Surface Quality Analysis of Reinforced Carbon-Carbon Leading Edges in Hypersonic Environments

Leading edges are critical in the development of hypersonic vehicles. However, these leading edges can sustain harsh environments with temperatures starting around 1500 K and exceeding up to 4000 K, necessitating the development of advanced materials capable of withstanding these conditions. Carbon Fiber Reinforced Carbon (C/C) has been used as a candidate material for hypersonic applications, due to its thermal resistance and toughness. C/C can be created in both woven and non-woven configurations, where the latter provides a more uniform material. In this study, specimens of blunt nose configurations made of non woven C/C are experimentally evaluated, where the internal thermal response and surface quality are analyzed. Specimens are exposed to a hypersonic flow with a stagnation temperature of 1,500 K. Embedded thermocouples were used to measure internal temperatures, an IR camera was used to measure external temperature, and qualitative post test surface inspections are performed by using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) imaging to observe ablation and surface degradation.