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At least 19 records

Parylene C as a Sacrificial Material for Microfabrication

Parylene C has been investigated for use as a sacrificial material in microfabrication. Although Parylene C cannot be patterned lithographically like photoresists, it nevertheless extends the range of processing options by offering a set of properties that are suitable for microfabrication and are complementary to those of photoresists. The compatibility of Parylene C with several microfabrication processes was demonstrated in experiments in which a thin film of Parylene C was deposited on a silicon wafer, then several thin metal films were deposited and successfully patterned, utilizing the Parylene C pads as a sacrificial layer. The term "parylene" -- a contraction of "poly(para-xylene)" -- denotes a family of vapor-deposited polymers. In Parylene C (the most common form of parylene), a chlorine atom is substituted for one of the hydrogen atoms on the benzene ring of each para-xylene moiety. Heretofore, parylenes have been used as conformal coating materials in diverse applications.

Beamesderfer, Michael

Ceramic Foams from Pre-Ceramic Polymer Routes for Reusable Acreage Thermal Protection System Applications

Contents include the following: Motivation. Current light weight insulation. Advantages of preceramic-polymer-derived ceramic foams. Rigid insulation materials. Tailor foam microstructures. Experimental approach. Results: sacrificial materials, sacrificial fillers. Comparison of foam microstructures. Density of ceramic foams. Phase evolution and properties: oxidation behavior. mechanical properties, aerothermal performance. Impact damage of microcellular foams. Conclusions.

Stackpoole, Mairead

Process for preparing liquid metal electrical contact device

The parts of an electrical contact device are treated by sputter etching to remove the parent metal oxide. Prior to exposure of the electrodes to any oxygen, a sacrificial metal is sputter deposited on the parts. Preferably this sacrificial metal is one that oxidizes slowly and is readily dissolved by the liquid metal. The sacrificial metal may then be removed from unwanted areas. The remainder of the ring and the probe to be wet by the liquid metal are submerged in the liquid metal or the liquid metal is flushed over these areas, preferably while they are being slightly abraded, unitl all the sacrificial material on these portions is wet by the liquid metal. In doing so the liquid metal dissolves the sacrificial metal and permanently wets the parent metal. Preferred materials used in the process and for the electrodes of electrical contact devices are high purity (99.0%) nickel or AISI type 304 stainless steel for the electrical contact devices, gallium as the liquid metal, and gold as the sacrificial material.

Lovell, R. R.

Acoustic Liner for Turbomachinery Applications

The purpose of this innovation is to reduce aircraft noise in the communities surrounding airports by significantly attenuating the noise generated by the turbomachinery, and enhancing safety by providing a containment barrier for a blade failure. Acoustic liners are used in today's turbofan engines to reduce noise. The amount of noise reduction from an acoustic liner is a function of the treatment area, the liner design, and the material properties, and limited by the constraints of the nacelle or casement design. It is desirable to increase the effective area of the acoustic treatment to increase noise suppression. Modern turbofan engines use wide-chord rotor blades, which means there is considerable treatment area available over the rotor tip. Turbofan engines require containment over the rotors for protection from blade failure. Traditional methods use a material wrap such as Kevlar integrated with rub strips and sometimes metal layers (sandwiches). It is possible to substitute the soft rub-strip material with an open-cell metallic foam that provides noise-reduction benefits and a sacrificial material in the first layer of the containment system. An open-cell foam was evaluated that behaves like a bulk acoustic liner, serves as a tip rub strip, and can be integrated with a rotor containment system. Foams can be integrated with the fan-containment system to provide sufficient safety margins and increased noise attenuation. The major innovation is the integration of the foam with the containment.

Huff, Dennis L.

