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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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2001

Investigation into Spectroscopic Techniques for Thermal Barrier Coating Spall Detection

Spectroscopic methods are proposed for detection of thermal barrier coating (TBC) spallation from engine hot zone components. These methods include absorption and emission of airborne marker species originally embedded in the TBC bond coat. In this study, candidate marker materials for this application were evaluated. Thermochemical analysis of candidate marker materials combined with additional constraints such as toxicity and uniqueness to engine environment, provided a short list of four potential species: platinum, copper oxide, zinc oxide. and indium. The melting point of indium was considered to be too low for serious consideration. The other three candidate marker materials, platinum, copper oxide, and zinc oxide were placed in a high temperature furnace and emission and absorption properties were measured over a temperature range from 800-1400 C and a spectral range from 250 to 18000 nm. Platinum did not provide the desired response, likely due to the low vapor Pressure of the metallic species and the low absorption of the oxide species. It was also found, however. that platinum caused a broadening of the carbon dioxide absorption at 4300 nm. The nature of this effect is not known. Absorption and emission caused by sodium and potassium impurities in the platinum were found in the platinum tests. Zinc oxide did not provide the desired response, again, most likely due to the low vapor pressure of the metallic species and the low absorption of the oxide species. Copper oxide generated two strongly temperature dependent absorption peaks at 324.8 and 327.4 nm. The melting point of copper oxide was determined to be too low for serious consideration as marker material.

deGroot, Wim↗
DOE OSTI2021

Sonic Lift-off of GaAs-based Solar Cells with Reduced Surface Facets

Spalling has been proposed as a promising kerfless technique for slicing thin wafers and devices, enhancing the wafer yield from an ingot by reducing kerf-losses and enabling substrate reuse for the case of costly devices. The main challenge of spalling is to control the roughness and thickness variation of the spalled wafers that can be as high as 100% of the wafer thickness. Here, we have shown previously that the thickness variations are largely influenced by the interaction of the crack front with its own reflected waves. Herein we show that through Sonic Lift-off we can offer a modification to standard spalling technologies that minimizes the interaction of reflected waves with the crack front during lift-off of GaAs(100)-based solar cells. We show that the average surface facets amplitude can be reduced by 96% while obtaining a high quality bulk with no discernible residual strain as measured by PL. The resulting spalling depth can easily be tuned from 100 µm to less than 15µm. The electrical characterization of the Sonic lift-off cell shows no degradation of the VOC and a power conversion within 99% relative of a non-spalled baseline.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

The effect of microstructure on the dynamic shock response of 1045 steel

Herein, the effect of microstructure on the shock response of 1045 steel is investigated via plate impact experiments and postmortem characterization. Three unique microstructures are explored: ferrite-pearlite, martensite, and ferrite with spheroidal cementite (i.e. spheroidized). Two spall recovery experiments, at approximate peak pressures of 3.2 and 3.5 GPa, are conducted to assess the Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL), spall strength, and damage morphology of the various microstructures. The ferrite-pearlite and martensite microstructures exhibit continuous yielding at both quasi-static and dynamic rates, while the spheroidized condition displays discontinuous yielding. Discontinuous yielding of the spheroidized microstructure is attributed to a combined low initial dislocation density coupled with a low dislocation nucleation rate. The spall strength of ferrite-pearlite is consistently lower than the spheroidized microstructure, attributed to elongated cementite that is more susceptible to cracking than more spherical cementite precipitates. Despite a high density of boundaries, martensite exhibits the highest spall strength. A large percentage of the boundaries within the martensite microstructure are found to be low energy (i.e. Σ3 or low angle), and are thus less susceptible to spall damage. Overall, the high spall strength of martensite is likely linked to traditional strengthening mechanisms that limit dislocation motion.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Tailoring additive manufacturing to optimize dynamic properties in 316L stainless steel

