This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Dever, J. A Articles by Gummow, J. D Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Mechanical Properties of Teflon® FEP Retrieved from the Hubble Space Telescope

Kim K de Groh

NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH 44135, USA

Russell K Messer

Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH 44115, USA

Mark W McClendon

Michael Viens

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

L Len Wang

Swales Aerospace, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

Jonathan D Gummow

Ohio Aerospace Institute, Cleveland, OH 44142, USA

Teflon® FEP (fluorinated ethylene propylene) surfaces on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have experienced significant degradation in mechanical properties during nearly ten years of exposure in the low Earth orbit environment. This paper describes results of mechanical properties testing of Teflon® FEP materials exposed on HST for 9.7 years between launch and the third servicing mission (SM3A) and for 2.8 years between the second servicing mission (SM2) and SM3A. The results of tensile testing, bend testing and microscopic examination of crack morphology are described. The effects of post-retrieval heating and air compared with vacuum storage on the mechanical properties of the FEP surfaces are described as they significantly affect the interpretation of the results regarding the durability of FEP on HST. This paper provides comparisons of the properties of FEP surfaces retrieved during SM3A to previously reported results for FEP materials retrieved during the first servicing mission (SM1) and SM2. The environmental exposure conditions for the HST exposed materials are also described.

High Performance Polymers, Vol. 13, No. 3, S373-S390 (2001)
DOI: 10.1088/0954-0083/13/3/330


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. A. Dever and C. A. McCracken Efects of Micuum Ultraviolet Radiation of Irious Wavelength Ranges on Teflon(R) FEP Film High Performance Polymers, June 1, 2004; 16(2): 289 - 301. [Abstract] [PDF]