Space environmental effects on polymeric materials. Final technical report, 1 May 1986-31 May 1987

Technical Report · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:5250306

Kiefer, R L; Orwoll, R A

Polymeric materials that may be exposed on spacecraft to the hostile environment beyond Earth's atmosphere were subjected to atomic oxygen, electron bombardment, and ultraviolet radiation in terrestrial experiments. Evidence is presented for the utility of an inexpensive asher for determining the relative susceptibility of organic polymers to atomic oxygen. Kapton, Ultem, P1700 polysulfone, and m-CBB/BIS-A (a specially formulated polymer prepared at NASA Langley) all eroded at high rates, just as was observed in shuttle experiments. Films of Ultem, P1700 polysulfone, and m-CBB/BIS-A were irradiated with 85 keV electrons. The UV/VIS absorbance of Ultem was found to decay with time after irradiation, indicating free radical decay. The tensile properties of Ultem began to change only after it had been exposed to 100 Mrads. The effects of dose rate, temperature, and simultaneous vs. sequential electron and UV irradiation were also studied.

• Research Organization: College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5250306
• Report Number(s): N-88-16879; NASA-CR-182454; NAS-1.26:182454; TRN: 88-015531
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ORGANIC POLYMERS
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
ATOMIC BEAMS
ELECTRON BEAMS
ETHERS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
IMIDES
IRRADIATION
OXYGEN
PROGRESS REPORT
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
BEAMS
DATA
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
INFORMATION
LEPTON BEAMS
NONMETALS
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PARTICLE BEAMS
POLYMERS
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATIONS
360605* - Materials- Radiation Effects