Ablation and Thermal Response Property Model Validation for Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator

Phenolic impregnated carbon ablator was the heat-shield material for the Stardust probe and was considered as a candidate heat-shield material for the Orion Crew Module. As part of the heat-shield qualification for Orion, physical and thermal properties were measured for newly manufactured material, including emissivity, heat capacity, thermal conductivity, elemental composition, and thermal decomposition rates. Based on these properties, an ablation and thermal-response model was developed for temperatures up to 3500 K and pressures up to 100 kPa. The model includes transversely isotropic and pressure-dependent thermal conductivity. In this work, model validation is accomplished by comparison of predictions with data from many arcjet tests conducted over a range of stagnation heat flux and pressure from 107 NV/cm(2) at 2.3 kPa to 1100 VW/cm(2) at 84 kPa. Over the entire range of test conditions, model predictions compare well with measured recession, maximum surface temperatures, in-depth temperatures, and char depth.