Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “arc jet testing”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2017

MELDI2 Do No Harm Test Series

Mars 2020 will fly the Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrumentation II (MEDLI2) sensor suite consisting of a total of seventeen instrumented thermal sensor plugs, eight pressure transducers, two heat flux sensors, and one radiometer embedded in the thermal protection system (TPS). Of the MEDLI2 instrumentation, eleven instrumented thermal plugs and seven pressure transducers will be installed on the heatshield of the Mars 2020 vehicle while the rest will be installed on the backshell. The goal of the MEDLI2 instrumentation is to directly inform the large performance uncertainties that contribute to the design and validation of a Mars entry system. A better understanding of the entry environment and TPS performance could lead to reduced design margins enabling a greater payload mass-fraction and smaller landing ellipses. To prove that the MEDLI2 system will not degrade the performance of the Mars 2020 TPS, an Aerothermal Do No Harm (DNH) test series was designed and conducted. Like Mars 2020's predecessor, Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), the heatshield material will be Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA); the Mars 2020 entry conditions are enveloped by the MSL design environments, therefore the development and qualification testing performed during MEDLI is sufficient to show that the similar MEDLI2 heatshield instrumentation will not degrade PICA performance. However, given that MEDLI did not include any backshell instrumentation, the MEDLI2 team was required to design and execute a DNH test series utilizing the backshell TPS material (SLA-561V) with the intended flight sensor suite. To meet the requirements handed down from Mars 2020, the MEDLI2 DNH test series emphasized the interaction between the MEDLI2 sensors and sensing locations with the surrounding backshell TPS and substrucutre. These interactions were characterized by performing environmental testing of four 12" by 12" test panels, which mimicked the construction of the backshell TPS and the integration of the MEDLI2 sensors as seen in Figure 1. The testing included thermal vacuum/ cycling, random vibration, shock, and arc jet testing. The test panels were fabricated by Lockheed Martin, establishing techniques that will be utilized during the Mars 2020 vehicle installation. Each test panel included one thermal sensor plug (two embedded thermocouples), one heat flux sensor, and multiple pressure port holes for evaluation. This presentation will discuss the planning and execution of the MEDLI2 DNH test series. Selected highlights and results of each environmental test will be presented, and lessons learned will be addressed that will feed forward into the planning for the MEDLI2 flight system certification testing.

Heatshield↗
NASA NTRS2015

Code-to-Code Comparison, and Material Response Modeling of Stardust and MSL using PATO and FIAT

This report provides a code-to-code comparison between PATO, a recently developed high fidelity material response code, and FIAT, NASA's legacy code for ablation response modeling. The goal is to demonstrates that FIAT and PATO generate the same results when using the same models. Test cases of increasing complexity are used, from both arc-jet testing and flight experiment. When using the exact same physical models, material properties and boundary conditions, the two codes give results that are within 2% of errors. The minor discrepancy is attributed to the inclusion of the gas phase heat capacity (cp) in the energy equation in PATO, and not in FIAT.

ablative materials↗
NASA NTRS2019

Laboratory-Based Thermal Shock Investigation of Heat Flux Sensors for the Mars 2020 Backshell

In 2012 during the entry, descent, and landing of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), the MSL Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrumentation (MEDLI) sensor suite was collecting in-flight heatshield pressure and temperature data. The data collected by the MEDLI instruments has since been used for reconstruction of vehicle aerodynamics, atmospheric conditions, aerothermal heating, and Thermal Protection System (TPS) performance as well as material response model validation and refinement. The Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrumentation 2 (MEDLI2) sensor suite for the Mars 2020 heatshield and backshell is being designed to expand on the measurements and knowledge gained from MEDLI. Similar to MEDLI, MEDLI2 will measure the pressure and temperature of the heatshield. MEDLI2 will additionally measure the temperature, pressure, total heat flux, and radiative heat flux on the backshell. Since the backshell instrumentation is new to MEDLI2, Do No Harm (DNH) testing was conducted on instrumented backshell TPS (SLA-561V) panels. The panels consisted of four pressure port holes, one Mars Entry Atmospheric Data System (MEADS) pressure port plug, one MEDLI2 Integrated Sensor Plug (MISP) thermal plug, and one heat flux sensor. DNH testing was conducted to ensure the performance of the TPS was not degraded due to sensor integration and to characterize any TPS performance changes. The testing consisted of environmental testing— vibration, shock, thermal vacuum (TVAC) cycling— and bounding aerothermal (arc jet) testing.

