Preliminary test results on a compressed multilayer insulation system for a liquid- hydrogen-fueled rocket.
Jacketed multilayer insulation system design, fabrication and compression testing for liquid hydrogen storage tank
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Jacketed multilayer insulation system design, fabrication and compression testing for liquid hydrogen storage tank
Multilayer insulation system materials and design data for use on spacecraft in temperature range from 300 to 800 degrees K
Environmental testing and material characteristics of multilayer printed circuit boards
Fabrication and properties of multilayer band pass filter with two metal films
Thermal conductivity measurement of multilayer insulation material used in Gemini extravehicular space suit
Shingle attachment of multilayer insulation to cryogenic flight tanks
Compressive load effects on heat flux through multilayer insulation
Transient gas-flow process in multilayer insulation systems during evacuation predicted by equations in conjunction with measured permeabilities and diffusion coefficients
Evaporation system for fabrication of multilayer dielectric films for mirrors or filters, obtaining thickness variation reduction and simultaneous deposition
Axial transverse laminography and mutual coupling nondestructive techniques for inspection of multilayer printed circuit boards
Multilayer insulation systems evaluation for 300 to 700 degrees K temperatures
Multilayer insulation system materials and design data for use on spacecraft in temperature range from 300 to 800 degrees K
Nondestructive testing techniques for multilayer printed wiring boards stressing axial transverse laminography and mutual coupling
Vacuum multilayer insulation for cryogenic space propulsion vehicles noting self-evacuation system and calorimetric test
Magnetization ripple in multilayer films, noting dependence on copper layer
Future NASA missions are increasingly seeking to use actuators for precision positioning to accuracies of the order of fractions of a nanometer. For this purpose, multilayer piezoelectric stacks are being considered as actuators for driving these precision mechanisms. In this study, sets of commercial PZT stacks were tested in various AC and DC conditions at both nominal and extreme temperatures and voltages. AC signal testing included impedance, capacitance and dielectric loss factor of each actuator as a function of the small-signal driving sinusoidal frequency, and the ambient temperature. DC signal testing includes leakage current and displacement as a function of the applied DC voltage. The applied DC voltage was increased to over eight times the manufacturers' specifications to investigate the correlation between leakage current and breakdown voltage. Resonance characterization as a function of temperature was done over a temperature range of -180C to +200C which generally exceeded the manufacturers' specifications. In order to study the lifetime performance of these stacks, five actuators from one manufacturer were driven by a 60volt, 2 kHz sine-wave for ten billion cycles. The tests were performed using a Lab-View controlled automated data acquisition system that monitored the waveform of the stack electrical current and voltage. The measurements included the displacement, impedance, capacitance and leakage current and the analysis of the experimental results will be presented.
The development of long duration orbital cryogenic storage systems will require the reduction of heat loads into the storage tank. In the case of liquid hydrogen, complete elimination of the heat load at 20 K is currently impractical due to the limitations in lift available on flight cryocoolers. In order to reduce the heat load, without having to remove heat at 20 K, the concept of Reduced Boil-Off uses cooled shields within the insulation system at approximately 90 K. The development of Load-Bearing Multilayer Insulation (LB-MLI) allowed the 90 K shield with tubing and cryocooler attachments to be suspended within the MLI and still be structurally stable. Coupon testing, both thermal and structural was performed to verify that the LB-MLI should work at the tank applied level. Then tank applied thermal and structural (acoustic) testing was performed to demonstrate the functionality of the LB-MLI as a structural insulation system. The LB-MLI showed no degradation of thermal performance due to the acoustic testing and showed excellent thermal performance when integrated with a 90 K class cryocooler on a liquid hydrogen tank.
In the development of flight insulation systems for large cryogenic orbital storage (spray on foam and multilayer insulation), testing need include all environments that are experienced during flight. While large efforts have been expended on studying, bounding, and modeling the orbital performance of the insulation systems, little effort has been expended on the ground hold and ascent phases of a mission. Historical cryogenic in-space systems that have flown have been able to ignore these phases of flight due to the insulation system being within a vacuum jacket. In the development phase of the Nuclear Mars Vehicle and the Shuttle Nuclear Vehicle, several insulation systems were evaluated for the full mission cycle. Since that time there had been minimal work on these phases of flight until the Constellation program began investigating cryogenic service modules and long duration upper stages. With the inception of the Cryogenic Propellant Storage and Transfer Technology Demonstration Mission, a specific need was seen for the data and as such, several tests were added to the Cryogenic Boil-off Reduction System liquid hydrogen test matrix to provide more data on a insulation system. Testing was attempted with both gaseous nitrogen (GN2) and gaseous helium (GHe) backfills. The initial tests with nitrogen backfill were not successfully completed due to nitrogen liquefaction and solidification preventing the rapid pumpdown of the vacuum chamber. Subsequent helium backfill tests were successful and showed minimal degradation. The results are compared to the historical data.