Experimental study of the insulating effectiveness of silicone rubber composites by oxyacetylene ablation testing

Abstract

The objective of this study was to characterize the thermal insulation efficiency of the silicone rubber reinforced composites by oxyacetylene torch. These composites reinforced by glass, carbon, ceramics and silica fibers were intended to be used as ablators in a low-thrust hybrid propulsion motor. The back-face temperature measurements were used as a criterion for insulation efficiency of the specimens, whose frontal face is subjected to the oxyacetylene flame for 40 s. The paper includes the results of the ablation rate measurements and the influence of orientation of glass and carbon fibers relatively to the flame direction on the back-face temperature of the specimens.