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Thermal Expansion Solutions, Inc.

Address

501 Graham Rd
College Station, TX, 77845-9662
USA

View website

UEI: JDMKJN2L1G17

Number of Employees: 5

HUBZone Owned: No

Woman Owned: No

Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No

SBIR/STTR Involvement

Year of first award: 2015

Phase I Awards

Phase II Awards

66.67%

Conversion Rate

$715,744

Phase I Dollars

$3,770,351

Phase II Dollars

$4,486,095

Total Awarded

Awards

Up to 10 of the most recent awards are being displayed. To view all of this company's awards, visit the Award Data search page.

ALLVAR Alloys for Athermalizing SiC Telescopes with Reduced SWAP-C

Amount: $1,470,389 Topic: MDA21-001

The Ultimate Goal of these research efforts is to develop ALLVAR Alloy athermalizing strut components that enable size, weight, cost, lead time, and performance enhancements of SiC mirrored optical seekers that must withstand extreme exo-atmosphere, endo-atmosphere, and mechanical loading environments. ALLVAR Alloys offer a brand-new strong and ductile support structure solution that can offer lower cost and lead time compared to legacy seeker telescopes, when combined SiC mirrors. The Phase I project modified the thermal expansion coefficient of ALLVAR’s commercially available Alloy 30 to reach the shortened lead time goal. This proposed Phase II project will buy down the risk associated with implementing this new alloy into seeker applications by collecting necessary material property data and beginning an incremental and iterative design, analysis, build, and test plan that includes thermal, shock, vibration, radiation, and optic performance testing. ALLVAR’s collaboration with Raytheon and Quartus Engineering, subcontractors on the project, identified 1) the acquisition of micro-creep, micro- yield, and basic material properties and 2) the design, building, and testing of an ALLVAR Alloy athermalized SiC primary mirror assembly under random vibration as the most important and highest risk elements to address in an incremental test plan. This Phase II project aims to address these highest risk next steps with the following Key Objectives: 1) Close quality and material property knowledge gaps for mirror holding, interfaces, and long-term stability of ALLVAR Alloys, 2) Design a multi-mirrored SiC telescope athermalized with ALLVAR Alloys, and 3) Fabricate and evaluate the performance of the telescope’s primary mirror mount in random vibration environmental conditions. This project includes thermal and vibration analysis of a multi-mirror system and vibration testing of a primary mirror assembly. If successful, this Phase II effort will provide a foundation for executing this test plan in future efforts with the aid and guidance of MDA and Raytheon. Approved for Public Release | 22-MDA-11340 (16 Dec 22)

SBIR

Phase II

2023

DOD

MDA

ALLVAR Alloys for Athermalizing SiC Telescopes with Reduced SWAP-C

Amount: $149,989 Topic: MDA21-001

This Phase I seeks to develop optical seekers that must operate in the endo-atmosphere and exo-atmosphere with high mechanical and thermal stability. ALLVAR Alloy support structures have the potential to create smaller, lighter, and lower cost athermalization solutions for Silicon Carbide (SiC) mirrored telescopes without sacrificing the thermal stability traditionally associated with monolithic or mono-material designs. To realize these benefits, this project aims to tune ALLVAR Alloys’ coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) to zero. The closer to zero thermal expansion (ZTE), the higher the material’s thermal stability. A target of ~100 W/um is based off of SiC’s thermal stability. If successful, a strong and ductile support structure material will be produced that can be used to athermalize telescopes with SiC mirrors. Approved for Public Release | 21-MDA-11013 (19 Nov 21)

SBIR

Phase I

2022

DOD

MDA

Reducing SWAP-C with ALLVAR Alloy Athermalized Optics

Amount: $40,828 Topic: AF212-CSO1

Optics that are designed to have a fixed focus suffer from poor performance across temperature changes. Current solutions include creating an offset “tube-in-a-tube” solution to compensate for the thermal defocus caused by the thermal changes in refractiv

SBIR

Phase I

2022

DOD

USAF

Novel CTE Tuning of Ultra-Stable ALLVAR Alloy Struts for Large Space Telescopes

Amount: $799,986 Topic: S2

ALLVAR Alloys-30 shrinks when heated and expands when cooled, known as negative thermal expansion (NTE). This opposite effect from most materials allows Alloy-30 to compensate for positive thermal expansion (PTE) materials. We have created a new material for athermalizing optics made from any type of mirror material by joining Alloy-30 to other PTE metals to create a specified thermal expansion coefficient. Currently, achievable coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) range between -30 ppm/K, Alloy-30rsquo;s CTE, to +24 ppm/K, Aluminumrsquo;s CTE. This provides a new alternative material to currently used carbon fiber composite metering structures and trusses used in optics. The pm-stability of these new metal structures have already been achieved. If this new technology can be scaled to have ultra-stability at meter length scales and the CTE tuned to within ppb/K, they could be used as metering structures in EUV/Optical/IR large area telescopes. The novel CTE tuning method has the potential to simplify the manufacturing and alignment and offer greater thermal stability of these optic systems.

SBIR

Phase II

2022

NASA

Novel CTE Tuning of Ultra-Stable ALLVAR Alloy Struts for 10m to 20m Telescopes

Amount: $124,996 Topic: S2

This NASA SBIR Phase I proposal is in response to the need for Ultra-Stable Telescope Structures at 10m to 20m length scales and is designed to scale ultra-stable ALLVAR Alloy struts from cm-length to m-length scales. Additionally, a novel method for tuning a strutrsquo;s CTE without changing the strutrsquo;s length will be validated for their potential use in space-telescope structures critical to NASArsquo;s future missions. Telescopes used for astrophysics, exoplanet, and planetary studies require picometer stability over several minutes to hours. Building large support structures with picometer level stability is a challenge with currently available materials such as carbon fiber composites due to their high cost and moisture expansion. ALLVAR Alloys offer a new material solution for thermally stable structures. They exhibit negative thermal expansion and can compensate for the positive thermal expansion of other materials to stabilize a telescope. Bars with thermal stability approaching Zerodurrsquo;sreg; have previously been made by joining ALLVAR Alloys to commercially available Titanium alloys and struts exhibiting pm-level stability have been fabricated and tested. This Phase I project is designed to leverage this previous development to create the first large scale ultra-stable ALLVAR Alloy structures and develop a brand-new method for tuning its CTE. If successful, this new technology could enable CTE tuning of fully assembled ultra-stable structures in-situ. The Phase I project would fabricate and characterize a ~2m long strut segment in preparation for larger scale manufacturing and testing in a Phase II project.

SBIR

Phase I

2021

NASA

Negative Thermal Expansion ALLVAR Alloys for High Temperatures

Amount: $124,946 Topic: S1

This NASA SBIR Phase I project will develop high temperature ALLVAR Alloys to improve the reliability of structures and sensors necessary for NASArsquo;s future planetary body exploration. Different thermal expansion mismatch between materials and components can push sensors out of specification and reduce sensor life after thermal cycling potentially leading to to mission failure. Negative thermal expansion ALLVAR Alloys can compensate for the thermal expansion mismatch between components by shrinking when heated and expanding when cooled; the opposite of other materials. Commercially available ALLVAR Alloy 30 is ideal for athermalizing infrared optics, telescope assemblies, and mechanical fasteners, but it is currently limited to applications below 100 degrees Celsius. New alloy development is necessary to push the maximum operating temperature of ALLVAR Alloys to the higher temperatures experienced on the Moon and Venus. The Phase I development will identify alloys and produce a new cost effective negative thermal expansion alloy for these high temperature environments. A follow-on Phase II will scale manufacturing processes and explore specific sensor athermalizing applications such as metering structures for optics or washers for constant force fasteners.

SBIR

Phase I

2020

NASA

Ultra-Stable ALLVAR Alloy Strut Development for Space Telescopes

Amount: $749,976 Topic: S2

This NASA SBIR Phase II proposal is in response to the need for Ultra-Stable Telescope Structures and is designed to evaluate ALLVAR Alloys for their potential as metering and support structures for optics that are critical to NASArsquo;s future missions. Telescopes used for astrophysics, exoplanet, and planetary studies require picometer stability over several minutes to hours. Building large support structures with picometer level stability is a challenge with currently available materials due to their brittle nature in the case of Zerodur and ULE or their requirement to have tight thermal control in the case of SiC or carbon fiber composites. ALLVAR Alloys offer a new material solution for thermally stable structures. They exhibit negative thermal expansion and can compensate for the positive thermal expansion of other materials to stabilize a telescope. Bars with thermal stability approaching Zerodurrsquo;s have previously been made by joining ALLVAR Alloys to commercially available Titanium alloys, and the Phase I effort developed stabilization processes for improved dimensional stability. This Phase II project is designed to leverage the Phase I development to create an ultra-stable ALLVAR Alloy hexapod structure and compare its performance to Invar, a commonly used low CTE material. The Phase II project would run full scale pm level stability tests of both assemblies in an effort to quantify the ALLVAR Alloyrsquo;s performance as an ultra-stable strut.