With the advent of additive manufacturing, manipulation of typical microstructural elements such as grain size, texture, and defect densities is now possible at a faster time scale. While the processing–structure–property relationship in additive manufactured metals has been well studied over the past decade, little work has been done in understanding how this process affects the dynamic behavior of materials. We postulate that additive manufacturing can be used to alter the material microstructure and used to enhance its dynamic strength. In this work, 316L stainless steel (SS) was manufactured via selected laser melting and its microstructure was altered through changing build parameters like laser power, speed, and hatch spacing systematically. These samples were then subjected to spall recovery experiments to measure the spall strength and quantify the amount of damage as a function of build parameters. By mapping the spall strength as a function of build parameters, this work demonstrated that indeed additive manufacturing can be used to tailor the spall strength of 316L SS. This work also determined the optimum build parameters (laser power=195W; scanning speed=1083mm/s; hatch spacing=0.09mm; layer thickness=0.02mm) to obtain the highest spall strength and the least amount of total damage in 316L SS. Microstructural characterization of the pre- and post-mortem samples revealed that increased grain average misorientation and textural index were the main driving force behind this higher spall strength. This work aims to enhance microstructural engineering techniques to design materials with greater resistance to dynamic shock loading.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Numerical Modeling of Air-Blast Suppression as a Function of Explosive-Charge Burial Depth

As a chemical explosion is buried, the mechanism for acoustic wave generation transitions from fully gas-generated at the surface to completely spall-induced at full containment depth. The fully gas-generated and completely spall-induced signals in the acoustic waveform are well described; however, the transition between these two end-members eludes numerical modeling because of the complex phenomena that are involved. The phenomena of crater formation and explosive cloud evolution are simulated using an Eulerian hydrocode that incorporates geomaterials with strength and porosity. Having accurately modeled these phenomena, we can confidently predict the propagation and relative strength of the gas-generated and spall-induced pulses in the recorded acoustic waveform. The numerical predictions agree with observations from the historical Stagecoach experiment as well as modern recordings from the Source Physics Experiment. In particular, the peak pressure p generated by an explosion is initially due to the gas-generated mechanism and decays with scaled depth of burial d s (depth d scaled by the cube-root of explosive yield w 1/3 ) as exp(-d s ) but then transitions near a scaled depth of 6 m/ton 1/3 to the spall-generated mechanism in which the decay is d$_{s}^{-7/4}$. This decay form is related to the strong ground-motion attenuation relationship that affects spall strength. So these results can improve seismoacoustic inverse models for the explosive source that need to account for the gas-generated and spall-induced signals and their effect on peak pressures and other acoustic signal features.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

The influence of pearlite fraction on the shock properties of ferrite–pearlite steel microstructures: Insight into the effect of second-phase particles

Here, the goal of this work is to investigate the effect of varying phase fractions on the overall spall strength and damage behavior of a material. Specifically, two plain carbon, ferrite–pearlite steels (1045 and A283) were subjected to spall recovery experiments to investigate the effect of pearlite fraction on spall strength and total damage. The A283 (20% pearlite) alloy exhibited a higher Hugoniot elastic limit and spall strength compared with 1045 (60% pearlite). Discontinuous and continuous yielding behaviors were observed at quasi-static and dynamic rates for A283 and 1045, respectively. The yielding behavior was connected to pearlite fraction and the prevalence of dislocation-emitting, ferrite/cementite interfaces. Postmortem characterization revealed cementite lamellae cracking within pearlite of 1045, suggesting that pearlite reduces spall strength by providing low-energy damage nucleation sites. The rate of damage growth and coalescence was similar between the two alloys; however, 1045 exhibited more continuous cracks than A283, which exhibited a greater prevalence of discrete voids.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Understanding and predicting damage and failure at grain boundaries in BCC Ta

Understanding the effect of grain boundaries (GBs) on the deformation and spall behavior is critical to designing materials with tailored failure responses under dynamic loading. This understanding is hampered by the lack of in situ imaging capability with the optimum spatial and temporal resolution during dynamic experiments, as well as by the scarcity of a systematic data set that correlates boundary structure to failure, especially in BCC metals. To fill in this gap in the current understanding, molecular dynamics simulations are performed on a set of 74 bi-crystals in Ta with a [110] symmetric tilt axis. Our results show a correlation between GB misorientation angle and spall strength and also highlight the importance of GB structure itself in determining the spall strength. Specifically, we find a direct correlation between the ability of the GB to plasticity deform through slip/twinning and its spall strength. Additionally, a change in the deformation mechanism from dislocation-meditated to twinning-dominated plasticity is observed as a function of misorientation angles, which results in lowered spall strengths for high-angle GBs.

