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Conference 7.286::space

Title:	Space Exploration
Notice:	Shuttle launch schedules, see Note 6
Moderator:	PRAGMA::GRIFFIN

Created:	Mon Feb 17 1986
Last Modified:	Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	974
Total number of notes:	18843

866.0. "Starlite - Plastic That Can Withstand A Nuclear Blast" by RCFLYR::CAVANAGH (Jim Cavanagh SHR1-3/R20 237-2252) Tue Aug 31 1993 19:01

  I saw the following in the VNS news today.  Does anyone have more info on
this?  I hate to say it, but it sounds like a hoax to me.  If there really was
such a plastic it would mean MAJOR leaps in technology could take place.  For
example..the X-30.  One big problem they have is with the exterior of the craft
being very hot, and keeping the pieces-parts inside cool.  With this plastic 
you wouldn't need any special cooling system.  And blast proof weapons systems!
I'd expect the goverment to jump on this like crazy!!  Not let it sit around
for a few years and fall into some other countries hands.....


  So....what do you think??





VNS TECHNOLOGY WATCH:                           [Mike Taylor, VNS Correspondent]
=====================                           [Littleton, MA, USA            ]

                  Plastic That Can Withstand A Nuclear Blast
                  By Fred Guteri 

                         Starlite dazzles scientists,
                   but its inventor won't divulge the recipe

    Maurice Ward pulls aside a red suspender and reaches into his shirt
    pocket. Out comes a thin. ream-colored rectangle about the size of
    bathroom tile. Before handing it to a visitor, he hesitates, aware that
    this nondescript plastic may represent a breakthrough in materials
    science that rivals John Wesley Hyatt's invention of plastic in 1869.
    "This is only to look at," he cautions, "not to walk away with."

    Ward's brainchild, which he calls Starlite,  is waxy to the touch and as
    stiff as rubber sheeting. This piece is covered with marks. and Ward
    points to a faint discoloration at the center. "That one's from
    Foulness,~ he says, referring to 1990 tests at Britain's answer to Los
    Alamos National Laboratory. Scientists at the Atomic Weapons
    Establishment in Foulness, 50 miles east of London. bombarded the tile
    with lasers that  simulate the heat of a nuclear explosion.

    In the most severe test, the plastic was zapped for over two minutes by
    laser beams packing sufficient energy to produce spot temperatures of
    10,000C. Yet Starlite emerged essentially unscathed.  A Foulness
    scientist says he is stumped for why, despite photos showing that a thin
    layer of ionized gas formed on the surface and seemed to insulate the
    plastic. Nothing should slough off that much energy, adds Rustum Roy, a
    professor of materials science at Pennsylvania State University. The
    sturdiest metals vaporize above 2,000C. and pure carbon goes poof at
    3,500C. "This stuff sounds like it's breaking the laws of physics," Roy
    said.

    That was the universal reaction when Ward, a hairdresser turned recycler
    of plastics, claimed in 1989 that he had concocted a plastic that was
    barely singed by the 2,700C flame of a welder's acetylene torch.
    Snickers turned to amazement when a major British industrial lab could
    not touch Starlite even with a plasma torch, which is hotter and easily
    cuts through 18 inches of steel. One researcher, who asks not to be
    named,  laid a 1/8-inch-thick sample of Starlite on a one-inch-thick
    slab of  aluminum. The plasma torch sliced the aluminum "like a hot
    knife through butter", he recalls, but it stopped when it hit the
    plastic.

    Then, there was the scientist at Imperial Chemical Industries PLC who
    placed some Starlite in a small laboratory furnace designed to measure
    precisely how much smoke and energy a material releases during
    combustion. But this plastic would not burn. Penn State's Roy, after
    checking with his research contacts in Britain's defense community. is
    impressed, too. "It's not hokum." he says. 'Ward has found something."

