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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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At least 469 records · Page 26

The Effect of Stainless Steel 304 Surface Roughness on Ice Adhesion Shear Strength of Accreted Impact Ice

Aircraft in-flight icing is problematic due to the ad-verse effect on vehicle performance. It occurs when supercooled water droplets (SCWD) present in clouds, under the appropriate environmental conditions, col-lide with the aircraft surface resulting in accretion of ice (i.e., impact icing). Impact ice can range from clear/glaze to rime or a combination of the two (i.e., mixed) with the type determined by the air temperature (0 to -20°C), liquid water content (LWC, 0.3-0.6 g/cu.m), and droplet size [median volumetric diameter (MVD) of 15-40 µm] present during accretion.1 These impact icing events generally occur at temperatures ranging from 0 to -20°C. Below -20°C, ice crystals dominate the environment and typically do not adhere to the aircraft surface. A main difference between an impact icing occurrence and a slow growth icing (i.e., freezer ice) one is the speed of the icing event. Besides environmental conditions, ice adhesion strength (IAS) to a metallic substrate depends upon surface roughness. It is known that increasing surface roughness and decreasing temperature lead to in-creases in IAS.

Smith, Joseph G., Jr.↗

Experimental Studies on the Effect of Inlet Liquid Subcooling on the Chilldown Characteristics of Stainless Steel Tubes

Understanding transfer line chilldown process under microgravity is important for the efficient transfer of cryogenic propellants in space fuel depots to facilitate future long duration space missions. The present work is part of the ongoing efforts to develop and test a two-phase flow chilldown test section to study the complete chilldown process under sustained microgravity conditions onboard the International Space Station. In this study, ground-based chilldown experiments are carried out on a 60 cm long SS-316 test section with PF-5060 as the working fluid. The complete chilldown curve was obtained including the film, transition and nucleate boiling regimes along with the temperature transition points. The effect of inlet liquid subcooling on the behavior of the chilldown curves are presented. Further, the chilldown and heat flux curves are analyzed to obtain re-wetting/Leidenfrost and onset of nucleate boiling temperature transition points as well as the critical heat flux values. The effect of inlet liquid subcooling on regime-specific heat flux and heat transfer coefficients are also examined.

CFD↗

Corrosion-Prevention Capabilities of a Water-Borne, Silicone-Based, Primerless Coating

Comparative tests have been performed to evaluate the corrosion-prevention capabilities of an experimental paint of the type described in Water-Borne, Silicone-Based, Primerless Paints, NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 26, No. 11 (November 2002), page 30. To recapitulate: these paints contain relatively small amounts of volatile organic solvents and were developed as substitutes for traditional anticorrosion paints that contain large amounts of such solvents. An additional desirable feature of these paints is that they can be applied without need for prior application of primers to ensure adhesion. The test specimens included panels of cold-rolled steel, stainless steel 316, and aluminum 2024-T3. Some panels of each of these alloys were left bare and some were coated with the experimental water-borne, silicone-based, primerless paint. In addition, some panels of aluminum 2024-T3 and some panels of a fourth alloy (stainless steel 304) were coated with a commercial solvent-borne paint containing aluminum and zinc flakes in a nitrile rubber matrix. In the tests, the specimens were immersed in an aerated 3.5-weight-percent aqueous solution of NaCl for 168 hours. At intervals of 24 hours, the specimens were characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and measurements of corrosion potentials. The specimens were also observed visually. As indicated by photographs of specimens taken after the 168-hour immersion (see figure), the experimental primerless silicone paint was effective in preventing corrosion of stainless steel 316, but failed to protect aluminum 2024-T3 and cold-rolled steel. The degree of failure was greater in the case of the cold-rolled steel. On the basis of visual observations, EIS, and corrosion- potential measurements, it was concluded that the commercial aluminum and zinc-filled nitrile rubber coating affords superior corrosion protection to aluminum 2024-T3 and is somewhat less effective in protecting stainless steel 304.

Calle, Luz Marina↗

DETERMINATION OF EMISSIVITY OF MATERIALS.

During the third quarter of the contractual year of Contract NASW-104 for the determination of emissivity of materials, the emittance of nine specimens was measured at temperatures ranging up to 2200F and at pressures averaging 10(exp -8) mm Hg. The materials tested included columbium, columbium with an oxidized surface, molybdenum, graphite varnish on Type 310 stainless steel, stainless steel with an oxidized surface, and platinum black. In the spectral emittance rig, spectral as well as total emittance was measured on three specimens and total emittance only was measured on a fourth. In the total emittance rig, total emittance data was obtained on five specimens. Two of the specimens were endured. Investigations were made concerning the operational characteristics of both rigs in order to eliminate possible sources of error in the data. On the spectral emittance rig, tests were conducted to determine the exact magnitude of any error introduced in the spectral emittance values by beam intermixing resulting from imperfections in the optical system. On the total emittance rig, work was concentrated on the determination of the relative accuracy of the chromel-alumel and platinum-platinum 10% rhodium thermocouples used to measure the temperature of the specimen.

Emission↗

Plasma Igniter for Reliable Ignition of Combustion in Rocket Engines

A plasma igniter has been developed for initiating combustion in liquid-propellant rocket engines. The device propels a hot, dense plasma jet, consisting of elemental fluorine and fluorine compounds, into the combustion chamber to ignite the cold propellant mixture. The igniter consists of two coaxial, cylindrical electrodes with a cylindrical bar of solid Teflon plastic in the region between them. The outer electrode is a metal (stainless steel) tube; the inner electrode is a metal pin (mild steel, stainless steel, tungsten, or thoriated-tungsten). The Teflon bar fits snugly between the two electrodes and provides electrical insulation between them. The Teflon bar may have either a flat surface, or a concave, conical surface at the open, down-stream end of the igniter (the igniter face). The igniter would be mounted on the combustion chamber of the rocket engine, either on the injector-plate at the upstream side of the engine, or on the sidewalls of the chamber. It also might sit behind a valve that would be opened just prior to ignition, and closed just after, in order to prevent the Teflon from melting due to heating from the combustion chamber.

