CORK BASED THERMAL PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR SOUNDING ROCKET

APPLICATIONS – DEVELOPMENT AND FLIGHT TESTING

Oliver Drescher(1), Marcus Hörschgen-Eggers(2), Grégory Pinaud(3), Maxime Podeur(4)

(1)
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)/Oberpfaffenhofen, Mobile Raketen Basis, Münchener Straße 20,
82234 Weßling, Germany, E-mail: [email protected]
(2)
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)/Oberpfaffenhofen, Mobile Raketen Basis, Münchener Straße 20,
82234 Weßling, Germany, E-mail: [email protected]
(3)
ArianeGroup, Rue du Général Niox, 33165 Saint-Medard en Jalles Cedex, France,
E-mail: [email protected]
(4)
ArianeGroup, Rue du Général Niox, 33165 Saint-Medard en Jalles Cedex, France,
E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT
The application of aerospace thermal protection systems
(TPS) is not limited to orbital flight and re-entry
vehicles. Although less critical in terms of the thermal
load’s magnitude, it is also an essential part of sounding
rocket primary structures.
For a large variety of launch vehicles, DLR’s Mobile
Rocket Base (MORABA) uses thermal protection
systems on primary structures such as fin, nose cone,
conical adapter and heat shield assemblies. Hereby, an
ablative, epoxy based, two component thermoset
coating has been the material of choice over several
decades. Using relatively simple manufacturing
methods, it can be sprayed onto almost any geometry.
However, its noxious fumes released during the
spraying process, its limited shelf life, its extensive
storage requirements and above all, its residues
polluting adjacent payload components during the
ablation phase, are the key drivers for the development
of a new thermal protection system using a special cork
material.
This paper presents the development and manufacturing
process as well as flight testing and post-flight analyses
for different cork protected structural components flown
on recent scientific missions (e.g. MAIUS 1,
MAPHEUS 6, etc.). Results are discussed and a future
outlook is given.
Figure 1. IMPROVED MALEMUTE (IM) vehicle with
1 MOTIVATION cork based TPS on fin and motor adapter assemblies.
Aerospace thermal protection systems (TPS) are an However, its noxious fumes released during the
essential part of sounding rocket primary structures such spraying process, its limited shelf life, its extensive
as fin, nose cone, conical adapter and heat shield storage requirements and above all, its residues
assemblies; see also Fig. 1. Until recently the Mobile polluting adjacent payload components during the
Rocket Base (MORABA) of the German Aerospace ablation phase, are the key drivers for the development
Centre (DLR) used an ablative, epoxy based, two of a new thermal protection system.
component thermoset coating as TPS material.
2 TPS MATERIAL SELECTION bonding and outgassing treatment for special space
applications.
Besides the main functionality as a TPS material, the
following additional requirements are considered as
3 THERMAL ANALYSIS
stringent for the selection of the new TPS material:
In order to pre-assess the minimum TPS material
- Easy to apply on various shaped geometries, thickness required as well as the charred layer thickness,
- low mass, a one-dimensional thermal analysis has been performed,
- environmentally friendly (REACH, pollution of considering a stacking of material and thermophysical
adjacent structures), phenomena as shown in Fig. 3.
- low procurement and process costs,
- easy to store,
- easy to repair,
- good availability,
- preferably “Made in the European Union (EU)”,
- no or less export restrictions.

From these outlined specifications resin infiltrated cork

has been selected as the most potential TPS substitute.
ArianeGroup (AG) 40 years of experience in the design,
manufacturing and integration of cork based TPS for
several space flight vehicles is a further key asset in
selecting especially NORCOAT® LIÈGE HPK FI as the
most promising semi-finished product available on the Figure 3. Schematic view of material and
EU market. thermophysical phenomena stacking.
NORCOAT® LIÈGE HPK FI is a low density thermal The simulation has been carried out on the VSB-30
insulator based on cork granules mixed with phenolic aluminium forward nose cone (FNC) structure,
resin as matrix; it is manufactured by LIÈGE HPK and laminated with 1.5mm as well as 2.0mm sheets of
marketed by AG. It is currently used on Ariane 5 launch NORCOAT® LIÈGE HPK FI, using the commercial
vehicles, on M 51 French deterrence force missiles and code AMARYLLIS (part of the SAMCEF code suite).
has been successfully operated on the Atmospheric Re-
entry Demonstrator (ADR) back cover as well as on the 3.1 Method and Material Response Modelling
front heat shield of the BEAGLE 2 space probe of the
European MARS EXPRESS mission. Furthermore, the NORCOAT® LIÈGE HPK FI is a so called charring
successful operation on the latest Mars re-entry capsule material, which decomposes when subjected to high
Schiaparelli (EXOMARS mission, Fig. 2) proved the temperatures, followed by a decrease in the material’s
robustness of the material. density. Since this material consists of different
constituents, its degradation can occur over different
temperature ranges. To account for this type of
behaviour, a multiple species Arrhenius definition can
be used. However, for the herein described simulation
only a single species Arrhenius law has been applied,
due to available material model; Eq. 1.

(1)

The above described degradation results in the

production of gaseous products, which diffuse through
the material. Therefore the steady state gas mass
Figure 2. NORCOAT® LIÈGE HPK FI on the Mars re- balance equation is used; Eq. 2.
entry capsule Schiaparelli; source: ESA.
(2)
NORCOAT® LIÈGE HPK FI is produced in form of flat
plates of various thicknesses from 1.5mm to 19.0mm
and can be further processed by e.g. machining (e.g.
cutting, milling, etc.), hot-press forming, adhesive
Assuming an ideal gas law, and introducing Darcy’s law
to relate the pressure of the gas to the gas mass balance, Since the VSB-30 FNC structure is ejected after
Eq. 3 can be formulated. approximately T+60s the simulation is only carried out
within this time frame.

(3)

By introducing the pressure as a variable, a three-

dimensional gas flow can be defined, using a scalar
degree of freedom. Thus a direction of gas mass flow
has not to be imposed beforehand. The heat balance
equation reflects the time variation of enthalpy (both
solid and gas), the heat conduction and the presence of
gas in the pores of the solid parts. The model is set up
with a local thermal equilibrium, assuming the gas and
the solid parts having the same temperature at
microscale. With the assumption of linear enthalpy
variation, the following heat balance equation is
obtained, Eq. 4.

(4)

All temperature dependent material properties (, , cp) Figure 5. Heat flux on VSB-30 FNC base on TEXUS 43
are obtained by interpolation between the virgin and the nominal trajectory data.
charred state.
The predicted cold wall heat flux is tabulated for
3.2 Loads and Boundary Conditions different wall temperatures based on the trajectory data
and is then rebuilt in an iterative loop.
The VSB-30 vehicle’s ascent velocity, altitude and heat
flux over flight time are applied and taken from In total three types of boundary conditions are applied
TEXUS 43 nominal trajectory data; see also Fig. 4 and to the model:
Fig. 5.
- The outer surface pressure, representing the
aerodynamic pressure (Eq. 5),
- the outer wall temperature, dependent on the
applied heat flux (convective and radiative term,
Eq. 5),
- the imposed temperature dependent ablation speed
(Eq. 6).

(5)

(6)

The surface ablation is implemented by a moving

ablation surface and a deforming volume.

3.3 Results
Fig. 6 shows the calculated FNC’s inside wall
temperatures for the different NORCOAT® LIÈGE
Figure 4. TEXUS 43 nominal vehicle velocity and
HPK FI layer thicknesses (1.5mm and 2.0mm) and
altitude data.
typical inflight measured temperatures for a 1.0mm Fig. 7 shows the calculated NORCOAT® LIÈGE HPK
layer of the traditional epoxy based thermoset coating. FI charred layer depth for virgin layer thicknesses of
1.5mm and 2.0mm. During the ascent phase the
pyrolysis is expected to start from approximately T+30s
and the TPS external surface to be fully charred. After
T+60s the pyrolysis front can reach a depth of ~0.6mm
for 1.5mm and ~0.7mm for 2.0mm virgin cork layer
thicknesses.

Showing non-critical wall temperatures and non-

sensitive insulation behaviour, a layer of 2.0mm
NORCOAT® LIÈGE HPK FI has been selected as the
VSB-30 FNC’s TPS substitute for further
manufacturing trails as well as inflight testing.
Considering a 2.0mm coating and the respective
adhesive layer, the total aerial mass at lift-off for this
TPS solution would be less than 1.5kg/m2.

4 MANUFACTURING PROCESS AND

HARDWARE
Another major part of the TPS substitution has been the
development and establishment of a suitable
Figure 6. Comparison of predicted inside wall manufacturing process by fulfilling the following main
temperatures. needs: Low process costs, less lead time,
environmentally friendly, applicable to all TPS related
After T+60s, maximum inner wall temperatures of structures, performable by 1-2 workers.
~357K (84°C) for 1.5mm and ~338K (65°C) for 2.0mm
of cork are reached. The resulting temperatures can be The essential process steps (Fig. 8) can be named in the
rated as non-critical compared to the measured right order as: Surface preparation, structural adhesive
temperature for the traditional epoxy based thermoset application, TPS layer application, vacuum bagging and
coating and to the maximum service temperature of the curing, finishing.
aluminium structure. However, a direct comparison of
the cork and epoxy based thermoset TPS is not possible
due to the different layer thicknesses applied.

Figure 8. NORCOAT® LIÈGE HPK FI application on

VSB-30 FNC structure.

After the successful manufacturing process develop-

ment, performed on a VSB-30 FNC structure (Fig. 8), it
has been adopted to other TPS related structures such as
fin, motor adapter and heatshield assemblies (Fig. 9).

Figure 7. Comparison of TPS charred layer thicknesses.

 Fig. 10 shows the cork coated FNC assembly launched
on the MAPHEUS 6 mission, which could be fully
recovered after the re-entry.

6 POST FLIGHT ANALYSES

The measured flight data from MAIUS 1 and
MAPHEUS 6, as well as the recovered FNC structure
flown on MAPHEUS 6, have been used for further post
flight investigations described in the following
subchapters.

6.1 Comparison of Flight Data

Before comparing the MAIUS 1 and MAPHEUS 6
measured temperature data, a closer look on the
Figure 9. NORCOAT® LIÈGE HPK FI applied on underlying trajectory data as well as the PT100
various primary and secondary sounding rocket temperature sensor position and mounting technique is
structures. necessary.
Up to present, this process is object of a continuing
iteration loop of certain process parameters and thus of
further improvements for serial production.

5 FLIGHT TESTING
With several flight hardware items coated using the cork
based TPS, flight testing has been imminent.

The first NORCOAT® LIÈGE HPK FI coated structures

tested during flight were fin and motor adapter
assemblies for IM sounding rocket vehicles, launched
for the MAXI-DUSTY missions in July 2016 from
Andøya Space Centre in Norway. Due to the tight time
schedule for the preparation of these missions none of
these structures were instrumented with temperature or
other sensors. However, measured trajectory as well as
inflight video footage showed non-critical, nominal
vehicle behaviour and thus the first operation of the new
TPS material is considered as a success.

During the two follow-up missions MAIUS 1 in January Figure 11. Comparison of TEXUS 43 nominal,
2017 and MAPHEUS 6 in May 2017, both launched MAIUS 1 and MAPHEUS 6 flight trajectory data.
from ESRANGE in Sweden, two cork coated FNC and
heat shield assemblies were successfully flight tested on Fig. 11 shows a comparison of the measured MAIUS 1
the VSB-30 vehicle. Each of the FNC assemblies was and MAPHEUS 6 trajectory data from lift-off until FNC
equipped with two PT100 temperature sensors. separation (T+60s). The related measured vehicle
velocity and altitude is plotted together with the
TEXUS 43 nominal trajectory data, taken for the pre-
asset thermal analysis. Apart from some minor
deviations shortly after lift-off, the graphs show a good
accordance and thus representing a reasonable basis for
the temperature comparison.

Fig. 12 shows the standard positions and mounting

technique of the two PT100 sensors (T1 & T2) on the
inside of the FNC structure as integrated on the
MAPHEUS 6 flight hardware. The sensor itself was
Figure 10. MAPHEUS 6 in the Skylark tower (left), casted inside an aluminium casing (Fig. 12, bottom, left)
payload (mid) and cork coated FNC recovery (right).
and bonded on the respective position on the inside of
the aluminium structure (Fig. 12, bottom, right) using a
high temperature conductive resin.

