Graphite Fiber Thermal Straps (GFTS)
Technology Applications Inc (TAI)
Lightweight, high-conductance graphite-fiber flexible thermal links with vibration damping on all 3 axes; the space industry's only carbon-fiber strap with extensive NASA/ESA/JAXA flight heritage.
Technical specifications
- Fiber material
- GraFlex I / II carbon-fiber bundles; GraFlex III woven graphite fiber sheet
- Fiber thermal conductivity
- 800 - 1,000 W/(m-K) (GraFlex III); 2.75x copper's conductivity at room temperature
- Density vs. copper
- 1/4 the density of copper; 12x more thermal-conductivity/mass efficient than copper, 6x more than aluminum
- Fabrication efficiency
- Realizes up to 95% of material thermal conductivity
- Mass
- Most custom/standard straps weigh 10 - 30 g (1/5 - 1/10 the mass of an equivalent metallic strap)
- Standard models
- 6 standard models, 2 end-fitting options; 3 fixed widths, single or double row
- Custom options
- Customizable width, single/double/triple row, GraFlex I/II/III, multiple geometries
- Encapsulation
- Optional aluminized Mylar sleeves, chromated end fittings
- Outgassing
- Low/zero outgassing, well under NASA published limits for spaceflight hardware
- Flight heritage / TRL
- NASA TRL 9; flown on Orion, ASTRO-H, CST-100 Starliner, Solar Orbiter, EnMAP, IXPE
- Lateral deflection
- Handles >2.54 mm lateral deflection without S/C-shape routing (unique among carbon strap types)
About
TAI provides the world’s only Graphite Fiber Thermal Links/Straps (GFTS), and the only carbon-based standard strap product line. GFTS assemblies are the space industry’s standard for lightweight, high-conductance, flexible straps used to cool star trackers, cryocoolers, optical systems, radiators, electronics boxes, and other components. Unlike Pyrolytic Graphite Sheet (PGS) or graphene foil links, GFTS bundles (“tows”) provide vibration damping and flexibility on all 3 axes without needing an S-shaped installation configuration, at lower material and labor cost.
GFTS is built from GraFlex I, II, and III graphite fiber bundles/woven sheet (800-1,000 W/m-K thermal conductivity), each fiber having 2.75x the thermal conductivity of copper at room temperature at one-quarter the density – making GFTS 12x more weight-efficient than copper and 6x more efficient than aluminum on a conductivity/mass basis. TAI’s fabrication process realizes up to 95% of the material’s thermal conductivity. GFTS is NASA TRL 9 with flight heritage on NASA’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, JAXA’s ASTRO-H, GRACE-FO, USAF’s GPS III, ESA/NASA’s Solar Orbiter SPICE instrument, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, DLR’s EnMAP, and NASA’s IXPE mission, among others. Available in 6 standard models (2 end-fitting options) or fully custom designs with optional Mylar encapsulation sleeves and chromated end fittings.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.