SBIR

Phase II

2019

NASA

Ultra-Stable ALLVAR Alloy Development for Space Telescopes

Amount: $124,993 Topic: S2

This NASA SBIR Phase I proposal is in response to the need for Ultra-Stable Telescope Structures and is designed to evaluate ALLVAR Alloys for their potential as metering and support structures for optics that are critical to NASA’s future missions. Telescopes used for astrophysics, exoplanet, and planetary studies require picometer stability over several minutes to hours. Building large support structures with picometer level stability is a challenge with currently available materials due to their brittle nature in the case of Zerodur and ULE or their requirement to have tight thermal control in the case of SiC or carbon fiber composites. ALLVAR Alloys offer a new material solution for thermally stable structures. They exhibit negative thermal expansion and can compensate for the positive thermal expansion of other materials to stabilize a telescope. The ultimate goal of this work is to create an ultra-stable ALLVAR Alloy metering structure manufacturing process. Bars with low thermal expansion have previously been made by welding ALLVAR Alloys to commercially available Titanium alloys, but their dimensional stability over thermal fluctuations is above the pm stability limit. This Phase I project is designed to better understand the individual stability of the titanium and ALLVAR Alloys and to evaluate hydroxide bonding for mounting mirrors to ALLVAR in preparation for pm level stability tests. The Phase II project would run full scale pm level stability tests in an effort to evaluate the relaxation manufacturing steps and understand how welding the ALLVAR Alloy to titanium may affect the material’s stability.

SBIR

Phase I

2018

NASA

SBIR Phase II: Zero Thermal Expansion Alloys For Lasers

Amount: $750,000 Topic: MI

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop new alloys whose thermal expansion properties can be tailored for laser applications. The tailored thermal expansion alloys will prevent shifts in laser output frequencies, i.e. laser color, by preventing the natural temperature-induced thermal expansion and contraction that occurs in laser housings. This temperature stability is extremely important for fiber-optic systems that are the backbone of the telecommunications industry. According to Strategies Unlimited, the telecommunications laser market was $3.515 billion in 2014, and it is expected to increase with the increasing number of mobile devices and growing demand for high-speed internet. While oil and gas telecommunications systems were identified as the beachhead market, the alloys developed through this project will also have potential to add value to the wider telecommunications market and a number of other industrial and electronics applications. The intellectual merit of this project lies in a new method to exhibit unprecedented control over thermal expansion properties in metal alloys. The discovery that mechanical deformation tailors or "programs" the thermal expansion of a bulk metal to match that of other common materials (metals, polymers, and ceramics) will change the way scientists and engineers design for thermal compensation. These alloys can also be tailored not to expand or contract with temperature changes and even be made to shrink when heated. This wide range of tailored alloy responses is achieved without chemical changes or composite fabrication methods upon which competing technologies rely. This Phase II project will reduce the risks associated with implementing the tailored thermal expansion alloy technology in laser applications by developing high thermal conductivity alloys and testing prototypes. Alloys will be purchased, engineered to have a desired coefficient of thermal expansion, and tested for laser performance. The expected outcome of this work is the realization of tailored thermal expansion alloys in laser prototypes.

SBIR

Phase II

2017

NSF

SBIR Phase I: Tailored Thermal Expansion Alloys

Amount: $149,992 Topic: MI

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop new alloys whose thermal expansion properties can be tailored for critical applications. For example, tailored thermal expansion alloys will prevent shifts in laser output frequencies, i.e. laser color, by preventing the natural temperature-induced thermal expansion and contraction that occurs in lasers. This temperature stability is extremely important for fiber-optic systems that are the backbone of the telecommunications industry. According to Strategies Unlimited, the telecommunications laser market was $3.515 billion in 2014, and it is expected to increase with the increasing number of mobile devices and growing demand for high-speed internet. The alloys to be developed in this project also have potential to add value in a number of other industrial and electronics applications. The intellectual merit of this project lies in a new method to exhibit unprecedented control over thermal expansion properties in a variety of metal alloys. The discovery that mechanical deformation tailors or "programs" the thermal expansion of a bulk metal to match that of other common materials (polymers, ceramics) will change the way scientists and engineers design for thermal compensation. These alloys can also be tailored not to expand or contract with temperature changes. This wide range of tailored alloy responses is achieved without chemical changes or composite fabrication methods upon which competing technologies rely. This Phase I project will reduce the risks facing new applications of this tailored thermal expansion alloy technology by developing scalable processing schemes for cyclically-stable properties in affordable bulk alloy systems. Alloys will be purchased, mechanically tuned to a specific thermal expansion value and tested for cyclic stability. The expected outcome of this work is the realization of tailored thermal expansion alloys that can be easily integrated into lasers.

SBIR

Phase I

2015

NSF