engine original equipment manufacturer (OEM) as an active participant.  OEM participation will allow for necessary guidance in the development of the test methodology for transition into a first-principles model for incorporation into standard design practices.

 

PHASE I: Determine the technical feasibility and detailed design of an economical test methodology to generate steep thermal gradients in thin-walled specimens which are simulative of turbine airfoils and representative of conditions experienced in modern gas turbine engines.

 

PHASE II: Develop, demonstrate, and validate a prototype test rig to generate steep thermal gradients in thin-walled specimens simulative of high-pressure turbine airfoils under conditions experienced in modern gas turbine engines.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: TMF is evident in military gas turbine engines.  This testing methodology will provide valuable data to improve the TMF capability for high-performance turbine engines. Commercial application: Development of successful test capability will provide lucrative turbine simulation testing business opportunities and provide valuable data to improve the TMF capability of all gas turbine engines.

 

REFERENCES: 1. M. Bartsch and B.Baufeld, "Effect of controlled temperature gradients in thermal-mechanical fatigue," Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF 5), Eds. P.D. Portella, H. Sehitoglu, K.  Hatanaka, Deutscher Verband fur Materialforschung und prufung e.V., Berlin, 2004, pp. 183-188.

 

2. L. Jacobsson, C. Persson, and S. Melin, "Experimental methods for thermomechanical fatigue in gas turbine materials," Proceedings of ECF15, Stockholm 2004.

 

3. T. Brendel, E. Affeldt, J. Hammer , and C. Rummel, "Temperature gradients in TMF specimens Measurement and influence on TMF life," HT-TMF Conference, Berlin, September 2005. Also to be published <i>International Journal of Fatigue</i>; http://www.mtu.de/channel/files/pdf/temperature_gradients_in_tmf.pdf.

 

4. T. Beck, P. Hähner, H.-J. Kühn, C. Rae, E.E. Affeldt, H. Andersson, A. Köster , M. Marchionni, "Thermomechanical fatigue - the route to standardization (TMF standard project)," <i>Materials and Corrosion</i>, Vol. 57, pp. 53-59, January 2006.

 

KEYWORDS: thermomechanical fatigue, TMF, TMF testing, temperature gradient testing, turbine airfoil testing, inducing thermal gradients, temperature difference testing

 

 

AF073-052           TITLE: Full-Field Temperature and Strain Measurement Capability for Turbine Engine Applications

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Materials/Processes

 

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals, their country of origin, and what tasks each would accomplish in the statement of work in accordance with section 3.5.b.(7) of the solicitation.

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: Develop accurate, full-field temperature and strain measurement capabilities for turbine airfoils under modern gas turbine engine conditions.

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop methods to accurately measure full-field temperatures and strains associated with thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) behavior of turbine airfoils in turbine engine applications.

 

DESCRIPTION: TMF is a leading failure mode for the hot-section components of modern gas turbine engines.  To improve the safety, reliability, and affordability of modern fleets, methodologies must be developed that allow for more accurate modeling of TMF behavior.  Further, emerging technologies and vehicle concepts will pose a much more challenging environment in the future.  The success of these programs depends on the ability to predict TMF damage and associated reductions in airfoil durability.  To this end, science and technology (S&T) programs are under way to develop first-principles-based approaches to modeling of TMF behavior.  This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) topic is needed to develop accurate and robust full-field temperature and strain measurement capabilities to support these S&T programs and provide critical calibration and validation data.

 

Since TMF is most commonly experienced by high-pressure turbine airfoils, the Air Force is particularly interested in understanding the behavior of these components under severe thermal and mechanical loads.  Often, these components show evidence of TMF emanating from small features, e.g., film cooling holes.  To calibrate and validate a first-principles-based approach for TMF modeling, the ability to accurately measure local temperatures, absolute strain, and strain rate are of utmost importance.   

 

Therefore, methodologies are required which allow for measuring both ceramic-coated and uncoated specimens, simulating turbine airfoils, subject to thermal and mechanical loading conditions similar to those experienced by high-pressure turbine airfoils in modern gas turbine engines.  Measurement specification requirements will include the capability to accurately measure local temperatures to within +/- 2 ºF within an area of 0.002 square inches, absolute strain to 0.01 percent (0.0001 inch/inch) over a range of at least 0.6 percent (0.006 inch/inch), and strain rate of 0.00001/s to 0.01/s.  It will also be necessary to develop the capability to separate total strain into its free thermal and mechanical components.  These capabilities must not only be of high accuracy, but must also be robust enough to withstand and operate for long periods of time during high temperature (up to 2000 ºF at the surface), rapid thermal transient (up to 160 ºF/s), and high mechanical stress (up to 5000 lb compressive and tensile loading) experimental testing.

