HIGH PERFORMANCE POROUS MATERIALS

A MODULAR APPROACH TO THE DESIGN OF A POROUS SURFACE CONSISTING OF AS MANY AS 43,776 CAPILLARIES PER SQUARE FOOT, FOR BOUNDARY LAYER CONTROL IS PROPOSED. THE ELEMENTS OF THE SURFACE COMPRISE UNIQUE STAINLESS STEEL CAPILLARY STRUCTURE INSERTS AND A RECEIVING SURFACE OF PERFORATED STAINLESS STEEL PLATE DESIGNED TO EXACTLY MATCH AND LOCK THE INSERTS IN PLACE. THE POROUS SURFACE IS STRONG, CORROSION RESISTANT AND LOW COST. FLEXIBILITY IN FLOW CHARTACTERISTICS IS ACHIEVED BY CHOICE OF THE NUMBER, DIAMETER (0.0004 INCHES TO 0.200 INCHES) AND LENGTH (UP TO 100 TIMES L/D) OF THE CAPILLARIES IN THE INSERTS AND THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE INSERTS. THE SURFACE CAN BE CONTOURED WITHOUT CAPILLARY DISTORTION USING PROPRIETARY TECHNIQUES. THE CAPILLARY INSERT FABRICATION PROCESS IS UNIQUE AND IS SUCH THAT THE COST OF THE INSERTS IS RELATIVELY INSENSITIVE TO THE NUMBER OF CAPILLARIES PER INSERT, IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION TO CONVENTIONAL HOLE MAKING PROCESSES SUCH AS DRILLING, E.B. AND LASER TECHNIQUES.