EAL's chemical laboratory is equipped with the facilities for multiple material compatibility tests with all types of storable liquid propellants and hazardous fluids to ECSS-E-ST-35-10C,MIL-R-83412A, or equivalent standards.
This allows characterisation of the propellant before and after exposure to materials on test (and is also used to certify propellant for flight). Common materials include metal alloys for propellant tanks and elastomers to be used as sealing materials.
Precision cleaning and passivation methods are offered for pre-immersion conditioning of the materials. High temperature accelerated testing in vacuum ovens and incubators characterise how materials and propellants behave in contact with each other over long periods – for instance, certain materials can make fuels decompose, leading to decreased performance and unwanted pressurisation of tanks. Leaching of material into solution can cause thruster failure due to catalyst poisoning or injector scaling or can block filters and restrict flow and swelling of material could cause valves to fail or tear.
A wide range of analytical instruments including GC-TCD, GC-FID, MP-AES (similar to ICP-OES), UV-Vis NIR Spectroscopy, and general wet lab equipment allow for comprehensive propellant characterisation pre- and post-test to military performance specification. Typical material characterisation tests may include tensile, compression set, volume and mass changes to relevant ISO or ASTM standards.