    Exactly what is a secret known only to Ward and a few family members.
    But Vladimir Hlavacek, professor of chemical engineering at the State
    University of New York at Buffalo, speculates that Starlite contains "a
    lot of silicon carbide, which is an excellent heat  conductor. It's
    conceivable, he adds, that a backyard experimenter could, through trial
    and error, hit upon an important discovery by combining various such
    nonpolymeric materials with existing plastics and flame-retarding
    chemicals.

    Needless to say, defense officials are intrigued. Starlite seems to
    promise coatings that could protect spy satellites from laser weapons,
    or shields on tanks that could fend off heat from a nuclear blast.
    Britain's Defense Ministry is now running tests at Cambridge University
    and the Royal Signals & Radar Establishment in Malvern to gauge
    Starlite's suitability as a coating for ballistic  missiles to prevent
    overheating during reentry into the atmosphere. In one July test. it
    took just nine seconds to heat a warhead to 900C. But a paper-thin  skin
    of Starlite halted the temperature rise at 10C.

    In addition to being virtually fireproof, then, Starlite may be a superb
    thermal insulator. James P. Smigie, marketing manager for high-
    performance polymers at Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals Inc. in New York,
    recalls a demonstration three years ago in which a Starlite tile was
    blasted with a blowtorch for five minutes, while the other side stayed
    cool enough to touch. Even under fire by the high-power lasers at Foulness, 
    the temperature of the back side of the tile rose by less than 25C.

    If these properties can he translated into commercial products,
    Starlite's payoffs could be huge.  It could become revolutionary garb
    for firefighters. And Starlite upholstery and wall coverings would
    reduce the hazards of fire in homes, offices, and planes. "It's
    extraordinary stuff," says James A. Stempson. president of
    TransTechnology Electronics Inc.. a Peoria manufacturer of electrical
    cables and connectors that hopes to manufacture Starlite.

    So far, though, nobody but Ward has produced the material, because Ward
    drives an outlandish  bargain. Not content with the usual inventor's 
    royalty of a small percentage of sales, he insists that any company
    wanting to capitalize on his baby create a joint venture and cede a 51%
    ownership stake to him. But since he spurns requests for samples, to
    prevent his  recipe from being divined by chemical analysis, it is not 
    known whether Starlite can he made commercially. Ward won't even file
    for a patent because that would require divulging the ingredients.

    Researchers at several U. S. plastics suppliers are keeping a watchful
    eye on Starlite but decline to comment until they know more about the
    material. "That's where we've been for four years. and Maurice hasn't
    been able to get beyond that step," says Smigie of Mitsui Toatsu
    Chemicals. But a break in this logjam may be in the offing. Sir Ronald
    Mason. a former chief scientist at the Defense Ministry, who last year
    was retained by Ward as a marketing  consultant, predicts a deal will be
    signed within a few  months. TransTechnology's Stempson, for one,
    doesn't rule out a joint venture on Ward's terms.

    Now a portly 61, Ward is a stereotypical garage-shop inventor. He began
    searching for a better flame-retardant plastic after he learned a decade
    ago that most deaths in airliner crash landings are caused by smoke from
    burning plastics in the cabin. He hit upon the first forerunner to
    Starlite in 1986 but continued to tinker with it until 1989. That's when
    he put a welder's torch to his latest recipe, a brew of 21 polymers,
    ceramics, and additives, and failed to produce any smoke. Let alone a
    hole. "I realized that I had a winner," he says.

    Today, Ward spends much of his time receiving a steady stream of
    visitors. including defense officials from NATO countries and
    industrialists from as far away as Japan, at his modest house. So far,
    though, Ward has rejected their overtures. If he continues to stall,
    some experts believe that it is only a matter of time before other
    researchers hit upon Starlite's recipe, and leave Ward holding the bag.
    {Business Week August 16, 1993}

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
866.1		AUSSIE::GARSON	nouveau pauvre	`Tue Aug 31 1993 19:50`	3
	re .0 also posted in PHYSICS
866.2		RDGE33::SMITHSOND		`Wed Sep 01 1993 06:14`	36
	I agree with you. Having studied chemistry (only to A'level admittedly) I find this concept hard to swallow. `Plastics', by the common definition, just don't do that ! When subjected to such intense heat, they will degrade. A friend of mine is studying Materials Science, at Manchester University, and after reading this, I immediately got on the phone to him for his opinion. What he said, isn't really suitable for the notesfile, but to give you a clue, they're possesed by men and not women !!! He told me that in normal plastics (carbon chains... polymers) the carbon-carbon bond cannot take such an influx of energy. The bond will break and the plastic will revert to its consituent parts, mainly carbon. From my experience (please correct me if I'm wrong), the carbon-carbon bond is one of the strongest there is. For example, diamond, the hardest substance known to man, is constructed of pure carbon, in a tetrahedral arrangement. Does anyone know what temperature diamond goes `poof' at ? Is this the measurement that they refer to in the article ? So, if this type of bond can't take such a heat increase, then I'd like to know how he constructed his polymers without using some carbon-carbon bonds !!! If, and in my opion it is a BIG if, this is real, then it truely does redefine the laws of physics (well at least for plastics anyway). With such potential importance, ranging, as you say, from household matters to space exploration (staying with the conference title !) then regardless of the cost, the government would surely go to great lengths to get there hands on it. I mean, how much did they spend on Stealth technology alone ??? Faced with all these `facts' I believe it is a hoax, but I will be interested to hear more about it, as will my Materials Science friend ! Best Regards, Dan.
866.3		SKYLAB::FISHER	Carp Diem : Fish the Day	`Wed Sep 01 1993 13:44`	5
	This does not directly answer the question in .2, but they used a diamond windows in one of Pioneer Venus's surface landers to allow the instruments to peer out even in the intense heat. Burns
866.4		AUSSIE::GARSON	nouveau pauvre	`Wed Sep 01 1993 19:46`	14
	re .2 >From my experience (please correct me if I'm wrong), the carbon-carbon bond is >one of the strongest there is. I don't think that is correct. I will try and remember to look up an old chemistry book for a table of bond strengths. I believe that the presence of other atoms can make quite a difference to the strength of a bond or at least to the properties of the material e.g. alloys. I wonder whether the shuttle's tiles could be replaced by a coating of this stuff.
866.5		RDGE33::SMITHSOND		`Thu Sep 02 1993 08:36`	35
	The temperature at which carbon melts (its melting point) is actually 3,800 C and its boiling point is 5,100 C. I couldn't find anything which can remain either solid or liquid above those two temperatures respectively. As such, this leads me to believe that the carbon-carbon bond is one of the strongest. However, I haven't found a table of actual bond strengths as such yet. But, as it is temperature tolerence that is the question here, I think this confirms my suspicions. A polymer (which is what a plastic is) is only as strong as its weakest bond. So lets say, just for argument's sake that the carbon-carbon bond isn't the strongest, or indeed anywhere near to it. This still means that if this `plastic' does posses any carbon-carbon bonds at all, then it will begin to melt (and so degrade) at, or around 3,800 C. Further, it will begin to boil, so becoming gaseous, at, or around 5,100 C. This is only half the temperature it is claimed it can withstand ! Re. 1 I'm interested about one of the qualities the author of the article mentioned. The article states that the Starlite is "waxy to the touch". To me, if something is "waxy to the touch" it means that molecules are being removed from the surface of the material, and deposited on your fingers. It is these molecules on your fingers that give the felling of being "waxy". For molecules to be removed from the surface of a material just by touch indicates that there are some very easily broken bonds at molecular level here. This is assuming, of course, that this is the material itself that has this property, and it is not simply a coating of some other substance on it. Returning to the topic of this conference though, if this `plastic' is real, and does posses these heat resistant qualities, it would indeed be very useful for insulation against the heat experienced by vehicles upon re-entry. Dan.
