Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) - Munitions Directorate

The present disclosure generally relates to an improved penetrator design and associated arming generator relocator adaptor. In some embodiments, the arming generator relocator adaptor is positioned external to the penetrator, thereby removing the need to mount the FZU inside the warhead or include traditional internal plumbing. The arming generator relocator adaptor allows the FZU to be rotated to an optimal position to arm the penetrator. While the improved penetrator design and arming generator relocator adaptor can be used independently of each other, in the preferred embodiment, they are utilized together.

A new method and apparatus for addressing hexagonally arranged data sampling elements is described. Array set addressing, or ASA, is a new method for capturing information from a hexagonal grid of image sensor pixels, or any hexagonal grid of data sampling elements, for image processing or any computational manipulation of sampling data. ASA represents the hexagonal grids as a set of two rectangular arrays which can individually indexed by integer-valued row and column indices. The two arrays are distinguished using a single binary coordinate so that a full address for any point on the hexagonal grid is uniquely represented by three coordinates representing which array and the row and column. The new addressing method supports efficient linear algebra and other image processing manipulation and can be straightforwardly implemented in conventional electronic hardware and digital processing systems.

A blast resistant window structure capable of withstanding typical car bomb blast pressures of 100 psi or more and of resisting leakage of chemical or biological agents is described, the window structure including a frame hermetically enclosing two glass panels in confronting relationship defining an air gap therebetween, each glass panel having a thin layer of polymer film on each surface thereof, and a pressure relief valve in the frame for releasing air pressure from within the gap in response to blast pressure imposed on an outer surface of one of the panels.

A high bandwidth, low signal error, compact waveguide includes a conductive body including a waveguide input portion and a plurality of waveguide output portions disposed coplanar with the input waveguide portion. The waveguide further includes a common junction joining the input waveguide portion and the plurality of output waveguide portions. A septum is disposed proximate the common junction collinear with a centerline of the input waveguide portion. The waveguide further includes a plurality of iris elements disposed proximate the common junction transverse to the centerline of the input waveguide portion. The septum and the plurality of iris elements changes an impedance of the common junction to match the impedance across the entire waveguide bandwidth.

Radio frequency (RF) and microwave systems typically require power distribution networks to divide an input signal into any number of output signals. Inversely, power distribution networks can also be used to combine RF input signals from multiple inputs into a single RF output signal.

RF rectangular waveguide technology is applicable to power distribution networks due to the technology’s inherent advantages in power handling capacity and signal integrity. Such devices have the benefit of very low power loss at high frequencies. Unfortunately, the existing RF waveguide power distribution devices have very limited frequency bandwidth, generate unacceptable amplitude and phase errors, and can be too large for many applications.

To address the above, Air Force researchers have developed a novel RF waveguide power distribution technology that can provide wide RF bandwidth operation with fewer amplitude and phase errors. The technology was used to design a compact structure as a two-way and a four-way power combiner/divider. The system has a conductive body that includes a waveguide input portion and several waveguide output portions in the same plane. The waveguide further includes a common junction joining the input waveguide portion and the output waveguide portion. Three iris elements next to the common junction, together with the divider, produce unexpected beneficial results as they work in concert to match the impedance of the structure across the entire bandwidth of the waveguide. The respective dimensions and relative placement of these elements result in very low levels of reflected power from an input signal, across the entire operational frequency band, which minimizes amplitude and phase errors in the compact structure.

It has been known since the early 1960s that hexagonal sampling is the optimal sampling approach for isotropically band-limited images, providing a 13.4% improvement in sampling efficiency over rectangular sampling.

Despite this fact and other significant advantages of hexagonal sampling, rectangular sampling is still used for virtually all modern digital image processing systems. This is arguably due to the lack of an efficient addressing system for hexagonal grids.

A new method for addressing hexagonally arranged image sensors that produce an output that can be efficiently computationally manipulated, particularly in digital systems, has been developed by a U.S. Air Force research lab.

The patented invention, called array set addressing, or ASA, solves the problems for any hexagonally arranged data sampling elements. A primary concept behind ASA is that a hexagonal grid can be represented as a set of two rectangular arrays distinguished by a single binary coordinate. What’s particularly new in the present invention is extending that concept and applying it to addressing captured information from a hexagonal grid of image sensor pixels. The hexagonal grid has a greater angular resolution, equidistant spacing, and a higher degree of symmetry than rectangular grids. Also, since all neighboring pixels in a hexagonal grid share a side, there is no connectivity ambiguity as there is with rectangular grids, which leads to more efficient algorithms that deal with connectivity.

An improved apparatus and method for fitting a normally non-explosive containing projectile with a spotting charge. A spotting charge capsule is inserted into an opening in the front of a projectile. The opening may be made by removing part of the nose of the projectile and making a shaped opening for inserting the spotting charge capsule. The spotting charge capsule includes an opening at its front and a bore behind the opening leading to a cavity for holding an explosive mixture, usually one or more pressed incendiary pellets. The opening and bore together form a venturi, or venturi-like, tube. The tube ends short of the cavity leaving only a thin wall between the bore and the explosive. On impact on soft media, such as dirt, sand or mud, the soft media will enter the tube and shear the thin wall, creating a high speed flier plate that ignites the explosive mixture.

A process of making useful shapes by joining of tungsten alloys. Joining of tungsten heavy alloys which are alloys typically made from W—Ni—Fe is used. These alloys are typically manufactured by liquid phase sintering. This leads to difficulty in producing large length to diameter ratio parts that have some significant weight (such as penetrators). A “brick and mortar” approach is employed wherein smaller segments of this alloy (low length to diameter ratio) are joined to together to produce a larger part with higher length to diameter ratio.

A warhead consisting of a relatively thin metal shell casing and interior open linear cells which run throughout its length manufactured by electrical discharge machining and slip fitting.

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory at Eglin AFB has developed and scaled up to 200,000lb+ quantity USAF-96 Steel. USAF-96 Steel is a low alloy steel that when thermally processed with the inventive method has the following typical values: an ultimate tensile strength of 245 ksi; yield strength at 0.2% offset of 187 ksi; elongation to failure of 13%; and an impact toughness as measured with a Charpy V-notch test @ -40°C of 30 ft-lb. Of particular benefit is the through hardenability and toughness, which has demonstrated strength and toughness at -40°C even with sections up to 4” in thickness.

Steels with this combination of performance usually contain significant amounts of tungsten (W), cobalt (Co), and/or nickel (Ni) – these are amongst the most expensive alloying elements. Moreover, W is difficult to process and complicates the waste streams; most high-performance Ni-Co alloys require expensive vacuum-induction-melting/vacuum-air-remelting (VIM-VAR) techniques.

USAF-96 Steel contains no W or Co and is a low carbon, low Ni alloy steel composition. In addition to its material cost advantage, USAF-96 Steel can be produced using standard “air-melt” production processes, at a substantially lower cost than prior methods. Its material composition along with specific thermal processing conditions lead to the growth of beneficial nano-scaled carbides in a martensitic matrix that allows USAF-96 Steel to possess its high-performance characteristics even in heavier sections while using reduced quantities of expensive alloying elements.