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Rotorcraft Icing Computational Tool Development
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MULTIPHYSICS FOR EVERYONE
The evolution of computational tools for COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS
Copyright 2016 COMSOL. COMSOL, the COMSOL logo, COMSOL Multiphysics, Capture the Concept, COMSOL Desktop, COMSOL Server, LiveLink, and Simulation for Everyone are either
registered trademarks or trademarks of COMSOL AB. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners, and COMSOL AB and its subsidiaries and products are not aliated with,
endorsed by, sponsored by, or supported by those trademark owners. For a list of such trademark owners, see www.comsol.com/trademarks.
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www.aerodefensetech.com June 2016
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Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/61062-768
Contents
FEATURES ________________________________________ DEPARTMENTS ___________________________________
4 Digital Design Tools 36 Application Briefs
4 Simulating Thermal Expansion in Composites with Expanded 38 New Products
Metal Foil for Lightning Protection 40 Advertisers Index
10 Rugged Computing
ON THE COVER ___________________________________
10 Designing VME Power Systems with Standard Modules
A CH-47 Chinook helicopter raises a whiteout
14 Optical Sensors of blowing snow as it lands in a remote area
14 Optical Ice Sensors for UAVs of Shah Joy district, Zabul province,
Afghanistan. Ice forming on the lifting sur-
18 Rotorcraft Technology faces of a helicopter can cause loss of lift and
18 Rotorcraft Icing Computational Tool Development increase sectional drag forces, negatively
impacting performance. Developing tools to
24 RF & Microwave Technology accurately model ice buildup on rotors has
24 Curled RF MEMS Switches for On-Chip Design proven to be challenging. To learn more, read
28 Design Software Supports BAE Systems Mixed-Signal Chip Design the feature article on page 18.
(Photo courtesy of U.S. Army)
29 Tech Briefs
29 Precision Assembly of Systems on Surfaces (PASS)
30 Development of a Novel Electrospinning System with
Automated Positioning and Control Software
32 Advanced Multifunctional Materials for High Speed Combatant
Hulls
34 Multifunctional Shear Pressed CNT Sheets for Strain Sensing
and Composite Joint Toughening
Intro Cov ToC + A
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Simulating Thermal Expansion in
Composites with Expanded Metal Foil for
Lightning Protection
Modern aircraft such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner are comprised of more than fifty percent carbon
fiber composite, requiring the addition of expanded metal foil for lightning strike protection.
T
he Boeing 787 Dreamliner is
comprised of more than fifty
percent carbon fiber reinforced
plastic (CFRP) due to the mate-
rials light weight and exceptional
strength. Figure 1 shows the extensive
use of composite materials throughout
the aircraft. Although CFRP composites
inherently have many advantages, they
cannot mitigate the potentially damag-
ing electromagnetic effects from a light-
ning strike. To solve this problem, elec-
trically conductive expanded metal foil
(EMF) can be added to the composite
structure layup to rapidly dissipate ex-
cessive current and heat for lightning
protection of CFRP in aircraft.
Engineers at Boeing Research and
Technology (BR&T) are using multi-
physics simulation and physical meas-
urements to investigate the effect of
Figure 1. Advanced composites used throughout the Boeing 787 account for more than fifty percent of the
the EMF design parameters on thermal aircraft body1. (Copyright Boeing)
stress and displacement in each layer
of the composite structure layup
shown at left in Figure 2. Stress accu-
mulates in the protective coating of
the composite structure as a result of
thermal cycling due to the typical
ground-to-air flight cycle. Over time,
the protective coating may crack pro-
viding an entrance for moisture and
environmental species that can cause
corrosion of the EMF, thereby reduc-
ing its electrical conductivity and abil-
Figure 2. At left is the composite structure layup from the COMSOL model and, at right, the geometry of the
ity to perform its protective function. expanded metal foil. SWD and LWD correspond to short way of the diamond and long way of the diamond.
Through their research, they aim to The mesh aspect ratio: SWD/LWD is one of the parameters varied in the simulations. (Copyright Boeing)
improve overall thermal stability in
the composite structure and therefore tribute to the buildup of mechanical The structure of the EMF layer is
reduce the risks and maintenance stress in the protective coatings over shown at right in Figure 2. In this study,
costs associated with damage to the time as they are subject to thermal cy- the EMF height, width of the mesh wire,
protective coating. cling. The geometry in the figure is aspect ratio, metallic composition, and
from the coefficient of thermal expan- surface layup structure were varied to
Simulating Thermal Expansion in sion (CTE) model developed by Robert evaluate their impact on thermal per-
Aircraft Composites Greegor 2,3 and his colleagues using formance throughout the entire struc-
In the surface protection scheme COMSOL Multiphysics in order to ture. The metallic composition of the
shown at left in Figure 2, each layer in- evaluate the thermal stress and dis- EMF was either aluminum or copper
cluding the paint, primer, corrosion placement in each layer of a one-inch where an aluminum EMF requires addi-
isolation layer, surfacer, EMF, and the square sample of the composite struc- tional fiberglass between the EMF and the
underlying composite structure con- ture layup. composite to prevent galvanic corrosion.
Intro Cov ToC + A
Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/61062-772
The material properties for each layer foil. An example of the simulation re- on displacement in the protective lay-
including the coefficient of thermal ex- sults is shown in Figure 4. ers. When varying the mesh aspect
pansion, heat capacity, density, thermal Through the paint layer at the top of ratio, it was found that an increased
conductivity, Youngs modulus, and Figure 4, it is possible to observe the dis- ratio led to a modest decrease in dis-
Poissons ratio were added to the COM- placement pattern of the underlying placement of about 2 percent for both
SOL model as custom-defined values EMF. The magnified cross-sectional copper and aluminum EMF, where
and are summarized in Figure 3. The co- view clearly shows the variations in dis- higher ratio values correspond to a
efficient of thermal expansion of the placement above the mesh and voids in more open mesh structure. For any
paint layer is defined by a step function addition to the trend in stress reduction EMF design parameter, there is a trade-
that represents the abrupt change in in the uppermost protective layers. Fig- off between current carrying capacity,
thermal expansion at the glass transi- ure 5 shows the relative stress for each displacement, and weight. In the case
tion temperature of the material. layer in surface protective schemes that of mesh aspect ratio, while choosing
In the CTE model, the Thermal Stress incorporate either copper or aluminum an open mesh structure can reduce
multiphysics interface couples solid EMF. The fiberglass corrosion isolation displacement and weight, the current
mechanics with heat transfer to simu- layer required by the aluminum EMF carrying capacity that is critical to the
late thermal expansion and solve for acts as a buffer, causing the stress to be protective function of the EMF is re-
the displacement throughout the struc- lower in the aluminum than it is in the duced as well and needs to be taken
ture. The simulations were confined to copper EMF. into account.
heating of the composite structure Despite the lower stress in the alu- Similarly with regard to the mesh
layup as experienced upon descent in minum EMF, simulation results from the width, varying the width by a factor of
an aircraft where final and initial tem- variation of the EMF design parameters three led to a relatively minor increase
peratures were defined in the model to reveal a consistent trend toward higher
represent the ground and altitude tem- displacements in the surface protective
peratures, respectively. scheme with the aluminum EMF when
compared to copper. The larger displace-
Impact of EMF on Stress and ments generally caused by the alu-
Displacement minum EMF can be attributed, in part, to
The results of the COMSOL simula- the relatively higher CTE of aluminum.
tions were analyzed to quantitatively Further analysis of the impact of the
determine the stress and displacement EMF design parameters was performed
in each layer upon heating and for var- to confirm the effect of varying the
ied properties of the expanded metal height, width, and mesh aspect ratio
Intro Cov ToC + A
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Digital Design Tools
References:
The information presented in this article is
based on the following publicly available
sources:
1. The Boeing Company. 787 Advanced
Composite Design. 2008-2013. www.
newairplane.com/787/design_highlights/#/
visionary-design/composites/advanced-
composite-use
Figure 7. Photo micrographs of the composite structure layups after exposure to moisture and thermal
2. J.D. Morgan, R.B. Greegor, P.K. Ackerman,
cycling. At left, the results for the copper EMF and at right, the aluminum. (Copyright Boeing)
Q.N. Le, Thermal Simulation and Testing of
Expanded Metal Foils Used for Lightning
in displacement of about 3 percent for layer of the surface protection scheme Protection of Composite Aircraft Structures,
SAE Int. J. Aerospace 6(2):371-377, 2013,
both copper and aluminum EMF. for varied height of copper and alu- doi:10.4271/2013-01-2132.
