2000 NASA SBIR & STTR Abstract Archives

SBIR Phase 2 Solicitation STTR Phase 1 and 2 Solicitation Abstract Archives

NASA SBIR 2000 Phase 1 SOLICITATION

FORM 9B - PROJECT SUMMARY

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.01-8043 (Chron: 001958 )
PROJECT TITLE
Infrared Windshield Icing Conditions Monitoring System

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Aircraft icing is a severe aviation weather hazard as formation of ice on aircraft surfaces leads to degradation in aerodynamic performance. Today, there are limited ice detection systems available that warn pilots of icing, used primarily by the military and airlines due to their high acquisition and certification costs. Innovative Dynamics Inc. will address these issues by developing a low cost windshield infrared (IR) ice detector for the GA fleet. Existing windshield ice detectors consist of a dash mounted red light that is only visible to the flight crew at night when light is reflected from ice accretion on the pilots windshield. The proposed ice detector will operate day and night providing icing conditions information, Outside Air Temperature as well as direct measurement of accumulated ice on the windshield. During Phase I, we will develop a prototype IR ice detector and demonstrate performance in an icing tunnel. During Phase II, we will team with a leading GA manufacturer to develop a flight worthy ice detector for application to windshields of popular commercial Business Jet.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
Applications for the windshield IR ice detector include OEM business jets, small general aviation aircraft, as well as large commercial aircraft. A battery operated retrofit version of this technology would be ideal for the existing GA fleet owners who operate in IMC, and currently use visual cues and analog temperature gages to determine icing conditions. Commercial opportunities also exist for a variant of this technology adapted to look out airline windows and determine dangerous accumulation of snow and ice on the main wings prior to take off.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
William G. Brooks
Innovative Dynamics, Inc.
2560 North Triphammer Road
Ithaca , NY 14850 - 9726

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Innovative Dynamics, Inc.
2560 North Triphammer Road
Ithaca , NY 14850 - 9726

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.01-8345 (Chron: 001656 )
PROJECT TITLE
Multi-Frequency Airborne Radar System for Aircraft Icing Avoidance

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
In this Phase I SBIR proposal, we describe an integrated airborne multi-frequency radar system for aircraft icing avoidance. The primary thrust of our research will be the development of designs for low-cost millimeter-wave radars suitable for detection of backscatter from liquid water clouds at ranges in excess of 10 km. Existing radars that have been used for these studies are expensive one-of-a-kind research instruments with designs that are unsuitable for general aviation, where cost will be a primary consideration. By working cooperatively with manufacturers of microwave and millimeter-wave subsystems, we plan to develop a suite of radars for airborne and icing detection that will reduce the cost by a factor of five or more for prototype systems, and by a factor of up to 100 for production units. Practical airborne icing potential detection cannot be achieved without a major cost reduction of millimeter-wave radar systems. By using solid-state transmitters, integrated or monolithic low-noise receivers and IF circuits, and novel antenna concepts, and advanced signal processing techniques, we are confident that low cost systems can be developed for both airborne and ground-based applications.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
Potential commercial applications include aircraft icing avoidance systems for general aviation and military aviation use.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Ivan PopStefanija
ProSensing
150 Fearing street
Amherst , MA 01002 - 1946

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
ProSensing Inc.
150 Fearing Street
Amherst , MA 01002 - 1946

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.02-7830 (Chron: 002171 )
PROJECT TITLE
Detection, Discrimination and Real-Time Tracking of Cracks in Rotating Disks

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This SBIR proposes the development of a real-time system to detect, discriminate and track in real-time the growth of low cycle fatigue cracks in rotating disks.

The goals of the SBIR are to develop:
1. A crack detection system that is not associated solely with a change in the center of mass.
2. A system that can be licensed to general industry for use in spin pits, jet engines, steam turbines, medical centrifuges, flywheels or any other high speed turbomachinery,
3. A system that can discriminate between cracks and other effects that give potentially false readings.
4. A system that can be physically integrated with other sensors and the data easily correlated with readings from cooperating probes to provide a high confidence in the information to support a directed action by a health monitoring reasoner.

The Phase I effort will focus on defining the method and demonstrating the feasibility of the system to detect and track cracks in rotating hardware. Phase II will refine the method, provide crack discrimination capability, characterize the method across a variety of disk types, and integrate the method into a commercial rotor health monitoring system. Phase III will commercialize the system.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The overall goal is to develop a crack detection system that can be used as both a flight safety device and a retirement for cause identifier. The system would be designed to alert maintenance technicians of crack trends in specific disks in the engine, and would initially supplement the existing inspection systems available today. The system would be used as a component of a flight safety, rotor health monitoring system on jet engines and other industrial turbo-machinery such as compressors, medical centrifuges, steam turbines, etc. The system has direct applications in spin testing for increasing efficiency and generating early warning of an impending failure. The system can also detect cracks in flywheels used for power generation and stability control in space.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Dr. Wayne C. Haase
Aerogage Corp.
22 Duggan Rd.
Acton , MA 01720 - 2018

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
ExSell inc.
30 Squirrel Hill Rd.
Acton , MA 01720 - 2018

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.02-7845 (Chron: 002156 )
PROJECT TITLE
High Surface Area Nanostructured Metal Oxide Flame Retardants

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
'Airplane manufacturers are using advanced materials for fire prevention, and suppression of potential in-flight fires, but they are still not good enough to meet emergency situations that arise.' At a time of record growth in the airline industry more and more aircraft are added to airline fleets each year. Older aircraft are also being overhauled with additional safety features. As a result, increased amounts of flame retardant materials are being used in aircraft passenger cabins, cargo compartments and inaccessible areas in the pressure hull. The addition of flame-suppressing substances to the material provides a way to fireproof polymers, which constitute almost 3 and 8 tons of flammable polymeric materials in the aircraft. Halogen containing molecules, used as fire suppressants have fallen out of favor because they release toxic dioxins when they burn. Metal oxide hydrates, which release water at high temperatures, polymers which fend off flames by getting scorched on the surface, and even nylon-montmorillonite composites have been evaluated, but with limited success. Therefore, a normal polymer when challenged by fire needs to become fire resistant. A potential solution to this problem is in the form of a nanostructured additive that will be investigated in this Phase I program by Materials Modification, Inc. In Phase II, the polymer-additive flame suppressant/retardant will be evaluated with varying concentrations of the nanostructured additive and the most promising combinations will be tested for fire retardancy with our commercial partner.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The niche area for flame retardants is in the aircraft industry. However these materials can also be used as flame retardant additives in cabinets and housing for electronic and electrical components, printed circuit boards, construction materials, household items such as mattresses, carpets, upholstery and furniture, interiors in automobiles, and fabrics, textiles and apparels.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Ramachandran Radhakrishnan
Materials Modification, Inc.
2721-D, Merrilee Drive
Fairfax , VA 22031 - 4407

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
MATERIALS MODIFICATION INC
2721-D Merrilee Drive
Fairfax , VA 22031 - 4407

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.02-8506 (Chron: 001495 )
PROJECT TITLE
Enhanced Energy-Absorbing Aircraft Seats

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Midé is proposing innovative energy-absorbing seat and restraint system enhancements for improving crashworthiness in aircraft, using Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs). It is proposed that the passive superelastic properties (energy-absorption) of SMA?s are investigated for integration into various components of the seat, support, and restraint system. These alloys are capable of absorbing energy in the form of strain, to a much higher degree than conventional materials such as steel and aluminum alloys. Phase 1 will downselect among the proposed concepts and determine feasibility.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
Structures with improved energy absorption and damping has numerous government and commercial applications. Energy absorbing structures increase life, reduce fatigue and improve comfort. The sporting goods industry is the most obvious industry that will benefit from the technology.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Dr. John Rodgers
Mide Technology Corp.
56 Rogers Street
Cambridge , MA 02142 - 1119

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Mide Technology Corporation
56 Rogers Street
Cambridge , MA 02142 - 1119

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.02-8998 (Chron: 001003 )
PROJECT TITLE
Hybrid Electrostatic Nozzle for Crash Fire Reduction AntiMisting Fuels

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The electrostatic atomization of hydrocarbon fuels provides precise, predictable electronic control of droplet size and distribution independent of fuel viscosity, density and flow rate. Phase I will focus on demonstrating that electrostatic fuel preparation makes combustion performance in an ambient combustion environment insensitive to the presence of anti-misting fuel additive (FM-9). A hybrid Lean Direct Injection nozzle incorporating electrostatic primary fuel flow atomization for ignition, idle and low power operation, and conventional air assisted secondary flow atomization for high throughput operation will be developed for these tests.

Phase I testing will focus on evaluating the ability of electrostatic fuel preparation of anti-misting kerosene to provide superior atomization/dispersion under the low flow rate conditions (ignition, idle, low power) that have heretofore been associated with poor atomization performance from conventional systems. Upon conclusion of testing, the atomizer will be delivered to NASA for evaluation testing with appropriate AMK blends in the combustion test facility. Nozzles will be designed and developed for engine combustion in Phase II. General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, and Honeywell have expressed interest in supporting the Phase II test program.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
Contingent upon successful completion of the Phase I effort, commitments in excess of $500,000 for Phase III development have been obtained from eleven (11) fuel injector and combustion equipment manufacturers. Long term production outlook for the Phase II fuel injector and its derivatives sis on the order of thousands of injectors per year. Additional funded development potential from non-aviation industries (agriculture, IC engines (gas and diesel), paint spraying, domestic, commercial and industrial burners, spray mist lubrication and nano-fiber non-woven fabric manufacture) all of which require high throughput electrostatic atomization/dispersal, is significantly greater than the typical SBIR.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Arnold J. Kelly
Charged Injection Corporation
11 Deer Park Drive,
Monmouth Junction , NJ 08852 - 1923

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Charged Injection Corporation
11 Deer Park Drive,
Monmouth Junction , NJ 08852 - 1923

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.02-9149 (Chron: 000852 )
PROJECT TITLE
A Practical Fuel Tank Inerting System for Commercial Aircraft

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The ultimate objective of the proposed project is to develop a practical onboard, inert-gas generation system for fuel tank inerting on commercial aircraft. The system would operate autonomously and provide inert gas on demand to the fuel tank ullage. The proposed system would be based upon Total Air Liquefaction for Oxygen and Nitrogen (TALON) technology presently being developed for the U.S. Air Force's C-17 aircraft. As compared with other approaches to onboard inert-gas generation (e.g. molecular sieves or semi-permeable membranes), TALON requires only 1/5 the bleed air and is about 1/2 the weight. In the proposed project, we will adapt and optimize the technology to meet the requirements for a commercial system. TALON also has the potential to provide nitrogen for fire suppression and oxygen to replenish emergency oxygen systems. The Phase I effort will focus on developing specifications for a commercial TALON system, producing a preliminary system design, identifying key technology elements that require further development, and a producing a preliminary palletized system design for a future Boeing 747 test. In Phase II, we will demonstrate key technology components and further define the palletized system test to be conducted during Phase III.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
A commercial version of TALON has significant business potential. It is anticipated that forthcoming rules from the DOT/FAA will require that fuel tank ullage be inerted on commercial aircraft during a significant portion of the operational envelope. This will create an immediate, large and ongoing market for this technology. TALON technology potentially offers a more attractive alternative to other approaches such as molecular sieves and semi-permeable membranes, because the bleed air requirements for TALON are of the order of 80% less, and existing aircraft cannot meet the bleed air requirements for these other approaches.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Martin Shimko
Creare Incorporated
Etna Road, PO Box 71
Hanover , NH 03755 - 0071

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Creare Inc.
Etna Road, P.O. Box 71
Hanover , NH 03755 - 0071

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.02-9625 (Chron: 000376 )
PROJECT TITLE
Supplemental Restraint System with Flow Control for Minimizing Occupant Injury

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Airbags are established injury preventing devices in automobiles, and will soon appear in aircraft. Airbags have already been developed for military helicopters and commuter aircraft, and general aviation applications will follow. The proposed research will develop technology to permit the first general aviation airbags to be as small and light weight as possible while still providing the needed level of crash protection. While optimizing performance,this technology will also prevent airbag induced injuries. Unfortunate incidents of the type publicised in the media for auto air bags will then be avoided in the first genereral aviation air bag applications. The technology will be based on total gas flow management techniques. The flow of both inflating and exiting gas will be controlled.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
There are commercial applications for the resulting product in all airbag applications. The flow control device can be used in aircraft and automotive occupant protection airbags. It can also be applied in other airbag applications, such as those used to attenuate the impact of air cargo pallets, aircraft escape modules, and recoverable space launch vehicles. The envisioned general aviation airbag market is but the first of many commercial opportunities for the technology.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Richard E. Zimmermann
Zerad, Inc.
425 East Greenway Drive
Tempe , AZ 85282 - 6938

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Zerad, Inc.
425 East Greenway Drive
Tempe , AZ 85282 - 6938

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.03-7898 (Chron: 002103 )
PROJECT TITLE
Designer's Situation Awareness Toolbox (DeSAT)

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This SBIR will develop a design decision support tool that will assist designers in providing a powerful, supportive work environment for aviation crews that support the maintenance of a high level of situation awareness in the flight environment. DeSAT will be developed as a design decision support system providing the capability to (1) analyze the situation awareness requirements associated with operational requirements (which could include ground based or flight based crew members), (2) compare situation awareness information requirements to system design features to identify potential situation awareness problems and deficiencies early in the design process, and (3) evaluate the degree to which design concepts support SA via the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT). DeSAT will be developed for analysis of SA for both individual crew stations and for distributed teams operating across flight and time. DeSAT will allow designers to modify design concepts early in the design process to ensure that they provide the needed situation awareness to system users.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
DeSAT?s most immediate commercialization potential would be among aviation system design firms. This would include both commercial flight deck and military cockpit designers. This market would be both U.S. and international in scope. In addition, DeSAT could be shown to applicable to a much wider variety of systems, including ground transportation, space operations, distributed monitoring systems, power station control, maintenance and medical systems. This expansion would create an even larger market for DeSAT, as designers in these fields have traditionally had less background in human factors and cognitive engineering. DeSAT would provide a very important resource for these designers as it would allow them to assess the impact of combined and integrated systems on operator SA.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Mica Endsley
SA Technologies, Inc
4731 East Forest Peak
Marietta , GA 30066 - 1763

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
SA Technologies, Inc.
4731 East Forest Peak
Marietta , GA 30066 - 1763

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.03-9611 (Chron: 000390 )
PROJECT TITLE
Automated Auditory Cueing and Spatialization System

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed innovation is a back-end/front-end integration of an authoring system for data-driven audio cues and a delivery system for simulated spatial audio display. The innovation includes adaptive incorporation of the integrated system with existing speech communications, in a real-time operations pipeline that accepts operational data streams and converts them into relevant auditory cues. Compared to previous auditory display research, this proposed system moves beyond spatial/positional data from operators to incorporate data from operational signals and events. Data-driven audio cues will be provided and supported by patented technologies developed at NCSA/UIUC. Spatial simulation will be provided by AuSIM's proprietary AuSIM3D? technologies. This proposal is innovative because it integrates two robust and mature systems that have never been commercially integrated: broad, adaptable tools for data sonification and a rendering pipeline for spatial audio simulation. These technologies are complementary and each has been demonstrated effectively in industrial contexts outside of the laboratory. The resulting system will provide a comprehensive audio operations environment to orchestrate and integrate existing speech communications with synthetic environmental cues that respond to changing conditions represented in operations data. These innovations directly address the stated goals of enhancing system monitoring, crew-system integration and remote collaboration.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The most immediate application of this technology would be specifically for flight deck manufacturers and their equipment vendors, as they work to develop next-generation human-machine interfaces for their equipment. Commercial aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing as well as military aircraft manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin will be highly interested in licensing this technology.

Longer-range applications include any situations where humans need to control complex navigational and related equipment: submarines, ships, helicopters, and even spacecraft. Any such environment where improving the human-computer interface will result in increased operator performance in critical areas we should find customers for this advanced new technology.

The proprietary nature of the AuSIM3D? core technology, the functionality of which has yet to be matched, combined with the NCSA VSS functionality, will prevent any real competition. AuSIM would market the product in parallel with its current product line. The market focus would be selling systems to research groups for use as prototypes, and the software and proprietary manufacturing process would be licensed to a commercial manufacturer when demand began to exceed AuSIM?s manufacturing capacity. The manufacturing process complexity and time of the new integrated system would be equivalent to AuSIM?s current product line.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Insook Choi
National Center for Supercomputing Research, University of Illinois at Urbana-C.
405 North Mathews
Urbana , IL 61801 - 2300

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
AuSIM, Incorporated
4962 El Camino Real, Suite 101
Los Altos , CA 94022 - 1410

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.03-9857 (Chron: 000144 )
PROJECT TITLE
Weather Hazards Integrated Display System (WHIDS)

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
There are significant costs associated with hazardous weather encounters that are exacerbated by the lack of integration of real-time and forecast weather products and the lack of focus on pilot-centered hazard metrics and computer support. Current approaches to providing weather information to the flight deck have focused on individual products, targeting specific hazards. Even systems trying to provide many products to pilots have not yet addressed the issues of intelligently integrated data into information. Solving this problem begins with an integrated, pilot-centered approach to presenting weather information. By considering the temporal, spatial and accuracy characteristics of the weather sources as well as the information needs of pilots, our Weather Hazards Integrated Display System (WHIDS) will help pilots manage the presented information in order to maintain situation awareness and make better decisions. In Phase I, we will specify potential algorithms and display designs to help pilots understand the weather situation with respect to the decisions to be made. The emphasis will be on integrating real-time and forecast information in a pilot-centered way and on providing pilots the ability to support the types of decisions they have to make. In Phase II we will prototype and evaluate WHIDS.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
There is a considerable market for WHIDS with commercial airline organizations who are already considering providing enhanced weather products to their flight decks. Flight crews would improve tactical decision making processes due to better, integrated information as opposed to merely having more data to wade through or possibly miss.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Ellen J. Bass
Search Technology, Inc.
4960 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Ste. 230
Norcross , GA 30071 - 1580

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Search Technology, Inc.
4960 Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Ste 230
Norcross , GA 30071 - 1580

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.04-7980 (Chron: 002021 )
PROJECT TITLE
A Real-Time Monitor to Predict Loss of Control due to Pilot-Induced Oscillations

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Pilot-induced oscillations have occurred during early development testing and in operational flight. As awareness of the phenomenon improves, reports of PIOs have become more common, and while most such reports indicate mild episodes, the threat of a severe PIO is always present. With increased use of fly-by-wire technology, and with plans for several possible mega-transports, the potential for PIO will only continue to increase. An on-line flight control system monitor that will detect the onset of loss of control due to PIO will enhance flight safety in the 21st century. The real-time monitor looks at input and response states and compares the input/output relationships with known definitions of PIO. A pilot alert system will notify the flight crew that the event is a PIO and assist in decision-making about the criticality of the event. Such a monitor will benefit pre-production testing as well, as it can be used for envelope expansion, quick-look analysis of stability margins, and even for crew training for PIO idenfication.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The primary commercial application will be for civil airline transports, marketed to airframe manufacturers and airline companies as an affordable method for preventing loss of control through severe pilot-induced oscillations. The system will be designed to be incorporated into the flight control system computers of both current and future aircraft. Other applications, in both the civil and military worlds, is as a tool for flight safety during envelope expansion and as an analyzer of data near-real-time for checking stability. The monitor can be used as a training aid to expose pilots to the phenomenon of pilot-induced oscillations.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
David G. Mitchell
Hoh Aeronautics, Inc.
2075 Palos Verdes Dr N #217
Lomita , CA 90717 - 3726

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Hoh Aeronautics, Inc.
2075 Palos Verdes Dr N #217
Lomita , CA 90717 - 3726

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.04-8226 (Chron: 001775 )
PROJECT TITLE
Micro Stress Analysis and Forecasted Endurance - MicroSAFE

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
MicroSAFE (Micro Stress Analysis and Forecasted Endurance) is a wireless miniature autonomous stress analysis device that utilizes the ASTM Rainflow Cycle Counting Fatigue Analysis to determine expected life of critical structures. The device is based on an Invocon Internal R&D project where a similar miniature autonomous device was able to acquire data from a single strain gage and compute a Rainflow analysis on the data in real-time. The original communication scheme was a wired serial port to a PC through which the device could be programmed to schedule acquisitions or set to detect events for acquisition. This device was designed for a wide temperature range and low power for battery operation, and is already highly capable of stress analysis and lifetime prediction. Through this Phase 1 project we propose to add an RF transceiver, increase the sampling rate, and implement a dynamic frequency response analysis in the design. The wireless addition allows ease in programming and data downloading. Programming modes in the enhanced device will still include the scheduled and detection modes, but will allow simultaneous Rainflow and frequency analyses for each channel.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
MicroSAFE has an array of industrial and commercial applications. Any machine or structure that experiences periodic stress can benefit from fatigue analysis. Currently many structures such as bridges are designed with a certain expected stress and for a certain lifetime. Materials and design methods are chosen to give the expected life of the part. Often the stresses on a particular element are not the expected values. If for instance from increased traffic on a bridge or poor installation of machine parts the stresses are higher than expected, the material may fatigue beyond safe limits before the scheduled replacement. Frequently the opposite is true; designers either boost the material requirements or decrease the expected life to decrease probability of failure. Fatigue analysis can measure and better forecast the life of the structural member decreasing money and time spent prematurely replacing parts or repairing the results of unexpected failure. The size, cost, and portability of MicroSAFE make it versatile, unique, and necessary for many commercial applications.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Alan Haigood
Invocon, Inc.
19221 IH-45 South; Ste. 530
Conroe , TX 77385 - 8746

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Invocon, Inc.
19221 IH-45 S., Ste. 530
Conroe , TX 77385 - 8746

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.04-8915 (Chron: 001086 )
PROJECT TITLE
Novel Spectral Enhancement for Incipient Fault Detection of Rotating Machinery

