Materials & Coatings

The differential miscibility of castor oil in ethanol and water would be exploited to separate ethanol from water, according to a proposal. Burning the separated ethanol would produce more energy than would be consumed in the separation process. In contrast, the separation of a small amount...

The differential solubility of sulfur in ethanol and water could be exploited to separate ethanol from water. The energy that could be produced by burning the separated ethanol would be more than that required in the separation process. In contrast, the separation of a small amount of...

Hybrid versions of the high-performance overwraps used on some low-pressure tanks have been proposed. The hybrid overwraps would weigh less than do the corresponding nonhybrid overwraps, as explained below.

Pressure vessels overwrapped with graphite-fiber-based composite materials that become damaged would be salvaged by a proposed repair technique. The need for the technique arises as follows: High-performance graphite-fiber-based composites are very susceptible to damage from impact or cutting....

A report describes an experimental study of the surface-chemical, microstructural, and tribological properties of cubic boron nitride (c-BN) films, which are potentially useful as hard, wear-resistant coatings on bearings and on steel-cutting tools. For the experiments, BN films about 500 nm thick were...

Damage-tolerant polymeric composite overwraps have been proposed for lightweight pressure vessels that are made of composites of graphite fibers in polymeric matrices. Graphite-fiber/polymer composites are vulnerable to impact damage; overwraps on the pressure vessels...

A process for making superior diffusion platinum-aluminide bond coats for plasma-sprayed or physical-vapor-deposited thermal-barrier coats (TBCs) on superalloy substrates has been devised. The novel aspect of the process lies in the use of several relatively inexpensive pack diffusion steps to...

Experiments have confirmed the feasibility of a new class of lightweight, reliable, simple, and low-cost expandable structures. The concept called "cold hibernated elastic memory" (CHEM) utilizes the shape memory polymers (SMPs) in open cellular structures. Basically, these structures are...

A process for precleaning brass and copper parts before processing them further in a clean room includes a brightening chemical treatment in solution of 85 volume percent phosphoric acid, 3 volume percent nitric acid, and 12 volume percent acetic acid. This solution acts rapidly and can be discarded...

An etching solution has been developed for use in removal of silver plating from polymer-based (including composite-material) structural components, the surfaces of which are intended to serve as mirrors and waveguide structures. Such structures are often plated with aluminum, copper, and...