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Completed TRL 4 (started at 2, targeting 4)
Post-flight analyses of atmospheric entry vehicles, such as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), indicate that current ablation models may be highly conservative, therefore motivating further model development. During the past decade, significant advances in predictive ablation modeling have been made. For example, models are now capable of resolving the thermal protection system (TPS) microstructure, as well as predicting the flow physics and gas-surface chemistry within porous microstructure. However, predictive modeling approaches for the structural response of the TPS are currently missing. Modeling TPS structural response is a considerable challenge, since the structural response and possible failure of the TPS is tightly coupled to both the chemical processes (such as oxidation) occurring on the microstructure and the boundary layer aerothermodynamics (shear stress and heat flux). The goal of the proposed research is to develop a predictive modeling capability that couples thermochemical TPS response with its microscale thermo-structural response. Such a capability would enable precise assessment of TPS microstructure response, including complex processes such as spallation, and could ultimately be used in the design of new TPS materials at the microstructure level, such as new woven TPS currently under development at NASA.
The goal of the proposed research is to develop a predictive modeling capability that couples thermochemical TPS response with its microscale thermo-structural response. Such a capability would enable precise assessment of TPS microstructure response, including complex processes such as spallation, and could ultimately be used in the design of new TPS materials at the microstructure level, such as new woven TPS currently under development at NASA.
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