Materials in vacuum environment

This is a summary of the “Materials in Vacuum Environment” session of the International Conference on Vacuum Metallurgy, held in New York on June 13–16, 1967, under the co-sponsorship of The Metallurgical Society and the Vacuum Metallurgy Div. of the American Vacuum Society. The major results of authors who presented papers in this session are cited and listed in the references at the end of the article. An attempt is made to define some of the metallurgical problems which are compounded when metals and alloys are used in vacuum or space applications. The space environment is described in terms of altitude, composition, pressure, density, and temperature, which in turn are compared to space simulation in vacuum chambers. High-temperature problems such as metals evaporation, surface gas-metal reactions, and the effects of vacuum on mechanical properties are delineated. Lower temperature problems such as metallic adhesion and lubrication are also discussed.