Integrated High Payoff Rocket Propulsion Technology (IHPRPT) SiC Recession Model

SiC stability and recession rates were modeled in hydrogen/oxygen combustion environments for the Integrated High Payoff Rocket Propulsion Technology (IHPRPT) program. The IHPRPT program is a government and industry program to improve U.S. rocket propulsion systems. Within this program SiC-based ceramic matrix composites are being considered for transpiration cooled injector faceplates or rocket engine thrust chamber liners. Material testing under conditions representative of these environments was conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center, Cell 22. For the study described herein, SiC degradation was modeled under these Cell 22 test conditions for comparison to actual test results: molar mixture ratio, MR (O2:H2) = 6, material temperatures to 1700 C, combustion gas pressures between 0.34 and 2.10 atm, and gas velocities between 8,000 and 12,000 fps. Recession was calculated assuming rates were controlled by volatility of thermally grown silica limited by gas boundary layer transport. Assumptions for use of this model were explored, including the presence of silica on the SiC surface, laminar gas boundary layer limited volatility, and accuracy of thermochemical data for volatile Si-O-H species. Recession rates were calculated as a function of temperature. It was found that at 1700 C, the highest temperature considered, the calculated recession rates were negligible, about 200 m/h, relative to the expected lifetime of the material. Results compared favorably to testing observations. Other mechanisms contributing to SiC recession are briefly described including consumption of underlying carbon and pitting. A simple expression for liquid flow on the material surface was developed from a one-dimensional treatment of the Navier-Stokes Equation. This relationship is useful to determine under which conditions glassy coatings or thermally grown silica would flow on the material surface, removing protective layers by shear forces. The velocity of liquid flow was found to depend on the gas velocity, the viscosity of gas and liquid, as well as the thickness of the gas boundary layer and the liquid layer. Calculated flow rates of a borosilicate glass coating compared well to flow rates observed for this coating tested on a SiC panel in Cell 22.