Preliminary tests of non-ablative thermal protection materials

The test results of non-ablative ultra-high temperature ceramic materials (UHTC) in one of the plasma wind tunnels of CARDC are introduced in this paper. Three types of materials, namely model C(15, 10), Y and S(30, 15, 10), were tested under a subsonic condition with stagnation point heat flux of 478 W/cm², enthalpy of 27.9 MJ/kg and stagnation point pressure of 18 kPa. The test models were in flat cylinder shape with a diameter of 20 mm. The length variation and mass loss and surface temperature of each test model were measured. Test results showed that model Y surface temperature reached 1930°C with little surface characteristics change, model S surface temperature reached 1964°C with an oxidation layer formed and model C surface temperature reached 2462°C yet experienced severe ablation. Preliminary analyses of the tested materials in terms of surface characteristics change, anti-oxidation characteristics and surface radiation characteristics are also presented.