Design of ablation resistant/heat insulation/lightweight integrated thermal protection material for extreme aerothermodynamic environment

Abstract In order to meet the requirement of the more extreme and severe aerothermodynamic environment faced by the future spacecrafts for high‐speed Earth return missions, novel ablation resistant/heat insulation/lightweight integrated resin matrix composites are designed for the heatshields for these vehicles. Proposing the concept of security zone and heat insulation zone into the novel designs, not only the ablation resistant and heat insulation abilities can be improved, but also the weight of the entire material can be effectively reduced. Simultaneously, a computer modeling is established to evaluate the comprehensive performance of integrated high temperature materials. A variety of material process design parameters is introduced into the model while taking the respective properties of fiber weave and matrix into consideration. Computer codes are written for solving the model based on the numerical method for solving nonlinear equations. Under two typical extreme aerothermodynamic environments faced by future aircrafts, the effects of material process design parameters on the comprehensive performance are analyzed, which includes ablation resistant ability, heat insulation capacity, and lightweight level. Finally, the optimal design scheme of the new integrated resin matrix composite under the specific environment is determined. This work helps to the on‐demand design of new thermal protection materials for extreme entry or reentry environments.