866.6	Why does the SURFACE have to be the heat sink?	GAUSS::REITH	Jim 3D::Reith MLO1-2/c37 223-2021	`Thu Sep 02 1993 08:48`	14
	I think the other part that you're not calculating in is the statement from the original posting: A Foulness scientist says he is stumped for why, despite photos showing that a thin layer of ionized gas formed on the surface and seemed to insulate the plastic. When a material sloughs off layers, heat is carried away with it as well. Is it possible that this ionized layer becomes a dense enough stable plasma that it collects the heat and brings it away from the surface? You can put an awful lot of energy (read heat) into a plasma state. If this is true then this might be a candidate for fusion containment chamber linings as well as heat sheilds/tiles
866.7		CSC32::HADDOCK	Don't Tell My Achy-Breaky Back	`Thu Sep 02 1993 13:16`	13
	It sounds kind of funny that this guy says he started this project and worked on it for several years because he was concerned about the lives/safety of people, then he sits on the formula. Makes you think that there is a catch somewhere. Like maybe this is the only piece he has been able to produce or you can't shape the stuff. I'd think that he government should go make this guy an offer of something like "if it works we'll pay you a $1B cash". If the stuff works, it would be well worth it for the space program alone. fred();
866.8	?????	BRAT::MCCLELLAN_W		`Thu Sep 02 1993 13:41`	13
	This is really hard to buy. The concept challenges several existing paradigms; about plastics, physics, reality. That is not to say someone could stumble across something new. In fact, establish a brand new paradigm(s). Mathmatically, I suppose it's in the odds, but they must be awfully high. Frankly, I have a serious credibility gap with the story. After all, it's not like it was in the Inquirier; only Business Week. I would think if there was some validity to it, there would have been something in the Inquirier... 8-) 8-) -Bill
866.9		SKYLAB::FISHER	Carp Diem : Fish the Day	`Thu Sep 02 1993 13:58`	16
	re the "waxy" business, the the apparent plasma formed on its surface: I wonder if it might be ablative? Another possibility is that the top layer of the material forms a highly conductive layer of some sort at the first touch of the laser. This layer procedes to conduct the heat away very quickly across a large enough area to radiate away before the surface reaches its bond-breaking point. If either of these theories is correct, the material would not work well in applications like shuttle tiles. If it is truly ablative, it would have to be replaced frequently. If it forms a thin conductive layer, then we have two problems: 1) the layer gets blown away by a hypersonic air stream making it effectively ablative, and (2) there is no place to radiate the heat if there is a large area of heated Starlite, as opposed to just a point heat source. Burns
866.10		AUSSIE::GARSON	nouveau pauvre	`Thu Sep 02 1993 19:43`	51
	re .5 You need to distinguish between inter-molecular bonds and intra-molecular (i.e. inter-atomic) bonds (although there are substances where the distinction is blurry). When a molecular solid (such as ice) melts, it is inter-molecular bonds that are being broken. When a substance like salt melts, there being no molecules anyway, it is inter-atomic bonds that are broken. When a compound (of either nature) undergoes chemical change, it is inter-atomic bonds being broken. In any case, as promised, a table of (intra-molecular) bond strengths. Single Bonds Double Bonds Triple Bonds H-F 135 C=O 177 N#N 225 O-H 111 C=C 146 C#C 200 H-H 104 O=O 119 H-Cl 103 C-H 99 N-H 93 H-Br 87 C-O 86 C-C 83 H-I 71 Cl-Cl 58 Br-Br 46 N-N 39 O-O 35 I-I 35 (Units: kcal/mole. I apologise for the obsolete units.) e.&o.e. In diamond, being a non-molecular solid, there would be four single (C-C) bonds to break. I have no idea of the "form" of liquid diamond so can't comment on what you might "get back" by reforming bonds if the liquid is molecular. re .? I wondered when I read the original report whether enough of the substance ionises/vaporises (whatever) to get a sample for mass spectroscopy i.e. obviously the inventor takes away the test sample but maybe some material "splattered" around or condensed on the test apparatus, not to mention samples from the "waxed fingers". Of course, knowing the composition might not be enough if the manufacturing process is tricky, and not that I would condone dishonesty. (-:
866.11		RDGE33::SMITHSOND		`Tue Sep 14 1993 11:25`	19
	Ok, so the carbon-carbon bond isn't the strongest ! However, do you agree that a polymer is only as strong as its weakest link or bond ? Do you agree that to create a plastic, by the common definition, you have to generate some sort of carbon chain ? If you answer yes, then you must agree that this concept of such a heat/energy resistant plastic seems hard to swallow. If more than the said amount of energy required to break that bond is supplied, then I'm afraid you can kiss goodbye to your polymer and plastic ! Yet, if this thin layer of ionised gas is the secret to the plastic's heat resistant properties, then I'd like to know how and where it is generated. Does it come from the plastic's surface. Is this the product of the "waxy coat" ? Is this the "waxy coat's" response to huge heat influx ? If it is, then hasn't he found a new protective coating, rather than a heat resistant plastic ? Regards, Dan.
866.12		DCOPST::TONYSC::SCOLARO	One Way out	`Tue Sep 14 1993 14:38`	1
	Strength of the bond may not be the issue if there is some abalation
866.13		RDGE33::SMITHSOND		`Fri Sep 17 1993 05:17`	1
	But what controls abalation ?
866.14		DCOPST::TONYSC::SCOLARO	One Way out	`Fri Sep 17 1993 13:54`	8
	What controls abalation? Could be many things. Including nearby airflow. I seem to remember someone stating that the starlite appeared to create a boundary layer that acted as a reflector. Tony
866.15	Heat Mirror	MAYDAY::ANDRADE	The sentinel (.)(.)	`Tue Sep 21 1993 07:13`	7
	If starlite works as described then, it would also make good rocket engine lining. Reducing or eliminating the the need for dynamic cooling. I go more with the theory that it is reflecting the heat, rather then being ablated. Is a heat mirror possible ... Gil
866.16	piff, paff, pooff !	RDGE33::SMITHSOND		`Fri Sep 24 1993 05:43`	17
	Right, I understand ablation to be the removal of the surface layer(s) of this material. Correct ? Now why/how this occurs, I'm a little fuzzy on. But, if this plastic's heat resistant/reflective properties are a result of this ablation, then I can't see that much use for it. In any dynamic situation, this plastic's special property would prove to be useless, unless this insulating/reflective layer can adhire to the surface in some way. If this material is applied in any environment where this layer will be removed by external forces (shuttle tiles,rocket engine lining, etc.) then your plastic will disentigrate before your very eyes. Ablation would account for the surface marks seen on the original sample (re. 0). These marks could be the areas where material was removed by this process. Overall though, this concept still seems hard to swallow. Dan.
866.17	IF .0 true, then it probably isn't ablation	REPAIR::RICKETTS	Well fax me	`Fri Sep 24 1993 10:33`	18
	One of the demonstrations listed was pointing a blowtorch at it for five minutes, after which the rear side of the 'tile' remained cool enough to touch. If true, this surely scotches both ablation and very good heat conductivity (one guy quoted in .0 suggested SiC might be an ingredient) as means of explaining its properties. The flame from a blowtorch would surely carry ablated material away rapidly, preventing any protective layer from forming. If heat were being conducted rapidly away through the material, the other side of it would get hot. The same thought occurred to me as to the author of an earlier reply, that if Ward developed the stuff to help improve aircraft safety, then keeping it out of commercial production is not serving his stated original aim any. Has anyone heard of the named professors and others mentioned in the basenote? Are they genuine, respectable scientists? Ken
866.18		RDGE33::SMITHSOND		`Tue Sep 28 1993 04:59`	18
	Can't say that I've heard of any of the scientists ! Anyway, this is goodbye, as I'm going back to university at the end of the week, and this is probably the last time I'm going to get chance to write. I've had a great time with Digital over the summer, but I'm afriad I've got to return to the parties and the night life and the...sigh ! It has been really good participating in the notesfile discussions. I hope you lot didn't mind a part timer sticking his nose in !! I'll keep my eye out for this starlite stuff, huh, maybe it is true! Well, I'm outa here, I'm gone, I'm history... Good luck to you all, Best Wishes, Dan.
866.19	related old news?	AUSSIE::GARSON	Hotel Garson: No Vacancies	`Fri Feb 18 1994 19:40`	79
	Reproduced without permission from AvLeak/Feb 1, 1988 (p. 75) MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY Laboratories Test Material That Blocks Laser Energy LANCASTER, CALIF. Several Air Force, Army, university, and aerospace industry laboratories are evaluating a new man-made material that effectively blocks a wide range of laser wavelengths and energies up to a certain level, then exhibits "black body" absorbent characteristics. Trademarked under the name Laser Shield, the opaque material is an "isotropic engineered polymer matrix" that up to some undetermined level neither transmits nor reacts to laser energy, according to its developer, Slava W. Harlamor, president of Harlamor-Schadeck (AW&ST Jan. 11, p. 11). The small California research firm has been pursuing aerospace propulsion concepts for several years, and the company-proprietary Laser Shield material evolved from these studies. A sample of the material visually resembles a high-density urethane foam, but is harder and slightly heavier than an equivalent-sized piece of foam. By changing the Laser Shield's molecular properties, physical characteristics such as density can be tailored during the production process. One model of the engineered polymeric material - named "AELITA" - was designed to emulate the density of hardwood. It has a density of 40 lb./cu. ft. and can be cut or machined with standard woodworking tools. Precision cuts in the homogeneous sample are well-defined, and thin sections resist bending much better than hardwood does. Numerically controlled machining equipment can handle the material at "good speeds," Harlamor said, and produces smooth shavings with very little dust. However, a water jet cutter used for shaping composite materials produces a rough edge on the AELITA. The U.S. Army Materials Technology Laboratory began conducting tests on Laser Shield samples last year, and confirmed that the material acts as a "diffuse reflector" - incident coherent laser light is reflected from the material's surface in a diffuse pattern. This diffusing phenomenon appears to occur at the material's outer surface, but why the laser energy is diffused instead of absorbed (at the energy levels tested) is not understood yet. Several different sections of the Army laboratory - including the Laser Hardening unit - are conducting additional tests. Recent tests by a major aerospace company indicate that, at some as-yet- undefined energy level, the materials properties shift and the Laser Shield begins to act like a "black body," absorbing all incident radiation instead of breaking down. This observed characteristic, though, is based on very preliminary test results. The Air Force Strategic Air Command is sponsoring a series of tests on the material at Wright-Patterson AFB and at the Kirtland AFB weapons laboratories. SAC is interested in several possible applications for the material, including the protection of aircraft fuel tanks, Harlamor said. The USAF Space Command will monitor the tests, as well. "We are interested in the material for several [long-lead time] reasons - as protection from lasers on orbital payloads and for a number of SDI-related applications," an officer at the command's Colorado headquarters said. "There are a lot of questions, though, that we hope [the Wright-Patterson] tests will answer: How thick does it have to be to protect? Can it withstand the temperature variations of space? Can it be made to spray on and coat something? How will it react to radio, radar and microwaves?" At the moment, the material can only be formed in blocks under a high-pressure process, then machined to a desired shape, Harlamor said. Princeton University's Plasma Physics Laboratory is planning to run a variety of high-power tests with a one gigawatt carbon dioxide laser and, possibly, a 20 gigawatt X-ray laser. In an early, very preliminary test conducted by A-B Lasers, Inc., with its Model LBU laser marking system, the AELITA material was only slightly discoloured by the beam's 10 successive passes over the same area, according to Gerhard Marcinkowski, sales manager for the Acton, Mass., company. The 60 W continuous wave Nd:YAG (neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet) laser marking system was programmed to write 25 characters over the same location at a speed of 5 mm/second for 1 min. Operating at a wavelength of 1.06 microns, this system is routinely used for high-volume marking of metals and plastics such as drill bits, precision tools and computer keyboard keys.