Experimental studies of the scatter in heat-shielding characteristics of a rubber-like heat shield

The scatter in heat-shielding characteristics of a material used as a heat shield of high-temperature units, in particular, solid propellant rockets, considerably affects the design thickness and weight of the heat shield, and, hence, the efficiency and reliability of the unit. Based on the results obtained during high-temperature bench tests, the data scatter is shown to depend considerably on the method used to calculate the depth of heating and/or the depth of thermal destruction. Analysis of the experimental data yielded estimates of the scatter in the heat-shielding characteristics of a rubber-like thermal-protection material.