Kinetic Reaction Rates for Consumption of Pyrolytic Graphite by Combustion Gases

Abstract

An experimental program using an arc plasma generator was conducted to determine the kinetic mass consumption rate of pyrolytic graphite in simulated propellant atmospheres. These results, which include a wide range of gas species partial pressures and ablation rates, were successfully correlated using an equation with a functional form determined from phenomenological considerations. These correlations were in turn incorporated as an integral part of a prediction procedure which includes the simultaneous consideration of boundary-layer diffusion, equilibrium gas-phase chemistry, kinetically controlled surface chemistry, sublimation, indepth heat conduction and, surface mass transfer. The end product of this program was a procedure for predicting pyrolytic graphite ablation rates in rocket motor nozzles under conditions where surface kinetic effects are important.

Experimental and numerical analysis on the thermal degradation of reinforced silicone-based composites: Effect of carbon fibres and silicon carbide powder contents

“…Several types of ablative materials for TPS have been used over the past fifty years, such as pyrolytic graphite [9] and carbon/carbon composites [10], [11]. More recently, fibre reinforced composites have attracted increasing research interest for thermal insulation.…”