Estimation of thermal properties and surface heat flux in carbon-carbon composite

This article discusses a laboratory method of measurement of the thermal properties of a carbon matrix carbon fiber composite material. Another important objective is the determination of the surface heat flux from measured temperatures within the body. This article is unique because the thermal properties are being estimated with known heat flux and temperature histories; then the opposite problem of recovering the heat flux history is solved using the estimated values for the thermal properties and temperature history. This calculated heat flux history can then be compared with the measured input heat flux. Results were obtained for a temperature range of 30-600 C. The thermal properties demonstrate a presumed quadratic relationship with temperature, and a good agreement between the estimated and measured heat flux histories is demonstrated. (Author)