Simulation of flow-tube oxidation on the carbon preform of PICA

The oxidation of carbon fibers at high temperature is a subject of great interest in atmospheric re-entry science. To correctly evaluate the parameters involved, and test oxidation models, it is necessary to use a combination of flow and material solver. This works presents the full three-dimensional, implicit coupling of a computational fluid dynamics and material response solver, with the goal of reproducing the results of a series of flow-tube experiments recently performed. Results are presented for the geometry of interested, using a simplified numerical setup. This effort is the part of an ongoing project to develop a fully coupled system that solves fluid dynamics and material response under atmospheric entry conditions.