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Demisability of GFRP and CFRP Components of Reentering Orbital Debris: Phase I Test ResultsObservations of surviving reentry debris on the ground and research performed by Hyperschall Technologie Göttingen (HTG) [1] indicated that significantly more glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) and carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) components survive reentry than current models predict. NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office conducted a series of tests to evaluate the accuracy of material demise models for reentering orbital debris used in NASA’s Object Reentry Survival Analysis Tool (ORSAT) and Debris Assessment Software (DAS). Testing is planned in a multi-phase series to allow for quick quantification of results as well as refinement of methods resulting from lessons learned during early phases. The Phase 1 tests discussed here validated ORSAT models for homogeneous metals, provided an efficient quantification of composite material demisability properties like mass loss rate and overall time to demise, and identified potential failure modes, which are currently not well understood. Phase 2 tests will be used to further understand mass loss rates and modes of both thermal and mechanical failure in composite materials. The authors exposed 95 samples of aluminum, CFRP, Kevlar fiber-reinforced polymer, GFRP, and sheets of G10 fiberglass to conditions approximating the reentry environment using an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) torch facility. The cylindrical CFRP samples were exposed to the atmospheric pressure plasma, at both the end and the midpoint, to investigate the difference in demisability between parts with exposed edges, like panels, and parts with no edges, such as carbonoverwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs). In a non-oxidative environment, no composite materials demised within the 5-minute test time. In the oxidative, elevated heat flux environment, CFRP samples demised between 210 s and 270 s. For the first 100 s of insertion time, most of the mass loss was due to pyrolysis of resin, creating an approximately bi-linear mass-loss rate curve with time. In a non-oxidative environment, carbon filaments were observed to unravel from some of the CFRP end-burned samples; however, this effect did not seem to affect the overall time to demise for the samples significantly. These results indicate that both GFRP and CFRP components survive reentry with significantly more remaining mass than current models predict.
Document ID
20190025208
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Greene, Benton R.
(Jacobs Technology, Inc. Houston, TX, United States)
Sanchez, Christopher M.
(Applied Research Associates, Inc. Albuquerque, NM, United States)
Date Acquired
May 17, 2019
Publication Date
May 15, 2019
Subject Category
Space Sciences (General)
Report/Patent Number
JSC-E-DAA-TN66697
Meeting Information
Meeting: IAASS Conference ýMaking Safety Happený
Location: El Segundo, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: May 15, 2019
End Date: May 17, 2019
Sponsors: Aerospace Corp.
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNJ13HA01C
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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