Handheld Metal Tube Straightener

The SHEARLESS composite boom has a rollable structure with a large moment of inertia per unit of stored height that does not suffer from shear-derived problems. The boom is fabricated from joining two independent tape-springs front-to-front with the use of a durable seamless polymer sleeve. This sleeve allows the two parts to slide past each other during the coiling/deployment process so as to minimize shear and its derived problems. The innovation enables a lightweight structure that can be stowed on a reel without appreciable shear stresses developing in its constitutive composite parts, allowing for unprecedentedly small coiling diameters for the total thickness of the structure. As demonstrated, through specific laminate design of the two inner composite parts, the SHEARLESS composite boom can also be fabricated with a special inherent feature, bi-stability, which enables designs with minimal mechanisms and aids in deployment controllability and reliability.

The C-Gauge is made of a 3D-printed aluminum body with strain gauges attached to the inner and outer walls of the connecting beam. The legs of the gauge attach firmly to the cord. When the cord is stretched, the tension in the cord goes through the legs and into the beam, causing it to bend. This bending creates a tension and compression stress in the bottom and top surface of the beam, respectively. The strain gauges capture the tension and compression, which are then used to determine the tension in the cord. The use of multiple strain gauges mitigates any torsion loading of the gauge and provides a direct measurement of the axial tension load of the cord. The C-Gauge is a low-profile, non-invasive system that can be installed onto an existing cord in a system (e.g., the suspension, reefing, or riser lines in a parachute) without the need to remove or re-install the cord. It is small and lightweight and does not add stiffness or weight to the cord and thus does not affect the dynamics of the parachute or the structural response of the system. The C-Gauge can be scaled to larger and smaller sizes to measure larger and smaller load capabilities, dependent on the cord. The C-Gauge is at a TRL 4 (component and/or breadboard validation in a laboratory environment) and it is now available for your company to license and develop into a commercial product. Please note that NASA does not manufacture products itself for commercial sale.

The square form joint has several novel features to improve reliability, performance and robustness. Most simply, the square tubes are stronger than round for a specified maximum cross-section dimension. Structural benefits include nearly complete perimeter contact geometry for improved structural efficiency, improved cantilever beam response via linear bending response about y and z axis, and linear torsional response about x axis. Additionally, there is betterlinear axial response along x axis due to simple geometry and large contact surfaces, higher torsional/torque capability (about x axis), higher bending capability about all axes, higher axial capability, and is more cost effective to manufacture. It also offers a bonding strap and treated contact surfaces that provide electrical conductivity through the joint. Switching to square cross section joints provides packaging efficiency, along with numerous improvements for robotic assembly applications such as providing rotational registration, robotically compatible tool designs, both mechanical and visual indicators to verify locking operation, preload and capture spring forces with a unique stop plate in the drive train that can be designed to default to the assembled condition without a preload, yet spring back if forced toward unlocked. After assembly, preload can be adjusted for security. Designed for robust assembly, the robotic tools are built to actuate the joint.

The innovation was developed for low-pressure pneumatic testing of a vacuum chamber in the Kennedy Cryogenics Test Laboratory. Standard relief valves that utilize mechanical springs did not function adequately at the low pressure (16 pounds per square inch [psi]) required by the inventors during testing. The technology is an improvement over current pressure relief valves using spring mechanisms. Typical pressure relief valves are normally held closed by a spring. After a relief valves cracking pressure is reached, the spring is compressed and the valve opens to relieve excess pressure. The NASA valve eliminates the need for a spring by instead incorporating magnets to hold the poppet relief valve in the closed position. The use of magnets in a pressure relief valve exploits the exponential decay of the magnetic field between two magnets as they are separated. This leads to a faster acting valve that does not require an increasing force to open the relief valve after cracking pressure has been surpassed, as is the case in standard pressure relief valves.

Friction Pull Plug Welding (FPPW) is the process necessary to plug the hole that is left behind as a friction stir weld (FSW) joint is completed and the pin tool of the welder retracts from the joint. FPPW involves a small, rotating part (plug) being spun and simultaneously pulled (forged) into a hole in a larger part. Much work has been done to fully understand and characterize the process and its limitations. FPPW worked very well for building large rocket sections such as the circumferential welds of the upper stages of NASA's Ares rocket, and to repair the external tank. Engineers were challenged to adapt FPPW to accommodate the thicker plates new alloy combinations of the SLS. The new hybrid plug solves the issue of the plugs snapping due to the increase torsion and moment stresses when joining thicker plates. The new hybrid plug, with a steel shank, makes FPPW more practical and robust. The new plug has been used to make space-qualified parts at NASA, and the plug welds are as strong as initial welds.