Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The effect of environment pressure in carbon–phenolic composite ablation

  • Technical Paper
  • Published:
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Polymeric composites are vastly employed in ablative Thermal Protection Systems of hypersonic vehicles. Due their high velocity and altitude of flight, such vehicles are subjected to a high variation in atmospheric pressure, which affects the ablative process over the heat shield. This study evaluates the influence of pressure environment in the ablation through experiments performed in a vacuum chamber, where the samples of carbon–phenolic composite were tested for two different pressures at prescribed heat fluxes impinged by a plasma torch. A reliable physical model is proposed, and numerical results are compared with experiments, presenting good agreement and revalidating the simulation model. The specific mass loss rate at rarefied pressure was compared with the one at atmospheric pressure, and a reason for the difference is explained. Recession surfaces were simulated and compared to the experiments. Tested samples were analyzed by FEM and, results are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17
Fig. 18
Fig. 19
Fig. 20
Fig. 21
Fig. 22
Fig. 23
Fig. 24

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

A :

Interface area, m2

C :

Concentration of reactants and product

C g :

Dimensionless proportionality constant

Cp :

Specific heat at constant pressure, J/kgK

Ea :

Activation energy, J/s

k :

Thermal conductivity tensor, W/mK

K r :

Reaction constant

L :

Transformation heat (pyrolysis or ablation), J/kg

q :

Source term of energy per area unit at interface, W/m2

q CO2 :

Combustion heat of CO2, J/kg

q e :

Prescribed external heat flux, W/m2

q g :

Rate of heat generation per unit mass of product at a temperature T, J/kg

\({\dot{q}}_{g}\) :

Additional heat flux on the external surface, W/m2

\({\dot{m}}_{g}\) :

Rate of product formation of the reaction per surface area, kg/m2s

P:

Gas pressure, Pa

Q :

Liquid heat exchange on interface, W

R :

Gas constant, J/kgK

t :

Time, s

T :

Temperature, K

\({T}_{F}\) :

Interface temperature, K

\({T}_{\infty }\) :

External temperature, K

V :

Interface velocity, m/s

\({V}_{p}\) :

Recession velocity of the pyrolysis front, m/s

x :

Point position in the coordinate system, m

x F :

Interface position in the coordinate system, m

\(\varepsilon\) :

Emissivity

\(\delta\) :

Dirac delta, ranges from 0 to 1 depending of the point position in relation to interface

\(\rho\) :

Specific mass, kg/m3

\(\sigma\) :

Boltzmann constant, W/m2K4

C:

Carbon

O2 :

Oxygen

CO2 :

Carbon dioxide

References

  1. Barbosa CAL (2004) Obtenção e caracterização de materiais ablativos a base de compósitos de fibra de carbono/resina fenólica. Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica, São José dos Campos

  2. Silva SFC, Machado HA, Bittencourt E (2015) Effect of the fiber orientation relatively to the plasma flow direction in the ablation process of a carbon-phenolic composite. J Aerosp Technol Manag. São José dos Campos, 7(1):43–52

  3. Nguyen-Bui NTH, Duffa G, Dubroca B, Leroy B (2006) New methods for the simulation of ablative thermal protections. In: European workshop of thermal protection systems and hot structures, 5, Noordwijk

  4. da Costa LEVL (2003) The composite option for solid rocket motor cases in Brazil. In: International Astronautical Congress of The International Astronautical Federation, The International Academy of Astronautics, And the International Institute of Space Law, 54, Bremen. Reston: AIAA.

  5. Auweter-Kurtz M (2002) Plasma source development for the qualification of thermal protection materials for atmospheric entry vehicles at IRS, Vacuum, 65(3–4):247–261

  6. Bittencourt E et al (2018) Effect of the atmosphere in the ablation of carbon-phenolic composites used in thermal protection systems. In: 4th Brazilian Conference on composite materials. Rio de Janeiro: BCCM

  7. Charakhovski L et al (2008) Hypersonic and subsonic plasma setups for testing heat shielding materials. In: Brazilian Congress of thermal engineering and sciences, 12, 2008, Belo Horizonte. Rio de Janeiro: ABCM

  8. Pesci PGS et al (2018) Numerical-experimental analysis of a carbon-phenolic composite via plasma jet ablation test. Mater Res Exp, 5:065601

  9. Machado HA, Silva SFC (2017) Numerical simulation of ablation of a carbon-phenolic composite via an interface tracking method. In: International symposium on advances in computational heat transfer. 3028, Napoli, Italy. Turkey: ICHMT

  10. Williams SD, Curry DM (1992) Thermal protection materials—thermophysical property data (Nasa Reference Publication 1289). Washington: NASA, dez

  11. Sutton K (1970) An experimental study of a carbon-phenolic ablation material (Nasa Technical Note TN D-5930), Washington: NASA, set

  12. Sykes GF (1967) Decomposition characteristics of a char-forming phenolic polymer used for ablative composites (Nasa Technical Note TN D-3810), Washington: NASA, fev

  13. Natali M et al (2016) Ablation modeling of state of the art EPDM based elastomeric heat shielding materials for solid rocket motors. Comput Mater Sci 111:460–480

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Kuo KK (1986) Principles of combustion. John Wiley & sons, New York, p 810

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Authors would like to thank the participants of the previous work [6], where most of the inspiration for this study was extracted from.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço – IAE, Pr. Mal. Eduardo Gomes, 50, Vila das Acácias, São José dos Campos, SP, 12228-904, Brazil

    Pedro Guilherme Silva Pesci, Homero de Paula e Silva & Humberto Araujo Machado

  2. Faculdade de Engenharia Química, UNICAMP, Av. Albert Einstein, 500, Campinas, SP, 13083-852, Brazil

    Homero de Paula e Silva

  3. Faculdade de Tecnologia, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rodovia Presidente Dutra, Km 298, Pólo Industrial, Resende, RJ, 27537-000, Brazil

    Humberto Araujo Machado

  4. Instituto Tecnológico da Aeronáutica – ITA, Pr. Mal. Eduardo Gomes, 50, Vila das Acácias, São José dos Campos, SP, 12228-900, Brazil

    Pedro Guilherme Silva Pesci, Cristian Cley Paterniani Rita & Humberto Araujo Machado

Authors
  1. Pedro Guilherme Silva Pesci
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Homero de Paula e Silva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Cristian Cley Paterniani Rita
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Humberto Araujo Machado
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pedro Guilherme Silva Pesci.

Additional information

Technical Editor: Andre Cavalieri.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pesci, P.G.S., de Paula e Silva, H., Rita, C.C.P. et al. The effect of environment pressure in carbon–phenolic composite ablation. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 43, 500 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-021-03210-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-021-03210-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation