Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

A Decoupled Engineering Methodology For Accurate Prediction Of Ablative Surface Boundary Conditions In Thermal Protection Systems, Justin Cooper

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering

The main objective of the present work is to demonstrate a method for prediction of aerothermal environments in the engineering design of hypersonic vehicles as an alternative to the current heritage method. Flat plate and stagnation point boundary layer theory require multiple assumptions to establish the current engineering paradigm. Chief among these assumptions is the similarity between mass and heat transfer. Origins of these assumptions are demonstrated and their relationship to conservative engineering design is analyzed, as well as conditions where they possibly break down. An alternative approach for assessing aerothermal environments from the fluid domain is presented, which permits …

Multiphase Interaction In Low Density Volumetric Charring Ablators, Ali D. Omidy

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering

The present thesis provides a description of historical and current modeling methods with recent discoveries within the ablation community. Several historical assumptions are challenged, namely the presence of water in Thermal Protection System (TPS) materials, presence of coking in TPS materials, non-uniform elemental production during pyrolysis reactions, and boundary layer gases, more specifically oxygen, interactions with the charred carbon interface.

The first topic assess the potential effect that water has when present within the ablator by examining the temperature prole histories of the recent flight case Mars Science Laboratory. The next topic uses experimental data to consider the instantaneous gas …

Enceladus Sample Return Mission, Braxton Brakefield, Rekesh Ali, Andrew Bishop, Shelby Honaker, David Taylor

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.