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All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Analysis of a Dynamic Flexed Flat Cable Harness

A dynamic flex test was performed on a spacecraft instrument harness composed of multiple individual flex cables, with each flex cable containing multiple copper traces. The purpose of the test was to demonstrate the capability of the harness to survive the number of expected flex cycles during the planned mission with appropriate margin. However, during testing, increased trace resistances and open circuits were observed beginning at approximately 10% of the total number of planned flex cycles. This paper discusses the various proximate causes that contributed to increased and open resistance in the flex cables and the subsequent redesign, manufacturing, reliability, and quality-related changes that were instituted. An analysis process, including failure analysis, non-destructive evaluation, digital imaging correlation, and parametric modeling, will also be discussed. The paper will cover the development of a robust dynamic flex harness design and include recommendations to extend flex harness life; make changes to the flex harness life test; and improve flex cable manufacturing, quality, and reliability.

Flexible PCB↗

NASA NTRS1978

The application of a time-domain deconvolution technique for identification of experimental acoustic-emission signals

A method is presented for the signature analysis of pulses by reconstructing in the time domain the shape of the pulse prior to its passing through the measurement system. This deconvolution technique is first evaluated using an idealized system and analytical pulse models and is shown to provide improved results. An experimental situation is then treated; system-component models are developed for the digitizer, tape recorder, filter, transducer and mechanical structure. To accommodate both calibration results and manufacturer's data, and to provide stable mathematical models entails considerable effort: some 30 parameters must be identified to model this system - which is still a substantial approximation - albeit of very high order. Experimental pulses generated by a ball drop, spark discharge and a tearing crack are then deconvoluted 'back through' the system as modeled, using this technique. These results are compared and indicate (a) that consistent shapes may be expected from a given type of source and (b) that some sources can be identified with greater clarity using the deconvolution approach.

Houghton, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Lightning Protection

Kit-built airplanes are more affordable because they are assembled by the owner and do not require Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification. The Glasair III, is an advanced technology homebuilt, constructed of a fiberglass and graphite fiber composite material, and equipped with digital instruments. Both technologies make the airplane more susceptible to lightning effects. When Glasair manufacturer, Stoddard-Hamilton, decided that lightning protection would enable more extensive instrument flight and make the plane more marketable, they proposed a joint development program to NASA Langley Research Center (LAR). Under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract, Langley contractors designed and tested a lightning protection system, and the Glasair III-LP became the first kit-built composite aircraft to be lightning tested and protection-verified under FAA guidelines for general aviation aircraft.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1982

Equipment Analysis

Magnavox Government & Electronics Company originally used the NASTRAN program in the design stage of heavy aluminum fixtures for vibration testing. Program also used to compare the resonant frequencies of the circuitry to predict whether failures may occur because of high vibration levels. The company engineers can then make design alterations to improve the equipment's vibration resistance. Method allows Magnavox to insure reliability and reduce any possibility of vibration-caused failure in critical defense products they manufacture. Magnavox uses another COSMIC software package called GENOPTICS in the development of a Digital Optical Recorder, and also in research and development of other optical systems. This enables use of an optically recorded disc to store and retrieve digital data. It is reported that this program provides accurate results and that its use saved six man-months of time that would have been needed to develop a comparable software package.

Source record↗

DOE OSTI2022

How to use manufacturing statistics when tolerancing a lens system

Manuscript to submit to the SPIE Optics + Photonics 2022 conference, August 21–25, 2022, San Diego, California, for publication in the SPIE Digital Library (Proc. SPIE) (https://spie.org/conferences-and-exhibitions/optics-and-photonics?SSO=1).

