COMPUTATIONAL TOOL FOR ANTENNA WINDOW ABLATION

CURRENT SHAPE-CHANGE COMPUTER CODES USED TO PREDICT ANTENNA WINDOW (AW) EROSION PLACE EMPHASIS ON THE PHYSICS OF THE ABLATION/MELTING PROCESS. ONE OF THEIR WEAKEST AREAS IS THE CALCULATION OF THE HEAT INPUT FROM THE HYPERSONIC FLOW. THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE ADAPTATION OF AN ADVANCED NAVIER-STOKES COMPUTER CODE TO THE AW FLOW PROBLEM, TO PREDICT THE HEAT INPUT FROM THE FLOW, INCLUDING THE COMPLEX INTERACTION WITH THE AW SHAPE. IN A PHASE I EFFORT, A NEWLY DEVELOPED AIR FORCE COMPUTER CODE WILL BE ADAPTED TO THE AW FLOWFIELD PROBLEM AND EXERCISED IN A 2 DIMENSIONS TO ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF MORE ADVANCED, THREE-DIMENSIONAL NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS.