Thermal response and ablation characteristics of lightweight ceramic ablators

Tran, Huy K.; Rasky, Daniel J.; Esfahani, Lili

doi:10.2514/3.26549

Cited by 42 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…TPS materials development generally go through phases of obtaining, atmospheric reentry tests and comparison with a type of mathematical model [9][10][11]. The present work uses simpler materials composed of carbon fiber and phenolic resin, tested in an arc-jet plasma facility aiming to validate an already developed but not yet validated simulation model of TPS design.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical-experimental analysis of a carbon-phenolic composite via plasma jet ablation test

Pesci¹,

Machado²,

Silva³

et al. 2018

Mater. Res. Express

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Materials used in space vehicles components are subjected to thermally aggressive environments when exposed to atmospheric reentry. In order to protect the payload and the vehicle itself, ablative composites are employed as TPS (Thermal Protection System). The development of TPS materials generally go through phases of obtaining, atmospheric reentry tests and comparison with a mathematical model. The state of the art presents some reentry tests in a subsonic or supersonic arc-jet facility, and a complex type of mathematical model, which normally requires large computational cost. This work presents a reliable method for estimate the performance of ablative composites, combining empirical and experimental data. Tests of composite materials used in thermal protection systems through exposure to a plasma jet are performed, where the heat fluxes emulate those present in atmospheric reentry of space vehicles components. The carbon/phenolic material samples have been performed in the hypersonic plasma tunnel of Plasma and Process Laboratory, available in Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA), by a plasma torch with a 50 kW DC power source. The plasma tunnel parameters were optimized to reproduce the conditions close to the critical re-entry point of the space vehicles payloads developed by the Aeronautics and Space Institute (IAE). The specimens in study were developed and manufactured in Brazil. Mass loss and specific mass loss rates of the samples and the back surface temperatures, as a function of the exposure time to the thermal flow, were determined. A computational simulation based in a two-front ablation model was performed, in order to compare the tests and the simulation results. The results allowed to estimate the ablative behavior of the tested material and to validate the theoretical model used in the computational simulation for its use in geometries close to the thermal protection systems used in the Brazilian space and suborbital vehicles.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical-experimental analysis of a carbon-phenolic composite via plasma jet ablation test

Pesci¹,

Machado²,

Silva³

et al. 2018

Mater. Res. Express

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“…To understand the response of the porous char of the CNF‐TPUNs and, particularly, the effect of the removal of the carbonaceous binder on the fluffed mass of carbon filaments and its relation with the compression strength of the medium, it is worth to consider the ablation mechanism of Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablators (PICAs), once exposed to an oxidizing hyperthermal environment. PICA is generally based on the use of the carbon felt and a phenolic resin as a binder: the felt is produced by chopping carbon fibers with a length of a few mm in water slurry.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compressive char strength of thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer nanocomposites

Jaramillo

Koo

Natali

2014

Polymers for Advanced Techs

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This research encompasses the study of testing protocols and the design of sensors for evaluating the compressive strength of the char layer of ablative material used in solid rocket motors (SRMs). The testing protocol that has been developed is the continuation of previous work for determining the compressive strengths between different SRM insulation materials. A crushing test method was further developed, and a sensor platform was assembled to perform the tests. The test procedure consists of measuring the amount of force required to crush a given area of the charred sample for a specified depth. The test was repeated for the industry standard Kevlar®‐filled ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber and thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer nanocomposite with different weight loading of multi‐walled carbon nanotubes, montmorillonite nanoclay, and carbon nanofibers. The energy of destruction or energy dissipated was quantified to determine which ablative exhibited the best performance. Maximum force was also recorded as a secondary quantity to determine char strength. The proposed test method is fully automated to ensure repeatability of each measurement and to remove the potential for human‐induced error. Because char layer thickness varies depending on the material, a method of differentiating neat material from char was proposed and explored. The introduced procedure also represents a novel and unique approach to solve the problem of the determination of the char strength. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…It has been found that, below this flux level, they are less efficient in terms of effective heat of ablation due to a more favorable oxidation and hence an increased recession rate. 6 We evaluated the thermal protection performance of HARLEM by measuring its effective heat of ablation in experiments conducted in the plasma wind tunnel PWK1 at the Institute of Space Systems, University of Stuttgart. This facility houses a magnetoplasmadynamic arcjet generator mounted on the front lid of a vacuum chamber (Figure 3a), which can generate flow enthalpies of up to 100 MJ/kg.…”

Section: Harlem Performance In Arcjet Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

HARLEM: A carbon–phenolic ablator for scientific exploration

Poloni,

Grigat,

Eberhart

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Space exploration missions rely on ablative heat shields for the thermal protection of spacecraft during atmospheric entry flights. While dedicated research is needed for future missions, the scientific community has limited access to ablative materials typically used in aerospace. In this paper, we report the development of the HEFDiG Ablation Research Laboratory ExperimentMaterial (HARLEM), a carbon–phenolic ablator designed to supply the need for ablative materials in laboratory experiments. HARLEM is manufactured using polyacrylonitrile-based carbon fiber preforms and a simplified processing route for phenolic impregnation. We characterized the thermal protection performance of HARLEM in arcjet experiments conducted in the plasma wind tunnel PWK1 of the Institute of Space Systems at the University of Stuttgart. We assessed the performance of the new material by measuring surface recession rate and temperature using photogrammetry and thermography setups during the experiments, respectively. Our results show that HARLEM’s thermal protection performance is comparable to legacy carbon–phenolic ablators that have been validated in different arcjet facilities or in-flight, as demonstrated by calculations of the effective heat of ablation and scanning electron microscopy of as-produced samples. In-house manufacturing of carbon–phenolic ablators enables the addition of embedded diagnostics to ablators, allowing for the acquisition of data on internal pressure and more sophisticated pyrolysis analysis techniques.

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Thermal response and ablation characteristics of lightweight ceramic ablators

Cited by 42 publications

References 7 publications

Numerical-experimental analysis of a carbon-phenolic composite via plasma jet ablation test

Numerical-experimental analysis of a carbon-phenolic composite via plasma jet ablation test

Compressive char strength of thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer nanocomposites

HARLEM: A carbon–phenolic ablator for scientific exploration

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