Engineering Science and Materials Commons^™

Experimental And Computational Studies Of Heat Transfer In Flexible Two-Dimensional Woven Fiber Ceramic Materials, Rodrigo Penide Fernandez

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Flexible thermal protection materials made from two-dimensional woven ceramics fibers are of significant interest for hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerators being developed by NASA for future missions on Mars and other planets. A key component of the thermal shield is a heat-resistant outer ceramic fabric that must withstand harsh aero-thermal atmospheric entry conditions. However, a predictive understanding of heat conduction processes in complex woven-fiber ceramic materials under deformation is currently lacking. This dissertation presents a combined experimental and computational study of thermal conductivity in alumina-based Nextel-440 and silicon carbide Hi-Nicalon 5-harness-satin woven fabrics, using the hot-disk transient plane source method and …