AIR FORCE
STTR PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS
The Air Force proposal submission instructions are intended to clarify the DoD instructions as they apply to AF requirements
The responsibility for the implementation and management of the Air Force STTR Program is with the Air Force Research Lab, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The Air Force STTR Program Manager is Mr. Steve Guilfoos, (800) 222-0336. The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) is responsible for scientific oversight and program execution of Air Force STTRs.
Air Force Research Laboratory
AFOSR/PIE
Attn: Raheem Lawal
875 Randolph Street
Suite 325, Room 3112
Arlington, VA 22203-1954
Phone: (703) 696-7313 / (703) 696-9513
Fax: (703) 696-7320
Email: raheem.lawal@afosr.af.mil
For general inquires or problems with the electronic submission, contact the DoD Help Desk at 1-866-724-7457 (8am to 5pm EST). For technical questions about the topic during the pre-solicitation period (22 Jan through 18 Feb 08), 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 (19 Feb – 19 Mar 08), go to http://www.dodsbir.net/sitis.
The Air Force STTR 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.
Unless otherwise stated in the topic, Phase I will show the concept feasibility and Phase II will produce a prototype or at least show a proof-of-principle.
Phase I period of performance is typically 9 months, not to exceed $100,000.
Phase II period of performance is typically 2 years, not to exceed $750,000.
The solicitation closing dates and times are firm.
PHASE I PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
Read the DoD program solicitation at www.dodsbir.net/solicitation for detailed instructions on proposal format and 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 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.
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ALL PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS TO THE AIR FORCE MUST BE SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY.
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It is mandatory that the complete proposal submission -- DoD Proposal Cover Sheet, entire Technical Proposal with any appendices, Cost Proposal, and the Company Commercialization Report -- be submitted electronically through the DoD SBIR/STTR 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 March 2008 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/STTR Help Desk at 1-866-724-7457 (8am to 5pm EST).
Acceptable Format for On-Line Submission: 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..
Technical Proposals should conform to the limitations on margins and number of pages specified in the front section of this DoD solicitation. However, your cost proposal will only count as one page and your Cover Sheet will only count as two, no matter how they print out after being converted. 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 SBIR/STTR Help Desk.
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The Air Force recommends that you complete your submission early, as computer traffic gets heavy near the solicitation closing and slows 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 March, you will receive an e-mail serving as our acknowledgement that we have received your proposal. The Air Force cannot be responsible for notifying companies that change their mailing address, their e-mail address, or company official after proposal submission.
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An offeror needs to document their Phase I or II proposal's commercial potential as follows: 1) the small business concern's record of commercializing STTR or other research, particularly as reflected in its Company Commercialization Report http://www.dodsbir.net/submission; 2) the existence of second phase funding commitments from private sector or non-STTR funding sources; 3) the existence of third phase follow-on commitments for the subject of the research and 4) the presence of other indicators of commercial potential of the idea, including the small business' commercialization strategy.
ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL
If you have never visited the site before, you must first register your firm and create a password for access (Have your Tax ID handy). Once registered, from the Main Menu:
Select “Prepare/Edit Phase I Cover Sheets” –
1. Prepare a Cover Sheet. Add a cover sheet for each proposal you plan to submit. Once you have entered all the necessary cover sheet data and clicked the Save button, the proposal grid will show the cover sheet you have just created. You may edit the cover sheet at any time prior to the close of the solicitation.
2. Prepare a Cost Proposal. Use the on-line proposal form by clicking on the dollar sign icon.
3. Prepare and Upload a Technical Proposal. Using a word processor, prepare a technical proposal following the instructions and requirements outlined in the solicitation. When you are ready to submit your proposal, click the on-line icon to begin the upload process. You are responsible for virus checking your technical proposal file prior to upload. Any files received with viruses will be deleted immediately.
Select “Prepare/Edit a Company Commercialization Report” –
4. Prepare a Company Commercialization Report. Add and/or update sales and investment information on all prior Phase II awards won by your firm.
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NOTE: Even if your company has had no previous Phase I or II awards, you must submit a Company Commercialization Report. Your proposal will not be penalized in the evaluation process if your company has never had any STTR Phase Is or IIs in the past.
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Once steps 1 through 4 are done, the electronic submission process is complete.
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).
We anticipate having all the proposals evaluated and our Phase I contract decisions by mid-Aug. All questions concerning the evaluation and selection process should be directed to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). The Air Force will send out selection and non-selection notification e-mails by mid-Aug.
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 uses the same login information as the DoD SBIR / STTR Submission Site. Small Businesses can view information for their company 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).
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 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 reviewed by the Air Force Technical point of contact utilizing the criteria in section 4.3 of the DoD solicitation 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, and the additional 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.
PHASE II ENHANCEMENT POLICY
The Air Force currently does not participate in the DoD STTR Enhancement Program.
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 STTR Program.
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.
All final reports will be submitted to the awarding Air Force organization in accordance with Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL). Companies will not submit final reports directly to the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).
Air Force STTR 08.A Topic Index
AF08-T001 A large size, 300x300 mm updatable, 3D holographic display using photorefractive polymers
AF08-T002 Portraying Meta-Information to Support Net-Centric Command and Control
AF08-T003 Solid Propellant Shock to Detonation Modeling and Formulation
AF08-T004 Creep Behavior of Ultra High Temperature Ceramics
AF08-T006 GaN/AlGaN/AlInN Based THz Focal Plane Array Detectors, Ultraviolet (UV) Lasers, and HEMT High Power RF Devices on Low-Dislocation AlN and GaN Substra
AF08-T007 Distributed Conformal Actuation for Simultaneously Controlling Flow Separation and Transition
AF08-T008 Integrated sensing, control and modeling for agile Micro Air Vehicle platforms
AF08-T009 Efficient High-Power Tunable Terahertz Sources using Optical Techniques
AF08-T010 Characterizing the dynamic behavior of novel energetic materials for space propulsion.
