Research program on pyroelectric detection techniques and materials Phase II final report
Evaluation of crystals, thin films, and ceramic materials for pyroelectric radiation detectors
DIELECTRIC MATERIAL↗
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Results for “materials evaluation”
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
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Future directions in materials and structures for space applications
A comprehensive evaluation is made of materials and structural technology requirements for future space transportation systems, large spacecraft, and space structures. Exceptional promise is noted in carbon-carbon composites for large area thermal protection systems. High temperature test facilities, techniques, and instrumentation systems have unfortunately been neglected, and a materials systems data base suitable for high confidence design of long life space structures has yet to be compiled with a view to material environments in low earth and geosynchronous orbits. A coordinated analysis, ground test, and in-orbit experimentation program for candidate structure designs is called for.
Venneri, S. L.↗
Effect of micro-fin tube geometry parameters on evaporator material savings
A Performance Evaluation Criteria (PEC) analysis is presented that explores the influence of the micro-fin tube geometry on the required material volume. The analysis was done using a local flow boiling model, which can quantify the effect of fin parameters and the tube diameter. The PEC was done while requiring that the compared surfaces satisfy the same heat duty and pressure drop. The following tube parameters and ranges were explored: tube diameter (3 mm ≤ D o ≤ 6 mm), fin base thickness (0.12 mm ≤ t bf ≤ 0.29 mm), helix angle (6° ≤ α ≤ 30°), fin apex angle (11° ≤ β ≤ 22°), total number of fins (43 ≤ n f ≤ 70), and the fin height (0.11 mm ≤ e ≤ 0.3 mm). The tube that provided the smallest material requirements within the examined parameter ranges had: D o = 3 mm, t bf = 0.12 mm, α = 6°, β = 11°, n f = 43, and e = 0.3 mm. In general, small D o and t bf and large n f and e provided the best performance and work to minimize the required material volume to provide a given heat duty and pressure drop. The helix and the fin-tip apex angles were found to have very little influence on the performance for the examined range of parameters and angles associated with the lowest production cost should be chosen.
Evaporation↗
An Analysis of Nondestructive Evaluation Techniques for Polymer Matrix Composite Sandwich Materials
Structural sandwich materials composed of triaxially braided polymer matrix composite material face sheets sandwiching a foam core are being utilized for applications including aerospace components and recreational equipment. Since full scale components are being made from these sandwich materials, it is necessary to develop proper inspection practices for their manufacture and in-field use. Specifically, nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques need to be investigated for analysis of components made from these materials. Hockey blades made from sandwich materials and a flat sandwich sample were examined with multiple NDE techniques including thermographic, radiographic, and shearographic methods to investigate damage induced in the blades and flat panel components. Hockey blades used during actual play and a flat polymer matrix composite sandwich sample with damage inserted into the foam core were investigated with each technique. NDE images from the samples were presented and discussed. Structural elements within each blade were observed with radiographic imaging. Damaged regions and some structural elements of the hockey blades were identified with thermographic imaging. Structural elements, damaged regions, and other material variations were detected in the hockey blades with shearography. Each technique s advantages and disadvantages were considered in making recommendations for inspection of components made from these types of materials.
Cosgriff, Laura M.↗
Preliminary Evaluation of Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) Packing Materials for Flight Medication Dispenser (FMD) Technology Development
This slide presentation reviews preliminary results of the program to evaluate Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) packaging materials for pharmaceutical stability. The need for improved packaging is due to possible changes in chemical and/or physical properties of the drugs, which cause reported reduced potency and/or altered bioavailability and decreased efficacy.
Du, B.↗
Fuel containment and damage tolerance in large composite primary aircraft structures
Technical problems related to fuel containment and damage tolerance of composite material wings for transport aircraft was investigated. The major tasks are the following: (1) the preliminary design of damage tolerant wing surface using composite materials; (2) the evaluation of fuel sealing and lightning protection methods for a composite material wing; and (3) an experimental investigation of the damage tolerant characteristics of toughened resin graphite/epoxy materials. The design concepts investigated for the upper and lower surfaces of a composite wing for a transport aircraft are presented and the relationship between weight savings and the design allowable strain used within the analysis is discussed. Experiments which compare the fuel sealing characteristics of bolt-bonded joints and bolted joints sealed with a polysulphide sealant are reviewed. Data from lightning strike tests on stiffened and unstiffened graphite/epoxy panels are presented. A wide variety of coupon tests were conducted to evaluate the relative damage tolerance of toughened resin graphite/epoxies. Data from these tests are presented and their relevance to the wing surface design concepts are discussed.
Griffin, C. F.↗
Evaluating cascaded and tunable phase change materials for enhanced thermal energy storage utilization and effectiveness in building envelopes
The incorporation of phase change materials (PCMs) in envelope is considered an effective thermal energy storage (TES) method for energy savings and load flexibility in buildings. However, an important limitation of PCMs is their fixed and narrow transition temperature range. Because the interior temperature setpoints are typically different in summer versus winter, and the exterior temperature varies substantially above and below the setpoints during the year, PCMs with a fixed transition temperature are utilized only during part of the year. In this paper, we provide an extensive numerical analysis of the performance of a lightweight building envelope containing three different types of PCMs: traditional single-layer PCM with a fixed transition temperature, novel cascaded two-layer PCM with different transition temperatures, and a "futuristic" tunable PCM whose transition temperature can be varied in-situ using external excitation. We compare their performances by evaluating the relationship between the PCM utilization and parameters such as latent heat, transition temperature range, PCM thickness, and PCM location. While traditional PCMs are mostly active during one season, properly designed cascaded and tunable PCMs can be active much longer, thereby allowing load shift and energy savings in both heating and cooling seasons. Under the operating conditions considered in this study, tunable PCMs performed best, providing the highest utilization (about 2 times the traditional PCMs) and enhanced effectiveness (up to 99% peak load reduction in cooling season and 34% peak load reduction in heating season) with the same amount of material as the traditional PCMs; however, cascaded PCMs can be a good alternative while tunable PCMs are unavailable.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
Pulsed Thermal Tomography Nondestructive Examination of Additively Manufactured Reactor Materials (Second Annual Progress Report)
Additive manufacturing (AM) is an emerging method for cost-efficient fabrication of nuclear reactor parts. AM of metallic structures for nuclear energy applications is currently based on laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process, which can introduce internal material flaws, such as pores and anisotropy. Integrity of AM structures needs to be evaluated nondestructively because material flaws could lead to premature failures due to exposure to high temperature, radiation and corrosive environment in a nuclear reactor. Thermal tomography (TT) provides a capability for non-destructive evaluation of sub-surface defects in arbitrary size structures. Thermal tomography is a computational method for heat diffusion-based imaging of solids, which provides 3D visualization of data from flash thermography measurements. We investigate thermal tomography imaging and nondestructive evaluation of stainless steel and nickel super alloy metallic structures produced with laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM) process. Metallic structures produced with LPBF contain defects, and there are limited capabilities to evaluate these structures non-destructively. Thermal tomography reconstruction of 3D apparent spatial effusivity provides information about AM structure geometry and internal material flaws. We study performance of thermal tomography in imaging of metallic structures through COMSOL computer simulations of transient heat transfer, and through reconstruction of data obtained from experimental measurements. Reconstruction of internal defects is investigated using a stainless steel 316L specimen with flat bottom hole (FBH) indentations, and Inconel 718 plate produced with laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) method, which contains imprinted hemispherical shape low density regions containing non-sintered metallic powder. The FBH’s have the same sizes as the imprinted defects in the LPBF specimens, but offer better imaging contrast. Thermal tomography reconstructions provide visualizations of internal defects, and allow for estimation of their sizes and locations. Detection sensitivity of TT is limited by noises. We investigate separation of signal from noise in thermography images using several machine learning (ML) methods, including new spatio-temporal blind source separation (STBSS) and spatio-temporal sparse dictionary learning (STSDL) methods. Performance of the ML methods is benchmarked using thermography data obtained from imaging stainless steel 316L and Inconel 718 specimens produced LPBF method with imprinted calibrated porosity defects. The ML methods are ranked by F-score and execution runtime. Finally, we investigate TT of AM stainless steel 316L specimen with imprinted internal porosity defects using relatively low-cost, small form factor infrared (IR) camera based on uncooled micro bolometer detector. Sparse coding related K-means singular value decomposition (SVD) machine learning, image processing algorithms are developed to improve quality of TT images through removal of Additive white Gaussian noise without blurring the images. Following initial qualification of an AM component for deployment in a nuclear reactor, a compact TT can also be used for in-service nondestructive evaluation (NDE). With capability to perform in-service NDE of the AM component lifecycle, TT data can be used for development of a component digital twin.