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
ASRI proposes to develop a low-cost PC-based Dynamic Signal Analyzer (DSA) utilizing a novel spectral enhancement method to provide incipient fault-detection capabilities for rotating machinery. Based on a new spectral analysis technique called Coherent Phase Line Enhancer (CPLE), the DSA will significantly enhance critical speed-related signatures in vibration measurements thus providing early detection for machinery health monitoring and diagnosis. Unlike the conventional method for Power Spectral Density (PSD) function estimation, the CPLE technique incorporates phase information into the spectral estimation process. This is achieved through detection of a unique coherent phase relationship associated with all speed-related signal components in the wave-number domain. Accordingly, the CPLE spectrum detects well-hidden fault-mechanism signatures (bearing, gear, rotor instability, etc.) that are often unnoticed by a conventional PSD. The significance of the proposed innovation is attributed to its enhanced capability to cope with severe operational environments where health-monitoring measurements are heavily corrupted by background noise. Successful development of CPLE-DSA can enhance incipient fault detection capability, reducing catastrophic engine failure risks and will improve reliability of NASA's advanced propulsion systems. Phase I will demonstrate feasibility and relative benefits of CPEL-DSA. In Phase II a PC-based CPLE-DSA hardware/software prototype will be built and tested for demonstration.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
A portable low-cost Engine Health Monitoring System has strong commercial application. The commercial transportation and power generation industries will benefit from its availability as will the manufacturing sector where production lines frequently rely on critical, active machinery. Implementing an effective health monitoring system in these commercial arenas will reduce the risks of catastrophic hardware losses and plant down-time. The commercial potential for an effective CPLE-DSA in the market place has been recognized by several of ASRI's customers.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Jen-Yi Jong
AI Signal Research, Inc.
3411 Triana Blvd
Huntsville , AL 35805 - 4641

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
AI Signal Research, Inc.
3411 Triana Blvd.
Huntsville , AL 35805 - 4641

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.04-8942 (Chron: 001059 )
PROJECT TITLE
Aircraft Engine Oil Health Sensor

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The objective of this proposed program is to determine the viability of Raman spectrometry as an analytical tool for in-situ monitoring of aircraft engine oil condition. This objective will be accomplished by first characterizing unused engine oil with a high-performance bench-top Raman spectrometer, and optimizing the spectrometer variables and data processing steps. A correlation of Raman and Fourier-transform infra-red spectra will be performed as part of the band assignment process, followed by characterization of engine oil at various stages of degradation. After completion of the method development using the high-performance instrument, a portable fiber-optic Raman analyzer will be employed to study the oxidation of aircraft engine oil in-situ. It is anticipated that a Raman system using fiber-optic sampling, ion or diode laser excitation, a single monochromater, CCD detector, and a holographic notch filter will provide optimum sensitivity and sampling flexibility. Ideally, Raman spectrometry would replace other more cumbersome or time-consuming oil quality control and condition monitoring methodologies. However, at the very least it is anticipated that the inherent advantages of Raman spectrometry over other techniques can be employed to provide a simple, versatile, and portable unit for oil condition monitoring.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
Successful completion of this program will result in a Raman spectrometry method for evaluating the condition of aircraft engine oil. The technology developed in this project will be generally applicable to oil condition monitoring in a variety of industries including automotive and lubricant manufacturing.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Shane E. Roark
Eltron Research Inc
4600 Nautilus Court South
Boulder , CO 80301 - 3241

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Eltron Research Inc
4600 Nautilus Court South
Boulder , CO 80301 - 3241

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.04-8944 (Chron: 001057 )
PROJECT TITLE
Aircraft Prognostics and Health Management, and Adaptive Reconfigurable Control

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Scientific Systems Company Inc. (SSCI) proposes to develop
nonlinear on-line Health Monitoring (HM), Failure Detection and
Identification (FDI) and Adaptive Reconfigurable Control (ARC)
algorithms for the case of failures of Electro-Mechanical Actuators
(EMAs) and other subsystems and components of a modern combat
aircraft. The proposed algorithms will result in fast and accurate
on-line FDI and ARC for EMAs whose behavior is characterized by
highly nonlinear dynamics. The proposed on-line HM-FDI and ARC
scheme will be integrated into Boeing's open Prognostics and Health
Management (PHM) and Open Control Platform (OCP)
architectures. In order to achieve the above objectives, we propose to
carry out in Phase I the following tasks: (i) Formulation of the
HM-FDI and ARC problem for Electro-Mechanical Actuators
(EMAs). (ii) Acquisition of nonlinear actuator models from Boeing.
(iii) Development of on-line nonlinear HM-FDI and ARC
algorithms compatible with the PHM and OCP architectures for the
nonlinear actuator models. (iv) Testing, tuning and performance
evaluation of the algorithms on a linearized TAFA simulation. (v)
Integration of the HM-FDI and ARC algorithms into the PHM and
OCP. In Phase II we plan to integrate our HM-FDI and ARC
algorithms into Boeing's PMH and OCP systems and test them under
laboratory conditions at Boeing, and in flight tests. The end product
of this research will be a user-friendly software design toolkit for
on-line HM-FDI and ARC. Boeing Phantom Works will provide
technical and commercialization support in all phases of the project.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
Recent analyses carried out by Boeing have revealed that decrease in
Can-Not-Duplicate (CND) failures and false alarms by 50% on a
platform such as the C-17 or F/A-18, would result in a maintenance
cost savings of over $100M over the life of the aircraft. The approach
pursued by Boeing is based on predictive diagnostics, or prognostics,
combined with on-line FDI algorithms and data mining techniques,
and will be used to identify more accurately the root causes of failures.
Such an approach has a potential to achieve substantial decrease in
CND failures and false alarms. The resulting architecture, under
development by Boeing, is referred to as the open Prognostics and
Health Management (PHM) system, and is expected to result in a
substantial decrease in operational maintenance costs for modern
aircraft. Efficient ARC algorithms are an important component of
the future Vehicle Management Systems (VMSs) for modern aircraft.
Hence the proposed HM-FDI and ARC algorithms, that will be an
integral part of the PMH and the aircraft Operational Maintenance
Program (OMP), have a great commercial potential in the area of
operational maintenance and safety improvements in modern
aircraft.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Jovan D. Boskovic
Scientific Systems Company Inc
500 West Cummings Park, Suite 3000
Woburn , MA 01801 - 6580

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Scientific Systems Company Inc
500 West Cummings Park, Suite 3000
Woburn , MA 01801 - 6580

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.04-9435 (Chron: 000566 )
PROJECT TITLE
Structural Diagnostics Using Nonlinear Analysis and Distributed Sensor Arrays

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)

The safety and performance of all commercial, civil, and military structural dynamic systems deteriorate with time. Because current inspection procedures are time consuming, costly, insensitive to small variations in structural health, and prone to error in severe and mild operating environments, there are urgent economic and technological needs to deploy automated structural diagnostic instrumentation for seamless evaluation of structural integrity and reliability. The proposed collaborative research and business initiative between The Modal Shop and Purdue University will develop and validate techniques for structural Diagnostics using Nonlinear Analysis (sDNA) in conjunction with "smart" wireless sensor arrays. Significant innovations include the processing algorithm for characterizing the existence and extent of damage in passive/active operating modes while accommodating nonlinearity and uncertainty, and the processing architecture, which is distributed across a network of measurement packets and decision-making nodes. Phase I R&D will culminate in an informative report, strong justification and preliminary plan for Phase II, and a simple prototype to demonstrate important features of the proposed product. Successful efforts in Phases II-III will produce flexible "turn-key" on-line structural health and condition monitoring devices, which will benefit the sponsoring agency directly while securing The Modal Shop a competitive edge in a rapidly expanding marketplace.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
Potential commercial applications in aircraft and rotorcraft, reusable launch vehicles, automotive systems, civil infrastructure, and industrial machinery make this a compelling investment for the qualified team of researchers and for the sponsoring agency. Immediate applications of the product include: civil infrastructure damage detection and prognostics (e.g. highway overpass support bearings), industrial diagnostics for tracking manufacturing glitches (e.g. tool chatter), and data acquisition for aircraft flight and ground vibration testing and on-road vehicle testing. The proposed product could also potentially impact the following markets: automotive maintenance and service (e.g. service and warranty extension), aircraft avionics, performance, and life cycle determination, and aerospace reusable vehicle design for maintenance (e.g. damage detection, localization, and prognosis in composite structures).

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Mark Schiefer
The Modal Shop, Inc.
1775 Mentor Ave
Cincinnati , OH 45212 - 3520

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
The Modal Shop, Inc.
1775 Mentor Ave
Cincinnati , OH 45212 - 3520

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.04-9956 (Chron: 000045 )
PROJECT TITLE
On-line Health Management, Diagnostics, and Data Processing using SUSI /PR00-045

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
We propose to design and develop hardware and health monitoring capabilities for our Smart Universal Sensor Interface (SUSI). SUSI is designed to accommodate more sensors than conventional avionics sensor units, using fewer wires, less power, and at greater data rates and shorter delays, while consuming less physical space. In addition, SUSI provides advanced features such as: upgrades to optical avionics networks, full compatibility with legacy systems such as 1553 and ARINC; serial sensor buses to further reduce wire count; smart functions such as described in the IEEE 1451.2 standard; and extensive local processing and data storage capability. SUSI is designed to be modular to a very high degree - even the network interface can be changed by simply replacing the network module. These advanced features can be used to implement diagnostics and health monitoring functions for a wide range of applications, including self- and network diagnosis and multi-level data processing and redundancy. Since SUSI integrates into the avionics system and is designed to take data and control actuators, there is no added overhead (weight, cost, etc.) for additional instrumentation.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
This system could provide critical data not only for safety purposes but for maintenance as well, thus helping to extend useful aircraft life. Both military and commercial aircraft could benefit from advanced smart sensor systems capable of providing real-time data on subsystem health.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
David Schaafsma
Tetra Tech Data Systems
2451 Impala Drive
Carlsbad , CA 92008 - 7227

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Tetra Tech Data Systems
2451 Impala Drive
Carlsbad , CA 92008 - 7227

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.05-7908 (Chron: 002093 )
PROJECT TITLE
Evaluation of Airframes with Pulsed Eddy Currents

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Use of pulsed eddy currents with superconductive probes offers new technology to image fatigue cracks and corrosion hidden in sublayers of thick sections of airframes, such as wing boxes. A superconductive probe uses a superconductive quantum interference device (SQUID) to achieve unmatched sensitivity and resolution of magnetic flux at frequencies below 100 Hz. It enables deep penetration of aluminum structure. Pulsed eddy currents, at repetition rates below 100 Hz, can provide images of fatigue cracks and corrosion hidden deeply in an airframe from a single scan across a fastener diameter. Pulsed currents enable timing a return to identify depth of a defect and to generate an image from multiple returns. They can give images of defects in a cross section of a structure.

To realize the promise of superconducting probes operating with pulsed eddy currents,
Phase I develops signal processing algorithms to demonstrate feasibility of achieving high resolution images of small defects hidden deeply in multilayered structure.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
Successful completion of the proposed research leads to meeting a primary technical need for maintaining structural integrity and continued airworthiness of aging aircraft. Superconductive probes would give reliable images of cracks and corrosion hidden in sublayers of airframes, reducing the need to tear apart a structure for inspection. The probes and methods would find pervasive use in the maintenance of aircraft, offering savings in maintenance costs and enhancing aircraft safety.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Walter Podney
SQM Technology, Inc.
6865 Flanders Drive, Suite C
San Diego , CA 92121 - 2949

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
SQM Technology, Inc.
6865 Flanders Drive, Suite C
San Diego , CA 92121 - 2949

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.05-8163 (Chron: 001838 )
PROJECT TITLE
Detection of Corrosion Under Space Shuttle Tiles

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This project will develop a practical, nondestructive inspection technique for the detection of corrosion hidden under the reusable surface insulation tiles found in thermal protection systems. This technique is based on an innovative use of x-ray interactions to discriminate low levels of corrosion from airframe structural materials, such as magnesium, aluminum, and titanium alloys. A second innovation in detection greatly speeds up the measurement and reduces the cost. This results in an accurate measurement of low level corrosion at rates approaching a few seconds point. Phase I will empirically demonstrate the sensitivity and throughput using a breadboard instrument and realistic thermal protection system configurations. Phase II will develop a prototype of the instrument and demonstrate the ability to inspect large areas for hidden corrosion.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
This project is targeted to meet the needs of NASA and direct opportunities exist to support the Orbiter program as well as the development underway in the X33 and X38 programs. Significant opportunities for the technique exist within commercial and military aviation for the detection of corrosion in aging aircraft.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Dr. Jerel Smith
ARACOR
425 lakeside Dr.
Sunnyvale , CA 94086 - 4701

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
ARACOR
425 Lakeside Dr.
Sunnyvale , CA 94086 - 4701

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 01.05-8325 (Chron: 001676 )
PROJECT TITLE
Fiber Optic Non-Destructive Evaluation Systems for In-Flight Health Monitoring

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Health management technologies are being developed for both current and future aircraft to detect and accommodate cracks and damage to the airframe structure and other aircraft components. Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) systems have been successfully demonstrated in numerous terrestrial applications but have not migrated to flight environments due to the prohibitive cost, size, weight and durability of the conditioning electronics, cable plant, and sensors. However, optical fiber sensors are rapidly emerging as viable alternatives to conventional NDE systems as effective means of detecting and quantifying acoustic emission (AE). Compared to traditional piezoelectric-based sensors, optical fiber sensors offer much smaller size, reduced weight, ability to operate at temperatures up to 2000°C, immunity to electromagnetic interference, resistance to corrosive environments, inherent safety within flammable environments, and the ability to multiplex multiple sensors on a single fiber.

The effort of this program is to further develop fiber optic AE sensors for in-flight health monitoring on both military and commercial aircraft. The areas of proposed activities include 1) developing fiber optic AE sensors specifically for flight application, 2) producing commercially available flight qualified sensors, cable plant and conditioning electronics and 3) developing data integration components to reduce the AE data into a usable form.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The proposed effort will result in a commercially available fiber optic NDE system for use in any harsh environment application. Several commercial partners have expressed interest in such a system for integration in both military and commercial aircraft systems. Such a system will also find immediate application in down-hole monitoring, cryogenic systems, power distribution monitoring, and.space-based systems.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Scott A. Meller
Luna Innovations Incorporated
2851 Commerce Street
Blacksburg , VA 24060 - 6657

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Luna Innovations Incorporated
2851 Commerce Street
Blacksburg , VA 24060 - 6657

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 02.01-7891 (Chron: 002110 )
PROJECT TITLE
Principal Components for Structural Acoustics Analysis

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed innovation is a new computational and analytical structural acoustic technique for aircraft interior noise prediction. Its innovative quality resides in the unifying theory by which conventional finite element analysis (FEA) and statistical energy analysis (SEA) are related through the use of Principal Components (PC) analysis. This "linking" of FEA and SEA methods provides the ability to predict structural acoustic response in the so-called "mid-frequency range" where neither conventional FEA nor SEA approaches have given satisfactory results. FEA produces classical frequency-ordered modes that typically fail to correlate with test modes in this range. Analytical SEA fails when modal density is low. Experimental SEA is also problematic whenever poorly conditioned energy matrices must be inverted to obtain coupling and loss coefficients. The new technique involves combining FEA for finely meshed finite element models with PC analysis to derive energy-ordered "modes" i.e. principal components, for the coupled structural and acoustic components. These "energy modes" not only facilitate analysis-test correlation, but also provide a means for rigorous statistical quantification of modeling uncertainty and predictive accuracy. The new PC/SEA modeling approach is expected to significantly improve the accuracy of aircraft interior noise prediction.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The PC/SEA methods developed under the proposed project have potential applications to all mid-frequency vibro-acoustics problems including aircraft interior noise prediction and suppression, ship's quieting, automobile interior acoustics, and launch vehicle-induced environments. ACTA is pursuing com-mercialization of software developed under other Phase II contracts. One project integrates ACTA's algorithms with a commercial FEA code. The other is developing a standalone, third party toolbox for use with a general purpose, commercial mathematics package. A strategy for commercialization of PC/SEA software based on integration with commercial FEA and SEA codes, and/or third party software will be formulated in Phase I.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Timothy Hasselman
ACTA Inc.
2790 Skypark Dr., Ste. 310
Torrance , CA 90505 - 5345

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
ACTA Inc
2790 Skypark Dr., Suite 310
Torrance , CA 90505 - 5345

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 02.01-8355 (Chron: 001646 )
PROJECT TITLE
Nonlinear Time Domain Boundary Conditions from Liner Response Data

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Effective suppression of jet engine noise by inlet and exhaust duct liners continues to be an important part of producing environmentally acceptable aircraft. Because methods for transfer of frequency-domain impedance data to time-domain boundary conditions are still under development, Computational Aeroacoustics (CAA) has yet to be used widely either to design new liners or predict pre-installation performance of existing ones. In addition, the methods that do currently exist are not easily extended to cover finite amplitude effects, whether they are due to high sound pressure levels or liner material nonlinearities. Nielsen Engineering and Research proposes to fill this need for a general, nonlinear, time-domain liner characterization scheme by novel application of Volterra (integral) series methods. Applying this modeling technique to data from a given liner results in forced, time-domain, differential equations for liner velocity response to an imposed acoustic pressure. The differential equations can be linear or nonlinear, and are generated using either existing frequency-domain impedance data or new time-domain acoustic pulse experiments. Once in existence, the equations can be discretized in any fashion consistent with the CAA calculation where they are used.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
>From this work NEAR envisions production of a software system centered around the VIP application that can be fed either time history or impedance data from liner measurements and then generates the particular differential equation that characterizes that liner's velocity response to pressure. This technique enables off-line liner design, optimization, and testing,
with consequent savings to the jet engine manufacturers. Use of this characterization technology outside acoustics could revive use of simple, lumped-element, engineering models by eliminating the often restrictive assumptions associated with them. The ability to generate an approximate differential equation description of complex systems from data is a substantial accomplishment in that direction. Thus NEAR envisions a broader market for this characterization software in the simulation arena.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Laurence Keefe
Nielsen Engineering & Research
526 Clyde Avenue
Mountain View , CA 94043 - 2212

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Nielsen Engineering & Research, Inc.
526 Clyde Avenue
Mountain View , CA 94043 - 2212

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 02.02-8547 (Chron: 001454 )
PROJECT TITLE
Reduction of Aft Fan Radiation Using Herschel-Quincke Resonators

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Technology in Blacksburg and the Vibration and Acoustics Laboratories at Virginia Tech propose using hybrid Herschel-Quincke (HQ) resonators as a method to control aft fan noise radiated from turbofan engines. The noise control mechanism of the HQ tube system is as follows: as noise propagates through a duct past the entrance of a HQ resonator, some of the acoustic energy enters the HQ resonator while the remaining acoustic energy propagates down the duct. The sound waves in the resonator recombine with the duct acoustic waves at the tube exit. The fact that the waves in the HQ resonator travel a distance different than those in the duct results in a phase shift between the resonator and duct waves. Noise attenuation occurs at frequencies for which the recombining HQ resonator and duct waves are out of phase. Classical HQ resonators are passive devices with no moving parts whose noise attenuation characteristics are functions of the resonator?s length and cross-sectional area. For fan noise control applications the geometry of the HQ resonators are optimized to attenuate frequency at the blade passing frequency. Hybrid HQ resonators could be developed with variable geometry and used in conjunction with adaptive control to optimize their effectiveness over a wide range of engine operating conditions.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The technology proposed here has potential for commercialization among engine makers for both future engines and retrofits to existing engines. As regulations continue to become stricter, an increasing number of engines will be forced out of service prematurely if they are not capable of meeting the new restrictions. Consequently, a huge market exists for retrofit technology that will allow these engines to meet future regulations. The consensus among the industry sponsors is that HQ resonator technology could be an attractive augmentation of traditional absorptive linings because of its simplicity compared to active control alternatives. Furthermore, HQ resonators will have minimal effect on engine performance as compared to existing hush kits.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Jonathan Fleming
Technology in Blacksburg, Inc
1861 Pratt Drive; Suite 2040
Blacksburg , VA 24060 - 6371

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Technology in Blacksburg, Inc
1861 Pratt Drive; Suite 2040
Blacksburg , VA 24060 - 6371

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 02.02-8624 (Chron: 001377 )
PROJECT TITLE
Turbulence Framework for Jet Noise Prediction and Reduction

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The innovation proposed is the construction of a unified nonlinear turbulence model for use in jet noise studies that will operate in an invariant manner (fixed coefficients/correction terms), and will provide reliable mean flow and anisotropic stresses predictions for a broad range of jet conditions. Model construction will be based on extensions to an operational explicit algebraic stress model (EASM) framework that includes anisotropic dissipation, compressibility, and vortex-stretching extensions, and is supplemented by additional scalar fluctuation and dissipation rate equations used to locally evaluate turbulent Prandtl and Schmidt numbers. CRAFT Tech will be supported by Seiner and coworkers at U. Miss who will obtain 3D PIV data for Mach .85 and 1.5 cold and hot jets to support model calibration. Acoustics data will also be obtained in this effort, and simulations performed via coupling the CFD solution with an acoustics analogy noise code (such as MGB) will be compared with this data. In Phase II, the model will be extended to more complex 3D propulsive jets that include varied mixing enhancement devices. In addition, propulsive interfacing and aerodynamic interactions will be addressed.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The primary commercial application of this advanced turbulence framework relates directly to the support work and software licensing we now perform for prime contractors (Lockheed, Pratt, ?) relevant to the design assessment of mixing enhancement devices for IR signature reduction. We are presently supporting work related to the C-130, the F-18 and the F-22 where we are performing design assessment simulations and training personnel in the operation of a specialized aircraft/rotorcraft unstructured grid end-to-end code. Inclusion of this advanced turbulence framework into this code will greatly enhance our simulation capabilities and will permit us to also support commercial aircraft efforts related to assessment of noise reduction concepts via coupling our solutions with noise codes such as MGB. Other opportunities reside in the turbomachinery community where RANS turbulence modeling with advanced heat transfer and nonlinear strain capabilities is presently deficient.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Donald C. Kenzakowski, Jr.
Combustion Research and Flow Technology, Inc.
174 North Main Street, P.O. Box 1150
Dublin , PA 18917 - 2108

