Thermal Ablation Experiments of Carbon Phenolic and SiC-Coated Carbon Composite Materials Using a High-Velocity Oxygen-Fuel Torch

For future spacecraft TPS (heat shield) applications, ablation experiments of carbon phenolic material specimens with two lamination angles (0° and 30°) and two specially designed SiC-coated carbon–carbon composite specimens (with either cork or graphite base) were conducted using an HVOF material ablation test facility. The heat flux test conditions ranged from 3.25 to 11.5 MW/m², corresponding to an interplanetary sample return re-entry heat flux trajectory. A two-color pyrometer, an IR camera, and thermocouples (at three internal locations) were used to measure the specimen temperature responses. At the 11.5 MW/m² heat flux test condition, the 30° carbon phenolic specimen’s maximum surface temperature value is approximately 2327 K, which is approximately 250 K higher than the corresponding value of the SiC-coated specimen with a graphite base. The 30° carbon phenolic specimen’s recession value is approximately 44-fold greater, and the internal temperature values are approximately 1.5-fold lower than the corresponding values of the SiC-coated specimen with a graphite base. This indicates that increased surface ablation and a higher surface temperature relatively reduced heat transfer to the 30° carbon phenolic specimen’s interior, leading to lower internal temperature values compared to those of the SiC-coated specimen with a graphite base. During the tests, a phenomenon of periodic explosions occurred on the 0° carbon phenolic specimen surfaces. The 30° carbon phenolic material is considered more suitable for TPS applications due to its lower internal temperatures, as well as the absence of abnormal material behavior as observed in the 0° carbon phenolic material.