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X-ray diffraction measurements of residual stresses in SiC/Ti composites

Residual stresses are developed in metal matrix composites during consolidation because of the difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion of the fiber and matrix constituents. X-ray diffraction techniques were used to measure tensile residual stresses in the matrix component of two different titanium alloy composites reinforced with continuous silicon carbide fibers. The titanium alloy matrices were a beta-stabilized alloy Ti-15V-3Al-3Cr-3Sn, and an ordered multiphase (alpha + beta) alloy, Ti-14Al-21Nb. Residual tensile stresses as high as 62 percent of the yield of Ti-15V-3Al-3Cr-3Sn and 70 percent of the yield of Ti-14Al-21Nb were measured in the longitudinal direction on unidirectionally reinforced composites. By measuring residual stresses in four different composite lay-ups, the composite lay-up was determined to have a significant effect on the residual stress state near the surface.

Brown, K. M.↗

Simulated meteorite impacts and volcanic explosions: Ejecta analyses and planetary implications

Past cratering studies have focused primarily on crater morphology. However, important questions remain about the nature of crater deposits. Phenomena that need to be studied include the distribution of shock effects in crater deposits and crater walls; the origin of mono- and polymict breccia; differences between local and distal ejecta; deformation induced by explosive volcanism; and the production of unshocked, high-speed ejecta that could form the lunar and martian meteorites found on the Earth. To study these phenomena, one must characterize ejecta and crater wall materials from impacts produced under controlled conditions. New efforts at LLNL simulate impacts and volcanism and study resultant deformation. All experiments use the two-stage light-gas gun facility at LLNL to accelerate projectiles to velocities of 0.2 to 4.3 km/s, including shock pressures of 0.9 to 50 GPa. We use granite targets and novel experimental geometries to unravel cratering processes in crystalline rocks. We have thus far conducted three types of simulations: soft recovery of ejecta, 'frozen crater' experiments, and an 'artificial volcano. Our ejecta recovery experiments produced a useful separation of impactites. Material originally below the projectile remained trapped there, embedded in the soft metal of the flyer plate. In contrast, material directly adjacent to the projectile was jetted away from the impact, producing an ejecta cone that was trapped in the foam recovery fixture. We find that a significant component of crater ejecta shows no signs of strong shock; this material comes from the near-surface 'interference zone' surrounding the impact site. This phenomenon explains the existence of unshocked meteorites on the Earth of lunar and martian origin. Impact of a large bolide on neighboring planets will produce high-speed, weakly shocked ejecta, which may be trapped by the Earth's gravitational field. 'Frozen crater' experiments show that the interference zone is highly localized; indeed, disaggregation does not extend beyond approx. 1.5 crater radii. A cone-shaped region extending downward from the impact site is completely disaggregated, including powdered rock that escaped into the projectile tube. Petrographic analysis of crater ejecta and wall material will be presented. Finally, study of ejecta from 0.9- and 1.3-GPa simulations of volcanic explosions reveal a complete lack of shock metamorphism. The ejecta shows no evidence of PDF's, amorphization, high-pressure phases, or mosaicism. Instead, all deformation was brittle, with fractures irregular (not planar) and most intergranular. The extent of fracturing was remarkable, with the entire sample reduced to fragments of gravel size and smaller.

Gratz, A. J.↗

Sandia National Laboratories

Sandia National Laboratories has identified technology transfer to U.S. industry as a laboratory mission which complements our national security mission and as a key component of the Laboratory's future. A number of technology transfer mechanisms - such as CRADA's, licenses, work-for-others, and consortia - are identified and specific examples are given. Sandia's experience with the Specialty Metals Processing Consortium is highlighted with a focus on the elements which have made it successful. A brief discussion of Sandia's potential interactions with NASA under the Space Exploration Initiative was included as an example of laboratory-to-NASA technology transfer. Viewgraphs are provided.

Gilliom, Laura R.↗

Population II Li-6 as a probe of nucleosynthesis and stellar structure and evolution

We discuss the importance of Population II Li-6 as a diagnostic for models of primordial nucleosynthesis, cosmic-ray nucleosyntheses in the early Galaxy, and the structure and evolution of metal-poor solar-type stars. The observation of Li-6 in the subdwarf HD 84937 is shown to be consistent with the existing Population II LiBeB data within the context of a simple three-component model: (1) standard big bang nucleosynthesis, (2) Population II cosmic-ray nucleosynthesis, (3) standard (nonrotating) stellar LiBeB depletion. If this interpretation is correct, we predict a potentially detectable boron abundance for this star: about 2 x 10 exp -12. Subsequent Population II LiBeB observations, and in particular further observations of Population II Li-6, are shown to be crucial to our understanding of the primordial and early galactic creation and destruction mechanisms for light elements.

Steigman, Gary↗

An Investigation of Reliability Models for Ceramic Matrix Composites and their Implementation into Finite Element Codes

The development of modeling approaches for the failure analysis of ceramic-based material systems used in high temperature environments was the primary objective of this research effort. These materials have the potential to support many key engineering technologies related to the design of aeropropulsion systems. Monolithic ceramics exhibit a number of useful properties such as retention of strength at high temperatures, chemical inertness, and low density. However, the use of monolithic ceramics has been limited by their inherent brittleness and a large variation in strength. This behavior has motivated material scientists to reinforce the monolithic material with a ceramic fiber. The addition of a second ceramic phase with an optimized interface increases toughness and marginally increases strength. The primary purpose of the fiber is to arrest crack growth, not to increase strength. The material systems of interest in this research effort were laminated ceramic matrix composites, as well as two- and three- dimensional fabric reinforced ceramic composites. These emerging composite systems can compete with metals in many demanding applications. However, the ongoing metamorphosis of ceramic composite material systems, and the lack of standardized design data has in the past tended to minimize research efforts related to structural analysis. Many structural components fabricated from ceramic matrix composites (CMC) have been designed by "trial and error." The justification for this approach lies in the fact that during the initial developmental phases for a material system fabrication issues are paramount. Emphasis is placed on demonstrating feasibility rather than fully understanding the processes controlling mechanical behavior. This is understandable during periods of rapid improvements in material properties for any composite system. But to avoid the ad hoc approach, the analytical methods developed under this effort can be used to develop rational structural design protocols.

Duffy, Stephen F.↗

Coating Development for GRCop-84 Liners for Reusable Launch Vehicles Aided by Modeling Studies