Chen, J. (ORCID:000000018633229X)↗
NASA NTRS1988

Vacuum application of thermal barrier plasma coatings

Coatings are presently applied to Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) turbine blades for protection against the harsh environment realized in the engine during lift off-to-orbit. High performance nickel, chromium, aluminum, and yttrium (NiCrAlY) alloy coatings, which are applied by atmospheric plasma spraying, crack and spall off because of the severe thermal shock experienced during start-up and shut-down of the engine. Ceramic coatings of yttria stabilized zirconia (ZrO2-Y2O3) were applied initially as a thermal barrier over coating to the NiCrAlY but were removed because of even greater spalling. Utilizing a vacuum plasma spraying process, bond coatings of NiCrAlY were applied in a low pressure atmosphere of argon/helium, producing significantly improved coating-to-blade bonding. The improved coatings showed no spalling after 40 MSFC burner rig thermal shock cycles, cycling between 1700 and -423 F. The current atmospheric plasma NiCrAlY coatings spalled during 25 test cycles. Subsequently, a process was developed for applying a durable thermal barrier coating of ZrO2-Y2O3 to the turbine blades of first stage high-pressure fuel turbopumps utilizing the vacuum plasma process. The improved thermal barrier coating has successfully passed 40 burner rig thermal shock cycles without spalling. Hot firing in an SSME turbine engine is scheduled for the blades. Tooling was installed in preparation for vacuum plasma spray coating other SSME hardware, e.g., the titanium main fuel valve housing (MFVH) and the fuel turbopump nozzle/stator.

Holmes, R. R.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Thermal barrier coating life modeling in aircraft gas turbine engines

Analytical models for predicting ceramic thermal barrier coating (TBC) spalling life in aircraft gas turbine engines are presented. Electron beam-physical vapor deposited (EB-PVD) and plasma sprayed TBC systems are discussed. An overview of the following TBC spalling mechanisms is presented: metal oxidation at the ceramic-metal interface, ceramic-metal interface stress singularities at edges and corners, ceramic-metal interface stresses caused by radius of curvature and interface roughness, material properties and mechanical behavior, temperature gradients, component design features and object impact damage. TBC spalling life analytical models are proposed based on observations of TBC spalling and plausible failure theories. TBC spalling was assumed to occur when the imposed stresses exceed the material strength (at or near the ceramic-metal interface). TBC failure knowledge gaps caused by lack of experimental evidence and analytical understanding are noted. The analytical models are considered initial engineering approaches that capture observed TBC failure trends.

Nissley, David M.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Cyclic Oxidation Modeling and Life Prediction

The cyclic oxidation process can be described as an iterative scale growth and spallation sequence by a number of similar models. Model input variable include oxide scale type and growth parameters, spalling geometry, spall constant, and cycle duration. Outputs include net weight change, the amounts of retained and spalled oxide, the total oxygen and metal consumed, and the terminal rates of weight loss and metal consumption. All models and their variations produce a number of similar characteristic features. In general, spalling and material consumption increase to a steady state rate, at which point the retained scale approaches a constant and the rate of weight loss becomes linear. For one model, this regularity was demonstrated as dimensionless, universal expressions, obtained by normalizing the variables by critical performance factors. These insights were enabled through the use of the COSP for Windows cyclic oxidation spalling program.

Smialek, James L.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Device architectures having engineered stresses

The present disclosure relates to a method that includes depositing a spalling layer onto a surface that includes a substrate, depositing a device comprising a III-V material onto the spalling layer, resulting in the forming of a stack, and dividing the stack substantially at a plane positioned within the spalling layer to form a first portion that includes the substrate and a second portion that includes the PV device, where the spalling layer includes a first layer configured to provide a compressive stress and a second layer configured to provide a tensile stress, the first layer and the second layer form an interface, the dividing occurs as result of the interface, and the compressive stress and the tensile stress are strain-balanced so that a total strain within the spalling layer is approximately zero.

Steiner, Myles Aaron↗