Outgassing

To qualify materials for their suitability for space applications, assessment of outgassing properties is required. “Outgassing” is defined as the mass loss of a sample due to thermal vacuum conditioning. AAC offers outgassing tests in accordance to the ESA standards ECSS-Q-ST-70-02C (“Thermal vacuum outgassing test for the screening of space materials”), ASTM E595 (“Standard Test Method for Total Mass Loss and Collected Volatile Condensable Materials from Outgassing in a Vacuum Environment”) and ECSS-Q-TM-70-52A (“kinetic outgassing of materials for space”).

AAC offers a facility for analysing mass transport of materials in vacuum. The facility measures in-situ mass loss through thermal vacuum (evaporation), residual gas analysis (RGA), and mass gain via Thermal Quartz Crystal Microbalance (TQCM), including Infrared-Reflection-Absorption-Spectroscopy (IRRAS) to determine functional groups of collected materials.