Influences of structural parameters on the thermal properties of coated glass fiber fabrics under ablation condition investigated by numerical model

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of structural parameters of fabric on thermal insulation properties of the coated fabric. Design/methodology/approach The authors established a numerical model for the ablation of silicone resin-coated fabric under high heat flow, and the simulation results have been validated by quartz lamp ablation experiment. The model was used to investigate the effects of structural parameters of glass fiber fabrics on the heat transfer process of the coated fabric. Findings The numerical values were in agreement with the experimental values. The thermal insulation of the coated glass fiber fabric was better than coated carbon fabric. Thermal insulation performance of the coated glass fiber fabrics was in order plain < 2/1 twill < 3/3 twill < 5/3 stain fabric. Increasing the warp density, from 100 to 180 ends/10 cm, the temperature of the back surface of the coated glass fiber fabric was reduced from 601°C to 553°C. Thermal insulation performance dramatically increased as yarn fineness went from 129 to 280 tex, and the temperature difference was 63°C. Research limitations/implications In the ablation process, to simplify the calculation, the combustion reaction of silicone resin was ignored, which can be added in the future research. Originality/value This paper provides the ablation model of the silicon-coated fabric based on the 3D geometry model to explore the influence of the structural parameters of coated glass fiber fabric on its thermal protection performance.