Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Cladding”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 163 records · Page 9

Arrangement for damping the resonance in a laser diode

An arrangement for damping the resonance in a laser diode is described. This arrangement includes an additional layer which together with the conventional laser diode form a structure (35) of a bipolar transistor. Therein, the additional layer serves as the collector, the cladding layer next to it as the base, and the active region and the other cladding layer as the emitter. A capacitor is connected across the base and the collector. It is chosen so that at any frequency above a certain selected frequency which is far below the resonance frequency the capacitor impedance is very low, effectively shorting the base to the collector.

Katz, J.↗

New innovations in composites

Procedures for manufacturing metal clad graphite resin structural elements applicable to optical systems requiring precisely controlled thermal and mechanical properties are described. Analytical estimates were made of the material properties that can be obtained for various ratios of graphite epoxy and aluminum cladding. Three graphite fiber systems were evaluated. Two manufacturing processes are described. One method is a procedure for manufacturing long tubes by wrapping aluminum foil over dry graphite fiber. Resin was applied by spreading before applying the aluminum wrap. A second approach, offering the opportunity for precise tuning of the coefficient of expansion, is by die flattening metal tubing through which a measured amount of fiber has been drawn. Prior to flattening, resin is injected, and after flattening or shaping the part is cured. This latter procedure offers the opportunity to fine tune the structure to achieve a CTE with a precision equal to that of the measuring systems-by modifying the number of fiber tows prior to manufacturing or by etching the metal after manufacturing. Experimental verification and demonstration data are presented for Gr/E bars with aluminum and steel skins.

Bluck, R. M.↗

Development of Space Station strut design

Candidate Space Station struts exhibiting high stiffness (38-40 msi modulus of elasticity) were manufactured and experimentally evaluated. One and two inch diameter aluminum-clad evaluation specimens were manufactured using a unique dry fiber resin injection process. Preliminary tests were performed on strut elements having 80 percent high-modulus graphite epoxy and 20 percent aluminum. Performed tests included modulus of elasticity, thermal cycling, and coefficient of thermal expansion. The paper describes the design approach, including an analytical assessment of strut thermal deformation behavior. The major thrust of this paper is the manufacturing process which produces aluminum-clad struts with precisely controlled properties which can be fine-tuned after fabrication. An impact test and evaluation procedure for evaluating toughness is described.

Johnson, R. R.↗

Uranium nitride fuel fabrication for SP-100 reactors

Fuel pins of uranium mononitride clad in Nb-1 percent Zr were fabricated for irradiation tests in EBR-II. Laboratory scale process parameters to synthesize UN powders and fabricate UN pellets were developed. Uranium mononitride was prepared by converting UO2 to UN. Fuel pellets were prepared by communition of UN briquettes, uniaxial pressing, and high temperature sintering. Techniques for machining, cleaning, and welding Nb-1 percent Zr cladding components were developed. End caps were electron beam welded to the tubing. Helium back-fill holes were sealed with a laser weld.

Mason, Richard E.↗

Hot isostatic pressing of silicon nitride with boron nitride, boron carbide, and carbon additions

Si3N4 test bars containing additions of BN, B4C, and C, were hot isostatically pressed in Ta cladding at 1900 and 2050 C to 98.9 percent to 99.5 percent theoretical density. Room-temperature strength data on specimens containing 2 wt pct BN and 0.5 wt pct C were comparable to data obtained for Si3N4 sintered with Y2O3, Y2O3 and Al2O3, or ZrO2. The 1370 C strengths were less than those obtained for additions of Y2O3 or ZrO2 but greater than those obtained from a combination of Y2O3 and Al2O3. SEM fractography indicated that, as with other types of Si3N4, room-temperature strength was controlled by processing flaws. The decrease in strength at 1370 C was typical of Si3N4 having an amorphous grain-boundary phase. The primary advantage of nonoxide additions appears to be in facilitating specimen removal from the Ta cladding.

