Analysis of the integrated performance of hybrid fiber-reinforced polymer composite used for thermal protection based on a dual-scale ablation model

Abstract

In order to cope with more extreme aerothermodynamic environment, a dual-layer hybrid fiber-reinforced polymer composite (HFRP) was proposed as a thermal protection material. A dual-scale ablation model was developed to evaluate the performance of this composite, including a meso‑scale heat transfer model and a macro-scale ablation model, and the two models were effectively linked. The models were validated have good reliability. The meso‑scale thermal properties and macro-scale ablation performance of dual-layer HFRP were compared with those of traditional carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composite (CFRP). The effect of thickness the of HFRP on the performance of dual-layer HFRP was also investigated. Finally, the integrated ablation resistance-insulation-lightweight design of the composite was comprehensively evaluated by Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). The results show that the new composite proposed in this paper maintains good ablation resistance and light weight while the thermal insulation performance had significantly improved, especially when the thickness of the HFRP is 50 %, the comprehensive performance is optimal, and the warp yarn hybrid fiber-reinforced polymer composite (WaHFRP) has better performance. Dual-layer HFRP had obvious advantages to CFRP, and can be used as a reference in the design of thermal protection materials.