Figure 13. Comparison of measured and calculated

inside wall temperatures.
Figure 12. Position and application of PT100 sensors.
Negligible, small deviations can be found by comparing
In contrast to MAPHEUS 6, the MAIUS 1 FNC was of the T2 sensor of MAIUS 1 to the T2 sensor of
a spherically blunted geometry (90mm tip radius) and MAPHEUS 6, implying only small deviations at T2
~200mm shorter in length. Both PT100 sensors were position due to the different nose cone geometries.
mounted close together at the T2 position (measured
from the separation interface STA 890.5). The reason 6.2 Recovered Flight Hardware Inspection
for this application was to evaluate the influence of one In addition to the post flight analysis of measured data
sensor mounted with and one sensor without the an investigation of the recovered MAPHEUS 6 FNC
aluminium casing. structure has been performed. Besides the first visual
inspection, five samples have been cut out from various
Fig. 13 shows the measured inside wall temperatures of nose cone positions (including the T1 and T2 positions),
MAPHEUS 6 and MAIUS 1 together with the predicted prepared and inspected under a light microscope.
temperatures from the pre-asset analysis over the first
60s in flight. In general, the measured temperatures are
clearly below the predicted ones. The MAIUS 1 T2
sensor without the aluminium casing measured the
highest and the closest values to the prediction (~14%
max. deviation). Because of its higher thermal mass, all
sensors casted in the aluminium casing showed a clear
delay and thus ending up with much lower magnitudes Figure 14. Light microscopic investigation of
at the point of nose cone separation (~50% max. MAPHEUS 6 FNC cut-out samples.
deviation). Due to the different ambient temperature
conditions at launch, a clear difference of the measured Fig. 14 shows the light microscopic picture of the
values between MAIUS 1 and MAPHEUS 6 is detected. sample cut out at 650mm from the nose cone separation
However, assuming a similar heat capacity for both plane. For all samples the stacking has been measured
nose cone structures, a comparison of the various and the average thicknesses can be summarised as
temperature differences from lift-off until nose cone follows:
separation is feasible.
- Adhesive layer 0.15mm,
By comparing the MAPHEUS 6 T1 sensor to its T2 - virgin cork layer 1.80mm,
sensor only a marginal difference (<10% max. - charred cork layer 1.10mm,
deviation) can be detected resulting from the different - total cork layer 2.90mm.
sensor positions.
From the original and measured total cork layer
thickness an approximate swelling of ~45% can be
calculated.

In addition to the material thicknesses, the microscopic

pictures also revealed a very high porosity of the sensor
casting inside the aluminium casing as well as of the T1 T2
bonding layer between the nose cone structure and the
aluminium casing.

6.3 Thermal Analysis Validation

In order to get a better insight of the deviation between
calculated and measured temperatures, a validation of Figure 15. MAPHEUS 6 calculated cold wall
the thermal simulation has been carried out and is aerothermal heat flux profile at T+35s.
described in this subchapter. Furthermore, this
validation has been only performed on the example of At each point of the recorded trajectory, steady state
the MAPHEUS 6 flight hardware, since the FNC runs provide the time profile of the heat flux on any
geometry flown on the MAIUS 1 mission is not location of the FNC.
representing the standard tip geometry.

6.3.1 Actual Trajectory and Atmospheric Data

The measured MAPHEUS 6 main trajectory parameters
together with the actual atmospheric profile have been
used to rebuild more realistic aerothermal loads for the
heat flux calculation. Since all weather balloons,
launched during the countdown, were measuring
exclusively wind speed and wind direction, only
forecasted atmospheric profiles have been used.

6.3.2 Aerothermal Loads Assessment

For the assessment of the aerothermal heat flux the
software ARPEGE, coded by Airbus, has been selected. Figure 16. MAPHEUS 6 calculated cold wall
ARPEGE (Aérothermodynamique de Rentrée pour aerothermal heat flux time profile (300mm from the
PrédirE la fraGmentation d’Etages) is a fast computer nose tip).
programme designed to predict surface pressure, shear
stresses, aerodynamic forces, coefficients and heat Fig. 16 shows the time profile of the aerothermal heat
transfer distributions of an arbitrary shaped geometry at flux at the exact location of the temperature sensor T1,
hypersonic speed. Below 40km (until T+40s) the VSB- which is similar to the initial heat flux taken for the pre-
30 vehicle is not strictly in a hypersonic regime, asset analysis (Fig. 5). However, an over prediction in
however for a first quick assessment the tool is the subsonic and low supersonic regime must be
considered as sufficiently accurate. considered due to the described limitations of the
ARPEGE programme.
The MAPHEUS 6 FNC geometry has been used to
create a three-dimensional surface mesh. Furthermore, a 6.3.3 Thermal Response Assessment
zero degree angle of attack is assumed all along the Based on the microscopic investigations, as well as on
trajectory leading to an axisymmetric heat flux the PT100 sensors actual integration and mounting
distribution. situation, a more realistic material stacking has been
taken into account. Therefore, a three-dimensional
Fig. 15 shows the resulting cold wall aerothermal heat model, including a numerical thermocouple with
flux distribution at T+35s for a uniform initial aluminium casing, has been created. The simulation has
temperature of 300K. At high Mach numbers the heat been performed using the same software
flux profile decreases rapidly after a few centimetres (AMARYLLIS), method and boundary conditions as
measured from the nose tip. used for the one-dimensional pre-asset analysis
described in chapter 3. Finally, for the calculation of the
temperatures at the T1 and T2 positions the previously
calculated time-dependent aerothermal heat fluxes of corrected on the basis of a comprehensive infra-red and
these respective locations have been applied. For the plasma internal test.
material input the actual parameters of all materials used
have been taken from corresponding technical data
sheets.

