Cork filled ethylene-propylene-diene monomer based thermal insulation for space vehicles
- Paper number
IAC-11,C2,7,20,x9903
- Author
Dr. Jamal Gul, SUPARCO, Pakistan
- Coauthor
Dr. Sajid Mirza, Pakistan
- Year
2011
- Abstract
Asbestos filled ethylene-propylene diene ter-monomer (EPDM) based vulcanizates were widely being used as thermal insulation in space vehicles because of their high ozone and oxygen resistant, superior mechanical, thermal and ablation properties. In this study efforts have been made to replace asbestos with low specific gravity cork powder in EPDM based thermal insulation because of the carcinogenic nature of asbestos. Various insulation batches of cork filled EPDM were obtained by compounding cork powder with EPDM in Two-roll-mill in presence of other required ingredients. Thermal, ablative and insulative performances of the cork-EPDM were investigated for their applicability as thermal insulation in space vehicles. Thermal gravimetric analysis and kinetic studies showed that activation energy required for the thermal decomposition of the insulator increased with the increase of the cork percentage in the formulation. It was also evident from experimental results that cork loadings also enhanced thermal ablation performance of EPDM based thermal insulation. Although, no significant reduction in specific gravity of the insulation was observed but thermal conductivity and back-side temperature rise of the composite significantly decreased with cork loading. It may be concluded cork powder can be used as filler in EPDM based thermal insulation for space vehicles.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-11,C2,7,20,x9903.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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