TRACK G EROSION DATA APPLICATION/ANALYSIS

THE EFFECTIVE UTILIZATION OF THE AEDC TRACK G FACILITY TO EVALUATE THE EROSION PERFORMANCE OF REENTRY VEHICLE NOSETIP MATERIALS IN WEATHER ENVIRONMENTS HAS BEEN LIMITED BY A LACK OF INSIGHT INTO PHYSICAL PHENOMENA PECULIAR TO TRACK TESTING. THE PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSED INVESTIGATION IS TO ANALYZE AND MODEL THE IMPORTANT TRACK G EROSION PHENOMENA. THE EFFORT IS DIRECTED TOWARD QUANTIFYING PHENOMENOLOGY EFFECTS ON EROSION MEASUREMENTS AND ON DEVELOPING A METHODOLOGY TO RELATE TRACK G DATA TO THE PREDICTION OF MATERIAL PERFORMANCE IN FLIGHT ENVIRONMENTS.