905 research outputs found
Design curve for liquid helium storage vessels
Development of equipment for storage of liquid helium is discussed. Derivation of design curve and working equations for estimating effects of either perfect or imperfect heat transfer in storage device are described. Mathematical models of heat transfer conditions are provided
Mechanisms of boron fiber strengthening by thermal treatment
The fracture strain for boron on tungsten fibers was studied for improvement by heat treatment under vacuum or argon environments. The mechanical basis for this improvement is thermally-induced axial contraction of the entire fiber, whereby strength-controlling core flaws are compressed and fiber fracture strain increased by the value of the contraction strain. By highly sensitive measurements of fiber density and volume, the physical mechanism responsible for contraction under both environments was identified as boron atom diffusion out of the fiber sheath. The fiber contracts because the average volume of the resulting microvoid was determined to be only 0.26 plus or minus 0.09 the average atomic volume of the removed atom. The basic and practical implications of these results are discussed with particular emphasis on the theory, use, and limitations of heat-induced contraction as a simple cost-effective secondary processing method
Mechanical and physical properties of modern boron fibers
The results of accurate measurements of the modern boron fiber's Young's modulus, flexural modulus, shear modulus, and Poisson's ratio are reported. Physical property data concerning fiber density, thermal expansion, and resistance obtained during the course of the mechanical studies are also given
Anelastic deformation of boron fibers
The flexural deformation behavior of vapor-deposited boron fibers was examined from 100 to 1100 K by stress-relaxation and internal friction techniques. Only strong thermally-activated anelasticity was observed with no evidence of plasticity up to surface strains of 0.006. The parameters governing the relaxation processes within the anelastic spectra of as-received and annealed fibers were determined. These parameters were correlated with X-ray structure studies to develop preliminary models for the sources of boron's anelasticity. The large relaxation strengths of the dominant Ia processes coupled with their relaxation times and energies suggest a sliding mechanism between certain basic structural subunits common to both the beta-rhombohedral and vapor-deposited boron structures
Techniques for increasing boron fiber fracture strain
Improvement in the strain-to-failure of CVD boron fibers is shown possible by contracting the tungsten boride core region and its inherent flaws. The results of three methods are presented in which etching and thermal processing techniques were employed to achieve core flaw contraction by internal stresses available in the boron sheath. After commercially and treatment induced surface flaws were removed from 203 micrometers (8 mil) fibers, the core flaw was observed to be essentially the only source of fiber fracture. Thus, fiber strain-to-failure was found to improve by an amount equal to the treatment induced contraction on the core flaw. Commercial feasibility considerations suggest as the most cost effective technique that method in which as-produced fibers are given a rapid heat treatment above 700 C. Preliminary results concerning the contraction kinetics and fracture behavior observed are presented and discussed both for high vacuum and argon gas heat treatment environments
Time temperature-stress dependence of boron fiber deformation
Flexural stress relaxation (FSR) and flexural internal friction (FIF) techniques were employed to measure the time-dependent deformation of boron fibers from -190 to 800 C. The principal specimens were 203 micrometers diameter fibers commercially produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on a 13 micrometer tungsten substrate. The observation of complete creep strain recovery with time and temperature indicated that CVD boron fibers deform flexurally as anelastic solids with no plastic component
High performance fibers for structurally reliable metal and ceramic composites
Very few of the commercially available high performance fibers with low densities, high Young's moduli, and high tensile strengths possess all the necessary property requirements for providing either metal matrix composites (MMC) or ceramic matrix composites (CMC) with high structural reliability. These requirements are discussed in general and examples are presented of how these property guidelines are influencing fiber evaluation and improvement studies at NASA aimed at developing structurally reliable MMC and CMC for advanced gas turbine engines
Predicting the time-temperature dependent axial failure of B/A1 composites
Experimental and theoretical studies were conducted in order to understand and predict the effects of time, temperature, and stress on the axial failure modes of boron fibers and B/A1 composites. Due to the anelastic nature of boron fiber deformation, it was possible to determine simple creep functions which can be employed to accurately describe creep and fracture stress of as-produced fibers. Analysis of damping and strength data for B/6061 A1 composites indicates that fiber creep effects of creep on fiber fracture are measurably reduced by the composite fabrication process. The creep function appropriate for fibers with B/Al composites was also determined. A fracture theory is presented for predicting the time-temperature dependence of the axial tensile strength for metal matrix composites in general and B/A1 composites in particular
Measurement of the time-temperature dependent dynamic mechanical properties of boron/aluminum composites
A flexural vibration test and associated equipment were developed to accurately measure the low strain dynamic modulus and damping of composite materials from -200 C to over 500 C. The basic test method involves the forced vibration of composite bars at their resonant free-free flexural modes in a high vacuum cryostat furnace. The accuracy of these expressions and the flexural test was verified by dynamic moduli and damping capacity measurements on 50 fiber volume percent boron/aluminum (B/Al) composites vibrating near 2000 Hz. The phase results were summarized to permit predictions of the B/Al dynamic behavior as a function of frequency, temperature, and fiber volume fraction
Strength advantages of chemically polished boron fibers before and after reaction with aluminum
In order to determine their strength potential, the fracture properties of different types of commercial boron fibers were measured before and after application of secondary strengthening treatments. The principal treatments employed were a slight chemical polish, which removed low strength surface flaws, and a heat treatment in oxygen, which contracted the fibers and thereby compressed intrinsic bulk flaws. Those fiber types most significantly strengthened were 200 to 400 micrometers (8 to 16 mil) diameter boron on tungsten fibers produced in a single chemical vapor deposition reactor. The slight polish increased average tensile strenghts from 3.4 to 4.4 CN/m2 (500 to 640 ksi) and reduced coefficients of variation from about 15 to 3 percent. The oxygen heat treatment plus slight polish further improved average strengths to 5.5 GN/m2 (800 ksi) with coefficients near 3 percent. To ascertain whether these excellent properties could be retained after fabrication of B/Al composites, as produced and polished 203 micrometers (8 mil) fibers were thinly coated with aluminum, heat treated at B/Al fabrication temperatures, and then tested in tension and flexure at room temperature. The pre-polished fibers were observed to retain their superior strengths to higher temperatures than the as-produced fibers even though both were subjected to the same detrimental reaction with aluminum
- …