Materials Technology Ltd work extensively within the aerospace industry working for both primary manufacturers within the industry and second tier component suppliers.
Our work covers a variety of areas including product testing, analysis of faulty components, specification writing, sourcing of alternative materials and materials selection. Some typical examples of our work is detailed below:
In this example the client needed to make adhesive repairs to an insitu installation. The adhesive had to be capable of maintaining a strong bond at temperatures in excess of 150C. A suitable adhesive was sourced by Materials Technology Ltd. Testing under hot tensile and lap shear conditions were carried out on a variety of substrate combinations as shown in the photos above. Based on this testing a specifticaion was prepared for the method of insitu surface prepartion and application of the glue. Our independent report and method was presented to the end client which allowed economical repairs to be carried without interruption of service.
In this example the client was experiencing premature failure of their products during routine fatigue cycling. Analysis of the failed components by Materials Technology was able to demonstrate that severe pitting was occuring due to variations in the anodising process. Improvements to the anodizing process allowed significant improvements in the product performance.
Fault analysis of electronic components
In this example the client experienced faults in their avionics following thermal and moisture cycling. Detailed analysis of the electronic components was able to demonstrate that the thin film resistor had failed due to an open circuit in the resistive filme as sene on the photo above.
Materials that are to be used in low vacuum requirements or in outer space applications require outgas testing. Samples are tested according to ASTM E 595-93 "Standard Test Method for Total Mass Loss and Collected Volatile Condensable Materials from Outgassing in a Vacuum Environment" or the european equivalent, European Space Agency test method, ECSS-Q-70-02A: "A thermal cycling test for the screening of space materials and processes"
The Thermal Vacuum Test is used for the qualification of materials proposed for use in spacecraft and associated equipment and for optical devices. The aim of this test is to determine the amounts of outgassing products. For the test, materials are submitted to a controlled climate for water uptake. Then they are subjected to thermal vacuum (125°C for 24h). Finally they are again submitted to a controlled climate. Additionally, in the vacuum chamber cooled "collector plates" are mounted directly above the heated cups with the materials. These plates collect some of the outgassing species. With this test the outgassing properties can be determined by the following parameters (see figure below):
CVCM : Collected Volatile Condensible Material is the mass gain of the collector plates divided by the initial mass of the material
RML : Recovered Mass Loss is the difference between initial mass and mass after re-conditioning (shows the amount of non-water products)
TML :Total Mass Loss is the difference of mass directly before and after vacuum test (shows the amount of all outgassing products as percentage of initial mass)
WVR :Water Vapour Regained is the amount of water uptake after vacuum test
As can be seen RML can be directly calculated from RML=TML-WVR
Materials Technology Ltd can offer testing in accordance with both requirements but can also assist in improving material performance of those materials that fail to meet the test. Lead times for this test are typically 14 days from receipt of samples.
Fluorescent dyeing of instrument panels
The components above are used as fluorescent indicators on aircaft instrument dials. Materials technology can conduct fluorescent dyeing of these components to a range of colours including pink, orange, yellow and green.
Call us for all your Aerospace requirements. If we cant help then we can find someone who can.