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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 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2015

Cryoinsulation Material Development to Mitigate Obsolescence Risk for Global Warming Potential Foams

Cryoinsulation foams currently being qualified for the Space Launch System (SLS) core stage are nonozone- depleting substances (ODP) and are compliant with current environmental regulations. However, these materials contain the blowing agent HFC-245fa, a hydrofluorocarbon (HFC), which is a Global Warming Potential (GWP) substance. In August 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a policy change to reduce or eliminate certain HFCs, including HFC-245fa, in end-use categories including foam blowing agents beginning in 2017. The policy proposes a limited exception to allow continued use of HFC and HFC-blend foam blowing agents for military or space- and aeronautics-related applications, including rigid polyurethane spray foams, but only until 2022.

Protz, Alison↗
NASA NTRS2011

Achieving Innovation and Affordability Through Standardization of Materials Development and Testing

The successful expansion of development, innovation, and production within the aeronautics industry during the 20th century was facilitated by collaboration of government agencies with the commercial aviation companies. One of the initial products conceived from the collaboration was the ANC-5 Bulletin, first published in 1937. The ANC-5 Bulletin had intended to standardize the requirements of various government agencies in the design of aircraft structure. The national space policy shift in priority for NASA with an emphasis on transferring the travel to low earth orbit to commercial space providers highlights an opportunity and a need for the national and global space industries. The same collaboration and standardization that is documented and maintained by the industry within MIL-HDBK-5 (MMPDS-01) and MIL-HBDK-17 (nonmetallic mechanical properties) can also be exploited to standardize the thermal performance properties, processing methods, test methods, and analytical methods for use in aircraft and spacecraft design and associated propulsion systems. In addition to the definition of thermal performance description and standardization, the standardization for test methods and analysis for extreme environments (high temperature, cryogenics, deep space radiation, etc) would also be highly valuable to the industry. Its subsequent revisions and conversion to MIL-HDBK-5 and then MMPDS-01 established and then expanded to contain standardized mechanical property design values and other related design information for metallic materials used in aircraft, missiles, and space vehicles. It also includes guidance on standardization of composition, processing, and analytical methods for presentation and inclusion into the handbook. This standardization enabled an expansion of the technologies to provide efficiency and reliability to the consumers. It can be established that many individual programs within the government agencies have been overcome with development costs generated from these nonstandard requirements. Without industry standardization and acceptance, the programs are driven to shoulder the costs of determining design requirements, performance criteria, and then material qualification and certification. A significant investment that the industry could make to both reduce individual program development costs and schedules while expanding commercial space flight capabilities would be to invest in standardizing material performance properties for high temperature, cryogenic, and deep space environments for both metallic and nonmetallic materials.

Bray, M. H.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Technology update: Tethered aerostat structural design and material developments

Requirements exist for an extremely stable, high performance, all-weather tethered aerostat system. This requirement has been satisfied by a 250,000 cubic foot captive buoyant vehicle as demonstrated by over a year of successful field operations. This achievement required significant advancements in several technology areas including composite materials design, aerostatics and aerodynamics, structural design, electro-mechanical design, vehicle fabrication and mooring operations. This paper specifically addresses the materials and structural design aspects of pressurized buoyant vehicles as related to the general class of Lighter Than Air vehicles.

Witherow, R. G.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Fire-resistant aircraft materials development and evaluation program

The overall objectives of this program are to provide a more fire-resistant commercial aircraft interior and to improve the fuselage insulation barrier between the cabin interior and an exterior fuel fire. Significant secondary objectives are to reduce the smoke and toxic gas production of the materials and to meet the end item use requirements pertaining to wearability, color fastness, and aesthetic appeal. It is shown that the fuselage insulation materials must meet stringent requirements pertaining to acoustic attenuation, low density, and water repellency.

Bricker, R. W.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Material development aspects of an oxidation protection system for a reinforced carbon-carbon composite

The paper describes the procedures which led to selection of a diffusion-coated siliconized oxidation-resistant reinforced carbon-carbon composite as a candidate for use in the leading edge structure of the Space Shuttle for the purpose of providing thermal protection. Materials were evaluated on the basis of oxidation-inhibitor performance, strength properties, and fabricability. Compounds of titanium, tantalum, zirconium, silicon, hafnium, aluminum, and boron were compounded with the reinforced carbon-carbon material in two different processing techniques to discover an oxidation-inhibited system which provided multicycle protection at temperatures up to 4000 F. Details of the manufacture and testing of the reinforced carbon-carbon composites are provided.