Mieskowski, Diane M.↗

Injection efficiency of bound modes

Previous work on efficiency of light injection into the core of a fiber from a thin film and a bulk distribution of sources in the cladding have used the fields of a weakly guiding fiber. This approximation simplifies the analysis of the power efficiency by introducing universal values for the eigenvalues of different fibers with the same V-number, but cannot predict accurately the behavior of the injected light into a fiber with arbitrary differences in indices of refraction. The exact field solution was used in the expressions of the power efficiency, p sub eff, and its behavior as a function of the fiber parameter was analyzed. Weakly guiding results obtained previously are confirmed. However, P sub eff does not always increase with the V-number but with the difference in the indices of refraction, eta sub core-eta sub clad. For the bulk distribution it was found that P sub eff increases with the wavelength, lambda, and decreases with the fiber core radius, a, i.e., it decreases with the V-number. However, for the thin film, the P sub eff remains almost constant with lambda and the fiber core radius.

Egalon, Claudio Oliveira↗

In(X)Ga(1-X) As Strain-Layer Multiple-Quantum-Well Laser Diodes

Fabricated on InP substrates, devices operate at room temperature, emitting at wavelengths near 1.8 micrometers. By suitable modification of structure of devices, possible to achieve operation at any wavelength from 1.6 to 2.5 micrometers: this range important in lidar and in remote sensing of atmospheric gases. Quantum-well and barrier layers sandwiched between two 60-nm-thick layers of lattice-matched InGaAs. InGaAs layers sandwiched between two 150-nm-thick layers of InGaAsP. Those layers sandwiched, in turn, between InP substrate and InP cladding layer. Also layer of InGaAs atop InP cladding layers.

Forouhar, Siamak↗

Composite structure dynamics and space applicability

Guided wave modes in cladded or uncladded fiber-reinforced composite plates and tubes have been analyzed using a stiffness method in which the displacement variation through the thickness is approximated by polynomial interpolation functions. This allows for an arbitrary number of laminations and fiber orientations different from lamina to lamina. It is shown that dispersive behavior of guided modes depends significantly on the cladding, number of laminae, and interfaces between the adjacent laminae. A hybrid modeling technique is described in which an inner region containing cracks (or other defects) is discretized by finite elements, and the field in the exterior region is represented in terms of modes that are found using the stiffness method described above. It is found that the reflected and transmitted amplitudes of modes vary significantly with the size of a transverse or longitudinal (delamination) crack and frequency. We have also studied the impact response of a unidirectional fiber-reinforced plate. Received signals at the epicentral and other locations are shown. Strong longitudinal anisotropy of the graphite/epoxy plate causes the signal to be considerably different from that in an isotropic plate.

Datta, Subhendu K.↗

Optical fiber sensor having an active core

An optical fiber is provided. The fiber is comprised of an active fiber core which produces waves of light upon excitation. A factor ka is identified and increased until a desired improvement in power efficiency is obtained. The variable a is the radius of the active fiber core and k is defined as 2 pi/lambda wherein lambda is the wavelength of the light produced by the active fiber core. In one embodiment, the factor ka is increased until the power efficiency stabilizes. In addition to a bare fiber core embodiment, a two-stage fluorescent fiber is provided wherein an active cladding surrounds a portion of the active fiber core having an improved ka factor. The power efficiency of the embodiment is further improved by increasing a difference between the respective indices of refraction of the active cladding and the active fiber core.

Egalon, Claudio Oliveira↗

Small-crack effects in high-strength aluminum alloys

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Chinese Aeronautical Establishment participated in a Fatigue and Fracture Mechanics Cooperative Program. The program objectives were to identify and characterize crack initiation and growth of small cracks (10 microns to 2 mm long) in commonly used US and PRC aluminum alloys, to improve fracture mechanics analyses of surface- and corner-crack configurations, and to develop improved life-prediction methods. Fatigue and small-crack tests were performed on single-edgenotch tension (SENT) specimens and large-crack tests were conducted on center-crack tension specimens for constant-amplitude (stress ratios of -1, 0, and 0.5) and Mini-TWIST spectrum loading. The plastic replica method was used to monitor the initiation and growth of small fatigue cracks at the semicircular notch. Crack growth results from each laboratory on 7075-T6 bare and LC9cs clad aluminum alloys agreed well and showed that fatigue life was mostly crack propagation from a material defect (inclusion particles or void) or from the cladding layer. Finite-element and weight-function methods were used to determine stress intensity factors for surface and corner cracks in the SENT specimens. Equations were then developed and used in a crack growth and crack-closure model to correlate small- and large-crack data and to make life predictions for various load histories. The cooperative program produced useful experimental data and efficient analysis methods for improving life predictions. The results should ultimately improve aircraft structural reliability and safety.