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Combustion Research and Flow Technology,
174 North Main Street, P.O. Box 1150
Dublin , PA 18917 - 2108

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 02.02-9579 (Chron: 000422 )
PROJECT TITLE
Active Control of Fan Noise Using Distributed Phased Pulsed Flows

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
A program for the development of an active pulsed flow noise control solution for turbomachinery noise caused by rotor wake interactions with stators is proposed. The system utilizes an array of pulsed jet flows near the leading edges of several stator blades to generate volume velocity sources to counter the fluctuating lift dipole sources caused by the wake-stator interaction. By placing the acoustic canceling sources adjacent to the location of the dipole sources rather than on the inner surface of the nacelles, better more efficient control of particularly the higher order radial modes can be achieved. Other advantages of the proposed noise canceling method are its extremely small size and light weight for producing a given sound power level. Lastly, the proposed system uses very small amounts of air available from the compressor and requires practically no electrical power, thus the heat generated and the weight required by conventional sound sources are largely eliminated. Initial laboratory tests indicate that this concept has the potential to meet and exceed the 115 to 120 dB re 1 pW sound power level that appears to be required from the work of previous investigators.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
This proposed noise reduction concept will have application to both commercial and military aircraft to reduce their noise impact on community residents, aircraft passengers and crew and render military aircraft less detectable and classifiable. The development and application of this technology will support NASA's intention "to provide enabling technologies to reduce the perceived noise levels of future aircraft by a factor of two (10 EPNDB) from 1997 technology by 2007and a factor of 4 (20 EPNDB) by 2022." The ability of this technique to provide the higher than currently available acoustic source levels with a robust system will allow the development of more capable noise reduction systems based in part on theoretical work that has been demonstrated to have great benefit for silencing quieter simulated sources in the laboratory.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Fred R. Kern
Physical Sciences Inc.
20 New England Business Center
Andover , MA 01810 - 1077

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Physical Sciences Inc.
20 New England Business Center
Andover , MA 01810 - 1077

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 02.02-9928 (Chron: 000073 )
PROJECT TITLE
Particle Sizer for Measurement of Engine Emissions

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Current instruments for monitoring particulate matter (PM) are inadequate in their ability to determine aerosol size or size distributions. Operation of existing systems requires a good understanding of sensor design. For example, variations in ambient conditions may necessitate either new calibration or measurements to be computationally corrected to ensure accurate particle size determination. This required level of expertise limits wide deployment of existing systems. As a result, NAL Research Corporation proposes the development of a portable real-time aerosol-sizer based on a pair of miniature laser-Doppler velocimeters (LDVs) designed with diode lasers and avalanche photodiodes. Particle aerodynamic diameter can be directly obtained from the measured velocity gradient. The use of miniature LDVs enables the proposed instrument to be simple, compact and lightweight. Furthermore, the sensor will not need calibration contrary to the time-of-flight (TOF) aerodynamic particle sizer (APS). Minimal technical competence will be expected for operation in a wide variety of conditions for emissions characterization and monitoring. These factors combine to ensure the system is inexpensive.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
NAL Research anticipates significant opportunities related to EPA mandated aerosol characterization and monitoring efforts. As directed by the National Research Council, characterization of emissions from stationary and mobile sources over the next decade will provide significant commercial markets for the inexpensive and accurate sensor herein proposed. According to the EPA monitoring regulations set forth in 40 CFR 58, particulate matter monitoring will be required in large metropolitan areas and many community-oriented sites across the United States. Furthermore, the EPA and OSHA organizations regulate air quality within and around closed and open pit mines. Mining operations exist throughout the United States and around the world. Mines tend to be large, complex sites wherein multitudes of sensors may be needed for adequate monitoring. This represents a potentially large commercialization opportunity worldwide. The medical community is another important market for the proposed particle sizer. Aerosol sizing is important component of toxicological studies of effects of aerosols on life, including humans. Monitoring of indoor air quality as part of study of sick building phenomenon requires improved understanding of PM, both natural and anthropogenic. These and other aspects of ongoing research in the medical community represent significant commercialization opportunities for the proposed particle sizer.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Ngoc Hoang
NAL Research Corporation
8708 Sudley Road
Manassas , VA 20110 - 4405

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
NAL Research Corporation
8708 Sudley Road
Manassas , VA 20110 - 4405

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.01-8271 (Chron: 001730 )
PROJECT TITLE
MagLev Launch Propulsion for LoFLYTE® Waverider Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Accurate Automation, teamed with PRT Advanced Maglev Systems, will work together to perform flight test experiments for launching the LoFLYTE® UAV from NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s 100-foot outdoor Maglev track. The goal of the Phase I program is to lay the foundation for a Phase II flight test program that will demonstrate the use of the Maglev track to launch a hypersonic configuration UAV. To achieve this goal we will prepare detailed designs for modifications to the LoFLYTE® aircraft to mate it with the release mechanism designed by PRT Advanced Maglev Systems. The successful completion of this flight test program will set the stage for the incorporation of Maglev launch systems for both high-speed aircraft and next-generation Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLV) with the goal of reducing gross takeoff weight, thereby drastically reducing the cost of launching payloads into space.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The obvious commercialization of this technology is to U.S. Government applications, but the non-Government commercial potential is also vast. We anticipate Government Phase III customers for the product, primarily DoD, NASA and/or their prime contractors. We also will market the system to the civilian UAV industry. The Phase II follow-on to the proposed program will be an actual flight test program of the LoFLYTE® UAV being launched from the NASA Marshall Maglev track. The ultimate Phase III commercialization will be the incorporation of this technology into a real launch vehicle or high speed aircraft with the goal of reducing gross takeoff weight.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Christopher S. Gibson
Accurate Automation Corporation
7001 Shallowford Road
Chattanooga , TN 37421 - 1716

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Accurate Automation Corporation
7001 Shallowford Road
Chattanooga , TN 37421 - 1716

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.01-8467 (Chron: 001534 )
PROJECT TITLE
Thermo-Mechanical Analysis for an Integrated Turbopump Design System

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Integrating cost and time effective analysis of turbopump steady state and transient thermo-mechanical effects into the preliminary and final design process is the overall goal. Automating the thermo-mechanical analysis process is the proposed innovation. Integrating the new methodology within an existing multi-discplinary turbopump design system (owned by NASA and select turbopump manufacturers) is the primary commercialization path. The subtopic calls for advancements in the area of integrated multi-disciplinary design and analysis systems for important vehicle subsystems such as turbopumps. As detailed later in this proposal, the offered approach meets the topic goal of lowering design, development, and vehicle subsystem production costs by developing advanced and innovative technology. The integrated thermo-mechanical analysis capability is required by turbopump designers in order to support low cost turbopump development for Second Generation RLVs and other applications. Turbopump requirements include better performance and reliability, lower product cost, reduced size and weight, and improvements in product development cycle time. More efficiently and effectively analyzing turbopump system thermal and transient response may be the most challenging aspect of turbopump design and integration into the propulsion system. The proposed work also has tremendous dual use potential for designers of industrial turbomachinery products.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
In addition to turbopump applications, integrated thermo-mechanical analysis is important to the proposer?s design software users in the marine, locomotive, and automotive turbocharger market who deal with severe temperature differentials between the low temperature compressor and high temperature turbine. Small gas turbine engines also experience thermal transients when the compressor and turbine are mounted on a common shaft. This rotor configuration is common in auxiliary power unit, turboalternator and helicopter applications.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Michael J. Platt
Concepts ETI, Inc.
217 Billings Farm Road
White River Jct , VT 05001 - 9486

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Concepts ETI, Inc.
217 Billings Farm Road
White River Jct , VT 05001 - 9486

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.01-8696 (Chron: 001305 )
PROJECT TITLE
Reconfigurable Guidance for Energy Management of Hypersonic Vehicles

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The flight envelope for X-34 ranges from subsonic to hypersonic with altitudes up to 50 miles. Designing a guidance law that performs across this broad flight envelope presents several challenges. Robustness to uncertain aerodynamics is of paramount importance because of the sparse amount of wind tunnel and flight test data that exists for reusable launch vehicles at hypersonic Mach numbers. The need to compensate for potential control surface failures imposes additional guidance requirements. Barron Associates, Inc. (BAI) has teamed with Orbital Sciences Corporation to develop control and guidance systems that can reconfigure in real time to significantly increase the reliability of reusable launch vehicles. An innovative modular architecture, presently under development, will be used to reshape trajectories on-line. We believe that leveraging this concurrent effort is a main strength of the proposal. The approach autonomously identifies the closed-inner-loop dynamics and adapts the guidance for off-nominal performance. In Phase I, a modification of the existing X-34 energy management approach will be investigated. A more formal optimization technique developed and matured by BAI will also be considered. Studies will focus on aerodynamic uncertainties and control failures that primarily affect lateral-directional maneuvering capabilities, which are critical in managing vehicle energy for unpowered descent.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
Phase I, II, and III efforts will mature the components of the reconfigurable guidance system, culminating in hardware bench demonstrations and Phase II or III flight tests. Commercialization will consist of (a) providing expertise and consulting to industry in the area of reconfigurable launch vehicle guidance and control, (b) developing software toolkits that aid design of autonomous reconfigurable control and guidance systems that directly benefit hypersonic RLV and other aerospace programs, and (c) transitioning the technology to existing customers and new control application areas. Design and development of reconfigurable or adaptive guidance systems is rapidly becoming a significant portion of BAI?s business, and the techniques developed in this program will help BAI continue a leadership role in this field.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
John D. Schierman
Barron Associates, Inc.
1160 Pepsi Place, Suite 300
Charlottesville , VA 22901 - 0807

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Barron Associates, Inc.
1160 Pepsi Place, Suite 300
Charlottesville , VA 22901 - 0807

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.01-8901 (Chron: 001100 )
PROJECT TITLE
Innovative Thermal Protection System Approach to Reduce Parasitic Structures

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
An opportunity exists to combine the structural elements of advanced launch vehicles with their thermal protection system (TPS) to create an integrated system, free of parasitic stand-offs and supports. An attractive approach, based on the marriage of two exciting technologies: continuously-brazed aluminum matrix composites (AMCs) and thermally-insulating carbon foam, can result in a more weight efficient structure in keeping with NASA's goals to reduce payload-to-orbit costs by orders of magnitude. In the proposed effort, the two materials technologies, developed independently under previous DoD and NASA SBIR efforts, will be demonstrated and tested as a combined system. The insulating carbon foam will be augmented with oxidation inhibitors, plasma sprayed with aluminum, and brazed onto continuously-wound and brazed AMC structures (e.g., tubes or panels). The foam may also be protected at the surface by inconel or Ti-Al sprayed layers or foils to create an oxidation resistant, structural, and weight-efficient TPS. The performance of such constructions will be evaluated by a variety of thermal and mechanical tests to simulate the reentry environment and to quantify its weight and structural benefits over existing TPS.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
Integrated, lightweight firewall insulation and body panels in aircraft,
spacecraft, automobiles, trains and other transportation vehicles.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Darren K. Rogers, Ph.D.
Touchstone Research Labortory, Ltd.
The Millennium Centre, R.D. 1, Box 100B
Triadelphia , WV 26059 - 9801

