STUDY AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CERAMIC SHELL STRUCTURES FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE SPACE APPLICATIONS
- Paper number
IAC-17,C2,8,4,x37921
- Author
Dr. Marta Albano, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), Italy
- Coauthor
Dr. Andrea Delfini, Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy
- Coauthor
Dr. Antonio Vricella, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy
- Coauthor
Ms. Samantha Ianelli, Italian Space Agency (ASI), Italy
- Coauthor
Dr. Alessandro Gabrielli, Italian Space Agency (ASI), Italy
- Coauthor
Prof. Mario Marchetti, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy
- Year
2017
- Abstract
The use of laminated composite shells in many engineering applications has been expanding rapidly in the past five decades due to their higher strength and stiffness to weight ratios when compared to most metallic materials. Composite shells now constitute a large percentage of aerospace or submarine structures. When shell structure is applied to space, the most challenging structures are the aeroshell used for the wing leading edge and nose of vehicles. The extreme temperatures on these components brought the technology on development of ceramic materials able to withstand the harsh re-entry environment conditions. The aim of this paper is to study a shell structure for space applications such as leading edges of a re-entry vehicle. The structure has to be reusable, lightweight and thin. A sandwich shell structure will be designed, manufactured and tested. The components used for the design are the skin made of carbon composite and the core made of carbon foam. The use of Carbon/Carbon composites for the design of shells allows structures to withstand temperatures over 1300°C. The key factor for using this kind of material in re-entry applications is the high stability at high temperature, preserving its mechanical properties. Carbon based foams main features are thermal stability (low CTE), lightweight, high insulating capacities. This core material shall withstand with high thermal loads and the main purpose is to drastically reduce of hundreds of degree the temperatures of the upper surface (typically about 1000°C) in order to protect the inner volume of the spacecraft. In this frame, the selection of the foam for this specific application is utmost important. One of most critical aspects of sandwich structures is the behaviour of adhesive between the different layers, which depends on the surface preparation and process optimization: the present intend to provide a study of a process for a good adhesion and excellent thermo-mechanical properties. A 3-D shell prototype manufactured via Chemical Vapour Infiltration will undergo to a stabilization process. The manufacturing process will be controlled via testing control samples which follows the prototype during its production cycle. The samples will be tested in order to analyze the morphological and thermo-mechanical characteristics. Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis and space environment tests, such as atomic oxygen and outgassing, will be performed. These characteristics will be implemented in a numerical analysis in order to study the thermos-mechanical behavior of the structure.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-17,C2,8,4,x37921.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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