Application of Sequential Function Specification Method in Heat Flux Monitoring of Receding Solid Surfaces

Measurement of heat flux at the receding surface of materials is extremely difficult due to the presence of harsh working conditions. Under these situations, the solution of inverse heat conduction problem can be found as an efficient means of obtaining heat flux in the moving interface. This paper reports the results of applying the sequential function specification method to the problem of estimating the effect of severe thermal environments on the ablative structures. It is assumed that special sensing instruments are used to record the temperatures and the surface recession in real time of the simulated experiment. Due to high temperature regions near the ablating surface, the temperature sensors may burn out. A numerical experiment with simulated noisy measurements is used to analyze the effect of presence and/or absence of the lost sensors on the outcomes of the proposed procedure. The results introduce an efficient technique for designing heat flux gauges that work with temperature, as well as recession sensors.