AF08-T011 Heterogeneous Network Management
AF08-T012 Large Area Microcavity Plasma Arrays
AF08-T013 Robust Model for Behavior of Complex Materials during Spin Testing
AF08-T014 Autonomous Aerial Recovery of Micro Air Vehicles
AF08-T015 Integrated Chemically Sensitive Transistors
AF08-T016 Dynamics-based Nondestructive Structural Health Monitoring Techniques
AF08-T017 Expert system for coherent feature detection in high-fidelity fluid dynamic simulations
AF08-T019 Efficient Kinetic/Continuum Simulations of Hypervelocity Gas Flows in Nonequilibrium Dissociation and Ionization for Earth Atmospheres
AF08-T020 Efficient Multi-Scale Radiation Transport Modeling
AF08-T021 Sub-aperture based EO imaging systems
AF08-T022 Novel energetic materials from new polyazide ingredients
AF08-T023 High-order modeling of applied multi-physics phenomena
AF08-T024 Reconfigurable Materials for Photonic Systems
AF08-T025 Failure Initiation Predictors for Reliability-Based Design of Hybrid Composite Materials
AF08-T026 Stability and Performance Analysis of Turbine Engines under Distributed Control Architecture
AF08-T027 Polarization Imaging Sensors Based on Nano-scale Optics
AF08-T028 Nanotailored Carbon Fibers & Forms
AF08-T029 Ultrashort Pulse Manufacturing Technology
AF08-T030 Nanodielectrics with Nonlinear Response for High Power Microwave Generation
AF08-T031 Improved Soft Magnetic Materials for High Power Density Electrical Machines
Air Force STTR 08.A Topic Descriptions
AF08-T001 TITLE: A large size, 300x300 mm updatable, 3D holographic display using photorefractive polymers
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems
OBJECTIVE: Develop a large size 300x300 mm updatable 3D display with photorefractive polymers for battlefield and command and control applications.
DESCRIPTION: Battlefields require operations in complex urban and mountainous terrain. Currently available 2D visualizations are dynamically updatable but require manual paging to achieve a decision-grade understanding of the full dimensionality of the situation within the time available. Quicker understanding of the battle space can be provided with a spatial 3D map that is updatable in near real time (4D). Such a good 4D display system is needed to enable warfighters to more effectively visualize the Battlespace, evaluate terrain (including buildings, tunnels), and perform force movements. Such a 3D map would also allow modeling for mission rehearsal, mobility prediction, visibility assessment, and helicopter/plane landing zone evaluation. One emerging approach to the development of such a system of near real time 3D map involves photorefractive polymers that have the properties that can satisfy the challenging requirements imposed on the material platform. These properties include high diffraction efficiency, rewritability, fast writing time, long image persistence, controllable erase, wide viewing angle, and possibility for full color implementation. Photorefractive polymers, unlike photorefractive inorganic materials such as lithium niobate that are limited to sizes on the order of square centimeter, can be manufactured with sizes on the order 300 x 300 mm and larger. Photorefractive polymers have been extensively investigated for over a decade and their processing costs are generally lower than inorganic materials. The primary goal of this program is to utilize advanced photorefractive polymers to fabricate large-area 3D updateable display devices that can be used for command and control applications in today’s battlefields.
PHASE I: Design and analyze large area 3D updateable display devices that incorporate photorefractive polymers, demonstrate the capability of achieving monochrome 3D display, with a pathway to color.
PHASE II: Construct and characterize a 300 x 300 mm prototype true 3-D display system. High diffraction efficiencies, wide viewing angles, fast writing times, long persistence of 1 hr or more, controlled erase, and 1000 write/rewrite cycle capability shall be demonstrated. Threshold goal is a monochrome green 3D display updatable within 10 min.; objective goal is a multicolor 3D display updatable within 5 min.
PHASE III / DUAL USE: Military application: Near real time true-3D map display system to enable terrain evaluation, battle space visualization, and force movements and in general command and control applications. Commercial application: A broad range of civil applications including manufacturing, mine and fire rescue, building design, and medical fields and specifically surgery planning and radiology.
REFERENCES:
1. Eralp, M., Thomas, J., Tay, S., Li, G., Schülzgen, A., Norwood, R.A., Yamamoto, M. and Peyghambarian, N., “Submillisecond response of a photorefractive polymer under single nanosecond pulse exposure,” Applied Physics Letters, 89, 114105 (2006).
2. Eralp, M., Thomas, J., Tay, S., Li, G., Schülzgen, A., Norwood, R.A., Yamamoto, M. and Peyghambarian, N., “Photorefractive polymer device with video-rate response time operating at low voltages,” Optics Letters, 31, 10, 1408-1410 (2006).
3. Thomas, J., Eralp, M., Tay, S., Li, G., Yamamoto, M., Norwood, R., Marder, S.R. and Peyghambarian, N., “Photorefractive polymers with superior performance,” Optics and Photonics News, 16, 31 (2005).
4. Peyghambarian, N. and Norwood, R.A., “Organic Optoelectronics – Materials and Devices for Photonic Applications, Part One,” Optics & Photonics News, 16, 2, 30-35 (2005), and Part Two, Optics & Photonics News, 16, 4, 28-33 (2005).
5. O. Ostroverkhova and W. E. Moerner
“Organic Photorefractives: Mechanisms, Materials and Applications” invited review, Chemical Reviews 104 (7), 3267-3314, 2004 (includes cover art).
KEYWORDS: Near real time 3D display, photorefractive polymers, electro-optic polymers, holographic display, high diffraction efficiency
AF08-T002 TITLE: Portraying Meta-Information to Support Net-Centric Command and Control
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Human Systems
OBJECTIVE: Develop/evaluate methods for visualizing information, meta-information to enable faster, more effective C2 decision-making.
