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Post by parfive on Apr 27, 2012 12:15:46 GMT -5
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Post by parfive on Apr 28, 2012 1:40:03 GMT -5
Quick!! Look out the window.
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Post by stoner on May 1, 2012 10:44:45 GMT -5
I worked at Lockheed when they developed the heat tiles, great stuff. One can place a 1" thick tile on their hand, apply torch heat above the tile and leave it there and you wouldn't feel the heat on your hand, even though the tile was red hot on top.
Goodbye to an era, I hope the new system will be more up to date than the shuttle was!
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Post by helens on May 1, 2012 15:30:07 GMT -5
Stoner... and the tile ceramic is way lighter than you'd expect too. My watch is made of that ceramic... it's incredible stuff... and almost indestructible. I don't know why it's not used in more commercial applications. Unfortunately, SpaceX is a private company that does commercial space flights... and few of the customers are US. I liked it better when the US gov't ran the shuttles.
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unclestu
Cave Dweller 
WINNER OF THE FIRST RTH KILLER CAB CONTEST UNCLESTU'S AGUA NUEVA AGATE
Member since April 2011
Posts: 2,298
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Post by unclestu on May 1, 2012 16:13:03 GMT -5
Ceramic though virtually scratch resistant is somewhat brittle. That is probably why its not used more extensively.
Stu
"Ceramics are generally hard and brittle because of the type of bonds that hold the atoms together in the material. Ceramics are made up of covalent, ionic, or both types of bonds.
Covalent bonds are directional, which means that they form bonds only in specific directions and in a sense are more ordered/selective. So when a force is applied, the bonds will try very hard to resist deformation. As a result of this, the material is usually tough (toughness being defined as the ability of a material to absorb energy without rupture), but brittle when that threshold is passed.
Although ionic bonds are nondirectional in nature (meaning they can form bonds in multiple directions) , we need to realize that we are dealing with charged particles that become unstable when they are placed under a force. You could almost think of it as bringing like charges closer together when a strong enough force is applied to the material, so that they repel each other. "
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Post by helens on May 1, 2012 16:56:58 GMT -5
Well, that and it probably costs more to manufacture. I would think that the heat properties would be really useful in computer hardware, where heat is the #1 factor in parts longevity. Hrm.
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Post by stoner on May 1, 2012 19:17:15 GMT -5
"I would think that the heat properties would be really useful in computer hardware, where heat is the #1 factor in parts longevity."
And that is EXACTLY why it's not used!
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