Exposure of polymer film thermal control materials on the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE)

Dever, Joyce A.; Miller, Sharon K.; Messer, Russell; Sechkar, Edward A.; Tollis, Greg

doi:10.2514/6.2001-4924

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…However, they are highly susceptible to erosion by AO (Banks et al, 1985;Zhao et al, 2010). Both space-borne (Sechkar et al, 2001;Gorreta et al, 2016) and ground-based AO experiments (Miller et al, 2008;Stambler et al, 2009;Aghaei et al, 2017) have been extensively carried out by researchers globally in an effort to protect polyimide materials from disintegration by AO and to enhance the in-orbit lifespan of spacecraft. However, space-borne experiments are costly to launch and have long testing cycles, whereas ground-based AO experiments cannot achieve ideal test conditions owing to the limitations of the experimental equipment, thus affecting the accuracy of the results.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reactive molecular dynamics simulation on the disintegration of Kapton and Upilex-S during atomic oxygen impact

Qiao,

Jiang,

Jiang

et al. 2023

Front. Mater.

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Polyimides are polymeric materials that are widely used in spacecraft applications owing to their unique properties. However, exposure to a low-Earth-orbit environment containing atomic oxygen (AO) results in the disintegration of polymeric materials on the surface of spacecraft, thereby affecting the lifespan. Along with the development of theoretical research, the reactive force-field (ReaxFF) interatomic potential has become a robust computational method for exploring, developing and optimizing the material properties. This study employs the ReaxFF reactive-force-field molecular dynamics simulation (ReaxFF MD) program to investigate and compare the performance of two typical polyimide materials, Kapton and Upilex-S, under the impact of AO. Various aspects such as variations in the temperature, mass loss, decomposition products, and damage propagation depth were examined. Although these materials have similar elemental composition (C/H/O/N), they have different structures. Our results indicate that AO is initially adsorbed on the surfaces of both Kapton and Upilex-S. The continuous impact of AO leads to chemical reactions between AO and Kapton/Upilex-S. Erosion proceeds from the surface toward the interior of the materials. Similar to the findings of Experiment 2 conducted by the Materials International Space Station, our results also reveal that Upilex-S exhibits a lower mass loss and erosion yield than Kapton under the same AO conditions. This difference is primarily attributed to the distinct molecular structures of both Kapton and Upilex-S. Our study could provide valuable technical support for the extensive application of Upilex-S in spacecraft.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reactive molecular dynamics simulation on the disintegration of Kapton and Upilex-S during atomic oxygen impact

Qiao,

Jiang,

Jiang

et al. 2023

Front. Mater.

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“…The selection of new material for aerospace usage requires evaluations of performance under various ground simulated space radiations. Space radiations, including high vacuum, thermal cycling, ultraviolet radiation (UV), atomic oxygen (AO), plasma environment (ions and electrons), space debris, etc, can cause degradation of material, induce damage of component or structure, reduce system's reliability, and even shorten spacecraft's service life [122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129][130]. After years of investigation, researchers have found that the high vacuum, thermal cycling, UV, and AO are harsh space environmental factors, which have significant effects on materials [65,[131][132][133][134][135][136][137][138][139][140][141][142][143][144][145][146].…”

Section: Effects Of Space Environment On Smp/smpcmentioning

confidence: 99%

Progress of shape memory polymers and their composites in aerospace applications

Liu

Leng

2019

Smart Mater. Struct.

107

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Shape memory polymers and their composites are kind of smart materials, which can transfer from the temporarily fixed configuration to the original configuration under external stimuli. Their inherent advantages are low density, low cost, large recoverable deformation ability and controllable stimulus method, which make them an alternative for aerospace applications (deployable structures, release devices, wrinkled/slack control component, etc). Most of these applications are in development stage, some have completed the ground functional verification experiments, a rare part has been carried out the spaceflight experiments. This review focuses on their materials and structures in aerospace field, briefly introduces the development history and general mechanism of shape memory polymers and their composites, replenishes the space radiation resistance abilities of these materials under the ground-simulated space radiation experiments, tracks those applications who have already completed the spaceflight experiments, then exhibits some novel applications which have great potential and could give us inspirations for new aerospace application development, finally the prospects for materials and structures are discussed in the future outlook.

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“…; however, it can be damaged so easily in the AO environment [6,7]. Over the years, quantities of AO environment tests have been conducted to aggravate polyimide's degradation so as to extend the spacecraft lifespan, either using in situ flying tests [8][9][10] or in ground-based test facilities [11][12][13]. Nevertheless, the dynamic procedure of the AO interaction and the atomical bonding and breaking could never be observed using those two methods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on the Effects and Mechanism of Temperature and AO Flux Density in the AO Interaction with Upilex-S Using the ReaxFF Method

Qiao,

Jiang,

Zhai

et al. 2023

Coatings

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Atomic oxygen (AO), which is one of the most predominant and conspicuous space environmental factors in the low earth orbit, leads to severe deterioration of polymeric materials in spacecraft. The AO flux density and ambient temperature vary while a craft orbits in space; thus, it is necessary to pay close attention to the flux density and temperature effects on the mechanism of the AO interaction with materials. In past years, polyimide has been widely used on spacecraft due to its excellent performance—that is the reason why we chose Upilex-S as the object for study. It was analyzed using the ReaxFF reactive force field molecular dynamics simulation, respectively from the aspect of impact-induced temperature variation, mass loss, reaction product and erosion yield. The results show that dense AO deposition on the surface impedes further erosion at low temperatures, and the AO interaction with Upilex-S is exacerbated as the ambient temperature increases. However, the accelerating rate is inversely proportional to the ambient temperature, which means the higher the ambient temperature is, the slower it increases. On the other hand, the interaction rate of AO induced to Upilex-S is aggravated as the flux density increases at the lower stage, while the interaction rate begins to drop as the flux density increases at the higher level. The AO erosion effect is a complicated process rather than a simple summation of single atomic oxygen interactions. Our study could be used as a technical reference for the wide usage of Upilex-S on spacecraft.

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Exposure of polymer film thermal control materials on the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE)

Cited by 4 publications

References 6 publications

Reactive molecular dynamics simulation on the disintegration of Kapton and Upilex-S during atomic oxygen impact

Reactive molecular dynamics simulation on the disintegration of Kapton and Upilex-S during atomic oxygen impact

Progress of shape memory polymers and their composites in aerospace applications

Study on the Effects and Mechanism of Temperature and AO Flux Density in the AO Interaction with Upilex-S Using the ReaxFF Method

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