ARA Ablatives Laboratory is a 3,100 square-foot high-bay facility. It is equipped with standard composite lay-up and manufacturing equipment such as vacuum pumps, lay-up tables, mixers, molds, ovens, and a full machine shop. It also contains cold storage boxes for the storage of resin systems and pre-pregs.

 

ARA Ablatives Laboratory staff develops advanced composite ablator formulators for NASA and the DoD. Ablators are used as heat shields to protect atmospheric entry vehicles against hypersonic heating.

Capabilities Include:

• Solid modeling and mechanical engineering design
• Mechanical testing and special text fixturing
• Thermal test sample design and fabrication
• Thermal radiative and convective testing
• Thermal modeling and engineering analysis