Conveners
Material characterization for re-entry applications
- Rui Gondar (ESA)
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Ella Barakhovskaia (1 Faculty of Engineering, Thermo and Fluid Dynamics (FLOW), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium; 2 Brussels Institute for Thermal-fluid Systems and Clean Energy (BRITE), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium)18/06/2026, 14:30Material characterization for re-entry applicationsPresentation
The rapid increase in space activities has led to a growing number of objects re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, raising safety and sustainability concerns. Thus, reliable prediction of re-entry behaviour, including aerothermal loads, ablation, fragmentation, and survivability, depends strongly on accurate material characterisation. However, accurate data remain limited for materials exposed...
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Benoit Fer (ONERA)18/06/2026, 14:48Material characterization for re-entry applicationsPresentation
Hydrazine tanks for Low Earth Orbit satellites are nowadays constituted of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloys. The constitutive alloy is subjected to constraints of different order. First of all, it must support the inner pressure without breaking. Then, it should be demisable during atmospheric reentry. Indeed, at the end of a satellite life, an atmospheric reentry operation is mandatory to limit the...
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Carlo Zanardi (Politecnico di Milano)18/06/2026, 15:06Material characterization for re-entry applicationsPresentation
In the context of Design for Demise (D4D), there have been multiple attempts at incorporating energetic thermite powders inside hard-to-demise spacecraft components, to provide additional energy during re-entry. This philosophy is called Thermite for Demise (T4D).
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Those attempts highlighted a multitude of problems and inefficiencies arising from the use of thermite in the form of loose...