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One of the major obstacles slowing the acceptance of parts made by additive manufacturing (AM) in NASA applications is the lack of a broadly accepted materials and process quality systems; and more specifically, the lack of adequate nondestructive evaluation (NDE) processes integrated into AM. Matching voluntary consensus standards are also needed to control the consistency of input materials, process equipment, process methods, finished part properties, and how those properties are characterized. As for nondestructive characterization, procedures are needed to interrogate features unique to parts made by AM, such as fine-scale porosity, deeply embedded flaws, complex part geometry, and intricate internal features. The NDE methods developed must be tailored to meet materials, design and test requirements encountered throughout the part life cycle, whether during process optimization, real-time process monitoring, finished part qualification and certification (especially of flight hardware), or in situ health monitoring. Restated, individualized process/product-specific NDE methods are needed to satisfy NASA's various quality assurance requirements. To date, only limited data have been acquired by NASA on parts made by AM. This paper summarizes the NASA AM effort, highlights available NDE data, and outlines the approach NASA is taking to apply NDE to its various AM efforts.

Surface resistivity is an important parameter of multi-electrode CZT detectors such as coplanar-grid, strip, or pixel detectors. Low surface resistivity results in a high leakage current and affects the charge collection efficiency in the areas near contacts. Thus, it is always desirable to have the surface resistivity of the detector as high as possible. In the past the most significant efforts were concentrated to develop passivation techniques for CZT detectors. However, as we found, the field-effect caused by a bias applied on the cathode can significantly reduce the surface resistivity even though the detector surface was carefully passivated. In this paper we illustrate that the field-effect is a common feature of the CZT multi-electrode detectors, and discuss how to take advantage of this effect to improve the surface resistivity of CZT detectors.

This paper will report on additional studies undertaken on a novel electrode geometry, referred to as CAPtureTM technology, wherein the cathode is extended up the sides of a planar CdZnTe detector. The initial presentation of this development focused on a single geometry, and a simple mechanism was proposed to explain the improved performance. In this presentation, we will describe the results of further electric field and charge transport modeling as applied to this detector configuration, and also compare the calculated performance with experimental results.

One of NASA’s Space Shuttle Return-to-Flight (RTF) efforts has been to develop thermography for the on-orbit inspection of the Reinforced Carbon Carbon (RCC) portion of the Orbiter Wing Leading Edge (WLE). This paper addresses the capability of thermography to detect cracks in RCC by using in-plane thermal gradients that naturally occur on-orbit. Crack damage, which can result from launch debris impact, is a detection challenge for other on-orbit sensors under consideration for RTF, such as the Intensified Television Camera and Laser Dynamic Range Imager. We studied various cracks in RCC, both natural and simulated, along with material characteristics, such as emissivity uniformity, in steady-state thermography. Severity of crack, such as those likely and unlikely to cause burn through were tested, both in-air and in-vacuum, and the goal of this procedure was to assure crew and vehicle safety during re-entry by identification and quantification of a damage condition while on-orbit. Expected thermal conditions are presented in typical shuttle orbits, and the expected damage signatures for each scenario are presented. Finally, through statistical signal detection, our results show that even at very low in-plane thermal gradients, we are able to detect damage at or below the threshold for fatality in the most critical sections of the WLE, with a confidence exceeding 1 in 10,000 probability of false negative.

During the March 2002 Servicing Mission by Space Shuttle (STS 109), the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was refurbished with two new solar arrays that now provide all of its power. These arrays were built with viscoelastic/titanium dampers, integral to the supporting masts, which reduce the interaction of the wing bending modes with the Telescope. Damping of over 3% of critical was achieved. To assess the damper s ability to maintain nominal performance over the 10-year on-orbit design goal, material specimens were subjected to an accelerated life test. The test matrix consisted of scheduled events to expose the specimens to pre-determined combinations of temperatures, frequencies, displacement levels, and numbers of cycles. These exposure events were designed to replicate the life environment of the damper from fabrication through testing to launch and life on-orbit. To determine whether material degradation occurred during the exposure sequence, material performance was evaluated before and after the accelerated aging with complex stiffness measurements. Based on comparison of pre- and post-life-cycle measurements, the material is expected to maintain nominal performance through end of life on-orbit. Recent telemetry from the Telescope indicates that the dampers are performing nominally.

Most single grains in cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe) grown by the high-pressure Bridgman (HPB) technique contain multiple twin boundaries. As a consequence, twin boundaries are one of the most common macroscopic material defects found in large area (400 to 700 mm2) CdZnTe specimens obtained from HPB ingots. Due to the prevalence of twin boundaries, understanding their effect on detector performance is key to the material selection process. Twin boundaries in several 2 mm thick large area specimens were first documented using infrared transmission imaging. These specimens were then fabricated into either 2mm pixel or planar detectors in order to examine the effect of the twin boundaries on detector performance. Preliminary results show that twin boundaries, which are decorated with tellurium inclusions, produce a reduction in detector efficiency and a degradation in resolution. The extent of the degradation appears to be a function of the density of tellurium inclusions.© (2001) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

One of the critical challenges for large area cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe) detector arrays is obtaining material capable of uniform imaging and spectroscopic response. Two complementary nondestructive techniques for characterizing bulk CdZnTe have been developed to identify material with a uniform response. The first technique, infrared transmission imaging, allows for rapid visualization of bulk defects. The second technique, x-ray spectral mapping, provides a map of the material spectroscopic response when it is configured as a planar detector. The two techniques have been used to develop a correlation between bulk defect type and detector performance. The correlation allows for the use of infrared imaging to rapidly develop wafer mining maps. The mining of material free of detrimental defects has the potential to dramatically increase the yield and quality of large area CdZnTe detector arrays.