Abstract
In this review, some results of the experimental activity carried out by the authors on advanced composite materials for space applications are reported. Composites are widely employed in the aerospace industry thanks to their lightweight and advanced thermo-mechanical and electrical properties. A critical issue to tackle using engineered materials for space activities is providing two or more specific functionalities by means of single items/components. In this scenario, carbon-based composites are believed to be ideal candidates for the forthcoming development of aerospace research and space missions, since a widespread variety of multi-functional structures are allowed by employing these materials. The research results described here suggest that hybrid ceramic/polymeric structures could be employed as spacecraft-specific subsystems in order to ensure extreme temperature withstanding and electromagnetic shielding behavior simultaneously. The morphological and thermo-mechanical analysis of carbon/carbon (C/C) three-dimensional (3D) shell prototypes is reported; then, the microwave characterization of multilayered carbon-filled micro-/nano-composite panels is described. Finally, the possibility of combining the C/C bulk with a carbon-reinforced skin in a synergic arrangement is discussed, with the aid of numerical and experimental analyses.
Highlights
In recent years, the development of the aerospace industry field has moved from space environment study and exploration towards space commercialization
Composites have long attracted the interest of materials science applied research and engineering, thanks to the capability to improve the thermo-mechanical properties of structures by lowering their mass and volume at the same time
It is suggested that a hybrid ceramic/polymeric shell structure could be employed in order to ensure simultaneously extreme temperature withstanding and electromagnetic shielding behavior in two different spacecraft configurations: as the leading edge of a re-entry supersonic flight vehicle which aims to decrease its radar cross section (RCS) once back in Earth’s atmosphere, and as a thermal protection subsystem of a stealth cube satellite
Summary
The development of the aerospace industry field has moved from space environment study and exploration towards space commercialization. The underlying idea here presented and discussed is to join the TPS behavior of C/C materials with the advanced EM shielding properties of carbon-based multilayered composites in order to obtain an individual spacecraft component able to face to the harsh thermal stresses induced by the space environment and to provide effective and tunable microwave absorption at the same time. The research results reported here suggest that hybrid ceramic/polymeric structures could be employed in order to ensure extreme temperature withstanding and electromagnetic shielding behavior simultaneously Such typology of structure is devised in two different spacecraft configurations: as leading edge of a re-entry supersonic flight vehicle which aims to decrease RCS once back in Earth’s atmosphere, and as a thermal protection subsystem of a stealth cube satellite. The overall research is to develop a multi-scale carbon-based material, with the aim to improve the performance of conventional materials employed for space applications by providing advanced multifunctional components
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