DESCRIPTION: The network-centric operational paradigm aims to provide unprecedented access to a wide variety of information from distributed, heterogeneous sources (Alberts & Hayes, 2003). The goal of such a paradigm is to ensure that needed information (i.e., actionable intelligence) is available to the commander. However, simply ensuring availability of information will necessarily result in information overload, as the volume of all possible information makes the challenge of determining what is “actionable” insurmountable. Numerous on-going efforts are addressing this challenge from a computational perspective by trying to create meta-data tags that become associated with the information (Marco & Jennings, 2004) and ensuring that critical details of information persist as it propagates through the chain of command. However, these efforts are not always grounded in a thorough understanding of what makes information “actionable” to the human commander. Doing so requires understanding the commander’s decision-making process and how best to present information to facilitate a particular decision. One focus of this topic is on generating a basic understanding and definition of the characteristics of information (or meta-information (Pfautz et al., 2007)) that make it “actionable” (e.g., its authenticity, level of authority, pedigree) in particular operational contexts.
While many approaches to studying C2 decision-making to aid in system design are available (e.g., Scott, 2005; Schraagen, Chipman, & Shalin, 2000; Millitello & Hutton, 1998), of particular interest are approaches that result in concrete designs and prototype decision-aiding systems (Bisantz et al., 2003; Potter et al., 2002). Therefore, another focus of this topic is the development of specific methods or guidelines for communicating meta-information to a commander. These communication methods may include enhancements to standard C2 visual displays or innovative uses of multi-modal (e.g., audio, haptic) display methods. This effort could include, but does not require, the development of tools to aid in the prototyping of meta-information portrayal methods. The effort should, however, include plans for the systematic formal evaluation of the portrayal methods to not only develop an understanding of the fundamental cognitive and perceptual processes involved in communicating meta-information but also move any results towards operational environments. These evaluation plans should include the development of methods, procedures, and metrics that will clearly increase our knowledge of how commanders reason about qualified information.
PHASE I: Define a representative operational domain and identify a set of scenarios that exemplify challenges in identifying actionable information in a large set of data. Develop, prototype, and demonstrate methods for the portrayal of meta-information within the selected operational domain.
PHASE II: Develop and implement methods for the effective portrayal of critical information and meta-information to support network-centric C2 processes. Implement software for marrying display techniques to real or representative data sets in a sponsor-approved domain. Develop a report detailing prior work in the area of meta-information portrayal and define areas requiring future research efforts.
PHASE III / DUAL USE: Military application: Will involve development of generic versions of the meta-information portrayal strategies/tools developed to represent information and can be applied to a number of systems with information overload. Commercial application: This could include such things as tools for use by the banking/financial industry local/state emergency response systems, logistics/readiness chain evaluation, and business intelligence.
REFERENCES:
1. Alberts, D. S. & Hayes, R. E. (2003). Power to the Edge: Command and Control in the Information Age. C2 Research Program Publications.
2. Bisantz, A. M., Roth, E. M., Brickman, B., Gosbee, L., Hettinger, L., & McKinney, J. (2003). Integrating Cognitive Analyses in a Large Scale System Design Process. International Journal of Human Computer Systems, 58177-206.
3. Marco, D. & Jennings, M. (2004). Universal Meta-Data Models. New York, NY: Wiley.
4. Millitello, L. & Hutton, R. (1998). Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (ACTA): A Practitioner's Tool Kit for Understanding Cognitive Task Demands. Ergonomics Special Issue: Task Analysis, 411618-1641.
5. Pfautz, J., Fouse, A., Farry, M., Bisantz, A., & Roth, E. (2007). Representing Meta-Information to Support C2 Decision Making. In Proceedings of International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium (ICCRTS).
KEYWORDS: Meta-Information, Information Visualization, Meta-Data Tagging, Multimodal Interface, User Interface Design, Command and Control, Actionable Intelligence
AF08-T003 TITLE: Solid Propellant Shock to Detonation Modeling and Formulation
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Space Platforms, Weapons
OBJECTIVE: Develop and validate models that predict the shock sensitivity of solid propellant formulations.
DESCRIPTION: The shock to detonation transition (SDT) of a composite solid propellant is dependent on multiple formulation variables, such as individual ingredient sensitivity. Formulation approaches to reduce propellant detonability are often anecdotal and empirical, requiring significant testing in order to determine the correlation between formulation parameters and shock sensitivity. In order to minimize the detonation hazards of a solid propellant while improving propellant performance, development and validation of physics-based models on the SDT of solid propellants are being sought in order to aid in formulation of energetic solid propellants. Models should incorporate the interaction between propellant ingredients (binder, oxidizer, and fuel) with a shockwave as it travels through a composite propellant, including shock attenuation or augmentation. In addition to SDT modeling and as part of the validation effort, the model should be capable of simulating the Naval Ordnance Laboratory Large Scale Gap Test (NOL LSGT) results of representative 1.3 and 1.1 hazard class propellants based solely on individual ingredient properties and formulation variables, such as total solids loading.
PHASE I: Effort and deliverables include the following: 1) Identify and formulate a comprehensive SDT model including mathematical description of the model; 2)Develop code incorporating the formulated SDT model; and 3) Verify the model using representative literature data.
PHASE II: Effort and deliverables include the following: 1) Validate release version of SDT code, including user interface; 2) Formulate a less than 70 card propellant; 3) Perform NOL LSGT of the solid propellant demonstrating code predictive capability; 4) Document source code and its traceability to physics-based model description
PHASE III / DUAL USE: Military application: Solid rocket motors used in weapon systems as well as commercial space launch systems will be the primary beneficiary Commercial application: The explosives industry also may benefit in the area of safe storage, handling, and transportation.
REFERENCES:
1. Yang, V., Brill, T., Ren, W., Solid Propellant Chemistry, Combustion, and Motor Interior Ballistics, AIAA Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics, Vol. 185, 2000.
