John Huntley Belk

• B.S., M.S., M.E.M.
• Principal Investigator at GroundLinx Technologies LLC

Composite material usage in structural applications have increased rapidly as the material and fabrication technology have matured. The majority of these applications are weight critical and are therefore manufactured with thin sections. Naval applications are typically significantly larger, requiring much thicker sections to react to the design lo...

A system and method are disclosed for internally heated concentrated solar power (CSP) thermal absorbers. The system and method involve an energy-generating device having at least one heating unit. At least one heating unit preheats the energy-generating device in order to expedite the startup time of the energy-generating device, thereby allowing...

An electrical grounding system can include an electrically conductive column configured for communication with a fault current source , wherein the electrically conductive column can include an open - ended copper tube , and carbon fiber fabric assembled onto at least a portion of the electrically conductive column , the carbon fiber fabric having...

A system and method are disclosed for an electrical earthing or grounding system to protect electrical systems and structures . Such systems and structures are efficient at dissipating broadband energy . An earthing mix system in contact with a grounding electrode is separated into functional compo nents ; a conductive earthing mix which is in cont...

A system and method are disclosed for internally heated concentrated solar power (CSP) thermal absorbers. The system and method involve an energy-generating device having at least one heating unit. At least one heating unit preheats the energy-generating device in order to expedite the startup time of the energy-generating device, thereby allowing...

A non-destructive examination (NDE) system for use on a structural element comprises nano-energetic actuators configured for creating a controlled combustion in response to thermal energy, thereby inducing vibrations in a surface of the structural element. The NDE system further comprises sensors configured for measuring the vibrations induced in t...

The importance of grounding in protecting structures and electrical systems has been known for over two centuries. However, there are two critical characteristics of damage-causing fault currents which have not been sufficiently explored by engineers in the design and installation of protective grounding strategies: This paper discusses the signifi...

A method for making a conductive pre-impregnated composite sheet includes the steps of joining a nanomaterial composite sheet, a fiber-reinforcing sheet and a resin system to form a combined sheet, heating the combined sheet, compacting the combined sheet, and cooling the combined sheet to form conductive pre-impregnated composite sheet including t...

Elongated, ultra-high conductivity electrical conductors for use in advanced electronic components and vehicles, and methods for producing the same, are disclosed herein. The elongated electrical conductors include a conductor body that defines a longitudinal axis. The conductor body includes an isotropically conductive matrix material and a plural...

An illustrative embodiment of a contaminant resistant structure includes a substrate having a substrate surface, at least one contaminant resistant material provided on the substrate surface and a hydrophobic or oleophobic, and alternatively, a hydrophilic or oleophilic material provided on at least a portion of the substrate surface.

A non-destructive examination (NDE) system for use on a structural element comprises nano-energetic actuators configured for creating a controlled combustion in response to thermal energy, thereby inducing vibrations in a surface of the structural element. The NDE system further comprises sensors configured for measuring the vibrations induced in t...

A transmission cable may include a conductor core, an insulator layer surrounding the conductor core, and a shielding layer surrounding the insulator layer, wherein the shielding layer includes a carbon nanotube sheet material.

This paper explores the position that traditional grounding design, as used in the broadcasting business (and nearly all others), has not kept pace with electronic technology in common use today. Furthermore, the methodology used to create traditional grounding is overly assumption-driven, resulting in inaccurate, often fully insufficient or unstab...

An experimental analysis of the role of surface roughness parameters on micropitting and the succeeding rolling contact fatigue (RCF) of silicon nitride against AISI 52100 steel under lubricated conditions was performed. In accelerated fatigue tests using a four-ball tester, the arithmetic mean, root mean square, and peak-to-valley roughnesses of s...

A system for providing active real-time characterization of an article under test is disclosed. An infrared light source, a first visible light source and a second visible light source each outputs and directs a beam of coherent light at a particular area on the article under test. A visible light camera and a visible light second harmonic generati...

A method of making a sheet metal component from a tailored blank includes altering an initial blank formed from a first material to form the tailored blank by at least one of (i) coupling additional material to a portion of the first material, and (ii) removing the first material from a portion of the initial blank. The method also includes forming...

In minimum quantity lubrication (MQL), an aerosol containing a minimum amount of the cutting fluid is delivered to the tool/workpiece interface during the metal cutting operation. The fluid lubrication by the fluid and the cooling by the compressed air in the aerosol improves the cutting process, while the low consumption rate in MQL provides less...

A method for making a conductive pre-impregnated composite sheet includes the steps of joining a nanomaterial composite sheet, a fiber-reinforcing sheet and a resin system to form a combined sheet, heating the combined sheet, compacting the combined sheet, and cooling the combined sheet to form conductive pre-impregnated composite sheet including t...

Graphene, the two-dimensional monolayer of carbon, is an essential building block for advanced electronic applications. Graphene is often integrated with bulk conductors, metals, and semiconductors for optoelectronic applications. The semimetal bismuth, that shares many electronic properties with these other conductors, is interesting because like...

Systems and methods are provided for fabrication of a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) material with carbon nanotubes and graphene. One embodiment is a method for forming a ceramic matrix composite structure. The method includes providing a mixture of carbon nanotubes, graphene, and silicon carbon nitride, heating the mixture to bond the carbon nanot...

A transmission cable may include a conductor core, an insulator layer surrounding a conductor core, and a shielding layer surrounding the insulator layer, wherein the shielding layer includes a carbon nanotube sheet material.

A frequency selective electromagnetic apparatus is provided. The apparatus may include at least one nanowire comprising a first end and a second end opposite the first end, at least one 2-dimensional contact disposed adjacent to the first end or the second end and in thermal communication, electrical communication, or both thermal and electrical co...

Elongated, ultra-high conductivity electrical conductors for use in advanced electronic components and vehicles, and methods for producing the same, are disclosed herein. The elongated electrical conductors include a conductor body that defines a longitudinal axis. The conductor body includes an isotropically conductive matrix material and a plural...

A system for providing active real-time characterization of an article under test is disclosed. An infrared light source, a first visible light source and a second visible light source each outputs and directs a beam of coherent light at a particular area on the article under test. A visible light camera and a visible light second harmonic generati...

We report on a room-temperature photodetector utilizing semimetal bismuth nanowire arrays coupled with graphene. The structural flatness and high electron mobility of graphene exhibit great potential for future generations of electronic materials. Bismuth nanowire arrays coupled with graphene have strong absorption because of light trapping. Bismut...

The present disclosure is directed to a system and method for monitoring the integrity of structural bodies. In particular, the disclosure is directed to a system and method for detecting and characterizing damage to a structural body.

A system for measuring strain includes an optical fiber having a central portion secured between two fixed points. A first light source outputs light at a first frequency and a second light source outputs light at a second different frequency. The two light sources are both coupled to a first end of the optical fiber. A back scatter detector is als...

The present disclosure relates to monitoring, evaluating and interrogating material surfaces using second-order nonlinear optical ellipsometry for surface monitoring and characterization.

A method for reducing wear between two surfaces in sliding contact with one another includes introducing nanoparticles between the two surfaces in an amount and having a composition that results in shear lines being generated within at least one agglomerated wear particle that is generated between the two surfaces as a result of the sliding contact...

Incremental sheet forming (ISF) has demonstrated significant potential to form complex three-dimensional parts without using component-specific tools and is suitable for economically fabricating low-volume functional sheet metal parts. Single-point incremental forming (SPIF) uses only one tool to form components and requires additional setup to for...

Extreme pressure (EP) testing of cutting fluids modified by diamond and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanoparticles were carried out as a possible predictor of behavior of these fluids when used in conventional drilling. EP tests showed that nanofluids containing 2–4% MoS2 nanoparticles increased the load carrying capacity up to 16% while significant...

Methods, systems and apparatuses are disclosed for interrogating characteristics of a substrate material surface and sub-surface by evaluating: 1) sum frequency output beams produced by combining an optical source input and a Terahertz source input, and 2) Terahertz second harmonic frequency output from a Terahertz source input.

Methods, systems and apparatuses are disclosed for interrogating characteristics of a substrate material surface and sub-surface by evaluating Terahertz output signals generated by non-Terahertz, optical source inputs.

Methods, systems and apparatuses are disclosed for interrogating characteristics of a substrate material surface and sub-surface by evaluating Terahertz output signals generated by non-Terahertz, optical source inputs.

A system and method are disclosed for internally heated concentrated solar power (CSP) thermal absorbers. The system and method involve an energy-generating device having at least one heating unit. At least one heating unit preheats the energy-generating device in order to expedite the startup time of the energy-generating device, thereby allowing...

An illustrative embodiment of a contaminant resistant structure includes a substrate having a substrate surface, at least one contaminant resistant material provided on the substrate surface and a hydrophobic or oleophobic, and alternatively, a hydrophilic or oleophilic material provided on at least a portion of the substrate surface.

