Aerothermal Tests of the Space Shuttle External Tank Insulating Material

Abstract

Aerothermal tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of a candidate material for the insulation of the Space Shuttle external tank. Material samples were exposed to total temperatures and heating rates designed to simulate those experienced during the ascent phase of the Shuttle trajectory. These conditions were obtained in the VKF Hypersonic Wind Tunnel (C), where a large wedge was used to hold the sample and the wedge angle was varied to produce the desired heating rates and pressures on the wedge surface. Photographic coverage of the material performance was obtained at wedge angles from 0 to 38 deg. Selected test results are presented which show the ablation/ erosion characteristics of the material.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 1975
Accession Number
ADA017497

Entities

People

  • D. C. Harper
  • R. K. Matthews

Organizations

  • Arnold Engineering Development Complex

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Ablation
  • Air Force
  • Boundary Layer
  • Cameras
  • Contracts
  • Engineering
  • Flow Fields
  • Heat Transfer
  • Hypersonic Wind Tunnels
  • Instrumentation
  • Materials
  • Photographs
  • Space Flight
  • Trajectories
  • Turbulent Boundary Layer
  • United States
  • Wind Tunnels

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Atmospheric Remote Sensing.
  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Reinforced Composite Materials

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics
  • Hypersonics - Hypersonic Flow
  • Microelectronics
  • Space