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This experiment is aimed at simulating the re-entry conditions encountered during the actual flight in a plasma arc jet facility and investigating the temperature distribution along with the thermal expansion on the surface of a re-entry vehicle in order to study the thermal breakdown mechanisms of the carbon-carbon composite of the leading edge of the vehicle.This test facility is designed to test a suitably sized block of the Thermal Protection System (TPS) made up of carbon – carbon composite that is currently used in these vehicles and also any newly developed materials of appropriate size for evaluation as a possible replacement. The final outcome of this project is intended to be a quantitative relation that indicates the robustness of a material and thereby its ability to qualify as a material of choice for reusable re-entry vehicles. |