The Material Response of PICA-NuSil to a Hypersonic Flow Environment

Brody K. Bessire, Jeremie B.E. Meurisse, Nagi N. Mansour, Francesco Panerai

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) is NASA’s baseline thermal protection system for missions to Mars. PICA is friable; therefore, NuSil® CV-1144-0 is applied to the surface of flight hardware to mitigate the contamination of spacecraft sensors. NuSil is composed of a polysiloxane resin system that can transform into an oxidation-resistant coating upon heating. Therefore, a pathfinder campaign was conducted at the Hypersonic Materials Environmental Test System (HyMETS) at the NASA Langley Research Center to investigate the material response of instrumented sphere-cone models made from PICA coated with NuSil®. Analysis of the post-test data is presented and suggests that NuSil® impacts the material response of test articles subjected to oxidizing atmospheres, as evidenced by a reduction of the measured surface temperature and in-depth temperature response. Finally, a four-step ablation mechanism is proposed based on observations from high-speed video, optical emission spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and post-test surface characterization.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationAIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum and Exposition, AIAA AVIATION Forum 2023
PublisherAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA
ISBN (Print)9781624107047
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023
EventAIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum and Exposition, AIAA AVIATION Forum 2023 - San Diego, United States
Duration: Jun 12 2023Jun 16 2023

Publication series

NameAIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum and Exposition, AIAA AVIATION Forum 2023

Conference

ConferenceAIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum and Exposition, AIAA AVIATION Forum 2023
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Diego
Period6/12/236/16/23

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Nuclear Energy and Engineering
  • Aerospace Engineering

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