The design of the next generation of reusable launch vehicles calls for using GRCop-84 copper alloy liners based on a composition invented at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Despite its considerable advantage over other copper alloys, it is expected that GRCop-84 will suffer from environmental degradation depending on the type of rocket fuels used and on thermomechanical fatigue. Applying protective coatings on GRCop-84 substrates can minimize or eliminate many of these problems and extend the operational life of the combustion liner. This could increase component reliability, shorten depot maintenance turnaround times, and lower operating costs. Therefore, Glenn is actively pursuing the development of advanced coatings technology for GRCop-84 liners. Technology is being developed in four major areas: (1) new metallic coating compositions, (2) application techniques, (3) test methods, and (4) life prediction design methodology using finite element analysis. The role of finite element analysis in guiding the coating effort is discussed in this report. Thermal analyses were performed at Glenn for different combinations of top- and bondcoat compositions to determine the temperature variation across the coated cross section with the thickness of the top coat. These calculations were conducted for simulated LH2/LO2 booster engine conditions assuming that the bond coat had a constant thickness of 50 m. The preceding graphs show the predicted temperatures at the outer surface of the top coat (hot wall), at the top-coat/bond-coat interface, at the bond-coat/GRCop-84 interface, and at the GRCop-84 cold wall as a function of top-coat thickness for Cu- 26(wt%)Cr top coat (top graph), Ni-17(wt%)Cr-6%Al-0.5%Y top coat and Cu-26%Cr bond coat, and NiAl top coat and Ni bond coat. In all cases, the temperature of the top coat at the hot wall increased with increasing top-coat thickness and with corresponding decreases in the temperatures at the two interfaces and the cold wall. These temperatures are not acutely sensitive to the thermal conductivity of the top coat when it exceeds 25 and 50 W/m/K for low and high heat flux engines. This observation is significant for two reasons. First, several different top-coat compositions can be evaluated as potential protective coatings without loss in the heat-transfer efficiency of the coated system. Second, materials with thermal conductivities less than the critical values of 25 or 50 W/m/K are more likely to act as thermal barrier coatings. The deposition of overlay coatings on GRCop-84 substrates results in the development of residual stresses. The presence of these residual stresses influences the probability of coating spallation, the thermal cycling life, and the fatigue properties of the coated substrate during use. Since it is important to understand how these stresses develop during the vacuum-plasma-spraying coating deposition process, the nature and magnitudes of the cool-down residual stresses were calculated and compared with experimentally determined values across the coated cross section of a disk specimen. The calculations were conducted assuming that the specimen cools down to room temperature from vacuum plasma-spraying temperatures of either 250 or 650 C. The effects of coating the substrate with and without grit blasting were also theoretically examined. The final graph compares the predicted and the experimental results for a GRCop-84 disk coated with about a 50- m-thick Ni bond coat and a 75- to 100- m NiAl top coat, where the curves for NASA-2 assume the presence of a prior residual stress generated by grit blasting under conditions similar to the experimental situation. The predicted cool-down in-plane stresses were compressive in both the NiAl top coat and the Ni bond coat. They were also compressive in the substrate to a depth of about 0.25 mm from the Ni/GRCop-84 interface when the vacuum-plasma-spraying temperature was low. However, using a higher plasma spraying temperaturs likely to leave the substrate under a small tensile stress to counter the compressive stresses in the bond and top coats because of the relaxation of residual stresses generated in the substrate during the grit blasting of its surface prior to spraying. These results suggest that the NiAl and Ni coatings are unlikely to spall after spraying as confirmed by the microstructural observations shown in the following photomicrograph of an as-sprayed specimen. Finally, it is noted that the calculated and experimental results are not in complete agreement, which indicates that both the experimental and modeling techniques need further refinement.

Raj, Sai V.↗

Alumina or Semiconductor Ribbon Waveguides at 30 to 1,000 GHz

Ribbon waveguides made of alumina or of semiconductors (Si, InP, or GaAs) have been proposed as low-loss transmission lines for coupling electronic components and circuits that operate at frequencies from 30 to 1,000 GHz. In addition to low losses (and a concomitant ability to withstand power levels higher than would otherwise be possible), the proposed ribbon waveguides would offer the advantage of compatibility with the materials and structures now commonly incorporated into integrated circuits. Heretofore, low-loss transmission lines for this frequency range have been unknown, making it necessary to resort to designs that, variously, place circuits and components to be coupled in proximity of each other and/or provide for coupling via free space through bulky and often lossy optical elements. Even chip-to-chip interconnections have been problematic in this frequency range. Metal wave-guiding structures (e.g., microstriplines and traditional waveguides) are not suitable for this frequency range because the skin depths of electromagnetic waves in this frequency range are so small as to give rise to high losses. Conventional rod-type dielectric waveguide structures are also not suitable for this frequency range because dielectric materials, including ones that exhibit ultralow losses at lower frequencies, exhibit significant losses in this frequency range. Unlike microstripline structures or metallic waveguides, the proposed ribbon waveguides would be free of metal and would therefore not be subject to skin-depth losses. Moreover, although they would be made of materials that are moderately lossy in the frequency range of interest, the proposed ribbon waveguides would cause the propagating electromagnetic waves to configure themselves in a manner that minimizes losses.

Yeh, Cavour↗

Design of a Mechanical NaK Pump for Fission Space Power Systems

Alkali liquid metal cooled fission reactor concepts are under development for mid-range spaceflight power requirements. One such concept utilizes a sodium-potassium eutectic (NaK) as the primary loop working fluid. Traditionally, linear induction pumps have been used to provide the required flow and head conditions for liquid metal systems but can be limited in performance. This paper details the design, build, and check-out test of a mechanical NaK pump. The pump was designed to meet reactor cooling requirements using commercially available components modified for high temperature NaK service.

