Hollow microsphere-reinforced ablative materials for thermal protection systems of solid rocket motors.

The rapid development of large heavy-duty solid rockets has placed increasing demands on the density and ablation resistance of thermal protection system (TPS) materials. Hollow microspheres (HMs) are promising reinforcing materials. However, HMs break under mechanical extrusion during material preparation, which limits their development into high-performance TPS materials. In this study, a novel preparation scheme was designed for low-damage TPS materials. High-strength HMs were selected to reduce their breakage. Moreover, a TPS material with low density and excellent ablation resistance was developed. The density reduction of the HM formulation was considerably higher than that reported in other studies. This study addressed the problem of easy HM breakage during material preparation. Consequently, HM-reinforced TPS materials with low density and excellent ablation resistance were developed to help reduce the negative mass and improve the comprehensive performance of solid rocket motors. • Hollow microsphere (HM)-reinforced thermal protection system (TPS) materials were studied. • HM breakage during material preparation was addressed. • A novel low-damage TPS material preparation scheme was designed. • The density reduction observed in this study was significantly higher than that in previous reports. • A TPS material with low density and excellent ablation resistance was developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]