Advanced High Temperature Adhesives for Thermally Stable Aero-assist Technologies, Phase II

Aero-assist technologies are used to control the velocity of exploration vehicles (EV) when entering earth or other planetary atmospheres. Since entry of EVs in planetary atmospheres results in significant heating, thermally stable aero-assist technologies are required to avoid the high heating rates while maintaining low mass.

Adhesives of various types are used for different NASA applications, and newer adhesives with even higher temperature capabilities will be needed for future NASA space missions. Generally these applications include bonded joints, seams and sandwich structures (such as metallic facesheet with bonded core). Examples of space structures that need high temperature adhesives include support toruses, solar concentrators and antennas, aeroshells, inflatable aerocapture decelerators, and deployable space structures (antennas, trusses, solar arrays). The HAA (High Altitude Airship) is an unmanned lighter-than-air vehicle which will be used to enhance the Ballastic Missile Defense System. Hull temperatures can increase significantly due to solar radiation, requiring high-temperature capable seaming solutions. These seaming solutions require high temperature adhesives. Adhesive applications in the commercial markets are many and varied. High temperature adhesives, especially those that are polyimide-based, are used heavily in the semiconductor industry. Polyimide and related adhesives are also used in circuit boards; MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems); opto-electronics; anti-static/high temperature control release dicing tapes; high temperature and anti-static doubled-sided tape for wafer thinning; thermal interface materials for thermal dissipation from CPU¡¦s, video chips, power models, and memory modules.

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