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
Development and fabrication of large vented nickel-zinc cells
A preliminary cell design for a 300AH vented nickel-zinc cell was established based on volume requirements and cell component materials selected by NASA Lewis Research Center. A 100AH cell configuration was derived from the 300AH cell design utilizing the same size electrodes, separators, and cell terminal hardware. The first cells fabricated were four groups of three cells each in the 100AH size. These 100AH experimental nickel-zinc cells had as common components the nickel positive electrodes (GFM), flexible inorganic separator (GFM) bags on the negative electrodes, pressed powder zinc oxide electrodes, and cell containers with hardware. The variations introduced were four differing electrolyte absorber (interseparator) systems used to encase the nickel positive electrodes of each cell group. The four groups of 100AH experimental vented nickel-zinc cells were tested to determine, based on cell performance, the best two interseparator systems. Using the two interseparator systems, two groups of experimental 300AH cells were fabricated. Each group of three cells differed only in the interseparator material used. The six cells were filled, formed and tested to evaluate the interseparator materials and investigate the performance characteristics of the 300AH cell configuration and its components.
Donnel, C. P., III↗
Fuel containment and damage tolerance for large composite primary aircraft structures. Phase 1: Testing
Technical problems associated with fuel containment and damage tolerance of composite material wings for transport aircraft were identified. The major tasks are the following: (1) the preliminary design of damage tolerant wing surface using composite materials; (2) the evaluation of fuel sealing and lightning protection methods for a composite material wing; and (3) an experimental investigation of the damage tolerant characteristics of toughened resin graphite/epoxy materials. The test results, the test techniques, and the test data are presented.
Sandifer, J. P.↗
Space resources. Volume 3: Materials
Space Resources addresses the issues of using space resources to support life on the Moon and for exploration of Mars. This volume - Materials - covers a number of technical and policy issues regarding the materials in space (mainly lunar and asteroidal) which can be used to support space operations. In part 1, nature and location of these materials, exploration strategy, evaluation criteria, and the technical means to collect or mine these materials is discussed. A baseline lunar mine and the basics of asteroid mining are presented and critiqued. In part 2, the beneficiation of ores and the extraction of such materials as oxygen, metals, and the makings of concrete are discussed. In part 3, the manufacturing and fabrication of nonterrestrial products are discussed. The economic tradeoffs between bringing needed products from Earth and making these products on location in space is considered.
Mckay, Mary Fae↗
Arc Jet Flow Properties Determined from Laser- Induced Fluorescence of Atomic Species
Flow property measurements that were recently acquired in the Ames Research Center Aerodynamic Heating Facility (AHF) arc jet using two-photon Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF) of atomic nitrogen and oxygen are reported. The measured properties, which include velocity, translational temperature, and species concentration, cover a wide range of facility operation for the 30 cm nozzle. During the tests, the arc jet pressure and input stream composition were maintained at fixed values and the arc current was varied to vary the flow enthalpy. As part of this ongoing effort, a measurement of the two-photon absorption coefficient for the 3p4D(left arrow)2p4S transition of atomic nitrogen was performed, and the measured value is used to convert the relative concentration measurements to absolute values. A flow reactor is used to provide a known temperature line shape profile to deconvolve the laser line width contribution to the translational temperature measurements. Results from the current experiments are compared with previous results obtained using NO-beta line profiles at room temperature and the problem of multimode laser oscillation and its impact on the two-photon excitation line shape are discussed. One figure is attached, and this figure show relative N atom concentration measurements as a function of the arc power. Other measurements have already been acquired and analyzed. The arc jet flow facilities are heavily used in thermal protection material development and evaluation. All hypersonic flight and planetary atmospheric entry vehicles will use materials tested in these arc jet facilities. This poster represents an application of laser-spectroscopic measurements in an important test facility.