Martin, Adam↗

Launch Pad Coatings for Smart Corrosion Control

Corrosion is the degradation of a material as a result of its interaction with the environment. The environment at the KSC launch pads has been documented by ASM International (formerly American Society for Metals) as the most corrosive in the US. The 70 tons of highly corrosive hydrochloric acid that are generated by the solid rocket boosters during a launch exacerbate the corrosiveness of the environment at the pads. Numerous failures at the pads are caused by the pitting of stainless steels, rebar corrosion, and the degradation of concrete. Corrosion control of launch pad structures relies on the use of coatings selected from the qualified products list (QPL) of the NASA Standard 5008A for Protective Coating of Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel, and Aluminum on Launch Structures, Facilities, and Ground Support Equipment. This standard was developed to establish uniform engineering practices and methods and to ensure the inclusion of essential criteria in the coating of ground support equipment (GSE) and facilities used by or for NASA. This standard is applicable to GSE and facilities that support space vehicle or payload programs or projects and to critical facilities at all NASA locations worldwide. Environmental regulation changes have dramatically reduced the production, handling, use, and availability of conventional protective coatings for application to KSC launch structures and ground support equipment. Current attrition rate of qualified KSC coatings will drastically limit the number of commercial off the shelf (COTS) products available for the Constellation Program (CxP) ground operations (GO). CxP GO identified corrosion detection and control technologies as a critical, initial capability technology need for ground processing of Ares I and Ares V to meet Constellation Architecture Requirements Document (CARD) CxP 70000 operability requirements for reduced ground processing complexity, streamlined integrated testing, and operations phase affordability. Researchers at NASA's Corrosion Technology Laboratory at KSC are developing a smart, environmentally friendly coating system for early corrosion detection, inhibition, and self healing of mechanical damage without external intervention. This smart coating will detect and respond actively to corrosion and mechanical damage such as abrasion and scratches, in a functional and predictable manner, and will be capable of adapting its properties dynamically. This coating is being developed using corrosion sensitive microcapsules that deliver the contents of their core (corrosion inhibiting compounds, corrosion indicators, and self healing agents) on demand when corrosion or mechanical damage to the coating occurs.

Calle, Luz M.↗

Composite coatings from polycarbosilane derived SiC and Al/SiC cermet active fillers as protective barriers against steel corrosion

Stainless steel is used throughout the world as a structural material. However, it undergoes corrosion damage when exposed to extremely corrosive media, such as the marine environment. An alternative to solve this problem lies in the development of coatings that can withstand extreme conditions but also be easily deposited with inherently corrosion-resistant materials such as silicon carbide (SiC). The present study shows a simple method to produce Al/SiC cermet powders by attrition milling. The resulting cermet powders with a metallic matrix and hemispherical morphology, were employed as fillers in polycarbosilane (PCS) solutions that were sprayed on A304 stainless steel substrates. Al/SiC composite coatings were produced after heating the sprayed suspensions at 700 °C for 1 h in Ar atmosphere. The resulting composite coatings exhibited low surface energies (< 35 mN/m), water contact angles of 53°, and adhesion strength of up to 30 MPa. Finally, corrosion tests were performed in a cyclic corrosion test chamber, showing that these coatings effectively reduced the corrosion rate of stainless steel by 87%, reaching corrosion rate values of 0.007 g/cm 2 year.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Powder metallurgy hot isostatic pressing - workshop report

The findings of the powder metallurgy (PM) hot isostatic pressing (HIP) workshop confirmed that the accelerated adoption of this technology requires the following action items: 1. By 2035, the HIP infrastructure must be scaled to sizes larger than 4 .0 meters for manufacturing components relevant to energy and defense industries at large. 2. The community must develop cost-effective and agile standards, qualifications, and certification pathways for these HIP parts. 3. At the same time, domestic powder production should be expanded to a wide range of metallic alloys, including Cr-Mo steels, stainless steels, and titanium- and nickel-based superalloys, as well as to emerging alloy classes in the refractory space. 4. The above initiatives can be enhanced by implementing digital modeling and controls, including AI-driven simulations, in situ monitoring, and digital twins.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

An experimental data base for material selection and design of high-speed, high-pressure, oxygen turbomachinery

New technologies for space-based, reusable, throttleable, cryogenic, orbit transfer propulsion are being evaluated. A variable-thrust (200 to 3000 lbF), 2000 psi chamber pressure, LO2/LH2 engine has been selected to demonstrate the 20-hour, 500-restart life goal, and a specific impulse of 480 lbF-sec/lbM. The advanced design uses warm oxygen to power a fully integrated turbopump that delivers 4500 psi LO2. The selected engine cycle provides the following advantages over conventional expander cycle designs which use H2 to drive the LH2 and LO2 pumps; higher engine operating pressures and performance in a smaller envelope, lower turbine operating temperatures, elimination of interpropellant seals and purges, and an extended throttling range. The design approach and results of testing to characterize materials for use in high-pressure gaseous oxygen are discussed. Test methods include particle impact testing in a sonic-flow, hot GO2 streams and forced, high-speed friction rubbing testing. Materials are exposed to oxygen and nitrogen atmospheres at pressures of 100, 1000, and 3000 psi to identify separately the gas cooling effects from the metal oxidation effects at the rubbing surface. The selection of candidate design materials is based on an analytical parameter defined as the burn factor. Typical materials tested include carbon steel, stainless steel, nickel, copper, and monel alloys.

Schoenman, L.↗