PROGRAM 461 RELIABILITY MATERIALS RESEARCH AND APPLICATION BEHAVIOR OF SLIP RINGS IN A SPACE ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

In this study of the operating characteristics of sliding electrical contacts in a vacuum it was found that noise contributed to the circuit by the sliding interface can be reduced orders of magnitude by supplying a lubricant to the sliding surfaces. The lubricant can be supplied by two methods: (1) by adding a small percent of Mos2 in a sintered block of fine silver powder to one of the contacts. A vacuum test using this method exhibited an rms noise level of 20 microvolts after 311 hours, after which the test was terminated; and (2) by a continuous or periodic discharge of a low-vapor-pressure oil in the immediate vicinity of the sliding surface. Example: A continuous supply of oil vapor can be delivered from small blocks of 25% porous, sintered nylon, physically attached to the interior of a confining cubical in which sliding is occurring. The periodic discharge system in the example above, used in a slipring assembly, resulted in rms noise levels which were less than 100 microvolts over the entire period of a 5000-hr test.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 30, 1963
Accession Number
AD0407248

Entities

Organizations

  • Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Composite Materials
  • Electrodeposition
  • Graphitic Materials
  • Instrumentation
  • Ion Pumps
  • Laboratory Equipment
  • Low Noise
  • Low Noise Amplifiers
  • Materials
  • Materials Science
  • Measurement
  • Partial Pressure
  • Plastic Explosives
  • Power Supplies
  • Resistance
  • Slip Rings
  • Space Environments

Readers

  • Acoustics.
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Tribology (the study of the boundary interaction between sliding surfaces, lubrication, wear and friction).

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster