Zhai Ruiqiong, Yang Xiaoning, Jiang Lixiang, Gao Hong, Zhang Yuxin, Jiao Zilong
Beijing Institute of Spacecraft Environment Engineering, Beijing, 100094, China.
China Aerospace Components Engineering Center, Beijing, China.
Heliyon. 2023 Jul 5;9(8):e17431. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17431. eCollection 2023 Aug.
Polymer-matrixed materials are widely used in the spacecrafts' structures. However, crafts located in the LEO（Low Earth Orbit） would suffer from hazardous environment factors when orbiting in the space. It has been reported that the space environment factors' integral effect (which represents the factual detriment in space) is not equivalent to the simple summation of each individual. Hence, atomic oxygen and thermal cycling were selected as the starting point for studying the typical LEO synergistic effects on polymer-matrixed space material. In this work, methods such as surface morphology observation, surface components analyzation and inter-laminar-shear strength test were embraced to gather the basic information for the study of degradation. As a result, focusing on the composites selected in this work, synergistic effects do exist between the two factors (AO&TC, representing for atomic oxygen and thermal cycling combined). Besides, a quantified index was proposed to represent synergistic characteristics，so as to lay the foundation for the scientific evolution of material characterization.
聚合物基材料广泛应用于航天器结构中。然而，位于低地球轨道（LEO）的航天器在太空中运行时会受到有害环境因素的影响。据报道，空间环境因素的综合效应（代表在太空中的实际损害）并不等同于各个因素的简单相加。因此，选择原子氧和热循环作为研究典型低地球轨道对聚合物基空间材料协同效应的起点。在这项工作中，采用了表面形态观察、表面成分分析和层间剪切强度测试等方法来收集降解研究的基本信息。结果表明，针对本工作中选择的复合材料，这两个因素（AO&TC，分别代表原子氧和热循环）之间确实存在协同效应。此外，还提出了一个量化指标来表征协同特性，从而为材料表征的科学发展奠定基础。
