Aerospace Exchange Blog

Thermal grease, also known as thermal paste or thermal interface material, is a thermally conductive material used to connect a heat source to a thermal spreading device. Thanks to their diversity and performance, thermal grease can be found in many thermal settings, such as heat sinks. Thermal grease can greatly improve a system’s overall thermal conductivity and effectiveness. In this blog, we will discuss the use of thermal grease, what it does, and its chemical properties.

Flared and flareless fittings are both commonly used throughout the aerospace industry in many applications. For example, the Army-Navy (AN) military standards require tighter tolerances and define all fittings types, wherein the joint intelligence center utilizes AN specifications as a basis to form their own standards covering fewer sizes. This blog will discuss both flared and flareless fittings and their specific types.

Within the realm of piping and fluid transportation, pipe flanges serve as a useful method for connecting components to one another for establishing a system. By bolting together two flange components with a gasket in between, a variety of assemblies can be made. Second to only welding, utilizing the flange method of piping attachment is useful for the ability to separate and disassemble systems with ease, ensuring that maintenance and replacement of parts is much simpler. As such, flanges can create a more flexible approach to piping systems for an ease of access.

O-rings are found throughout a broad range of manufacturing and industrial facilities and machines. Their versatility and array of applications mean there are many different O-rings materials to choose from. This blog will explain O-rings and provide some information to help you decide what material of O-ring is best suited to your particular situation.

In a manual transmission, the engine is connected to the transmission through the use of a clutch. Without this connection, the car would not be able to stop without killing the engine. However, in automatic transmissions, there is no clutch. Instead, they use a device called a torque converter. This blog will explain what torque converters are, how they work, and more.

Airplane deicing is to some degree like how one may deice the windows of a vehicle before driving. In idea, they are equivalent, however as you go about the de-icing process, you begin to see the distinctions. To comprehend those distinctions, it's ideal to look into what airplane deicing is and why the requirement for airplane deicing frameworks parts is so significant.

Just like aircraft use thrust to move along the sky, so too do ships and boats in the water. This thrust may be produced through multiple means, including those such as marine propeller systems, pump-jets, sails, and buoyancy. Throughout history, engineers have implemented many technologies to help improve upon the capabilities of thrust, each presenting different methods of marine propulsion. In this blog, we will discuss a few of the main types of marine propulsion systems and how they generate thrust for marine vessels.

Throughout the aerospace industry, the need to join components is ever present. When you think about the complexity of propulsion or flight systems, it’s easy to overlook something seemingly insignificant like a fastener. However, fasteners are integral in the function of countless assemblies in the aerospace, civil aviation, and defense industries. This blog will explain the many types of fasteners used in the aerospace industry and their applications.

The name helicopter derives from the Greek words “helix” meaning spiral and “pteron,” meaning wing. This rotary -- or spiral -- wing is made up of rotor blades, which is the focal point of this article. We will discuss a brief history of the different types of material used in the manufacturing of helicopter rotor blades and why the need for change lead the aviation industry to create what is now the most aerodynamic, durable, and lightweight rotor wings invented. 

A propeller is a device that generates rotational energy produced by the engine or other mechanical sources. There are many different types of aircraft propellers in use today, and even more that have been experimented with over the years. From fixed pitch propellers to metal and even wooden propellers, aviation history has seen several of these types come and go. Read on below for a basic outline of the many propellers used by aircraft.