Volume 5, Number 2 March/April 1997
Moving Forward
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Technology Opportunity Showcase highlights some unique technologies that NASA has developed and that we believe have strong potential for commercial application. While the descriptions provided here are brief, they should provide enough information to communicate the potential applications of the technology. For more detailed information, contact the person or office listed. Please mention you read about it in Innovation. |
Elastic Properties Ultrasonic NDE System for Composite Materials (EPUN)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) seeks to transfer EPUN, a nondestructive evaluation technology that uses a modified version of a C-scan attachment, to analyze and map the material stiffness constants of composite structures to determine their material quality, integrity and mechanical performance. EPUN was designed to measure a composite laminate's fiber, resin and interface characteristics, to cure process and hosted defects by using platewaves analysis and to determine ultrasonic dispersion data. The method can be used to obtain improved estimates of porosity and resin content volume fraction. EPUN could be used commercially to inspect composite structures for the presence of defects because it reduces the need for costly mechanical tests.
For more information, contact: Dr. James Rooney,
Technology Transfer and Commercialization Office,
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Call 818/354-2503.
Productivity Enhancement Complex
The Materials and Processes Laboratory at Marshall Space Flight Center operates the Productivity Enhancement Complex (PEC). At this complex, NASA and industry work together to develop new materials, processes and assembly techniques. The PEC is the focal point for cooperative research activities between Marshall and its contractors. These partnership efforts provide valuable benefits, such as the reduction of program costs, the promotion and exchange of new ideas and the validation of new materials and processes. With more than 40 research areas, the PEC can accommodate a variety of activities, such as creating or modifying computer programs for industrial robots used in welding processes, manufacturing cutting-edge composite materials, designing vacuum plasma spray techniques and providing rapid prototyping and cryogenic insulation development. NASA encourages collaboration efforts between NASA and industry to develop advanced manufacturing techniques.
For more information, contact: Technology Transfer Office,
Marshall Space Flight Center. Call 800/USA-NASA.
Continuously Variable Planetary Transmission
The NASA-designed Continuously Variable Planetary Transmission technology improves vehicle acceleration and engine speed as it smoothly transmits torque from an engine to a drive-shaft independent of engine speed. This fuel-efficient technology developed at Goddard Space Flight Center could be applied to transportation vehicles, agricultural equipment and machinery with power transmissions that must adapt continuously to their power requirements. The technology has a simple compact design with few linkages and synchronizing gears; it provides forward, neutral and reverse directions with fingertip control and changes gear ratios under load with no clutch.
For more information, contact: Office of Commercial Programs,
Goddard Space Flight Center. Call 301/286-5169.
High-Temperature Thin Film Strain Gauges
Lewis Research Center developed the thin film strain gauge to measure stress of advanced materials in aeronautic and aerospace research with minimal aerodynamic effects and at much higher temperatures than similar gauges already on the market. The high-temperature gauge is vacuum-deposited thin film placed directly on the structure it is measuring. Because it can measure dynamic and static strain up to 1,100 degrees Celsius, tests of many advanced materials can be done in harsh environments at extremely high temperatures. The gauge is highly stable and repeatable and can be produced at low cost. The sensors will be extremely useful in designing high-speed civil transport vehicles and gas turbine engines, in measuring crack development and propagation, stress distribution and the thermal expansion coefficient of materials at very high temperatures, and in designing new and advanced materials for use in extremely high-temperature environments.
For more information, contact: Anne Heyward,
Commercial Technology Office,
Lewis Research Center. Call 216/433-5568.