However, varying the height of the minum EMF. Due to the lower impact 3 R.B. Greegor, J.D. Morgan, Q.N. Le, P.K.
EMF by a factor of four led to an in- on displacement, increasing the mesh Ackerman,Finite Element Modeling and
Testing of Expanded Metal Foils Used for
crease in displacement of approxi- width or decreasing the aspect ratio Lightning Protection of Composite Aircraft
mately 60 percent for both aluminum are better strategies for increasing the Structures, Proceedings of 2013 ICOLSE
and copper. Figure 6 shows the relative current carrying capacity of the EMF Conference; Seattle, WA, September 18-20,
2013.18-20, 2013.
values for displacement through each for lightning strike protection.
Intro Cov ToC + A
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Intro Cov ToC + A
DESIGNING VME POWER SYSTEMS
WITH STANDARD MODULES
Off-the-shelf DC-DC converter and EMI filter modules enable rapid development
of custom power solutions.
M
ilitary electronics continue
to push the performance en-
velope in all directions. Each
new system design faces the
same challenges: the need for more pro-
cessing power, tighter specs, and shorter
development time. Continual advances
in system performance often require
similar advances in the power system.
VME architecture is common in many
military applications, as systems can
readily be built around standard or cus-
tom circuit cards. Off-the-shelf VME Figure 1. MIL-STD compliant 28V input power supply.
power supplies are available, but often
dont meet the necessary requirements
or havent kept up with recent perform-
ance advances. Usually, neither sched-
ule nor budget allow for a full custom
power supply development effort.
Fortunately, an optimized VME
power supply solution can be built from
standard off-the-shelf high-reliability or
COTS DC-DC converter modules. This
solution can be rapidly developed at
minimal cost since most of the design
effort is internal to the modules. Input
power bus requirements such as MIL- Figure 2. Input Voltage Conditioning Circuit.
STD-704, MIL-STD-1275, RTCA DO-160
Section 16, and DEF STAN 61-5 can be to choose DC-DC converters from a 28 VDC Input Requirements
met by combining standard DC-DC manufacturer who focuses on these The power requirements for most
converter, EMI filter, and transient pro- applications. Look for high quality VME applications are defined by a
tection modules. Control and telemetry standards such as J-STD-001 and IPC- government or commercial standard.
functions, secondary filtering, and A-610 class 3, or for the most critical For example, equipment for an aircraft
other special requirements can be im- applications, MIL-PRF-38534 Class H application might have to meet MIL-
plemented with discrete circuitry. This or Class K. Products should have a STD-704 or RTCA DO-160, while a ve-
modular approach can be made to fit al- wide temperature range, -55C to hicle application might need to meet
most any application, achieving the 100C or more, a wide input voltage MIL-STD-1275. These documents spec-
same end performance as a custom range, and rugged mechanical con- ify steady state voltage ranges, but also
power supply with much lower risk. struction. Additionally, the environ- voltage ripple, abnormal conditions,
For military, avionics and other mental qualification should be to and undervoltage and overvoltage
high reliability applications it is best MIL-STD levels. transients. An EMI requirement such
Intro Cov ToC + A
Critical Moments
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Intro Cov ToC + A
Rugged Computing
Intro Cov ToC + A
Rugged Computing
Accommodating Higher Voltage and ditional filtering for ultra-low ripple or outputs and I/O signals, are config-
AC Inputs with post linear regulators. urable for almost any application.
High voltage power buses, such as The VPTVME-28, shown in Figure 5, This article was written by Steve Butler,
270 VDC or 115 VAC can be accommo- is a highly configurable VME power Director of Advanced Product Develop-
dated in several ways. At the card or box supply built from VPT Series COTS ment, VPT, Inc., (Blacksburg, VA). For
level, its advantageous to first perform modules. The output voltages and more information, visit http://info.
a bulk conversion to 28 VDC, then use power levels, as well as the number of hotims.com/61062-500.
individual converters to regulate the
different low power outputs. This ap-
proach works with both DC and AC in-
puts, and can often result in a simpler
overall design, as it not only minimizes
the amount of high voltage wiring, but
also takes advantage of the variety of
28V input products available.
A typical aircraft power system design
is shown in Figure 4. The input shown
is a 3-phase wye connected grounded-
neutral system typical of MIL-STD-704
with a nominal voltage of 115V AC and
a nominal frequency of 400 Hz. A 3-
phase six-diode rectifier and bulk capac-
itor is used to convert the 3-phase AC to
a nominal 270 VDC. A bus converter is
used to convert the 270 VDC into a 28V
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Intro Cov ToC + A
Optical Ice Sensors for UAVs
Vibrating-reed ice detectors from the 1980s are designed for controlling
inflatable rubber boots, but todays UAVs require a more modern approach.
T
he perverse thing about ice on Its when liquid water molecules lizer stalls on landing, the nose can
the tailplane of a general avia- (clouds) impinge on the airframe and pitch down very abruptly and vio-
tion aircraft is that the pilot freeze in place thats the danger. lently. Ice-induced tailplane stall on
sits and looks forward, but the Ice forms on thicker members of an landing is really bad, because there may
tailplane is aft. You cant see it from the airframe later (windshields and wings). not be enough altitude remaining in
cockpit. Thats because thicker cross-sectional which to recover.
One sign theres ice on the tailplane members compress more H2O molecules, In-flight situational awareness is even
of a general aviation (GA) aircraft in and their cumulative ram-air heating ef- more critical in a UAV than in a
flight is when the controls become fect is greater than it is on thinner cross- manned aircraft because of the absence
mushy. Thats a tactile clue, but when sectional members (horizontal stabilizers of tactile feedback to a human pilot.
theres no human being with hands on and rudders of the tailplane empen-
the controls, its a compound problem nage). Less compressional heating means Bristling With GPS and Other Gear
for unmanned aerial vehicles. the tailplane remains colder, and ices up Most large air transport and military
As for ice on the wings etc., GA pilots earlier, before the wings do. aircraft are normally equipped with
are trained to look for ice. Again, So, the perversity of ice on an aircraft pneumatic de-icing boots made of rub-
without a human being in direct con- tailplane is that ice is more likely to ber. These boots have been around since
trol, its a double problem for UAVs. But form there than on the wings; the
even so, how do you see clear ice? How tailplane cant be seen, and the deleteri-
do you see white ice on a white wing? ous effects of ice on the horizontal sta-
How do you see ice at night? bilizer can be greater than ice on the
Clearly, ice sensors are de rigueur for wings, especially on landing.
UAVs. Wing ice on the leading edges and
UAVs can fly at great heights, and upper surfaces is bad enough. It de-
for long periods of time. But in order stroys lift, and the weight of it (90%
to get up there, they have to transit that of water) not only burdens the
through the hazardous ice-formation powerplant, but is mostly forward of
zone below 20,000 feet; thats where the center of gravity, inducing the nose
ice forms. Above that altitude, its to point down, toward the ground. Figure 1. This commercial, off-the-shelf, in-flight ice
generally too cold for ice to form on On landing, the effect of ice on the sensor monitors the optical characteristics of
the airframe. Because the temperature horizontal stabilizer is definitely worse whatever substance is in contact with the optical
surfaces of the probe, either air (NO ICE) or water
lapse rate of our atmosphere is -3.5 than on the wing. An aircrafts horizon- ice (ICE ALERT). Ambient wind blows standing
deg F per 1000 feet, H2O molecules in tal stabilizer is actually a small wing, water away, but ice sticks. Made of nonconductive
the air up there may already be in mounted upside-down. It creates delrin and acrylic plastics, probe is electromagnet-
ically compatible with its host aircraft radio envi-
their solid phase, and they just downward lift, forcing the tail down, ronment, and can be installed in close proximity to
bounce off. and the nose up. If the horizontal stabi- radio antennas.
Intro Cov ToC + A
Optical Sensors
Intro Cov ToC + A
Optical Sensors
through in ice sensor technology devel- made entirely of nonconductive plastic. modern UAVs tend to be smaller and
opment, todays newest and most up-to- Modern UAVs are used as airborne lighter, with less powerful engines, a
date ice sensors are available on the platforms for surveillance, mapping, lower energy budget, and bristling with
open market for subsonic aircraft. communications, fire fighting, agricul- GPS and other radio gear.
Optical ice sensors are especially suit- ture, search & rescue, and other radio-
able to UAVs because they are small, light- intense applications. Compared with H2O Phase Change
weight, sensitive, and their probes can be traditional general aviation aircraft, Just as any other radio antennas,
transmitting and receiving antennas on
UAVs require a sphere of elbow room in
which to propagate and receive electro-
magnetic signals correctly, without in-
terference from nearby electrically-con-
ductive structures that might distort
and corrupt their frail, low-level satellite
and terrestrial radio signals.
The limited surface area for ice sensor
probes on a small UAV can complicate the
location and installation of any kind of
metal ice sensor vis-a-vis the aircrafts sen-
sitive radio antennas. Solving this prob-
lem, the external sensing probe of mod-
ern aviation ice sensors is fabricated of
non-conductive plastic that is transparent
to radio signals, and poses no radio inter-
ference problem for the host UAV.
Modern optical ice sensors generally
consist of a unitized plastic probe with
an air gap, circuit board, housing, and
cable. The probe is a delrin plastic can-
tilever that holds two optical windows
and a reflecting wall below the wing,
out into the airstream. In operation, op-
tical ice sensors detect the H2O phase-
change between liquid water and solid
ice. Producing the maximum possible
sensitivity, in-flight ice molecules form
directly on the probes optical surfaces.
Intro Cov ToC + A
Optical Sensors
For more information on ice-induced tailplane stall, interested readers may wish
to view a 23-minute NASA video entitled TAILPLANE ICING that excellently de-
scribes, illustrates and dramatizes the hazards of ice-induced tailplane stall, and its
effects on aircraft safety while landing. For information, contact NASA Glenn at
email grc-icing@lists.nasa.gov, or visit http://icebox.grc.nasa.gov/education/
products.html. Also, a limited number of digital video disks are available directly
from the author, email RLH@newavionics.com
as fuselage, wings and struts. During the power budget of any aircraft. Sim-
NO-ICE conditions, ambient wind re- ple to design into any UAV, they oper-
moves liquid water from the sensor op- ate on just one single DC voltage any-
tics, but ice sticks to it and accumulates where between six and 30 volts. At
for detection. standard 24 VDC input, they draw less
NASA Glenns Icing Research Tunnel, than 100 mA; you can power it with a
the worlds largest such tunnel in Cleve- 5 Watt solar panel. Output logic levels
land Ohio, has tested and documented for the three dedicated wires is zero
optical ice sensors according to a matrix volts to 3.3 volts DC.
of temperature, humidity, altitude, air Absence of installation-template re-
speed, liquid water content, drizzle drop strictions affords optical sensors a great
diameter, and air pressure. Test tunnel deal of flexibility. Probes can be sepa-
matrix and report available upon request. rated from their electronic interface
boards, and conveniently integrated
Figure 4. Saturation ice on a modern optical ice Shape-Changer directly with UAV running lights and
sensor probe. Ice formations on an exposed optical Pitot tubes. Because they are potted
surface in an icing domain can be either solid with two-part epoxy, they are ex-
An optical sensor-excitation signal is clear ice or rime ice, depending upon at- plosion-proof. Because system integra-
created and received by the interface mospheric variables. But optically clear tion is so simple, sensors are shipped
board. The earliest formation of ice ice or opaque rime ice makes no differ- with their connecting wires simply
molecules on the optical surfaces per- ence to the sensor. Optical ice sensors stripped-and-tinned at the end. No re-
turbs the sensors excitation signal, on can change their shape according to the quirement for MIL-SPEC connectors.
a molecular level. The board interprets type of ice formation and report it. Modern ice sensors are offered as
and outputs transducer signal varia- When shipped from the factory, optical commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) prod-
tions on three discrete logic wires as no ice sensors have one shape, but when ucts. Because of an unfortunate ab-
ice (000), ice alert (001), more ice (011), installed in a UAV, flown aloft and faced sence of any published FAA TSO speci-
or saturation ice (111). The probes in- with ice, they can change to a different fication for in-flight ice-sensors, the
board end mates with a small interface shape. Because they are completely aviation community relies upon de-
board buried in solid epoxy inside the solid and lightweight vs vibrating sen- facto standard SAE aerospace specifica-
housing, completely submersible in sors, optical ice sensors are extremely tion AS-5498, core paragraph
water. A lightweight blue cable con- robust vs shock and vibration. They cre- 5.2.1.1.1. Optical sensors are also
nects the unit to its host system. ate less aerodynamic drag than vibrat- listed in SAE aerospace information re-
Optical ice sensors are small, light- ing sensors, and they add lightness to port AIR-4367 paragraph 4.11.
weight, have no MHz clock, and no any aircraft. One of the reasons for their As unmanned aerial vehicles be-
moving parts. They install from inside lightness is they eliminate the weight of come more and more popular
the wing, extending down, air gap fac- many-turns-of-fine-wire magnetic coils throughout the aviation community,
ing forward into the air stream. The en- required for an electro-magnetically modern ice sensors are becoming
tire unit is fixed in place with a 5/16"-24 driven sensor probe. equally important to help operators of
thread and nut, just as an ordinary out- Not only is the weight of the copper the aircraft avoid the hazards of ice-
side air temperature gauge installs in a eliminated, but also the weight of the induced tailplane stall and other ice-
general aviation aircraft. metal frame to contain and mount the related hazards. The recent advent of
Optical ice sensors owe their high vibrating assembly. Optical ice sensors modern optical ice sensors to sup-
degree of sensitivity to the fact that employ very simple direct-sensing plant primitive vibrating sensors
they are pencil thin, and so create min- technology, have no moving parts, promises to aid the state of the art.
imum ram-air heating effect on air- and are simple to manufacture and This article was written by Richard Hack-
borne H2O molecules. For this reason, test. Manufacturing cost is much lower meister, Vice President, New Avionics Corp.,
they attract solid ice molecules before than vibrating sensors. Whats more, (Fort Lauderdale, FL). For more information,
fatter, warmer airframe members, such optical ice sensors substantially reduce visit http://info.hotims.com/61062-501.
