Page 6 - Aerotech News and Review July 1 2016

Edwards AFRL employee recognized as DOD
Scientist of the Quarter for second quarter of 2016
Dr. Andrew Guenthner, principal and useful capabilities for the United The technology can also help with

chemical engineer and Applied Ma- States Air Force.” fire resistance, improving the chances

terials Group lead in the Propellants This is an area of technology that in that people can survive catastrophic

Branch at the Air Force Research some respects has been “stuck” at the events such as airplane crashes and

Laboratory, Aerospace Systems Di- same level for many decades, Guen- explosions.”

rectorate at Edwards Air Force Base, thner said. Guenthner said he became inter-

Calif., was recognized recently with Courtesy photograph “The Air Force Research Labora- ested in this field of study because
the Department of Defense’s Labora- tory has given us a rare opportunity to he’s always enjoyed imagining what
tory Scientist of the Quarter Award. The Honorable Frank Kendall (left), undersecretary of defense for focus on making advances at the basic the world would look like at differ-
Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, honors Dr. Andrew Guenthner, of science level that will help to move ent times, places, and length scales,
The Honorable Frank Kendall, un- the Air Force Research Laboratory, with the department’s Scientist of the past the sticking points and make a dif- including all the way down at the
der secretary of Defense for Acquisi- Quarter Award for the second quarter of 2016. ference for the warfighter.” “atomic scale.”
tion, Technology and Logistics, hon-
ored Guenthner with the award at a both the service and the Department like how the materials are altered by The technology has many potential “For the work that we do in materi-
Pentagon ceremony June 15. of Defense,” said Maj. Gen. Robert being wet for a long time,” Guenthner military uses according to Guenthner. als science and the polymer networks
McMurry, Air Force Research Labora- said. “Despite their importance, those in particular that we study, understand-
Guenthner was recognized for his tory commander. “The DOD selection topics don’t generate a lot of excite- “A really interesting application ing very complicated atomic structures
distinguished accomplishments in find- panel was impressed by Dr. Guenth- ment in the academic community and area is structures for spacecraft that is vital for success. So, one of the most
ing ways for lightweight rocket and ner’s significant contributions across they’re often too far removed from study the sun. Spacecraft that orbit challenging aspects of the work that
missile structures to withstand higher fundamental to advanced research, his day-to-day production issues to re- close to the sun or are exposed to we do is something that I have always
temperatures than they do now. Allow- concentrated sunlight can experience been excited about.”
ing these materials to withstand higher high temperatures, and the materi-
temperatures enables more of the space als we are developing can be used to Guenthner said, “Science is a meth-
and weight in a rocket or missile to help keep the instruments on board od for discovering how the world re-
be devoted to generating thrust. This those spacecraft operating properly at ally works. Good and productive
translates into longer operating ranges, high temperatures. Studies of the sun science requires unending curiosity,
faster speeds, greater maneuverability, are critical to understanding “space unrelenting effort to disprove every-
and more capable payloads for rockets weather” that can disrupt military thing we think we know, undivided
and missiles. communications as well as command attention to observation, and only ob-
and control,” he said. servation, for making decisions, and
“Dr. Guenthner is a recognized unbounded adaptability to accept and
world expert in the area of cyanate Guenthner said he believes wider
ester composite resins, his distin- use of this technology will benefit the
guished accomplishments with the impact on a core DOD issue, and his ceive sustained, long-term, basic sci- military and civilian world in many build upon ever-changing results.”
AFRL’s Aerospace Systems Direc-
Solid Rocket Motor Insulated Case additional efforts related to technology ence investments from industry. One ways.

and Bio-based Cyanate Ester Com- transfer,” he said. of our group’s roles is to fill in those “Used in commercial aircraft and torate leads, discovers, develops, and

posite Resin projects are worthy of “Many of the factors that limit the gaps so that the combined efforts of automobiles, the technology will re- delivers science and technology for air

this honor because of the unique and useful temperature range of light- academic, government, and industry duce fuel consumption, saving en- vehicles and their propulsion systems

