A novel series of ablative composites containing a hyperbranched polyazomethine synthesized inside a carbon fiber preform (HyPAZA) were prepared, which have similar density to phenolic impregnated carbon ablators ( 0.3 g / cc ). A novel method of synthesizing strong hyperbranched polyazomethine thermosets has been developed, enabling polyazomethines to be studied in ablators for the first time. Several formulations of HyPAZA perform better than the phenolic impregnated carbon ablator in terms of polymer char yield, composite mechanical strength, CO 2 laser ablation tests at heat fluxes of 550 and 1100 W / cm 2 , and small-scale arcjet testing at a heat flux of 400 W / cm 2 . Char yields of hyperbranched polyazomethines were as high as 79% at 1000°C by thermogravimetric analysis. This is one of the highest char yields ever reported for a fully organic polymer. Some HyPAZA composites are over 10 times stronger than the carbon fiber preform, as determined by compression tests. Specimens were also tested in an arcjet facility at 400 W / cm 2 . Several formulations exhibited better performance than the phenolic impregnated carbon ablator in terms of ablation rate by a factor of 1.2 to 1.7. In addition, HyPAZA composites impregnated with aerogel show a lower rate of increase of back wall temperature, and therefore a lower thermal conductivity.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Synthesis and Characterization of Hyperbranched Polyazomethine Ablators for Space Exploration Applications



    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2014-04-23


    Size :

    9 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




    Flexible ablators

    STACKPOOLE MARGARET M / GHANDEHARI EHSON M / THORNTON JEREMY J et al. | European Patent Office | 2017

    Free access

    Flexible Ablators: Applications and Arcjet Testing

    J. O. Arnold / E. Venkatapathy / R. A. S. Beck et al. | NTIS | 2011


    Flexible Ablators: Applications and Arcjet Testing

    Arnold, James O. / Venkatapathy, Ethiraj / Beck, Robin A S. et al. | NTRS | 2011


    Spallation on Carbon Ablators

    Grigat, Felix / Loehle, Stefan / Zander, Fabian et al. | AIAA | 2022


    Ablators for Human and Robotic Exploration of the Moon, Mars and Beyond

    Venkatapathy, Ethiraj / Beck, Robin A. / Gage, Peter J. et al. | NTRS | 2019