Simulation of Ablation in a Composite Thermal Protection System via an Interface Tracking Method

In this work, the two-dimensional computational simulation of the ablative process in a composite used in rocket thermal protection systems via an interface tracking method was presented. The ablative model considers the presence of two simultaneous moving fronts, the pyrolysis and char fronts. The results were compared with some experimental data, showing better agreement than the one-front model. Such procedure will allow a more accurate dimensioning of rocket thermal protection systems, contributinglbr project optimization.