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

NASA NTRS2018

Building a Plastics Fabrication Laboratory on the ISS: FabLab, MANTIS, Refabricator, CRISSP, ERASMUS, and MAMBA

The objective of NASA's In Space Manufacturing program is to develop manufacturing technologies and processes necessary to provide "on-demand, sustainable operations for exploration missions." Using the ISS as a test bed, in 2014, NASA installed and successfully tested a 3D printer for in-space operations, demonstrating the 3D printing process as well as sending digital files for printing from earth to the printer. The success of this technology demonstration has shown that on-orbit manufacturing technologies can be used to limit the earth reliance for cis-lunar missions. Because of this success, numerous opportunities have been provided by NASA to further in-space manufacturing by focusing on the development of highly autonomous manufacturing systems, recycling technologies, and robotics with the ultimate goal of building a fabrication laboratory now within reach. From technologies developed for ISS activities and demonstration missions, Tethers Unlimited, Inc. (TUI) is building a Plastics Manufacturing Laboratory capable of fabricating parts on-demand and as-needed while recycling waste plastics with minimal human interaction required. Parts will be manufactured through additive manufacturing. Precision machining will ensure manufactured parts are in tolerance with the end-use requirements. Recycling waste plastics will enable both waste from the crew and waste from processing to be re-processed into something new. In addition, these manufacturing and recycling technologies are supported by part verification/validation technique and robotic servicing, minimizing human interaction with the system and eventually enabling unmanned off-world manufacturing.

Muhlbauer, Rachel↗

DOE OSTI2024

Tuning crosslinking of hybrid preceramic polymers in vat photopolymerization toward controlled ceramic yields

Control of preceramic polymer crosslinking for UV-curable processing is essential for fine 3D printing with high ceramic conversion for sustainable polymer-derived ceramics (PDC) engineering. While various factors influencing ceramic yield have been studied, the systematic exploration of the relationship between crosslinking and ceramic yield, especially when crosslinking increases volatile elements, remains open for further investigation. This study addresses this gap by utilizing vat photopolymerization (VP) additive manufacturing (AM) as a versatile platform for controlling preceramic crosslinking and ceramic yield. By rationally designing and tuning the photochemical crosslinking through digital light processing (DLP), we demonstrate that the ceramic yield can be enhanced from 64% to over 86%, even with added volatile elements. We reveal that the post-pyrolysis ceramic yield can be closely correlated with the pre-pyrolysis crosslinking of the preceramic network represented by its stiffness. This correlation thereby suggests a fast, energy-efficient, non-destructive methodology to predict and improve ceramic yield. Combined with these findings, our one-pot thiol-ene hybridization of polycarbosilane and polycarbosiloxane via DLP offers an exemplary method to generate hybrid preceramic polymers with tailored material properties toward target applications, and potentially even higher ceramic yields. This study thus contributes to achieving better resource- and energy-efficient preceramic polymer and PDC processing routes toward sustainable, advanced organic–inorganic materials manufacturing.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2022

Physics-based modeling and information-theoretic sensor and settings selection for tool wear detection in precision machining

Precision machining of metals is an energy intensive process with applications and impacts across the manufacturing industry. The energy efficiency, product yield, and maintenance of the precision machine require a digital twin that can assist with prognostics and health management. In this report a physics-based model is developed and validated against face milling data, and then used for the timely and precise inference of machining faults that cannot be measured directly. Computer numerical control (CNC) measurements of power and force are used through this physics-based machining model to predict deviations of the outputs of power consumption and cutting forces during normal operation. A model-based fault detection and isolation methodology is applied to determine the optimal (traditional and available) sensor suite and the test settings (admissible input values) that improve the inference of tool wear in face milling. The optimal sensor suite and input test settings are obtained by solving a mixed integer non-linear program that optimizes information-theoretic metrics relevant to the detection and isolation of tool wear from steady-state or transient machining measurements. Dynamic time warping and k—NN classification are then used to validate the robustness of the optimal design for fault detection test design, including the optimal sensor suite.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2021

