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Development of an Ablative 3D Quartz / Cyanate Ester Composite for the Orion Spacecraft Compression PadWith the successful flight test of the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle last December, NASA is well on its way to sending humans into deep space with the ultimate goal of putting astronauts on Mars in the 2030s. Orion will receive some upgrades for its next launch in 2018 including a newly developed 3D quartz / cyanate ester composite material for the compression pad. Multiple pad locations in the heat shield serve as a part of the mechanism for holding the Crew and Service Modules together during most mission phases prior to separation followed by Earth re-entry of the Crew Module. Thus the compression pad must survive structural and aerothermal loads, and protect the adjascent structure and heat shield materials from over-heating.This paper describes the approach used for developing the new 3D composite, including continuous 3D weaving on an automated loom followed by resin transfer molding. Mechanical, thermal, arc jet ,and stress relaxation testing of the 3D composite are also described.
Document ID
20190002016
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Feldman, Jay D.
(Engineering Research and Consulting (ERC), Inc. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Venkatapathy, Ethiraj
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Wilkinson, Curt
(Bally Ribbon Mills Bally, PA, United States)
Mercer, Kenneth J.
(San Diego Composites, LLC San Diego, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
March 29, 2019
Publication Date
October 26, 2015
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Composite Materials
Report/Patent Number
ARC-E-DAA-TN26391
Meeting Information
Meeting: Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CMAX)
Location: Dallas, TX
Country: United States
Start Date: October 26, 2015
End Date: October 29, 2015
Sponsors: Suppliers of Advanced Composite Materials Association
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNA12AA41C
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNA15BB15C
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNA14AA67B
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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