To determine the limits of (a) ablative material(s) as function of key material parameters (e.g. density), and to derive semi-empirical models for the optimisation towards the requirements coming from a new application. This eventually shall lead to the definition of material families.

The design of new ablator materials is currently performed by testing in an ad-hoc manner. The components are mixed together in the designed manner, and the material is then tested to find the bulk properties. If the bulk properties do not meet the required specifications, a modified mixture is developed and tested until the requirements are met. This approach leads to a very large effort to develop/modify a material towards a specific (new) mission environment. Likely such material adaptation would have to be done within the project development when typically no time for material development is available.The goal of the proposed activity is therefore to derive semi-empirical models allowing to easily identify the required steps to modify a material towards a new set of requirements. This shall be done by first determining the influence of key parameters of the material and by identifying the relevant application limits. A very relevant such parameter is the material density, which typically has to be derived as a compromise between low mass and thermal conductivity on one side and required mechanical resistance on the other side.A starting point of the activity shall be a new European ablative material which is currently developed within an ongoing TRP activity.