Development of Improved Thermal Control Coatings for Space Assets
Abstract
Thermal control coatings play a critical role in the thermal management of space assets through reflection of incident solar energy and emittance of infrared heat. An investigation into the potential minimization of required film thickness through optimization of zinc oxide pigment particle size was performed. The utilization of a 1.5-micron average particle size pigment in the coating formulation resulted in a slightly improved solar absorbance/emittance value of 0.132 in comparison with the currently used 5.0 micron average particle size pigment. Furthermore, this improved value was obtained at a dry film thickness 18% thinner (4.9 mils) than the current state of the art, which translates to weight savings without a sacrifice in thermal management properties. Use of the smaller particle size pigment also resulted in an improvement in the measured emittance (0.94), likely due to a more uniform surface roughness and fewer large pores present in the film.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA429892
Entities
People
- Amber I. Haines
- Joel A. Johnson
- Laura A. Bedrossian
- Michael T. Kenny
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory