Anisotropic thermal conductivity under compression in two-dimensional woven ceramic fibers for flexible thermal protection systems

Abstract

Flexible thermal protection materials made from two-dimensional woven ceramics fibers are of significant interest for hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerators being developed by NASA for future missions on Mars and other planets. A key component of the thermal shield is a heat-resistant outer ceramic fabric that must withstand harsh aero-thermal atmospheric entry conditions. However, a predictive understanding of heat conduction processes in complex woven-fiber ceramic materials under deformation is currently lacking. This article presents a combined experimental and computational study of thermal conductivity in 5-harness-satin woven Nextel 440 fibers, using the hot-disk transient plane source method and computational thermo-mechanical modeling by finite-element analysis. The objective is to quantify and understand the effect of compressive strain on anisotropic heat conduction in flexible two-dimensional ceramic materials. We find, both experimentally and theoretically, that thermal conductivity of woven fabrics rises in both in-plane and out-of-plane directions, as the transverse load increases. Air gap conduction and fiber-to-fiber contacts are shown to play a major role in this behavior. Our finite-element simulations suggest that the thermal conductivity anisotropy is strong because heat transfer of air confined between fibers is reduced compared to that of free air. The proposed modeling methodology accurately captures the experimental heat conduction results and should be applicable to more complex loading conditions and different woven fabric materials, relevant to extreme high temperature environments.