Heat transfer analysis of charring ablators under aerodynamic heating

Purpose - This work experimentally and numerically investigates the aerodynamic heating of the charring-ablating materials. Design/methodology/approach - The experimental model is a stainless steel cone with an attached charring ablator, in which supersonic hot flow impinges. The initial numerical simulation is based on physical and mathematical models, including one-dimensional, unsteady energy transport and mass conservation equations, coupled with calculations of aerodynamic heating, thermal degradation, heat transfer of the ablating surface and the ablation model. The problem is solved by an efficient numerical method. Findings - The numerical calculations involve the time history of the temperature distribution inside the charring material and the backup structure. The results are consistent with the experimental data. Originality/value - This study proposes an effective method to correlate one's own ablation rate equation, by a method of trial and error to find the correlation constants, and the corresponding time histories of the ablation rate or temperature that are closest to one's own experimental data. Then the correlation of the surface ablation rate can be applied with confidence in the numerical calculation of other cases.