Figure 18. Simulated charred layer thickness after the

VSB-30 ascent phase.

7 SUMMARY AND LESSONS LEARNED

The herein described work can be summarised as
follows:

- NORCOAT® LIÈGE HPK FI has been pre-selected

as a suitable cork based TPS substitute for various
sounding rocket primary and secondary structures.

Figure 17. Comparison of measured, calculated and - A pre-asset one-dimensional thermal analysis has
validated inside wall temperatures. been performed for the VSB-30 FNC using 1.5mm
and 2.0mm thick NORCOAT® LIÈGE HPK FI
Fig. 17 shows the inside wall temperatures of the pre- layers. Non-critical structural heating has resulted
asset calculation as well as those measured during the from this investigation.
MAPHEUS 6 flight and those from the validation runs.
Although the initial temperature of the pre-asset - A suitable manufacturing process using 1.5mm and
calculation is slightly higher, a comparison of the 2.0mm thick NORCOAT® LIÈGE HPK FI layers
various temperature differences from lift-off until T+60s has been established for various sounding rocket
is feasible. Thereby, the validated results show a clear primary and secondary structures.
trend towards a more accurate temperature prediction.
However, their steeper gradients are still indicating a - Various sounding rocket primary and secondary
different behaviour and thus the data shall be handled structures such as fin, motor adapter, nose cone and
with care. One major aspect concerning the different heat shield assemblies have been flight tested on
temperature gradients is linked to the pour quality of the four different missions.
casting and mounting of the respective temperature
sensors. - A post flight investigation of on-board measure-
ments and recovered hardware has been performed
The predicted charred layer thickness resulting from the for the VSB-30 FNC structure.
pyrolysis (Fig. 18) has been compared to the cut-out
samples from the recovered MAPHEUS 6 FNC - A post flight validated three-dimensional thermal
(Fig. 14) and has been proved as consistent with the analyses has been carried out, leading to an
observations. improved predictability of the structural heating as
well as the ablation process of the cork based TPS.
Because of the relatively low convective heat flux
during the vehicle’s ascent phase, the simulated For a more detailed understanding of the phenomena
temperatures remain below the ablation threshold. and a more accurate prediction of the structural heating
Consequently, the simulation did not predict any surface as well as the TPS ablation the following lessons
recession. learned can be named:

Due to the model’s simplifications, swelling is not - In order to enlarge the set of flight data, future
directly considered. Instead, the apparent diffusivity is comparable flight hardware items should be equally
 equipped with temperature sensors and data should AF/SNL/NASA Ablation Workshop, Lexington
be monitored. (KY), 2012

- The temperature sensor mounting technique should [3] G. Pinaud, Thermo-chemical and mechanical
be improved to ensure a reliable data acquisition, coupled analysis of swelling charring and ablative
especially without the sensor’s aluminium casing materials for re-entry application, 5th
and a professional sensor bonding technique. AF/SNL/NASA Ablation Workshop, Lexington
(KY), 2012
- A complete atmospheric profile should be
measured by atmospheric balloons during the
countdown and thus providing better input for the
post flight analysis.

- A full uncertainty analysis of the input parameters

should be performed to understand the sensitivity of
the simulated results.

- A more adequate analysing method for the

computation of the heat flux, especially for the
subsonic and low supersonic regime, should be
applied.

- The ablation and swelling behaviour should be

investigated more deeply. Therefore, a more
advanced hardware recovery and sample
preparation procedure is necessary (e.g. charred
layer fixation after landing).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special acknowledgements are addressed to:

- Grégory Pinaud and Maxime Podeur from AG for

their great and enduring contribution in the field of
thermal analysis, which formed an important part of
the cork based TPS development and last but not
least of this paper.

- DLR Systemhaus Technik, especially Jean Werner

Dequet, for his marvellous work in establishing the
manufacturing process of the cork coated hardware
items; they all are truly handcrafted master pieces.

- Tobias Ruhe from DLR MORABA for the

processing of the raw flight data.

REFERENCES
[1] A.J. van Eekelen, J.-M. Bouilly, S. Hudrisier, J.-M.
Dupillier and Y. Aspa. Design and Numerical
Modelling of Charring Material Ablators for Re-
entry Applications. In 6th European workshop on
Thermal Protection Systems and hot structures,
April 2009, Stuttgart.

[2] G. Pinaud, Thermo-chemical and mechanical

coupled analysis of swelling charring and ablative
materials for re-entry application, 5th