my only real concern with resin type laminates for TPS in this sorta set-up would be delamination. the environment of the TPS seems like it could fairly easily cause a significant horizontal delamination or at least microscopic Z axis cracks (IE "into" the material). in a single use set-up it probably wouldn't matter much as the cracks wouldn't have a thermal cycle to propagate but overtime with the additional vibration of grinding well... also I don't know how many of you have ground significant quantities of fibreglass style stuff but the dust that stuff gives off is a *REAL* pain in the ass. and there is huge quantities of it from fairly small amounts of grinding. with a fair number of flights this could become a fair environmental factor. (though in this application mixing the dust with fresh resin then injecting it would probably work out ok.)
personally the water one gets my vote for the coolness factor at least ;-> hmmmm I'd contribute to the pun jar if somebody sprung for the flight over there tehehe. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Wallis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "Pierce Nichols" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2003 6:11 PM Subject: Re: [ERPS] Turnaround Crew > Randall Clague wrote: > > > I don't see this. A vehicle with a field-swappable TPS can have a > > fast turnaround. Unlock the panels, take them off, put the new ones > > on, and lock them down. Send the old panels off to the shop for > > refurb, or throw them out. > > Precisely. The original (1987) Alpha designs had ablative oak laminate > that was attached to the (removable) base cap. After landing the > grounds crew would pop the base, swap it out for a fresh one and > secure it. We'd have a new TPS in under two hours while other techs > were fixing anything that shook loose, the cargo boys where swapping > payload attachments and the loaders were refuelling. A six hour > turnaround was very do-able. > > Michael > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > Michael Wallis KF6SPF (408) 396-9037 [EMAIL PROTECTED] > _______________________________________________ > ERPS-list mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list _______________________________________________ ERPS-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list
