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Description
Multi-scale data-driven modeling of radiative transport through thermal protection systems
Science-I: Savio Poovathingal, University of Kentucky
NASA Partners: Ames Research Center, Johnson Space Center, Langley Research
Center, Space Technology Mission Directorate
ABSTRACT
The NASA Kentucky EPSCoR Program’s mission is to enhance research and intellectual
capacity of the state’s universities and colleges through strategic investments in NASA-
priority research areas and to increase researcher competitiveness for non-EPSCoR
NASA funding. With this motivation, and entry, descent, and landing (EDL) technologies
being a key NASA priority, we propose to partner with three NASA centers to
fundamentally transform the current state-of-the-art approach in modeling degradation
and failure of thermal protection system (TPS) materials used on space capsules.
Specifically, we aim to improve understanding of radiative heating of TPS materials by
investigating the penetration of shock-layer and wake flow radiative signatures into the
material, its coupling with other thermochemical processes, and the potential degradation
and failure of the TPS material. These advancements will benefit the New Frontiers
Dragonfly mission, and missions under development such as the Mars Sample Return
(MSR), Venus Entry, and potential Discovery class missions to the gas and ice giants. It
will also aid the analysis of MEDLI2 data from the Mars 2020 mission.
The proposed research blends computational modeling tools with rigorous experimental
validation and is aimed at reducing uncertainties associated with the effect of flow-field
radiation on TPS materials. Advancements will be made to reveal insights on radiative
physics at the microscale by explicitly accounting for the microstructure of the TPS
material and simulating the transport of photons through the microstructure. The modeling
will be validated through novel spectral measurements through small samples, where the
microstructural details of the samples can be resolved. Investigation of radiative transfer
(transport) through the entire TPS material will be performed through the expansion of
the current state-of-the-art material response solver developed at the University of
Kentucky, the only U.S. University with such capability. The macroscale modeling through
the entire TPS material will be performed in conjunction with a custom variant of
Knowledge Distillation, a machine learning technique, to reduce errors and uncertainties
associated with the underlying assumptions in the macroscale approach required for
radiative transport modeling. The machine learning technique will be trained against the
microscale data, which will contain all the relevant physics at the highest fidelity. Modeling
efforts at the macroscale will be compared against innovative effective radiative
conductivity measurements, which will precisely validate the energy transport mechanism
in each mode of heating. Finally, custom-designed experiments will be performed in the
Hypersonic Materials Environmental Test System (HYMETS) arc-jet facility at NASA
Langley Research Center (LaRC) to demonstrate the reliability of the models and tools
developed in this research effort. The modeling approach, coupled with the unique
experiments is the first-of-its-kind collaborative effort, with the goal of creating an entirely
new modeling paradigm for the design of TPS materials.
i
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 7/1/22 → 6/30/23 |
Funding
- KY Economic Development Cab
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Projects
- 1 Finished