THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COATINGS DESIGN WORKSTATION

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED SURFACE TREATMENTS TO COUNTER THE ON-GOING EVOLUTION OF ACTIVE AND PASSIVE EO THREAT SYSTEMS REQUIRES THE USE OF SOPHISTICATED COMPUTER MODELS TO OPTIMIZE THE DESIGN PROCESS. THE COATINGS REFLECTANCE ENGINEERING EVALUATION PROGRAM (CREEP) WAS DEVELOPED FOR THIS PURPOSE. HOWEVER, THE CREEP CODE DOES NOT CONSIDER SCATTERING FROM FLAKED PIGMENTS COMMONLY USED IN COATINGS DESIGN, OR THE ENHANCED RETRO-REFLECTANCE SURFACE SCATTERING THAT IS IMPORTANT FOR LASER RADAR CROSS-SECTION CONSIDERATIONS. A PHASE I PROGRAM IS PROPOSED THAT WILL REVIEW THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE FOR ADVANCED SINGLE AND SURFACE SCATTERING TECHNIQUES AND DEVELOP A PLAN FOR INTEGRATING THESE TECHNIQUES INTO THE CREEP METHODOLOGY AND HOSTING THE CODE ON A PARALLEL PROCESSING WORKSTATION. THE PROGRAM WILL ALSO DEVELOP FIRST-ORDER APPROXIMATIONS AND A MEASUREMENT DATA BASE TO BE USED IN MODEL VALIDATION STUDIES. THE COATINGS DESIGN WORKSTATION WILL BE BUILT AND DEMONSTRATED IN A PHASE II PROGRAM. THE PROGRAM WILL MAKE USE OF UNIQUE IN-HOUSE FACILITIES FOR MONOAND BISTATIC REFLECTANCE MEASUREMENTS AND AN EXTENSIVE DATA BASE OF OPTICAL PROPERTIES. THE PROGRAM WILL ALSO BENEFIT FROM CURRENT INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS THAT ARE BEING SUPPORTED BY PHASE I AND II SBIR FUNDS.