A team of scientists at the Florida State University Institute for High-Performance Materials is using advanced nanomaterials to produce lightweight insulation panels that can withstand the heat from hypersonic flight. The new experimental shield is based on a carbon nanotube sheet called "buckypaper", which can be made into a very thin and flexible skin, which can be applied to the supersonic aircraft body to provide protection and support.
Aircraft and spacecraft operating in the atmosphere at speeds five times higher than the speed of sound must be equipped with heat shields to avoid serious damage. This is especially true when many aerospace designs increasingly rely on carbon composite materials that provide strength and portability but are susceptible to high temperatures.
Since the 1950s, heat shields made of phenolic plastic have existed. These are called ablative heat shields. They burn away in layers and take away excess heat to protect the returned spacecraft. Unfortunately, these protective covers are bulky, inflexible, and must be replaced after one use. In the 1970s, the US Space Shuttle used ceramic heat shields that absorbed and re-radiated heat to protect the spacecraft. These ceramic layers can be reused, but they are still huge, hard and fragile.
As an alternative, the Florida State Research Group is working on fabric paper, which is made by pressing carbon nanotubes (tubular carbon molecules 50,000 times thinner than human hair) into thin sheets. When compressed into multiple layers, the paper is 10 times lighter than steel, but 500 times stronger.
Making this heat shield requires soaking buck paper in phenolic resin to form a lightweight material. It is very thin, but very strong and can help support the structure of the aircraft. During the flame test, the bucky paper sample can smoothly dissipate heat from the base layer under the shielding layer at a temperature of up to 1900 ° C (3450 ° F) while maintaining the highest strength and flexibility.
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