Research & Development - December 2016

www.rdmag.com December 2016 R&DMagazine 29 NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER

Surface-Engineered Epoxy Composite
Coatings for Aeronautic Environments

This Contaminant Adhesion Mitigating Epoxy Composite Coatings for Aeronautic Environments is a copolymeric epoxy coating that is loaded with a fluorinated aliphatic chemical species and nano- to microscale particle fillers. The coating was developed as a hydrophobic and non-wetting coating for aerodynamic surfaces to prevent accumulation of insect strike remains that can lead to natural laminar flow disruption and aerodynamic inefficiencies. The coating achieves hydrophobicity in two ways. First, the fluorinated aliphatic chemical species are hydrophobic surface modification additives that preferentially migrate to the polymer surface that is exposed to air.

Secondly, the incorporation of particle fillers produces a micro-textured surface that displays excellent resistance to wetting. Combined, these two factors increase hydrophobicity and can also be used to readily generate superhydrophobic surfaces.

◗ www.nasa.gov/langley

GENERAL MOTORS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Remote Laser Welding System

Zinc-coated steels provide excellent corrosion resistance and improved formability, which are widely used in the automotive industry. The challenges for application of zinc-coated steels are the corresponding welding issues. The common way they’re used in the automotive industry is resistance spot welding (RSW). When RSW of the zinc coated steels are in place, the selection of the weld guns and electrodes are dependent on the materials gauges and grades. The Direct Remote Laser Welding Process and System is a remote laser welding system that produces high-integrity welds in coated steels, such as zinc coated steels rapidly, by translating the laser beam on the fly with specific beam travel patterns in order to produce the welds with different shapes such as spot, stich, oval or staple. Compared to RSW, laser welding is a single-sided process. However, it is a significant challenge to laser weld zinc coated steels in zero-gap lap joint configuration. The highly-pressurized zinc vapor is produced during the welding process because the zinc has lower boiling point (906 Celsius degree) than the melting point of steel (more than 1300 Celsius degree).

◗ www.gm.com

FLSMIDTH USA INC.

Metal Process Technology

The upper layers of copper ore deposits are easily processed using hydrometallurgical leach technology, in tandem with solvent extraction and electrowinning to produce high-purity copper metal (i.e.,

99.99+ percent) for use in a wide variety of electrical & electronics
applications. The most abundant copper mineral, however, is
chalcopyrite—a refractory semi-conductor mineral that is found deeper
in the mine. Consequently,
hydrometallurgical copper
producers struggle to
maintain metal production
during the later stages of
mine development. While
existing hydrometallurgical
processes are able to recover
up to 95 percent of copper from certain refractory minerals, these
processes are complicated, energy intensive and slow. The FLSmidth ROL
Process technology enables the leaching of 97 to 99 percent of copper
from mineral concentrates containing as little as 5 percent copper in less
than six hours; a faster and much more simple process that saves energy
and significantly improves sustainability of existing mines. The process
technology enables current producers to remain productive, thereby
extending natural resources, jobs and utilization of existing processing
infrastructure. In addition to primary metal production, the process
technology more efficiently recovers metals from waste recycle streams.

◗ www.flsmidth.com

BLACKTRACE HOLDINGS LTD.

Fabricating Prototypes in an
Efficient, Cost-Effective Way

Fabrication techniques in the fluidic/microfluidic industry are too slow and expensive for a prototyping approach. There is a clear market need for a device able to fabricate prototypes in an efficient, cost-effective manner. The Fluidic Factory is the first commercially available 3D printer able to reliably fabricate custom-made fluidically sealed devices. This is done in an extremely fast, user-friendly manner. Unlike any other 3D printer on the market, Fluidic Factory has been custom designed from scratch with the aim of ensuring the production of milli- and micro- fluidic devices able to contain fluidically sealed features. All other 3D printers focus on creating well-defined external shapes and give secondary importance to inner parts. Contrarily, the Fluidic Factory gives primary importance to inner features and ensures that any embedded channel is fluidically sealed.

◗ www.blacktrace.com

LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY Fabricating Freestanding Polymer Films Polyelectrolyte Enabled Liftoff (PEEL) is a technology used to fabricate freestanding polymer films as thin as 10 nanometers that are capable of bearing loads ranging from milligrams to grams and deformations of up to 40 percent. PEEL employs robust, water-based and self-optimizing surface chemistry to fabricate ultrathin films up to 100 square centimeters or more in area. The process is easily scalable in size and manufacturing quantity and applicable to a variety of polymeric materials. PEEL provides an alternative to membrane manufacturing processes like interfacial polymerization, accessing thicknesses and areas that are not accessible by current technologies and may be used to fabricate freestanding polymer films for sensing, catalysis, filtration and wound-healing applications. The process is already in daily use at the National Ignition Facility, a national security and energy research facility, where it is used to fabricate compliant load-bearing polyvinyl formal membranes that capture and center the hollow fuel spheres used as laser targets.