Rogers, D. C.↗
NASA NTRS2004

MSFC Nuclear Propulsion Materials Development

Nuclear propulsion systems for spacecraft applications present numerous technical challenges for propulsion systems. They have been the focus of a recent NRA. Challenges inclue: a nuclear reactor subsystem to produce thermal energy; a power conversion subsystem to convert the thermal energy into electrical energy; a propulsion subsystem that utilizes Hall effect thrusters; thruster technologies and high temperature materials to support subsystems. The MSFC Electrostatic Levitation (ESL) Facility provides an ideal platform for the study of high temperature and reactive materials. An overview of the facility and its capabilities will be presented.

Rogers, J. R.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Rock-welding materials development for deep borehole nuclear waste disposal

We report that various versions of deep borehole nuclear waste disposal have been proposed in the past in which effective sealing of a borehole after waste emplacement is generally required. In a high temperature disposal mode, the sealing function will be fulfilled by melting the ambient granitic rock with waste decay heat or an external heating source, creating a melt that will encapsulate waste containers or plug a portion of the borehole above a stack of the containers. However, there are certain drawbacks associated with natural materials, such as high melting temperatures, inefficient consolidation, slow crystallization kinetics, the resulting sealing materials generally being porous with low mechanical strength, insufficient adhesion to waste container surface, and lack of flexibility for engineering controls. In this study, we showed that natural granitic materials can be purposefully engineered through chemical modifications to enhance the sealing capability of the materials for deep borehole disposal. The present work systematically explores the effect of chemical modification and crystallinity (amorphous vs. crystalline) on the melting and crystallization processes of a granitic rock system. The approach can be applied to modify granites excavated from different geological sites. Several engineered granitic materials have been explored which possess significantly lower processing and densification temperatures than natural granites. Finally, those new materials consolidate more efficiently by viscous flow and accelerated recrystallization without compromising their mechanical integrity and properties.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

Material Developments for 3D/4D Additive Manufacturing (AM) Technologies

Additive Manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, is a unique technology in which structurally complex objects can be easily manufactured. While AM allows for the creation of intricate 3D objects, these objects are inactive and motionless. With recent incorporation of a “pre-programmed functionality’’ to the 3D printed objects, a new concept has emerged, 4D printing. Specifically, the 4D printing technology enables a static 3D printed object to change its shape, functionality or property over time upon exposure to a specific stimulus such as heat, stress, light, pH, and moisture, etc. We designed and produced compact 3D/4D printable materials that can be used as (a) structural components of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and (b) as hydrogen storage materials that supply hydrogen to a fuel cell to expand the operational reach, namely flight time, and endurance of the UA Vs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Material Developments for 3D/4D Additive Manufacturing (AM) Technologies

Additive Manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, is a unique technology in which structurally complex objects can be easily manufactured. While AM allows for the creation of intricate 3D objects, these objects are inactive and motionless. With recent incorporation of a “pre-programmed functionality” to the 3D printed objects, a new concept has emerged, 4D printing. Specifically, the 4D printing technology enables a static 3D printed object to change its shape, functionality or property over time upon exposure to a specific stimulus such as heat, stress, light, pH, and moisture, etc. We designed and produced compact 3D/4D printable materials that can be used as (a) structural components of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and (b) as hydrogen storage materials that supply hydrogen to a fuel cell to expand the operational reach, namely flight time, and endurance of the UAVs.

08 HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRS2002

Advanced Material Developments with Laser Engineered Net Shaping

The Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS(Trademark)) process is a new technology to fabricate three-dimensional metallic components directly from CAD solid models. It directly fabricates metal hardware by injecting the metal powder of choice into the focal point of a 700W Nd:Yag laser as it traces the perimeter and fills of a part. The Rapid Prototype Laboratory at Marshall Space Flight Center is currently operating a OPTOMEC 750 LENS machine in evaluation experiments involving integration of this technology into various manufacturing processes associated with aerospace applications. This paper will cover our research finding about properties of samples created from Inconel 718 & SS316 using this process versus the same materials in cast & wrought conditions.

