Quantitative analysis of surface recession on carbon-based ablators using a high-resolution non-contact profilometer

This paper proposes a systematic procedure for the quantitative analysis of the surface changes caused by ablation of carbon-based ablators using a high-resolution non-contact profilometer. The ablation tests were performed under high enthalpy flow conditions using a 0.4 MW arc-heated wind tunnel. The high-resolution profilometer was used to measure the surface data of carbon-based ablators. The key parameters for the analysis of the surface changes, such as surface recession and roughness, were calculated by the proposed procedure. In addition, a finite element model of the sample after the ablation test was constructed from the measured surface data. The proposed procedure can be effectively used to perform various analyses of the ablated surface using the measured data and numerical analysis method. Keywords: Carbon-based ablator, Ablation test, Surface recession