A composite structure having an embedded sensing system is provided, along with corresponding systems and methods for monitoring the health of a composite structure. The composite structure includes composite material and an optical fiber disposed within the composite material. The optical fiber includes a plurality of quantum dots for enhancing it...

The invention, antimicrobial, antiviral, antifungal, materials and structures having a bactericidal and / or counter chemical properties, and antimicrobial, antiviral, antifungal, biocidal and / or counter chemical regarding working method of the surface coating agent. More specifically, the present invention is different antimicrobial resistant in...

An illustrative embodiment of a contaminant resistant structure includes a substrate having a substrate surface, at least one contaminant resistant material provided on the substrate surface and a hydrophobic or oleophobic, and alternatively, a hydrophilic or oleophilic material provided on at least a portion of the substrate surface.

A method and apparatus for processing light. An apparatus comprises a light collector and a wire. The light collector is configured to receive light and direct the light to a location. The wire is in the location and is configured to generate an electrical signal in response to a number of photons of the light absorbed by the wire. The electrical s...

A method and apparatus comprising a signal generator and a wire. The signal generator is configured to generate an electrical signal having an amplitude. The wire is connected to the signal generator. The wire is configured to emit photons in response to receiving the electrical signal. The photons have a frequency based on the amplitude of the ele...

A method and apparatus comprising a signal generator, an array of wires, and a controller. The signal generator is configured to generate electrical signals. The electrical signals have amplitudes and first phases. The array of wires is connected to the signal generator. The array of wires is configured to emit photons having phases in response to...

A method and apparatus comprising a signal generator and wires. The signal generator is configured to generate electrical signals. The electrical signals have amplitudes and first phases. The wires are connected to the signal generator. The wires are configured to emit photons having phases in response to receiving the electrical signals. The photo...

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for nonlinear optical surface sensing with a single thermo-electric detector. In particular, the system includes at least two signal sources that are co-aligned to propagate photons to the same location on a surface. The system also includes at least one focusing element that focuses a sequence of phot...

We report the first demonstration of optical detection by thermoelectric nanowire junctions. We employed devices composed of bismuth nanowire arrays which are capped with a transparent indium tin oxide electrode. The incident surface features very low optical reflectivity and enhanced light trapping. The unique attributes of the thermoelectric arra...

A method for monitoring and diagnosing the health of a structure. The method includes providing a plurality of damage monitoring units each having at least one actuator, at least one sensor and a data collection device. The sensors are arranged and disposed to measure vibration produced by the actuator and provide a signal corresponding to the meas...

The fatigue life of all-steel and silicon nitride–steel ball combinations with a focus on the fatigue life of the steel components was experimentally studied using a four-ball tester. The rolling contact fatigue (RCF) tests were conducted according to the IP-300 standard with a rotational speed of 10,000rpm. The L10 of the AISI M50 tool steel compo...

An apparatus may have a multilayered support base having a structural section made up of operating components and a function support section. The function support section may have transmission paths and components to supply thermal, power transmission, information and communication paths, along with other functions. At least some of the components...

Sheet metal working fluids are used for reducing wear of forming sheets and dies and lowering friction at the die/workpiece interface. The reduction of friction and wear results in fewer defects and improved geometric and surface finish quality. In this paper, nanoparticles of several materials with known solid lubrication properties such as molybd...

Dispersed nanoparticles of solid lubricants in sheet metal forming fluids are studied for enhanced lubrication that can lead to improved product surface quality and reduced tool wear. Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2 ) and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) nanoparticles of varying size and concentrations have shown marked reduction in wear of steel counterfa...

The apparatus and method of the present invention provide a quick, simple and accurate manner in which to measure the dimensions or characteristics of a hole without contacting the hole. The apparatus and method of the present invention also automatically detect different materials defining the hole and, therefore, the location of the interface whe...

The application-focused nanotechnology event entitled Nano App Summit 2005 was held 17-19 October 2005 in Cleveland. The event's Aerospace Technical Program focused on the applications of nanotechnology in the aerospace industry. Topics discussed include metallurgical nanotechnology, the impact of nanotechnology on the aerospace industry, nanotechn...

Disclosed is a method that utilizes optics to measure a hole depth in a workpiece. The method involves placing a light recording apparatus and a light source apparatus proximate a hole. Light is then emitted from the light source apparatus and is directed into the hole. This illumination of the hole allows an image of the side surface of the hole t...

The increased use of polymer adhesives and polymer-based composites in primary structural applications has stimulated the need for a minimally invasive, structurally compatible means for assessing the in-situ health of these materials during the service life of the structure or component. While there are several approaches, the present research has...

A system such as for sensing strain or temperature of an aircraft and for transmitting information in communication systems. A sensor array includes a first light responsive Bragg grating sensor having a first operating bandwidth and a second light responsive Bragg grating sensor having a second operating bandwidth. Each sensor modifies light provi...

This paper describes the final results of the Applied Research in Remotely-Queried Embedded Microsensors program. The program developed wireless and battery-less embedded strain/temperature gages suitable for embedding in aerospace and other composite structures. The program culminated in a working remotely queried strain rosette/temperature gage a...

A foreign object video detection system comprises a television camera for producing a digital color image of a work surface, a converter having direct memory access to a computer, color detection and color image processing software, logic for discriminating objects deemed to be a foreign object on the work surface or upon a layer of material on the...

The apparatus and associated method of the present invention remotely detects structural defects in a workpiece by monitoring the electrical continuity of thin crack wires deposited on or within the workpiece in response to a communication from a remote interrogation device. As a crack, delamination or other structural defect forms or propagates in...

Pressed PZT Piezoelectric disks were embedded in a range of materials and their properties monitored under a wide range of conditions. The output depends on the temperature and pressure exerted on the PZT by the surrounding material and by the mechanical impedance mismatch between the embedded PZT and the surroundings. By monitoring the `Q' of the...

The US Office of Naval Research is funding a multi- disciplinary team to consolidate progress made in earlier programs towards self-contained microsensors to be embedded in a composite structure and queried using methods that methods that do not require physical connections. The sensors are to be left in place for the lifetime of the structure, are...

Prototype remotely queried embedded microsensor devices were installed on two US Navy platforms to verify the robustness of the transponder circuitry to survive in operational environments. Devices were installed on the Advanced Enclosed Mast/Sensor System aboard USS Radford in May 1998. These devices are in the high EMI environment of the SPS-40 r...

Fiberoptic Raman backscatter based distributed temperature measurement systems have been available for several years. Recent efforts at Boeing have focused on developing methods to apply this equipment to monitoring the temperature of composite parts during manufacture, laboratory testing, and on-board application for health monitoring. A number of...

Sensors embedded in structural composites have been a topic of research in recent years. Embedded sensors can be used to monitor and optimize the manufacturing process, to monitor performance during use, and for structural health monitoring in high-performance applications. For several years, embedded optical fibers were the predominant type of sen...

A fiber optic sensing system and method comprises a continuous optical fiber including at least three mirrors defining at least two contiguous optical cavities. Preferably, each optical cavity has a unique length so that the reflected optical signal associated with a given optical cavity will have a unique phase difference or wavelength allowing ea...

A strain sensor (50) combines an intrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (IFPI) (60) with an extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (EFPI) (56, 62). The IFPI (60) is between two EFPIs (56,62) and shares its two air to glass minors (58, 62). The outside edges (54, 66) of the two EFPIs (56, 64) are connected to an optical fiber (52). The strain sensor (16...

Embedding sensors in structural composites has been a topic of research in recent years. Embedded sensors can be used to monitor and optimize the manufacturing process, to monitor performance during use, and for structural health monitoring in high-performance applications. To date, optical fiber sensors have been the principal sensing technique fo...

A system and method for absolute, high resolution and accurate strain measurement includes a low-coherence light source (12) transmitting light through a strain sensor (18) and into an interferometer (26). The interferometer (26) has a high-coherence light source (48) that parallels the light from the low-coherence light source (12). The output of...

Composite material usage in structural applications have increased rapidly as the material and fabrication technology have matured. The majority of these applications are weight critical and are therefore manufactured with thin sections. Naval applications are typically significantly larger, requiring much thicker sections to react to the design lo...

An acousto-optic tunable based active wavelength demodulation system for intracore Bragg grating fibre-optic sensors has been demonstrated. The system uses an intensity self-referenced edge-locking technique to track the reflected signal of the Bragg sensor. A strain resolution of 2.2 με was achieved with a Bragg fibre-optic strain sensor oper...

The software and computing power of the WYKO LADITE interferometer make it a desirable tool in applications that are outside the factory set wavelength. However, the focus shift involved in going from the factory set wavelength to, for example, Nd:YAG's 1.06 micron line introduces systematic errors. This paper describes a method to refocus the comm...