This statement of work (SOW) is the result of a proposal submitted by boeing which was selected for award under the NASA HQ aeronautics research mission directorate (armd) NRA titled research…

This statement of work (SOW) is the result of a proposal submitted by boeing which was selected for award under the NASA HQ aeronautics research mission directorate (armd) NRA titled research opportunities in aeronautics (ROA)-2007, subtopic a.6.2 EDL system level experimental validation. To support future plans for both human and robotic planetary exploration, spacecraft and mission architectures capable of delivering usable payload masses one to two orders of magnitude greater than previous missions are required. Current rigid aeroshell and thermal protection system (TPS) technologies have been deemed insufficient to support this trend based on recent studies. Inflatable aerodynamic decelerators such as inflatable aeroshells and ballutes have been identified as an enabling technology for entry of larger payloads into planetary atmospheres when used for aerobraking or aerocapture. The technology of inflatable structures allows for larger drag area with lower associated weight while permitting system packing within existing or smaller launch vehicles. Scope of work the contractor will explore strain/deformation instrumentation required to validate fluid structure interaction models of inflatable aerodynamic decelerators. The objective of this study is to evaluate the issues related to strain sensor integration on inflatable structures, derive requirements for the instrumentation of ground and flight experiments based on model validation needs, and evaluate a selection of sensors types using an inflatable beam experiment. Test article preparation & set-up the contractor shall perform a detail design of the test article (inflatable beam) and test set-up. The contractor shall provide all hardware including the test article required to support the setup and testing. The contractor shall fabricate test coupons to characterize sensor to material integration. The contractor shall develop a sensor integration report that documents the methods attempted for integration of sensor, with successes and failures, and lessons learned. The contractor shall develop a test plan that documents the test setup, tests, facilities, test objectives, and test metrics that the contractor will use during testing. Pre-test calibration the contractor shall perform a pre-test and post-test checkout and evaluation of the test article to determine leak rates. The contractor shall perform pre-test calibration and checkout of all sensor and data systems supporting the test. The contractor shall perform mechanical load testing of the inflatable beam. Testing the contractor shall conduct load testing of an inflatable beam using a minimum of 6 of each type of sensor (as described in 3.4.2 and 3.4.3 below) installed to measure material strain. The contractor shall collect data from testing and compare IT to analytically derived results to characterize the accuracy of each sensor system. The contractor shall perform tests of an axially loaded inflatable beam at internal pressures ranging from 1 pound per square inch to 5 pounds per square inch. The specific internal pressures at which the inflatable beam will be tested shall be documented in the test plan developed in task 3.2.4. The contractor shall perform at least 3 load tests per internal pressure in which tensile and compressive strain is measured using a fiber-optic based strain sensing system developed from fiber bragg gradings (FBG) sensors. The contractor shall perform at least 3 load tests per internal pressure in which tensile and compressive strain is measured using a micro-electro-mechanical system (mems) based sensor system. Test report & analysis the contractor shall perform test data analysis to determine the degree of correlation to the expected analytical result. The contractor shall combine these results with the sensor s data rate, fidelity, etc, to form data quality figures of merit. The combined evaluation will include both integration suitability and data