NASA Tech Briefs, June 2005

Topics covered include: Apparatus Characterizes Transient Voltages in Real Time; Measuring Humidity in Sealed Glass Encasements; Adaptable System for Vehicle Health and Usage Monitoring; Miniature Focusing Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer; Cryogenic High-Sensitivity Magnetometer; Wheel Electrometer System; Carbon-Nanotube Conductive Layers for Thin-Film Solar Cells; Patch Antenna Fed via Unequal-Crossed-Arm Aperture; LC Circuits for Diagnosing Embedded Piezoelectric Devices; Nanowire Thermoelectric Devices; Code for Analyzing and Designing Spacecraft Power System Radiators; Decision Support for Emergency Operations Centers; NASA Records Database; Real-Time Principal- Component Analysis; Fuzzy/Neural Software Estimates Costs of Rocket- Engine Tests; Multicomponent, Rare-Earth-Doped Thermal-Barrier Coatings; Reactive Additives for Phenylethynyl-Containing Resins; Improved Gear Shapes for Face Worm Gear Drives; Alternative Way of Shifting Mass to Move a Spherical Robot; Parylene C as a Sacrificial Material for Microfabrication; In Situ Electrochemical Deposition of Microscopic Wires; Improved Method of Manufacturing SiC Devices; Microwave Treatment of Prostate Cancer and Hyperplasia; Ferroelectric Devices Emit Charged Particles and Radiation; Dusty-Plasma Particle Accelerator; Frozen-Plug Technique for Liquid-Oxygen Plumbing; Shock Waves in a Bose-Einstein Condensate; Progress on a Multichannel, Dual-Mixer Stability Analyzer; Development of Carbon- Nanotube/Polymer Composites; Thermal Imaging of Earth for Accurate Pointing of Deep-Space Antennas; Modifications of a Composite-Material Combustion Chamber; Modeling and Diagnostic Software for Liquefying- Fuel Rockets; and Spacecraft Antenna Clusters for High EIRP.

Source record

Improved Method of Manufacturing SiC Devices

The phrase, "common-layered architecture for semiconductor silicon carbide" ("CLASSiC") denotes a method of batch fabrication of microelectromechanical and semiconductor devices from bulk silicon carbide. CLASSiC is the latest in a series of related methods developed in recent years in continuing efforts to standardize SiC-fabrication processes. CLASSiC encompasses both institutional and technological innovations that can be exploited separately or in combination to make the manufacture of SiC devices more economical. Examples of such devices are piezoresistive pressure sensors, strain gauges, vibration sensors, and turbulence-intensity sensors for use in harsh environments (e.g., high-temperature, high-pressure, corrosive atmospheres). The institutional innovation is to manufacture devices for different customers (individuals, companies, and/or other entities) simultaneously in the same batch. This innovation is based on utilization of the capability for fabrication, on the same substrate, of multiple SiC devices having different functionalities (see figure). Multiple customers can purchase shares of the area on the same substrate, each customer s share being apportioned according to the customer s production-volume requirement. This makes it possible for multiple customers to share costs in a common foundry, so that the capital equipment cost per customer in the inherently low-volume SiC-product market can be reduced significantly. One of the technological innovations is a five-mask process that is based on an established set of process design rules. The rules provide for standardization of the fabrication process, yet are flexible enough to enable multiple customers to lay out masks for their portions of the SiC substrate to provide for simultaneous batch fabrication of their various devices. In a related prior method, denoted multi-user fabrication in silicon carbide (MUSiC), the fabrication process is based largely on surface micromachining of poly SiC. However, in MUSiC one cannot exploit the superior sensing, thermomechanical, and electrical properties of single-crystal 6H-SiC or 4H-SiC. As a complement to MUSiC, the CLASSiC five-mask process can be utilized to fabricate multiple devices in bulk single-crystal SiC of any polytype. The five-mask process makes fabrication less complex because it eliminates the need for large-area deposition and removal of sacrificial material. Other innovations in CLASSiC pertain to selective etching of indium tin oxide and aluminum in connection with multilayer metallization. One major characteristic of bulk micromachined microelectromechanical devices is the presence of three-dimensional (3D) structures. Any 3D recesses that already exist at a given step in a fabrication process usually make it difficult to apply a planar coat of photoresist for metallization and other subsequent process steps. To overcome this difficulty, the CLASSiC process includes a reversal of part of the conventional flow: Metallization is performed before the recesses are etched.

Okojie, Robert S.

Marshall Convergent Spray Formulation Improvement for High Temperatures

The Marshall Convergent Coating-1 (MCC-1) formulation was produced in the 1990s, and uses a standard bisphenol A epoxy resin system with a triamine accelerator. With the increasing heat rates forecast for the next generation of vehicles, higher-temperature sprayable coatings are needed. This work substitutes the low-temperature epoxy resins used in the MCC-1 coating with epoxy phenolic, epoxy novalac, or resorcinolinic resins (higher carbon content), which will produce a higher char yield upon exposure to high heat and increased glass transition temperature. High-temperature filler materials, such as granular cork and glass ecospheres, are also incorporated as part of the convergent spray process, but other sacrificial (ablative) materials are possible. In addition, the use of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) nanoparticle hybrids will increase both reinforcement aspects and contribute to creating a tougher silacious char, which will reduce recession at higher heat rates. Use of expanding epoxy resin (lightweight MCC) systems are also useful in that they reduce system weight, have greater insulative properties, and a decrease in application times can be realized.

Scarpa, Jack

Standardization of the carbon-phenolic materials and processes. Vol. 1: Experimental studies

Carbon-phenolic composite materials are used as ablative material in the solid rocket motor nozzle of the Space Shuttle. The nozzle is lined with carbon cloth-phenolic resin composites. The nominal effects of the completely consumed solid propellant on the carbon-phenolic material are given. The extreme heat and erosion of the burning propellant are controlled by the carbon-phenolic composite by ablation, the heat and mass transfer process in which a large amount of heat is absorbed by sacrificially removing material from the nozzle surface. Phenolic materials ablate with the initial formation of a char. The depth of the char is a function of the heat conduction coefficient of the composite. The char layer is a very poor heat conductor so it protects the underlying phenolic composite from the high heat of the burning propellant. The nozzle component ablative liners (carbon cloth-phenolic composites) are tape wrapped, hydroclave and/or autoclave cured, machined, and assembled. The tape consists of a prepreg broadcloth. The materials flow sheet for the nozzle ablative liners is shown. The prepreg is a three component system: phenolic resin, carbon cloth, and carbon filler. This is Volume 1 of two, Experimental Studies.

Hall, William B.

Liquid Coatings for Reducing Corrosion of Steel in Concrete

Inorganic coating materials are being developed to slow or stop corrosion of reinforcing steel members inside concrete structures. It is much simpler and easier to use these coating materials than it is to use conventional corrosion-inhibiting systems based on impressed electric currents. Unlike impressed electrical corrosion-inhibiting systems, these coatings do not require continuous consumption of electrical power and maintenance of power-supply equipment. Whereas some conventional systems involve the use of expensive arc-spray equipment to apply the metallic zinc used as the sacrificial anode material, the developmental coatings can be applied by use of ordinary paint sprayers. A coating material of the type under development is formulated as a liquid containing blended metallic particles and/or moisture-attracting compounds. The liquid mixture is sprayed onto a concrete structure. Experiments have shown that even though such a coat resides on the exterior surface, it generates a protective galvanic current that flows to the interior reinforcing steel members. By effectively transferring the corrosion process from the steel reinforcement to the exterior coating, the protective current slows or stops corrosion of the embedded steel. Specific formulations have been found to meet depolarization criteria of the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) for complete protection of steel reinforcing bars ("rebar") embedded in concrete.

MacDowell, Louis G.

Etching method for photoresists or polymers

A method for etching or removing polymers, photoresists, and organic contaminants from a substrate is disclosed. The method includes creating a more reactive gas species by producing a plasma discharge in a reactive gas such as oxygen and contacting the resulting gas species with a sacrificial solid organic material such as polyethylene or polyvinyl fluoride, reproducing a highly reactive gas species, which in turn etches the starting polymer, organic contaminant, or photoresist. The sample to be etched is located away from the plasma glow discharge region so as to avoid damaging the substrate by exposure to high energy particles and electric fields encountered in that region. Greatly increased etching rates are obtained. This method is highly effective for etching polymers such as polyimides and photoresists that are otherwise difficult or slow to etch downstream from an electric discharge in a reactive gas.

Lerner, Narcinda R.

Preferentially etched epitaxial liftoff of InP material

The present invention is directed toward a method of removing epitaxial substrates from host substrates. A sacrificial release layer of ternary material is placed on the substrate. A layer of InP is then placed on the ternary material. Afterward a layer of wax is applied to the InP layer to apply compressive force and an etchant material is used to remove the sacrificial release layer.

Bailey, Sheila G.

Preferentially Etched Epitaxial Liftoff of InP Material

The present invention is directed toward a method of removing epitaxial substrates from host substrates. A sacrificial release layer of ternary material is placed on the substrate. A layer of InP is then placed on the ternary material. Afterward a layer of wax is applied to the InP layer to apply compressive force and an etchant material is used to remove the sacrificial release layer.