Miller, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Thermal Capacitance (Slug) Calorimeter Theory Including Heat Losses and Other Decaying Processes

A mathematical model, termed the Slug Loss Model, has been developed for describing thermal capacitance (slug) calorimeter behavior when heat losses and other decaying processes are not negligible. This model results in the temperature time slope taking the mathematical form of exponential decay. When data is found to fit well to this model, it allows a heat flux value to be calculated that corrects for the losses and may be a better estimate of the cold wall fully catalytic heat flux, as is desired in arc jet testing. The model was applied to the data from a copper slug calorimeter inserted during a particularly severe high heating rate arc jet run to illustrate its use. The Slug Loss Model gave a cold wall heat flux 15% higher than the value of 2,250 W/sq cm obtained from the conventional approach to processing the data (where no correction is made for losses). For comparison, a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) model was created and applied to the same data, where conduction heat losses from the slug were simulated. The heat flux determined by the FEA model was found to be in close agreement with the heat flux determined by the Slug Loss Model.

Hightower, T. Mark↗
NASA NTRS2024

Advanced Lightweight TUFROC Thermal Protection System for Space Plane Applications

Toughened Uni-piece Fibrous Reinforced Oxidation-resistant Composite (TUFROC) represents the state of the art in low-cost, reusable spacecraft Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) with high temperature capability and is flight proven on the USAF X-37B. The two-piece design takes advantage of a low-conductivity porous silica substrate combined with high-temperature-capable carbon cap and surface treatments. NASA has updated the chemical composition of the surface treatments resulting in improved high-heating capability and reusability. The new system, called Advanced TUFROC, experiences a lower surface temperature (by ~80 K) at identical aerothermal heating conditions compared to the original formulation, now called Standard TUFROC. The reduced heating is attributed to the lower catalytic efficiency of the new formulation, which results in reduced exothermic atom recombination rates at the surface. Multiple arc-jet test campaigns demonstrate that Advanced TUFROC has the ability to withstand long and repeated exposures at 1866 K or a shorter duration exposure at 1980 K without recession or damage to TPS. Furthermore, an improved arc-jet article design for assessing 3-dimensional flow over a wing leading edge has been developed and tested. This article allows for assessment of heating at a tile gap under flight-relevant conditions at significantly reduced article fabrication and arc-jet facility configuration costs compared to prior work.

TUFROC↗
NASA NTRS1996

Ames Research Center Shear Tests of SLA-561V Heat Shield Material for Mars-Pathfinder

This report describes the results of arc-jet testing at Ames Research Center on behalf of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for the development of the Mars-Pathfinder heat shield. The current test series evaluated the performance of the ablating SLA-561V heat shield material under shear conditions. In addition, the effectiveness of several methods of repairing damage to the heat shield were evaluated. A total of 26 tests were performed in March 1994 in the 2 in. X 9 in. arc-heated turbulent Duct Facility, including runs to calibrate the facility to obtain the desired shear stress conditions. A total of eleven models were tested. Three different conditions of shear and heating were used. The non-ablating surface shear stresses and the corresponding, approximate, non-ablating surface heating rates were as follows: Condition 1, 170 N/m(exp 2) and 22 W/cm(exp 2); Condition 2, 240 N/m(exp 2) and 40 W/cm(exp 2); Condition 3, 390 N/m(exp 2) and 51 W/cm(exp 2). The peak shear stress encountered in flight is represented approximately by Condition 1; however, the heating rate was much less than the peak flight value. The peak heating rate that was available in the facility (at Condition 3) was about 30 percent less than the maximum value encountered during flight. Seven standard ablation models were tested, of which three models were instrumented with thermocouples to obtain in-depth temperature profiles and temperature contours. An additional four models contained a variety of repair plugs, gaps, and seams. These models were used to evaluated different repair materials and techniques, and the effect of gaps and construction seams. Mass loss and surface recession measurements were made on all models. The models were visually inspected and photographed before and after each test. The SLA-561 V performed well; even at test Condition 3, the char remained intact. Most of the resins used for repairs and gap fillers performed poorly. However, repair plugs made of SLA-561V performed well. Approximately 70 percent of the thermocouples yielded good data.