2. Victor, A.C., “Insensitive Munitions Technology”, Tactical Missile Propulsion, AIAA Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics, vol. 170, pp. 273-362, 1996.
3 “Hazard Assessment Tests for Non-Nuclear Ordnance”, Military Standard, Mil-Std-2105B, 1994.
KEYWORDS: Solid rocket hazards, shock to detonation transition, shock sensitivity, hazard classification
AF08-T004 TITLE: Creep Behavior of Ultra High Temperature Ceramics
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes
OBJECTIVE: Topic seeks to develop test methods for measuring creep behavior of polycryst. ceramics in environments of extreme stresses and temp, 2200°C+. Composites or cermets based on refractory diborides.
DESCRIPTION: The need for high performance propulsion systems for rockets and missiles and leading edge structures for hypersonic and reentry vehicles has led to renewed interest in ultra high temperature ceramics. In these applications designers must know the creep behavior of materials at temperatures in excess of 2200°C, pressures up to 200 psi, for durations of hours. Current methods for measuring creep have severe limitations. The customary machinery uses tensile or compression configurations equipped with an electric or induction furnace. The ends of the creep specimen are held by a gripping fixture or a compression platen. Stress is applied by constant load dead weights or constant strain rate via hydraulic actuation. Isothermal testing is conducted up to about 1400°C depending upon the grip/specimen materials, their strength, creep rate, and chemical compatibility. For testing in the range of 1400°C to 1700°C, a thermal gradient design is required to cool the grips. This arrangement requires extremely long specimens which are expensive and time consuming to fabricate and finish. Because of these limitations, material scientists and designers often extrapolate low temperature creep data to higher temperatures. This is not always accurate, especially for dual-phased materials. Also, alloy development is impaired because of the lack of material characterization methods at extreme temperatures. To alleviate these problems, new approaches are required that that are capable of measuring the creep behavior to 2200°C, using small inexpensive samples and a non-contact design.
PHASE I: The proposal will modify existing commercially available equipment or design and build new equipment that is capable of ultra high temperature creep measurements. Demonstration tests will be conducted on at least two materials based on either ZrB2 or HfB2 SiC composites.
PHASE II: A successful Phase II project will expand the automation of equipment and procedures so that testing can be conducted cheaply and efficiently. A series of refractory diborides and cermets will be selected by contractor team and program manager and a standard test methodology will be developed. Data, analysis, and the test protocol or methodology will be deliverables.
PHASE III / DUAL USE: Military application: Refractory diborides and cermets have many applications for future air and space applications including hypersonic propulsion systems and rocket nozzles. Commercial application: Refractory diborides and cermets have many applications for future air and space applications including ground based turbine testing, and satellite rocket boosters.
REFERENCES:
1. Joan Fuller and Michael Sacks, Editors. Journal of Materials Science Vol 39, No 19, October 2004. Special Edition on Ultra High Temperature Ceramics.
2. F.R.N. Nabarro, H.L. Villiers, The Physics of Creep, Taylor & Francis Ltd., London, UK, 1995, p. 1-45.
3. L.W. Lherbier, R.W. Koffler, National SAMPE Technical Conference (1971) 169-182.
4. J.C. Zhao, J.H. Westbrook, MRS Bulletin 28 (2003) 622-627.
KEYWORDS: ceramics, solid rocket nozzles, creep, hypersonics leading edge materials, UHTC
AF08-T006 TITLE: GaN/AlGaN/AlInN Based THz Focal Plane Array Detectors, Ultraviolet (UV) Lasers, and HEMT High Power RF Devices on Low-Dislocation AlN and GaN Substra
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes, Sensors
OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate AlGaN and AlInN materials improvement for compact and reliable ultraviolet (UV) lasers, high efficiency THz detectors, and HEMTs using nitride heterostructures.
DESCRIPTION: 1) GaN/AlGaN THz focal plane array detectors are to be explored for all-weather aircraft landing technology, improved space situational awareness, and space asset protection to support theater missile surveillance, chemical and biological agent detection, improved satellite communications, and environmental monitoring as part of Space Force Enhancement. In order to improve efficiency of detection, high quality materials with very low dislocation defect density are expected to play a major role.
2) Solid state ultraviolet (UV) laser diodes offer the possibility of short distance covert communication transmitters and receivers operating at relatively low power, and on-site detection of biological agents in a variety of locations. These applications demand compact, portable, and low cost systems. III-nitride materials can have energy bandgaps spanning from 0.7 to 5.2 eV, and are good candidates for next generation portable, compact deep UV lasers, although for deep UV emission a higher Al composition of AlGaN is required. For next generation ultraviolet (UV) laser diodes, this STTR topic seeks innovative approaches to develop efficient ultraviolet laser diodes. Innovative concepts are sought to address both material and thermal limitation, resulting in long-lifetime, cost-effective AlGaN ultraviolet laser diodes.
3) AlInN materials also offer improvements to conventional AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for high frequency, high power applications. Nitride ternaries can form lattice matched interfaces with GaN, potentially enabling a new class of GaN based devices without need of the piezo-electric charge carrier contribution. However, a greater understanding of the limitations of these films due to defects and growth dynamics is required to make use of the theoretically expected device performance and high frequency metrics. Successful materials development and characterization could enable unprecedented power and frequency performance in GaN and AlN-based devices.
PHASE I: Investigate single pixel AlGaN/GaN THz detector on low defect AlN substrate. Identify growth parameters, defects and control for AlInN and GaInN films. Identify role of defects and lattice mismatch on carrier density and mobility.
PHASE II: Fabricate, test and evaluate a 16x16 AlGaN/GaN or AlInN/AlN THz focal plane array and/or develop and fabricate prototype devices and demonstrate the operation of continuous wave ultraviolet (UV) laser diodes. Conduct comprehensive reliability tests to demonstrate long-term performance
PHASE III / DUAL USE: Military application: Increase the utility and performance of communication, sensor and satellite systems for military applications. Commercial application: Communications satellites, medical imaging, weather forecasting, and NASA interplanetary missions. Also applicable for high density optical storage systems and high efficiency lighting applications.
