Design and spraying-preparation of the gradient coatings with various diameters and contents of SiO2 nano-particles for the enhanced anti-impact and thermal insulation performance

Composites used in aircraft are vulnerable to mechanical and thermal damage during particle impact at high speeds. In this paper, a series of gradient polyurethane silica coatings with different silica particle sizes and concentration gradients were prepared on epoxy resin matrix composites by pneumatic spraying process. The results of corundum impact and thermal insulation performance experiments indicated that multi-layer gradient coatings improved the particle impact resistance and thermal insulation. The damage was reduced to <1 % of surface damage area and thickness loss under the protection of enhanced gradient coatings, showing excellent particle impact resistance. Under unidirectional heating conditions, the temperature difference between the heating plate and the sample surface was four times that of the unprotected sample, from 2.2 °C to 9.4 °C, and the total thermal conductivity of the protected sample was reduced by 91.73 %. The coatings remained intact under high-speed particle collision of 300 A plasma flow, which verified the protection performance of the coatings simulating the situation that the coatings were impacted by particles and heated simultaneously. The as-prepared gradient coatings can effectively enhance the anti-impact and thermal insulation performance of composites, exhibiting wide application prospects.