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Thermal simulation and testing of expanded metal foils for lightning protection With the implementation of major aircraft structures fabricated from carbon fiber reinforced plastic materials, lightning protection has become a more complicated issue for designers and engineers to solve. Electronics take charge Digital controls are handling more engine control tasks on a wider range of aircraft.

Europe's aerospace industry looking confident Apart from Airbus's highly visible presence in defense and commercial aircraft, Europe also has successful capabilities in helicopters, business jets, and aero engines, and in all these areas their global market share is growing. Comparing blade-element momentum modeling to 3-D CFD Many small unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAVs) are driven by small scale, fixed blade propellers, and the flow produced by the propeller can have a significant impact on the aerodynamics of the SUAV itself.

DoD to Deploy Thousands of Low Cost Autonomous Systems Under Replicator Program Top Productivity Improvement Tips for Manufacturing Turbine Discs FACE Technical Standard Offers MOSA Lessons for Safety-Critical Software in Any Sector Adamant: A Soon-to-be Open Source, Mission-Critical Flight Software Framework Written in Ada Benefits and Challenges of Direct-RF Sampling for Avionic Platforms More Airports Test RF as Counter Measure for UAS in Restricted Airspace Adapting U.S. Army Acquisition to Ensure the Reliability and Safety of Autonomous Vehicles This report presents several challenges that the U.S. Army will face in the transition to autonomous vehicles, challenges that are only magnified in the current acquisition environment with limited testing. Artificial intelligence algorithms introduce additional complexity, resulting in systems with a complex combination of human, machine, and autonomous controllers.

Pulse Plasma Nitriding for Aerospace Application Ruggedization of Electronics for Deployed Military Environments Migrating Advanced Signal Processing Technology to Rugged SFF Platforms Radar Recording Proves Next-Level System Performance As radar and electronic warfare systems contend with an increasingly crowded environment, recording tests, interactions, and conflicts provides insight that can help assure future triumphs. > Facing 5G New Radio (NR) Test Challenges Communicating Via Long-Distance Lasers The Purpose of Mixed-Effects Models in Test and Evaluation The simplest version of a mixed model-the random intercept model, where so-called random effects represent group-wide deviations from a grand mean-can account for day-to-day deviations in system performance while still allowing the results to be generalized beyond the few days of observed testing.

Casting a vote for alloys Bringing lighter weight, improved performance, and enhanced repairability to airframes and engines. A sense of the future for UAVs Providing the unblinking eye for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Light material brings heavy challenges Shift from aluminum to composites requires major changes in equipment, software. Ryan's 'Research' put to good use The Southwest Research Institue engineer assumes SAE President duties for 2008.

Zonal hydraulics Electric systems will facilitate dispersal of hydraulic systems throughout the airframe.

The open rotor engine in the 21st century After consideration in the 1980s, the open rotor turbine engine for aircraft is given another chance. Will today's engineering tools make it more viable this time?

Landing gear testing Transforming itself from component supplier to integrated systems supplier, a landing gear manufacturer faces new testing challenges. Improving fuselage crashworthiness An innovative composite concept for light aircraft has been developed to provide better passenger protection.

Noise and vibrations control A variety of active and passive methods can be used to reduce cabin noise and fuselage vibration. Bringing efficiency to flight testing To meet itsgoal of one new aircraft activity each year, Bombardier's Flight Test Center has sought to reduce aircraft development cycle time by focusing on test planning, safety, and configuration control. Propulsion flight testing Originally conceived for just the GE90 aircraft engine program, GE Aircraft Engines' Boeing 747 flying test bed has evolved into the company's primary commercial engine test aircraft. Top technologies for 2000 Each month, "Aerospace Engineering" publishes the latest technologies. The "Aerospace Engineering" editors have reviewed thousands of reader responses during the past year and have chosen the "best of the best" along with runners-up.

Wanted: aerospace engineers There are many different viewpoints on the state of engineering employment in the aerospace industry. "Aerospace Engineering" editors spoke with airframers, suppliers, and academics to get their perspectives on recruiting and retaining engineering talent. Understanding the shape-variable fowler flap DaimlerChrysler Aerospace and the German Aerospace Center have begun studying the concept of a shape-variable fowler flap for an Airbus transport aircraft such as the A340. Thin-film coatings technology NIST's Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory continues its research to gain better understanding of the mechanical properties of thin-film aerospace applications. Managing knowledge SDRC provides a customized product knowledge management solution for the aerospace industry.

