Carbon nanotube reinforced ablative material for thermal protection system with superior resistance to high-temperature dense particle erosion

Abstract

The ablation rate of thermal protection system (TPS) material increases significantly in particle erosion environment, which can cause the spacecraft to fail in severe cases. Developing TPS material resistant to particle erosion can improve the performance and reliability of future spacecraft. This paper uses a particle erosion test motor to build the particle erosion environment, and evaluates the particle erosion resistance of ethylene propylene diene monomer composites with carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The structure and properties of char layer after the ablation experiment are studied. The results show that CNT-reinforced composites exhibit superior resistance to high-temperature dense particle erosion, and the charring rate is 68.0% lower than that without CNTs. The superior reinforcement of CNTs in erosion resistance found in this paper points the direction for the research and development of CNT reinforced TPS material.