National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Small Business Innovation Research & Technology Transfer 2003 Program Solicitations
TOPIC T7 Langley Research Center
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T7.01 Personal Air Vehicle Research for Rural, Regional and Intra-Urban On-Demand Transportation
T7.02 Non-Destructive Evaluation, Health Monitoring and Life Determination of Aerospace Vehicles/Systems
T7.01 Personal Air Vehicle Research for Rural, Regional and Intra-Urban On-Demand Transportation
NASA is performing preliminary design studies of Personal Air Vehicle missions, concepts, and technologies for the purpose of augmenting on-demand personal transportation mobility and capacity. The intent of this research is to perform the analysis and demonstration required to provide radical improvements to the key metrics that currently inhibit market growth of these vehicles. Initial research efforts will focus on the near-term, next generation General Aviation class of vehicles, with follow-on efforts performing investigations on mid-term and long-term mission concepts. This PAV research will include focused efforts in the following areas, with the following research goals.
- Reducing small aircraft community noise by 30 PNLdb at a 500’ sideline measurement, equating to a ten-fold reduction in the perceived noise so that these aircraft are no noisier than current motorcycle regulations. The intent of this effort is to demonstrate that significant increases in small aircraft operations can be acceptable to communities, as these vehicles are designed with technologies that permit them to be good neighbors.
- Reducing the aircraft acquisition cost on the order of 60% from current price levels while still at relatively modest production volumes. This effort will include investigation of advanced quality assurance certification processes and procedures, instead of the current quality control methods. Significant industry investment has not occurred because a sizable market is not envisioned at cost levels where only a small fraction of the population can enter the market. Future production of such vehicles could be on the scale of limited production luxury cars, however the demonstration of affordable vehicles at relatively low volume is a critical step for market growth that would provide the capital for rapid expansion.
- Simplify the operation of small aircraft such that the specialized skills, knowledge and associated training are reduced to levels comparable to operating an automobile or boat. This reduction must be achieved during near-all-weather operations and with a level of safety that is superior to comparable operations today.
Mid-term and long-term efforts could also include investigation of technologies that provide improved performance and short field length takeoff and landing capability. Implicit to all these investigations will be enhancing the vehicle safety, versatility, ease of entry, interior environment, visibility, and maintenance and operations cost.
Information is desired on current research efforts in these focused areas for respondent's interested in partnering with NASA on collaborative investigation. It is anticipated that subsystem design and testing will be performed on selected technologies or concepts.
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T7.02 Non-Destructive Evaluation, Health Monitoring and Life Determination of Aerospace Vehicles/Systems
Innovative and commercially viable concepts are being solicited for the development of resilient space qualified non-destructive evaluation (NDE) and health-monitoring technologies for on-orbit inspection and maintenance of aerospace systems. Advancements in integrated multi-functional sensor systems, autonomous inspection approaches, distributed/embedded sensors, roaming inspectors, and shape adaptive sensors are sought. Concepts in computational models for signal processing and data interpretation to establish quantitative characterization and event determination are also of interest. Evaluation sciences include ultrasonics, laser ultrasonics, optics and fiber optics, shearography, video optics and metrology, thermography, electromagnetics, acoustic emission, x-ray, management of digital NDE data, biomimetic, and nano-scale sensing approaches for structural health monitoring.
Technologies may be applied to:
- Adhesives, sealants, bearings, coatings, glasses, alloys, laminates, monolithics, material blends, wire insulating materials, weldments
- Thermal protection systems
- Complex composite and hybrid structural systems
- Low density and high temperature materials
- Aging wiring
Technologies may be used for:
- Characterizing material properties
- Assessing effects of defects in materials and structures
- Evaluation of mass-loss in materials
- Detecting cracks, porosity, foreign material, inclusions, corrosion, disbonds
- Detecting cracks under bolts
- Real time and in situ monitoring, reporting, and damage characterization for structural durability and life prediction
- Repair certification
- Environmental sensing
- Planetary entry aeroshell validation
- Micro-meteor impact damage assessment
- Electronic system/wiring integrity assessment; wire insulation integrity and condition(useful life) and arc location for failed insulation
- Characterization of load environment on a variety of structural materials and geometries including thermal protection systems and bonded configurations
- Identification of loads exceeding design
- Monitoring loads for fatigue and preventing overloads
- Suppression of acoustic loads
- Early detection of damage
- In situ monitoring and control of materials processing
Structural applications to be considered for NDE and health monitoring development include a variety of high stress and hostile aero-thermo-chemical service environments projected for complex structural aerospace vehicle systems. There is additional specific interest in autonomous, non-contacting, remote, rapid, and less geometry sensitive technologies that reduce weight and acquisition costs or improve system sensitivity, stability, and operational costs.
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