Mock-up of a space shuttle leading edge, showing brittle failure of RCC due to foam impact reproducing the conditions of Columbia's final launch.

Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (carbon-carbon or RCC) is a composite material consisting of carbon fiber reinforcement in a matrix of graphite, often with a silicon carbide coating to prevent oxidation. It was developed for the nose cones of intercontinental ballistic missiles, and is most widely known as the material for the nose cone and leading edges of the space shuttle. Image File history File links Impact-test. ... Image File history File links Impact-test. ... The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition, 1981 (NASA). ... A material is brittle if it is subject to fracture when subjected to stress i. ... A failure mode is a characterization of the way a product or process fails. ... Space Shuttle Columbia (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-102) was the first space shuttle in NASAs orbital fleet. ... Composite materials (or composites for short) are engineered materials made from two or more constituent materials that remain separate and distinct on a macroscopic level while forming a single component. ... Carbon fiber composite is a strong, light and very expensive material. ... Graphite (named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789, from the Greek γραφειν: to draw/write, for its use in pencils) is one of the allotropes of carbon. ... Silicon carbide (SiC) is a ceramic compound of silicon and carbon. ... A nose cone that contained one of the Voyager spacecraft is seen here as it is mounted on top of a Titan III/Centaur launch vehicle. ... A Minuteman III missile soars after a test launch. ... 1970 Model American Aviation AA-1 Yankee showing the wings straight leading edge The Leading edge is that part of the wing that, when it is in motion, first contacts the air. ... The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition, 1981 (NASA). ...

Carbon-carbon is well-suited to structural applications at high temperatures, or where thermal shock resistance and/or a low coefficient of thermal expansion is needed. While it is less brittle than many other ceramics, it lacks impact resistance; Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed after one of its RCC panels was broken by the impact of a piece of foam insulation from the Space Shuttle External Tank. This was a catastrophic failure partly because original shuttle design requirements did not consider such a violent impact to be likely. Thermal shock is the name given to cracking as a result of rapid temperature change. ... During heat transfer, the energy that is stored in the intermolecular bonds between atoms changes. ... A material is brittle if it is subject to fracture when subjected to stress i. ... Space Shuttle Columbia (NASA Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-102) was the first space shuttle in NASAs orbital fleet. ... Shuttle debris falling over Texas, on Time cover The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster was the disintegration of the Space Shuttle Columbia over Texas on February 1, 2003, during reentry into the Earths atmosphere on its 28th mission, STS-107. ... The Space Shuttle External Tank (ET) on its way to the Vehicle Assembly Building. ...

Production

The material is made in three stages:

First, material is laid up in its intended final shape, with carbon filament and/or cloth surrounded by an organic binder such as plastic or pitch. Often, coke or some other fine carbon aggregate is added to the binder mixture. Benzene An organic compound is any member of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon, with the exception of carbides, carbonates, carbon oxides and elementary carbon. ... A binder is a material used to bind together two or more other materials in mixtures. ... Plastic covers a range of synthetic or semisynthetic polymerization products. ... The pitch drop experiment. ... Coke is a solid carbonaceous residue derived from low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. ... Aggregate is the component of a composite material used to resist compressive stress. ...

Second, the lay-up is heated, so that pyrolysis transforms the binder to relatively pure carbon. The binder loses volume in the process, so that voids form; the addition of aggregate reduces this problem, but does not eliminate it. Simple sketch of pyrolysis chemistry Pyrolysis usually means the chemical decomposition of organic materials by heating in the absence of oxygen or any other reagents, except possibly steam. ...

Third, the voids are gradually filled by forcing a carbon-forming gas such as acetylene through the material at a high temperature, over the course of several days. This long heat treatment process also allows the carbon to form into larger graphite crystals, and is the major reason for the material's high cost. Acetylene (IUPAC name: ethyne) is the simplest alkyne hydrocarbon, consisting of two hydrogen atoms and two carbon atoms connected by a triple bond. ... Heat Treatment is a group of manufacturing techniques used to alter the hardness and toughness of a material. ... Graphite (named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789, from the Greek γραφειν: to draw/write, for its use in pencils) is one of the allotropes of carbon. ...