UDRI awarded Air Force contract for R&D in aerospace materials behavior and life-prediction

The University of Dayton Research Institute has been awarded a five-year Air Force contract to perform research in advanced behavior and life prediction of aerospace materials for the Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The award ceiling for the indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract is $42 million.

The overall contract provides for research and development in materials performance assessment and life-prediction tools to help the Air Force extend the life of, and reduce the cost of sustaining, aircraft and aircraft components.

The contract includes an initial work order of $5.3 million; three additional work orders, totaling $16.2 million, are expected in October. Researchers in UDRI's Structural Integrity division, Advanced Materials Characterization group, will perform physical experiments as well as computer modeling and simulation to better understand how materials perform under the types of conditions they will experience in service environments, which are affected by variables such as stress and temperature. Researchers will also work to develop more efficient tools to predict expected life of aerospace materials under service conditions.

Research efforts will include evaluating the thermal and mechanical performance of metallic and nonmetallic materials as well as high-temperature composites designed for use in aircraft and aerospace propulsion systems and structures.

Each year, sponsored research programs at the University of Dayton provide real-world research opportunities to nearly 300 undergraduate and graduate students working with more than 500 professional and faculty researchers from the Research Institute, the School of Engineering and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Sept. 30, 2014