EVALUATION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF GEOMETRY RETENTION FOR INTERCEPTORS UTILIZING ABLATIVE MATERIALS.
Abstract
The application of contemporary ablative materials to advanced fleet defense interceptors for the United States Navy has been investigated in a study designed to evaluate performance penalties resulting from configuration shape changes at the body nose tip and at the leading edge of the control surfaces. The regression of ablative materials exposed to aerodynamic heating in these regions leads to blunting and to subsequent drag increases that degrade interceptor performance. The severity of performance degradation was established in this study. A wind-tunnel test program was conducted during the study period to provide data on configuration forces, moments, and trim angles of attack at hypersonic Mach numbers for a systematic variation in body nose-tip and control-fin geometry. The study results are summarized in a set of interceptor effectiveness curves, which compare ablating and nonablating configurations on the basis of time-of-flight/range contours and maximum lateral acceleration/altitude contours. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1967
- Accession Number
- AD0383837
Entities
People
- D. E. Lapedes
- R. E. Suran
Organizations
- Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake