Composite Cryotank Technologies and Demonstration (CCTD)

18 Foot Cryotank
Above, construction of the 18-foot, 5.5-meter cryotank nears completion January 2014. The tank will leave the Boeing facility in Tukila, Wa., soon to head to NASA Marshall for further testing. Credit: NASA

The Composite Cryogenic Propellant Tank project will develop and ground demonstrate large-scale composite cryogenic propellant tanks applicable to heavy-lift launch vehicles, propellant depots, and future lander systems.

The  primary objective of the Composite Cryotank Technologies and Demonstration (CCTD) project is to mature the technology readiness of composite cryogenic propellant tanks at diameters that are suitable for future heavy lift vehicles and other in-space applications. The concept being developed and demonstrated by this project involves advanced materials (composites), structural concepts (joints, splices, fasteners, etc.), and manufacturing techniques. For this project, an out-of-autoclave manufacturing approach is being developed.

The Boeing Company will: design and manufacture a 2.4-meter diameter and a 5.5-meter tanks based on expected loads from the larger SLS tank using an out-of-autoclave procedure; validate the performance of the tanks composite material systems in a relevant environment (e.g., structural integrity, permeability, microcracking); validate the durability of the tanks composite materials under cyclic thermal-mechanical loads; validate the predicted performance of critical joints and design details under representative mechanical and thermal loads; and validate the manufacturing techniques used to create a structural cryotanks. If successful, the manufacturing of large, high-performance composite structures can be accomplished throughout industry without the need of an autoclave, thus improving competition and potentially further reducing the cost to manufacture very large composite components.

Success in this project could lead to rocket propellant tanks that are more than 30 percent lighter and 25 percent cheaper to fabricate compared with current state-of-the-art metallic tanks. Such advancements offer less cost for payload delivery to orbit and the potential of enabling advanced human and robotic space exploration missions.

Read the NASA Fact Sheet on the CCTD by clicking here.

 

Principal Technologist: Pete Lillehei (pete.lillehei@nasa.gov)

Project Manager: John Vickers (john.h.vickers@nasa.gov)

NASA-Boeing Team Wins Big at Advanced Materials Expo

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On Tuesday, October 14, NASA and Boeing received the Combined Strength Award for composites excellence (ACE) for their work in composite cryotanks during the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CAMX) in Orlando, Fla. CAMX is the largest composites industry trade show and conference held in North America. The award was given to the Composite Cryogenic […]

NASA Completes Successful Battery of Tests on Composite Cryotank

Posted by Denise Stefula on
NASA has completed a complex series of tests on one of the largest composite cryogenic fuel tanks ever manufactured, bringing the aerospace industry much closer to designing, building, and flying lightweight, composite tanks on rockets. “This is one of NASA’s major technology accomplishments for 2014,” said Michael Gazarik, NASA’s associate administrator for Space Technology. “This […]

NASA Engineers Prepare Game Changing Cryotank for Testing

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NASA and Boeing engineers are inspecting and preparing one of the largest composite rocket propellant tanks ever manufactured for testing. The composite cryotank is part of NASA’s Game Changing Development Program and Space Technology Mission Directorate, which is innovating, developing, testing and flying hardware for use in NASA’s future missions. NASA focused on this technology […]

NASA Marshall Kicks Off Game Changing Composite Cryotank Testing

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NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., is set to begin a series of structural and pressure tests on one of the largest composite cryogenic fuel tanks ever manufactured. Advanced composite cryotanks will help enable NASA’s future deep space exploration missions. Media are invited to view the unloading of the 18-foot-diameter (5.5-meter) composite cryotank […]

NASA’s Super Guppy Makes a Special Delivery

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› Alternate view #1 › Alternate view #2 › Flickr: Super Guppy and Cryotank   Read Full Article *Source: NASA.gov

The new meaning of additive value

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NASA Glenn’s successful hot-fire testing of an injector assembly designed and made by Aerojet Rocketdyne may well prove to be a significant milestone in the development of rocket engine manufacturing. In creating the assemby, the company had used an innovative 3D additive manufacturing technique. Read more from Green Engineering(+)

Composite tanks promise major savings

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ROCKET ENGINEERS HAVE LONG BEEN enthralled by the idea of storing liquid hydrogen in cryogenic tanks made from graphite composite. These would weigh an estimated 40% less than the cryogenic tanks used today, which are made of aluminum or higher strength aluminum lithium alloy. Automated manufacturing also could make the composite tanks 20% less expensive […]

Tooling up for larger launch vehicles

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NASA and Janicki Industries demonstrate composites’ cost advantage in tooling for fabrication of 10m/33 ft diameter payload fairing for next-generation launch vehicle. The Space Launch System (SLS) will be the next heavy-lift launch vehicle for the National Aeronautics and Space Admin. (NASA, Washington D.C.). Composites have been chosen for both the launch vehicle structures and […]

NASA Sees Potential In Composite Cryotank

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[dropcap1]S[/dropcap1]uccessful tests of an all-composite cryogenic fuel tank for space launch vehicles hold promise for lower-cost access to space, perhaps before the decade is out. A small composite fuel tank fabricated by Boeing with funding from the “game-changing” program of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate contained 2,091 gal. of liquid hydrogen through a series of […]

Lightening the Load: Composite Cryotank Technologies

Posted by Amy Mccluskey on
http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/home/comp_cryotank.html NASA is on a high-technology, weight-loss diet. But this watch-your-weight campaign centers on lightening the dry mass of launch vehicles, such as future, evolved versions of NASA’s Space Launch System—an advanced heavy-lift launch vehicle that will provide an entirely new national capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. As part of the Game […]

NASA Picks Boeing For Composite Cryogenic Propellant Tank Tests

Posted by Amy Mccluskey on
[Source: www.nasa.gov – Release 11:305] WASHINGTON — NASA has selected The Boeing Company of Huntington Beach, Calif., for the Composite Cryotank Technologies Demonstration effort. Under the contract, Boeing will design, manufacture and test two lightweight composite cryogenic propellant tanks. The demonstration effort will use advanced composite materials to develop new technologies that could be applied […]

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