Numerical Prediction of Tungsten Ablation under Arc Heater Experimental Conditions

摘要

Ablation experiments on tungsten using arc heater were performed and numerical simulations on the same conditions as the experiments were also performed. In the experiments, total mass change and stagnation point recession were measured after the test. For numerical simulation, 2 steps of calculation were conducted. In step 1, flow from arc heater nozzle to test section was calculated. In step 2, flow around the specimen was calculated including shock, surface reaction, and shape change by ablation. Oxidation rate of tungsten was modeled with a function of surface temperature and unknown constant K. Varying value of K, numerical results were compared with experimental results, and when the value of K was 0.5, numerically predicted ablation shape well matched with that of the experiment We expect that these results and developed ablation model could be used in several applications using tungsten as a thermal resistant material.