Ruggedized Ablation Sensor for Hypersonic Vehicle Leading Edges

The nosecones of hypersonic projectiles are subject to extreme wear due to thermal erosion during flight. The exact thickness required to ensure survival of the nosecone during flight is unknown, as there are no reliable technologies that do not pierce through the nosecone, while being able to integrate onto the missile and withstand the high g-loading and vibrational environments they would be subject to. Furthermore, measurements based only upon ultrasonic sensors generally require assumptions regarding temperature distribution in the nosecone itself, which is highly variable and extremely nonlinear. The proposed technology would require a small conductive pad sensor on the interior of the nosecone, few driving electronics, and would sense thickness changes in real time as the nosecone ablates during flight