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Process makes fibers 70 percent stronger at lower carbonization temperature. Stronger carbon fibers result from benzoic acid pretreatment and addition of acetylene to nitrogen carbonizing atmosphere. New process also makes carbon fibers of higher electrical resistance -- an important safety consideration.
The molecular understanding of the role which the surface oxide layer of the adherend plays in titanium bonding is studied. The effects of Ti6-4 adherends pretreatment, bonding conditions, and thermal aging of the lap shear specimens were studied. The use of the SEM/EDAX and ESCA techniques to study surface morphology and surface composition was emphasized. In addition, contact angles and both infrared and visible reflection spectroscopy were used in ancillary studies.
The role of the interfacial region in determining the bond strength and durability of composite bonds is discussed. The characterization of a variety of carbon fibers including Celion 6000 using both scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is discussed. The emphasis is on composite bonding, that is, the adhesive bonding between composites in contrast to fiber-matrix interaction. The primary objective of the research is the characterization of composite surfaces before adhesive bonding and after fracture of bonded specimens. Work done on the analysis of composite samples pretreated in a number of ways prior to bonding is detailed.
Laboratory scale experiments were conducted on two high volatile bituminous coals in a bench scale batch fluidized bed reactor. Chemical pretreatment and posttreatment of coals were tried as a means of enhancing desulfurization. Sequential chlorination and dechlorination cum hydrodesulfurization under modest conditions relative to the water slurry process were found to result in substantial sulfur reductions of about 80%. Sulfur forms as well as proximate and ultimate analyses of the processed coals are included. These studies indicate that a fluidized bed reactor process has considerable potential for being developed into a simple and economic process for coal desulfurization.
A total renovation concept for removing objectionable materials from spacecraft wash water to make the water reusable was developed. This concept included ferric chloride pretreatment to coagulate suspended solids such as soap and lint, pressure filtration, and carbon adsorption and ion exchange to remove trace dissolved organics and inorganic salts. A breadboard model which was developed to demonstrate the design adequacy of the various system components and the limits on system capacities and efficiencies.
The chemical vapor transport technique was applied for the first time to the growth of Hg(1-x)Cd(x)Te epitaxial layers on CdTe substrates using a preannealed source material of Hg(0.8)Cd(0.2)Te. The experiment took place in a pretreated ampoule loaded with source material, HgI2 transport agent, and substrate and sealed under a residual pressure of about 10 to the -5th torr. The temperature of the source region was 590 C and that of the deposition zone 535 C with a nearly sigmoidal shaped profile between the end temperatures. The change in appearance of the substrate surface during the experiment is described, and the structures of the surface of the Hg(1-x)Cd(x)Te layer and of the layer itself as revealed by Nomarski contrast illumination and Laue X-ray diffraction, respectively, are discussed.
A variable thermal control coating (modified chromic acid anodizing) has been developed to meet the needs for the thermal control of spacecraft. This coating, with controlled variable ranges of 0.10 to 0.72 thermal emittance and 0.2 to 0.4 solar absorptance, allows the user to select any value of thermal emittance and solar absorptance within the range specified and obtain both values within + or - 0.02. Preliminary solar stability has shown less than 15 percent degradation over 2000 hours of vacuum solar exposure. The technique has been determined to be sensitive to the parameters of voltage, rate of voltage application, time, temperature, acid concentration, and material pretreatment.
The interaction of Ti and Ti 6-4 powders with water and primer solutions was investigated experimentally by measuring the heats of immersion. Similar comparative studies were made on anatase and rutile TiO2 powders. The surface oxide layers of Ti and Ti 6-4 cracked on heating in vacuum between 300 and 400 C as evidenced by high heats of immersion in both water and primer solutions. Polyimide and polyphenylquinoxaline interacted preferentially, compared with the solvents with both metal powders after outgassing at room temperature. The heats of immersion of Ti 6-4 in water, solvents, and primer solutions increased significantly after pretreatment of the powder by an alkaline etch and a phosphate-fluoride process. The TiO2 powders were not satisfactory models for the surface oxide layer on either Ti or Ti 6-4 powder.
Thermogravimetric, metallographic, and X-ray studies of a model alloy, Ni-(17 a/o)Al-(10 a/o)Mo+W, oxidized in dry air at 600-1200 C and in air with 10 ppm NaCl gas at 900 C, are reported. The alloy was melted under Ar and pretreated in flowing H2 for 24 h at 1300 C. Polished 1.3 x 1.3 x 0.2-cm specimens were washed and degreased prior to oxidation in a quartz tube within a furnace for up to 120 hr. The oxidation activation energy of the alloy is determined to be about 30 kcal/mole. The specimens oxidized at 900 C and hotter exhibited oxidized and nitrided phases covered by complex NiMoO4, NiWO4, and NiAl2O4 scales and a porous, nonprotective outer layer of NiO. The oxidation behavior is found to be determined by the formation and growth of the scale, especially the (Mo,W)O2 component. Al2O3 scale layers were not formed, and further runs with pure O2 or Ar-(20 percent)O2 ruled out an explanation of this phenomenon based on aluminum nitride formation. The oxidation was accelerated by the addition of NaCl gas, a finding attributed to the reaction of NaCl with external locally protective Al2O3 scales and with the internal(Mo, W)O2 layers.
