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DOE OSTI · 2583295

Carbon Fiber Oxidation in 4D

Ringel, Benjamin M. [Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0009000116795640)·Semeraro, Federico [NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000227718077)·Ferguson, Joseph C. [NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA (United States); Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000186084468)·Barnard, Harold S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)] (ORCID:0000000169327173)·Dias, Bruno [NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000224682769)·Schlepütz, Christian M. [Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland). Swiss Light Source] (ORCID:0000000204852708)·Barnard, Edward S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Molecular Foundry] (ORCID:0000000347360743)·Schickler, Sam [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)]·Levy, Kara [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)]·Shacterman, Shawn [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)]·Benioff‐White, Talia [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)]·Davis, Julian [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)]·MacDowell, Alastair A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)]·Parkinson, Dilworth Y. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)] (ORCID:0000000218170716)·Panerai, Francesco [Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000283788416)
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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.

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ablationcarbon fibercarbon oxidationthermal protection system

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BibTeXRIS

Ringel, Benjamin M. [Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0009000116795640), Semeraro, Federico [NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000227718077), Ferguson, Joseph C. [NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA (United States); Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000186084468), Barnard, Harold S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)] (ORCID:0000000169327173), Dias, Bruno [NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000224682769), Schlepütz, Christian M. [Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland). Swiss Light Source] (ORCID:0000000204852708), Barnard, Edward S. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Molecular Foundry] (ORCID:0000000347360743), Schickler, Sam [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)], Levy, Kara [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)], Shacterman, Shawn [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)], Benioff‐White, Talia [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)], Davis, Julian [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)], MacDowell, Alastair A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)], Parkinson, Dilworth Y. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)] (ORCID:0000000218170716), Panerai, Francesco [Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000283788416). 2025-10-23. Carbon Fiber Oxidation in 4D. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202502007

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