Microwave Driven Jet and High Energy Laser Test Bed for Simulating Hypersonic Reentry

ABSTRACT: In this Phase I SBIR Proposal Physical Sciences Inc. outlines the development of a hypersonic materials testbed that will be used to characterize the impact of the reentry environment on materials. During Phase I PSI will assess complementary testbed designs utilizing its patented microwave driven torch (MIDJetTM) technology and the capabilities of the Laser Hardened Materials Evaluation Laboratory (LHMEL) facility. A test facility will be assembled with a 5 kW MIDJetTM torch during the Phase I effort and used to assess heat loading on test samples to demonstrate the feasibility of simulating reentry conditions with 30005000 C air thermal plasmas generated with the torch. Advanced ceramic matrix composite materials will be exposed to the simulated reentry environment and optical diagnostics will be implemented to detect emission from the products of material erosion. A Phase II testbed design(s) utilizing the MIDJetTM and LHMEL facilities will be developed and reviewed with the government. A revised testbed design incorporating government feedback will be implemented in the Phase II program and used to test materials of interest to the Air Force.The acquired test data will be used to validate predictions of CFD-based reentry models and guide signature model development.; BENEFIT: The proposed research and development effort will provided the department of defense (DoD), NASA and DoD prime contractor organizations with a hypersonic materials research testbed that will be utilized to test and validate critical, advanced CFD-based codes utilized to evaluate materials and system designs for orbital or sub-orbital re-entry vehicles. The models that will be supported by the testbed facility resulting from this work are relied upon to assess designs of mission critical materials and components related to a broad range of tactical assets. Finally commercial space enterprises may also benefit from the capabilities of the proposed technology as they rely on reentry models to assess their system designs.