Functionally graded ablative materials with density gradient were newly developed for thermal protection system of future space exploration missions. The ablating surface was densified to reduce the amount of surface recession, while the density inside the ablator was reduced with expectation of light weight and high heat insulation. Bulk specific gravity was found to be about 0.7 approximately 0.8. Basic thermal characteristics of the developed ablative material were obtained by conducting heating tests in the arcjet wind tunnel. According to X-ray CT inspection conducted before and after the heating tests, layer delamination was not observed inside the test piece.
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