Developments in the Manufacturing of Reaction Cured Glass Coatings for the Orion Backshell Thermal Protection System

The Reaction Cured Glass (RCG) coating that is used on Space Shuttle High Temperature Re-useable Surface Insulation (HRSI) tile is comprised primarily of borosilicate glass frit, which provides an impermeable barrier to hot gas flow during earth re-entry. United Space Alliance, LLC (USA) has developed a process to produce borosilicate glass frit for this coating, and is currently exploring ways to improve the technology. The manufacturing process outlined in U.S. Patent 4,093,771, Reaction Cured Glass and Glass Coatings allows for considerable variation in coating appearance and properties. The current study aims to more tightly control the coating properties through manipulation of the manufacturing process. Several test coatings have been fabricated using experimental frit material, and preliminary results have indicated strong relationships between process parameters and coating properties. A summary of these results, along with a prospectus of future work, will be discussed.