An Environmental Chamber for Realistic Sub-Freezing Arctic Engineering Techniques and Materials
Abstract
In recent years, exploring sub-frozen Arctic areas has gained increasing international importance. For the U.S. and its allies, the strategic importance of the Arctic region is primarily fueled by the national interest to ensure the U.S. dominancy in the Arctic against the Russian and Chinese attempts to force their control over this region. Such increasing international interest in the Arctic region is attributed to the fact that the Arctic is (1) rich in different energy and natural resources, (2) a short and easy futuristic commercial navigation channel between North America and Asia, and Europe after the expected meltdown of the frozen Arctic glacial, and (3) a threat to the U.S. national security given the potential easy access of potential foes (e.g., China and Russia) to the homeland after the glacial meltdown. Due to these factors, researchers from different disciplines and countries are actively investigating phenomena in the Arctic region, such as the behavior of freezing temperatures on natural and manmade materials, micro-organisms and biological ecosystems, human health, and activity level, among others. These studies enabled many new capabilities, such as engineering new and innovative materials that mitigate the effect of the subfrozen Arctic weather, developing more efficient weather-protective cloth for soldiers and scientists, and improving mobility systems for Arctic-oriented vehicles. In essence, ensuring the dominancy of the U.S. in the Arctic region (and other sub-frozen regions) is strongly tied to our ability to mimic the Arctic conditions in our experiments across the different scientific disciplines. The primary objective of this proposal is to acquire an environmental chamber with temperature and humidity control abilities at Virginia Tech. This chamber will allow the testing of different materials, components, and systems under realistic Arctic conditions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 26, 2023
- Source ID
- W911NF2310065
Entities
People
- Sherif Lotfy Abdelaziz
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- United States Army
- Virginia Tech