Materials & Manufacturing

Manufacturing & Prototyping

Explore innovations supporting advances in manufacturing and rapid prototyping. Access the developments and solutions that have an impact on applications in 3D printing and automation.

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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The automated propellant-blending machine, a Johnson Space Center (JSC) innovation, refines the production processes of commercial rocket-propellant manufacturers by: (1) generating inert blends that...
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Vacuum plasma spraying (VPS) has been demonstrated to be an effective technique for the fabrication of refractory-metal components of solar-thermal engines. Heretofore, such components...
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A process for the fabrication of improved high-temperature fiber-optic sensor heads has been proposed. Fiber-optic sensor heads that can withstand hot, dirty, noisy environments are...
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
By combining patented digital Silver-in-Glass® and analog conductive plastic technologies in a single environmentally sealed unibody package, Spectrol Electronics' DigiSense™...
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Briefs: Photonics/Optics
The methods described are used with existing fiber optic technologies, and are based on several patents and on disclosures now before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patents are No....
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
The figure illustrates selected aspects of a manually actuated apparatus for use in coating two small objects with suitable metals, then forcing the two objects together at the coated flat...
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Magnetron plasma etching has been found to be a promising technique for micromachining of single-crystal silicon carbide to fabricate microscopic structures comprising integrated mechanical,...
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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. This...
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A simple change in the design of tools used in manufacturing laminated-composite-material sandwich panels reduces the floor area needed to store the tools. To give meaning to a description...
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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 the...
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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:...
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Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Rapid Prototyping of Cast Metal/Fiber Composites
A rapid prototyping process enables the incorporation of continuous fiber reinforcement into a cast metal-matrix composite. In one older process, cast metal-matrix composites are made by introducing fibers or particles into molten or partially solidified metals, then casting the resulting slurries...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A friction stir weld (FSW) system for welding and weld repair can be used on the manufacturing floor, as well as in the laboratory environment. This FSW system can be used in a wide variety...
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