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August 27, 2019 | International, Land

Rowan University Project Will Develop Composite Materials Used to Protect Soldiers

By Kimberly Hoodin

Rowan University will lead a $14.5 million Department of Defense/Army Research Lab project to create new composite materials – and ways to process those materials – that will help modernize the Army and improve the safety of soldiers in the field.

The project, titled “Advancing Structural Materials for Army Modernization Priorities via Direct-Write Approaches,” will be led by researchers from Rowan University teamed with PPG, Drexel University, Northeastern University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst to create new advanced composite and plastic materials and ways to process them. The project is driven by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory.

The team will work on developing innovative materials by using “cold-spray” advanced manufacturing technologies. The work will focus on polymers, starting with polystyrene, then move on to more advanced composite materials and systems, as designated by the Army.

“The high particle velocity of cold spray enables rapid cure and adhesion of polymers. This should result in the fast and efficient production of high-performance composite parts or repair of parts,” said John La Scala, associate chief the ARL's Materials and Manufacturing Sciences Division and cooperative agreement manager for the research program. “Additionally, this novel manufacturing methodology is a layer-by-layer production of composites, which should reduce void and flaw content. This should improve strength and durability significantly, thereby opening the potential of using this manufacturing technique to prepare composites for extreme conditions, while replacing the current expensive manufacturing methods with a much more economical methodology.”

Researchers hope to develop materials to be used for making military equipment stronger and lighter, soldiers more agile and vehicles more durable. Longer-term, the team sees the potential for use of the materials in the fields of civil aviation, automotive, health care and space exploration.

“We will work to make materials more quickly, to make them better and easier to repair offsite and, importantly, onsite in the field,” Dr. Joe Stanzione, associate professor of chemical engineering at Rowan University said. “That includes everything from parts for tanks and jeeps, to usable tools, and helmets.”

http://compositesmanufacturingmagazine.com/2019/08/rowan-university-project-will-develop-composite-materials-used-to-protect-soldiers/

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  • Army to hold competition to build ventilators for COVID-19 emergency response

    April 14, 2020 | International, Land

    Army to hold competition to build ventilators for COVID-19 emergency response

    By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Army's acquisition chief, Bruce Jette, has directed the Army's Expeditionary Technology Search program to hold a competition for solutions to rapidly build ventilators to support the COVID-19 virus emergency response, according to an April 9 service statement. Addressing the United States' ventilator shortage needed to treat severe cases of COVID-19, the xTechSearch team will tap industry for innovative approaches to building an inexpensive, emergency ventilator “that requires minimal components and is designed for simplified mass production,” the statement reads. The competition will be open to “any American business, regardless of size,” the statement notes. The team will begin accepting virtual pitches from competitors starting April 13. “Novel solutions” will win a prize of $5,000 to present pitches of the concepts virtually to a panel of judges, according to the statement. The Army will then award $100,000 cash prizes to winning solutions to develop concept prototypes, it adds. Some technologies could receive follow-on contracts for further production and deployment. "The technology solution must provide a rapid-response breathing apparatus capable of short-term, rugged field operation in a small footprint that will support field hospitals," Zeke Topolosky, the Army xTechSearch program manager, said in the statement. The statement did not detail how rapidly technologies should move from concept to prototype to production. xTechSearch is a competition sponsored by the Army's acquisition branch “targeting small businesses to uncover novel dual-use science and technology solutions,” according to the program's website. “The competition aims to tackle the Army's most critical modernization challenges supporting the top Army focus areas.” https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/04/09/army-to-hold-competition-to-build-ventilators-for-covid-19-emergency-response/

  • The Air Force may have found new imagery it needs at a pitch day

    November 27, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    The Air Force may have found new imagery it needs at a pitch day

    By: Nathan Strout The Air Force awarded Capella Space a $750,000 base contract for high-resolution radar imagery during one of the service's rapid acquisition events earlier this month. Capella Space announced Nov. 20 that the Air Force plans to use the company's sub 0.5 meter synthetic aperture radar imagery for virtual reality software, missile defense and developing predictive intelligence to foresee foreign threats. “The U.S. Air Force is always working to maintain our leadership as a global technology innovator, and this contract is a testament to that commitment,” said Lt. Gen. John Thompson, head of the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center. SAR satellites are unique in their ability to collect imagery despite adverse weather or lighting conditions that make optical sensors useless. Unlike optical sensors, SAR sensors can pick up data on material properties, moisture content, elevation and precise changes and movements. In addition, SAR data can be used to make both 3D recreations or 2D images of 3D objects. Capella plans to launch its first SAR satellite in early 2020 as part of a constellation of 36 satellites that it expects to be operational in 2022. “Capella will work alongside the U.S. Air Force to foster collaboration and deliver a product that best suits their mission needs,” Dan Brophy, vice president of government services at Capella Space, said in a statement. “Timely SAR data that presents changes on Earth holds tremendous military value, and we will make adaptations to meet unique military requirements. Together with the Air Force, we will define the applications for this data in its hybrid, military and commercial space architecture.” The contract was awarded during the Air Force's Space Pitch Days Nov. 5-6, where the Air Force invited small and nontraditional companies to make pitches for their products and solutions in an environment like the television show “Shark Tank.” The Air Force awarded Phase II Small Business Innovative Research contracts on the spot to several companies, including to Capella Space. At the conclusion of this base contract, Capella could win a Phase III contract in 2020. https://www.c4isrnet.com/intel-geoint/2019/11/25/the-air-force-may-have-found-new-imagery-it-needs-at-a-pitch-day/

  • Bell Invictus to Offer Army ‘Lower-Risk Path’ to FARA Capabilities

    December 16, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    Bell Invictus to Offer Army ‘Lower-Risk Path’ to FARA Capabilities

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