IoT Devices and Applications for Wire-Based Hybrid Manufacturing Machine Tools

Hybrid manufacturing machine tools have the potential to be a disruptive technology as they can leverage the benefits of both additive and subtractive manufacturing by incorporating both processes on the same machine while limiting the downsides of the individual processes. Since these machines use two very disparate manufacturing processes and hybrid manufacturing is an emerging technology, it will be useful to monitor data coming from the machine and apply it to improve the manufacturing process, the operation of the machine, and to integrate the machine into the larger digital framework of Industrial Internet of Things (IoT). The present work discusses IoT devices that would be beneficial to add to a hybrid machine tool as well as applications for those devices. The proposed methods discussed in this work have not been experimentally implemented on a hybrid machine tool and so there are no performance data available yet. The hybrid machine tool used as a basis to generate these IoT applications is the Mazak VC-500A/5x AM Hot Wire Deposition, which is a 5-axis machine tool incorporated with a wire feedstock 4kW laser deposition system. Methodologies and applications will be outlined for machine health and process monitoring. Other areas covered include process benchmarking, secure networking options for the proposed IoT framework, and hybrid process improvement. Limitations of these methods and future work for new sensor devices and application areas is also discussed.

Thien, Austen↗

NASA NTRS1984

The 3SPACE digitizer: A new input device for solid geometry modeling

The 3SPACE Digitizer is a derivation of SPASYN, which is a patented magnetic transducing system offering an accurate method of calculating the location of one object relative to another. SPASYN uses low-frequency magnetic fields to measure both the position and orientation of its sensor relative to its transmitter. The 3SPACE Digitizer unit consists of a system's electronics unit, a model table, a stylus, and a keypad. In operation, the 3SPACE Digitizer determines the X, Y, Z coordinates of any point located on a low-conductive, three-dimensional model. This data, along with the orientation of the Digitizer's stylus, is immediately available for transmission to a host computer or graphics terminal. Digitization is effected by touching the point to be measured with the tip of a handheld stylus. The 3SPACE Digitizer presents new opportunities for interacting with computers in a large number of engineering and scientific applications. Developed from proven military technology, the 3SPACE Digitizer significantly simplifies three-dimensional digitization and overcomes many of the problems that once plagued such procedures. Its ability to digitize solid objects makes it a valuable new tool for computer-aided design and manufacturing.

Scully, J.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Spherical Camera

Developed largely through a Small Business Innovation Research contract through Langley Research Center, Interactive Picture Corporation's IPIX technology provides spherical photography, a panoramic 360-degrees. NASA found the technology appropriate for use in guiding space robots, in the space shuttle and space station programs, as well as research in cryogenic wind tunnels and for remote docking of spacecraft. Images of any location are captured in their entirety in a 360-degree immersive digital representation. The viewer can navigate to any desired direction within the image. Several car manufacturers already use IPIX to give viewers a look at their latest line-up of automobiles. Another application is for non-invasive surgeries. By using OmniScope, surgeons can look more closely at various parts of an organ with medical viewing instruments now in use. Potential applications of IPIX technology include viewing of homes for sale, hotel accommodations, museum sites, news events, and sports stadiums.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2007

My Rewarding Summer Research Experience at NASA

My summer research experience at the Kennedy Space Center has been a truly rewarding one. As an electrical engineering student at the University of South Florida, I was blessed with a beneficial opportunity to gain valuable knowledge in my career, and also apply it through working at NASA. One of my inspirations in becoming an engineer is to work at NASA someday, and I was very excited and honored to have this opportunity. My goal in this internship was to strengthen my preparation in becoming an engineer by learning new material, acquiring skills by practicing what I learned, and discovering the expectations of engineering work at NASA. Through this summer research, I was able to learn new computer programs and perform various tasks that gave me experience and skills as an engineer. My primary job was to conduct work on the Constellation Test article, which is a simulation model of the Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) tanking system. This is a prototype of a launch facility and an Ares I Vehicle, which God willing will transport astronauts to the moon. Construction of the CLV is in progress and a test launch is anticipated for 2010. Moreover, the Test Article serves as a demonstration too, training test bed, and may be expanded for new simulation of launch system elements, which could be applied to real life operations. The test article is operated and run by a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), which is a digital computer that is used to control all forms of machinery such as those in manufacturing buildings and other industries. PLCs are different than other computers because of the physical protection they have against damaging environmental conditions that would destroy other computers. Also, PLCs are equipped with lots of input and output connections that allow extensive amounts of commands to be executed, which would normally require many computers to do. Therefore, PLCs are small, rugged, and extremely powerful tools that may continue to be employed at NASA. Furthermore, in order to conduct productive work on the Test Article, I needed to learn the computer program called RS Logics 5000.

