Experimental set up for characterization of carbide-based materials in propulsion environment

Mungiguerra

Advances in Applied Ceramics

2018

Self Cite

This work deals with experimental characterisation of ultra-high-temperature ceramic materials for aerospace applications. Current research activities are focused on development and testing of new-class ultra-high-temperature ceramic matrix composites for near-zero ablation Thermal Protection Systems and near-zero erosion rocket nozzles. To investigate materials behaviour in atmospheric re-entry conditions, relevant tests are carried out on samples with different shapes with a supersonic arc-jet facility, with specific total enthalpies higher than 20 MJ kg −1 and temperatures over 2000 K in a gas atmosphere with high concentration of atomic oxygen. The Aerospace Propulsion Laboratory allows investigating rocket components or subsystems manufactured in innovative materials, such as nozzles and nozzle inserts, but also small specimens exposed to the rocket exhaust plume, in highly relevant operating conditions. Computational models for numerical simulations of high-enthalpy flows, in both arc-jet and propulsion environments, and thermal analyses of the material samples are developed to support the experimental activities.

Section: Rocket Propulsionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing ultra-high-temperature ceramics for thermal protection and rocket applications

Mungiguerra

Advances in Applied Ceramics

2018

Self Cite

“…The test rig is a versatile set up primarily designed for testing hybrid rocket engines of several sizes [15]. It is equipped with a test bench and a general-purpose acquisition system, which allow evaluating propellant performance and combustion stability [16], testing of sub-components and/or complete power systems, nozzles [17], air intakes, catalytic devices [18], burners, ignition and cooling systems [19,20]. For the current research activities, a novel, dedicated test set-up was developed to expose different UHTCMC samples to the supersonic exhaust jet of a 200Nclass hybrid rocket nozzle, in order to characterize the material behavior and select the most suitable candidates for manufacturing near-zero erosion rocket nozzles.…”

Section: A Experimental Set-upmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent years, Ultra-High-Temperature Ceramic (UHTC) materials, including zirconium or hafnium diborides or carbides, are assuming an increasing importance in aerospace research because of their high temperature capabilities, with melting points above 3500 K, high temperature strength and oxidation resistance at service temperatures exceeding 2300 K. Some of these materials proved to be very interesting to develop aerospace components working in harsh environments [6,7,8]. The use of single-phase materials, without secondary phases, is not sufficient because they are characterized by low fracture toughness, low thermal shock resistance and lack of damage tolerance [9]. To improve their properties UHTCs composites with SiC or other Silicon based ceramics, in the form of particles, short fibers or whiskers have been developed with better tolerance and thermal shock resistance in aggressive chemical environments [10,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra-High-Temperature Ceramic Matrix Composites in Hybrid Rocket Propulsion Environment

Mungiguerra

2018 International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

et al. 2018

This paper is focused on the experimental characterization of a new class of Ultra-High-Temperature Ceramic Matrix Composites for near-zero erosion rocket nozzles. A novel test setup has been developed to the purpose of testing small-sized samples of material in free-jet configuration, exposing them to the supersonic exhaust plume of a 200N-class hybrid rocket nozzle, employing gaseous oxygen as oxidizer and High-Density PolyEthylene as fuel. The aim of the tests was to screen the best material candidates for the final application. Two increasingly demanding test conditions have been selected. Four samples were manufactured, one based on chopped carbon fibers in a Ti3SiC2 matrix, and three based on ZrB2-SiC matrix with continuous carbon fibers. Samples surface temperatures were monitored by two-color pyrometers and an infra-red thermo-camera. In two cases, sudden jumps of temperature were detected, up to over 2800 K, associated to considerable erosion, presumably related to poor mechanical resistance of the oxidized phases forming on the exposed surface. Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations were performed in order to characterize the test conditions and investigate the material thermal behavior.

“…Many studies have been published on UHTC characterization in simulated hypersonic re-entry conditions [21][22][23][24]. More recently, the propulsion laboratory with a dedicated hybrid rocket engine has been dedicated to specific tests on different nozzles materials under severe operating conditions [19,25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aero-thermo-chemical characterization of ultra-high-temperature ceramics for aerospace applications

Criscuolo

Journal of the European Ceramic Society

et al. 2018

142

Ultra-High-Temperature Ceramic (UHTC) materials, because of their high temperature resistance, are suitable as thermal protection systems for re-entry vehicles or components for space propulsion. Massive UHTC materials are characterized by poor thermal shock resistance, which may be overcome using C or SiC fibers in a UHTC matrix (UHTCMC).\ud \ud The University of Naples “Federico II” has a proven experience in the field of material characterization in high-enthalpy environments. A hypersonic arc-jet facility allows performing tests in simulated atmospheric re-entry conditions. The Aerospace Propulsion Laboratory is employed for testing rocket components in a representative combustion environment. Ad-hoc computational models are developed to characterize the flow field in both facilities and perform thermal analysis of solid samples.\ud Current research programs are related to a new-class of UHTCMC materials, for rocket nozzles and thermal protection systems. The activities include design of the prototypes for the test campaign, numerical simulations and materials characterizations