Mechanical and dual-stage wind tunnel ablative behavior of ceramic fiber-tile reinforced phenolic aerogel

This paper reports a porous organic-inorganic mixed thermal protection composite served in a high-temperature long-term environment. The rigid ceramic thermal insulation tile (CIT) reinforced phenolic aerogel (PR) composite has good mechanical properties , thermal insulation, and ablation resistance. The maximum linear thermal expansion coefficient was 4.707 × 10 −6 , and compressive strength and modulus reached 4.56 and 70.88 MPa, respectively. The thermal conductivity was 0.041 W/(m·K) at room temperature. After two-stage wind tunnel ablation at a high temperature exceeding 1300 °C for 270 s and a low temperature exceeding 800 °C for 180 s, the backside temperature was 242 °C. The ablation behavior and transformation process in the thickness direction were analyzed. The porous organic-inorganic mixed composite has a great prospect in long-term near-air flights.