Effect of material aging on parachute pack life: a synopsis of Sandia National Laboratories studies

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:5237106

Auerbach, I; Mead, J W; Mead, K E; Ericksen, R H; Burns, F B; Renschler, C L

A systematic study of the effects of environmental factors on nylon 66 and Kevlar 29 strength degradation in parachute components is being conducted at Sandia National Laboratories. It includes: (1) accelerated aging studies in air, inert environments, humidity, ozone, and smog; (2) a 25-year surveillance program of parachutes in a variety of natural climatic environments; (3) moisture absorption as a function of humidity; (4) effects of surface coatings normally applied to parachutes; and (5) development of nondestructive evaluation techniques which can be used to map mechanical properties over the entire parachute surface. The accelerated aging and moisture absorption studies show that air, humidity, and smog contribute to degradation. Chemiluminescence, gas chromatographic pyrograms, and uv spectroscopy show promise as nondestructive evaluation techniques.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 5237106
• Report Number(s): SAND-83-2062C; CONF-840496-6; ON: DE84006342
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420200* -- Engineering-- Facilities
Equipment
& Techniques
AGING
ARAMIDS
CHEMILUMINESCENCE
CHROMATOGRAPHY
COATINGS
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
HUMIDITY
LUMINESCENCE
MATERIALS
MATERIALS TESTING
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING
NYLON
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
OZONE
PARACHUTES
PETROCHEMICALS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PLASTICS
POLYAMIDES
POLYMERS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SMOG
SPECTRA
SYNTHETIC MATERIALS
TENSILE PROPERTIES
TESTING
ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRA