Ablation analysis of the Shuttle Orbiter oxidation protected reinforced carbon-carbon

Reusable, oxidation-protected reinforced carbon-carbon has been successfully flown on all Shuttle Orbiter flights. Thermal testing of the silicon carbide-coated reinforced carbon-carbon to determine its oxidation characteristics has been performed in convective (plasma Arc-Jet) heating facilities. Surface sealant mass loss was characterized as a function of temperature and pressure. High-temperature testing was performed to develop coating recession correlations for predicting performance at the over-temperature flight conditions associated with abort trajectories. Methods for using these test data to establish multimission reuse (i.e., mission life) and single mission limits are presented. (Author)