Scope:

ASTM E 471–96 is a highly preferred method in measuring the density profile of ablative materials. This technique can be highly efficient if the char can be machined off in a plane parallel to the char-virgin material, and the total thickness of the char and degradation zone must be larger than the machining thicknesses required.

 Procedure:

ASTM E 471–96 involves successive measuring, machining, and weighing a sample of a known size. Then the density of the sample is obtained with machining. The charred sample selected should be taken from a representative section of the ablated specimen where the environmental conditions are well known and where the surface is parallel to the char-virgin material interface.

Specimen Detail:

A typical specimen size should be 12.7 by 12.7 mm.

Result:

In this way, by performing ASTM E 471–96 carefully, the Char Density Profile of Ablative Materials can be successfully measured.