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Touchstone Research Laboratory, Ltd.
The Millennium Centre, R.D. 1, Box 100B
Triadelphia , WV 26059 - 9801

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.01-9602 (Chron: 000399 )
PROJECT TITLE
Cool-Wall Vortex Combustion Chamber (CWVCC)

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
ORBITEC proposes to develop an innovative, cool-wall rocket engine combustion chamber that confines propellant mixing and burning to the inner region of a coaxial vortex flow field. The outer region of the flow field prevents the hot combustion products from contacting the wall. Though the chamber walls are subject to radiant heat transfer, one of the propellants provides effective wall cooling to prevent thermal degradation of the chamber. The Cool-Wall Vortex Combustion Chamber (CWVCC) offers several advantages over conventional liquid rocket engine designs. Avoiding severe thermal cycling of the chamber will extend chamber lifetime and allow for simple, lightweight, low-cost chamber designs. The vortex acts as an effective flame holder and may prevent combustion instability. The spinning vortices also provide an extended flow path much longer than the geometric length of the chamber. The chamber length may thus be reduced for a
significant weight savings. The enhanced shear mixing should produce high combustion efficiencies. Engines featuring this technology should offer high reusability, high performance, long life, and low cost. Phase I will include numerical flow field analysis, lab-scale engine design, fabrication, parametric hot-fire testing using oxygen and hydrogen, data analysis, and large-scale preliminary engine designs for Phase II.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The ultimate goal of this technology is aimed at improving liquid rocket and RBCC engine heat transfer capability, lifetime, reusability, and thrust-to-weight ratio. Simplifying engine manufacture and lowering operational costs represent further benefits. Second and third generation launch vehicles will benefit from these improvements. The end product of the overall research and development program will have application to sounding rockets, single-stage-to-orbit vehicles, and other reusable and expendable launch vehicles and upper stages for Earth orbit and planetary ascent and descent applications. The advantages of the CWVCC may also make it an attractive technology for combined-cycle vehicles, hypersonic space planes, and airbreathing engines such as ramjets and rocket ejectors. Near-term military applications include: high-speed and/or high altitude target drones, cruise missile propulsion, interceptors, and forward observation craft propulsion. In addition to these applications, this new type of vortex combustion may have significant industrial benefits. For example, many classes of air-fired combustors can use the CWVCC technology for improved combustion efficiency, extended lifetime, and potentially reduced emissions.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Dr. Martin Chiaverini
Orbital Technologies Corporation
Space Center, 1212 Fourier Drive
Madison , WI 53717 - 1961

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Orbital Technologies Corporation
Space Center, 1212 Fourier Drive
Madison , WI 53717 - 1961

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.01-9775 (Chron: 000226 )
PROJECT TITLE
Analysis Tool For Launch-Induced Forcing Functions On Spacecraft Surfaces

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed innovative analysis tool is driven by the need to integrate both analytical and experimental techniques when performing an experiment of spacecraft launch. When available, this tool provides an acoustic engineer access to both the experimental data being measured and analytical predictions that are derived from empirical models and a database. Thus, the proposed tool takes advantage of an existing database that includes pertinent extensive Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) data. As data are being recorded, the tool generates acoustic spectra at locations that are not part of the experimental setup to provide in-situ prediction. Furthermore, this high-level analysis tool improves the quality of the experimental data by detecting potential problems as the data is being taken; hence, the engineer can intervene in the process to eliminate anomalies or improve results. The analytical prediction tool, once calibrated, can be used to predict acoustic spectra during launch at various locations on and around the spacecraft. These acoustic load predictions can then be used for structural dynamic analysis. The proposed tool incorporates several input parameters that an analyst can change to simulate or eliminate perturbations in the experimental conditions. This flexibility helps determine the sensitivity of the measured experimental results to various parameters.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
Once this method has been developed, coded, and tested, it has strong commercial potential. Broad marketability arises from the fact that this method provides both spacecraft and aircraft designers a highly useful tool to analyze acoustic data in real time and provide loads for structural analysis early in the design phase for a new vehicle. The method will be made available as a functional accessory module to an existing analysis product that evolved from earlier NASA SBIR work. This product, PC-SIGNAL?, has just become available for users. The commercial version of the new module will feature an extensive graphic user interface to enable users to apply it with minimum training and obtain results. The proposed module fills a long standing spacecraft/aircraft engineering void. Heretofore, surface acoustic forcing functions were hard to synthesize because no combination of analysis techniques and test data integration was available for this purpose.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Wade Dorland
AI Signal Research, Inc.
3411 Triana Blvd
Huntsville , AL 35805 - 4641

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
AI Signal Research, Inc.
3411 Triana Blvd.
Huntsville , AL 35805 - 4641

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.02-8001 (Chron: 002000 )
PROJECT TITLE
A Proton Collimator for IEC Fusion Propulsion

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The proposed research will study and develop an efficient method for directed energy extraction from an Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) fusion plant, enabling efficient space propulsion. The concept proposed would collect and collimate the high-energy fusion ions from the IEC using a unique system of magnetic fields. This beam of high-energy particles could be coupled to a direct energy converter ro produce electrical output, or be focused onto a target, directly forming a plasma exhaust. To enable early laboratory studies of the concept, an experiment is proposed using electrons to simulate fusion products, e.g. 14-MeV protons from D-He3 fusion. The approach proposed is to design an initial experimental collimator during Phase I. This experiment would utilize a low energy electron gun source to simulate fusion products. This Phase I design study would serve as the basis for the construction and testing of the electron collimator during Phase II. It is estimated that such an experiment could be done with a small fraction of the money required to build the full-scale proton collimator. Yet it would firmly establish the physics and engineering necessary to build an integrated IEC-proton collimator in Phase III.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The primary commercial application for this invention would be advanced spacecraft propulsion. Both operation modes considered are useful: the evaporating target thruster can give significant thrust to a spaceship, while the direct energy converter version can be used for generation of electricity for other type of thruster or other systems within the spacecraft. Direct exhaust of protons can also be considered as a possible thrust alternative for high-impulse low-thrust spacecraft.

The high-energy proton collimator can also find commercial market in all the applications that currently require particle accelerators. Among this numerous applications, the following can be mentioned:
· Manufacture of medical isotopes
· Proton-based radiotherapies
· Material characterization techniques (RBS, PIXE)
· Industrial applications
· Spallation sources
· Radioactive waste transmutation and elimination

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Hiromu Momota
NPL Associates
912 W. Armory
Champaign , IL 61821 - 4537

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
NPL Associates
912 W. Armory Ave
Champaign , IL 61821 - 4537

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.02-8064 (Chron: 001937 )
PROJECT TITLE
Carbon-based Mars ISRU Rocket Technology (CMIRT)

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The innovation is a unique Carbon-based Mars ISRU Rocket Technology (CMIRT) that can greatly reduce vehicle size, complexity, support systems, and Earth launch mass requirements for a variety of human and robotic Mars missions, where propulsion systems use propellants from indigenous materials on Mars. CMIRT propellants are simply derived from the CO2 or H2O in the Mars atmosphere or from H2O found in the Mars soil or subsurface. The CMIRT innova-tion consists of efficiently packaged solid carbon-based fuel (with various percentages of hydrogen)/liquid oxygen inte-grated into ORBITEC's cryogenic hybrid with a vortex feed system. The ISRU-based propellant family and the unique vortex-fed hybrid propulsion system approach proposed here has many advantages over other Earth-derived propellants and conventional propulsion systems. ORBITEC's experience and capability in advanced propulsion and ISRU sys-tems will allow much to be accomplished during the Phase I effort. During Phase, I ORBITEC proposes to: (1) conduct test firings in the ORBITEC Mark II hybrid engine to measure regression rates of the carbon-based propellants, (2) de-sign the vortex advanced cryogenic hybrid engine that will integrate into the MarkII system, (3) construct/fabricate and test the vortex advanced cryogenic hybrid engine, (4) conduct test firings in the vortex engine, and (5) analyze test firing results and recommend Phase II propellant selection and flexible propulsion systems that can use many of the carbon-based fuels with oxygen. Phase II will result in the final designs, construction, parametric testing, and larger-scale test firings of selected CMIRT propellant systems.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The results of this effort are applicable to future NASA Solar System unmanned and manned exploration missions to Mars. This activity is a part of NASA's overall strategic plan. Totally Mars-produced fuels and oxidizers will enhance and/or enable a variety of Mars exploration missions by providing a very cost-effective supply of propellants. The unique hardware proposed will also provide a low-cost and efficient/simple approach to reusable rocket propulsion on Mars. The establishment of practical feasibility could absolutely result in significant savings to our exploration pro-grams. These engines could be used for efficient planetary ascent/descent, orbit transfer, launch boost, intercept, etc. The storage aspects could lead to developments in lunar, Mars-based or on-orbit cryogenic fluid storage applications. This propellant/propulsion concept can meet the requirements of a number of manned and robotic ISRU Mars missions, especially a sample return mission. The proposed project could spinoff into revolutionary high-performance, low-cost, advanced cryogenic engines, of various sizes, that could significantly enhance a wide variety of Earth-based military and civil space missions and enable others.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Dr. Eric E. Rice
Orbital Technologies Corporation
Space Center, 1212 Fourier Drive
Madison , WI 53717 - 1961

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Orbital Technologies Corporation
Space Center, 1212 Fourier Drive
Madison , WI 53717 - 1961

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.02-8657 (Chron: 001344 )
PROJECT TITLE
Alchemist - An Enabling Technology for Low Cost Access to Space

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The Alchemist system we are proposing is a combined-cycle system which reduces Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) liftoff weights by a factor of four relative to all-rocket systems. This reduces the weight of major elements (e.g. Jet engines, wing, and landing gear)by 60%, and allows us the margin to use the same principles and advantages commercial airplanes use to achieve very safe operations and low operating costs. Using Alchemist, a completely reusable RLV, weighing less than a 777 at takeoff, can operate out of existing commercial airport facilities and deliver the same usable payload to the International Space Station as the Space Shuttle . Turbofan engines are an integral partof the Alchemist system, providing not only takeoff, climb, and cruise propulsion, but all-envelope intact-abort capability, plus ferry capability. With the turbofans on board we have single-fault tolerance against catastrophic failure on all flight critical systems including main propulsion. Single-fault tolerance on all systems provides the operational breakthrough necessary to transition from artillery-like to airplane-like launch systems. Our calculations show that an RLV designed to take full advantage of Alchemist has less than a 1/10,000 chance of loss-of-vehicle and operating costs of $500/kilogram to LEO.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
Exploration and commercialization of space requires safe, reliable, low-cost access to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). We are fifty years into the space age and the cost to put a kilogram in orbit, in current year dollars, hasn't decreased since Apollo in the early sixties. Compare that to airplane transportation where the cost to fly a kilogram from New York to Tokyo has decreased by a factor of four in current year dollars over the same time period. The Alchemist system we are proposing is a combined-cycle system which allows Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs) to use the same principles and advantages commercial airplanes use to achieve very safe operations and low operating costs. Using Alchemist, a properly designed RLV can: operate out of existing airport facilities, maintain fault-tolerance on all critical systems including main propulsion, carry full airplane-like design and safety margins, and still be small and light enough to be affordable from a development cost standpoint. Alchemist provides the margin to allow the RLV designer to design for safety, reliability, and low maintenance instead of performance. Our calculations show that an RLV with Alchemist has less than a 1/10,000 chance of loss-of-vehicle and operating costs of $500/kilogram to LEO.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Steven White
Andrews Space & Technology
525 S. douglas, Suite 210
El Segundo , CA 90245 - 4827