REFERENCES:
1. William S. Wong, Michael Kneissl, Ping Mei, David W. Treat, Mark Teepe, and Noble M. Johnson, “Continuous-wave InGaN multiple-quantum-well laser diodes on copper substrates”, Applied Physics Letters, 78, 2001, pp 1198-1200
2. Hongbo Yu, Erkin Ulker and Ekmel Ozbay, “MOCVD growth and electrical studies of p-type AlGaN with Al fraction 0.35”, Journal of crystal growth, 289, 206, pp 419-422
3. Jeon S.-R, Ren Z, Cui G, Su J, Gherasimova M, Han J, Cho H-K, and Zhou L.,“Investigation of Mg doping in high-Al content p-type AlxGa1–xN (0.3<0.5),” Applied Physics Letters, 86, 2005, pp 082107
4. F. Medjdoub, J.-F. Carlin, M. Gonschorek, E. Feltin, M.A. Py, D. Ducatteau, C. Gaquiere, N. Grandjean, and E. Kohn, “Can InAlN/GaN be an alternative to high power/high temperature AlGaN/GaN devices?” Electron Devices Meeting, 2006. IEDM ’06. International, San Francisco, CA, pp. 1-4, 11-13 Dec., 2006.
5. Y. Cao and D. Jena, “High-mobility window for two-dimensional electron gases at ultrathin AlN/GaN heterojunctions,” Applied Physics Letters, v. 90, 182112, 2007.
KEYWORDS: ultraviolet (UV), laser diodes, biosensor, covert communication system, wide bandgap semiconductors, Ternary Nitrides, THz Detectors, FPAs, AlN substrates AlGaN, InAlN, AlInN, GaN, HEMT, power, defects, dislocations, growth, materials
AF08-T007 TITLE: Distributed Conformal Actuation for Simultaneously Controlling Flow Separation and Transition
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform
OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate a wall-conformal dynamically-switchable means of delaying transition and laminar separation.
DESCRIPTION: Control of turbulent boundary layers is perhaps the most celebrated problem in fluid mechanics. At typical aerospace engineering-scale Reynolds numbers, such those relevant to the airframe aerodynamics of manned aircraft and large Unmanned Air Vehicles, the principal problem is delaying laminar to turbulent transition, by attenuating or destructively interfering with the various transition mechanisms. The literature is replete with examples of passive means (contouring of airfoil shapes, compliant coatings, surface polishing – or, in precisely the inverse approach, particular distribution of surface roughness) and active means to delay transition, the latter also including schemes where fluctuating quantities such as pressure or shear stress are sensed, and a description of the flow state is fed back into a controller to optimize the actuation strategy.
Smaller Unmanned Air Vehicles, such as Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) generally suffer from the opposite problem: laminar boundary layers separate in adverse pressure gradients, forming large and unsteady laminar separation bubbles closed by turbulent reattachments, or open separations with thick and unsteady wakes. Here the objective is to instead promote transition, thereby attenuating separation. This is beneficial since the turbulent skin friction drag penalty can outweigh the pressure drag penalty in the case of large separations. Again, there are many examples of passive means (roughness, trips, vortex generators, etc.) and active means (oscillating ribbons and patches, blowing/suction/synthetic jets, wall-jets produced by dielectric barrier discharges) to promote transition.
The ideal approach is to promote maximum laminar flow wherever there is no danger of boundary layer separation, but to induce transition near regions of incipient separations, thus actively managing the drag budget to minimize both pressure drag due to separation, and friction drag due to turbulent boundary layers. For smaller aircraft such as MAVs the benefit of such boundary layer management couples with improvement in flight dynamics: as flow separation causes loss of vehicle control, for example by wingtip stall, prevention of separation improves vehicle handling qualities and maneuverability, while promotion of large regions of attached laminar flow would improve the overall lift to drag ratio.
All passive flow control schemes are subject to the critique of questionable robustness to on-design and off-design conditions, while active flow control suffers from poor reliability and the often unfavorable balance between the input energy and the resulting output. The ideal approach is mechanically simple and self-adjusting to changing flowfield conditions, thus not requiring complex active control.
PHASE I: Theoretically describe and experimentally demonstrate a wall-conformal boundary layer control scheme capable of both attenuation and amplification of instabilities leading to turbulence.
PHASE II: Demonstrate a prototype boundary layer control scheme on a surface with compound curvature and a flow with large and time-varying pressure gradients; use canonical and flight-relevant problems such as an oscillating airfoil. Quantify experimentally the benefits of actuation. Demonstrate spatially distributed actuation, at appropriate temporal and spatial resolution.
PHASE III / DUAL USE: Military application: Distributed surface actuation for reducing laminar separation can improve range/endurance of small UAVs; increase of attached laminar flow along lifting surfaces is beneficial to all flight vehicles. Commercial application: Drag reduction in fluid piping (oil, water, etc.) where separation causes losses in total-pressure. Aerospace applications include airliner and general-aviation drag reduction and stall delay.
REFERENCES:
1. Schlicting, H. Boundary Layer Theory. McGraw-Hill, 1987.
2. Jeon, W.-P., and Blackwelder, R.F. "Perturbations in the Wall Region Using Flush Mounted Piezoceramic Actuators". Experiments in Fluids, Vol. 28, No. 6, pp. 485-496, 2000.
3. Honsaker, R. and Huebsch, W. "Parametric Study of Dynamic Roughness as a Mechanism for Flow Control". AIAA 2005-4732, 2005.
