Aerospace Structures and Materials is central to all naval aviation aircraft and weapons systems. It is the underlying enabling technology for the air vehicle and weapons for both manned and unmanned operations. Requirements for naval aviation platforms and weapons are often unique and more stringent than land- and sea- based systems. The need for efficient structures, materials, and associated manufacturing and repair processes is pervasive.
Opportunities in future structures, materials and processes abound to:
- Increase operational performance via lightweight and survivable structures
- Improve operational endurance via affordable and maintainable materials and processes
- Develop and transition next generation materials and manufacturing, and develop and insert deployable, multi-cycle sustainment and repair technologies.
Science and technology (S&T) efforts in these areas will enable more efficient structures that are both more durable and more sustainable, with less resource load and footprint. New materials and manufacturing, coupled with advanced structural concepts, will increase the weight – performance trade window via reduced parasitic weight and customizable, structurally integrated multi-functionality. Recent advances in digital engineering and manufacturing, such as automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning can be used to tailor materials, costs and availability to point-of-use, mission optimized platforms. The program goal is to leverage these advances and develop technologies for lightweight survivable and sustainable structures that can meet the demands of the current and future needs of Navy and Marine Corp air vehicles and weapons. Concurrent to the technology objectives an equally important goal is to develop an eager and engaged workforce trained in structures and materials technologies aligned to Navy and Marine Corp needs.
Research Concentration Areas
The program has the following thrust areas: Multifunctional Structures, Digital Engineering and Manufacturing, Next Generation Materials and Sustainment S&T. These are primarily concerned with capability to optimize structures and materials for particular operational needs, designing and fielding infinitely repairable airframes, light weighting the structure and increasing structural efficiency and survivability, and enabling durable, portable, in-situ and on-demand air structures, materials and processes. The structures and materials focus area will also support the infrastructure necessary to develop and maintain knowledge tools and future scientists and engineers.
Research Challenges and Opportunities
- Multifunctional Structures: Topics in structurally integrated EMI shielding; batteries; energy storage; embedded and conformal antennas; and localized harvesting and actuation.
- Digital Engineering/Manufacturing: Topics in robotics/ML enabled automated manufacturing and reduced defects/variability; non-traditional layups and curing processes for advanced composites; damage inspection automation; and integrated, point-of-use data capture and analysis for improved accuracy and actionable outputs.
- Next Gen Materials: Topics in multi-principal element compositions and non-traditional deposition optimized metallic alloys; advanced composites via new polymeric/ceramic materials and resins, handling-processing-property relationships, durability and constituent materials development, and surface functionalized fibers; tailored materials for lightweight armor and flow-surface interactions.
- Reliability and Sustainment S&T: Topics in combined loading mechanics and material degradation; enhanced M&P for durability and life extension; in-situ, multi-cycle repair methods; portable NDI and remote expertise; automated repairs for sanding, bonding and in-situ deposition of load-bearing materials; and new concepts for trade-off between cost, service life and functionality.
How to Submit
For detailed application and submission information for this research topic, please refer to our broad agency announcement (BAA) No. N0001425SB001.
Contracts: All white papers and full proposals for contracts must be submitted through FedConnect; instructions are included in the BAA.
Grants: All white papers for grants must be submitted through FedConnect, and full proposals for grants must be submitted through grants.gov; instructions are included in the BAA.