Fletcher, Douglas G.↗
Arcjet Flow Properties Determined from Laser-Induced Fluorescence of Atomic Species
Flow property measurements that were recently acquired in the Ames Research Center Aerodynamic Heating Facility (AHF) arc jet using two-photon Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF) of atomic nitrogen and oxygen are reported. The measured properties, which include velocity, translational temperature, and species concentration, cover a wide range of facility operation for the 30 cm nozzle. During the tests, the arc jet pressure and input stream composition were maintained at fixed values and the arc current was varied to vary the flow enthalpy. As part of this ongoing effort, a measurement of the two-photon absorption coefficient for the 3p4D<-2p4S transition of atomic nitrogen was performed, and the measured value is used to convert the relative concentration measurements to absolute values. A flow reactor is used to provide a known temperature line shape profile to deconvolve the laser line width contribution to the translational temperature measurements. Results from the current experiments are compared with previous results obtained using NO-Beta line profiles at room temperature and the problem of multimode laser oscillation and its impact on the two-photon excitation line shape are discussed. One figure is attached, and this figure shows relative N atom concentration measurements as a function of the arc power. Other measurements have already been acquired and analyzed. This poster represents an application of laser-spectroscopic measurements in an important test facility. The arc jet flow facilities are heavily used in thermal protection material development and evaluation. All hypersonic flight and planetary atmospheric entry vehicles will use materials tested in these arc jet facilities.
Fletcher, Douglas G.↗
Process Qualification Concepts in NASA-STD-6030
- Terminology - Definition and role of QMP in the NASA-STD-6030 framework - Qualification checklist for evaluating a candidate AM material process - Types of data needed to evaluate the metrics for a QMP - Advocacy for a singular, contained data entity that enables QMP evaluation and other aspects of the AM ecosystem - Material Engineering Equivalence Baseline - Discussion of Material Engineering Equivalence concepts - Summary
Doug Wells↗
Development of X-43A Mach 10 Leading Edges
The nose leading edge of the Hyper-X Mach 10 vehicle was orginally anticipated to reach temperatures near 4000 F at the leading-edge stagnation line. A SiC coated carbon/carbon (C/C) leading-edge material will not survive that extreme temperature for even a short duration single flight. To identify a suitable leading edge for the Mach 10 vehicle, arc-jet testing was performed on thirteen leading-edge segments fabricated from different material systems to evaluate their performance in a simulated flight environment. Hf, Zr, Si, and Ir based materials, in most cases as a coating on C/C, were included in the evaluation. Afterwards, MER, Tucson, AZ was selected as the supplier of the flight vehicle leading edges. The nose and the vertical and horizontal tail leading edges were fabricated out of a 3:1 biased high thermal conductivity C/C. The leading edges were coated with a three layer coating comprised of a SiC conversion of the top surface of the C/C, followed by a chemical vapor deposited layer of SiC, followed by a thin chemical vapor deposited layer of HfC. This paper will describe the fabrication of the Mach 10 C/C leading edges and the testing performed to validate performance.
