Briefs: Materials
Improved zirconium- and hafnium-based ceramic composites have been invented in an effort to obtain better resistance to ablation at high temperature. These ceramics are suitable for use...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Preforms (essentially, shaped mats) of single-crystal yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) fibers can now be readily fabricated in net size and shape, with tailored orientation of...
Briefs: Materials
Continuing efforts to develop lightweight, flexible thermal-insulation blankets that withstand high temperatures have led to design and fabrication concepts that effect the following...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Improved electrical connections have been developed for thin-film thermocouples used to measure temperatures on the surfaces of ceramic-matrix composite-material specimens during...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Two mounting schemes were devised for attaching heater wires to special-purpose glass tubing used in a capillary-heat-transfer experiment. Not only were the wires required to...
Briefs: Materials
A process that involves reaction bonding makes it possible to form strong joints, with tailorable thicknesses and compositions, between high-temperature-resistant structural parts...
Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Ceramic Hybrid Electromechanical Systems
Ceramic hybrid electromechanical systems (CHEMS) have been proposed to overcome some of the disadvantages while retaining most of the advantages of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Whereas MEMS are fabricated mostly by micromachining of silicon and have typical feature sizes of the order of microns...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Electrostrictive Thermal Break Between Superfluid Reservoirs
A proposed technique would make it possible to maintain two reservoirs of superfluid helium at the same pressure but at different temperatures. Heretofore, a fountain effect (described below) has made this impossible. The proposed technique could be useful for low-temperature...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
An improved miniature electrostatic sector has been designed for a miniature double-focusing mass spectrometer (see figure). Miniature mass spectrometers are essential...
Briefs: Nanotechnology
A rapid densification technology uses nanostructured powders to produce ceramic devices and components. This technology provides ceramic monoliths and composites that can be used in the...
Briefs: Materials
Carbon-based materials containing, variously, metals and metal oxides can be synthesized according to a method that involves reactions of metal chlorides with materials of general...
Briefs: Physical Sciences
Easy-to-use high-temperature strain-sensor systems based on strain gauges made from Pd/Cr-alloy wires have been developed. These systems include strain-gauge units comprising Pd/Cr wires...
Briefs: Materials
Current production thermal-barrier coatings (TBCs) have been shown to be capable of reducing the average temperatures of metallic components by 50 to 80 °C and hot-spot temperature by...
Briefs: Materials
Device for High-Pressure Fused Deposition of Engineering Polymers From Feed Rods
A more versatile delivery system for fused deposition has recently been developed. This system uses a very stiff, precise, and compact actuator to drive a small piston/cylinder extruder that has a heated nozzle. Because feed rods are used as the feed material, this...
Briefs: Materials
Two techniques have been proposed to reduce thermal-expansion mismatches between (a) substrates made of silicon, silicon-based ceramics, and silicon-based-ceramic composite...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Figure 1 shows an apparatus for growing a single-crystal fiber by solidification from a floating zone of laser-heated molten material on the tip of a feed rod. The apparatus can...
Briefs: Materials
Creep-Resistant Ceramic Composite for High-Temperature Use
A low-density, creep-resistant ceramic composite material has been developed as a prototype of such materials for use at high temperatures in the next generation of aircraft engines. The material consists of Nextel (or equivalent) ceramic fibers in a matrix that is, itself, a composite...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
The figure illustrates aspects of a lightweight, relatively inexpensive solar photovoltaic module suitable for use on Earth or in outer space in conjunction with at least a...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Controlled-Orientation Short-Fiber Composite Bodies
A technique for depositing materials into position using a positive-displacement extruder to build up a body has been developed. This technique also includes a process to prepare composite materials through a solid free-body forming process containing directionally aligned short-fiber...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The need for improved investment castings at Marshall Space Flight Center's Rapid Prototyping Lab has led to the development of a simple machine for centrifugal investment casting of shells....
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Processes for fabricating thin-film type-S thermocouples on metal and silicon nitride substrates (see figure) have been developed. (A type-S thermocouple comprises one leg made of platinum and...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
An improved process has been devised for making closed channels (e.g., coolant channels) in a heat-exchanger liner or a similar metal object. The process involves the following steps:...
Top Stories
Quiz: RF & Microwave Electronics
How Much Do You Know About Radar?
Blog: Medical
VR Therapy Aims to Help Those with Hoarding Disorder
Quiz: Green Design & Manufacturing
How Much Do You Know About Sustainability?
Blog: Robotics, Automation & Control
Plant-Based Soft Robots Take on the Medical Industry
Videos: Power
Hand-Built Electric Racing Car Breaks World Record for Acceleration
Blog: Defense
Question of the Week
Blog: Artificial Intelligence: Meet Human Intelligence
Webcasts
Podcasts: Electronics & Computers
Here's an Idea: Powerful Sensors for the Eye
Upcoming Webinars: Research Lab
What Really Changed: A Look at the Updated FDA Guidance Document...
Upcoming Webinars: Power
Electrifying Off-Highway Drivetrains
Upcoming Webinars: Electronics & Computers
NVH Prediction in Electric Powertrains: Considering Inverter and...
On-Demand Webinars: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The Smaller the Part, the Bigger the Advantages of Miniature Aluminum Extrusions
Podcasts: AR/AI
Here's an Idea: How AI is Changing Military Aircraft Maintenance and More