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Andrews Space & Technology
525 S. Douglas , Suite 210
El Segundo , CA 90245 - 4827

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.02-8730 (Chron: 001271 )
PROJECT TITLE
Carbon dioxide Oxidizer Rocket

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The Carbon dioxide Oxidizer Rocket (COR) is a novel propulsion system concept that can enable global mobility for Mars exploration. In this concept a fuel, such as B2H6, B5H9, SiH4, LiBH4, Al(BH4)3, H2, Mg, NH3 or N2H4 is transported to Mars and burned in the COR engine using native Martian CO2 as the oxidizer. Specific impulses for these propellant combinations range from 200 to 320 s. Because the majority of the propellant mass is CO2, which can be replenished from Martian air with a simple pump, the effective specific impulse of the fuel transported from Earth can exceed 1600 s. The COR could be used to power a Mars hopper vehicle, which replenishes itself with CO2 oxidizer each times it lands, allowing one Mars mission to explore a large number of widely dispersed sites. COR rockets could also be used to support NASA's planned Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission by eliminating the need to transport to Mars most of the propellant needed by the Mars ascent vehicle. As a result the MSR mission could both reduce the size of its required launch vehicle and increase the sample size returned to Earth, greatly increasing mission cost-effectiveness.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The primary application of the COR system is to enable Mars global mobility systems and to greatly increase the cost effectiveness of NASA's planned Mars Sample Return mission. However, other commercial applications potential of the COR are important and manifest. CO2 is a safe, non-cryogenic, non-toxic oxidizer. If rocket engines can be developed employing it, they will find broad application for use in space storable upper stages, sounding rockets, and easy to integrate satellite RCS systems. Current spacecraft RCS systems employ hydrazine, which is dangerous, toxic, explosive, expensive to integrate into a spacecraft, and low-performing (220 s Isp). COR rockets would be a cheap, safe, easy-to-integrate space storable alternative with superior performance. COR propulsion for sounding rockets for use in the university environment are particularly attractive, as alternative oxidizers in current use are either cryogenic (LOX) or toxic (NTO) or explosive (H2O2), all of which faults are of significant concern to educators who desire student involvement in sounding rocket launch or related propulsion projects.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Robert Zubrin
Pioneer Astronautics
11111 W. 8th Avenue, Unit A
Lakewood , CO 80215 - 5516

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Pioneer Astronautics
11111 W. 8th Ave., Unit A
Lakewood , CO 80215 - 5516

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.02-9425 (Chron: 000576 )
PROJECT TITLE
Gelled LH2/UFAL/LOX Propellant System

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
ORBITEC proposes to use ultra-fine aluminum powder (UFAL) to develop a gelled LH2 fuel and LOX propellant system. This innovation will increase the performance and density of LH2/LOX and the combustion efficiency of LH2/Al/LOX for use in rockets and combined-cycle vehicles. Lighter, higher-performing vehicles will result. Project objectives include development of a subscale rocket engine with which to test LH2/UFAL/LOX over a range of operating conditions, analysis and correlation of experimental data, and preliminary design of larger rocket and ramjet engines for Phase II. In Phase I, a prototype rocket will be test fired. In Phase II, a larger rocket engine will be developed and tested and a prototype ramjet engine will be tested to validate the performance of LH2/UFAL with air for combined-cycle vehicles. It is anticipated that the test results will show high specific impulse, high combustion efficiency, and improved propellant density. NASA applications include planetary propulsion, sounding rockets, various types of launch vehicles, space engines for near-Earth and interplanetary missions, and combined-cycle vehicle engines.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The use of UFAL (ultra-fine aluminum powder) in gelled LH2 can have a significant impact on launch vehicle technology, orbit transfer vehicles, planetary missions, military interceptor applications, and combined-cycle engine performance. UFAL will increase both performance and propellant density, allow reductions in tank size, and construction of lighter, high-performance vehicles. The ultimate goal of this technology is aimed at single-stage-to-orbit vehicles and reusable launch vehicles that use combined-cycle propulsion. The LH2/UFAL/LOX propellant is ideally suited for this application due to its high energy density and high combustion efficiency. LH2/UFAL/LOX could potentially service a combined-cycle vehicle during all stages of flight. Other near-term uses include planetary propulsion, sounding rockets, and small, ramjet powered aerial vehicles, such as RPV's for observation and communication applications. Military applications include: high-speed and/or high-altitude target drones, cruise missile propulsion, interceptors, and forward observation craft propulsion. Industry, NASA, the DOD, DOE, and DOT, may all benefit from this innovation.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Orbital Technologies Corporation
Space Center, 1212 Fourier Drive
Madison , WI 53717 - 1961

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.02-9613 (Chron: 000388 )
PROJECT TITLE
External Pulsed Plasma Propulsion for Interstellar Probes

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
We propose to evaluate external pulsed plasma propulsion for unmanned interstellar exploration. The concept rests on three quantitative observations: (1) the ORION concept is capable of achieving exceedingly-high specific impulse; (2) the unfueled weight of the spacecraft is greatly reduced by eliminating the springs and shock absorbers, originally intended to mitigate g-loading on astronauts, but less necessary for the rugged instrumentation packages alone; and (3) the external plasma pulse spacecraft could be staged to attain velocities that would permit it to cross interstellar space on humanly compatible time scales.

The technical objectives are: (1) to assess the pusher-plate, spring, and shock absorber technology for appropriate trade-offs between impulsive g-loading and the total unfueled weight of the spacecraft; (2) to assess the gain in specific impulse achievable with directed energy pulse units; (3) to explore the limits and trade-offs of staging as a means to achieve exceedingly high velocities; (4) to calculate realistic scenarios for interstellar missions, including the relative resource requirements and relative costs; and (5) to objectively compare the merits of external pulsed plasma propulsion for interstellar probes with other means of propulsion, such as, ion beam beams, fission fragment ejection, Earth-based laser ablation, Earth-based microwave radiation-pressure, etc.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The concept entails development of advanced materials, composites, and microstructures to enhance the lifetime of the pusher plate. These will provide impetus for commercial applications requiring very strong materials that are also resistant to pulses of thermal radiation. New light-weight and high-strength materials will be developed, such as: (1) arrays of bucky tubes; (2) solid-state extruded aligned polyethylenes and other types of aligned polymers; and (3) bucky tubes or polymers with cross links to provide two-dimensional strength.

The research effort will incorporate an assessment of instrumentation that is tolerant of high acceleration, whose development will have a broad range of commercial application, e.g., instruments placed close to explosives, instruments in high vibration environments, and instruments that must survive a high-g impact, such as air- or space-dropped packages to penetrate rock, regolith, or ice.

The information-processing and communication technology necessary for an interstellar mission will spin into the commercial cybernetics community. Information from the probe must be transmitted across several light years, which is unprecedented. The probe must be capable of autonomous decision making, because it will be impossible to forecast the exigencies of a stellar fly-by. This will have spin for the commercial robotics and flexible-automation community.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Johndale Solem
Robotronix, Inc.
220 Andanada
Los Alamos , NM 87544 - 2404

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Robotronix, Inc.
220 Andanada
Los Alamos , NM 87544 - 2404

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.02-9726 (Chron: 000275 )
PROJECT TITLE
Stabilization of Electrodynamic Space Tethers

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Electrodynamic tether propulsion can provide propellantless propulsion capability for a number of important missions in LEO, including stationkeeping for small satellites, boosting of the International Space Station, deorbit of malfunctioning satellites, and orbit raising of payloads. Theoretical analyses, however, indicate that electro-dynamic tethers will experience dynamical instabilities in which the electro-dynamic forces continually pump energy into the tether librations and oscillations. Unless these dynamics are controlled, these instabilities will lead to reduced thrust efficiency and, at worst, loss of control of the tether system. The proposed SBIR effort will develop methods for reliably monitoring the dynamics of both conducting and nonconducting tether structures, and develop control algorithms for stabilizing the dynamical behavior of electro-dynamic tethers. The effort will evaluate several different methods for accomplishing the dynamics monitoring and control, and select for further development the method that provides the optimum balance between reliable control and low hardware and computational costs. The SBIR effort will result in a tether dynamics control package, composed of both dynamics-sensing hardware and feedback control software algorithms, that will enable electro-dynamic tether systems such as propellantless orbital transfer, ISS tether reboost, momentum-exchange/electro-dynamic-reboost tether facilities, and microsatellite stationkeeping to operate safely and effectively.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The Tether Control System will find commercial applications in a number of electro-dynamic tether systems. The Boeing Company is currently investigating electro-dynamic reboost of the International Space Station, and MirCorp is planning on using an electro-dynamic tether to maintain the orbit of the MIR Space Station. Tethers Unlimited, Inc. is developing a small electro-dynamic tether to provide stationkeeping and formation flying propulsion for microsatellites, and is developing an electro-dynamic drag tether system for end-of-life deorbit of spacecraft. Tethers Unlimited is also collaborating with the Boeing Company to develop momentum-exchange/electro-dynamic-reboost tether facilities for propellantless in-space propulsion and as components of an Earth-to-Orbit launch architecture. Other companies are pursuing electro-dynamic tethers for LEO orbital tug applications. All of these applications of electro-dynamic tethers will require a reliable and low cost system for stabilizing the dynamics of the tether system and for optimizing its long-term efficiency. In addition, Tethers Unlimited, Inc. is collaborating with Mirada, Inc. to develop tethered unmanned gliders for high-angle and over-the-horizon sensing for commercial applications such as the fishing industry, law enforcement, and customs enforcement. The proposed SBIR effort is expected to contribute to this spin-off application of the space tether technologies.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Robert Hoyt
Tethers Unlimited, Inc.
1917 NE 143rd
Seattle , WA 98125 - 3236

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Tethers Unlimited, Inc.
8114 Pebble Ct.
Clinton , WA 98236 - 9240

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.03-7921 (Chron: 002080 )
PROJECT TITLE
Novel Approach to the Fabrication of a C-SiC Blisk

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Currently used processing methods for fabricating C-SiC are inadequate for the production of thick sections (over 1 inch) composite structures. This proposal offers a novel approach based on the Chemical Vapor Reaction Process (CVR). A low-cost C-C composite of controlled porosity will be converted into C-SiC. Interfacial carbon coatings will be utilized to prevent fiber damage.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
Commercial Applications include turbine engines, chemical processing equipment, and fixtures for the semiconductor industry.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Dr. W. Kowbel
MER Corporation
7960 S. Kolb Road
Tucson , AZ 85706 - 9237