Intro Cov ToC + A
Rotorcraft Icing Computational
Tool Development
(Photo Courtesy U.S. Army)
T
he formation of ice over lift- LEWICE and LEWICE3D
ing surfaces can affect aero- LEWICE is NASA's flagship code for
dynamic performance. In the 2D ice accretion prediction, and it is the
case of helicopters, this loss core of the 3D ice accretion tools as
in lift and the increase in sectional well. LEWICE development was initi-
drag forces will have a dramatic effect ated in the early 1980s, with the first
on vehicle performance. The simula- general release (Version 1.0) in 1991.
tion of rotorcraft flow fields is a chal- Four major updates to the code fol-
lenging multidisciplinary problem lowed, in 1993 (Version 1.3), 1995 (Ver-
that lags in development over its sion 1.6), 1999 (Version 2.0) and 2002
counterpart in the fixed wing world (Version 2.2). Recent updates were re-
by more than a decade. Successful leased in 2005 (Version 3.0) and 2006
aerodynamic simulation of a (Version 3.2), and a mixed-phase mod-
rotor/fuselage system requires the eling capability was added in 2008. Figure 1. Methodology for Developing a 3D Ice
modeling of unsteady three-dimen- The code uses a potential panel method Shape.
sional flows that include transonic to determine the flow field about a clean
shocks, dynamic stall with boundary surface, then calculates water droplet tra- LEWICE/Thermal and ANTICE, to simu-
layer separation, vortical wakes, jectories from some upstream location late de-icing and anti-icing with elec-
blade/wake and wake/wake interac- until they impact the surface or until the trothermal or hot air systems. Features
tions, rigid body motion, blade defor- body is bypassed. Collection efficiency is are included to allow determination of
mations and the loss of performance then determined from the water droplet optimized heater sequencing (for elec-
caused by ice accretion. impact location pattern between the im- trothermal analysis) and multiple bound-
Stand-alone ice accretion prediction pingement limits. A quasi-steady analysis ary conditions (for bleed air analysis).
tools, as well as ice accretion fully in- of the control volume mass and energy LEWICE has been thoroughly vali-
tegrated with aerodynamics, currently balance is performed next using a time- dated for a wide range of conditions,
exist for 2D airfoils and 3D aircraft stepping routine. Density correlations are with a database of over 3,000 ice shapes
configurations. Ice accretion predic- used to convert ice growth mass into vol- on 9 different geometries. Validation
tions are typically two-dimensional in ume. LEWICE also features multiple drop has been documented in numerous pa-
nature and based on the classical size distributions, multiple airfoil ele- pers as well as NASA reports. The valida-
Messinger model. The analysis con- ments, thermal models for anti-icing/de- tion database lies mostly within the Ap-
sists of four critical steps: flowfield icing systems, and an interface with struc- pendix C continuous maximum or
calculation, water droplet impinge- tured grid codes, allowing the use of intermittent maximum envelopes, but
ment calculation, heat transfer predic- viscous Navier-Stokes flow solutions. there are some exceedance and super-
tion, and ice accumulation normal to The thermal models in LEWICE com- cooled large droplet conditions for com-
the surface. bine the features of previous codes, parison as well. This validation, along
Intro Cov ToC + A
Rotorcraft Technology
with significant research into recom- dustry, to determine the amount and lo-
mended test methods and advanced cation of ice accretion on an aircraft. It
component models, has led to a degree is used to calculate water loading on air-
of acceptance for use in reducing the craft surfaces so that the size and loca-
cost of development and certification tion of ice protection systems can be de-
programs. termined, to optimize the placement of
However, this acceptance does not icing sensors, and to determine ice
exist for rotary-wing applications. shapes used in failed ice protection sys-
LEWICE does not simulate a fully ro- tem tests. It is also used to determine
tational system, but does allow the user corrections for cloud measurement in-
to input a number of simple parame- struments, such as droplet size probes or
ters-distance from the hub to the 2D liquid water content probes on NASA
section of interest, rotation speed, and research aircraft.
orientation of the plane of Figure 2. Approach for Simulating Oscillation of LEWICE3D uses a Monte Carlo-based
rotation (vertical for propellers, hori- Rotor. collection efficiency calculation using
zontal for rotors). LEWICE droplet impact counts. Trajectories are
performs three additional calculations particle, which is then used to track the calculated using an Adams-type predic-
in rotating body cases. The rotation particle after it is shed. The rotating tor-corrector method. Tangent trajecto-
speed is used to calculate an increase in body information is not used by the po- ries and collection efficiencies for sim-
the aerodynamic heating term in the tential flow solver in LEWICE, nor is the ple 2D or 3D regions can also be
energy balance, the rotational force is rotating body information used by the calculated using a modified version of
included in the ice shedding determina- trajectory equation. the 2D LEWICE method. Streamlines
tion, and the rotational force is used to LEWICE3D is a suite of codes, devel- are calculated using a 4th-order Runge-
find the resultant force of the shed ice oped by NASA and used widely by in- Kutta integration scheme.
Coherent beam
propagation
Get the right result when FRED
Stray light analysis
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Rotorcraft Technology
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Rotorcraft Technology
aerodynamic coefficients of the iced mated and modular. NASA entered into The project utilizes a 3-D Navier-
geometry. The section lift, drag and mo- a two-year cooperative agreement with Stokes analysis and a multi-body dy-
ment characteristics with ice must be ac- the Georgia Institute of Technology, to namics tool, coupled with the GT-Hy-
curately known in order to predict the develop improved coupling techniques brid unstructured Cartesian grid-based
performance degradation from an icing for icing computational fluid dynamics. flow solver to represent the ice shapes.
encounter. Lifting line theory is one Georgia Tech was partnered with the Several different Navier-Stokes flow
commonly used method, but momen- Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. solvers have been used in this frame-
tum source methods coupled with blade
element theory are also widely used, as
EVANSCAPS
are panel methods. Often, proprietary
methods or Navier-Stokes solvers are
used to calculate aerodynamics.
NASA's objective was a robust, vali-
dated coupling of a rotor performance
EVERYWHERE
code with an ice accretion code. The CFD
analysis of a clean rotorcraft configura-
tion is well within the range of current
technology. Fully time accurate simula-
tions of ice accretion on rotorcraft blades
are not currently feasible, however. The
complexity of the problem demands
high-fidelity tools based on first princi-
ples, and a tightly-coupled, physics-based
approach is not currently available.
Rotorcraft aeromechanical studies in-
volve coupling the rotor aerodynamics Phased array High power lasers Avionics, communications,
with the structural dynamics of the sys- radar and power hold-up
tem. The airloads computed by the CFD
solver is used to drive a forced response
simulation with the CSD solver. The
computed structural deflections are used
in the CFD analysis, leading to a change
in the airloads. The two solvers are thus
inherently coupled. The CFD-CSD cou-
pling may be performed primarily in two Displays, mission Space systems JTRS
ways - loose and tight. In tight coupling, computers VRIWZDUHGHQHGUDGLR
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solvers at periodic intervals, typically 8QOLPLWHG&\FOH/LIH8QOLPLWHG6KHOI/LIH/RZ:HLJKW9ROXPH
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pling is driven by the inherent periodic-
ity in the solution, it is used for analysis
of rotors in steady flight conditions.