Tauber, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2019

Progress Towards Modeling the Mars Science Laboratory PICA-NuSil Heatshield

The data collected by the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Entry, Descent and Landing Instrumentation, MEDLI, have become an established reference to assess the performance of engineering models of the Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) and to validate hypersonic computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools for entry systems. MEDLI measurements are also extensively used as validation reference for current developments of high-fidelity material response models for PICA. So large has been the scientific output and impact of MEDLI that a follow-up instrumentation suite MEDLI2 is underway for the upcoming Mars 2020 mission.A feature neglected thus far in the modeling of the MSL heatshield, is the presence of a silicone-based room temperature vulcanizing coating designated NuSil CV-1144-0. NuSil was used to coat the entire MSL heatshield, including the MEDLI plugs, to mitigate the spread of phenolic dust from PICA, and limit contamination during clean room operations. NuSil CV-1144-0 is a space grade siloxane copolymer, designed as an oxygen protection barrier for extreme low temperature environment.Assessments conducted during MSL development demonstrated that the presence of NuSil had no adverse effect on the performance of PICA. However, evidence from ground testing of PICA-NuSil (PICA-N) models in the HyMETS arc-jet test facility suggests that the silicone changes the high temperature response of PICA. It is therefore critical to assess the importance of modeling the coating in ongoing code validation efforts.

Bessire, Brody K.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Laser-Enhanced Arc-Jet Facility Wedge Tests: Avcoat Material Performance Under Convective and Radiative Heating Environments

This paper presents the first set of experimental results from Laser Enhanced Arc-Jet Facility (LEAF-Lite) tests that were conducted shortly after the radiative LEAF-Lite system was added to the 60-MW Interaction Heating Facility at NASA Ames Research Center. Results were gathered to characterize the new radiative and combined heating capabilities as well as the convective heating resulting from the new IHF nozzle that was required for combined heating operations. Tests were ultimately conducted at several combinations of radiative and convective heating prompted by the need to understand the effect of combined heating on the Orion heatshield material prior to pursuing combined heating tests of the more complex block architecture.

Laser-Enhanced Arc-Jet Facility↗
NASA NTRS2012

Performance of Conformable Ablators in Aerothermal Environments

Conformable Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator, a cousin of Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA), was developed at NASA Ames Research Center as a lightweight thermal protection system under the Fundamental Aeronautics Program. PICA is made using a brittle carbon substrate, which has a very low strain to failure. Conformable PICA is made using a flexible carbon substrate, a felt in this case. The flexible felt significantly increases the strain to failure of the ablator. PICA is limited by its thermal mechanical properties. Future NASA missions will require heatshields that are more fracture resistant than PICA and, as a result, NASA Ames is working to improve PICAs performance by developing conformable PICA to meet these needs. Research efforts include tailoring the chemistry of conformable PICA with varying amounts of additives to enhance mechanical properties and testing them in aerothermal environments. This poster shows the performance of conformable PICA variants in arc jets tests. Some mechanical and thermal properties will also be presented.

