Study of microstructure of carbon-based materials in plasma wind tunnel testing

Carbon-based materials have been known as ablative material and have been used for thermal protection systems. Ablation is an erosive phenomenon that results in thermochemical and thermomechanical changes on materials. Ablation resistance is one of the key properties that determines performance and life-time of the thermal protection material under ablative conditions. In this study, ablation properties of graphite, 3-dimensional (C/C) composites (needle-punched type and rod type) were investigated byusing a plasma wind tunnel which produce a supersonic plasma flow from a segmented arc heater with the power level of 0.4 MW. The mass losses and surface roughness changes which contain main result of the ablation are measured. A morphological analysis ofthe carbon-based materials, before and after the ablation test, are performed through field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and non-contact 3D surface measuring system. Electronic balance and a portable surface roughness tester were used for evaluation of the recession and mass loss of the test samples.