Replacement Carbon Fibers for Thermal Protection Applications.
Abstract
Fibrous carbons are low cost engineering materials. They are used in a large number of specialty aerospace and industrial applications because of their flexibility, high thermal stability, light weight, chemical inertness, low thermal conductivity, dimensional stability, low electrical resistivity, nontoxicity, nonflammability, and other attributes. Most grades of fibrous carbon are manufactured from the precursor continuous filament rayon. Because of declining commercial market for this textile product in the United States, continued availability is becoming more questionable. The evaluation of substitute materials, and, the development of equivalent replacement materials have been initiated to preclude future shortages or production delays. The area of greatest concern is the development of organic fabrics, which can later be converted to carbon fabrics for reinforcement of thermal protection composites. Fibrous organic precursors receiving the most attention are staple rayon, pitch and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) materials. This report describes the status of candidate precursor fibers and the carbonized products derived from these materials. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1977
- Accession Number
- ADA047293
Entities
People
- Donald L. Schmidt
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory