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White, Susan

Publications and source records attributed to White, Susan.

27 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1998

Aerogel: Tile Composites Toughen a Brittle Superinsulation

Pure aerogels, though familiar in the laboratory for decades as exotic lightweight insulators with unusual physical properties, have had limited industrial applications due to their low strength and high brittleness. Composites formed of aerogels and the ceramic fiber matrices like those used as space shuttle tiles bypass the fragility of pure aerogels and can enhance the performance of space shuttle tiles in their harsh operating environment. Using a layer of aerogel embedded in a tile may open up a wide range of applications where thermal insulation, gas convection control and mechanical strength matter.

White, Susan↗
NASA NTRS1998

Aerogel: Tile Composites Toughen a Brittle Superinsulation

Pure aerogels, though familiar in the laboratory for decades as exotic lightweight insulators with unusual physical properties, have had limited industrial applications due to their low strength and high brittleness. Composites formed of aerogels and the ceramic fiber matrices used as space shuttle tiles bypass the fragility of pure aerogels and can enhance the performance of space shuttle tiles in their harsh operating environment. Using a layer of aerogel embedded in a tile may open up a wide range of applications where thermal insulation, gas convection control and mechanical strength matter.

White, Susan↗
NASA NTRS1997

Ceramic Aerogel Composite Materials and Characterization

Aerogels a.k.a "Solid Smoke" are gels with the liquid phase replaced by gas, leaving behind a highly porous material with a nanoscale framework. Due to the porous, nanoscale structure, aerogels have the lowest known density and conductivity of solids. Aerogels have the potential for being a breakthrough material because of their extremely light weight and unique properties. In this paper, we address overcoming their most profound weaknesses: mechanical fragility and very high surface activity, which leads to a lowered sintering temperature. A matrix of ceramic aerogel composite materials was produced to investigate their properties and functionality. Mechanical property measurements and Scanning Electron Micrographs are used to identify trends and structure of these ceramic composite materials. Thermal cycling was used to identify the sintering points of the materials.

White, Susan↗
NASA NTRS1994

1993 Technical Paper Contest for Women. Gear Up 2000: Women in Motion

The NASA Ames Research Center Advisory Committee for Women (ACW) sponsored the second ACW Technical paper Contest for Ames women in order to increase the visibility of, and to encourage writing for publication by Ames women scientists, engineers, and technicians. The topics of the contest paper mirrored in the topics of the 1993 Society for Women Engineers (SWE) National Convention, which included technological, workplace, global, and family issues.

Orans, Robin↗
NASA NTRS1994

Building on the foundation for an engineering career

A predictable and preventable hurdle stops a majority of young women from entering the scientific and technical fields. This cuts down the individual's career possibilities and cuts in half the pool of potential U.S. engineers later available to industry. The waste of talent does not advance our country's competitive position. The typical American adolescent girl has acquired all the basic mathematical skills needed to pursue science and math, but, from adolescence on, she does not build the foundation of science and math courses that she would need later in life to work in engineering. Several questions are addressed: Why are some young women stopped cold in their mathematical tracks during adolescence? What is the influence of psychology, including discussion of the personality traits quantifiably shared by women in technical fields? and How should the school system adapt to keep their female charges learning math and science?

White, Susan↗
NASA NTRS1994

Material Properties for Fiber-Reinforced Silica Aerogels

Ceramic fiber-reinforced silica aerogels are novel materials for high performance insulation, including thermal protection materials. Experimental data are presented for the thermal and mechanical properties, showing the trends exhibited over a range of fiber loadings and silica aerogel densities. Test results are compared to that of unreinforced bulk aerogels.

White, Susan↗
NASA NTRS1993

Effect of particle size in composite materials on radiative properties

A numerical model for the radiative properties of a composite material composed of ceramic oxide fibers and particles was developed and used to determine the effect of the size parameters of the two components. Results include the computed phase functions for the zirconia and silica composite materials, showing the location and strength of the strong forward-scattering peak. The phase function and the optical properties of the composite are strongly influenced by the particle size parameter through the fiber or particle diameter and the wavelength, the material, and the mixture fraction.

Lee, Siu-Chun↗
NASA NTRS1993

Advanced particulate fibrous composite for thermal control of re-entry vehicles

Combining the selectively reflective properties of particulate reflective coatings with the low density and high temperature capability of ceramic fibrous materials results in a novel composite material with useful optical properties. Numerical predictions of the radiative properties of zirconia and silica composites for a range of mixture fractions and wavelengths show the improvements attainable by dispersing spheres throughout a fiber matrix. The radiation conductance is controlled by the percentage of spheres in the composite. Results show that specific wavelength domains are controlled by either the spheres or the fibers, so the optical properties can be tailored for reentry applications.

White, Susan↗