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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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Experimental investigations were conducted to determine dielectric properties of promising materials for cryogenic capacitors to be used in energy storage and pulse applications. The three classes of materials investigated were inorganic bonded ferroelectric materials, anodic coatings on metal foils, and polar low temperature liquids.
Solar wind sample collection, describing experiment to determine ion flux capture efficiency for various metal foils
Range transformation of activation curves for metal foils and application to charged particle activation analysis in determining trace elements
Gun has thin metal foil disc which positions or localizes gas to be ionized during electrical discharge cycle, overcoming major limiting factor in obtaining such plasmas. Expanding plasma front travels at 190 km/sec, compared to plasmas of 50 to 60 km/sec previously achieved.
Development and characteristics of thermal radiation shielding of refractory metal foil used for induction furnace
Fabrication of expansion joint, vibration isolator device with sufficient cross sectional area for high thermal conductivity is discussed. Device consists of multiple layers of metal foil which may be designed to meet specific applications. Thermodynamic properties of the device and illustration of construction are provided.
This paper presents the results of a program to evaluate thermal insulations for use under the radiative TPS of a shuttle orbiter vehicle. Evaluations were made for survival under the multimission requirements of shuttle acoustic/vibration loads and thermal profiles. During the first year of the program a total of 1100 specimen-cycles were completed using metal foil packaged refractory fiber insulations.
A reusable thermal protection system concept was developed for the space shuttle that utilizes a flexible, woven ceramic mat insulation beneath an aerodynamic skin and moisture barrier consisting of either a dense ceramic coating or a super alloy metallic foil. The resulting heat shield material has unique structural characteristics. The shear modulus of the woven mat is very low such that bending and membrane loads introduced into the underlying structural panel remain isolated from the surface skin.
Application of the metal foil sampling technique, which has been used to measure helium, neon, and argon fluxes in the solar wind, to the problem of measuring the fluxes of these gases in the auroral primary radiation. Aluminum and platinum foils have been flown into two bright auroras and have been recovered. The foils have been analyzed for helium and neon isotopes with a mass spectrometer; so far only He4 has been detected. In the first flight the precipitating flux of He4 with particle energies above about 1 keV was approximately 1,000,000 per sq cm per sec, and the backscattered flux was smaller by about a factor of 10. In the second flight the aurora was less bright, and the He4 fluxes were lower by a factor of about 2. A rough analysis suggests that the mean energy of the incident particles was greater than 3 keV.
Introduction of metal foil as part of matrix and fiber composite, or ""sandwich'', improves strength and stiffness for multidirectional loading, improves resistance to cyclic loading, and improves impact and erosion resistance of resultant fiber-composite hybrid structure.
The lunar surface cosmic ray experiment, consisting of sets of mica, glass, plastic, and metal foil detectors, was successfully deployed on the Apollo 17 mission. One set of detectors was exposed directly to sunlight and another set was placed in shade. Preliminary scanning of the mica detectors shows the expected registration of heavy solar wind ions in the sample exposed directly to the sun. The initial results indicate a depletion of very-heavy solar wind ions. The effect is probably not real but is caused by scanning inefficiencies. Despite the lack of any pronounced solar activity, energetic heavy particles with energies extending to 1 MeV/nucleon were observed. Equal track densities of approximately 6000 tracks/cm sq 0.5 microns in length were measured in mica samples exposed in both sunlight and shade.
During the Apollo 17 mission a series of metal foils and nuclear track detectors were exposed both in the sun and in the shade on the surface of the moon. Here we give the analysis of the mica detectors which were used to measure the flux of solar wind particles of Fe-group and heavier elements. These particles register as shallow pits after etching in hydrofluoric acid. Calibration experiments were performed to determine the registration properties of different ions and to simulate the lunar environment. We obtain an Fe-group flux of 39,000 per sec per sq cm, which together with the H flux measured on IMP-7 gives an Fe/H ratio of 0.000041. For elements with Z exceeding 45 we can set only an upper limit on the abundance, ruling out an overabundance of extremely heavy elements relative to iron by a factor of 4.
Parts are easily and quickly positioned in welding vacuum chamber with use of inexpensive thin metal-foil plate.
Holographic NDT was used to measure small surface displacements controlled by electric heating by detecting the difference of the interference fringe patterns as viewed through the hologram on a real time basis. A perforated aluminum test plate, with the holes used to position thin metal foils, was used in the experiment. One of the foils was connected to an electric power source and small displacements of the foil were caused and controlled by Ohmic heating. An He-Ne laser was used to perform the holography.
A photometer sensitive in the 584-A line of He I, incorporating a helium-gas absorption cell, has been developed. The helium is confined at a pressure of 0.2 torr between thin-metal-foil broad-band ultraviolet filters. The cell contains sufficient helium to absorb 584-A radiation scattered from atmospheric helium. The ratio of fluxes seen with the cell full and empty provides a valuable datum for fitting models of the local interstellar medium, which is independent of solar 584-A flux, interstellar helium density, and photometer sensitivity.-
An invention which relates to laminate structures and specifically to essentially anisotropic fiber composite laminates is described. Metal foils are selectively disposed within the laminate to produce increased resistance to high velocity impact, fracture, surface erosion, and other stresses within the laminate.
The Mini-Brayton Heat Source Assembly (HSA) consists of a radioisotope fueled heat source, a heat exchanger, a multifoil thermal insulation blanket, and a hermetically sealed housing. The thermal insulation blanket is a multilayer wrap of thin metal foil separated by a sparsely coated oxide. The objectives of the insulation blanket are related to the effective insulation of the HSA during operation, the transfer of the full thermal inventory to the housing when the primary coolant is not flowing, and the transfer of the full thermal inventory to the housing in the event of a flow stoppage of the primary coolant. A description is given of the approaches which have been developed to make it possible for the insulation blanket to meet these requirements.
Results are described for studies designed to develop routine methods for in-situ measurement of the abundance of Th and U on a microscale in heterogeneous samples, especially rocks, using the secondary high-energy neutron flux developed when the 650 MeV proton beam of an accelerator is stopped in a 42 x 42 cm diam Cu cylinder. Irradiations were performed at three different locations in a rabbit tube in the beam stop area, and thick metal foils of Bi, Th, and natural U as well as polished silicate glasses of known U and Th contents were used as targets and were placed in contact with mica which served as a fission track detector. In many cases both bare and Cd-covered detectors were exposed. The exposed mica samples were etched in 48% HF and the fission tracks counted by conventional transmitted light microscopy. Relative fission cross sections are examined, along with absolute Th track production rates, interaction tracks, and a comparison of measured and calculated fission rates. The practicality of fast neutron radiography revealed by experiments to data is discussed primarily for Th/U measurements, and mixtures of other fissionable nuclei are briefly considered.