Venus Entry Flow over a Decomposing Aeroshell in X2 Expansion Tube

Abstract

The effects of phenolic decomposition on shock-layer radiation were investigated experimentally in X2 expansion tube for a Venus entry flow. A carbon-phenolic composite aeroshell was subjected to a flow with a flight equivalent velocity of 9.35 km ⋅ s −1 . Emission spectroscopy was used to measure boundary-layer radiation in parts of the ultraviolet (380-480 nm) and visible (620-700 nm) spectrum, and it was compared to control measurements taken with a cold steel model. With the composite model in place, the calibrated spectral radiance measured was seen to increase for the O (645.598 nm) atomic line and the N 2 (391.22 nm) band head, but it decreased for the C 2 Swan band (420-480 nm). The recorded data were then compared to numerical spectra produced by two-dimensional axisymmetric computational fluid dynamic simulations coupled to a radiation solver. Both of the applied chemistry models overpredicted CN violet Δν 0 band radiation, which demonstrated strong self-absorption at these conditions. Better comparisons were achieved for the C 2 Swan band radiation. At visible wavelengths, peak intensities were underestimated by the numerical simulations. Several possible reasons were hypothesized for these discrepancies.