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Completed TRL 2 (started at 2, targeting 3)
During planetary entry, a strong bow shock ahead of blunt spacecraft generates large heat loads near the vehicle surface. This is mitigated via thermal protection systems (TPS) which comprises a substantial fraction of the total vehicle mass. This fraction is further scaled by uncertainties in experimental measurements and simulations. Thus, obtaining quality validation data on heating is crucial to improving TPS performance, increasing vehicle capability, and reducing overall costs. The transfer of heat loads occur by either convection or radiation. Recent studies have found radiation to be dominant on the aft shell, wherein radiation strengths and uncertainities scale exponentially with velocity. Accurate modeling of the radiative environment requires precise knowledge of rovibronic transitions at the molecular level. Previous studies have pursued significant efforts towards developing appropriate models for such processes. However, the emission diagnostics currently employed are reliant on excitation rates and spectroscopic constants that are not known with a high degree of certainty. In contrast, laser absorption spectroscopy (LAS)allows for a direct measurement of ground state number density which can be related to key thermodynamic properties. Therefore, I propose to develop a laser absorption diagnostic to directly capture physical processes occurring in vehicle wakes on planetary entry. The aim is not to replace currently employed diagnostics, but to supplement emission measurements of excited states with ground state measurements for varying species of interest. These direct measurements will not only capture key thermodynamic properties in the radiative environment, but also reduce the uncertainty propagated into flow models and aerothermodynamic performance analyses. This research ties directly into current NASA activities for shock layer radiation modeling, aerothermal testing, and development of non-intrusive techniques to support entry systems design. The proposed diagnostic will be demonstrated in Stanford facilities for Earth/air reentry, and may then be extended to any gas composition.
This research ties directly into current NASA activities for shock layer radiation modeling, aerothermal testing, and development of non-intrusive techniques to support entry systems design. The proposed diagnostic will be demonstrated in Stanford facilities for Earth/air reentry, and may then be extended to any gas composition.
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