Computational Platform for the Analysis of Micro-Tomography Images of Porous Materials

This research project focuses on the development of a computational platform for the analysis of micro-tomography imaging data on porous carbon/phenolic thermal protection materials, used as heat shield for planetary missions. Over the past year, a new approach to the analysis of carbon-based ablators has been introduced, based on 3D imaging using hard x-rays synchrotron micro-tomography. The technique allows an accurate 3D description of the morphology of the material at fiber scale. An accurate digital representation of the material architecture opens up the possibility of using those models as computational domains for material response analysis. The specific task of this proposed project is to develop a simulation code that can provide a time-dependent solution to the reaction/diffusion problem coupled to surface recession.