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NASA NTRS · 20160004673

Alternative High Performance Polymers for Ablative Thermal Protection Systems

Boghozian, Tane·Stackpoole, Mairead·Gonzales, Greg
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Abstract

Ablative thermal protection systems are commonly used as protection from the intense heat during re-entry of a space vehicle and have been used successfully on many missions including Stardust and Mars Science Laboratory both of which used PICA - a phenolic based ablator. Historically, phenolic resin has served as the ablative polymer for many TPS systems. However, it has limitations in both processing and properties such as char yield, glass transition temperature and char stability. Therefore alternative high performance polymers are being considered including cyanate ester resin, polyimide, and polybenzoxazine. Thermal and mechanical properties of these resin systems were characterized and compared with phenolic resin.

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Boghozian, Tane, Stackpoole, Mairead, Gonzales, Greg. 2015-03-22. Alternative High Performance Polymers for Ablative Thermal Protection Systems. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20160004673

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Three Dimensionally Woven Mid-Density Carbon Phenolic (3MDCP) is a Novel Single Piece Ablative TPS for Extreme Entry Environments

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