Thermal protection systems (TPS) are components designed to protect the internal and external areas of a rocket motor from high temperatures. There has been studies in Brazil of resin-based polybutadiene hydroxylated (HTPB) loaded with asbestos since the 1970s. Nevertheless, asbestos has been banned in several countries because it is severely harmful to the human health. In this context, the development of asbestos free in flexible thermal protection (FTP) is extremely important. This study evaluates the use of Expanded Perlite (PExp) as an asbestos substitute. Lower densities were observed, which become a very interesting achievement for the aerospace field. Samples with 5 phr of Expanded Perlite showed similar results when comparing with 47 phr of fillers in PTF reference on oxy-acetylene torch test, and a reduction about 20 % of mass loss rate in test with solid propellant, thus showing that Expanded Perlite can replace asbestos in FTP.

Abstract Epoxy resins (EP) usually cure in autoclave to minimize resin voids and to achieve the desired resin/fiber ratio. Cure parameters such as temperature, vacuum and pressure levels are controlled and monitored. Aiming time and cost optimization, new out-of-autoclave (OOA) cure processes have been developed lately. This study evaluated the cure cycle and the effect of non-programmed interruptions in an OOA process. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) results show similarities between the resin used and diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and also that the curing system is composed of cyan and sulfur hardeners, codified in industry, as Components of #2511 Resin System. The cure cycle and its interruptions were simulated by dynamic-mechanical analysis (DMA). The samples obtained were evaluated by FT-IR and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), whose results show that the degree of cure varying between 0.8 to 0.85 was achieved at 120 °C.

<title>Abstract</title><p>Thermogravimetric analysis coupled to Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (TG/FT-IR) is a very popular technique for rubbers characterization. It involves analyses of the base polymer and additives. Ethylene–propylene–diene (EPDM) rubbers are frequently investigated by TG/FT-IR; however, the focus has been the degradation temperature range of the polymer. In this study, unvulcanized and vulcanized EPDM rubber and its additives were investigated by TG/FT-IR, without solvent extraction, and in a wide temperature range. Initially, the additives were individually characterized. TG/FT-IR identified the characteristic groups of all the additives analyzed and distinguished them from each other. Afterwards, unvulcanized and vulcanized EPDM rubbers were investigated without prior extraction.TG/FT-IR detected absorptions due to the additives tetramethylthiuram monosulfide and 2-mercaptobenzothiazole. Both of these sulfur-containing additives were present in the EPDM formulation at concentrations of 0.7 phr (0.63 wt %). The TG/FT-IR technique had some limitations, because not all the additives in EPDM rubber were detected. Paraffin oil, stearic acid and 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline functional groups were not observed in either the unvulcanized or vulcanized EPDM. Nevertheless, in addition to the ability of this method to detect sulfur-containing groups, the lack of a pre-extraction reduces the time and effort required for additive analysis in rubbers.</p>

In this study, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was employed to investigate the gaseous pyrolysis products of ethylene - propylene - diene rubber (EPDM). The objective was to evaluate the potential of FT-IR analysis of gaseous pyrolyzates (PY-G/FT-IR) for characterization of EPDM additives. Two EPDM formulations, containing additives typically employed in EPDM rubbers, were analyzed. Initially, gaseous pyrolysis products from paraffin oil, stearic acid, 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline, tetramethylthiuram monosulfide (TMTM), tetramethylthiuram disulfide (TMTD), and 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) were characterized separately, and their main absorptions were identified. Subsequently, the gaseous pyrolysis products of raw, unvulcanized, and vulcanized EPDM formulations were analyzed. The similarities observed in the FT-IR spectra of unvulcanized and vulcanized EPDM show that the vulcanization process does not interfere with the pyrolysis products. The identification of the functional groups of the studied additives was possible in both unvulcanized and vulcanized EPDM samples, without solvent extraction. Results also demonstrate that the PY-G/FT-IR technique can identify additives containing sulfur in concentrations as low as 1.4 phr (1.26%) in both unvulcanized and vulcanized EPDM. However, the method showed some limitation due to overlapping and to similarities of TMTM and TMTD PY-G/FT-IR spectra, which could not be distinguished from each other. The PY-G/FT-IR technique is a faster and cheaper alternative to the sophisticated techniques usually applied to detection of additives in rubbers.

ABSTRACT: It is very important to control the characteristics of a polymer used in rubber compositions and paints in aerospace applications. Hence, the development of simple and fast methodologies that allow the identification of these compositions becomes attractive to researches carried out in this area. This study has evaluated infrared (IR) techniques, such as transmission, universal attenuated total reflection (UATR), and attenuated total reflection (ATR), for the characterization of elastomers and paints. It takes into consideration the characteristics of surface techniques, such as the depth of penetration of the IR beam into the sample. The presence of additives in low concentrations on paints was only detected by UATR after grinding the components. Results show that it is possible to differentiate rubber mixtures with similar IR spectra and to detect small amounts of additives in the surface of coatings.