美女萝莉

                                                                                                                                 by Debra Daniel 

Huntsville, Ala. ---- Dr. Paul Ruffin, a senior research/adjunct professor in 美女萝莉 A&M University鈥檚 Department of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, said researchers have developed a breakthrough when it comes to testing aging missiles.

鈥淐urrently the military uses destructive methods to evaluate whether a missile is still viable,鈥� said Ruffin. 鈥淏asically, they have to take the missile apart. But with U.S. stockpiles around the world, that鈥檚 a waste of millions of dollars.鈥�

鈥淲e found Optical Raman Spectroscopy can look at a missile鈥檚 propellant to determine whether the missile is still good,鈥� explained Professor Ruffin.  鈥淭he Raman probe can be inserted in the motor, and it shows us whether the propellant in the rocket motor is still useful.鈥�

Ruffin and his AAMU colleagues presented their research to Dr. James Parker, the program manager in the chemistry division of the Army Research Office, an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command鈥檚 Army Research Laboratory based in Research Triangle Park, N.C.  Parker visited the Vivian Murray Chambers Science Building on the AAMU campus Wednesday to review the research and to take a campus tour.

鈥淚t鈥檚 costly the way that it鈥檚 done now because you have to actually sacrifice a missile. In the absence of another method, it鈥檚 all we鈥檝e got,鈥� noted Parker.  鈥淏ut this method looks very promising, because it looks like we won鈥檛 have to sacrifice a missile to know whether it鈥檚 good or not. We can test it using this non-invasive optical method and say, 鈥極h, well, if it looks good, we didn鈥檛 destroy it, we can still use it,鈥� and that鈥檚 a big benefit.鈥�

The research is part of a three-year, $376,000 cooperative agreement between researchers at AAMU; the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Aviation & Missile Center at Redstone Arsenal; and the Army Research Office.

鈥淭he project is entering the second year, and it seems to me like there鈥檚 probably a lot more that needs to be done in terms of developing the optical methods that are going to be used,鈥� Parker added.  He called it 鈥減lanned technology transition鈥� and said that by the end of this research effort, there should be a plan in place to use the research results to develop a sensor to monitor, in real time, the reliability of the missiles.

AAMU鈥檚 team of physicists includes Dr. Ruffin, Dr. Anup Sharma, Dr. Carlton Farley, Dr. Aschalew Kassu and Dr. Michael Curley.  Two student researchers are also involved, applied physics doctoral candidate Jonathan Mills, and Alexandria Barnes, who received her master鈥檚 in applied physics in December.

鈥淲e think this is a real breakthrough that can transform the way assessment of missile lifetime is conducted,鈥� commented Ruffin. 鈥淲e will continue validating the innovative concept alongside current propellant aging evaluation methods through actual laboratory and field tests.鈥�

鈥淭he project is really important,鈥� continued Parker.  鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to have a practical effect on soldiers in the field who are relying on missiles. They need to know that if they need to use that weapon system, if it鈥檚 going to work or not. The research here is basically developing a plan to, in a non-destructive way, determine the reliability of every single missile that a soldier is interested in keeping in a stockpile or using, if he鈥檚 deployed somewhere and he has to use it.鈥