Browse Topic: Flight tests

Items (120)

Nonlinear Observer for Estimating Gravity Vector and Flight Path Angles of a High-Performance Aircraft

08/14/2023

This paper proposes a nonlinear observer for the estimation of gravity vector and angles with respect to velocity vector (flight path angle, bank angle) of a high-performance aircraft. The technique is computationally simpler than the extended Kalman filter (EKF) and hence is suitable for onboard implementations when the digital flight control computer (DFCC) has computational burdens. Flight test data of a highly maneuvering flight such as wind-up turns and full rolls have been used to validate the technique.

Chandrasekaran, Kamali, Jain, Shikha

Additive Manufacturing of Threaded Parts for Aerospace applications

2022-26-117005/26/2022

Additive manufacturing also known as 3D printing and rapid prototyping is ‘the process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data, generally layer upon layer. It is a suitable process to produce complex net shape parts, and prototypes. Additive Manufacturing empowers both design and industrial revolution, in various industrial sectors such as aerospace, energy, automotive, medical, tooling and consumer goods. In aerospace today, Additive Manufacturing is bringing lots of advantages and applications but manufacturing threaded fasteners or parts with threads is not much explored. In this study we are exploring this and trying to establish manufacturing threaded parts using additive manufacturing. This is going to give many benefits like reduced part cost, manufacturing and installation time and increased safety. The key features of such parts which makes AM as a best manufacturing method are – angled internal grove, provision for sealant for complete sealing, customized

Shetty, Dr. Kishora, Murthy, Harsha

Wave Energy Modeling for Safer Space Travel

TBMG-3822212/01/2020

National Renewable Energy Laboratory US Department of Energy Golden, CO

Celebrating Women in Engineering & Science: Jasmin Moghbeli, NASA Astronaut

TBMG-3616603/01/2020

Jasmin Moghbeli’s astronaut class graduated in January 2020 — the first class to graduate since the agency announced the Artemis program. She holds a BS degree in aerospace engineering with information technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a MS in engineering science in aerospace engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. Moghbeli was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in 2005 upon completion of her undergraduate degree. An AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter pilot and Marine Corps test pilot, Moghbeli served in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010. At the time of her selection as an astronaut candidate, Moghbeli was testing H-1 helicopters. She has accumulated more than 150 combat missions and 2,000 hours of flight time in more than 25 different aircraft. She is eligible for assignment to missions destined for the International Space Station, the Moon, and ultimately, Mars.

Aerospace & Defense Technology: June 2019

19AERP0606/01/2019

Eyes in the Sky Rugged High-Speed Cameras Capture Critical Flight Test Video Data Panoramic Thermal Imaging Technology A New Concept in Naval Defense Coating Technology Enables Effective Missile Countermeasures FACE™ - Future Airborne Capability Environment Diminishing U.S. Combat Superiority Drives New Software Development Requirements Broadband 1.2- and 2.4-mm Gallium Nitride (GaN) Power Amplifier Designs Multi-Agent RF Propagation Simulator Electrical Characterization of Crystalline UO2, THO2 and U0.71TH0.29O2 Evaluating the suitability of advanced alloys for use in uranium-based neutron detectors. ONR Short Pulse Research, Evaluation and non-SWaP Demonstration for C-sUAV Study Research project is designed to map small unmanned aerial vehicle (sUAV) effects space, empirically and by simulation, as a function of high power microwave (HPM) waveform to develop effective countermeasures. Matrix-Free Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Using Metal-Organic Frameworks Machining Titanium

Is the Future of Aerial Autonomy Up in the Air?

19AVEP03_1303/01/2019

As autonomous-drone and air-taxi concepts debut, legal hurdles will need to be cleared before the skies are automated. Autonomous vehicle technology literally has nowhere to go but up. At CES '19, more than 170 exhibitors showed aerial drones of various shapes and sizes. Potential use cases for these devices appear to be limitless, but technical, legal and regulatory hurdles must first be overcome. Drones are categorized by vehicle weight. The small devices weighing between 0.55 and 55 pounds (.25 kg to 25 kg) are known as Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and are lightly regulated. Drones exceeding 55 lb are regulated as traditional aircraft. Operators must obtain proper registration, licenses and certification for airworthiness.

Dukarski, Jennifer

3D Printed Spacecraft Parts

TBMG-3273008/01/2018

Stratasys Ltd. Eden Prairie, MN 952-937-3000

Uncertainty of In-Flight Thrust Determination

AIR1678B (Current)10/22/2016

This document defines and illustrates the process for determination of uncertainty of turbofan and turbojet engine in-flight thrust and other measured in-flight performance parameters. The reasons for requiring this information, as specified in the E-33 Charter, are: determination of high confidence aircraft drag; problem rectification if performance is low; interpolation of measured thrust and aircraft drag over a range of flight conditions by validation and development of high confidence analytical methods; establishment of a baseline for future engine modifications. This document describes systematic and random measurement uncertainties and methods for propagating the uncertainties to the more complicated parameter, in-flight thrust. Methods for combining the uncertainties to obtain given confidence levels are also addressed. Although the primary focus of the document is in-flight thrust, the statistical methods described are applicable to any measurement process. The E-33 Committee

E-33 In Flight Propulsion Measurement Committee

Flight Test System for Accurately Predicting Flutter

TBMG-2493307/01/2016

Traditional methods of flight flutter testing analyze system parameters such as damping levels that vary with flight conditions to monitor aircraft stability. In the past, the actual flight envelope developed for aircraft operation was essentially determined only by flight testing. The edges of the envelope are points where either the aircraft cannot fly any faster because of engine limitations, or, with a 15% margin for error, where the damping trends indicate a flutter instability may be near. After flight testing, the envelope empirically determined is used for regular operations.

