Laminated reinforced plastics using carbon or silica fabrics and phenolic resins are widely used for ablative liners of rocket nozzles and for other applications requiring protection of structural elements in a high thermal environment. Under cyclic heating conditions, the phenolic resin chars, thereby providing ablation cooling; on cool-down, cracks and/or delaminations result in the majority of applications. On a reheat cycle, as in a multistart engine or other pulsed environment, a burn-through or other catastrophic failure may occur in the cracked areas.