A Free-Flight Investigation of Ablation of a Blunt Body to a Mach Number of 13.1

Abstract

A five-stage rocket-propelled research-vehicle system was flown to a maximum Mach number of 13.1 at altitude of approximately 78,000 feet to determine ablation characteristics of Teflon in free flight. Continuous in-flight measurements were made using sensors developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The sensors were located on the blunted face of a nose cone constructed from Teflon, with one at the stagnation point and two others at a surface distance of 0.62 radius on opposite sides of the stagnation point. The ablated-length measurements were in close agreement with analytical predictions. The analytical predictions, upon inclusion of the pertinent material-property values, should be applicable to other materials as well as Teflon.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1962
Accession Number
ADA397587

Entities

People

  • Bernard Rashis
  • Clyde W. Winters
  • Russell N. Hopko
  • William G. Witte

Organizations

  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Altitude
  • Blunt Bodies
  • Bodies
  • Coefficients
  • Free Flight
  • Free Stream
  • Heat Transfer
  • Heat Transfer Coefficients
  • Launch Vehicles
  • Mach Number
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Nose Cones
  • Pressure Distribution
  • Stagnation Point
  • Telemetry
  • Vehicles

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster
  • Space - Spacecraft Maneuvers