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NASA NTRS2014

Chemical Sharpening, Shortening, and Unzipping of Boron Nitride Nanotubes

Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs), the one-dimensional member of the boron nitride nanostructure family, are generally accepted to be highly inert to oxidative treatments and can only be covalently modifi ed by highly reactive species. Conversely, it is discovered that the BNNTs can be chemically dispersed and their morphology modifi ed by a relatively mild method: simply sonicating the nanotubes in aqueous ammonia solution. The dispersed nanotubes are significantly corroded, with end-caps removed, tips sharpened, and walls thinned. The sonication treatment in aqueous ammonia solution also removes amorphous BN impurities and shortened BNNTs, resembling various oxidative treatments of carbon nanotubes. Importantly, the majority of BNNTs are at least partially longitudinally cut, or "unzipped". Entangled and freestanding BN nanoribbons (BNNRs), resulting from the unzipping, are found to be approximately 5-20 nm in width and up to a few hundred nanometers in length. This is the fi rst chemical method to obtain BNNRs from BNNT unzipping. This method is not derived from known carbon nanotube unzipping strategies, but is unique to BNNTs because the use of aqueous ammonia solutions specifi cally targets the B-N bond network. This study may pave the way for convenient processing of BNNTs, previously thought to be highly inert, toward controlling their dispersion, purity, lengths, and electronic properties.

Liao, Yunlong↗

NASA NTRS1981

Crack tip deformation and fatigue crack growth

Recent research on fatigue crack growth is summarized. Topics discussed include the use of the differential stress intensity factor to characterize crack tip deformation, the use of the unzipping model to study the growth of microcracks and the fatigue crack growth in a ferritic-martensitic steel, and the development of a model of fatige crack growth threshold. It is shown that in the case of small yielding, the differential stress intensity factor provides an adequate description of cyclic plastic deformation at the crack tip and correlates well with the crack growth rate. The unzipping model based on crack tip shear decohesion process is found to be in good agreement with the measured crack growth and striation spacing measurements. The proposed model of crack growth threshold gives correct predictions of the crack growth behavior in the near-threshold region.

Liu, H.-W.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Cracking characteristics of a habitable module pressure wall following orbital debris penetration

All long-duration spacecraft in low-earth-orbit are subject to high speed impacts by meteoroids and pieces of orbital debris. The threat of damage from such impacts is a significant design consideration in the development of long duration earth-orbiting spacecraft. This report presents the results of a study whose objective was to develop an empirical model to predict the magnitude of the various cracking and through-hole creation phenomena accompanying a habitable module penetration. The significance of the work performed is that the model predictions can be fed directly into a survivability analysis to determine whether or not module unzipping would occur under a specific set of impact conditions. The likelihood of module unzipping over a structure's lifetime can also be determined in such an analysis. In addition, effective hole size predictions can be used as part of a survivability analysis to determine the time available for module evacuation prior to the onset of incapacitation due to air loss. Some of the phenomena considered include maximum petal length, maximum tip-to-tip crack distance, depth of petal deformation, number of cracks formed, orientation of the maximum tip-to-tip distance with respect to the inner wall grain direction, and the effective inner wall hole diameter.

Schonberg, William P.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Addition polymers from 1,4,5,8-tetrahydro-1,4;5,8-diepoxyanthracene and Bis-dienes. 2: Evidence for thermal dehydration occurring in the cure process

Diels-Alder cycloaddition copolymers from 1,4,5,8-tetrahydro-1,4;5,8-diepoxyanthracene and anthracene end-capped polyimide oligomers appear, by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), to undergo dehydration at elevated temperatures. This would produce thermally stable pentiptycene units along the polymer backbone, and render the polymers incapable of unzipping through a retro-Diels-Alder pathway. High resolution solid 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) of one formulation of the polymer system before and after heating at elevated temperatures, shows this to indeed be the case. NMR spectra of solid samples of the polymer before and after heating correlated well with those of the parent pentiptycene model compound before and after acid-catalyzed dehydration. Isothermal gravimetric analyses and viscosities of the polymer before and after heat treatment support dehydration as a mechanism for the cure reaction.

Meador, Mary Ann B.↗

NASA NTRS1988

A method for determining crack opening load from load-displacement data

The fatigue crack opening load is determined as the tangent point on the ascending load-displacement data between the curved portion and the upper linear region. A model for the 'unzipping' behavior of the crack indicates that the curved portion of the load-deflection curve is second order. The opening load is determined by a nonlinear, least squares fit of the data to the model, which optimally locates the tangent point of the two curves. The method provided consistent results for determining opening load P(op) for 7475-T731 aluminum using data from a crack tip opening gage.

Carman, C. Davis↗

NASA NTRS1990

Determination of the thermal stability of perfluoroalkylethers

The thermal decomposition temperatures of several commercial and custom synthesized perfluoroalkylether fluids were determined with a computerized tensimeter. In general, the decomposition temperatures of the commercial fluids were all similar and significantly higher than those for custom synthesized fluids. Correlation of the decomposition temperatures with the molecular structures of the primary components of the commercial fluids revealed that the stability of the fluids is not affected by intrinsic factors such as carbon chain length, branching, or cumulated difluoroformal groups. Instead, correlation with extrinsic factors revealed that the stability may be limited by the presence of small quantities of thermally unstable material and/or chlorine-containing material arising from the use of chlorine-containing solvents during synthesis. Finally, correlation of decomposition temperatures with molecular weights for Demnum and Krytox fluids supports a chain cleavage reaction mechanism for Demnum fluids and an unzipping reaction mechanism for Krytox fluids.

Helmick, Larry S.↗

NASA NTRS1991

A review of fatigue crack growth analyses

Stress intensity factor range, Delta K, has been shown to correlate well with fatigue crack growth rate, da/dN. A number of fatigue crack growth theories have been developed for such correlations. Often, conjectory theories of fatigue crack growth are constructed from experimental data. On the other hand, fatigue crack growth theories can also be derived rigorously with deductive logic. Four such deductive theories are reviewed: (1) that for the growth of a small crack in a very wide homogeneous plate, (2) the theory of similitude for the correlation of da/dN with Delta K, (3) a theory of crack growth in homogeneous materials in small-scale yielding, and (4) the unzipping theory of fatigue crack growth. This paper synthesizes these four theories into a logic framework useful for fatigue crack growth analysis. The deductive theories and the conjectory theories complement each other in the advances of the understanding of fatigue crack growth. The applications of logic framework to formulating an overview of fatigue crack growth behavior and to defining the complex issues of the growth of small cracks and crack growth in composites are illustrated.

Liu, H. W.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Determination of the thermal stability of perfluoropolyalkyl ethers by tensimetry

The thermal decomposition temperatures of several perfluoropolyalkyl ether fluids were determined with a computerized tensimeter. In general, the decomposition temperatures of the commercial fluids were all similar and significantly higher than those for noncommercial fluids. Correlation of the decomposition temperatures with the molecular structures of the primary components of the commercial fluids revealed that the stability of the fluids was not affected by carbon chain length, branching, or adjacent difluoroformal groups. Instead, stability was limited by the presence of small quantities of thermally unstable material and/or chlorine-containing material arising from the use of chlorine containing solvents during synthesis. Finally, correlation of decomposition temperatures with molecular weights for two fluids supports a chain cleavage reaction mechanism for one and an unzipping reaction mechanism for the other.

Helmick, Larry A.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Empirical models for spacecraft damage from orbital debris penetration and effects on spacecraft survivability

Semi-empirical models of hole diameter and tip-to-tip crack length for different multi-wall shielding systems currently under development for the International Space Station are presented. These equations were developed using light gas gun test data at impact velocities of 6.5 km/s and inhibited shaped charge test data for an impact velocity of 11.3 km/s. These models are incorporated into a survivability analysis using the manned spacecraft crew survivability computer code to determine whether or not module unzipping or crew incapacitation would occur under a specific set of impact conditions.

Williamsen, Joel↗

NASA NTRS2014

Multipurpose Cargo Transfer Bag

The Logistics Reduction (LR) project within the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) program is tasked with reducing logistical mass and repurposing logistical items. Multipurpose Cargo Transfer Bags (MCTB) have been designed such that they can serve the same purpose as a Cargo Transfer Bag, the suitcase-shaped common logistics carrying bag for Shuttle and the International Space Station. After use as a cargo carrier, a regular CTB becomes trash, whereas the MCTB can be unzipped, unsnapped, and unfolded to be reused. Reuse ideas that have been investigated include partitions, crew quarters, solar radiation storm shelters, acoustic blankets, and forward osmosis water processing.

Broyan, James↗

NASA NTRS2015

Acoustic Multipurpose Cargo Transfer Bag

The Logistics Reduction (LR) project within the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) program is tasked with reducing logistical mass and repurposing logistical items. Multipurpose Cargo Transfer Bags (MCTB) are designed to be the same external volume as a regular cargo transfer bag, the common logistics carrier for the International Space Station. After use as a cargo bag, the MCTB can be unzipped and unfolded to be reused. This Acoustic MCTBs transform into acoustic blankets after the initial logistics carrying objective is complete.

Baccus, Shelley↗

NASA NTRS2017

Boron Nitride Nanoribbons from Exfoliation of Boron Nitride Nanotubes

Two types of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) were exfoliated into boron nitride nanoribbons (BNNR), which were identified using transmission electron microscopy: (1) commercial BNNTs with thin tube walls and small diameters. Tube unzipping was indicated by a large decrease of the sample's surface area and volume for pores less than 2 nm in diameter. (2) BNNTs with large diameters and thick walls synthesized at NASA Glenn Research Center. Here, tube unraveling was indicated by a large increase in external surface area and pore volume. For both, the exfoliation process was similar to the previous reported method to exfoliate commercial hexagonal boron nitride (hBN): Mixtures of BNNT, FeCl3, and NaF (or KF) were sequentially treated in 250 to 350 C nitrogen for intercalation, 500 to 750 C air for exfoliation, and finally HCl for purification. Property changes of the nanosized boron nitride throughout this process were also similar to the previously observed changes of commercial hBN during the exfoliation process: Both crystal structure (x-ray diffraction data) and chemical properties (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy data) of the original reactant changed after intercalation and exfoliation, but most (not all) of these changes revert back to those of the reactant once the final, purified products are obtained.

boron nitride nanotube↗