KEYWORDS: boundary layer control, turbulence, transition, laminar separation, roughness, flow control, distributed actuation, surface actuation
AF08-T008 TITLE: Integrated sensing, control and modeling for agile Micro Air Vehicle platforms
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform
OBJECTIVE: Integrate novel sensors and control effectors for micro air vehicles to demonstrate agile flight control.
DESCRIPTION: Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) – typically UAVs with wingspan on the order of 15cm or less – are fast becoming commonplace for meeting a wide range of current and future military missions. A MAV’s small size offers potential benefits in maneuverability, sensor placement and operational robustness, but small vehicle size and low inertia also makes fine-scale control of MAVs difficult. Precision operation of MAVs in highly cluttered environments is still a challenge, in part because of difficult to characterize aerodynamics and poorly understood structural-aerodynamic interactions, and in part because of the limited attention thusfar paid to the sensing-control issues required to overcome these gaps in our knowledge. A typical sensor suite for a MAV consists of GPS, MEMs-based linear accelerometers, angular rate sensors, magnetometers, and barometric-altimeters. While this is adequate for waypoint navigation, the potential of MAVs to replicate the flight agility of natural fliers (e.g., birds, bats, insects) remains elusive, especially in complex terrain such as city streets or forests.
The desire to engineer the agility of natural fliers has led researchers to the study of flying organisms to learn how animals combine sensory input with control output to achieve flight maneuverability. Biologists are beginning to understand how visual information is integrated with mechanosensory information in biological systems for flight stabilization, landing, and prey/mate pursuit. Studies are also underway to discover how proprioceptive sensory feedback is used for fine-scale control the movement of wings, legs, etc. during aggressive maneuvers (e.g., obstacle or collision avoidance). These sensory modalities are combined with olfactory or auditory information for predator avoidance and prey/mate pursuit. The fact that animals such as fruit flies exhibit such remarkable flight agility with many sensory inputs and modest onboard “processing” suggests a particular kind of coupling between sensing, control and dynamics altogether qualitatively different from that of engineered systems.
Advancements in flow control have made it possible to control the separation of flow around wings, either to inhibit separation for higher cruise lift-to-drag ratios or to promote it for large transients in aerodynamics loading for aggressive maneuvers. Natural flyers have anatomic features which probably act as flow control devices (e.g., covert flaps) and may act as aerodynamic sensors. Rigorous system modeling that can accurately capture the vehicle dynamics, sufficiently accounting for uncertainties in aerodynamic and structural models, remains primitive even for engineered vehicles, let alone for natural flyers. Uncertainty arises both in the veracity of particular models in describing a given flow or dynamics phenomenon, and in unknowns in the inputs, such as wind gusts and their time-dependent effect on the vehicle. While on-going research efforts are addressing some of the critical limitations in this area, significant uncertainties in the dynamics models of MAVs are unlikely to be completely eliminated. With inspiration from the study of animals, the use of appropriate sensory feedback needs to be explored in order to mitigate the adverse effects of these large uncertainties in system models.
The preceding leads one to believe that agile flight of MAVs will require the integration of sensors and actuators that go above and beyond present-day avionics suites. New kinds of sensors and control effectors will need to be integrated on MAV platforms with advanced control methodologies to achieve reliable, agile flight. Given the small size and low cost of these platforms, these sensors and control effectors are likely to have lower and more variable performance than those of larger vehicles. This leads to additional uncertainties in our mathematical models of these systems which challenges state-of-the-art control methodologies. The principal task, therefore, is development of sensor-actuator systems that, with suitable controller designs based on appropriate models, adequately address the various uncertainties while yielding the desired agile flight performance.
Notional physical dimensions of candidate MAVs will be: a nominal cruise speed of 10 m/s and wingspan of no greater than 15 cm.
PHASE I: Identify state-of-the-art, off-the-shelf sensors and control effectors for integration with MAVs that will lead to quantifiably increased flight agility. Identify the limitations of such sensors & effectors for use with MAVs. Explore controller synthesis methodologies necessary for integration of such sensors and actuators.
PHASE II: Develop flight control models for MAVs with innovative sensors & actuators. Develop and validate a simulation environment with high-fidelity modeling of MAVs with innovative sensors and actuators. Develop, characterize, and demonstrate a prototype MAV with innovative sensors and actuators clearly showing increased agility over conventional MAVs. Identify sensors, actuators, control design methods and processing necessary for autonomous flight.
PHASE III / DUAL USE: Military application: Surveillance, tracking, targeting by MAVs within cluttered environments such as city streets (so-called urban canyon). Unobtrusive ISR in urban environments, forests/mountains, rough terrain, etc. Commercial application: For MAVs capable of precision flight in cluttered environments: search for victims in collapsed buildings(earthquake and hurricane damage), pipeline inspection, and survey of damage downed powerlines.
REFERENCES:
1. Office of the Secretary of Defense UAV Roadmap, Dec. 2002. http://www.acq.osd.mil/usd/uav_roadmap.pdf
2. Mueller, T. J. editor, “Proceedings of the Conference on Fixed, Flapping and Rotary Wing Vehicles at Very Low Reynolds Numbers,” Notre Dame University, Indiana, June 5-7, 2000. Published as Vol. 195, Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics, AIAA.
3. Dickinson, M. H.,“Wing Rotation and the Aerodynamic Basis of Insect Flight,” Science, Vol. 284, 1999, pp. 1954–1960.
4. Jones, K.D., Bradshaw, C.J., Papadopoulos, J., and Platzer, M.F. “Improved Performance and Control of Flapping-Wing Propelled Micro Air Vehicles”. AIAA-2004-0399.
5. Ho, S., Nassefa, H., Pornsin-Sirisak, N., Taib, Y.-C., and Ho, C.-M. “Unsteady Aerodynamics and Flow Control for Flapping Wing Flyers”. Progress in Aerospace Sciences, Vol. 39 (2003), pp. 635–681.
