Questions tagged [ablator]
A material used in high heat flux locations (e.g., atmospheric entry, rocket nozzles) that ablates and carries away the heat/energy of the flow protecting the structures behind it.
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Apollo CM heat shield burnt pattern around RCS thrusters
Looking through photos of Apollo CM capsules after reentry, I was trying to have a feel for how the heat was distributed on the sides of the capsule.
By the look of surviving patches of Mylar tape ...
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Ablative heat shield and conservation of energy, how much does ablated matter in fact "carry away" versus re-radiate the absorbed heat?
I saw
Most heat shields ablate, that is they sacrifice material to carry heat away...
in a comment under this answer and started writing:
I think that shields ablate to produce a layer of complex ...
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Who was the first to successfully implement on practice ablative heat shield?
Up until Shuttle/Buran era, all manned orbital reentry vehicles used ablative heat shield for reentry (Vostok, Mercury, Voskhod, Gemini, Soyuz, Apollo).
This made me curious about who was the first in ...
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Did the heat shield of the Vostok 1 capsule ablate during reentry?
This Wikipedia article (in german) has some information about the heat shield of Vostok 1.
The heat shield was made from asbestos, its thickness was increased from 3 cm to up to 18 cm. The weight of ...
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Could ablative material sublimation slow down a spacecraft?
Thought experiment illustrated below:
Suppose a weird spacecraft entering Earth's atmosphere from low Earth orbit, payload first. Behind it there is an inverted nozzle shaped structure, attached with ...
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What is the feasibility of a graphite chamber, nozzle and bell walls
What is the feasibility of using graphite, particularly variants that are easy and affordable to acquire, in a combustion chamber, nozzle and bell as well as nozzle extension? Does it need ...
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What properties characterize material as a good ablator?
I know the role and mechanism of ablator, I know some examples, but I still don't know "what makes a material a good ablator". Certainly combustion/evaporation temperature below the expected work ...
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Could a spacecraft produce lift using sublimating material?
Following this question, could a spacecraft approaching upper atmosphere from very low circular Earth orbit, produce lift to soar propulsively, bleeding speed at constant apoapsis, by sublimating ...
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Has there ever been an attempt or serious consideration for spacecraft to land on Mars without an ablative-type heat shield?
My answer to Do exploration spacecraft enter Mars atmosphere against Mars rotation, or on the same direction? lauds the use of ablative heat shields for minimizing radiative heating of a spacecraft by ...
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Why would rocket bodies use specifically ablative coatings to reduce boil-off of cryogenic propellants? Is ablation important for this?
The end of YouTube video Delta IV Heavy Pad Tour, (with CEO Tory Bruno) - Smarter Every Day 199 points to Destin's second "Smarter" channel's video UP CLOSE Delta IV Heavy Launch Pad Tour (...
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What happens to ablative nozzles after a test fire?
For example RS-68 engine
If you make a test fire of an ablative nozzle engine then the fire will consume the coating of that nozzle.
That means you have to replace the coating or the entire nozzle.
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How much is a typical reentry vehicle decelerated by heatshield ablation?
Most spacecraft (or parts thereof) intended to survive atmospheric (re-)entry use an ablative heatshield, which, when exposed to the strong aerodynamic heating of (re-)entry, gradually ablates away, ...
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