Ablative Thermal Protection Systems Modeling

  • 5h 45m
  • Georges Duffa
  • AIAA
  • 2013

In the early days of space exploration, the development of thermal protection systems for reentry vehicles was mainly based on an experimental approach, both for design of materials and for testing. The concept of ablative material was discovered during this period of trial and error, resulting in the ideal matter to isolate and protect reentry rockets and space vehicles from the hyperthermal effects of the environment. In Ablative Thermal Protection Systems Modeling, Georges Duffa explains the history of ablative materials and looks into the future of its design process. The objective of this book is to develop physical skills in the key scientific areas applied to the modeling of thermal protection

Topics Discussed

  • Modeling based on small physics scales
  • Thermodynamics and transport properties
  • Gas kinetics
  • Radiative transfer
  • Physical and chemical reactions (homogeneous and heterogeneous)
  • Fluid mechanics and effects of turbulence on physical matter

Previously Unpublished Information

  • Transport properties approximation
  • Equilibrium thermodynamics in variable elemental medium
  • Ablation of glassy materials
  • Roughness setup and effects
  • Radiative transfer in materials

About the Author

GEORGES DUFFA was born in 1946. He received his Masters in Physics and PhD in Atomics Physics from University of Toulouse in France. In his professional career, he served as the Head of the Reentry Department at the CEA/CESTA, a French research facility dedicated to the design of ballistic vehicles. While there, he was also named senior scientist in 1995 and Director of Research in 2002. Now retired, Georges Duffa continues to focus on applied sciences.

In this Book

  • Nomenclature
  • Thermal Protection System Conception
  • Conservation Laws for a Multispecies Gaseous Medium
  • Elementary Chemical Reactions Modeling
  • Approximate
  • Ablation of Carbon
  • Roughness Formation
  • Turbulence and Laminar–Turbulent Transition
  • Pyrolysis and Pyrolyzable Materials
  • Materials Developing a Liquid Layer
  • Radiation
  • Erosion by Particle Impact
  • Testing and Specific Test Facilities
  • An Example—Apollo
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