Electric motor test stand will help with future X-planesimportant contributions to missions of weight structures are mundane things scientists and engineers results in new ergy and cutting down on pollution. to the U.S. Air Force.
“EMI issues impacted data collection and real- such a system, Lin explained. In addition, research- “you want to understand the characteristics of one
by Jay Levine time displays and gave us false indicators in the ers are looking to build competencies in electric motor system first so variables can be reduced
NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center control room,” he explained. “It was caused by the propulsion system verification and validation. when trouble shooting the multi-motor configura-
propulsion system’s noise.” tion,” Lin explained.
Before the first electric propulsion X-planes fly, “Preparatory work for developing in-house skills
such as the X-57, researchers at NASA’s Arm- The solution was to install a combination of and knowledge can’t wait until an X-plane comes,” “Overall, we are getting excellent data,” Lin
strong Flight Research in California are using a hardware filters on the test instrumentation and he said. “We want lessons learned early on so that said. “What we are learning will help us to under-
unique test stand to understand the intricacies of use digital filters on the acquired data. With the we can apply them to upcoming designs and es- stand this new technology, and be a starting point
how electric motor systems work. challenges eliminated, researchers in the control tablish best practices for operating those systems.” for complex challenges. Each system is different,
room were able to safely monitor key parameters. but we will be ready.”
Made of steel and aluminum, the 13.5-foot tall Next up for the Airvolt are tests during late sum-
Airvolt test stand is one of the newest tools in Test operations begin with the installation of an mer on the Joby Aviation JM-1 motor that will pro- Tools such as Airvolt support a key NASA
NASA’s multi-center approach to explore the use electric motor with a propeller attached and the vide information for modeling simulations of the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate’s goal
of electric propulsion on future aircraft. The goal system affixed to the test stand. A number of high- electric propulsion elements. to transition the aviation community to low-carbon
of using this technology is to burn less fuel, while fidelity sensors on the test stand provide critical propulsion — an effort that is part of the agency’s
reducing emissions and noise. measurements to a data acquisition unit that pro- The data collected from the tests will include multi-center electric propulsion plan.
cesses, records and filters the data and sends it to torque and thrust measurements, high-fidelity volt-
Airvolt was designed and fabricated at Arm- the control room for monitoring. age analysis, power efficiency, and details on how The NASA ARMD Advanced Air Transporta-
strong and can help researchers anticipate system the system behaves. A simulation model will be tion Technologies hybrid gas electric propulsion
integration challenges and verify and validate During an electric motor test on Airvolt, a 50- developed from that information to study flight subproject funds the current Airvolt work. The
electric propulsion components, said Yohan Lin, foot area is cleared and most of the staff is in the controls, power management and transition issues AATT subproject aims to explore and develop
Airvolt integration lead. control room monitoring the research results, Lin of a distributed electric aircraft. technologies and concepts for improved energy
said. A safety operations representative and a qual-
“The test stand will help us to understand elec- ity inspector observe the test from a safe distance. To prepare for the possibility of distributed elec- efficiency
tric propulsion and the nuances of different sys- trical propulsion, where multiple motors are used, and environ-
tems,” he said. “A lot of claims are made about the As the motor starts the sound is similar to that mental com-
efficiency of electric motors and we want to verify of a large, square window fan, only slightly louder patibility for
that and gain experience with commercial off-the- and with the propeller blade turning much faster. It future fixed
shelf, or custom-designed systems.” is much quieter than a typical conventional com- wing subson-
bustion piston engine of the same size. ic transports.
Airvolt also permits researchers to evaluate
early-stage technology and build confidence in its The first tests on Airvolt in late 2015 focused on Yohan Lin,
use for future systems. the energy efficient Pipistrel Electro Taurus elec- Airvolt
tric propulsion system, which is typically used for integration
One of the key items researchers need to know motor gliders, Lin explained. lead,
is if integrated electric propulsion can be used like prepares
traditional aircraft propulsion, Lin explained. If The Pipistrel motor is powered by lithium poly- the electric
there are distinctions in how the systems work, mer batteries and produces 40 kilowatts of power, propulsion
researchers will find methods of managing the dif- which are monitored by the Airvolt that is capable NASA photograph by Lauren Hughes test stand.
ferences. of accommodating systems that use up to 100 kilo-
watts of power. The test stand can also withstand July 1, 2016
For example, Airvolt research has already 500 pounds of thrust.
confirmed a challenge — electro-magnetic inter-
ference, or EMI, he explained. EMI is when an Researchers using Airvolt are interested in deter-
electric circuit is interrupted by an internal or ex- mining voltage, current, power, torque and thrust
ternal force or condition, which results in noise performance of the commercial off-the-shelf com-
interference. ponents and learning about the characteristics of

6 Aerotech News and Review

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