Chromatographic-sample pretreatment by dialysis detects traces of organic contaminants in water samples analyzed in field with minimal analysis equipment and minimal quantities of solvent. Technique also of value wherever aqueous sample and solvent must not make direct contact.
Water recovery subsystems are being tested at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center for Space Station use to process waste water generated from urine and wash water collection facilities. These subsystems are being integrated into a water management system that will incorporate wash water and urine processing through the use of hyperfiltration and vapor compression distillation subsystems. Other hardware in the water management system includes a whole body shower, a clothes washing facility, a urine collection and pretreatment unit, a recovered water post-treatment system, and a water quality monitor. This paper describes the integrated test configuration, pertinent performance data, and feasibility and design compatibility conclusions of the integrated water management system.
The results of experimental analyses of the effects of pretreatment on bonding between composite materials are reported. The materials comprised graphite fibers in a polyimide matrix. The surfaces were bonded as-received or subjected to grit blasting, bead blasting, hand sanding, washes with ethanolic KOH, NH2NH2-H2O or H2SO4 + 0.30 H2O2 or flashblasting. SEM and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed fluorine contents in the as-received samples. Contact angles were determined by means of five different liquids with various surface tensions. The flashblast technique removed all fluorine from the samples. Low critical surface tensions were found in the composite surfaces with high fluorine concentrations. The surface scanning techniques are concluded to be useful for studying factors influencing the strength and durability of adhesively bonded composites.
Beta interferon has been shown to inhibit the capacity of bloodstream forms of the flagellate Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas' disease, to associate with and infect mouse peritoneal macrophages and rat heart myoblasts. The inhibitory effect was abrogated in the presence of specific antibodies to the interferon. Pretreatment of the parasites with interferon reduced their infectivity for untreated host cells, whereas pretreament of either type of host cell did not affect the interaction. The effect of interferon on the trypanosomes was reversible; the extent of the inhibitory effect was significantly reduced afer 20 min, and was undetectable after 60 min when macrophages were used as host cells. For the myoblasts, 60 min elapsed before the inhibitory effect began to subside and 120 min elapsed before it became insignificant or undetectable.
The role of interferon (IFN) in the normal-killer-cell (NK) mediated lysis of tumor cells in vitro is investigated experimentally. Normal mouse spleen cells and spleen cells treated with anti-Thy-1.2 serum are cultured for 24 h with Friend erythroleukemia (FLD-3) cells in RPMI 1640 medium; supernatant fluid from cultures with FLD-3 lysis are assayed for IFN-gamma, and it is found that pretreatment with anti-Thy-1.2 suppresses IFN-gamma generation without affecting the ability of NK to mediate the lysis of FLD-3. Further tests indicate that the generation of IFN-gamma is stimulated by the presence of Mycoplasma arginini in the FLD-3 cells.
The results of the second generation operational improvements and the TIMES (Thermoelectric Integrated Membrane Evaporation Subsystem) 2 study are covered. Areas covered in the second generation operational improvements are improved temperature control, water quality improvements, subsytem operational improvements, solid handling improvements, wastewater pretreatment optimization, and membrane rejuvenation concepts. The task for the TIMES 2 study are thermoelectric regenerator improvement, recycle loop pH operational criteria, recycle loop component optimization, and hollow fiber membrane evaporator improvement. Results are presented and conclusions are drawn from both studies.
The creep, thermal expansion, and elastic modulus properties for chemically vapor deposited SiC fibers were measured between 1000 and 1500 C. Creep strain was observed to increase logarithmically with time, monotonically with temperature, and linearly with tensile stress up to 600 MPa. The controlling activation energy was 480 + or - 20 kJ/mole. Thermal pretreatments near 1200 and 1450 C were found to significantly reduce fiber creep. These results coupled with creep recovery observations indicate that below 1400 C fiber creep is anelastic with neglible plastic component. This allowed a simple predictive method to be developed for describing fiber total deformation as a function of time, temperature, and stress. Mechanistic analysis of the property data suggests that fiber creep is the result of beta-SiC grain boundary sliding controlled by a small percent of free silicon in the grain boundaries.
The requirements of a significant quantity of proposed life sciences experiments in Shuttle payloads for available wash water to support cleansing operations has provided the incentive to develop a technique for wash water renovation. A prototype wash water waste renovation system which has the capability to process the waste water and return it to a state adequate for reuse in a typical cleansing fixture designed to support life science experiments was investigated. The resulting technology is to support other developments efforts pertaining to water reclamation by serving as a pretreatment step for subsequent reclamation procedures.
The preliminary development of a wash water recycle system utilizing an inside-skinned hollow-fiber membrane is described. This module configuration is based on tube-side feed and is highly resistant to fouling with a minimum of pretreatment. During an ongoing research program for NASA, these modules were operated on actual wash waters with no significant fouling for a period of 40 days. Due to the tube-side-feed flow in these hollow-fiber membranes, the fibers themselves become the pressure vessels, allowing the development of extremely lightweight membrane modules. During the NASA research program, a pre-prototype membrane module capable of processing 6 gallons per day of wash water at 97 percent recovery was developed that can be dry-stored and that weighs 120 g.