NASA SBIR 2016 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
TDA Research, Inc.
12345 West 52nd Avenue
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 - 1916
(303) 422-7819

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Mr. Michael D. Diener Ph.D.
mikee@tda.com
12345 West 52nd Avenue
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 - 1916
(303) 940-2314

CORPORATE/BUSINESS OFFICIAL (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Mr. John D. Wright
jdwright@tda.com
12345 West 52nd Avenue
Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 - 1916
(303) 940-2300

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 2
End: 3

Technology Available (TAV) Subtopics
Ablative Thermal Protection Systems Technologies is a Technology Available (TAV) subtopic that includes NASA Intellectual Property (IP). Do you plan to use the NASA IP under the award?
No

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
TDA Research is proposing to chemically modify the polymer backbone of polymers known to have char yields upwards of 70% at 800+ ⁰C (under inert gas) in order to make the polymers flexible, and possibly elastomeric at or near room temperature. Flexibility is a result of easy rotation around the bonds within a polymer backbone, maintained only in the presence of low crosslink density. Conversely, a high char yield requires very robust bonding, generally with high crosslink density, since floppy, easily broken bonds lead to the evolution of gas, reducing the residual mass. Our modifications will reduce the char yield, but, in this case, even a 10% loss in char yield would still be comparable to the char yield of the inflexible phenolic resins currently in use.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Flexible polymers with high char yields are required for advanced ablative thermal protection systems (TPS) used for planetary aerocapture and entry, as well as for Earth return missions. Minimizing TPS weight versus legacy materials can greatly reduce the mission cost, and a suite of new TPS materials has recently been developed at NASA and elsewhere. However, most of these newer, higher-performing TPS have limitations on part size. A spacecraft TPS is therefore made from many individual pieces of material, and the narrow space between parts must be filled to retain performance. There is therefore an acute need for a gap filler that has enough flexibility to prevent cracks from developing during assembly and deployment, and a similarly high char yield so that cracks do not develop when the TPS is exposed to high thermal loads.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Ablative insulation incorporating high char yield polymers is widely used in a variety of military applications, including the reentry vehicles of ballistic missiles, rocket nozzles, and certain hypersonic vehicle designs. TDA is actively working with the Missile Defense Agency to develop new materials and/or formulations for several of these applications. New programs, such as the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, are also emerging, and would benefit from high char polymers with improved processing, environmental stability, and/or decreased thermal conductivity.