Thornton, J.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Performance of Conformable Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator in Aerothermal Environments

Conformable Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator, a cousin of Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA), was developed at NASA Ames Research Center as a lightweight thermal protection system under the Fundamental Aeronautics Program. PICA is made using a brittle carbon substrate, which has a very low strain to failure. Conformable PICA is made using a flexible carbon substrate, a felt in this case. The flexible felt significantly increases the strain to failure of the ablator. PICA is limited by its thermal mechanical properties. Future NASA missions will require heatshields that are more fracture resistant than PICA and, as a result, NASA Ames is working to improve PICA's performance by developing conformable PICA to meet these needs. Research efforts include tailoring the chemistry of conformable PICA with varying amounts of additives to enhance mechanical properties and testing them in aerothermal environments. This poster shows the performance of conformable PICA variants in arc jets tests. Some mechanical and thermal properties will also be presented.

ablative materials↗
NASA NTRS2016

Consolidated Laser-Induced Fluorescence Diagnostic Systems for the NASA Ames Arc Jet Facilities

The spectroscopic diagnostic technique of two photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) of atomic species for non-intrusive arc jet flow property measurement was first implemented at NASA Ames in the mid-1990s. In 2013-2014, NASA combined the agency's large-scale arc jet test capabilities at NASA Ames. Concurrent with that effort, the agency also sponsored a project to establish two comprehensive LIF diagnostic systems for the Aerodynamic Heating Facility (AHF) and Interaction Heating Facility (IHF) arc jets. The scope of the project enabled further engineering development of the existing IHF LIF system as well as the complete reconstruction of the AHF LIF system. The updated LIF systems are identical in design and capability. They represent the culmination of over 20 years of development experience in transitioning a specialized laboratory research tool into a measurement system for large-scale, high-demand test facilities. This paper will document the latest improvements of the LIF system design and demonstrations of the redeveloped AHF and IHF LIF systems.

wind tunnels↗
NASA NTRS2016

Consolidated Laser-Induced Fluorescence Diagnostic Systems for the NASA Ames Arc Jet Facilities

The spectroscopic diagnostic technique of two photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence (TALIF) of atomic species for non-intrusive arc jet flow property measurement was first implemented at NASA Ames in the mid-1990s. Use of TALIF expanded at NASA Ames and to NASA Johnson's arc jet facility in the late 2000s. In 2013-2014, NASA combined the agency's large-scale arc jet test capabilities at NASA Ames. Concurrent with that effort, the agency also sponsored a project to establish two comprehensive LIF diagnostic systems for the Aerodynamic Heating Facility (AHF) and Interaction Heating Facility (IHF) arc jets. The scope of the project enabled further engineering development of the existing IHF LIF system as well as the complete reconstruction of the original AHF LIF system. The updated LIF systems are identical in design and capability. They represent the culmination of over 20 years of development experience in transitioning a specialized laboratory research tool into a measurement system for large-scale, high-demand test facilities. This paper documents the overall system design from measurement requirements to implementation. Representative data from the redeveloped AHF and IHF LIF systems are also presented.

laser spectroscopy↗
NASA NTRS2016

Consolidated Laser-Induced Fluorescence Diagnostic Systems for the NASA Ames Arc Jet Facilities

The spectroscopic diagnostic technique of two photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence (TALIF) of atomic species for non-intrusive arc jet flow property measurement was first implemented at NASA Ames in the mid-1990s. Use of TALIF expanded at NASA Ames and to NASA Johnsons arc jet facility in the late 2000s. In 2013-2014, NASA combined the agency's large-scale arc jet test capabilities at NASA Ames. Concurrent with that effort, the agency also sponsored a project to establish two comprehensive LIF diagnostic systems for the Aerodynamic Heating Facility (AHF) and Interaction Heating Facility (IHF) arc jets. The scope of the project enabled further engineering development of the existing IHF LIF system as well as the complete reconstruction of the original AHF LIF system. The updated LIF systems are identical in design and capability. They represent the culmination of over 20 years of development experience in transitioning a specialized laboratory research tool into a measurement system for large-scale, high-demand test facilities. This paper documents the overall system design from measurement requirements to implementation. Representative data from the redeveloped AHF and IHF LIF systems are also presented.

thermal protection materials↗
NASA NTRS1999

Thermographic Testing Using on the X-33 Space Launch Vehicle Program by BFGoodrich Aerospace

The X-33 program is a team effort sponsored by NASA, under Cooperative Agreement NCC8-115, and led by the Lockheed Martin Corporation. Team member BFGoodrich Aerospace Aerostructures Group (formerly Rohr) is responsible for design, manufacture, and integration of the Thermal Protection System (TPS) of the X-33 launch vehicle. The X-33 is a half-scale, experimental prototype of a vehicle called RLV (Reusable Launch Vehicle) or VentureStar(Trademark), an SSTO (single stage to orbit) vehicle, which is a proposed successor to the aging Space Shuttle. Thermographic testing has been employed by BFGoodrich Aerospace Aerostructures Group for a wide variety of uses in the testing of components of the X-33. Thermographic NDT (TNDT) has been used for inspecting large graphite-epoxy/aluminum honeycomb sandwich panels used on the Leeward Aeroshell structure of the X-33. And TNDT is being evaluated for use in inspecting carbon-carbon composite parts such as the nosecap and wing leading edge components. Pulsed Infrared Testing (PIRT), a special form of TNDT, is used for the routine inspection of sandwich panels made of brazed inconel honeycomb and facesheets. In the developmental and qualification testing of sub-elements of the X-33, thermography has been used to monitor 1) Arc Jet tests at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountainview, CA and NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, 2) High Temperature (wind) Tunnel Tests (HTT) at NASA Langley Research Center in Langley, VA, and 3) Hot Gas Tests at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL.

Burleigh, Douglas↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Simulating Meteor Ablation at the Hypersonic Materials Environmental Test System

The ablation mechanisms of stony meteorite material and a terrestrial analog were investigated at the Hypersonic Materials Environmental Test System (HyMETS) facility at NASA’s Langley Research Center. The primary analyte (Tamdakht-H5) and arc-jet test conditions were chosen to simulate the entry of an ordinary chondrite through the Earth’s mesosphere. Basalt was selected to compare the meteorite response against material with enhanced polymerization and an elevated concentration of volatile species. The initial ablation process for each material commences with the vaporization of volatile species and germination of a viscous melt layer on the stagnation surface. However, each material exhibited distinct mass loss mechanisms, with basalt recessing at twice the rate of Tamdakht. Inspection of high-speed video and chemical analysis of the post-test melt layer suggests the dominant mode of mass loss of Tamdakht is expressed through the vaporization of volatile compounds. Vaporization rates of Tamdakht are 18x higher than basalt under the most severe test conditions which provides enhanced thermal shielding. Furthermore, Tamdakht produces a relatively stable melt flow, as evidenced by perpetual growth at the sidewall and the exiguous detachment of molten material into the flow. The ablation mechanism of basalt is markedly different from Tamdakht and is governed by volatile species in the virgin material. The dominant mode of mass loss for basalt is attributed to the detachment of large sections of the stagnation surface near the edge radius. An additional but subordinate mode of mass loss is assigned to the removal of melt flow as it passes over the edge radius, where shear forces overcome the rheological properties of the molten matter. Finally, mechanistic details will be discussed in terms of designing future test campaigns, developing meteorite-based materials response models, and impacting the broader scope of the Asteroid Threat Assessment Project (ATAP).

Meteor Ablation↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Material Response Modeling of MMOD Cavities

An arc-jet test campaign is used as a baseline to computationally model the flow and material response of cavities. A parametric study is designed around the baseline to study geometric effects on parameters of interest. The US3D flow solver is used to simulate the arc-jet flow in the Aerodynamic Heating Facility (AHF) at NASA Ames and generate the heating environment over material samples with cavities. The Icarus material response code is then used to simulate the multi-dimensional heating under the above conditions of samples of FiberForm with cavities.

EDL↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

AI-Enhanced Computational Tools for Entry Systems Modeling

To advance the understanding of complex atmospheric entry phenomena, NASA’s Entry Systems Modeling (ESM) team [1] has developed high-fidelity computational tools addressing multiscale challenges, from material microstructures to full-scale heatshield response. This abstract highlights a subset of ESM tools, focusing on AI integration to enhance workflows and predictive modeling. - PuMA [2] computes effective material properties from high-resolution micro-CT scans, supporting TPS analysis for NASA missions. - TomoSAM [3] automates 3D tomography dataset segmentation for PuMA using the Segment Anything Model, reducing manual effort and improving accuracy. - PATO [4] models porous reactive materials under extreme conditions, with advancements such as unified solvers, mechanical erosion, and TPS coatings for NASA missions. - arcjetCV [5] employs deep learning to analyze arc jet test footage, measuring recession rates, shape changes, and shock standoff distances, bridging simulations, and experiments to reveal TPS ablation behavior. - ARCHeS [6] simulates arc heater plasma flows, modeling turbulence, radiation, and electromagnetic interactions to optimize arc heater performance, validate TPS under extreme conditions, and serve as a foundation for developing digital twins of arc heater facilities. - SPARTA [7] simulates rarefied hypersonic flows and gas-surface interactions for planetary entry missions, leveraging GPU architectures for scalable and efficient aerothermal and ablation analyses. AI-driven solutions, such as deep learning segmentation, have streamlined workflows in ESM tools and still hold significant potential to further accelerate processes and enhance automation in entry systems modeling. [1] Haskins, J.B. (2023), [2] Ferguson, J.C. (2018), [3] Meurisse, J.B.E. (2018), [4] Semeraro, F. (2023), [5] Quintart, A. (2024) [6] Meurisse, J.B.E. (2022), [7] Plimpton, S.J. (2019)

Predictive Modeling↗
NASA NTRS1998

Computational Analysis of Shock Layer Emission Measurements in an Arc-Jet Facility

This paper reports computational analysis of radiation emission experiments in a high enthalpy arc-jet wind tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center. Recently, as part of ongoing arc-jet characterization work, spectroscopic radiation emission experiments have been conducted at the 20 MW NASA Ames arc-jet facility. The emission measurements were obtained from the arc-jet freestream and from a shock layer formed in front of flatfaced models. Analysis of these data is expected to provide valuable information about the thermodynamic state of the gas in the arc-jet freestream and in the shock layer as well as thermochemical equilibration processes behind the shock in arc-jet flows. Knowledge of the thermodynamic state of the gas in arc-jet test flows and especially within the shock layer is essential to interpret the heat transfer measurements such as in surface catalysis experiments. The present work is a continuation of previous work and focuses on analysis of the emission data obtained at relatively low-pressure conditions for which the arc-jet shock layer is expected to be in thermal and chemical nonequilibrium. Building blocks of the present computational analysis are: (1) simulation of nonequilibrium expanding flow in the converging-diverging conical nozzle and supersonic jet; (2) simulation of nonequilibrium shock layer formed in front of the flat-faced cylinder model; and (3) prediction of line-of-sight radiation from the computed flowfield. For computations of the nonequilibrium flow in the conical nozzle and shock layer, multi-temperature nonequilibrium codes with the axisymmetric formulation are used. For computations of line-of-sight radiation. a nonequilibrium radiation code (NEQAIR) is used to predict emission spectra from the computed flowfield. Computed line-of-sight averaged flow properties such as vibrational and rotational temperatures, species number densities within the shock layer will be compared with those deduced from the experimental spectra. Detailed comparisons of computational and experimental spectra will also be presented.

Gokcen, Tahir↗