Flight Test Maneuvers for Efficient Aerodynamic Modeling

TBMG-2423604/01/2016

Flight testing is expensive. It is therefore important that necessary flight data be collected in the most efficient manner possible. Inputs traditionally used for flight test maneuvers to collect aircraft stability and control data include doublets, impulses (stick raps), multisteps, and frequency sweeps. All of these input types are designed for single-axis response, although often the inputs are applied sequentially to different controls to collect multi-axis data.

Fortifying Computer Chips for Space Travel

TBMG-2318810/16/2015

Space is cold, dark, and lonely. Deadly, too, if any one of a million things goes wrong on your spaceship. It’s certainly no place for a computer chip to fail, which can happen due to the abundance of radiation bombarding a craft. Worse, ever-shrinking components on microprocessors make computers more prone to damage from high-energy radiation like protons from the sun or cosmic rays from beyond our galaxy. It’s a good thing, then, that engineers know how to make a spaceship’s microprocessors more robust. To start, they hit them with high-energy ions from particle accelerators here on Earth. It’s a radiation- testing process that finds a chip’s weak spots, highlighting when, where, and how engineers need to make the microprocessor tougher.

Autonomous Aerial Refueling

TBMG-2313910/01/2015

Northrop Grumman Corp. Falls Church, VA 703-280-2900

Microprocessor-Controlled Prostheses Are a Step in the Right Direction

TBMG-2182904/01/2015

It’s not always easy to walk in someone else’s shoes. It’s even more difficult if those shoes belong to a person with an artificial leg. However, that’s exactly what a group of scientists, engineers, and clinicians at Orthocare Innovations are doing to help engineer prostheses that respond better to the physical needs of amputees.

Data Recorders Prepare Orion for Splashdown Test

TBMG-21660

03/01/2015

Data recorders and software Diversified Technical Systems (DTS) Seal Beach, CA 562-493-0158

Peak-Seeking Control Method

TBMG-2107712/01/2014

Peak-seeking algorithms optimize physical processes in real time and are widely used throughout a variety of industries. However, measuring associated parameters in changing conditions, and responding to them appropriately, is difficult because the measurements are typically distorted by noise. This technology addresses that problem by employing a time-varying Kalman filter. The filter is an algorithm previously developed to estimate unknown parameters within systems that are intrinsically random and uncertain. The Kalman filter is excellent at finding estimates when it encounters noisy signals. As a minimal-variant filter, it inherently produces the best estimates of a function with the smallest amount of variation from the true value. Thus, the filter can help accurately determine the optimal coordinates of the peak- seeking function as conditions in the environment change.

Jason Moore, Fiber Optic Sensors Engineer, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA

TBMG-2087310/23/2014

Jason Moore has worked at NASA Langley since 1995. He currently tests and develops fiber optic technologies, including multicore fibers. He is actively organizing ground and flight tests to demonstrate the multicore fiber’s ability to sense structural shape changes in flight.

Flight Path Reconstruction and Wind Estimation Using Flight Test Data from Crash Data Recorder (CDR)

2014-01-216809/16/2014

This paper presents the implementation of flight path reconstruction (FPR) and wind estimation techniques applied to a high performance fighter aircraft. The analysis is carried out for the flight test data gathered and stored in a Crash Data Recorder (CDR). The data signals obtained from CDR are generally highly noisy, with frequent data drop outs and also with low sampling rate. The estimation technique applied for data reconstruction is the extended Kalman filtering (EKF). The reconstructed trajectories can be compared with the actual flight trajectories such that, in case of unavailability of data from other sources (e.g., digital flight control computer), the algorithm should be able to reconstruct the trajectories with the minimum set of data available from the CDR. Wind estimation along with the trajectory reconstruction can give better accuracy in airspeed as well as flow angles. The algorithm also aims at determining the bias/systematic instrument errors and generating

Nusrath, Khadeeja, Sarmah, Ankur, Singh, Jatinder

ASICs Support Orion’s Onboard Data Network

TBMG-2029808/01/2014

TTEthernet switch TTTech North America Andover, MA 978-933-7979

VoIP Technology Enables Flight Center Upgrade

TBMG-19105

02/01/2014

Quintron Systems will upgrade NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) technology as it expands to IPbased mission command voice. To prevent expensive and difficult reconfiguration of the mission control room consoles, a new user station design allows direct-fit replacement of the existing, older DICES stations in use for many years. In addition, the use of three touchscreen panels will improve user features inherent in the DICES VoIP system architecture. Inclusion of appropriate circuitry and connectors will also allow DFRC to re-use existing high-investment legacy headsets.