Degradation behaviour of a composite material for thermal protection systems part I - Experimental characterization

Thermogravimetric studies and combined thermal analysis techniques have been used to characterize an ablative composite for thermal protection systems. The aim of the work was to utilize these techniques to obtain the main parameters used in the computer simulation of the space re-entry. In particular, a phenomenological model of the degradation kinetics of a silicon-based ablative composite has been developed using thermogravimetric analysis coupled with mass spectroscopic analysis. Simultaneous thermal analysis has also been used to calculate the ablation heat. The results are used as input for a computer model, developed in Part II, to enable calculation of the temperature profiles inside a thermal protection shield during the re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. Such a program can also be used in materials selection. (C) 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers.