The Aerospace Corporation

Pierre R Valenzuela

Dick J Chang

Richard P Welle

Robert B Pan

Charles Sve

Steven John VanWormer

Timothy Steven Wall

Robert Walter Francis

A fast thermal cycler has a temperature chamber divided into a top, hot compartment heated by heating lamps and a bottom cold compartment cooled by liquid nitrogen, for optimizing thermal cycling rates for devices under test, such as solar cells, for rapid thermal life testing where both compartments use pressurized gaseous nitrogen for thermal conduction and regulation and a motor drive repetitively transports a test device mounted on a panel transiting between the two compartments. The thermal cycler is enhanced by computer control, enabling in-situ electrical testing, fail-safe heating, precision temperature heating and cooling phases, operator alerting and thermal gradient control during the temperature cycling.

Compartmental fast thermal cycler

Opposing end fittings of a cylindrical tube pressure test fixture uses slanted abutting surfaces between retaining rings and ferrules that securely clamps a tube under high pressure testing. Retaining ring and ferrule friction and applied radial compression induce shear force upon the tube and prevent leaks during pressure testing.

Pressure vessel testing fixture

A shear test fixture and method determines the shear strength of a honeycomb having elongated cells extending between two ends filled with a filler material with a load applied to one end relative to the other end introducing shear stress without introducing compression or tension stress for improved shear strength testing.

Honeycomb shear testing method

Growing community of inventors

Pico Rivera, CA, United States of America

Pierre R Valenzuela