Environmental Testing of Closed Pore Insulation (CPI) I - ARC Jet Testing

摘要

A series of tests was performed on Grumman-developed closed pore insulation (CPI) to demonstrate its suitability for the shuttle thermal protection system (TPS) in a simulated environment to be encountered by the heat shield in service. Arc jet testing performed as part of Contract NAS 1-10713 was done on material whose composition had not been optimized, splash heating was used instead of profile heating, and a mounting procedure was initiated that introduced stress raisers into the specimens ultimately leading to their failure. Because NASA relies heavily on arc jet testing to screen potential TPS materials and systems, the Research Department arc jet was used in a more realistic re-entry temperature-time profile. CPI-4 (CPI with 4% cobalt oxide), a composition that was optimized in a previous study, was tested and gave good results, showing that CPI could survive thermal cycling similar to that which will be met during shuttle re-entry operations. (Author)