Claims
- 1. A porous composition for use in an environment of variable pressure and/or variable temperature, comprising:
a mixture of a binder and a particle material, said mixture having 50 to 90 volume percent of said particle material, said binder being curable in a temperature range of 50° F. to 90° F.
- 2. The porous composition of claim 1, wherein said particle material comprises cork.
- 3. The porous composition of claim 1, wherein said particle material comprises pumice.
- 4. The porous composition of claim 1, wherein said binder comprises a resin binder.
- 5. The porous composition of claim 4, wherein said resin binder comprises epoxy resin.
- 6. The porous composition of claim 1, wherein said volume percent is in a range of 70 to 85 and wherein said particle material comprises cork.
- 7. The porous composition of claim 1, wherein said particle material comprises open cell porous particle material.
- 8. The porous composition of claim 1, wherein said particle material comprises closed cell porous particle material, said volume percent being in a range of 70 to 90.
- 9. The porous composition of claim 1, wherein said particle material comprises non-porous particle material, said volume percent being in a range of 70 to 90.
- 10. The porous composition of claim 1, wherein said binder comprises cement binder.
- 11. A method of forming a porous composition for use in an environment of variable pressure and/or variable temperature, comprising the steps of:
preparing a binder, said binder being curable in a temperature range of 50° F. to 90° F.; and mixing a particle material with said binder wherein the resultant mixture has a 50 to 90 volume percent of said particle material.
- 12. The method of claim 11, further including the step of hand-applying said resultant mixture to a substrate.
- 13. The method of claim 11, further including the step of spraying said resultant mixture on a substrate.
- 14. A porous composition for application to an exterior surface of a launch vehicle for providing thermal protection without creating contaminants, comprising:
a mixture of a binder and a particle material, said mixture having 50 to 90 volume percent of said particle material, said binder being curable in a temperature range of 50° F. to 90° F.
STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST
[0001] This invention was made under Government Contract F04701-96-C-0001 awarded by the US Air Force. The Government has certain rights in this invention.