Carbon Fiber Oxidation in 4D
Abstract
Abstract The oxidation of carbon fibers at high temperatures is the primary degradation process in the thermal protection system of many hypersonic flight vehicles. Predicting the rate and the extent of oxidation is critical to ensure a safe and effective design. An oversized thermal protection system adds unnecessary mass, while an under‐designed one risks system failure and mission loss. Resolving high‐temperature material degradation due to oxidation has been a long‐standing challenge in designing for re‐entry flight environments. Using time‐resolved in situ X‐ray microtomography, the oxidation of carbon fibers at high temperatures is directly imaged, resolving the two limiting degradation regimes: diffusion‐ and reaction‐limited. The ability to resolve material degradation in time at the sub‐micron scale sheds light on the ablation phenomenon and enables predictions of material constitutive properties evolving in time, with profound implications on the ability to model the aerothermal response of heat shield materials in hostile environments.
Article Details
Authors (15)
Benjamin M. Ringel
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Grainger College of Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign 104 S Wright Street Urbana IL 61802 USA
Federico Semeraro
Joseph C. Ferguson
Analytical Mechanics Associates NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field CA 94035 USA
Harold S. Barnard
Advanced Light Source Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA 94720 USA
Bruno Dias
Analytical Mechanics Associates NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field CA 94035 USA
Christian M. Schlepütz
Swiss Light Source Paul Scherrer Institute Forschungsstrasse 111 5232 Villigen Switzerland
Edward S. Barnard
Molecular Foundry Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA 94720 USA
Sam Schickler
Advanced Light Source Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA 94720 USA
Kara Levy
Advanced Light Source Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA 94720 USA
Shawn Shacterman
Advanced Light Source Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA 94720 USA
Talia Benioff‐White
Advanced Light Source Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA 94720 USA
Julian Davis
Department of Engineering, University of Southern Indiana
Alastair A. MacDowell
Advanced Light Source Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA 94720 USA
Dilworth Y. Parkinson
Francesco Panerai
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Grainger College of Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign 104 S Wright Street Urbana IL 61802 USA