Materials

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
The "smart" current-signature sensor is an instrument that noninvasively measures and analyzes steady-state and transient components of the magnetic field of (and, thus, indirectly, the...
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A proposal has been made to develop bimorph actuators and force sensors based on carbon nanotubes. The proposed devices could make it possible to generate, sense, and control displacements and...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
An assembly that includes electromechanical rotary actuators has been developed specifically for use as the shutter mechanism of a cryogenic infrared camera that will be part of an...
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Briefs: Software
Computing Diffusion in High-Temperature Coating Layer
COSIM is a computer program that numerically simulates oxidation and diffusion in a metallic coating layer on substrates made of nickel-base alloys. COSIM is primarily useful for analyzing the gradual deterioration and predicting the lifetimes of the protective coating on turbine blades and...
Briefs: Materials
Thermal Insulation Would Use CO2 in the Martian Environment
A report describes the development of a lightweight thermal insulation system for Martian surface applications. The ambient Martian atmosphere, which is predominantly carbon dioxide at a pressure of 10 torr, is used as the insulation medium with a modest multiple radiation shield...
Briefs: Materials
Filled skutterudites have shown promise as semiconducting materials with superior thermoelectric properties at temperatures up to at least 650 °C. This finding is a breakthrough in a continuing...
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Weighing Scales Based on Low-Power Strain-Gauge Circuits
Weighing scales (e.g., kitchen and bathroom scales) of a proposed type would incorporate sensory devices like the one described in "Low-Power, Microprocessor-Controlled Strain-Gauge Circuit" (NPO-19750), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 21, No. 1 (January 1997), page 45. Unlike other weighing scales...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Capacitive Sensor for Measuring Level of Liquid Nitrogen
The feasibility of a capacitive sensor for measuring the level of liquid nitrogen in a container has been demonstrated. The basic sensor design could also readily be adapted to measurement of the levels of cryogenic liquids other than nitrogen.
Briefs: Materials
Alkoxides of lithium have been found to be useful as electrolyte additives to improve the low-temperature performance of rechargeable lithium-ion electrochemical cells. As explained...
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Briefs: Materials
Aliphatic esters have been found to be useful as electrolyte additives for improving the low-temperature performances of rechargeable lithium-ion electrochemical cells. The discovery...
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Briefs: Software
Communication Software for Distributed Application Programs
The Task Remote Asynchronous Message Exchange Layer (Tramel) software reduces the costs of distributing application programs across computer networks, including the Internet. Tramel implements robust, reliable, simple, highly portable interprocess communication, such that distributed...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
An improved robotic water-jet system for stripping paint from a ship or other large metallic structure is undergoing development. In addition to utilizing a high-pressure water jet to...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Linear arrays of thermopile infrared detectors made of high-performance thermoelectric materials have been fabricated on silicon substrates by micromachining processes. Such detector...
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Briefs: Materials
Some success has been achieved in a development program directed toward improving the mechanical properties of electroformed copper-alloy structural components. Typical of such components are bundles...
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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A special-purpose grinding tool and fixtures have been developed for reworking an edge of a seal surface on a nozzle-throat-support housing in a rocket engine (see Figure 1) to remove...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Integrated-circuit imaging devices of a proposed type would contain planar arrays of microscopic sensors that would exploit giant magnetoresistance (GMR). Each GMR sensor in such a device...
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Briefs: Materials
Model Simulates Semi-Solid Material Processing
David Spencer (MIT) developed semi-solid material processing through an accidental observation he made while dealing with the processing of metals in their mushy state. The semi-solid material process basically consists of two stages: pre-processing and processing. During pre-processing, the...
Briefs: Motion Control
In a proposed technique for fabrication of microelectromechanical devices, thin films of fullerenes would be used as temporary packaging to protect and position delicate components....
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Briefs: Materials
Model Simulates Semi-Solid Material Processing
David Spencer (MIT) developed semi-solid material processing through an accidental observation he made while dealing with the processing of metals in their mushy state. The semi-solid material process basically consists of two stages: pre-processing and processing. During pre-processing, the...
Briefs: Wearables
The Autogenic-Feedback System-2 (AFS-2) is a biomedical instrumentation package that was designed and built at Ames Research Center for use during the September 1992 Spacelab-J (STS-47)...
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Briefs: Materials
Improved Formulation and Deposition of Ablative Insulation
The term "Marshall Convergent Coating-1" ("MCC-1") denotes an improved formulation and a concomitantly improved method of spray deposition of a cork-and-glass-filled epoxy ablative thermal-insulation material. MCC-1 has been used on the space shuttle solid rocket booster and on some Air...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Mirror Structures Made of Pyrolytic Graphite
Experiments have demonstrated the feasibility of making mirror structures that comprise a thin face plate of chemical-vapor-deposited (CVD) pyrolytic graphite (PG) integrated with a thicker backing plate of CVD PG open-cell foam. The backing plate serves as a stiff structural support for the face plate,...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
A high-power laser beam can be used to apply a torque to a sample of material that is electromagnetically and/or electrostatically levitated in a vacuum. The torque can be used to alter...
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Briefs: Test & Measurement
Two improved methods have been developed for testing continuously rolled blankets and blanketlike thermal-insulation materials typically used in cryogenic vacuum systems. Both methods,...
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Briefs: Materials
Corrosion of iron and steel substrates can be inhibited by coating them with any of the wide variety of compounds denoted generally as polyanilines. A polyaniline suitable for this type of...
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Briefs: Software
Software for Multidisciplinary Analysis of Graded Composites
The Coupled Structural/Thermal/Electromagnetic (CSTEM) computer program implements an integrated multidisciplinary approach to analysis and optimization of the designs of graded composite-material structures. The name of the program reflects recognition of the coupling among thermal,...
Briefs: Materials
Woven fabrics comprising polybenzoxazole (PBO) fibers blended with other selected fibers have been found to exhibit combinations of properties that, in some applications, may be superior to those of...
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Briefs: Physical Sciences
A new concept called "liquid shell insulation" has been proposed as a means of temporary thermal protection for scientific instrument probes that are required to operate for short times in hot, high-pressure...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Electrodeposition of Strong Glassy Metals
Thin-walled structures made of strong glassy nickel and glassy nickel-cobalt alloys, with tailorable low residual stresses, and with high resistance to permanent plastic deformation, can be formed by use of an electrodeposition process. This process was developed to enable the fabrication of lightweight,...

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