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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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27 records · Page 2

Lifing of Engine Components

The successful development of advanced aerospace engines depends greatly on the capabilities of high performance materials and structures. Advanced materials, such as nickel based single crystal alloys, metal foam, advanced copper alloys, and ceramics matrix composites, have been engineered to provide higher engine temperature and stress capabilities. Thermal barrier coatings have been developed to improve component durability and fuel efficiency, by reducing the substrate hot wall metal temperature and protecting against oxidation and blanching. However, these coatings are prone to oxidation and delamination failures. In order to implement the use of these materials in advanced engines, it is necessary to understand and model the evolution of damage of the metal substrate as well as the coating under actual engine conditions. The models and the understanding of material behavior are utilized in the development of a life prediction methodology for hot section components. The research activities were focused on determining the stress and strain fields in an engine environment under combined thermo-mechanical loads to develop life prediction methodologies consistent with the observed damage formation of the coating and the substrates.

Source record↗

Compliant Interfacial Layers in Thermoelectric Devices

A thermoelectric power generation device is disclosed using one or more mechanically compliant and thermally and electrically conductive layers at the thermoelectric material interfaces to accommodate high temperature differentials and stresses induced thereby. The compliant material may be metal foam or metal graphite composite (e.g. using nickel) and is particularly beneficial in high temperature thermoelectric generators employing Zintl thermoelectric materials. The compliant material may be disposed between the thermoelectric segments of the device or between a thermoelectric segment and the hot or cold side interconnect of the device.

Firdosy, Samad A.↗

Polyurethane Filler for Electroplating

Polyurethane foam proves suitable as filler for slots in parts electroplated with copper or nickel. Polyurethane causes less contamination of plating bath and of cleaning and filtering tanks than wax fillers used previously. Direct cost of maintenance and indirect cost of reduced operating time during tank cleaning also reduced.

Beasley, J. L.↗

Nickel-iron battery system safety

The generated flow rates of gaseous hydrogen and gaseous oxygen from an electrical vehicle nickel-iron battery system were determined and used to evaluate the flame quenching capabilities of several candidate devices to prevent flame propagation within batteries having central watering/venting systems. The battery generated hydrogen and oxygen gases were measured for a complete charge and discharge cycle. The data correlates well with accepted theory during strong overcharge conditions indicating that the measurements are valid for other portions of the cycle. Tests confirm that the gas mixture in the cells is always flammable regardless of the battery status. The literature indicated that a conventional flame arrestor would not be effective over the broad spectrum of gassing conditions presented by a nickel-iron battery. Four different types of protective devices were evaluated. A foam-metal arrestor design was successful in quenching gaseous hydrogen and gaseous oxygen flames, however; the application of this flame arrestor to individual cell or module protection in a battery is problematic. A possible rearrangement of the watering/venting system to accept the partial protection of simple one-way valves is presented which, in combination with the successful foam-metal arrestor as main vent protection, could result in a significant improvement in battery protection.

Saltat, R. C.↗

Composite Tank

A composite tank for containing liquid oxygen and the method of making the same Wherein a water-soluble mandrel having ing the desired tank configuration and a cylindrical protuberance on at least one end is fitted with an inner boss conformance, to the configuration of the mandrel and in outer boss conforming to the configuration of the inner boss, the bosses each having a tubular portion for receiving the protuberance on the mandrel and a spherical portion. The mandrel and the bosses are first coated with a nickel coating. The mandrel is then wrapped with graphite fibers wetted with an epoxy resin and this resin is cured. A layer of insulating foam is then applied to the tank and cured. The insulating foam is machined to a desired concentration and a layer of aramid fibers wetted with a second epoxy resin is wrapped around the tank. The second resin is cured and the water soluble mandrel is washed from inside the tank.

Thomas K DeLay↗

Method of Making a Composite Tank

A composite tank for containing liquid oxygen and the method of making the same wherein a water-soluble mandrel having the desired tank configuration and a cylindrical A method of making a composite tank for containing liquid oxygen configuration of the mandrel and an outer boss conforming to the configuration of the inner boss, the bosses each having a tubular portion for receiving the protuberance on the mandrel and a spherical portion. The mandrel and the bosses are first coated with a nickel coating. The mandrel is then wrapped with graphite fibers wetted with an epoxy resin and this resin is cured. A layer of insulating foam is then applied to the tank and cured. The insulating foam is machined to a desired configuration and a layer of aramid fibers wetted with a second epoxy resin is wrapped around the tank. The second resin is cured and the water soluble mandrel is washed from inside the tank.

