Inventors:
Huong Giang Le - Fountain Valley CA
John L. Chesterfield - Indianapolis IN
Assignee:
McDonnell Douglas Corporation - Huntington Beach CA
Aluminum Finishing Corp. - Indianapolis IN
International Classification:
B32B 1520
Abstract:
A colored anodic coating for use on surfaces of substrates, e. g. aluminum substrates in which it is desirable to maintain a high solar absorptance (. alpha. ) and a high infrared emittance (. epsilon. ), particularly in low earth orbit space environments. This anodic coating is preferably a dark colored coating, and even more preferably a black coating. This coating allows a touch temperature within an acceptable design range to preclude burning of an astronaut in case of contact, but also allows a solar radiation absorption in an amount such that an. alpha. /. epsilon. ratio of unity is achieved. The coating of the invention comprises a first layer in the form of an acid anodized colored anodic layer for achieving a high solar absorptance and a second or high emittance layer in the form of a clear acid anodized layer for achieving a high emittance. The entire coating is quite thin, e. g. 1-2 mils and is quite stable in a hostile space environment of the type encountered in a low earth orbit.