Briefs: Materials
Progress in Texturing by Use of Monatomic Oxygen
A report presents findings from recent research on the use of monatomic oxygen to form microscopic textures on the surfaces of polymers and extends the concept to some forms of carbon. Earlier developments in this field were described in two articles in NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 20, No. 11 (November...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Fabricating Refractory-Metal Solar-Engine Components by VPS
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...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Improved Packaging of Silica Optical Fibers in Sensor Heads
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...
Briefs: Materials
Improved Process for Scrubbing and Treating NOₓ Liquor
A new process and equipment have been developed for reducing the emissions of hazardous nitrogen oxides (NOx), and eliminating a hazardous waste stream. In this process, a...
Briefs: Materials
Rapid Densification of Ceramic Monoliths and Composites
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
Metal- and Oxide-Containing Carbons Made From Graphite Oxide
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: Materials
MoSi₂-Based Composite Materials for Aircraft Engines
MoSi2-based composite materials are among the advanced materials undergoing development as potential strong, stiff, lightweight replacements for the nickel-based superalloys...
Briefs: Photonics/Optics
Methods of Manufacturing Fiber Optic Components
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....
Briefs: Materials
LaNi₅₋ₓGeₓ Electrodes for Ni/MH Electrochemical Cells
Experiments have shown that improved hydride-forming negative electrodes for rechargeable nickel/metal hydride (Ni/MH) electrochemical cells can be made by substituting Ge for...
Briefs: Materials
LaNi₅₋ₓSnₓ Electrodes for Ni/MH Electrochemical Cells
Experiments have shown that improved hydride-forming negative electrodes for rechargeable nickel/metal hydride (Ni/MH) electrochemical cells can be made by substituting Sn for...
Briefs: Materials
Improved Bond-Coat Layers for Thermal-Barrier Coatings
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
Trading Risk Versus Cost of a Composite-Material Structure
A probabilistic method has been developed for use in designing a composite-material structure to achieve a balance between maximum reliability and minimum cost. This method accounts...
Briefs: Materials
Software for Probabilistic Analysis of Composite Structures
GENOA is an advanced, completely integrated, hierarchical software package for computationally simulating the thermal and mechanical responses of high-temperature composite...
Briefs: Materials
Ion-Beam-Deposited DLC Coatings on Fine-Grain CVD Diamond
Ion-beam-deposited surface layers of diamond-like carbon (DLC) on fine-grain chemical-vapor-deposited (CVD) diamond have been found to be effective in reducing friction and wear in a...
Briefs: Materials
Matrix and Coating Polymers for Composite LOX Containers
Two poly(arylene ether phosphine oxide)s (PAEPOs) have been found to be suitable as matrix and coating materials for composite-material (matrix/fiber) tanks and pipes that contain...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Apparatus for Coating and Cold Welding in Vacuum
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...
Briefs: Motion Control
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
Reducing CTE Mismatch Between Coatings and Si-Based Ceramics
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: Materials
Single Crystal Nickel-Base Superalloy
A modified alloy, known as Modified PWA1484, is a single-crystal nickel-base superalloy, developed under a NASA Marshall Space Flight Center contract for use as a turbine blade and vane alloy for the...
Briefs: Materials
Muscle Wires for Planetary-Exploration Robots
A report proposes the use of muscle wires as mechanical actuators for planetary-exploration robots. Muscle wires are commercially available in kit form in the hobby market, and have been described (though not explicitly called "muscle wires") in previous articles in NASA Tech Briefs. A muscle wire...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
Magnetron Plasma Etching of SiC for Microfabrication
Magnetron plasma etching has been found to be a promising technique for micromachining of single-crystal silicon carbide to fabricate microscopic structures comprising integrated...
Briefs: Materials
Advanced Cryogenic Insulation System for Graphite/Organic Resin Composite Cryogenic-Tank Structures
Engineers at Rockwell International Corporation's Space System Division have developed a new method of insulating composite structural...
Briefs: Materials
High-Tg Thermosetting Polyimide
A thermosetting polyimide called "DMBZ-15" has been developed for use as a matrix material in relatively inexpensive matrix/fiber composite materials. The glass-transition temperature (Tg) of...
Briefs: Materials
Joining of SiC-Based Ceramic and Fiber-Reinforced Composite Parts
A process that involves reaction forming has been devised to enable the joining of high-temperature-resistant structural parts made of SiC-based materials. These materials...
Briefs: Materials
Fiber-Reinforced-Plastic/Concrete Structural Members
Improved concrete structural members such as columns, piers, and piles can be manufactured by incorporating fiber-reinforced-plastic (FRP) exterior shells and FRP interior submembers. The...
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: Materials
Nearly Isotropic Resin-Transfer-Molded Composites
Nearly isotropic matrix/fiber composite materials can be made quickly and at relatively low cost by resin-transfer molding. The fiber components of these materials are fine, loosely woven,...
Briefs: Materials
Iron-Containing Carbon Materials Made From Graphite Fluoride
Experiments have shown that carbon-based materials containing pure metallic iron, alloys of iron, halides of iron, and/or oxides of iron can be synthesized from precursors of...
Briefs: Materials
Evaluation of Additives to PFPEs in Boundary Lubrication
A report describes experiments on the wear-reducing performances of six additives to perfluoropolyether (PFPE)-based fluids in the boundary-lubrication regime. The additives were a phosphate, a thiophosphate, a β-diketone, a benzothiazole, an amide/thiol, and a sulfite. Each additive was...
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