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Rotorcraft Technology
work including OVERFLOW, TURNS, The use of such a hybrid Navier- FLOW, RCAS and LEWICE can be
and GT-Hybrid. GT-Hybrid, a three-di- Stokes/vortex modeling method allows loosely coupled to assess ice accumula-
mensional unsteady viscous compress- for an accurate and economical model- tion and rotor performance degradation
ible flow solver that uses a free wake ing of viscous features near the blades, for helicopters in forward flight, as
solver to model the effects of the rotor and an accurate non-diffusive model- shown in Figure 1. The system has been
wake. The flow is modeled from first- ing of the trailing wake in the far field. tested and evaluated using existing
principles using the Navier-Stokes wind tunnel or flight data, and effort is
methodology. The three-dimensional Coupled CFD/CSD Analysis for still ongoing. The result is a computa-
unsteady Navier-Stokes equations are Rotorcraft in Forward Flight tional approach for performing high fi-
solved in the transformed body-fitted Another icing analysis process that delity simulations with ice accretion of
coordinate system using a time-accu- has been developed involves the loose rotorcraft blades. The approach is ap-
rate, finite volume scheme. A third- coupling of OVERFLOW-RCAS for propriate to address ice accumulation
order spatially accurate Roe scheme is rotor performance prediction with on rotors in flight regimes from hover
used for computing the inviscid fluxes LEWICE3D for thermal analysis and ice to high-speed forward flight.
and second order central differencing accretion. This method uses three-di- The high fidelity icing analysis ap-
scheme for viscous terms. The Navier- mensional analysis for rotor perform- proach developed for rotor systems fol-
Stokes equations are integrated in time ance and degradation and two-dimen- lows three basic steps:
by means of an approximate implicit sional analysis for ice accretion. The Establish rotor trim, clean rotor per-
time marching scheme. A Spalart-All- automated process allows for rapid formance and the initial flow field en-
maras turbulence model is used to analysis in a parametric study or for the vironment using CFD or coupled
compute the eddy viscosity. The flow analysis of an airfoil subject to the CFD-CSD as appropriate;
is assumed to be turbulent every- many conditions existing on a rotor. For Extract representative 2D airfoil con-
where, and hence no transition model validation, predictions of performance ditions for blade sections at radial and
is currently used. and ice shapes were compared with ex- azimuthal locations and predict ice
A single blade is resolved in the perimental data for rotors in hover and buildup on the rotor accounting for
Navier-Stokes domain. The influence of in forward flight. the diverse operating environment of
the other blades and of the trailing vor- NASA entered into a two-year con- the rotor;
ticity in the far field wake is accounted tract with the Boeing Company (Ridley Reestablish rotor trim and perform-
for by modeling them as a collection of Park, PA), to develop these improved ance for the iced blades.
piece-wise linear bound and trailing vor- coupling techniques for icing computa- Rotor blades experience pitch oscilla-
tex elements. The near wake is captured tional fluid dynamics. The project re- tions as they rotate around the shaft.
inherently in the Navier-Stokes analysis. sulted in a process by which OVER- Pitch oscillations introduce time vary-
ing conditions that influence the distri-
bution of ice along the leading edge.
The process to predict ice on an oscillat-
ing airfoil is built on the premise that
the shape is not a strong function of the
frequency of the oscillation and is pre-
dominantly influenced by the mean
and amplitude of the pitch variation.
With this assumption, the time history
of an oscillating airfoil can be repre-
sented by a very slow moving blade.
Furthermore, if we assume the shape
can be approximated by only consider-
ing the mean angle of attack and the ex-
treme excursions from the mean, the
blade motion can be represented as the
series of quasi-static events, as shown in
Figure 2.
Once the ice has been established on
the blade, the CFD-CSD analysis process
is repeated for the iced rotor. The 3D
rotor grid is modified to account for the
ice shape on the blade. The input to the
CSD analysis is also modified. Accreted
Comparison between scanned data (top) and photograph (bottom) of ice shape on a rotor blade. ice adds to the blade section mass and
Intro Cov ToC + A
Rotorcraft Technology
chordwise inertia. It is assumed that ac- which allow for the retention of previ-
creted ice has no effect on stiffness ous time-step ice shapes. Ultra-Miniature | High Reliability
properties. The mass of ice is deter- Preliminary development of a three- Quartz Crystals, Oscillators
mined from post-processing the icing dimensional Eulerian analysis for mod- and Sensors
analysis, and the placement of the ice is eling droplet impingement was also un-
assumed to be at the section leading dertaken, to improve more efficient Military Grade Crystals and Oscillators
edge. Updates to the section mass, cen- calculation of collection efficiency. The
ter of gravity offset, and chordwise iner- development of a tightly-coupled truly
tia are computed and used in RCAS. multi-physics approach is still a goal to
Rotor performance degradation is ob- work towards, but several promising ef-
tained by comparing the forward flight forts have been undertaken recently.
performance characteristics of the iced Additional effort is still needed to im-
rotor to the baseline rotor. prove methods for predicting rotor
blade shedding and de-icing/anti-icing
High Resolution CFD Analysis of system performance. An icing analysis
Rotorcraft Icing process involving the loose coupling of
Additionally, various Eulerian ap- OVERFLOW-RCAS for rotor perform-
proaches (with both one-way and two- ance prediction with LEWICE3D for
way coupling) for simulating ice accretion thermal analysis and ice accretion was
have also been examined, but significant developed and demonstrated. The
work is still required in order to fully method uses 3D analysis for rotor per-
demonstrate this alternate method. NASA formance and 2D analysis for ice accre-
entered into a two-year cooperative agree- tion. For validation, predictions of per-
ment with the Pennsylvania State Univer- formance and ice shapes were compared
sity to develop improved coupling tech- with experimental data for rotors in
niques for icing computational fluid hover and in forward flight.
dynamics. Penn State partnered with Bell Studies have also been conducted to
Helicopter Textron, Inc. examine the effects of grid spacing, grid
The project applied a zonal approach density, turbulence model, flow-field
to the unstructured FUN3D flow solver, update frequency and number of span-
extended the existing NASA LEWICE ice wise cuts, to name a few. Likewise, sim-
accretion formulation to the rotorcraft ulations of ice accretion prediction and
environment, and coupled this module associated rotor performance degrada-
with the outer CFD flow solution. Initial tion have been conducted for multiple
validation will be conducted by compar- 2D airfoils and for various 3D rotors in
ison with existing test data. The work hover and in forward flight. Ice accre-
UNSURPASSED QUALITY THAT
will result in an advanced software tool tion and detailed aerodynamic meas-
for performing high fidelity CFD simula- urements for 2D clean and oscillating THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY
tions with ice accretion of rotorcraft airfoils undergoing both steady and COUNTS ON
blades. Work is currently ongoing on the transient behavior was obtained in the
thermal modeling for generalized rotor- IRT. Ice accretion, rotor performance Highest mechanical shock survivability
craft flows, although some issues in- and de-icing/anti-icing system behavior in the industry
clude the computation of recovery tem- was obtained for a 3D rotating tail rotor Military Temperature Range and Beyond
perature with variable stagnation in the IRT. For the first time the cou-
Low Acceleration Sensitivity
conditions, transitional flow effects, and pling of an icing code with a computa-
Swept Quartz Capability
working out details to handle them with tional fluid dynamics code and a rotor-
access to a limited amount of data. craft structural dynamics code has been Designed and Manufactured
demonstrated. The codes and research in the USA
Conclusions conducted here are already being transi-
An integrated tool set capable of tioned and used by industry. AS9100C
modeling ice accretion and the overall This article is based on SAE Technical ISO 9001:2008
effects of rotor performance was devel- paper 2015-01-2088 by Richard E. Kreeger,
oped and demonstrated. Key computa- NASA John Glenn Research Center; Lak-
tional parameters were explored, and shmi Sankar, Georgia Institute of Technol- STATEK CORPORATION
preliminary results for cases of practical ogy; Robert Narducci, Boeing Co.; and 512 N. Main St., Orange, CA 92868
interest were encouraging. Modifica- Robert Kunz, Penn State University, Tel. 714-639-7810 | Fax 714-997-1256
tions to LEWICE were demonstrated doi:10.4271/2015-01-2088.
www . STATEK . com
Aerospace & Defense Technology, June 2016 www.aerodefensetech.com Free Info at http://info.hotims.com/61062-779
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CURLED RF MEMS SWITCHES
FOR ON-CHIP DESIGN
M
icroelectromechanical sys- The design of the CMEMS device in- strate. The capacitive (on/off contact)
tem (MEMS) switches are ac- cludes the curled electrode a corru- electrode is surrounded on three sides
tive components in most gated, tri-layered aluminum-silica by a pull-down electrode. A voltage,
electronic equipment. Radio electrode and the single-crystal sili- usually a low-frequency square-wave
frequency (RF) MEMS are used in wire- con cover. At the heart of CMEMS are signal, is applied between the curled
less personal communication devices, the three electrodes. The curled elec- electrode and the pull-down electrode,
satellite communication, and phased trode is specially designed with a built- creating a force that flattens the curled
array antennas. MEMS are ideal for in strain and corrugation to make it membrane against the pull-down and
these applications because of their low roll up and down uniformly. There are capacitive electrodes on the substrate
weight, small surface area, low volume, two fixed flat electrodes on the sub- (on state).
high isolation, large frequency range,
linearity, and low power consumption.
