Experimental study of atomic oxygen effects on glass fiber composites

The composite is widely used on the spacecraft for there excellent performance. But when it was exposed in space, it will be faced with the severe influence of low Earth orbit environment effects, especially atomic oxygen. The experimental study of two kinds of glass fiber composites, glass fiber/epoxy resin and beta cloth, were constructed with the ground-based atomic oxygen effects simulation facility. The samples were compared in mass and surface morphology before and after the experiments. It is found that the erosion yield of these two composites decreased with the increasing of atomic oxygen fluence. Through the analyzing we draw that at the action of atomic oxygen the resin is eroded preferential and the glass fiber is exposed. Since the glass fiber is non-reactive with atomic oxygen, it protects the resin against the further erosion of atomic oxygen.