This paper presents an extensive numerical study of heating of thin solid carbon foils by $1.4\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{MeV}/\mathrm{u}$ uranium ion beams to explore the possibility of using such a target as a charge stripper at the proposed new Gesellschaft f\"ur Schwerionenforschung high energy heavy--ion linac. These simulations have been carried out using a sophisticated 3D computer code that accounts for physical phenomena that are important in this problem. A variety of beam and target parameters have been considered. The results suggest that within the considered parameter range, the target will be severely damaged by the beam. Thus, a carbon foil stripper does not seem to be a reliable option for the future Gesellschaft f\"ur Schwerionenforschung high energy heavy--ion linac, in particular, at FAIR design beam intensities.