While MEMS have many positive at-
tributes, reliability has been a challenge
with the charged dielectric; stiction and
deformation are two primary causes of
failure. In addition, contact welding
and contamination of the switch by for-
eign debris are also problematic. These
problems are partly due to the design of
the MEMS. In traditional MEMS, the
upper contact electrode is bridged or
flat-cantilevered over the lower elec-
trode; there is no significant separation
between the electrodes in the off state.
The curled MEMS switch (CMEMS) is
a breakthrough technology in on-chip
switching design. The switch is a highly
flexible and robust curled membrane
structure protected by a single-crystal
hermetic cover. The curl, corrugation,
and cover ensure that the sticking, di-
electric charging, and contamination is-
sues associated with traditional MEMS
switches are virtually eliminated.
CMEMS can be combined to create a multiswitch pad. Shown (left) is a four-switch component (without protective caps) that, when combined with three other
such components (right), can produce a true time-delay circuit of 16 possible outcomes.
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FIVE DAYS THREE CONFERENCES ONE EXHIBITION
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Whats On RF & Microwave Technology
RF & MICROWAVE
V TECHNOLOGY CHANNEL
Sponsored by
A significantly lower voltage is applied between the capaci-
tive plates where there are fewer corrugations. The movement
Featured Sponsor Video: Full- of the curled electrode causes a large change in the capaci-
Wave Matching Circuit tance between the curled and capacitive electrode. This
Optimization in XFdtd change in capacitance, from off to on states, provides the
This video gives a demonstration of Full- switching action for the RF signal.
The robust tri-layer structure, aluminum sandwiched be-
Wave Antenna Matching Circuit
tween two silica layers, balances the stress in the curled elec-
Optimization using XFdtd's Circuit
trode and provides high conductivity. The unique tri-layer
Element Optimizer (CEO). The antenna
structure prevents elastic deformation, plastic deformation,
matching circuit design flow is discussed,
fracture, and fatigue, all of which are common difficulties
including CEO's analysis of a given PCB with traditional MEMS switches. Corrugations were designed
layout. Predicted S-parameters and into the switch to induce the proper curl direction (when
optimal component value results for two combined with the intrinsic strain induced by the tri-layer-
different frequency bands are also shown. ing). The corrugated structure has a second function: to re-
www.techbriefs.com/tv/CEO duce the field strength when the electrode is rolled out and
in contact with the pull-down electrode.
Full-Duplex Wireless Could MEMS switches have historically had to deal with contami-
Double Network Capacity nation. The CMEMS single-crystal silicon cover is strong and is
the ultimate gas diffusion barrier protecting the device from
Columbia University engineers have
contamination. It is designed to protect each switch but at the
created a receiver integrated circuit (IC)
same time, it enhances the RF properties of the switch. The
for full-duplex wireless - an exciting new cover, an intrinsic component of the CMEMS circuit, provides
wireless communication paradigm where for a very low RF loss and tight confinement of the RF signal.
the transmitter and the receiver operate CMEMS is designed especially for switching alternating-
at the same time and frequency. Full- current RF signals above 1 GHz. CMEMS functions over a
duplex wireless potentially doubles broad bandwidth, with high linearity and lower loss a
network capacity in the physical layer. critical parameter for cellphones that rely on battery power
www.techbriefs.com/tv/IC-circulator and with the added advantage of small size and weight.
One application for which size, weight, and bandwidth are
Chronos: WiFi System Locates critical is in the RF switching stations found in cellphone
ground stations and in satellites. The low loss and immunity
Users with Extreme Precision
from drift are, of course, critical in these applications.
Researchers at MIT's Computer Science The principal advantage of a switch having a moving metal
and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory electrode is the large impedance change that can be achieved.
(CSAIL) have created a system called The unique character of CMEMS is the curled electrode that
Chronos that enables a single WiFi access gives by far the largest impedance change of any MEMS or
point to locate users to within tens of other on-chip switch as it moves from the open curled state
centimeters, without any external sensors. to the closed state.
The system could mean safer drones, The uniqueness of the CMEMS design:
smarter homes, and password-free WiFi. Provides a high-power capability for numerous device ap-
www.techbriefs.com/tv/Chronos plications;
Can carry more information because of its wide band-
Sense-and-Avoid System width capability;
Has a small package dimension, reducing circuit size to
Prevents Mid-Air Collisions much smaller than RF wavelengths, and allowing for true
A research effort associated with phase shifting;
DARPA's Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Is stable over wide temperature ranges to permit usage in
Automation System (ALIAS) program extreme environmental conditions;
recently conducted the first successful Is extremely reliable the number of cycles before fail-
flight tests of a shoebox-sized, plug-and- ure opens up many potential applications;
play system designed to enable manned Eliminates the sticking problem inherent in other MEMS
and unmanned aircraft to automatically devices;
detect nearby aircraft and avoid potential Has a closed loss less than 0.1 dB and open isolation
mid-air collisions. greater than 20 dB over a frequency band of 5 to 40 GHz
www.techbriefs.com/tv/sense_and_avoid (for a single packaged switch) the best-reported results
for any MEMS switch over this frequency band.
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RF & Microwave Technology
PROVEN RELIABILITY.
TRUSTED PERFORMANCE.
Thick & Thin Film Resistor Products Electronic Package Products
Faithful scheduled deliveries under 2 weeks Hi Reliability Hermetic Packages:
Values from 0.1 Ohm to 100G Ohm Lightweight glass sidewall atpacks, SO-8, and
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RF & Microwave Technology
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Tech Briefs
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Tech Briefs
the chemiresistive responses has been The ability to create on demand SWCNTs with commercially available
completed and it was found that the re- chemical sensors with minimal infra- small molecules (solid or liquid). A tech-
sponses of metalloporphyrin-SWCNT- structure offers a useful capability in nique called DRAFT (Deposition of Re-
based sensors to vapors of various support of covert and/or battlefield ap- sistors with Abrasion Fabrication Tech-
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) plications. The object, therefore, is to nique) was then used to deposit these
were strong and were subjected to sta- develop a rapid, scalable, portable, and materials on a variety of substrates. Se-
tistical analyses that enabled the suc- cost-effective approach for the fabrica- quential deposition by mechanical abra-
cessful classification of representative tion of fully-drawn chemical sensing ar- sion of sensing materials and commer-
VOCs into five different categories rays on a variety of different substrates cial graphite pencils on various etched
(aliphatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, ke- (e.g., paper, plastic, and undoped float and non-etched substrates yields pre-
tones, aromatic hydrocarbons, and zones silicon wafer). This approach is cisely fabricated fully-drawn chemiresis-
amines) with 98% accuracy. entirely solvent-free, requires only small tive sensing arrays (Figure 2).
