AN EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF THREE TYPES OF THERMAL PROTECTION MATERIALS AT MODERATE HEATING RATES AND HIGH TOTAL HEAT LOADS

摘要

Three types of materials have been tested in an electric-arc-heated air-stream to compare their performance as thermal protection systems for reentry applications involving long heating periods and high total-heat loads. Test stream conditions and the specimen configuration were held constant for all tests. The quantity of heat dissipated by a specimen while its back-surface temperature was limited to a given value was used as a criterion for evaluating the materials. The tests indicated that charring composite materials were more effective than porous ceramic materials with an ablative filling or than low-temperature ablating materials.