REMOTE TRACK TAPERING

THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE NEED TO DEVELOP A METHOD OF REMOTELY CONTROLLING THE TAPER OF THE INDIVIDUAL TRACK SECTIONS AT ARNOLD ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT CENTER'S G-RANGE HYPERVELOCITY TEST TRACK. A FEASIBILITY STUDY WILL BE CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE TRACK TAPERING REQUIREMENTS, EVALUATE THE MOST PROMISING AND COST-EFFECTIVE POTENTIAL TAPERING METHODS. THE STUDY WILL INCLUDE THE FABRICATION OF KEY FUNDAMENTAL COMPONENTS AND PERFORMANCE OF LABORATORY MOCK-UP TESTS. AT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS EFFORT, AND IF AN ACCEPTABLE COSTEFFECTIVE METHOD IS REALIZED, A PHASE II PROPOSAL WILL BE GENERATED THAT OUTLINES IN-DETAIL, THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FULL-SCALE AUTOMATED REMOTE TRACKING TAPERING SYSTEM.