Modelling and simulation of degradation of ultra high temperature ceramics (UHTCs) under hypersonic flow

A dream for many scientists, engineers and sci-fi enthusiasts is of an aerospace vehicle that can take off from an airport, fly through the atmosphere and travel to the other side of the earth at hypersonic speeds, and then return through the atmosphere to the same or another airport. Over the past two decades, there has been significant interest in developing aircraft that can travel at or greater than Mach 6. Hypersonic vehicles need sharp leading edges to enable vehicle manoeuvrability during atmosphere exit and re-entry. The edges will see temperatures well in excess of 2000°C and be hit with corrosive plasmas from the atmosphere at ablative speeds. Other challenges associated with these conditions include severe oxidation extreme heat fluxes and high mechanical stresses. Components, such as the leading edges, combustors and thermal protection systems, thus require materials that can withstand the high thermal, mechanical and shock-wave loadings that these aircraft will experience during flight. Such demanding requirements limit the field of possible materials to ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTCs). However, there is a lack of an accepted test to evaluate the suitability of candidate materials for hypersonic applications. Hence, this study is mainly focussed to develop models to interpret and compare the experimental data from various testing techniques. Such model would then enable the prediction of performance in actual hypersonic environments.

Knowledge of mathematics is desirable.