The Boeing Company

Mcdonnell Douglas Corporation

Stanley Allen Lawton

Scott T Holmes

Roger W Engelbart

John Cleveland Waldrop, Iii

Laura Sullivan Riegel

Bruce E McIlroy

John M Haake

Janet B Davis

Olivier H Sudre

Daniel E Driemeyer

Wayne N Schmitz

Daniel Edward Driemeyer

John Daniel Kelley

Edward A Theby

Scott T Holmes Holmes

Bruce E Mcllroy

A thermal barrier coated radio frequency (RF) radome is provided having an exterior surface, an interior surface, a tip, and a base, wherein the RF radome is designed to transmit RF signals. A thermal barrier coating is applied to an exterior surface of the radome, wherein the thermal barrier coating has a dielectric constant of less than about 2.0, and further wherein the thermal barrier coating reduces a structure temperature of the RF radome by greater than 300 degrees Fahrenheit to enhance thermo-mechanical properties and performance of the RF radome.

Thermal barrier coated RF radomes

Thermal barrier coated RF radomes and a method for making the same are provided. In an embodiment of the disclosure, there is provided a method for making a thermal barrier coated radio frequency (RF) radome. The method comprises providing a radio frequency (RF) radome. The method further comprises applying a thermal barrier coating having a dielectric constant less than about 2.0 onto a surface of the radome to form a thermal barrier coated RF radome. The thermal barrier coating reduces a structure temperature of the radome by greater than 300 degrees Fahrenheit to enhance thermo-mechanical properties and performance of the RF radome.

Thermal barrier coated RF radomes and method

A temperature tolerant hook and loop attachment, a method of forming a sheet of the hooks and, a method of insulating the skin of a flight vehicle. Temporary loops are formed in a fabric containing temperature tolerant fiber tows, e.g., the tows may be carbon, a metal, a carbide such as carbon silicide, a nitride, or an oxide. The temporary loops are stiffened (e.g., with resin, metal or ceramic), and severed to form temperature tolerant fiber composite hooks. The sheet may be cut and permanently applied, for example, to the skin of a spacecraft or aircraft. A fibrous material, e.g., fibrous insulation or batting, may be pressed in place or formed into the hooks, or the fibrous material may be attached to another structure and pressed in place for a temperature tolerant hook and loop attachment.

Temperature tolerant hooks for hook and loop attachment

A method of forming a thermally insulating body that may involve co-depositing onto a substrate, particles containing aerogel material, particles containing phase change material, and a solution containing a binder and a carrier. The phase change material may have encapsulated phase change material particles in which a phase change substance encapsulated within durable capsules transitions from a solid to a liquid at a temperature greater than about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The carrier may be removed after the co-deposition to form a solid thermally insulating body on the substrate.

Composite of aerogel and phase change material

A composite material collation machine and associated method for fiber tape placement and consolidation at a relatively high rate are provided. The composite material collation machine includes a laser diode array for heating at least one fiber tape, a compaction device for pressing the fiber tape against a workpiece, an inspection system for monitoring the fiber tape, and a controller. The inspection system produces an output representative of at least one characteristic of the fiber tape, and the controller is capable of receiving the output and, based on the output, automatically altering at least one system parameter defining an operational characteristic of the composite material collation machine.

Composite material collation machine and associated method for high rate collation of composite materials

Composite articles are produced by guiding composite tape material through a compaction region where the tape material is pressed onto a substrate, and heating the tape and substrate ahead of the compaction region by irradiating opposing surfaces of the tape and substrate with laser radiation produced by a laser diode array. The laser diode array is divided into independently controllable diode groups, and the diode groups are controlled so as to independently control heating of one area of the tape and substrate relative to another area of the tape and substrate. In one embodiment, the widthwise profile of the light energy is such that a widthwise portion of the tape at an inner radius of a curved path along which the tape is steered at the compaction region is heated to a greater extent than a widthwise portion of the tape at an outer radius of the path. The laser diode array can also be controlled to heat the tape material to a different extent than the substrate to compensate for different rates of heat loss. One or more diode groups of the array can be deactivated when not needed, such as when the tape material is narrower than the full light field generated by the array. Different diode groups of the array can produce light of different wavelengths for achieving different rates of absorption by different areas of the composite materials.

Method for heating and controlling temperature of composite material during automated placement

An apparatus is provided for removing a coating from a substrate, comprising a nozzle having an outlet and adapted to direct a particle stream therethrough at a predetermined flow rate, a signal source for emitting a signal capable of traversing the particle stream, and a signal sensor positioned to detect the signal emitted by the signal source once the signal has passed through the particle stream. The particle stream is directed from the outlet of the nozzle toward a coating on a substrate to remove the coating from the substrate. Since the signal emitted by the signal source traverses the particle stream before being detected, the intensity of the signal detected by the signal sensor corresponds to a flow rate of the particle stream such that a subsequent change in the intensity of the signal that is detected by the signal sensor indicates a change in the flow rate of the particle stream. A method of monitoring a particle flow in an apparatus used for removing a coating from a substrate is also provided.

Coating removal system having a solid particle nozzle with a detector for detecting particle flow and associated method

A method for making vanadium dioxide (V.sub.2 or V.sub.2 O.sub.4) powders from vanadyl sulfate without using SO.sub.2 gas, comprises evaporative decomposition of a vanadyl sulfate hydrate spray, entrained in a nitrogen atmosphere at O.sub.2 partial pressures that would normally predict V.sub.2 O.sub.5 V.sub.2 O.sub.3. The yield of VO.sub.2 (also identified as V.sub.2 O.sub.4) is substantially improved, and occurs at lower temperatures, by the addition of hydrogen gas into the atmosphere. Surprisingly, there is no production of V.sub.2 O.sub.3. Minor amounts of a suitable dopant salt dissolved in the spray provide improved low transition temperature powders.

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St. Louis, MO, United States of America

Stanley Allen Lawton