Bailey, Sheila G.

Turbomachinery Clearance Control

Controlling interface clearances is the most cost effective method of enhancing turbomachinery performance. Seals control turbomachinery leakages, coolant flows and contribute to overall system rotordynamic stability. In many instances, sealing interfaces and coatings are sacrificial, like lubricants, giving up their integrity for the benefit of the component. They are subjected to abrasion, erosion, oxidation, incursive rubs, foreign object damage (FOD) and deposits as well as extremes in thermal, mechanical, aerodynamic and impact loadings. Tribological pairing of materials control how well and how long these interfaces will be effective in controlling flow. A variety of seal types and materials are required to satisfy turbomachinery sealing demands. These seals must be properly designed to maintain the interface clearances. In some cases, this will mean machining adjacent surfaces, yet in many other applications, coatings are employed for optimum performance. Many seals are coating composites fabricated on superstructures or substrates that are coated with sacrificial materials which can be refurbished either in situ or by removal, stripping, recoating and replacing until substrate life is exceeded. For blade and knife tip sealing an important class of materials known as abradables permit blade or knife rubbing without significant damage or wear to the rotating element while maintaining an effective sealing interface. Most such tip interfaces are passive, yet some, as for the high-pressure turbine (HPT) case or shroud, are actively controlled. This work presents an overview of turbomachinery sealing. Areas covered include: characteristics of gas and steam turbine sealing applications and environments, benefits of sealing, types of standard static and dynamics seals, advanced seal designs, as well as life and limitations issues.

Chupp, Raymond E.

Multi-shock assembly for protecting a spacecraft surface from hypervelocity impactors

A hypervelocity impact shield assembly for protecting a spacecraft surface from hypervelocity impactors. The shield assembly includes at least one sacrificial impactor disrupting/shocking layer of hypervelocity impactor disrupting/shocking material. A primary spacing element, including space-rated open cell foam material, is positioned between the at least one sacrificial impactor disrupting/shocking layer and a spacecraft surface. A cover member is arranged and disposed relative to the sacrificial impactor disrupting/shocking layer and the primary spacing element to maintain the integrity of the hypervelocity impact shield assembly. In the event of exposure to a hypervelocity impactor, the sacrificial impactor disrupting/shocking layer is perforated while shocking the impactor breaking it into fragments, and/or melting it, and/or vaporizing it, thus providing a dispersion in the form of an expanding debris cloud/plume which spreads the impact energy of the impactor over a volume formed by the primary spacing element between the sacrificial impactor disrupting/shocking layer and the spacecraft surface. This significantly reduces impact lethality at the spacecraft surface. The space-rated open cell foam material provides an extremely lightweight, low-cost, efficient means of spacing and supporting the at least one sacrificial impactor disrupting/shocking layer before, during, and after launch. In a preferred embodiment, the invention is in the form of a multi-shock assembly including a plurality of sacrificial impactor disrupting/shocking layers. In such instance, the hypervelocity impact shield assembly includes a plurality of secondary spacing elements. Each secondary spacing element is positioned adjacent an associated sacrificial impactor disrupting/shocking layer to form a multi-shock subassembly. Thus, a plurality of multi-shock subassemblies are provided which include alternating layers of sacrificial impactor disrupting/shocking layers and secondary spacing elements.

Dvorak, Bruce D.