Aviles, Andres↗

DOE OSTI2021

SURFACE FINISHING AND ELECTROLESS NICKEL PLATING OF ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURED (AM) METAL COMPONENTS

This study investigates the application of electroless nickel deposition on additively manufactured stainless steel samples. Current additive manufacturing (AM) technologies produce metal components with a rough surface. Rough surfaces generally exhibit fatigue characteristics, increasing the probability of initiating a crack or fracture to the printed part. For this reason, the direct use of as-produced parts in a finished product cannot be actualized, which presents a challenge. Post-processing of the AM parts is therefore required to smoothen the surface. This study analyzes chempolish (CP) and electropolish (EP) surface finishing techniques for post-processing AM stainless steel components CP has a great advantage in creating uniform, smooth surfaces regardless of size or part geometry EP creates an extremely smooth surface, which reduces the surface roughness to the sub-micrometer level. In this study, we also investigate nickel deposition on EP, CP, and as-built AM components using electroless nickel solutions. Electroless nickel plating is a method of alloy treatment designed to increase manufactured component's hardness and surface resistance to the unrelenting environment. The electroless nickel plating process is more straightforward than its counterpart electroplating.. We use low-phosphorus (2-5% P), medium-phosphorus (6-9% P), and high-phosphorus (10-13% P). These Ni deposition experiments were optimized using the L9 Taguchi design of experiments (TDOE), which compromises the prosperous content in the solution, surface finish, plane of the geometry, and bath temperature. The pre-and post-processed surface of the AM parts was characterized by KEYENCE Digital MicroscopeVHX-7000 and Phenom XL Desktop SEM. The experimental results show that electroless nickel deposition produces uniform Ni coating on the additively manufactured components up to 20 μm per hour. Mechanical properties of as-built and Ni coated AM samples were analyzed by applying a standard 10 N scratch test. Nickel coated AM samples were up to two times scratch resistant compared to the as-built samples. This study suggests electroless nickel plating is a robust viable option for surface hardening and finishing AM components for various applications and operating conditions.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, fatigue, chempol↗

NASA NTRS1988

Specification for IBM/IBM compatible 3480 tape cartridge

This document establishes the same kinds of standards and controls that are currently in use for the procurement on new analog and digital magnetic tapes. The Magnetic Tape Certification Facility (MTCF) currently maintains a Quality Products List (QPL) for all new analog and digital magnetic tapes purchased by NASA-GSFC. Extensive tests are conducted in the MTCF on an annual basis to determine the manufacturer's tape types to be added to or deleted from the current QPL. The MTCF currently maintains two specifications for magnetic tapes: NASA TM-79724 is used for the QPL and acceptance testing of new analog tapes; and NASA TM-80599 is used for the QPL and acceptance testing of new digital tapes. This specification will be used for the QPL and acceptance testing of new 3480 cartridges. The magnetic tapes used by GSFC, LaRC, ARC/Dryden, WFF, and the Network Tracking Stations are covered by the NASA-GSFC specifications. The 3480 cartridge was introduced approximately 3.5 years ago and is becoming an increasingly attractive alternative to digital magnetic tapes. Many users have already converted to the 3480 system and have more tape drives on order.

Perry, Jimmy L.↗

NASA NTRS1982

ID slicing and the automated factory

The automation of the slicing system utilizing internal-diameter saws for the production of the silicon wafers used in solar arrays is discussed. It is argued that saw productivity can be increased by reducing silicon waste, decreasing usage of consumables, keeping the saw slicing, and increasing the cutting speed. Several machine enhancements utilizing automatic control are discussed. The need for record keeping to anticipate maintenance operations is noted, and a digital serial communication interface with the microprocessor-based saws is recommended. Distributed control of the manufacturing process is discussed in detail, and is recommended as a method for increasing productivity.

Lewandowski, T.↗

NASA NTRS2002

A Pilot Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing Curriculum that Promotes Engineering

Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) is located in a community that is mostly rural in nature. The area is economically deprived when compared to the rest of the state. Many businesses lack the computerized equipment and skills needed to propel upward in today's technologically advanced society. This project will close the ever-widening gap between advantaged and disadvantaged workers as well as increase their participation with industry, NASA and/or other governmental agencies. Everyone recognizes computer technology as the catalyst for advances in design, prototyping, and manufacturing or the art of machining. Unprecedented quality control and cost-efficiency improvements are recognized through the use of computer technology. This technology has changed the manufacturing industry with advanced high-tech capabilities needed by NASA. With the ever-widening digital divide, we must continue to provide computer technology to those who are socio-economically disadvantaged.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2005

Impact of Scaled Technology on Radiation Testing and Hardening

This presentation gives a brief overview of some of the radiation challenges facing emerging scaled digital technologies with implications on using consumer grade electronics and next generation hardening schemes. Commercial semiconductor manufacturers are recognizing some of these issues as issues for terrestrial performance. Looking at means of dealing with soft errors. The thinned oxide has indicated improved TID tolerance of commercial products hardened by "serendipity" which does not guarantee hardness or say if the trend will continue. This presentation also focuses one reliability implications of thinned oxides.

LaBel, Kenneth A.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Product Lifecycle Management and the Quest for Sustainable Space Exploration Solutions

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is an outcome of lean thinking to eliminate waste and increase productivity. PLM is inextricably tied to the systems engineering business philosophy, coupled with a methodology by which personnel, processes and practices, and information technology combine to form an architecture platform for product design, development, manufacturing, operations, and decommissioning. In this model, which is being implemented by the Engineering Directorate at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Marshall Space Flight Center, total lifecycle costs are important variables for critical decisionmaking. With the ultimate goal to deliver quality products that meet or exceed requirements on time and within budget, PLM is a powerful tool to shape everything from engineering trade studies and testing goals, to integrated vehicle operations and retirement scenarios. This paper will demonstrate how the Engineering Directorate is implementing PLM as part of an overall strategy to deliver safe, reliable, and affordable space exploration solutions. It has been 30 years since the United States fielded the Space Shuttle. The next generation space transportation system requires a paradigm shift such that digital tools and knowledge management, which are central elements of PLM, are used consistently to maximum effect. The outcome is a better use of scarce resources, along with more focus on stakeholder and customer requirements, as a new portfolio of enabling tools becomes second nature to the workforce. This paper will use the design and manufacturing processes, which have transitioned to digital-based activities, to show how PLM supports the comprehensive systems engineering and integration function. It also will go through a launch countdown scenario where an anomaly is detected to show how the virtual vehicle created from paperless processes will help solve technical challenges and improve the likelihood of launching on schedule, with less hands-on labor needed for processing and troubleshooting. Sustainable space exploration solutions demand that all lifecycle phases be optimized. Adopting PLM, which has been used by the automotive industry for many years, for aerospace applications provides a foundation for strong, disciplined systems engineering and accountable return on investment by making lifecycle considerations variables in an iterative decision-making process. This paper combines the perspectives of the founding father of PLM, along with the experience of Engineering leaders who are implementing these processes and practices real-time. As the nation moves from an industrial-based society to one where information is a valued commodity, future NASA programs and projects will benefit from the experience being gained today for the exploration missions of tomorrow.

Caruso, Pamela W.↗