Preliminary tests of silicon carbide based concretes for hybrid rocket nozzles in a solar furnace

Autor: Gilles Peraudeau, Gérard Bernhart, Thierry Cutard, Marianne Balat-Pichelin, Raffaele D׳Elia
Přispěvatelé: Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales - Direction Des Lanceurs. (CNES), Institut Clément Ader (ICA), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Toulouse (INSA Toulouse), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-IMT École nationale supérieure des Mines d'Albi-Carmaux (IMT Mines Albi), Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] (IMT)-Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] (IMT)-Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), Procédés, Matériaux et Energie Solaire (PROMES), Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Toulouse (INSA Toulouse), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-IMT École nationale supérieure des Mines d'Albi-Carmaux (IMT Mines Albi), Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] (IMT)-Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] (IMT), CNES - Région Midi-Pyrénées
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2014
Předmět:
Zdroj: Acta Astronautica
Acta Astronautica, Elsevier, 2014, 99, pp.242-251. ⟨10.1016/j.actaastro.2014.02.027⟩
Acta Astronautica, 2014, 99, pp.242-251. ⟨10.1016/j.actaastro.2014.02.027⟩
ISSN: 0094-5765
1879-2030
Popis: International audience; This research is part of the PERSEUS project, a space program concerning hybrid propulsion and supported by CNES. The main goal of this study is to characterise silicon carbide based micro-concrete with a maximum aggregates size of 800 μm, in a hybrid propulsion environment. The nozzle throat has to resist to a highly oxidising polyethylene (PE)/N2O hybrid environment, under temperatures ranging up to 2980 K.The study is divided into two main parts: the first one deals with the thermo-mechanical characterisation of the material up to 1500 K and the second one with an investigation on the oxidation behaviour in a standard atmosphere, under a solar flux up to 13.5 MW/m2.Young’s modulus was determined by resonant frequency method: results show an increase with the stabilisation temperature. Four point bending tests have shown a rupture tensile strength increasing with stabilisation temperature, up to 1473 K. Sintering and densification processes are primary causes of this phenomenon. Visco-plastic behaviour appears at 1373 K, due to the formation of liquid phases in cement ternary system.High-temperature oxidation in ambient air was carried out at PROMES-CNRS laboratory, on a 2 kW solar furnace, with a concentration factor of 15,000. A maximum 13.5 MW/m2 incident solar flux and a 7–90 s exposure times have been chosen. Optical microscopy, SEM, EDS analyses were used to determine the microstructure evolution and the mass loss kinetics. During these tests, silicon carbide undergoes active oxidation with production of SiO and CO smokes and ablation. A linear relation between mass loss and time is found. Oxidation tests performed at 13.5 MW/m2 solar flux have shown a mass loss of 10 mg/cm2 after 15 s. After 90 s, the mass loss reaches 60 mg/cm2.Surface temperature measurement is a main point in this study, because of necessity of a thermo-mechanical-ablative model for the material. Smokes appear at around 5.9 MW/m2, leading to the impossibility of useful temperature measurements by optical pyrometry.Micro-concrete is really interesting for the nozzle realisation, thanks to its workability, and its thermo-mechanical properties. After 30 s, mass loss in micro-concrete is one half of pure α-SiC. This result is really interesting to study SiC-based concretes in oxidising environments, instead of sintered α-SiC.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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