KEYWORDS: MAV, Micro Air Vehicle, low Reynolds number, integrated sensors, integrated control
AF08-T009 TITLE: Efficient High-Power Tunable Terahertz Sources using Optical Techniques
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Sensors
OBJECTIVE: Develop high-power, highly efficient optically driven sources of terahertz radiation for imaging, sensing, and analysis.
DESCRIPTION: There is a potential for using terahertz (THz) waves for numerous applications including real-time imaging, non-destructive evaluation, stand-off sensing and chemical detection & analysis. Parametric frequency down-conversion of optical pulses is an established way of generating THz radiation. Principal barriers to application of this technique to THz generation are (i) intrinsically low conversion efficiency, because of fundamental scaling law of optical-to-terahertz conversion efficiency, and (ii) absence of efficient compact sources of optical radiation, suitable for THz generation. For many practical applications, especially stand-off applications, one needs a compact, yet sufficiently powerful (>10 mW) source of tunable THz radiation working at room temperature. The proposed program should address the development of new optical approaches to compact, efficient, high-power, robust THz source, tunable in the 0.5-5 THz range. The goal is to substantially increase efficiency and average power of existing THz sources in a compact system. This will imply new optical schemes of THz generation, including resonant-cavity-enhanced optical generation of THz waves [1], cascaded down-conversion [2], THz optical parametric oscillators [3], intracavity difference-frequency generation [4], frequency mixing and frequency conversion in waveguides. Also, developing new electrooptical materials suitable for efficient THz generation are considered, including periodically-structured GaAs, GaP, LiNbO3 , LiTaO3, etc, plus micro- or nano-structured optical materials such as photonic crystals for which one can vary the refractive index and enable phase matching. Approaches addressing long-term reliability and maintenance-free operation of proposed THz sources are highly encouraged.
PHASE I: Demonstrate the feasibility of the approach to portable, efficient, high-power, tunable THz generation. This includes both the optical driver and THz emitter. Demonstrate power scaling showing that greater than ten milliwatt power (>10 mW) levels will be achieved in the Phase II implementation. Perform design of components to implement in Phase II.
PHASE II: Build upon Phase I and demonstrate operation of >10 mW THz source. Perform analysis, characterization, and optimization of system. Demonstrate improved signal and image acquisition rates in applications.
PHASE III / DUAL USE: Military application: Military application: Communications on the battlefield or in space, in the field explosives and chemical agent detection, non destructive evaluation, high sensitivity detection of thermal bodies, and flame spectroscopy. Commercial application: Atmospheric environment sensing, near object detection, security, material imaging and inspection, quality control will benefit from new technology in this part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
REFERENCES:
1. K. L. Vodopyanov, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 141119-1 (2006)
2. H. C. Guo, et al Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 161101 (2005)
3. T. J. Edwards, et al., Opt. Express 14, 1582 (2006)
4. Mikhail A. Belkin, et al , Nature Photonics 1, 288 - 292 (2007)
KEYWORDS: terahertz, THz, parametric frequency down-conversion, resonant-cavity-enhanced optical generation, cascaded down-conversion, optical parametric oscillators, frequency mixing, frequency conversion, waveguides, intracavity difference-frequency generation, sub-millimeter, terahertz radiation, imaging, sensing, sub-surface imaging, spectroscopy, high-power, THz waveguides, optical rectification, photonic crystal, non-destructive evaluation, NDE, security inspection
AF08-T010 TITLE: Characterizing the dynamic behavior of novel energetic materials for space propulsion.
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes, Space Platforms
OBJECTIVE: Characterization of dynamic behavior and delivery methods of high-energy-density propellants under realistic rocket conditions.
DESCRIPTION: As energy density increases in a combustion chamber, the propensity for more severe dynamic system behavior increases. This ranges from ignition transients to high-frequency combustion instability. Understanding and control of such events has been a focus and a significant part of all engine developments as it can lead to the loss of life in manned missions or loss of payload in unmanned missions. Controlling the propensity for more severe dynamic system behavior is expected to be even more critical with the future high-energy-density propellants. This topic would develop and put in place methods for characterizing the dynamic behavior of novel energetic materials that could be used in military or commercial applications of booster or upper-stage engines or micropropulsion engines used in satellites. Examples are optical and other diagnostics, experiments and modeling for characterizing the dynamic behavior of these materials under realistic rocket engine conditions (booster, upper-stage, micropropulsion) such as high pressures/temperatures (~ 1000 psi/3000K) and fast transient behaviors. Optical diagnostics may include, but not limited to, ultra high-speed multi-spectral diagnostics to capture fast transient phenomena, techniques insensitive to pressure broadening, methods capable of operation within highly-sooty/particle-laden environments. Modeling may include combustion in presence of nano-sized particles, breakup of gelled fuels, and transient phenomena for rocket engines. Novel delivery methods for energetic materials, such as solid propellants and injection/atomization issues with liquid, slurries, or gels with/without nano additives would be considered.
PHASE I: Identify transient characterization and/or delivery approaches for high-energy density propellants in high-pressure rocket engine environments. Evaluate these potential approaches for the efficiency and effectiveness in solving the selected problems and justify an approach most likely to succeed.
PHASE II: Develop, validate, and demonstrate the methods for characterizing the transient and dynamic behavior and/or delivery approaches of novel energetic materials. The methods shall be characterized under realistic rocket conditions of high pressure and temperature. These conditions should be applicable to booster, upper-stage, or micropropulsion engines that are used in military or commercial applications.
PHASE III / DUAL USE: Military application: Methods for characterizing the dynamic behavior of novel energetic materials would be used in military or commercial booster or upper-stage engines or micropropulsion engines used in satellites. Diagnostics can be used in commercial power combustors to optimize performance and minimize emissions. Novel delivery methods for energetic materials can be used on commercial satellites to extend the on orbit life or reduce the over all weight of the propulsion system.
