J.H. Koo, S. Kim, S. Bernstein, R. Feru, A. Mushruwala, B. Rech, and L. Pilato
The University of Texas at Austin,
United States
Keywords: ablatives, thermal protection systems, aerothermal testing, micro-computed tomography, numerical modeling
Summary:
The Koo Research Group (KRG) at UT Austin and KAI specializes in “Ablation Research” for more than fifteen years. Recently, the group has developed several incredibly unique capabilities that can advance “Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) R&D” using an integrated experimental and numerical approach. The invited talk to introduce the methodology that KRG has developed to solve this challenging problem. Past and current sponsors relating to our research include DoD (AAM, ACCDC, AFC, AFOSR, AFRL, AMDEC, AvMC, CMD, DLA, DTRA, MDA, NAVAIR, NAVSEA, NRL, NSWC, & ONR), DoE, DoT, EPA, FAA, NASA, NSF, and private companies. Fig. 1 shows how KRG develops “Process-Properties-Performance” relationships of novel TPS materials (included in pdf file). This invited talk includes the following topics: Processing and fabrication of TPS materials Oxy-acetylene test bed (OTB) with advanced diagnostics for test & evaluation In situ ablation recession/thermal sensing & photogrammetry techniques Sensors to characterize ablative char strengths Thermophysical and mechanical properties characterization of ablatives Numerical modeling - CFD flow field, thermodynamics/transport properties, thermal and material response, 3D microstructures characterization & analysis, and modeling & simulation using industry-standard software.