DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOSITE STRUCTURES FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE OPERATION.

Abstract

A study was made to determine the usefulness of thoria and hafnia as overlays to protect tungsten or tantalum nose caps for lifting re-entry vehicles. Various composites were evaluated over a temperature range of 3800 to 5300 F. It was determined that overlays required a reinforcement for thermal shock resistance, therefore a tungsten mesh system was selected. The porous nature of the overlays allowed sufficient oxygen to reach the tantalum substrates causing embrittlement or excessive chemical attack, so all tantalum substrates required an additional protective layer. Vapor-deposited tungsten was shown to be suitable up to 4500 F, and a Hf-Ta coating to 3800 F. The most promising system was ThO2 over tungsten, which demonstrated usefulness over several typical re-entry trajectories at temperatures as high as 5300 F. The use of HfO2 must be limited to 4900 F. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1967
Accession Number
AD0814712

Entities

People

  • B. Ohnysty
  • M. R. Licciardello

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Coatings
  • Composite Materials
  • Composite Structures
  • Embrittlement
  • High Temperature
  • Nose Caps
  • Noses
  • Resistance
  • Shock
  • Shock Resistance
  • Substrates
  • Tantalum
  • Thermal Shock
  • Trajectories
  • Tungsten

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Aerodynamics/Aeronautics.
  • Surface Engineering/Surface Coating Technology.