Mechanical and dual-stage wind tunnel ablative behavior of ceramic fiber-tile reinforced phenolic aerogel

This paper reports a porous organic-inorganic mixed thermal protection composite served in a high-temperature long-term environment. The rigid ceramic thermal insulation tile (CIT) reinforced phenolic aerogel (PR) composite has good mechanical properties, thermal insulation, and ablation resistance. The maximum linear thermal expansion coefficient was 4.707 × 10 −6 , and compressive strength and modulus reached 4.56 and 70.88 MPa, respectively. The thermal conductivity was 0.041 W/(m·K) at room temperature. After two-stage wind tunnel ablation at a high temperature exceeding 1300 °C for 270 sec and a low temperature exceeding 800 °C for 180 sec, the backside temperature was 242 °C. The ablation behavior and transformation process in the thickness direction were analyzed. The porous organic-inorganic mixed composite has a great prospect in long-term near-air flights. • Organic-inorganic composite with low thermal conductivity under high temperature. • Excellent compressive strength and modulus of fiber-tile/aerogel composites. • Desirable ablation resistance under two-stage arc wind tunnel test.