 

Since the intended purpose of the technology is to measure the thermal and loading conditions within a modern gas turbine engine, it is strongly recommended that the development team include an engine original equipment manufacturer (OEM) as an active participant.  OEM participation will allow for necessary guidance in the development of measurement technology for incorporation into standard developmental testing and design practices.

 

PHASE I: Determine technical feasibility to accurately measure full-field temperature and strain in thin-walled specimens, simulative of turbine airfoils, under conditions experienced in modern gas turbine engines.

 

PHASE II: Develop, demonstrate, and validate prototype device(s) to accurately measure full-field temperature and strain in thin-walled test specimens, simulative of high-pressure turbine airfoils, under conditions  experienced in modern gas turbine engines.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: TMF is evident in military  gas turbine engines, increasing cost and reducing readiness. This test methodology will provide valuable data to improve the TMF capability of military gas turbine engines. Commercial application: TMF is evident in all gas turbine engines.  Success in this endeavor will provide lucrative instrumentation business and contribute to improvement in the TMF capability of all turbine engines.

 

REFERENCES: 1. P. Hahner, K. Rau, and T. Beck, "Issues of Dynamic Temperature Measurement and Control in Thermo-Mechanical Fatigue Testing," http://www.npl.co.uk/tman/meetings/15_mar_06/presentations/haehner.pdf.

 

2. J.F. Lei, M.G. Castelli, D. Androjna, C. Blue, R. Blue, and R.Y. Lin, "Comparison testing between two high-temperature strain measurement systems," <i>Experimental Mechanics</i>, Vol. 36 No. 4, 1996, pp. 430-435.

 

3. Green, John L., Emslie, James F., and Chou, Shun-Chin, “The Application of Laser Speckle Interferometry to Measure Strain at Elevated Temperatures and Various Loading Rates,” Army Lab Command Watertown, MA Material Technology Lab, May 1990, available through Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), http://www.dtic.mil/.

 

4.  Mielke, A.F. and Elam, K.A., “Molecular Rayleigh Scattering Diagnostic for Measurement of High Frequency Temperature Fluctuations,” Proceedings of SPIE Optics and Photonics Conference, Vol. 5880, 2005.

 

5.  Tsang, C.L., Ireland, P.T., Dailey, G., "Reduced Instrumentation Heat Transfer Testing of Model Turbine Blade Cooling Systems,” Oxford Univ (United Kingdom) Dept of Engineering Science, March 01, 2003, aAvailable from Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), AD Number: ADA419405, http://www.dtic.mil/.

 

KEYWORDS: thermomechanical fatigue, TMF, turbine airfoils, turbine engine hot section, full-field temperature measurement, full-field strain measurement, temperature gradient measurement, strain rate measurement

 

 

AF073-053           TITLE: Spall Propagation-Resistant Hybrid Bearings for High-Performance Turbine Engines

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Materials/Processes

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: Improve spall propagation-resistant turbine engine mainshaft bearings

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop spall propagation-resistant turbine engine mainshaft bearings to provide increased reliability, safety, and performance margin of aircraft propulsion systems. 

 

DESCRIPTION: Turbine engine mainshaft bearing loads continue to increase as engine flowpath components become more efficient and engine performance reaches unprecedented levels in near term, high-performance aircraft systems.  In some of the more modern high-performance engines, bearing loads and resulting contact stresses already exceed the capability of M50 steel material used today, posing a significant life, reliability, and safety issue in these advanced propulsion systems. To address this, significant progress has been made in developing bearing materials and surface treatments that resist surface fatigue initiation and damage caused by hard contaminants by inducing residual compressive surface stresses on bearing races and through the use of hard materials such as ceramic Si3N4 rolling elements (hybrid bearings) and case carburized Pyrowear 675TM races. However, limited effort has been devoted to understanding and optimizing the fatigue propagation characteristics of these advanced bearings once initiation has occurred.  This stage of the fatigue life history of an aircraft engine bearing is critical due to potentially catastrophic outcome that may result if a rapid spall propagation rate is encountered. Therefore, the objectives of this effort are 1) advance the understanding of spall propagation mechanisms of advanced materials such Pyrowear 675 TM to help identify the key controlling properties (i.e., microstructure, near-surface fracture toughness, etc.) and/or dynamic operating conditions that control spall propagation rates (the use and/or development of computer modeling and simulation (M&S) tools is highly encouraged for this part of the effort), 2) develop a suitable material/surface heat treatment strategy (i.e., nitriding, carbo-nitriding, etc.), that optimizes spall propagation-resistance without significantly compromising other desirable properties such as fatigue initiation life, wear resistance, and debris damage tolerance, and 3) demonstrate overall performance through subscale and full-scale bearing hardware at simulated engine conditions.  To assist in meeting these objectives, interaction with major engine companies and bearing companies is highly recommended.