With the exception of amines, which amounts of sensory materials, and is ca- The performance of the arrays were
are capable of strong charge transfer in- pable of producing highly-sensitive benchmarked against those created
teractions, the basis of classification ap- chemical sensors. using conventional metal based elec-
pears to correlate with the differences in This approach has been demonstrated trodes. It was found in all cases that the
the solubility properties of the por- in the context of sensing and differenti- fully drawn sensors were able to match
phyrin compounds in the various VOCs ating a variety of vapors at ppm concen- the performance of those on similar
as solvents. This feature suggests that trations. The demonstration employs substrates with metal (Au) electrodes.
solvent vapors modulate the strength of solid composites of single-walled carbon This work was done by Timothy M. Swa-
interactions between the porphyrins nanotubes (SWCNTs) and small mole- ger of Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and the nanotubes. These results fur- cules as the sensing material and for the Army Research Office. For more in-
ther demonstrate the potential for por- graphite as electrodes utilizing a previ- formation, download the Technical Sup-
phyrin-functionalized SWCNT-based ously established method to generate port Package (free white paper) at
electronic noses for applications in in- sensing materials, or PENCILs (Process www.aerodefensetech.com/tsp under the
expensive, portable chemical sensors for Enhanced NanoCarbon for Integrated Manufacturing/Automation category.
the identification of VOCs. Logic), by the mechanical mixing of ARL-0193
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Tech Briefs
The stepper motors used in the elec- counts per revolution and allows the An RS232 kit provides a communica-
trospinning system each have an inte- position of the gantry to be controlled tion link between the motors and the
grated driver and controller. The mo- and measured with a resolution of ~ 2 PC. The RS232 kit converts serial com-
tors have a 1.8 full step resolution microns. The motor assembly is also munication from the PC to an indexed
and are capable of generating mi- programmable with 4kB of memory, RS485 protocol, which allows a single PC
crosteps as small as 1/256 of a full and prewired to receive inputs from serial port to communicate with multi-
step. The encoder generates 1250 the limit switches at either end of the ple stepper motors independently. A
travel distance. 36V power supply is used exclusively for
Intro Cov ToC + A
Tech Briefs
the gantry motors. The power supply Communication with the high voltage gantry can traverse a rectangular space
input is 120VAC, and it outputs 36V at power supply was established with a data by moving along one dimension, alter-
8.5A (300W). acquisition unit (DAQ), which receives nating direction with each row and paus-
Polymer solution is delivered to the en- commands from the LabVIEW inter- ing at intervals (Figure 2). The operator
ergized needle with a high-precision sy- face and sends a scaled control signal to enters x and y distances values, which
ringe pump with dual syringes. The in- the high voltage supply. The high voltage define the arbitrary coordinate grid con-
strument can be programmed to operate output is connected to the needle using a taining the node locations of a pause or
as a single dispenser (one solution and charged adapter disc held in place with a change in direction. Other input param-
one syringe), dual dispenser (two solu- setscrew, and the power supply ground is eters include speed and time to run,
tions in two separate syringes), or contin- connected to the collector. A second wire which is linked to the syringe pump.
uous dispenser (two linked syringes and with an alligator clip connects the dis- Once the gantry has reached the last
one solution). The syringe pump uses pensing needle to ground whenever the node specified in the routine, the pro-
positive displacement providing better power supply is off, to ensure the system gram executes the path in reverse. The
than 99% volumetric accuracy. The step is fully discharged when not in use. collector plate will run this forward and
resolution is 48,000 steps per stroke of At any point after initialization, the reverse sequence continuously until
the pump, independent of syringe size. gantry can be moved in x, y or z direc- stopped by the operator or at the end of
The high voltage power supply pro- tions. From the interface, the operator a pre-defined period of time.
vides the necessary voltage differential enters a distance value in the dialog box This work was done by Bridget Endler, MS;
between the needle tip and the collector and presses the control indicating the Roy Dory, MS; Tony Yuan, MS; and Mauris
plate to eject the polymer fiber from the desired direction of movement. Once the DeSilva, PhD for the Naval Medical Research
Taylor cone. The voltage required to gantry is initialized, the operator also has Unit. For more information, download the
spin fibers varies widely depending on the option to load a spreadsheet with Technical Support Package (free white
the particular polymer and solvent patterning parameters to instruct the paper) at www.aerodefensetech.com/tsp
combination; typical values from the gantry to move along a specified path. In under the Manufacturing/Automation
literature range between 5 50 kV. a simple example of its application, the category. NRL-0066
Smart Pump
SQU
Squeege
Heated Print Bed
Heat
Intro Cov ToC + A
Tech Briefs
methods will be part of a library of core ite required exploring new manufactur- utilizing two different types of dispensing
material building blocks that can be opti- ing methods, namely screen printing heads for depositing a wide variety of ma-
mally combined in a stackable layup to and micro-dispensing. Screen printing is terials. The implementation of two print-
produce the next generation of multifunc- an additive manufacturing method that ing heads allows for the printing system
tional hulls. utilizes a mesh screen, a flood, and a to toggle between printing two materials
Most high speed combatant hulls are squeegee, as seen in Figure 1. The mesh at once. These materials may also be
traditional sandwiched core designs con- screen that was used contains a desired swapped out mid-print in order to incor-
structed from a foam or balsa wood core geometrical pattern that was deposited porate varying properties within one
sandwiched between two composite face onto the substrate. When the flood is ac- structure.
sheets. Current methods to augment tuated, it deposits ink across the surface The results of this research are broken
these structures with ballistic capabilities of the screen, the screen is then lowered down into three categories based on the
employ arrays of small panels, made typi- to a snap-off height above the substrate, nature of the ink used. Specifically, de-
cally from metal, carbon, glass or high and the squeegee actuates to deposit the tailed results are provided for high dielec-
strength polymer fibers, bolted onto the desired pattern. The substrate is then tric constant loaded composites, magneti-
outer surface. One clear disadvantage of heated to cure the deposited ink. This cally loaded composites, and resistively
this approach is the large {>100%) in- process allows for a designed pattern to loaded composites.
crease in both size and weight. The use of be repeatedly deposited onto multiple This work was done by Mark S.
outer panels constructed from high substrates in a short period of time. Mirotznik of University of Delaware for the
strength polymer fibers, such as Dyneema Micro dispensing is a process of additive Office of Naval Research. For more infor-
or Spectra, has shown the most promise in manufacturing that utilizes a dispensing mation, download the Technical Sup-
adding ballistic performance while mini- head to precisely deposit a material. The port Package (free white paper) at
mizing additional weight. Similarly, most micro dispensing system that was used in www.aerodefensetech.com/tsp under
radar absorbing hulls are constructed by this research was an nScrypt 3Dn-300, pic- the Manufacturing/Automation cate-
adding layers of radar absorbing materials tured in Figure 2. The system is capable of gory. ONR-0034
(RAM) treatments to the outer surfaces of
a traditional hull design. There are cur-
rently no examples of hull materials that
combine structural, ballistic and radar ab-
sorbing functionalities.
Reliable Data Storage
The technical approach to solving that
problem was to employ scalable screen
High Speed Data Transfer
printing to print patterns of functional- Up to
ized custom inks and pastes to composite 2TB capacity
materials. The proposed effort was model-
ing and simulation driven guiding the se-
lection of appropriate composite materi-
als, inks, additives and printable patterns
to create design methodologies that can
be followed to produce composite materi-
als with well-defined electromagnetic, MODEL 9740
structural and ballistic properties.