REFERENCES:
1.“Liquid Rocket Engine Combustion Instability”, Yang, V; AIAA, 1995.
2.A Low Power, Novel Ignition of Fuels using SWCNTs and a Camera Flash, Danczyk, S. A., and Chehroudi, B., 53ed JANNAF Propulsion Meeting, Monterey, CA, Dec. 5-8, 2005.
3.Characteristic flow and spray properties of gelled fuels with regard to the impinging jet injector type, von Kampen, et al., AIAA 2006-4573.
4.Combustion of HTPB-based solid fuel containing nano-sized energetic powder in a hybrid rocket motor, Risha, et al., AIAA-2001-3535.
5.Spray combustion of gelled RP-1 propellants containing nanosized aluminum particles in rocket engine conditions, Mordosky et al., AIAA-2001-3274.
KEYWORDS: High-energy density materials, optical diagnostics, high pressure rocket engine, propellant delivery systems, modeling, transient
AF08-T011 TITLE: Heterogeneous Network Management
TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems
OBJECTIVE: To develop mathematical and design methods of managing heterogeneous networks using an information-structured theoretic approach.
DESCRIPTION: Many networks in the Air Force today have multiple uses including sensor and ISR information, voice, text, video, and data traffic approaches. These networks can be fixed or mobile wireless or wired networks that are used for tactical, theater or strategic purposes. Existing models for these networks are widely varied in both their statistical formulation as well their model for distribution of data. We wish to encourage modeling and characterization approaches that encompass both different physical layer and network topologies as well as diversity of applications on the network. These approaches are designed to enable a global management structure for the network [1-16]. In order to accomplish such global management, methods such as stochastic [3] and information geometric [1] modeling and characterization approaches are encouraged. These methods are central to many different fields including neural processing, biological and materials modeling, and quantum information processing. The objective of these approaches is to directly link the structure of the information on the network to the structure of the network itself thereby allowing one homogeneous representation of the network rather that multiple disparate network models that do not interoperate. We then wish to enable a management structure on the network with a basis in dynamic, linear, or geometric programming [2] that is able to bound the performance of the entire network state and show specific quality of service metrics in terms of application performance over the network. We then wish to use this management strategy to demonstrate specific performance goals in network operation policies.
PHASE I: Complete development of theoretical management model and demonstrate how it can be applied to real network policies. Develop metrics of performance.
PHASE II: Implement management model with a functional architecture in a basic simulation that can be translated onto an actual computer network. Use real network traffic data to show the functional performance of the implementation.
PHASE III: Implement functional approach in software that can be deployed on an actual network. Test the software on a platform that can emulate the performance of real network such as a high performance computer cluster.
REFERENCES:
1. Amari S., Nagaoka, H, “Methods of Information Geometry”, AMS/Oxford University Press, Providence RI, 1993.
2. Boyd, S., “Convex Optimization”, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2004.
3. Breitbart, Y, Garofalakis, M, Jai, B., Martin C.Rastogia, R, Silberschatz A., Topology discovery in heterogeneous IP networks: the NetInventory system IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking (TON) archive
Volume 12 , Issue 3 (June 2004) Pages: 401 - 414 2004.
4. Chiang. M Boyd, S. Geometric programming duals of channel capacity and rate distortion Information Theory, IEEE Transactions on Feb. 2004 Volume: 50, Issue: 2 pp. 245- 258.
5. Mhatre, V.P. Rosenberg, C. Kofman, D. Mazumdar, R. Shroff, N. A minimum cost heterogeneous sensor network with a lifetime constraint , IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing Jan.-Feb. 2005 Volume: 4, Issue: 1 pp. 4- 15.
6. Ning Li Hou, J.C. Localized topology control algorithms for heterogeneous wireless networks Networking, IEEE/ACM Transactions on Publication Date: Dec. 2005 Volume: 13, Issue: 6 pp.: 1313- 1324.
7. Ghosh, D. Sarangan, V. Acharya, R. , Quality-of-service routing in IP networks
,IEEE Transactions on Multimedia: Jun 2001 Issue: 2 pp. 200-208.
8. Hui Cheng, Jiannong Cao, Xingwei Wang , A heuristic multicast algorithm to support QoS group communications in heterogeneous network, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, May 2006 Volume: 55, Issue: 3 pp. 831- 838.
9. Kendall, W., “Stochastic Geometry: Likelihood and Computation”, Chapman & Hall/CRC, 1998.
10. Li, X., Song W., Wang, Yu, Localized topology control for heterogeneous wireless sensor networks ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks (TOSN)
Volume 2 , Issue 1 (February 2006) pp. 129 - 153 2006.
11. Peng-Yong Kong Kee-Chaing Chua Bensaou, B. , Multicode-DRR: a packet-scheduling algorithm for delay guarantee in a multicode-CDMA network IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, Publication Date: Nov. 2005 Volume: 4, Issue: 6 pp. 2694- 2704.
12. Wu, B. Wang, Q. , Maximization of the channel utilization in wireless heterogeneousmultiaccess networks , IEEE Transactions on Publication Date: Vehicular Technology May 1997 Volume: 46, Issue: 2 pp. 437-444.
13. Yau, D.K.Y. Lui, J.C.S. Feng Liang Yeung Yam , Defending against distributed denial-of-service attacks with max-min fair server-centric router throttles
Networking, IEEE/ACM Transactions on: Feb. 2005 Volume: 13, Issue: 1 pp. 29- 42.
14. Znati, T., Melham, R.,Node delay assignment strategies to support end-to-end delay requirements in heterogeneous networks IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking (TON) Volume 12 , Issue 5 (October 2004) pp. 879 - 892 2004.
15. Zheng, L., Tse, D.N.C. Communication on the Grassmann manifold: a geometric approach to the noncoherent multiple-antenna channel, IEEE Transactions on . Information Theory, Feb 2002 Volume: 48, Issue: 2 pp. 359-383