Challenger O Ring Material

Feynman now believed that he had the solution but to test it he dropped a piece of the o ring material squeezed with a c clamp to simulate the actual conditions of the shuttle into a glass of ice water.

Challenger o ring material.

If the gland has been designed and machined properly. Fkm is the short form for the fluoroelastomer category according to the american standard astm. July 1985 thiokol orders new steel billets for new field joint design. The joint failed because at cold temperatures the silicone o ring material lost its resilience and took a set.

The disaster of challenger mission sts 51 l was the result of human engineering. Feynman s famous c clamp experiment. November 1981 o ring erosion discovered after second shuttle flight. Joint temperature incidents when o rings failed source.

August 19 1985 nasa level i management briefed on booster problem. Number of o ring incidents vs. The temperature at the time of the challenger liftoff was 32 degrees f. The material of the failed o ring was fkm which was specified by the shuttle motor contractor morton thiokol.

Then when the the booster was lit and is casing expanded the o rings retained their cold compressed shapes and allowed hot gas from inside the casing to spurt out the resulting gap in the seal. Report of the presidential commission on the space shuttle challenger accident 6 june 1986 volume 1 page 145 link color added.