1D thickness evolution model of cork ablators, including swelling, ablation and erosion

Abstract

A one-dimensional mathematical framework is developed to describe the thickness evolution---swelling and recession---of cork samples in high enthalpy flows, in the arc-heated wind tunnel L2K. The model is formulated to account for swelling effect, constant long-term recession rate, particle-induced erosion, and post-erosion swelling---that is swelling enhancement after char removal by particle impact. Particle effects were considered as they are particularly important for the simulation of Martian entry during dust storms, and might be useful for other applications. The model is fitted to experimental time-resolved recession data measured with laser-sheet profile tracking (LPT), with the goal of determining material-specific parameters in different flow conditions, also in the presence of particles. The results demonstrate that the approach captures key flow-structure interaction phenomena and reproduces experimental and numerical reference data within acceptable error margins: the never-theorized phenomenon called post-erosion swelling is thereby confirmed. This establishes the model as a computationally efficient foundation for further extensions to parametric approaches for material response prediction, in high-enthalpy flows.