(LDEF) Archive System
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Responsible Parties:
Page Content: William H. Kinard Page Construction: Thomas H. See |
This information concerning silvered Teflon is from the report Analysis of Materials Flown on the Long Duration Facility: Summary of Results of the Materials Special Investigation Group, Boeing Defense and Space Group, NASA CR, May 1995, and is summarized here. |
Silvered-Teflon materials performed its thermal-control function under all exposure conditions experienced by LDEF. The material reflectance changed from essentially specular to essentially diffuse under maximum atomic oxygen exposure on forward-facing surfaces. Meteoroid&debris impacts damaged less than two percent of the area on thermal control blankets from experiment AO178. The silver Inconel layer cracked on adhesive-backed silverized Teflon applied to hardware on trays F09 and A09. The average recession rate of approximately 0.34 10-24 atoms/cm2/s is much higher than previously reported data from short-term shuttle experiments. This higher recession rate is because the UV induced damage is much greater on LDEF than for the relatively short shuttle flights. Once the solar exposure has damaged the structure of the FEP, atomic oxygen is able to attack the polymer backbone. Exposure to solar vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation embrittles the FEP layer, lowering its mechanical properties.
Teflon is a Registered Trademark of DuPont  | LDEF Archive System Home Page |