Observation of an Ablating Surface in Expansion Tunnel Flow.

The article presents a study which examines an ablating surface in expansion tunnel flow. Researchers conducted a one-dimensional semi-finite analysis in order to examine whether the surface temperature would be enough to produce vaporization of the insulation. They created an ablating shock layer with an epoxy coating on an axisymmetric model during steady test flow in a high-enthalpy superorbital expansion tunnel. Chemical reactions between the epoxy ablation gases and the air test gas produced high levels of cyanogen.