Ohlhorst, Craig W.↗
Post-closure Nuclear Criticality Safety Evaluations for Disposition of Criticality Control Overpacks at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is a geological repository in southern New Mexico that provides for disposal of transuranic (TRU) wastes from atomic energy defense activities. The Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) Report, Consideration of Nuclear Criticality When Disposing of Transuranic Waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, addresses nuclear criticality safety based on the projected inventory characteristics for the initial compliance certification application of WIPP in 1996. As the inventory, waste forms, and disposal package designs change, revised or new analyses are necessary to demonstrate acceptability for these configurations within the WIPP safety basis and compliance with 10,000-year post-closure standards of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Saylor and Scaglione evaluated criticality control overpacks (CCOs) in 2017 based on conservative assumptions for post-closure repository structural conditions with resulting effects on containers and container spacing, The Saylor and Scaglione evaluation of CCOs addressed a single waste configuration that represents the Surplus Plutonium Disposition Program’s dilute and dispose waste form and composition. This initial CCO study demonstrated that 50 grams of boron carbide (B 4 C) per CCO is sufficient to ensure post-closure criticality safety based on a well-mixed waste composition, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) subsequently determined that this amount of B 4 C does not require constraints on moisture or plastic present as moderator. The Saylor and Scaglione analysis conservatively assumes repository room closure that eliminates all space between fissile gram equivalent (FGE) 239 Pu masses. The close-packed array was selected based on limited availability of repository salt creep modeling results at that time. In 2019, Brickner provided additional evaluations for pipe overpack containers (POCs), building on the conservative basis provided by Saylor and Scaglione. Brickner’s 2019 analysis made use of new geomechanical data for post-closure spacing that rely on advances in repository modeling as documented in the work by Reedlunn and Bean. This current CCO evaluation for generic waste materials expands on earlier work performed at ORNL and includes evaluation of CCOs across a much broader range of possible waste compositions and geometries. This evaluation is intended to provide input for the required feature, event and process (FEP) screening to determine if post-closure criticality must be included as an event in the 10,000-year regulatory evaluation. As such, the approach to modeling post-closure criticality presented in this report has been coordinated with the Sandia team responsible for FEP screening. The resulting analysis supports disposition of fissile materials in the CCO containing up to 380 FGE 239 Pu and expands conditions acceptable for disposal of fissile material in CCOs. This evaluation builds on the methodology of Saylor and Scaglione and Brickner, using the most recently available geomechanical data for CCO spacing under salt creep compaction scenarios provided by Reedlunn and Bean. The broad range of fissile material configurations analyzed in this report are intended to account for configurations that may occur during the post-closure disposal time period, and it also includes waste configurations that are not physically possible to support analysis of conditions that influence neutron fluence.
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
Characterization of elastomeric materials with application to design
Redesign of the Space Shuttle Solid Booster has necessitated re-evaluation of the material used in the field joint O-ring seals. The viscoelastic characteristics of five candidate materials were determined. The five materials are: two fluorocarbon compounds, two nitrile compounds, and a silicon compound. The materials were tested in a uniaxial compression test to determine the characteristic relaxation functions. These tests were performed at five different temperatures. A master material curve was developed for each material from the experimental data. The results are compared to tensile relaxation tests. Application of these results to the design analysis is discussed in detail.
Bower, Mark V.↗
Ultrasonic Nondestructive Evaluation Techniques Applied to the Quantitative Characterization of Textile Composite Materials
In this Progress Report, we describe our further development of advanced ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation methods applied to the characterization of anisotropic materials. We present images obtained from experimental measurements of ultrasonic diffraction patterns transmitted through water only and transmitted through water and a thin woven composite. All images of diffraction patterns have been included on the accompanying CD-ROM in the JPEG format and Adobe TM Portable Document Format (PDF), in addition to the inclusion of hardcopies of the images contained in this report. In our previous semi-annual Progress Report (NAG 1-1848, December, 1996), we proposed a simple model to simulate the effect of a thin woven composite on an insonifying ultrasonic pressure field. This initial approach provided an avenue to begin development of a robust measurement method for nondestructive evaluation of anisotropic materials. In this Progress Report, we extend that work by performing experimental measurements on a single layer of a five-harness biaxial woven composite to investigate how a thin, yet architecturally complex, material interacts with the insonifying ultrasonic field. In Section 2 of this Progress Report we describe the experimental arrangement and methods for data acquisition of the ultrasonic diffraction patterns upon transmission through a thin woven composite. We also briefly describe the thin composite specimen investigated. Section 3 details the analysis of the experimental data followed by the experimental results in Section 4. Finally, a discussion of the observations and conclusions is found in Section 5.
Miller, James G.↗