Mireles, Omar R.↗

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: ACT-CL J0102-4215 "El Gordo," a Massive Merging Cluster at Redshift 0.87

We present a detailed analysis from new multi-wavelength observations of the exceptional galaxy cluster ACT-CL J0102-4915, likely the most massive, hottest, most X-ray luminous and brightest Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect cluster known at redshifts greater than 0.6. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) collaboration discovered ACT-CL J0102-4915 as the most significant Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) decrement in a sky survey area of 755 square degrees. Our VLT/FORS2 spectra of 89 member galaxies yield a cluster redshift, z = 0.870, and velocity dispersion, sigma(gal) +/- 1321 106 km s-1. Our Chandra observations reveal a hot and X-ray luminous system with an integrated temperature of T(X) = 14:5 +/- 0:1 keV and 0.5 2.0 keV band luminosity of L(X) = (2:19 0:11) 1045 h(exp -2)70erg s-1. We obtain several statistically consistent cluster mass estimates; using empirical mass scaling relations with velocity dispersion, X-ray Y(X) , and integrated SZ distortion, we estimate a cluster mass of M(200) = (2:16 +/- 0:32) 10(exp 15) h(exp-1) 70M compared to the Sun. We constrain the stellar content of the cluster to be less than 1% of the total mass, using Spitzer IRAC and optical imaging. The Chandra and VLT/FORS2 optical data also reveal that ACT-CL J0102-4915 is undergoing a major merger between components with a mass ratio of approximately 2 to 1. The X-ray data show significant temperature variations from a low of 6:6 +/- 0:7 keV at the merging low-entropy, high-metallicity, cool core to a high of 22 +/- 6 keV. We also see a wake in the X-ray surface brightness and deprojected gas density caused by the passage of one cluster through the other from which we estimate a merger speed of around 1300 km s(exp -1) for an assumed merger timescale of 1 Gyr. ACTCL J0102-4915 is possibly a high-redshift analog of the famous Bullet Cluster. Such a massive cluster at this redshift is rare, although consistent with the standard CDM cosmology in the lower part of its allowed mass range. Massive, high-redshift mergers like ACT-CL J0102-4915 are unlikely to be reproduced in the current generation of numerical N-body cosmological simulations.

Menanteau, Felipe↗

Overview of MSFC Additive Electronics Capabilities

Focus: Marshall seeks to support the Agency in the development of next generation printed electronics technologies for living and working in space, with emphasis on enhanced electronics manufacturing processes and capabilities development on the ground and in-space. Near-Term: Human Habitation Elements and Life Support Systems - pursuing integrated flexible wearable air, water, vital monitoring solutions for next generation printed technologies; Complete startup printing technology demonstrations which prove basic processes and establish ISM (In-Space Manufacturing) infrastructure needed for future applications including metals based manufacturing. Medium Term: Target low-cost research and demonstration activities that support multi-material additive manufacturing, more sophisticated parts production, printed electronics and ISM; Maturation and flight demonstration of printed propulsion system components, with emphasis on infusion into small-spacecraft-based missions. Long-Term: Evolve systems capabilities to be supportive of destination (lunar or Mars) resources and requirements, increase autonomy in systems and utilize in-situ resources towards manufacturing; Support development of self-replicable systems and their infusion into future spacecraft and missions.

MacLeod, Todd C.↗

Design of a Microgravity Hybrid Inflatable Airlock

Spacewalks, or extra-vehicular activities (EVAs), are a critical component of human space exploration for science activities and habitat construction and maintenance. For NASA's proposed lunar Gateway system, an airlock module is required for vehicle maintenance, repair, and exploration. Traditional airlock structures are fully metallic, with two chambers, known as an equipment lock and a crew lock. The larger volume, called the equipment lock, serves as the storage, logistics and electronics area, while the smaller volume, called the crew lock, serves as the volume to transition from the vacuum of space to the pressurized cabin. A traditional metallic structure design offers mass efficiency for these elements, but cannot offer volume efficiency. The potential to use an inflatable fabric pressure shell supplemented by a metallic support structure allows for efficiency in both mass and volume. Inflatable structures are being used for human habitable space modules, starting with the Bigelow Expandable Activities Module on the International Space Station. They are high-strength fabric-based structures that are compactly stowed for launch and then, once in space, they are expanded and rigidized with internal pressure. They provide significant launch volume savings over metallic structures. For Gateway, a hybrid airlock design is proposed with both metallic and inflatable structural elements, taking advantage of each material's capabilities. A metallic equipment lock serves as both a docking node and provides pressurized volume for pre-EVA activities including pre-breathe and suit donning/doffing. A rigid equipment lock offers stowage space during launch for integrated hardware and suits. Adding an integrated inflatable crew lock provides the volume required for EVAs with minimal use of launch volume. Using dual inflatable crew locks provides redundancy and the capability to move large pieces of equipment into and out of the vehicle for repair and maintenance. The inflatable crew lock is deflated and packaged in the launch shroud and expanded after installation on the Gateway. This packing capability allows additional volume to be added to the equipment lock and fully utilize the capability of the launch vehicle. This report outlines the work completed to design, analyze, and test the systems of a microgravity airlock with inflatable crew locks. In detail, it includes launch vehicles, structural sizing of the metallic equipment lock, the fabric layers of the inflatable crew lock, the internal structure of the crew lock, the space suit interface elements, the crew restraint system, the hatches and pass-throughs, the material and thermal elements, and the crew operations for the usage of the system. This paper is meant to offer a reference design for a hybrid microgravity airlock design for deep space human exploration.

Litteken, Douglas↗

Design of a Microgravity Hybrid Inflatable Airlock

Spacewalks, or extra-vehicular activities (EVAs), are a critical component of human space exploration for science activities and habitat construction and maintenance. For NASA's proposed lunar Gateway system, an airlock module is required for vehicle maintenance, repair, and exploration. Traditional airlock structures are fully metallic, with two chambers, known as an equipment lock and a crew lock. The larger volume, called the equipment lock, serves as the storage, logistics and electronics area, while the smaller volume, called the crew lock, serves as the volume to transition from the vacuum of space to the pressurized cabin. A traditional metallic structure design offers mass efficiency for these elements, but cannot offer volume efficiency. The potential to use an inflatable fabric pressure shell supplemented by a metallic support structure allows for efficiency in both mass and volume. Inflatable structures are being used for human habitable space modules, starting with the Bigelow Expandable Activities Module on the International Space Station. They are high-strength fabric-based structures that are compactly stowed for launch and then, once in space, they are expanded and rigidized with internal pressure. They provide significant launch volume savings over metallic structures. For Gateway, a hybrid airlock design is proposed with both metallic and inflatable structural elements, taking advantage of each material's capabilities. A metallic equipment lock serves as both a docking node and provides pressurized volume for pre-EVA activities including pre-breathe and suit donning/doffing. A rigid equipment lock offers stowage space during launch for integrated hardware and suits. Adding an integrated inflatable crew lock provides the volume required for EVAs with minimal use of launch volume. Using dual inflatable crew locks provides redundancy and the capability to move large pieces of equipment into and out of the vehicle for repair and maintenance. The inflatable crew lock is deflated and packaged in the launch shroud and expanded after installation on the Gateway. This packing capability allows additional volume to be added to the equipment lock and fully utilize the capability of the launch vehicle. This report outlines the work completed to design, analyze, and test the systems of a microgravity airlock with inflatable crew locks. In detail, it includes launch vehicles, structural sizing of the metallic equipment lock, the fabric layers of the inflatable crew lock, the internal structure of the crew lock, the space suit interface elements, the crew restraint system, the hatches and pass-throughs, the material and thermal elements, and the crew operations for the usage of the system. This paper is meant to offer a reference design for a hybrid microgravity airlock design for deep space human exploration.