Williams, Glenn A.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) Materials Development and Reinforcement with Advanced Composites

Additive manufacturing (AM) by extrusion deposition is rapidly developing as an energy efficient process that greatly reduces development time for new products including vehicle structures. Development of reinforced thermoplastic compounds that are specifically tailored to the AM process and possess the properties necessary for engineering structures is currently underway. This project focused on developing a fundamental understanding of printability by performing a number of polymer characterization tests, initial printability screenings, and basic mechanical property determinations for a number of compounds. Structural evaluations of more complex printed articles were also performed in order to build a database of mechanical performance for validation of structural simulations planned for Phase II. Included in the structural tests were components that were reinforced using a number of methods including over-wrapping with dry fabric and resin infusing to form an advanced composite having the shape of the 3D printed structure. The results indicate a number of factors that affect printability of materials, and initial structural analysis shows that the data generated will be useful for model validation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1974

Holographic recording materials development

Developments in the area of organic cis-trans isomerization systems for holographic memory applications are reported. The chemical research effort consisted of photochemical studies leading to the selection of a stilbene derivative and a polymer matrix system which have greatly improved refractive index differences between the cis and trans isomers as well as demonstrated efficiency of the photoisomerization process. In work on lithium niobate effects of sample stoichiometry and of read and write beam polarizations on recording efficiency were investigated. LiNbO3 was used for a study of angular sensitivity and of capability for simultaneous recording of extended objects without interference. The current status of LiNbO3 as a holographic recording material is summarized.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2021

Collective Summary of sCO2 Materials Development (Supercritical Transformational Electric Power Generation (STEP) Level 2 Milestone Report) (Parts I - II)

Polymers such as PTFE (polytetrafluorethylene or Teflon), EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) rubber, FKM fluoroelastomer (Viton), Nylon 11, Nitrile butadiene (NBR) rubber, hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR) and perfluoroelastomers (FF_202) are commonly employed in super critical CO 2 (sCO2) energy conversion systems. O-rings and gaskets made from these polymers face stringent performance conditions such as elevated temperatures, high pressures, pollutants, and corrosive humid environments. In FY 2019, we conducted experiments at high temperatures (100°C and 120°C) under isobaric conditions (20 MPa). Findings showed that elevated temperatures accelerated degradation of polymers in sCO2, and that certain polymer microstructures are more susceptible to degradation over others. In FY 2020, the focus was to understand the effect of sCO2 on polymers at low (10 MPa) and high pressures (40 MPa) under isothermal conditions (100°C). It was clear that the same selectivity was observed in these experiments wherein certain polymeric functionalities showed more propensity to failure over others. Fast diffusion, supported by higher pressures and long exposure times (1000 hours) at the test temperature, caused increased damage in sCO2 environments to even the most robust polymers. We also looked at polymers under compression in sCO2 at 100°C and 20 MPa pressure to imitate actual sealing performance required of these materials in sCO2 systems. Compression worsened the physical damage that resulted from chemical attack of the polymers under these test conditions. In FY 2021, the effect of cycling temperature (from 50°C to 150°C to 50°C) for polymers under a steady sCO2 pressure of 20 MPa was studied. The aim was to understand the influence of cycling temperatures of sCO2 for typical polymers under isobaric (20 MPa) conditions. Thermoplastic polymers (Nylon, and PTFE) and elastomers (EPDM, Viton, Buna N, Neoprene, FF202, and HNBR) were subjected to 20 MPa sCO2 pressure for 50 cycles and 100 cycles in separate experiments. Samples were extracted for ex-situ characterization at 50 cycles and upon the completion of 100 cycles. Each cycle constituted of 175 minutes of cycling from 50°C to 150°C. The polymer samples were examined for physical and chemical changes by Dynamic Mechanical and Thermal Analysis (DMTA), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and compression set. Density and mass changes immediately after removal from test were measured for degree of swell comparisons. Optical microscopy techniques and micro computer tomography (micro CT) images were collected on select specimens. Evaluations conducted showed that exposures to super-critical CO2 environments resulted in combinations of physical and/or chemical changes. For each polymer, the dominance of cycling temperatures under sCO2 pressures, were evaluated. Attempts were made to qualitatively link the permanent sCO2 effects to polymer micro- structure, free volume, backbone substitutions, presence of polar groups, and degree of crystallinity differences. This study has established that soft polymeric materials are conducive to failure in sCO2 through mechanisms of failure that are dependent on polymer microstructure and chemistry. Polar pendant groups, large atom substitutions on the backbone are some of the factors that are influential structural factors.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