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
MER Corporation
7960 S. Kolb Rd.
Tucson , AZ 85706 - 9237

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.03-8078 (Chron: 001923 )
PROJECT TITLE
Low-Cost Polymer-Derived Zirconium-Silicate CMC for Rocket Nozzle Applications

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
NASA has identified a need to reduce weight and cost of cooled composite nozzle ramps. A lightweight actively cooled ceramic matrix composite (CMC) system would be lighter than metallic designs and would require significantly less cooling during re-entry. Composite Factory proposes a zirconium-silicate or Zr-Si-O glass CMC with integral ceramic tubes reinforced with a low cost discontinuous ceramic fiber preform. Integral ceramic composite mounting structure offers potential for a 2.0 lb/ft2 structurally integrated exhaust ramp.
The Phase-I project proposes to demonstrate the feasibility of producing an ultra high temperature CMC based on the zirconium-silicate materials currently used in EBC coatings for SiC-SiC CMC?s. Low cost pre-ceramic polymer CMC manufacturing methods combined with automated low-cost fiber preforming methods will be applied in order to keep both material and processing costs at a minimum. Mechanical test coupons will be fabricated and tested. Phase-II objectives would include design and fabrication of a sub-scale test component to verify durability of the composite structure along with manifolding and hermeticity of coolant channels.
The development of a low cost zirconium-silicate matrix would be applicable to turbine engine combustor liners and other commercial engine exhaust components used to mix exhaust gas and reduce noise emissions.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
Currently Composite Factory focuses on BlackglasTM based CMC components. Applications currently being produced for sale are the CMC brakes for motorcycle racing and after-market street use. We are currently working with multiple automotive OEM?s to introduce the CMC brakes into automotive applications. The ability to offer a higher temperature polymer derived CMC system based on similar chemistry would increase the potential markets Composite Factory could pursue. Immediate markets for exhaust liners in diesel engines and combustor liners in turbine engines appear promising.
The application of a higher thermal conductivity phase in the CMC may also improve the performance of the CMC as a friction material in aircraft brake applications where higher thermal conductivity is critical to maintaining acceptable surface temperatures.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Steve Atmur
Composite Factory, Inc.
31 Northern Avenue
Plattsburgh , NY 12903 - 3947

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Composite Factory, Inc.
31 Northern Avenue
Plattsburgh , NY 12903 - 3947

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.03-8738 (Chron: 001263 )
PROJECT TITLE
Advanced CMC Interface and Matrix Technologies

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Advanced rocket and airbreathing engine technologies suitable for Generation 2 and 3 space access vehicles will require composite materials capable of tolerating moist oxidizing high pressure combustion atmospheres resulting in composite surface temperatures in excess of 1950 Celsius. Furthermore, these materials must demonstrate high strength and stiffness and long useful life under these conditions. RCI and PC propose to develop suitable interface and matrix technologies to enable suitable CMC materials to be developed.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
These technologies are potentially crucial for the development of advanced rocket and airbreathing engine technologies. The development of suitable CMCs will create potentially large savings in weight - critical for the success of many advanced vehilce designs.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Paul Chayka
Paul Chayka Co.
31 Cortland Drive
New Milford , CT 06776 - 5740

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Refractory Composites, Inc.
107 N Langley Rd
Glen Burnie , MD 21060 - 6538

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.03-8776 (Chron: 001225 )
PROJECT TITLE
Rapid prototyping of polar-weave CMC blisks for rocket engine turbopumps

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
The realization of future space transportation systems and hypersonic aircraft will need the use of ceramic matrix composites that are economical and can withstand high thermomechanical and aerodynamical loads. Advanced Ceramics Research, Inc. (ACR) has recently developed a rapid prototyping process for its patented C3 continuous fiber reinforced ceramic composites for high temperature applications. The process is simple, robust and is widely applicable to a number of CMC materials. In the proposed Phase I program, ACR proposes to leverage this rapid prototyping approach for CMC?s to produce fully dense lightweight turbomachinery components having capability to operate in hot hydrogen and oxygen environments. The process after scale-up will be capable of producing uniform densities in thick CMC components.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The rapid prototyping technology developed under this program has tremendous commercial potential for both government and the commercial industries. The development of a low-cost technology for rapid prototyping of complex, thick high-temperature ceramic composite components will have far reaching implications in heat engine systems, rocket propulsion systems, and other energy conservation systems. The materials and the technology have potential applications in combustors, hot gas ducts, exhaust flaps, first stage vanes, heat exchangers etc.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Ranji Vaidyanathan
Advanced Ceramics Research, Inc.
3292 E. Hemisphere Loop
Tucson , AZ 85706 - 5013

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Advanced Ceramics Research, Inc.
3292 E. Hemisphere Loop
Tucson , AZ 85706 - 5013

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.03-9809 (Chron: 000192 )
PROJECT TITLE
Thick-Section PIP Derived CMC Components

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
This work will focus on evaluating lower cost PIP processing of C-SiC composites for thick-section and large volume components such as blisk turbomachinery, nozzles, ramps, thrust chambers, ducting and other hot structures. A significant barrier to using composites in these applications involves processing limitations with respect to part size and volume. Processing routes utilizing chemical vapor deposition/infiltration (CVD/CVI) require high-temperature pressure reactors and rely on time/temperature dependent diffusion. As a result, CVD/CVI facility reactor dimensions limits the maximum part size while process physics limit the practical thickness/volume of parts to be infiltrated. Polymer infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP) processing may overcome such limitations. Although significant development has been done in the PIP processing of SiC/SiC systems, little work has been done with PIP C/SiC CMCs. Insufficient data and material properties exist for PIP processed thick cross section parts, which has hindered acceptance and application of this process. The work proposed here provides a baseline mechanical property database for PIP processed C-SiC CMCs, and provides the initial evaluation of thick section composites processed using the PIP approach and incorporating the latest advancements in process cost and schedule reductions.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
The results of this program will be immediately applicable to on-going work of Boeing Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power for the RS-2200 Linear Aerospike Engine system for the second generation of reusable launch vehicles (RLV) and for Rockwell Science Center?s work on the NASA Composite Nozzle Ramp program. An increased understanding of PIP processed materials, and demonstration of large volume and thick section PIP processing will extend the application of this lightweight, high temperature material system into other areas currently under development, such as turbomachininery (turbine blisks and stators), nozzles, thrust chambers, ducting and other hot structures. This work also sets the stage for potential use of PIP processed CMC materials for third generation spacecraft propulsion systems including RBCC and solar thermal propulsion systems.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Jean Stojak, Ph.D.
COI Ceramics, Inc.
9617 Distribution Ave.
San Diego , CA 92121 - 2393

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
COI Ceramics Inc
9617 Distribution Ave
San Diego , CA 92121 - 2393

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.04-8188 (Chron: 001813 )
PROJECT TITLE
A General Computer Code for Simulation of Plasma Aerodynamics and Propulsion

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Lytec LLC proposes to integrate the simulation technology of the MagnetoHydroDynamic (MHD) community into the worlds leading propulsion and aerodynamic flow solver WIND. The WIND code has been chosen because of its general acceptance in the aerospace community as a first class flow simulation tool. The ultimate goal is to provide an integrated magnetogasdynamic solver that will advance the state of the art in the prediction of flowfield simulations for electrically conductive fluids in the presence of electric and magnetic fields.

In Phase I, Lytec will incorporate several modifications into the WIND flow solver to allow prediction of magnetogasdynamic flows where the temperature of the electrons and the bulk gas are equal. Namely: 1) addition of the magnetic force term and ohmic heating term to the momentum and energy equations; 2) Implement Ohms Law for calculation of the induced electric field; 3) Implement calculation of the current density given the magnetic field; 4) Add the magnetic specific energy to the total specific energy; 5) Add a calculation of the plasma conductivity; and, 6) Upgrade the Pre and Post processing tools (GMAN and CFPOST) for display and input of the electric and magnetic fields.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
There has been a recent interest in magnetogasdynamics due to the potential breakthrough nature of this technology with regard to reduced heating loads and propulsion innovations on hypersonic aircraft, and significant drag reduction at all flight speeds. The accurate simulation of these flowfields is paramount to the design and ultimate realization of dozens of advanced military aircraft, access to space vehicles, and commercial high speed transports. If these potential benefits can be shown to be feasible by advanced simulation techniques such as proposed, the commercialization onto existing aircraft or the development new aircraft employing this technology would be very high. Small reductions in drag translate into huge savings in fuel and increased payload for commercial vehicles and would be well received by airframe developers.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Pat G. Vogel
LYTEC LLC
1940 ELK RIVER DAM ROAD / P.O. 1581
TULLAHOMA , TN 37388 - 1581

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
LYTEC LLC
1940 ELK RIVER DAM RD. / P.O. BOX 1581
TULLAHOMA , TN 37355 - 1581

PROPOSAL NUMBER 00-1 03.04-8521 (Chron: 001480 )
PROJECT TITLE
A Collaborative Hypersonic Air-breathing Vehicle Design Environment

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
Proposed herein is a collaborative environment based on an object-oriented, web-enabled, multidisciplinary, distributed framework supporting the design and analysis of hypersonic air-breathing vehicles (CoHAVE). CoHAVE provides a customizable graphical user interface supporting a feature-based design environment integrating a suite of domain-specific analysis tools and geometry enabling the rapid prototyping of hypersonic air-breathing vehicles (HAVs). It supports a unified geometric part model, providing various levels of modeling fidelity to capture conceptual and preliminary design processes. CoHAVE links multiple users in a collaborative process, automating and managing data transfer and interaction among users, designs, analyses, and tools. It provides multidisciplinary optimization capabilities to enhance vehicle analysis, reducing engineering time and cost while expanding the design space explored. A common computational model seamlessly integrates geometry and analysis to support closure of the process through iterative control allowing forward and inverse design. CoHAVE is platform independent and enables multiple users to collaborate across geographically-distributed, heterogeneous workstations. CoHAVE provides a comprehensive environment that facilitates the performance of concurrent engineering of HAVs at a level not currently available.

POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
TechnoSoft, Inc. plans to transition the Collaborative Hypersonic Air-breathing Vehicle Environment (CoHAVE) into the development, marketing, and support of a product for hypersonic air-breathing vehicle design and analysis. This framework will support a collaborative design and analysis environment for seamlessly integrating various tools and engineering processes from the different disciplines. Additional modules and tools will be developed to address needs of other programs and disciplines within NASA that could greatly benefit from the framework. Furthermore, present TechnoSoft customers Lockheed Martin and Boeing have expressed strong interest in the proposed system architecture.

NAME AND ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (Name, Organization Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
Mr. Hilmi Al-Kamhawi
Technosoft, Inc.
4434 Carver Woods Drive
Cincinnati , OH 45242 - 5545

NAME AND ADDRESS OF OFFEROR (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip)
TechnoSoft Inc.
4434 Carver Woods Drive
Cincinnati , OH 452