Newman, J. C., Jr.↗

A coupled/uncoupled deformation and fatigue damage algorithm utilizing the finite element method

A fatigue damage computational algorithm utilizing a multiaxial, isothermal, continuum based fatigue damage model for unidirectional metal matrix composites has been implemented into the commercial finite element code MARC using MARC user subroutines. Damage is introduced into the finite element solution through the concept of effective stress which fully couples the fatigue damage calculations with the finite element deformation solution. An axisymmetric stress analysis was performed on a circumferentially reinforced ring, wherein both the matrix cladding and the composite core were assumed to behave elastic-perfectly plastic. The composite core behavior was represented using Hill's anisotropic continuum based plasticity model, and similarly, the matrix cladding was represented by an isotropic plasticity model. Results are presented in the form of S-N curves and damage distribution plots.

Wilt, Thomas E.↗

An Interagency Study of Depainting Techniques

Many popular and widely used paint stripping products now contain methylene chloride as their active ingredient. However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will critically curb the use of methylene chloride under an aerospace national emission standard for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) within the next 2-1/2 years. An effort is underway to identify and evaluate alternative depainting technologies emphasizing those believed to be both effective and environmentally benign. On behalf of the EPA and in cooperation with the U. S. Air Force (USAF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is conducting a technical assessment of nine alternative technologies (i.e.: chemical stripping, two CO2 blasting processes, FLASHJET(TM) coating removal, laser stripping, plastic media blasting, sodium bicarbonate wet stripping, high-pressure water stripping, and wheat starch blasting). These depainting processes represent five removal method categories, namely abrasive, impact, cryogenic, thermal, and/or molecular bonding dissociation. This paper discusses the test plan and parameters for this interagency study. Several thicknesses of clad and non-clad aluminum substrates were used to prepare test specimens, which have been cut, cleaned, painted, and environmentally aged. Each depainting process has been assigned a specimen lot, which is now undergoing an initial strip cycle. Metallurgical impacts will be determined after these specimens complete five cycles of preparation and stripping.

Cook, B.↗

NASA/Air Force/Environmental Protection Agency Interagency Depainting Study

Many popular and widely used paint stripping products have traditionally contained methylene chloride as their main active ingredient. However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has critically curved the allowable use of methylene chloride under the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants regulating Aerospace Manufacturing and Rework Facilities . Compliance with this rule was mandatory by September 1998 for affected facilities. An effort is underway to identify and evaluate alternative depainting technologies emphasizing those believed both effective and environmentally benign. On behalf of the EPA and in cooperation with the United States Air Force, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is conducting a technical assessment of several alternative technologies ( i.e. : chemical stripping, two CO2 blasting processes, CO2 xenon lamp coating removal, CO2 Laser stripping, plastic media blasting, sodium bicarbonate wet stripping, high pressure water stripping, and wheat starch blasting). These depainting processes represent five removal method categories, namely abrasive, impact, cryogenic, thermal, and/or molecular bonding dissociation. This paper discusses the test plan and parameters for this interagency study. Several thicknesses of clad and non-clad aluminum substrates were used to prepare test specimens. Each depainting process has been assigned a specimen lot, all of which have completed three to five stripping cycles. Numerous metallurgical evaluations are underway to assess the impact of these alternative depainting processes upon the structural integrity of the substrate.

Clark-Ingram, Marceia↗

Small Crack Growth and Fatigue Life Predictions for High-Strength Aluminium Alloys: Experimental and Fracture Mechanics Analysis - Part 1

The small crack effect was investigated in two high-strength aluminium alloys: 7075-T6 bare and LC9cs clad alloy. Both experimental and analytical investigations were conducted to study crack initiation and growth of small cracks. In the experimental program, fatigue tests, small crack and large crack tests A,ere conducted under constant amplitude and Mini-TWIST spectrum loading conditions. A pronounced small crack effect was observed in both materials, especially for the negative stress ratios. For all loading conditions, most of the fatigue life of the SENT specimens was shown to be crack propagation from initial material defects or from the cladding layer. In the analysis program, three-dimensional finite element and A weight function methods were used to determine stress intensity factors and to develop SIF equations for surface and corner cracks at the notch in the SENT specimens. A plastisity-induced crack-closure model was used to correlate small and large crack data, and to make fatigue life predictions, Predicted crack-growth rates and fatigue lives agreed well with experiments. A total fatigue life prediction method for the aluminum alloys was developed and demonstrated using the crack-closure model.

Wu, X. R.↗

Joint EPA/NASA/USAF Interagency Depainting Study

Environmental regulations such as National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) are drivers for the implementation of environmentally compliant methodologies in the manufacture of aerospace hardware. In 1995, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated the NESHAP for the Aerospace Manufacture and Rework (Aerospace NESHAP) industry. Affected facilities were to be in compliance by September 1998. Several aerospace manufacturing operations are regulated within the Aerospace NESHAP including Depainting operations. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), EPA, and United States Air Force (USAF) combined resources to evaluate the performance of nine alternative depainting processes. The seven alternative depainting processes were: (1) Chemical stripping (non-methylene chloride); (2) Carbon Dioxide Blasting; (3) Xenon Flashlamp; (4) Carbon Dioxide Laser Stripping; (5) Plastic Media Blasting; (6) Sodium Bicarbonate Wet Stripping; and (7) Waterjet Blasting and Wheat Starch Blasting. All epoxy primer and polyurethane top coat system was applied to 2024-T3 clad and non-clad aluminum test specimens. Approximately 200 test specimens were evaluated in this study. Each coupon was subjected to three, four, or five complete depainting cycles. This paper discusses the conclusions from the study including the test protocol, test parameters, and achievable strip rates for the alternative depainting processes. Test data includes immersion corrosion testing, sandwich corrosion testing and hydrogen embrittlement testing for the non-methylene chloride chemical strippers. Additionally, the cumulative effect of the alternative depainting processes on the metallurgical integrity of the test substrate is addressed with the results from tensile and fatigue evaluations.

Clark-Ingram, M.↗

Fiber Optic Sensors for Cure/Health Monitoring of Composite Materials

The objective of the current program is to develop techniques for using optical fibers to monitor the cure of composite materials in real time during manufacture and to monitor the in-service structural health of composite structures. Single and multimode optical fibers containing Bragg gratings have been used to perform Near Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy on high refractive index resins and show promise as embedded sensors. In order for chemical spectroscopy to be possible, intimate contact must be achieved between the fiber core and the composite resin. This contact is often achieved by stripping the cladding off of a portion of the fiber, thus making it brittle and easily broken in the composite processing environment. To avoid weakening the fiber to this extent, high refractive index fibers have been fabricated that use a low refractive index acrylate coating which serves as the cladding. This is ideal, as the coating is easily solvent stripped and intimate contact with the glass core can be achieved. Real time resin and composite chemical spectra have been obtained, with possible multifunctional capability using Bragg gratings to assess physical properties such as strain, modulus and other parameters of interest.

Wood, K. H.↗

Power enhanced frequency conversion system

A frequency conversion system includes at least one source providing a first near-IR wavelength output including a gain medium for providing high power amplification, such as double clad fiber amplifier, a double clad fiber laser or a semiconductor tapered amplifier to enhance the power output level of the near-IR wavelength output. The NFM device may be a difference frequency mixing (DFM) device or an optical parametric oscillation (OPO) device. Pump powers are gain enhanced by the addition of a rare earth amplifier or oscillator, or a Ra-man/Brillouin amplifier or oscillator between the high power source and the NFM device.

Sanders, Steven↗

Joining and Integration of Advanced Carbon-Carbon Composites to Metallic Systems for Thermal Management Applications

Recent research and development activities in joining and integration of carbon-carbon (C/C) composites to metals such as Ti and Cu-clad-Mo for thermal management applications are presented with focus on advanced brazing techniques. A wide variety of carbon-carbon composites with CVI and resin-derived matrices were joined to Ti and Cu-clad Mo using a number of active braze alloys. The brazed joints revealed good interfacial bonding, preferential precipitation of active elements (e.g., Ti) at the composite/braze interface. Extensive braze penetration of the inter-fiber channels in the CVI C/C composites was observed. The chemical and thermomechanical compatibility between C/C and metals at elevated temperatures is assessed. The role of residual stresses and thermal conduction in brazed C/C joints is discussed. Theoretical predictions of the effective thermal resistance suggest that composite-to-metal brazed joints may be promising for lightweight thermal management applications.

Singh, M.↗