Giving ice the boot Atmospheric icing was for many years one of the majoy threats to aircraft safety- and it potentially still is. Researchers at Dunlop Aviation Ice Protection and Composites continue their development of deicing and anti-icing technologies. The art of wing assembly Airbus Industries investigates new technologies and techniques for improving quality and reducing cost of its wing box assemblies. Affordable engines for small aircraft A look into the new technologies developed for small-aircraft engines as extensions to the cooperative agreements under the NASA General Aviation Propulsion program conclude.

Quality through closed-loop manufacturing Pratt & Whitney has employed automated part probing as part of its manufacturing process to provide final inspection, data collection and analysis, and process adjustment. A virtual fighter The Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. use SGI's Origin 2000 servers and Silicon Graphics Onyx2 visual supercomputers to design their respective Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) demonstrators virtually. Modular aerospace controls Honeywell investigates a commercial off-the-shelf approach to the automated generation of safety-critical software for distributed control systems. Automated fuselage mating Brotje-Automation GmbH has developed an automated alignment facility designed to accurately position and align major aircraft fuselage sections.

Fuel-tank inerting A series of aircraft flight and ground tests evaluated the effectiveness of ground-based inerting as a means of reducing the flammability of center wing furl tanks used in the commercial transport fleet. Making sense of quality management The International Aerospace Quality Group is a unique vehicle for communicating quality system standards and initiatives through the supply base. Top technologies for 2002 "Aerospace Engineering's" annual review of the technologies chosen by its readers to be the most significant.

The dawn of the jet age: the first 10 years One of the ironies of aviation history is that the most obvious potential power source for a fixed-wing aircraft was barely considered by the early pioneers. Airflow simulation for winglets Embraer engineers used CFD to visualize flow patterns around wings for a design retrofit. Aircraft-engine-mounting analysis Engineers from Honeywell adapted a rapid analysis approach to develop and validate a complex propulsion system. Reshaping F-16 production Following its contract with the Joint Strike Fighter program, Lockheed Martin is reconfiguring its F-16 assembly line in preparation for long-term JSF production starting later this year.

Military engines: cost and capability Industry experts provide a glimpse out at the 2020 vision of military propulsion. Manufacturing propellers Dowty Propellers uses a secure data-logging system for its fabrication process.

More-electric small turbofan engines The aerospace industry demands continuous improvement of propulsion engines as well as timely response to the new and changing requirements for them. Zero-emissions aircraft Researchers explore the potential application of alternative fuels and propulsion systems for aircraft that include a business jet and single-engine propeller aircraft. Integration releases the reins Cessna's new Citation Mustang launches the company into a new market for business jets, helped by the latest PLM solutions from IBM. Military: general A military flight-control system proposed for use in general aviation uses inverse control to decouple the flight controls and to modify the handling qualities of the aircraft, while employing articficial neural networks to compensate for any modeling errors.

Military maneuvers Electronics and avionics designers put control in the pilot's hand. Propelling commercial aircraft GE Aircraft Engines calls upon its engineers, and those of its "competitors," to develop a series of next-generation engines. Bonded repairs Aircraft structure repair is process-sensitive, requiring attention to detail, particularly in terms of both composite and metal surface preparation.

Supporting nest-gen propulsion The need for advanced computational and communication systems on board military aircraft make fuel cells an attractive propulsion alternative, and ample access to hydrogen a necessity. Aerospace industry seeks material returns Better use of materials data can pay off for aerospace designers. Transatlantic testing program for the F-35 Europe gets its most comprehensive-ever military airframe test facility.

Materials become design, design becoems function Once things you could hold in your hand, materials have become more design ideas than entities, and the designs themselves are transforming into operational activity. The next steps in flight A look at sero engine and assembly developments as commercial airframe and engine manufacturers begin the biggest battle of all-for next-generation short-haul jet aircraft sales. NextGen Today and tomorrow The FAA has reached a major milestone on the Next Generation Air Transportation System initiative to modernize America's National Airspace System. Stacking the material deck for the 787 Combinations such as composites and titanium being used in future aircraft programs can be very challenging when drilling holes during manufacturing and assembly operations.

Bright outlook for glass cockpits Cockpits are adopting larger screens and touch input, using modularity to ease upgrades. Composites give copters a lift Design, fabrication, and analysis of a tail rotor blade made of composite laminated materials for a heavy transport helicopter. Taming overruns with simulation For aerospace projects, cost overruns and program delays start in the concept and proposal stage. How could using today's advanced CAE simulations earlier reduce that risk? Going modular with airborne radar Innovative approaches to solving the affordability challenge posed by too many specialist airborne surveillance systems. Efficient & effective leadership Frank O. Klegon, a 30-year SAE member and former product development VP at Chrysler, brings 'customer first' approach to term as SAE International's chief elective officer.