Litteken, Douglas↗

Environment enhanced fatigue crack propagation in metals: Inputs to fracture mechanics life prediction models

This report is a critical review of both environment-enhanced fatigue crack propagation data and the predictive capabilities of crack growth rate models. This information provides the necessary foundation for incorporating environmental effects in NASA FLAGRO and will better enable predictions of aerospace component fatigue lives. The review presents extensive literature data on 'stress corrosion cracking and corrosion fatigue.' The linear elastic fracture mechanics approach, based on stress intensity range (Delta(K)) similitude with microscopic crack propagation threshold and growth rates, provides a basis for these data. Results are presented showing enhanced growth rates for gases (viz., H2 and H2O) and electrolytes (e.g. NaCl and H2O) in aerospace alloys including: C-Mn and heat treated alloy steels, aluminum alloys, nickel-based superalloys, and titanium alloys. Environment causes purely time-dependent accelerated fatigue crack growth above the monotonic load cracking threshold (KIEAC) and promotes cycle-time dependent cracking below (KIEAC). These phenomenon are discussed in terms of hydrogen embrittlement, dissolution, and film rupture crack tip damage mechanisms.

Gangloff, Richard P.↗

Solar Ion Sputter Deposition in the Lunar Regolith: Experimental Simulation Using Focused-Ion Beam Techniques

As regions of the lunar regolith undergo space weathering, their component grains develop compositionally and microstructurally complex outer coatings or "rims" ranging in thickness from a few 10 s to a few 100's of nm. Rims on grains in the finest size fractions (e.g., <20 m) of mature lunar regoliths contain optically-active concentrations of nm size metallic Fe spherules, or "nanophase Fe(sup o)" that redden and attenuate optical reflectance spectral features important in lunar remote sensing. Understanding the mechanisms for rim formation is therefore a key part of connecting the drivers of mineralogical and chemical changes in the lunar regolith with how lunar terrains are observed to become space weathered from a remotely-sensed point of view. As interpreted based on analytical transmission electron microscope (TEM) studies, rims are produced from varying relative contributions from: 1) direct solar ion irradiation effects that amorphize or otherwise modify the outer surface of the original host grain, and 2) nanoscale, layer-like, deposition of extrinsic material processed from the surrounding soil. This extrinsic/deposited material is the dominant physical host for nanophase Fe(sup o) in the rims. An important lingering uncertainty is whether this deposited material condensed from regolith components locally vaporized in micrometeorite or larger impacts, or whether it formed as solar wind ions sputtered exposed soil and re-deposited the sputtered ions on less exposed areas. Deciding which of these mechanisms is dominant, or possibility exclusive, has been hampered because there is an insufficient library of chemical and microstructural "fingerprints" to distinguish deposits produced by the two processes. Experimental sputter deposition / characterization studies relevant to rim formation have particularly lagged since the early post-Apollo experiments of Hapke and others, especially with regard to application of TEM-based characterization techniques. Here we report on a novel design for simulating solar ion sputter deposition in the lunar regolith, with characterization of the resulting sputter deposits by an array of advanced analytical TEM techniques.

Christoffersen, R.↗

Stationary state model for normal metal tunnel junction phenomena

A model applicable to normal metal tunnel junctions is presented. This model, referred to herein as the stationary state model, is an extension of the extended basis function theory of Kleinman and Duke (1972). Under the assumption that elastic tunneling is the dominant transport mechanism under static bias, the theory has been extended to include the case where there is an ac component of bias potential, and the fluctuation spectrum has been derived. In this approach structure eigenstates are used as the basis, allowing observables to be evaluated without recourse to the perturbation theory inherent in the transfer Hamiltonian model. Comparison is made to the appropriate results of the first order transfer Hamiltonian model, and it is found that there is close but not always exact agreement to lowest order in the tunneling exponential. The stationary state model should be accurate with large barrier transmission, as it includes all orders of the tunneling exponential. The model as presented here should be applicable to normal metal tunnel junctions, where elastic tunneling is the dominant transport mechanism (under static bias), up to infrared excitation frequencies.

Whiteley, S. R.↗

High-Pressure Synthesis of Metal-Ceramic Nano-Composites

The major problems in fabrication of nano-crystal line materials form nano-powders are: (1), coarsening of the initial nano-size grains, (2), insufficient densification (high concentration of pores), and, (3), conversion of diamond into graphite (for diamond-based ceramics). We have developed a novel technique of the synthesis of nano-composite materials applying very high (up to about 10 GPa) pressures. In this technique, one component is pre-compacted and placed next to another having a lower melting point temperature. The whole sample is pressed and the temperature raised above the melting point of the second component, what results in the melt getting pressed into the (nano-size) pores of the compact. Upon subsequent crystallization the melt forms the second nanophase. The process is fast, on the order of seconds, and the temperatures are relatively low what prevents, or at least significantly reduces coarsening of the starting nanophase grains. Also, conversion of diamond into graphite can be prevented. The technique allows for control of the final product properties through a proper selection of (1) the initial compact density and grain size, (2) chemical composition of the source, and (3) the temperature and pressure of the process. The application of the technique to the synthesis of SiC and diamond with Si, Ge, and different metals. Results of the in-situ investigation of the synthesis process by synchrotron X-ray diffraction technique will be presented.

Gierlotka, S.↗

Lamb Wave Response of Fatigued Composite Samples

Composite materials are being more widely used today by aerospace, automotive, sports equipment, and a number of other commercial industries because of their advantages over conventional metals. Composites have a high strength-to-weight ratio and can be constructed to meet specific design needs. Composite structures are already in use in secondary parts of the Douglas MD-11 and are planned to be used in the new MD-12X. Plans also exist for their use in primary and secondary structures on the Boeing 777. Douglas proposed MD-XX may also incorporate composite materials into primary structures such as the wings and tail. Use of composites in these structures offers weight savings, corrosion resistance, and improved aerodynamics. Additionally, composites have been used to repair cracks in many B-1Bs where traditional repair techniques were not very effective. Plans have also been made to reinforce all of the remaining B-1s with composite materials. Verification of the structural integrity of composite components is needed to insure safe operation of these aerospace vehicles. One aspect of the use of these composites is their response to fatigue. To track this progression of fatigue in aerospace structures, a convenient method to nondestructively monitor this damage needs to be developed. Traditional NDE techniques used on metals are not easily adaptable to composites due to the inhomogeneous and anisotropic nature of these materials. Finding an effective means of nondestructively monitoring fatigue damage is extremely important to the safety and reliability of such structures. Lamb waves offer one method of evaluating these composite materials. As a material is fatigued, the modulus degrades. Since the Lamb wave velocity can be related to the modulus of the material, an effective tool can be developed to monitor fatigue damage in composites by measuring the velocity of these waves. In this work, preliminary studies have been conducted which monitor fatigue damage in composite samples using strain gage measurements as well as Lamb wave velocity measurements. A description of the test samples is followed by the results of two different measurements of Lamb wave velocity. The first technique is a contact measurement done at a single frequency, while the second involves an immersion study of Lamb waves in which dispersion curves are obtained. The results of the Lamb wave monitoring of fatigue damage is compared to the damage progression measured by strain gages. The final section discusses the results and conclusions.

Seale, Michael↗

IUE observations of blue halo high luminosity stars

Two high luminosity population II blue stars of high galactic latitude, BD+33 deg 2642 and HD 137569 were observed at high resolution. The stellar spectra show the effect of mass loss in BD+33 deg 2642 and abnormally weak metallic lines in HD 137569. The interstellar lines in the direction of BD+33 deg 2642, which lies at a height z greater than or equal to 6.2 kpc from the galactic plane, are split into two components. No high ionization stages are found at the low velocity component; nor can they be detected in the higher velocity clouds because of mixing with the corresponding stellar/circumstellar lines.

Hack, M.↗