RADIATION HEAT TRANSFER WITH ABLATION IN A FINITE PLATE

Abstract

The phenomenon of ablation is a process of thermal protection with several applications, mainly, in mechanical and aerospace engineering. Ablative thermal protection is applied using special materials (named ablative materials) externally on the surface of a structure in order to isolate it against thermal effects. The ablative phenomenon is a complex process involving phase changes with partial or total loss of the material. So the position of the boundary is initially unknown. The governing equations of the process form a non-linear system of coupled partial differential equations. The one-dimensional analysis of an ablative process on the plate is performed by using the generalized integral transform technique – GITT for solution of the system of governing equations. By application of this solution technique, the system of partial differential equations is transformed into a system of infinite ordinary differential equations that can be solved after the truncation of that system by numerical techniques codes available. The plate of finite thickness at constant properties is subjected to a time-dependent prescribed radiation heat flux at one face, initially with a uniform temperature T0, and insulated on the other face. After an initial heating period, ablation starts at the heated surface through melting and continuous removal of the plate material. The results of interest are the thickness and the loss rate of the ablative material. The obtained results are compared with available results from other solution techniques in the literature.