Patent ID: 7998295

Claim:
A method of forming a heat shield, comprising: providing a plurality of phenolic microspheres; mixing said phenolic microspheres with a phenolic resin to form a phenolic ablative material; forming a honeycomb core having a plurality of intersecting walls that form a plurality of cells arranged in rows and columns; further forming the honeycomb core such that each cell has a slot formed at an edge surface along a first side of the honeycomb core, to allow the escape of ambient air within each of the cells when the edge surface of the honeycomb core is placed against a carrier structure to which the honeycomb core is being permanently bonded, and the cells are being filled with the ablative material from a second side of the honeycomb core opposite to the first side; compressing said phenolic ablative material into the honeycomb core from the second side of the honeycomb core while the second side of the honeycomb core is secured to the carrier structure; and allowing the phenolic ablative material to cure.