Experimental Study of the Effect of Environmental Pressure on Thermal Insulation Performance of DMS Low-density Ablative Materials

WANG Zhenya; WU Jingtao; ZHU Hao; LI Junpeng

doi:10.7643/issn.1672-9242.2026.08.006

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Equipment Environmental Engineering ›› 2026, Vol. 23 ›› Issue (8) : 45-51. DOI: 10.7643/issn.1672-9242.2026.08.006

Special Topic——Comprehensive Environmental Strength Analysis and Testing Technology for Equipment

Experimental Study of the Effect of Environmental Pressure on Thermal Insulation Performance of DMS Low-density Ablative Materials

WANG Zhenya, WU Jingtao, ZHU Hao, LI Junpeng

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Abstract

The work aims to evaluate the effect of environmental pressure on the thermal insulation performance of DMS low-density ablative materials, obtain thermal insulation data under space and near-space environments, and provide experimental methods for assessing thermal insulation performance under the low-pressure environment. DMS flat specimens were subject to a constant heat flux of 80 kW/m² for 1 450 s under ambient atmospheric pressure (~101 kPa) and near-space low pressure (~3 kPa). The time‑dependent temperature curves on the back side of the DMS flat specimens were measured synchronously. The differences in thermal insulation performance of DMS materials under the two pressure environments were compared, and the thermal insulation mechanism was analyzed in combination with the Knudsen effect. Under low‑pressure conditions, the backside temperature of DMS was markedly lower than that under atmospheric pressure environment. At a heating duration of 1 450 s, the backside temperature of the DMS flat specimen decreased by approximately 305.4 ℃, representing a temperature reduction of as high as 67.3% relative to the backside temperature under atmospheric pressure. The analysis indicated that the characteristic size of the material′s micro-scale pores was smaller than the mean free path of gas molecules at 3 kPa. The internal gas fell into the free-molecular-flow regime, and effective suppression of gas‑phase heat conduction constituted the primary reason for the enhanced thermal-insulation performance of the DMS thermal material. It is concluded that ground-based tests underestimate the thermal insulation performance of DMS materials in low-pressure or vacuum conditions, necessitating environmental pressure corrections in engineering design, and this work provides a methodological reference for environmental worthiness testing of thermal protection materials and precise design of thermal protection systems.

Key words

low-density ablative materials / low-pressure environment / thermal insulation performance / environmental test / gas conduction

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WANG Zhenya, WU Jingtao, ZHU Hao, LI Junpeng. Experimental Study of the Effect of Environmental Pressure on Thermal Insulation Performance of DMS Low-density Ablative Materials[J]. Equipment Environmental Engineering. 2026, 23(8): 45-51 https://doi.org/10.7643/issn.1672-9242.2026.08.006

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