Thomas K DeLay↗

SEM Characterization of Extinguished Grains from Plasma-Ignited M30 Charges

M30 propellant grains that had been ignited in interrupted closed bomb experiments were characterize by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Previous chemical analysis of extinguished grains had given no indications of plasma-propellant chemical interactions that could explain the increased burning rates that had been previously observed in full-pressure closed bomb experiments. (This does not mean that there is no unique chemistry occurring with plasma ignition. It may occur very early in the ignition event and then become obscured by the burning chemistry.) In this work, SEM was used to look at grain morphologies to determine if there were increases in the surface areas of the plasma-ignited grains which would contribute to the apparent increase in the burning rate. Charges were made using 30 propellant grains (approximately 32 grams) stacked in two tiers and in two concentric circles around a plastic straw. Each grain was notched so that, when the grains were expelled from the bomb during extinguishment, it could be determined in which tier and which circle each grain was originally packed. Charges were ignited in a closed bomb by either a nickel wire/Mylar-capillary plasma or black powder. The bomb contained a blowout disk that ruptured when the pressure reached 35 MPa, and the propellant was vented into a collection chamber packed with polyurethane foam. SEM analysis of the grains fired with a conventional black powder igniter showed no signs of unusual burning characteristics. The surfaces seemed to be evenly burned on the exteriors of the grains and in the perforations. Grains that had been subjected to plasma ignition, however, had pits, gouges, chasms, and cracks in the surfaces. The sides of the grains closest to the plasma had the greatest amount of damage, but even surfaces facing the outer wall of the bomb had small pits. The perforations contained gouges and abnormally burned regions (wormholes) that extended into the web. The SEM photos indicated that a grain from the top tier, which was farther away from the plasma ignition source, sustained more plasma-induced damage to the perforations and the web than did the grains on the bottom tier.

Kinkennon, A.↗

Multilayer Composite Pressure Vessels

A method has been devised to enable the fabrication of lightweight pressure vessels from multilayer composite materials. This method is related to, but not the same as, the method described in gMaking a Metal- Lined Composite-Overwrapped Pressure Vessel h (MFS-31814), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 29, No. 3 (March 2005), page 59. The method is flexible in that it poses no major impediment to changes in tank design and is applicable to a wide range of tank sizes. The figure depicts a finished tank fabricated by this method, showing layers added at various stages of the fabrication process. In the first step of the process, a mandrel that defines the size and shape of the interior of the tank is machined from a polyurethane foam or other suitable lightweight tooling material. The mandrel is outfitted with metallic end fittings on a shaft. Each end fitting includes an outer flange that has a small step to accommodate a thin layer of graphite/epoxy or other suitable composite material. The outer surface of the mandrel (but not the fittings) is covered with a suitable release material. The composite material is filament- wound so as to cover the entire surface of the mandrel from the step on one end fitting to the step on the other end fitting. The composite material is then cured in place. The entire workpiece is cut in half in a plane perpendicular to the axis of symmetry at its mid-length point, yielding two composite-material half shells, each containing half of the foam mandrel. The halves of the mandrel are removed from within the composite shells, then the shells are reassembled and bonded together with a belly band of cured composite material. The resulting composite shell becomes a mandrel for the subsequent steps of the fabrication process and remains inside the final tank. The outer surface of the composite shell is covered with a layer of material designed to be impermeable by the pressurized fluid to be contained in the tank. A second step on the outer flange of each end fitting accommodates this layer. Depending on the application, this layer could be, for example, a layer of rubber, a polymer film, or an electrodeposited layer of metal. If the fluid to be contained in the tank is a gas, then the best permeation barrier is electrodeposited metal (typically copper or nickel), which can be effective at a thickness of as little as 0.005 in (.0.13 mm). The electrodeposited metal becomes molecularly bonded to the second step on each metallic end fitting. The permeation-barrier layer is covered with many layers of filament-wound composite material, which could be the same as, or different from, the composite material of the inner shell. Finally, the filament-wound composite material is cured in an ov

DeLay, Tom↗

Superior Ballistic Impact Resistance Achieved by the Co-Base Alloy Haynes 25

The fan case in a jet engine is required to contain a fan blade in the rare event of a blade loss during operation. Because of its function, the fan case is the largest structural component in high-bypass-ratio turbofan engines used in commercial aircraft. Therefore, the use of lighter and stronger materials would be advantageous in most engines and is practically a necessity in the latest generation of high-bypass engines. Small panels, 7 in. wide by 7 in. long, of a number of metallic alloys were impact tested at room temperature with a 0.50-caliber blunt-nose titanium alloy projectile at the NASA Glenn Research Center (ref. 1). These metallic systems included several high-strength aluminum (Al) alloys, Al-based laminates, aluminum metal matrix composites (Al-MMCs), nickel-base superalloys (Inconel 718 and 625), several titanium (Ti) alloys in different heat treated conditions, 304L stainless steel, a stainless-steel-based laminate, and a high strength steel (Nitronic 60). It was determined that a simple Co-base alloy (Haynes 25) had the best impact resistance on an areal weight basis. Haynes 25 was at least 10 percent better than IMI 550, the best titanium alloy tested to date, and it was far superior to other metals, especially at higher impact velocities (greater than 1100 ft/sec). Because this material could be ideal for fan containment applications in supersonic aircraft as a replacement for titanium, impact tests were also conducted at 371 oC and compared with results from alloys tested at elevated temperature under previous programs (i.e., Inconel 718, Ti-6242, M-152, Timetal 21S, and Aeromet 100). Although cobalt-base alloys are used in some high-temperature engine applications, to our knowledge they are not used in any containment systems. Advantages of cobalt over titanium include lower cost, easier processing, better high-temperature strength, and no fire hazard if tip rub occurs. Future plans include testing of lightweight sandwich panels with Haynes 25 as a core material in the form of a foam or lattice block structure and scaling up the current tests by using blade-simulating projectiles impacting large plates and half rings.

Hebsur, Mohan G.↗