Sintered Powder Textile Surface Modification for Extreme Environments

New textile and material solutions are needed to withstand the challenging environments that will be encountered during extended duration Lunar exploration missions. In Phase I we demonstrated a novel textile technology for environmental protection garment (EPG) outer layers that leverages space-proven materials together with a novel sintered powder textile coating process to create highly flexible, dust impermeable textiles compatible with ultra-low temperature. The sintered surface layer has a structure consisting of a network of powder particles that have been fused together. This network structure offers the smooth, dust impermeable benefits of a continuous coating, but has filament-like attributes to preserve ultra-low temperature flexibility and durability. Powders for sintering are selected to match the textile substrate, to create like bonded to like surfaces that eliminate differences in thermal expansion that cause delamination of traditional coatings. Multilayer additively manufactured sintered coatings can deliver additional functionality or tailoring of the shell textile properties. The challenging set of requirements for the EPG shell material requires such an approach that leverages all aspects of textile engineering. The sinter coating process that was developed in Phase I is a robust and customizable platform technology that is compatible with emerging EPG shell textile materials and concepts. The proposed Phase II effort aims to leverage this newly developed sintered particle coating technology together with emerging textile materials in order to develop a new EPG shell textile material and validate performance against all of the requirements prescribed by NASAs active EPG development programs. We propose a new textile technology for environmental protection garment (EPG) outer layers that leverages space-proven materials together with a novel sintered powder textile surface modification to impart superior dust and abrasion resistance while retaining ultra-low temperature compatibility for use on Lunar missions. The sintered modification has a microstructure consisting of a network of fused powder particles to provide the smooth, dust-impermeable benefits of a continuous coating, but with filament-like attributes to retain flexibility at low temperature. Powders for sintering are selected to match the textile substrate, to create “like bonded to like” surfaces that eliminate differences in thermal expansion that cause delamination of traditional coatings. Multilayer additively manufactured sintered coatings can deliver additional functionality or tailoring of the shell textile properties.  The challenging set of requirements for the EPG shell material requires such an approach that leverages all aspects of textile engineering. The technical objectives are logically structured to achieve the primary goal of development and TRL advancement of a sintered particle coated textile meeting all EPG performance metrics for use in extreme environments. TRL advancement is pursued via development of a robust and tunable sintering process, characterization of process parameter effects on coated textile physical properties, and establishment of the links between physical properties and overall EPG performance metrics. The Phase II objectives may be briefly summarized as: 1) scope all EPG textile requirements and establish the required testing capabilities; 2) select and source the most promising textile substrate candidates and sintered powder materials; 3) develop and optimize the sintering process; 4) test and validate performance improvements achieved by sintered coating; 5) optimize, downselect, and validate the best performing EPG material; 6) fabricate and deliver the demonstration prototype. The final deliverable prototype will consist of the downselected sintered powder coated EPG shell textile in a size/quantity sufficient to support the requisite follow-on testing and evaluation by NASA advanced spacesuit development researchers. A final technical report will be provided with formal drawings/specifications, design validation data, quality testing data, and other applicable supporting documentation.

•Spacesuits - environmental protection garment shell fabrics •Spacesuits - supplemental dust covers •Dust-resistant covers for equipment with articulated arms, moving parts, rotating components, or seals •Inflatable habitats •Deployable ejecta or dust shielding for landing pads •Firefighter turnout gear/flame-resistant clothing •Hazmat (chem-bio) suits •First responder apparel/PPE •Industrial textiles - conveyor belts, barriers, pallet bulk bags, or other packaging or processing materials frequently subjected to abrasion •Smart textiles for consumer/fashion applications

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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