 

PHASE I: Research spall propagation mechanisms through literature review, bench top/subscale experimentation, and M&S. Develop conceptual spall propagation-resistant heat treat process on a single relevant bearing material or multiple relevant bearing materials.

 

PHASE II: Demonstrate enhanced spall propagation-resistance of selected concept under representative engine bearing dynamic conditions of loads, speeds, and temperatures. 

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Application to many military high-performance aircraft turbine engines. Commercial application: Commercial aircraft would benefit from improved reliability and safety margin.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Salehizadeh, H. and Saka, N., "Crack propagation in rolling line contacts," <i>J. of Tribology</i>, Trans ASME Vol. 114 Issue 4 (1992) pp. 690-697.

 

2. D. Mitchell et al., "All-steel and Si3N4-steel hybrid rolling fatigue under contaminated conditions," <i>Wear</i> Vol. 239 (2000) pp. 176-188.

 

KEYWORDS: aircraft, turbine engines, rolling element bearings, fatigue life, spall propagation, carburized bearing steels

 

 

AF073-054           TITLE: Conjugate Heat Transfer Analysis Capability for Gas Turbine Component Design

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Materials/Processes

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: Provide conjugate heat transfer analysis capability.

 

OBJECTIVE: To provide a conjugate heat transfer analysis capability that is suitable for use within the design cycle of turbine components. 

 

DESCRIPTION: For future gas turbines, it is desirable both to increase performance and to reduce operating costs.  While turbine performance increases are achievable through increases in turbine inlet temperature, this often results in decreased turbine durability.  Since designers currently rely primarily on an experience-based approach, there is a durability margin that is built into the design of turbine components (e.g., blades and vanes).  Consequently, component life estimates can be either overpredicted or underpredicted.   If part life is greater than predicted, then turbine components are using more than the optimum amount of cooling, and the performance of the overall system is consequently reduced.  However, if part life is less than predicted, then the system requires more frequent inspection coupled with possible repairs and/or part replacements.  This inevitably results in increased life-cycle costs as well as reduced readiness of the armed forces.  Further, turbine components are subjected to exceptionally harsh thermal environments, and present durability design and analysis capabilities used at original equipment manfacturers (OEMs) are not sufficient to allow for accurate predictions of component life in systems now under development.  Consequently, major Air Force engine programs may be subject to durability problems, including burning, thermomechanical fatigue, and creep of turbine components. Conjugate heat transfer analysis, whereby the convective heat transfer to the components as well as conduction of heat through the parts are determined simultaneously, has shown great promise for the improvement of turbine durability design systems.  However, conjugate heat transfer capabilities have at present been demonstrated only in bench level research projects.  So, what is required is a validated conjugate heat transfer analysis capability that is suitable for inclusion in an industry-standard turbine durability design system. 

 

PHASE I: Develop a conjugate heat transfer analysis capability and apply it to the design of a turbine component for experimental validation.  Deliverables are the code, the test geometry and its predicted performance, and a detailed plan for experimental validation.

 

PHASE II: Validate the performance of the components designed in Phase I against experimental data.  Further, the code must be production worthy for inclusion in an industry-standard turbine durability design system. The investigators will be required to interface with engineers at one or more gas turbine manufacturers to ensure the quality, robustness, and suitability of the code for use at the OEM.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: The code would be used by the OEM to design airfoils for advanced demonstrator engines, and be adopted as standard work, thereby resulting in hardware for the Warfighter. Commercial application: A standard work design tool will affect all subsequent commercial hardware developed by the OEM.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Kusterer, K., Hagedorn, T., Bohn, D., Sugimoto, T., and Tanaka, R., "Improvement of a Film-Cooled Blade by Application of the Conjugate Calculation Technique," ASME Paper No. GT2005-68555, 2005.

 

2. Black, D.L., Meredith, K.V., and Smith, C.E., "LES Simulations Predicting Heat Transfer and Wall Temperatures on Turbine Inlet Guide Vanes at High Fuel-Air Ratios," ISABE Paper No. 2005-1201, 2005.

 

3. Bohn, D., Tummers. C., and Moritz, N., "Influence of Convex Curvature on Heat Transfer and Thermal Load of Full Coverage Cooled Multi-Layer Plates," ISABE Paper No. 2005-1072, 2005.

 

4. Fedrizzi, R. and Arts, T., "Investigation of the Conjugate Convective-Conductive Thermal Behavior of a Rib-Roughened Internal Cooling Channel," ASME Paper No. GT2004-53046, 2004.

 

5. Montomoli, F., Adami, P., Della Gatta, S., and Martelli, F., "Conjugate Heat Transfer Modeling in Film Cooled Blades," ASME Paper No. GT2004-53177, 2004.

 

KEYWORDS: turbine, durability, conjugate heat transfer, lifing, thermomechanical fatigue, film cooling, internal cooling, physics-based design

 

 

AF073-055           TITLE: Improved Damping Modeling for Afterburners

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Materials/Processes

 

STATEMENT OF INTENT: Improved damping modeling robustness for afterburners.

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop robust models that can accurately predict acoustic damping over a wide range of augmentor conditions.

 

DESCRIPTION: Combustion instability, or screech, occurs in the afterburner of high-performance gas turbine engines. Screech is due to the coupling of the wave propagation of the combustion chamber with fluctuations in the heat release of the combustion process. This coupling can produce large pressure fluctuations that can be severe enough to damage engine hardware. Historically, screech has been mitigated by adding damping to the combustion system. The current damping technology employed by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for afterburners was borrowed from technologies developed by the rocket propulsion community in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Helmholtz resonators, realized by the use of perforated liners, were applied to the afterburners and tuned to damp the screech modes exhibited by the afterburner system of the time. These modes were typically in the 1 to 2 kHz range.

 

A single Helmholtz resonator is a side chamber that has a neck attached to a cavity. The resultant damping system is a band reject filter which damps pressure fluctuations around the resonant frequency of the resonator. In addition to being a tuned damper, Helmholtz resonators act as acoustic high-pass filters damping the pressure fluctuations at and above the resonant frequency. The perforation in an augmentor liner acts as the necks (ports) of multiple Helmholtz resonators which collectively share a common cavity volume.

 

Models for resonators were developed assuming that the flow through the resonator neck was uniform and the volume of the cavity was such that its acoustic frequencies were significantly higher than the frequency of the resonator system. These assumptions allow for the resonator to be modeled using lumped parameters.

 

The reality of modern augmentors violates the assumptions that predicated the lumped parameter models. The screech liner acts as a damper, but cooling air is also fed through the system to cool the liner. This flow can change the resonant frequency and damping effectiveness of the liner. Afterburners operate with moderate subsonic velocities. The velocity or grazing flow past the neck of the resonator port is appreciable and can also affect the resonant frequency and liner effectiveness. Finally, individual Helmholtz resonators in an augmentor liner do not have their own small cavity; their shared cavity volume can have its own dynamics, and those dynamics could act in a detrimental way to the system damping. Previously, empirical fudge factors, such as effective neck lengths or effective cavity volumes were employed to correct the predicted damping effectiveness of the resonator. In current afterburner systems, inlet conditions, such as temperature, vitiation level, operating pressure, velocity/Mach number, and turbulence levels are the most severe than ever experienced. The local conditions in today’s augmentors greatly deviate from the global parameters used to calibrate existing models. Because of this, improved models that capture the local physical phenomena are required.

 

Desired are improved damping models. Models developed should take advantage of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes as well as reduced order thermoacoustics models.

 

PHASE I: Develop a detailed design of experiments methodology that identifies key parameters and hierarchy for damping model improvement, and perform a baseline prediction of the state-of-the-art augmentor liner technology with existing model.

 

PHASE II: Conduct physical experiments to ascertain key physical data and develop a physics-based damping model from derived understanding and experimental data. Demonstrate 50 percent improvement in model prediction of damping effectiveness over baseline at current augmentor conditions.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: Models generated in the Phase II effort can be validated for sector rig and engine conditions and transitioned to military gas turbine OEMs for incorporation into existing augmentor design systems. Commercial application: Combustion instability is also prevalent in commercial gas turbine, land based power generation and commercial boiler industries.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Dupere, I.D.J. and Dowling A.P., “The use of Helmholtz resonators in a practical combustor,” Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2003, June 16-19, 2003, Atlanta, GA, USA.

 

2. Eldredge, J.D. and Dowling A.P., “The absorption of axial acoustic waves by a perforated liner with bias flow,” <i>J. of Fluid Mechanics</i>, Vol. 485, pp. 207-335, 2003.

 

3. Griffin, S., Lane S.A., and Huybrechts, S., “Coupled Helmholtz resonators for acoustic attenuation,” <i>ASME Journal of Vibration and Acoustics</i>, Vol. 124, pp. 11-17, 2001.

 

4. Kinsler, L.E., Frey, A.R., Coppens, A.B., and Sanders, J.V., “Fundamentals of Acoustics,” John Wiley and Sons, 4th ed., pp. 284-286, 2000.

 

KEYWORDS: afterburner, damping, combustion instability, screech, Helmholtz resonator, acoustics, mean flow

 

 

AF073-056           TITLE: Advanced Heat Exchanger Materials

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Materials/Processes

 

OBJECTIVE: To improve heat exchanger applications, including return fuel-to-air heat exchangers through novel heat transfer materials.

 

DESCRIPTION: Advanced aircraft engines such as those used on tactical platforms use several types of heat exchangers to transfer heat energies from air-to-air, fuel-to-air and oil-to-oil or fuel. Currently, there are separate AFRL-funded heat exchanger and materials development efforts for tactical aircraft applications. AFRL/PRP’s investment directly addresses return fuel/air cooler (RFAC) heat exchanger applications that could potentially improve heat exchanger performance in fighter aircraft using conventional metals (i.e. aluminum and nickel).

 

Application of new/advanced materials--such as carbon, metal, or hybrids--instead of conventional materials, could potentially enhance heat transfer capabilities/performance and reduce heat exchanger weight/volume. Current goals for the new heat exchanger design include Tmax = 300 °F, heat transfer greater than 4500 BTU/min in 300 cubic inches of heat exchanger core volume, max pressure drop of 0.95 psid (JP-8 fuel) and 0.19 psid (ram air), and flow rate of 70 lb/min (JP-8 fuel) and 90 lb/min (ram air). Any material must be able to be integrated into emerging heat exchanger designs and still enhance mechanical and physical performance.

 

PHASE I: Identify novel heat transfer materials and surface morphologies that enhance the performance of liquid fuel-to-air heat exchangers and their application to aircraft systems through subscale experiments and analytical techniques.  Demonstrate critical proof-of-concept fabrications and critical material characteristics at the subscale level to allow confidence in scale up and fabrication of the full scale core concept, including compatibility with JP-8.

 

PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate the new material concepts investigated in Phase I through fabrication of a RFAC heat exchanger module that can be used to characterize thermal performance enhancement for fuel-to-air heat exchanger applications. The full-scale prototype [4500BTU min=79kW] of the RFAC heat exchanger module shall include an integrated core and manifold.

 

DUAL USE COMMERCIALIZATION: Military application: RFAC heat exchanger that is form-fit-function ready for advanced fighter aircraft to improve thermal management system performance. Commercial application: More efficient heat exchanger in the commercial aircraft sector.

 

REFERENCES: 1. Watts, R., "Advancement in Compact Lightweight Carbon Aircraft Heat Exchangers," 2005 Spring SAMPE, Long Beach, CA.

 

2. Newland, S., "Applications for High Thermal Conductivity Graphite Heat Sinks for Fighter Aircraft," 2004 ICES, Colorado Springs, CO, 2005.

 

KEYWORDS: heat transfer, fuel cooling, heat exchanger, metallic, foams, carbon, hybrid

 

 

AF073-057           TITLE: High-Speed Thermal Sensing System for On-Engine Monitoring of Ceramic Coatings

 

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Materials/Processes

 

OBJECTIVE: Develop real-time, on-engine thermal sensing of static and rotating turbomachinery

 

DESCRIP