Research Projects

Special Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) are employed to protect the rocket hardware and re-entry capsule from extreme thermal environments. Fiber reinforced ablative composites are cost-effective and well-proven candidates for such applications. The formation of carbonaceous ‘char’ during thermal erosion ablation process, acts as an insulating layer to the bulk material. However, processing, characterization and qualification of ablatives are quite complex and involves long cycle times. Ablative composites has to withstand temperature of 2500ºC at least because the external surface of space vehicle experiences high heat flux, that makes a constant demand to improve the structural characteristics, dimensional stability and useful service life of ablative materials. This can be improved by adding various additives. Researchers worked on single-hybrid nano-filled ablative composites to enhance the properties. However, very few reported on channeling nano-fillers synergic effect to targeted enhanced properties with controllable ablation phenomena. The transient thermal response of protective materials exposed to high-energy environments is a key factor to the design of heat shield for re-entry vehicles. Measuring thermal response experimentally has its own limitations primarily cost, setup and creation of re-entry environmental conditions for the experiments to be carried out. To address these shortcomings of experimental system, modelling and simulation can be a viable option. Hence, this proposal aims at developing process models and simulation environment predicting synergic effects to control ablation process. To develop realistic process models and ablation mechanism, it is proposed to develop experimental prototypes and its thermal erosion characterizations under mimicked aerodynamic conditions. Use of single filler to composite ablators have limitations to provide combined structural characteristics, dimensional stability and useful service life. Trends are to incorporate hybrid fillers in order to reap synergistic enhanced properties for ablators under aerodynamic loading. Though, researchers are working on enhancing thermal erosion properties using hybrid filler-composite ablators, only few reported channeling hybrid fillers synergic effect to targeted combined properties such as controllable erosion rate via controllable ablation mechanism with enhanced mechanical properties. Importantly, there are no simulation packages reporting synergistic ablation behaviour due to hybrid fillers-composite ablators. Hence, research on combinatorial approach to predict synergistic ablation behavior through experimentations and process model simulations, will help to channelize use of synergic effects in targeted thermal erosion rates via controllable ablative mechanism with enhanced properties