Reliable chemical resistance ensuring space mission safety

Manufacturers choose diaphragm pumps across a breadth of industries because they contain few moving parts and components that can come in to direct contact with the product. Every effort must be made to ensure the media running through the pump is entirely free from external contamination. Any failure can mean a drop in production, losing the company valuable time and considerable revenue. Defects can also impact on safety.

The Ariane 5 space program is a European space launch system developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with the European Union's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) and the French space agency, Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES). It is designed to deliver satellites and other payloads into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) or other designated orbits.

The fundamental challenge for Ariane Group centred around the diaphragm contained in its heavy lift launch vehicle rupturing during thermoforming. That problem, in turn, led to insufficient chemical resistance to rocket fuels and permeation issues.

This fault was caused by extreme application demands within their space rocket program. It endangered the entire program in terms of cost and timing, but the biggest threat posed lay in the safety implications of not finding and executing a fix. Versiv expertise was required to provide a solution to thermoform rupture, and associated difficulties from diaphragm weakness.

Versiv Composites resolved the problem through co-developing a multi-layer fluoropolymer laminate solution to meet customer requirements regarding chemical resistance, permeation and thermoforming.  

Flex Barriers solution:

• Eliminated the diaphragm delamination that can result from low quality, inconsistent bonding of different Fluoropolymer layers, or from damaging media permeation. This PTFE diaphragm solution results in exceptional durability coupled with a considerably reduced stretch void index.  
• Provided a smooth, inert surface eliminated the potential for contamination common to a diaphragm’s rough surface.  
• Delivered high quality and flexibility mitigating against deep drawing manufacturing issues - caused by stiff and heterogeneous material. In essence, the performance change came about through providing a very flexible material and combining high temperature fluoropolymer materials without the use of glue.
• Critical to the quality of the solution, we changed the material flex life by adjusting crystallinity as well as combining with other fluoropolymer layers, so the composite is exceptionally tight, ensuring no leakage.

With the crucial issue of safety addressed, the Ariane 5 program continues to provide Europe with a reliable and competitive commercial launch service to Space.

The solution led to significant cost reduction due to less potential for scrap during further processes​. It also supported overall project timing success due to higher production efficiency.