Results for “aluminum” — Page 3

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Laser Forming of Sheet Metal for In-Space Manufacturing Applications

As the in-space economy matures, the migration of typically Earth-bound manufacturing methods, such as metal forming and joining, up to space will be required to meet the increasing demand for refueling and supply depots, habitats, laboratories, lunar surface structures, and sites for deep-space exploration shipbuilding. Only in this way can the magnitude of individual structures begin to exceed what can be launched, deployed, docked, or inflated and allow true economies of scale to be unlocked in space. However, typical terrestrial methods of forming and shaping sheet metal require massive machinery with the ability to deflect reaction forces to a large mass in a fixed reference frame (Earth). To both limit up-mass required for manufacture and to mitigate the issues of reaction forces in the relative reference frames of space, a non-contact, laser-based method of forming metal sheet is proposed. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), in cooperation with DARPA and the University of Florida (UF), have begun investigation of non-contact methods of laser forming sheet metal in thermal vacuum (TVAC) conditions to great success. To date, several grades of aluminum, stainless steel, and titanium coupons have been formed via laser-induced internal stresses in these metals at both ambient atmosphere and vacuum conditions. Temperatures in these tests ranged from -120 to 60 C, and though the total energy required to induce strain does vary with workpiece temperature and environmental pressure, the method remains predictable and controllable for the materials investigated. It is believed that this method will revolutionize manufacturing in-space as it not only continues to build upon the capabilities of the laser (sensing, marking, cutting, drilling, joining, and now forming) as an all-in-one tool, but also reduces the need to counteract forming forces as would be required in mechanical bending. In theory, all required stress to induce bending is generated through thermal gradient and strain within the workpiece, meaning that the need for reaction control and fuel expense on-orbit will be limited. Archimedes once stated, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world”. With a laser as our lever and our workpiece its own fulcrum, we can move the world’s manufacturing into space.

Laser↗

NASA NTRS2026

Spacecraft Radiator Protection from Ionizing Radiation, Dust, and Excessive Heat Loss

Under a Phase II SBIR project funded by NASA Johnson Space Center (Contract No. 80NSSC25C0088), Analytical Scientific Products LLC (ASP) has been developing an actively controlled louver to protect spacecraft radiators from degradation due to exposure to various types of environmental conditions. Of particular interest are ionizing radiation during spacecraft transit through the Van Allen belts, dust during spacecraft landing and surface operations on the moon, and excessive heat loss during the long lunar night especially near the poles where the local ambient temperatures can drop below -200°C. Exposure to ionizing radiation and dust can degrade the optical properties of the radiator coating that in turn reduces its ability to reject excess heat from the spacecraft into the environment. Exposure to the extremely low temperature conditions during the lunar night near the poles can freeze the radiator fluids that can compromise the integrity of the radiator. Passive louvers constructed using thick aluminum vanes are used currently to protect spacecraft radiators from some of the above effects, but they have several drawbacks: (i) their high aerial density makes it impractical to scale them to protect the much larger spacecraft radiators needed for future manned missions to the moon and beyond, (ii) the bimetallic actuators used to open and close the vanes in passive louvers rely on external temperature alone and so the louver cannot offer protection from dust and ionizing radiation when the ambient temperatures are high, and (iii) the bimetallic actuators need time scales of the order of hours to open and close. We have addressed the above limitations of passive louvers through the development of a low aerial density and rapidly actuating actively controlled louver. It is constructed from a custom alloy that offers much higher levels of protection against the ionizing radiation, dust and excessive heat loss at a fraction of weight compared to passive louvers while providing opening and closing time scales of the order of a second. Our modular design makes it easy to scale the system up or down depending on the application. We have recently constructed a 31 inch × 31 inch module of this louver and tested its functionality and effectiveness. These tests have shown that the louver can be opened and closed in less than 2 s. It reduces the transmission of ionizing radiation by 78% to 100% (depending on the radiation source), dust transmission by more than 93%, and heat loss by more than 97%. We are currently preparing to evaluate this device at the Johnson Space Center’s cryogenic vacuum chamber where it can be subjected to simulated lunar surface conditions. This paper provides a detailed discussion of the test designs as well as the data from tests that demonstrate the effectiveness in reducing the transmission of ionizing radiation, dust, and heat under laboratory conditions.

Radiator↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Spacecraft Radiator Protection from Ionizing Radiation, Dust, and Excessive Heat Loss

Under a Phase II SBIR project funded by NASA Johnson Space Center (Contract No. 80NSSC25C0088), Analytical Scientific Products LLC (ASP) has been developing an actively controlled louver to protect spacecraft radiators from degradation due to exposure to various types of environmental conditions. Of particular interest are ionizing radiation during spacecraft transit through the Van Allen belts, dust during spacecraft landing and surface operations on the moon, and excessive heat loss during the long lunar night especially near the poles where the local ambient temperatures can drop below -200°C. Exposure to ionizing radiation and dust can degrade the optical properties of the radiator coating that in turn reduces its ability to reject excess heat from the spacecraft into the environment. Exposure to the extremely low temperature conditions during the lunar night near the poles can freeze the radiator fluids that can compromise the integrity of the radiator. Passive louvers constructed using thick aluminum vanes are used currently to protect spacecraft radiators from some of the above effects, but they have several drawbacks: (i) their high aerial density makes it impractical to scale them to protect the much larger spacecraft radiators needed for future manned missions to the moon and beyond, (ii) the bimetallic actuators used to open and close the vanes in passive louvers rely on external temperature alone and so the louver cannot offer protection from dust and ionizing radiation when the ambient temperatures are high, and (iii) the bimetallic actuators need time scales of the order of hours to open and close. We have addressed the above limitations of passive louvers through the development of a low aerial density and rapidly actuating actively controlled louver. It is constructed from a custom alloy that offers much higher levels of protection against the ionizing radiation, dust and excessive heat loss at a fraction of weight compared to passive louvers while providing opening and closing time scales of the order of a second. Our modular design makes it easy to scale the system up or down depending on the application. We have recently constructed a 31 inch × 31 inch module of this louver and tested its functionality and effectiveness. These tests have shown that the louver can be opened and closed in less than 2 s. It reduces the transmission of ionizing radiation by 78% to 100% (depending on the radiation source), dust transmission by more than 93%, and heat loss by more than 97%. We are currently preparing to evaluate this device at the Johnson Space Center’s cryogenic vacuum chamber where it can be subjected to simulated lunar surface conditions. This paper provides a detailed discussion of the test designs as well as the data from tests that demonstrate the effectiveness in reducing the transmission of ionizing radiation, dust, and heat under laboratory conditions.

Radiator↗