Markus Kuhr

ZERODUR ® Glass Ceramics for High Stress Applications

Recently SCHOTT has shown in a series of investigations the suitability of the zero expansion glass ceramic material ZERODUR® for applications like mirrors and support structures of complicated design used at high mechanical loads. Examples are vibrations during rocket launches, bonded elements to support single mirrors or mirrors of a large array, or controlled deformations for optical image correction, i.e. adaptive mirrors. Additional measurements have been performed on the behavior of ZERODUR® with respect to the etching process, which is capable of increasing strength significantly. It has been determined, which minimum layer thickness has to be removed in order to achieve the strength increase reliably. New data for the strength of the material variant ZERODUR K20® prepared with a diamond grain tool D151 are available and compared with the data of ZERODUR® specimens prepared in the same way. Data for the stress corrosion coefficient n of ZERODUR® for dry and normal humid environment have been measured already in the 1980s. It has been remeasured with the alternative double cleavage drilled compression (DCDC) method.

ZERODUR® Glass Ceramics-Strength Data for the Design of Structures with High Mechanical Stresses

With an increasing number of applications mirrors and support structures made of the zero expansion glass ceramic material ZERODUR® has to endure high mechanical loads, e.g. rocket launches or controlled deformations for optical image correction. Like for other glassy materials, the strength of glass ceramics is dominated by its surface condition. Test specimens have been ground with fine grain tools (e.g. D64 diamond grains) and / or subsequently etched. The strength data basis for the design of highly stressed structures has been extended and new information has been derived for the extrapolation to low failure probabilities.

Strength Aspects for the Design of ZERODUR® Glass Ceramics Structures

In some applications mirrors and support structures from the zero expansion glass ceramic material ZERODUR(R) have to endure mechanical loads, e.g. rocket launches or controlled deformations for optical image correction. Like for other glassy materials the strength of glass ceramics is dominated by its surface condition. Similar to other glass ceramics ZERODUR(R) has higher strengths than glasses for comparable surface conditions. For the design of ZERODUR(R) parts well known rules of thumb for its strength are not sufficient in any case. So new information and data with enlarged sample sets and hence better statistics have been collected to improve the understanding of its behavior under mechanical loads. Finally an outlook is given on the application of ZERODUR(R) in ambitious current and future space projects.