Stories
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Briefs: Materials
Diffusing Hf and Si Into Aluminide Bond Coats for TBCs
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...
Briefs: Materials
An improved method of synthesis of crystalline tin monoxide (SnO) powder for use in anodes of lithium-ion electrochemical power cells has been developed. The carbon used in anodes of...
Briefs: Materials
Zn4Sb3 has been identified as a high-performance thermoelectric material. In p-type, Zn4Sb3 samples have exhibited the greatest dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit ever observed...
Briefs: Materials
Cold Hibernated Elastic Memory (CHEM) Expandable Structures
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...
Briefs: Materials
Materials based on β-Zn4Sb3have been found to exhibit unusually high values of the dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit at temperatures between 200 and 400 °C. The discovery...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A surface-micromachining process has been devised for use in fabricating microscopic polycrystalline diamond structures (e.g., bridges and cantilevers) as integral parts...
Briefs: Materials
Nonchromic Acid Brightener for Brass and Copper
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...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A prototype Stirling-engine regenerator containing a matrix made of carbon-fiber-based composite materials has been developed. The concept underlying this development effort is one of...
Briefs: Materials
An alloy of 88Cu/8Cr/4Nb (numbers indicate atomic percentages) has been proposed for use in fabricating rocket-engine combustion chambers by vacuum plasma spraying (VPS). Relative to...
Briefs: Materials
Etching Solution for Removal of Silver Plating From Polymers
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...
Briefs: Materials
The anode separators in rechargeable lithium-ion electrochemical cells that contain carbon lithium-intercalating anodes with copper current collectors would be modified, according to a...
Briefs: Manufacturing & Prototyping
A method to process optical fiber composed of glass systems has been developed in support of the space shuttle and Space Station programs. This process, known as the Microgravity Fiber-Pulling Apparatus, was...
Briefs: Materials
More accurate analyses of adhesive EA946 can now be accomplished using new mathematical models. Tests involving this adhesive (used in the space shuttle's reusable solid-rocket-motor nozzle and other...
Briefs: Materials
A microwave-heating technique has been developed for making a braze joint (1) between a tungsten carbide support and a surface layer of polycrystalline diamond or, alternatively, (2)...
Briefs: Motion Control
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...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Chemiresistors containing poly(aromatic amine) films have been invented to satisfy a need for simple, inexpensive sensors for real-time measurement of parts-per-million and possibly lower...
Briefs: Materials
Several modifications of the basic design of carbon lithium-intercalating anodes with copper current collectors in rechargeable lithium-ion electrochemical cells have been proposed. These...
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: Materials
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 waste gas...
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...
Briefs: Materials
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: 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...
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: Materials
MoSi2-based composite materials are among the advanced materials undergoing development as potential strong, stiff, lightweight replacements for the nickel-based superalloys now used in...
Briefs: Materials
By combining patented digital Silver-in-Glass® and analog conductive plastic technologies in a single environmentally sealed unibody package, Spectrol Electronics' DigiSense™...
Briefs: Energy
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 some...
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....
Briefs: Energy
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 some...
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 up...
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How Sift's Unified Observability Platform Accelerates Drone Innovation
