Hypersonics

Designed for use in extreme environments, Battelle’s carbon-carbon composites have exceptional thermal protection.  From selective laser carbonizing of materials, where the benefits of refractory carbon-carbon composites are combined with structural capability of polymer matrix composites, to traditional carbon-carbon processing, Battelle supports the industry with state-of-the-art prototyping capability.

An IR window must remain both structurally sound and IR transparent. Battelle technology is leading to new approaches to this high-temperature thermal shock problem. We see it as a system problem where the window must interact synergistically with the structure to maintain integrity throughout the mission. 

Integrated Computational Materials Engineering approaches at Battelle enable digital prototypes at early development stages to develop alongside experimental prototypes. Our modeling approach for carbon-carbon begins with detailed process modeling including simulations of reactive flowing media, resin infusion and thermally-activated densification steps. Models of thermal stress, strain, fractures and ablation follow to determine their performance metrics.

Battelle’s High Energy Research Laboratory Area (HERLA) provides extensive energetic and hazardous material RDT&E services to address the most challenging problems facing the country. The HERLA is well suited for the design, development, prototyping, evaluation and scale-up of primary and secondary explosives, EFI initiators, propellants, pyrotechnics, high-voltage, reactive-gas and other energetic related systems. Battelle’s indoor detonation facilities can accommodate detonation experiments from the gram-scale up to 50 pounds of TNT. High-speed data acquisition, including photon Doppler velocimetry (PDV), thin-film pressure and time of arrival gauges, high-speed imaging, and flash radiography are available along with numerous other specialized instrumentation and sensors.