Analytic Ballistic Performance Model of Whipple Shields

The dual-wall Whipple shield is the shield of choice for lightweight, long-duration flight. The shield uses an initial sacrificial wall to initiate fragmentation and melt an impacting threat that expands over a void before hitting a subsequent shield wall of a critical component. The key parameters to this type of shield are the rear wall and its mass which stops the debris, as well as the minimum pressure generated under threat particle impact of the sacrificial wall and the amount of void that is available for expansion. Ensuring the minimum pressure is sufficiently high to achieve large scale fragmentation/melt of the threat particle enables the expansion of the threat and reduces the momentum flux of the debris on the rear wall. Three key factors in the minimum pressure achieved are the thickness of the sacrificial wall relative to the characteristic dimension of the impacting particle, the density and material cohesion contrast of the sacrificial wall relative to the threat particle and the impact speed. The mass of the rear wall and the sacrificial wall are desirable to minimize for launch costs and dynamic concerns making it important to have an understanding of the effects of density contrast and impact speed. In this paper a fourth key parameter is identified related to fragmentation, which corresponds to the ratio of the size of the projectile relative to the transition from brittle to ductile hole growth in the projectile. Ballistic limit equations have been developed to define the failure limits of a MMOD shield, generally in terms of projectile diameter (or mass), impact velocity, and angle. Within the range of impact velocities relevant for Earth-orbiting spacecraft, three distinct regions of penetration phenomenology have been identified for Whipple shields: center dot Low velocity: the projectile is eroded (and possibly deformed) during its passage through the bumper plate, but is not fragmented. Thus, perforation of the rear wall is by a fragment with a mass and speed equal to or less than the original impactor. center dot Intermediate (shatter) velocity: impact velocities are sufficient to induce projectile fragmentation upon impact with the bumper plate, resulting in a coarse debris cloud with large solid fragments. Increasing velocity within the shatter regime results in increased fragmentation, and eventually melting, of the projectile and bumper fragments, generating a finer and more evenly dispersed debris cloud. Failure of the rear wall is a complicated combination of modes observed at low- and hypervelocity. center dot Hypervelocity: the projectile and holed-out bumper material is completely, or nearly completely, melted and/or vaporized by the initial impact. The resultant debris cloud impacts over a dispersed area of the rear wall, loading it impulsively and inducing failure through rupture or petalling. While each of these regimes are well observed with extensive empirical methods to describe these regions, differences in impactor materials, configurations of shields and questions about the limitations of the attainable impact speeds have left questions that are difficult to answer from completely empirical methods.

Miller, J. E.

Analytic Ballistic Performance Model of Whipple Shields

The dual-wall, Whipple shield is the shield of choice for lightweight, long-duration flight. The shield uses an initial sacrificial wall to initiate fragmentation and melt an impacting threat that expands over a void before hitting a subsequent shield wall of a critical component. The key parameters to this type of shield are the rear wall and its mass which stops the debris, as well as the minimum shock wave strength generated by the threat particle impact of the sacrificial wall and the amount of room that is available for expansion. Ensuring the shock wave strength is sufficiently high to achieve large scale fragmentation/melt of the threat particle enables the expansion of the threat and reduces the momentum flux of the debris on the rear wall. Three key factors in the shock wave strength achieved are the thickness of the sacrificial wall relative to the characteristic dimension of the impacting particle, the density and material cohesion contrast of the sacrificial wall relative to the threat particle and the impact speed. The mass of the rear wall and the sacrificial wall are desirable to minimize for launch costs making it important to have an understanding of the effects of density contrast and impact speed. An analytic model is developed here, to describe the influence of these three key factors. In addition this paper develops a description of a fourth key parameter related to fragmentation and its role in establishing the onset of projectile expansion.

Miller, J. E.

Ion beam treatment of potential space materials at the NASA Lewis Research Center

Ion source systems in different configurations, have been used to generate unique morphologies for several NASA space applications. The discharge chamber of a 30 cm ion source was successfully used to texture potential space radiator materials for the purpose of obtaining values of thermal emittance greater than 0.85 at 700 and 900 K. High absorptance surfaces were obtained using ion beam seed texturing, for space radiator materials that were flown on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) for 5.8 years in space. An ion source discharge chamber was also used to develop electrode surfaces with suppressed secondary electron emission characteristics for use in collectors in microwave amplifier traveling wave tubes. This was accomplished by sputtering textured carbon onto copper as well as texturing copper using tantalum and molybdenum as sacrificial texture inducing seeding materials. In a third configuration, a dual ion beam system was used to generate high transmittance diamondlike carbon (DLC) films.

Kussmaul, Michael

Compliant Turbomachine Sealing

Sealing interface materials and coatings are sacrificial, giving up their integrity for the benefit of the component. Seals that are compliant while still controlling leakage, dynamics, and coolant flows are sought to enhance turbomachine performance. Herein we investigate the leaf-seal configuration. While the leaf seal is classified as contacting, a ready modification using the leaf-housing arrangement in conjunction with an interface film rider (a bore seal, for example) provides for a film-riding noncontact seal. The leaf housing and leaf elements can be made from a variety of materials from plastic to ceramic. Four simplistic models are used to identify the physics essential to controlling leakage. Corroborated by CFD, these results provide design parameters for applications to within reasonable engineering certainty. Some potential improvements are proposed.

Hendricks, R. C.