To realize a multifunctional hull mate- Kamans Model el 97
9
9740
400hhigh
igh
h pe
performance
rformance
f multi-port
m
rial that minimizes weight, a number of digital storage system is small, lightweight, low power,
advanced composite materials were used
in addition to standard woven glass and solid-state - for military and aerospace applications.
carbon based composites. These included Four removable solid-state memory cards designed for use in
woven glass fabrics and Kapton, a poly- severe environments and hot-swap capable.
imide film thats a common dielectric sub- Kaman SATA Card can be up/downloaded independent of the
strate used for printing electronics, as well multi-port electronics unit using Kamans SATA to USB Ground
as high strain rate polymer composites Station Adapter.
such as Dyneema HB26 or Spectra Shield. Removable Encryption Key provides 256Bit AES data encryption.
Three types of electromagnetically
functional inks were also explored: resis-
tive inks, high dielectric constant inks, 860-632-4662
and magnetic inks. memory@kaman.com
To tailor structural, ballistic and elec- Call for additional information & pricing.
tromagnetic properties within a compos-
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Tech Briefs
Intro Cov ToC + A
Connect on social media:
LAST CHANCE! Entry deadline: July 1, 2016 #CTF2016
PREDICT
THE BEST WAY TO
THE FUTURE
...IS TO
CREATE IT. ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Winning the Create the Future Design Contest award was a big recognition for the N5 team. We have received follow-
up inquiries and leads after receiving the award, said Abhishek Motayed, president and founder of N5 Sensors.
SUPPORTING SPONSOR
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Application Briefs
Upmast Radar Systems port of the vessels navigational magnetron radar to provide
the safety and situational awareness required in high clutter
Kelvin Hughes conditions.
Enfield, UK With its longer range target detection capability and low
+44 19 9280 5200 power output - reducing the probability of detection by ESM
www.kelvinhughes.com equipment - the SharpEye radar will enable the craft to re-
main out of visual sight and out of conventional radar detec-
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Application Briefs
Intro Cov ToC + A
Flying Flame Retardant
EP90FR-V for Specialized
New Products
High Aviation Applications
Handheld Marking Unit
The new FlyMarker mini is the
fourth generation of the battery-oper-
Meets FAR standard 14 CFR 25.853(a) ated, FlyMarker dot peen marking
system from Equipment Sales Co.
Passes vertical burn test (Sioux City, IA). Housed in an er-
gonomically designed, compact unit
weighing just 6 lbs, the mini can be carried around with no
Meets Boeing standards power or air cables needed. Its strong magnet and powerful bat-
tery produce durable and unforgeable markings on nearly any
BSS 7238, Revision C for low smoke material ranging from plastics to aluminum to steel. The versa-
BSS 7239, Revision A for toxicity tile mini also marks round parts, with automatic height com-
pensation up to 5mm.
The marking files can be programmed via self-explanatory
software on the unit itself and includes storage space for sev-
High bond strength eral hundred files. Alternatively, one can create the marking
files using optional PC-software and then transfer to the mini
Tensile strength: >4,000-5,000 psi using its built-in USB-interface. Logos, data matrix codes, inte-
grated bar code scanners, and solid column frames for conver-
sion to a tabletop unit are just a few of the optional accessories.
For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/61062-511
XMC Module
Innovative Integration (Camar-
illo, CA) introduced the XU-TX,
an XMC module featuring two,
AC-coupled, single-ended 16-bit
DAC outputs with programmable
DC bias. The DAC devices employ
support synchronization and interpolation and their unique
output circuits allow improved frequency synthesis in the 2nd
and 3rd Nyquist zones, to shift of the Nyquist null frequency in
the output spectrum by a factor of two. The DAC ICs may be
clocked at up to 5.1 GHz via an onboard, ultra-low-jitter PLL.
A Xilinx Kintex UltraScale XCVU060/085 FPGA supported
by 8 GB DDR4 and 4 MB of QDRAM memory provides a high
performance DSP core for demanding applications such as
radar and wireless IF generation. The close integration of the
analog IO, memory and host interface with the FPGA enables
realtime signal processing at rates exceeding 7000 GMAC/s.
For Free Info Visit http://info.hotims.com/61062-519
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New Products
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Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joseph T. Pramberger
Ad Index
Editorial Director TBMG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Linda L. Bell For free product literature, enter advertisers reader service num-
Editorial Director SAE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .William Visnic bers at www.techbriefs.com/rs, or visit the Web site beneath their
Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bruce A. Bennett ad in this issue.
Associate Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Billy Hurley
Managing Editor, Tech Briefs TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kendra Smith Reader Service
Associate Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ryan Gehm Company Number Page
Production Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Adam Santiago
Assistant Production Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kevin Coltrinari ACCES I/O Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .783 . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Creative Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lois Erlacher
Senior Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ayinde Frederick Aurora Bearing Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .786 . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Global Field Sales Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Marcie L. Hineman
C.R. Onsrud, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .773 . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Marketing Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Debora Rothwell
Marketing Communications Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Monica Bond Coilcraft CPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .775 . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Digital Marketing Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kaitlyn Sommer
Audience Development Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Marilyn Samuelsen COMSOL, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .789, 795 . . . .39, COV IV
Audience Development Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stacey Nelson
Subscription Changes/Cancellations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .nasa@omeda.com Crane Aerospace & Electronics . . . . . . . .770 . . . . . . . . . . . .15
TECH BRIEFS MEDIA GROUP, AN SAE INTERNATIONAL COMPANY Create The Future Design Contest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
261 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1901, New York, NY 10016
(212) 490-3999 FAX (646) 829-0800 CST of America, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .794 . . . . . . . .COV III
Chief Executive Officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Domenic A. Mucchetti
Executive Vice-President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Luke Schnirring Dawn VME Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .776 . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Technology Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Oliver Rockwell
Systems Administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Vlad Gladoun European Microwave Week 2016 . . . . . . .780 . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Web Developer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Karina Carter
Digital Media Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Peter Bonavita
Evans Capacitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .778 . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Digital Media Assistants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Peter Weiland, Anel Guerrero, Maria Sevilla
Gage Bilt Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .788 . . . . . . . . . . . .38
Digital Media Audience Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jamil Barrett
Credit/Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Felecia Lahey Hawthorne Rubber Mfg. Corp. . . . . . . . . .790 . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Accounting/Human Resources Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sylvia Bonilla
Office Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alfredo Vasquez Imagineering, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .769 . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Receptionist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Elizabeth Brache-Torres
Kaman Precision Products . . . . . . . . . . . .784 . . . . . . . . . . . .33
ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
MA, NH, ME, VT, RI, Eastern Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ed Marecki
Keysight Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .771 . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tatiana Marshall
Master Bond Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .787, 791 . . . . . . . .38, 39
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(401) 351-0274
CT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stan Greenfield Mini-Systems, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .781 . . . . . . . . . . . .27
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(203) 938-2418
NJ, PA, DE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Murray MPL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .785 . . . . . . . . . . . .37
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (973) 409-4685
Southeast, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ray Tompkins Photon Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .777 . . . . . . . . . . . .19
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(281) 313-1004
NY, OH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ryan Beckman
Proto Labs, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .772 . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(973) 409-4687 Rohde & Schwarz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .774 . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
MI, IN, WI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Chris Kennedy
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(847) 498-4520 ext. 3008 S. Himmelstein and Company . . . . . . . . . .792 . . . . . . . . . . . .39
MN, ND, SD, IL, KY, MO, KS, IA, NE, Central Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bob Casey
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(847) 223-5225 S.I. Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .793 . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Northwest, N. Calif., Western Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Craig Pitcher
(408) 778-0300
Sensata Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .896 . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
CO, UT, MT, WY, ID, NM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tim Powers
Statek Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .779 . . . . . . . . . . . .23
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(973) 409-4762
S. Calif. , AZ, NV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tom Boris Tech Briefs TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (949) 715-7779
Europe Central & Eastern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sven Anacker Ulbrich Stainless Steels &
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49-202-27169-11 Special Metals, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .782 . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Joseph Heeg
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49-621-841-5702 W.L Gore & Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .768 . . . . . . . .COV II
Europe Western . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Chris Shaw
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