We will study material response to the high enthalpy flow (up to 40 MJ/KG) generated by the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) torch facility that has been established at UT austin. Tests have shown…

This is a Cooperative Agreement awarded by the Shared Services Center, a civilian federal agency, to the University of Texas at Austin for a study on material response to high-enthalpy flow generated by an Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) torch facility. The $456,324.90 contract will fund modifications to the ICP torch facility at UT Austin, including the installation of a cooled deflection plate and an inert gas shroud, to enable testing of materials that may melt rather than ablate. The research will utilize samples provided by NASA's Orbital Debris Group and Thermal Design Branch. There is no set-aside designation for this award. The University of Texas System serves as the parent organization for UT Austin, which has an extensive track record of federal contract and grant awards across a wide range of scientific and technical domains.

We will study material response to the high enthalpy flow (up to 40 MJ/KG) generated by the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) torch facility that has been established at UT austin. Tests have shown that the torch can generate heat fluxes up to 250 w/CM2 with plasma temperatures of ~6500 k when the plasma is entering ambient atmospheric conditions. In the short term some modifications will be made to the facility to enable tests on materials that might melt rather than ablate. To prevent molten material entering the plasma torch a cooled deflection plate will be installed that deflects the flow sufficiently to prevent debris from dropping into the ICP torch. We estimate that a deflection of a few centimeters will be sufficient to achieve this objective, and the loss of enthalpy to the plate will be sufficiently small that desired heat fluxes can still be delivered to the material samples. Additionally we will install a collar around the ICP exit nozzle so that an inert gas CO-flow around the plume can generated. The inert gas shroud will be used to prevent material samples from being exposed to ambient/oxidizing gases after the torch is switched off but the test material is still at very high temperatures. Tests will be conducted on material samples provided by NASA. Samples that do not conform to the current sample holders will be mounted on NASA-supplied fixtures that adapt them to our current sample holders and sample instrumentation. We anticipate a total of 20 days of test time in this period, with 12-15 days on sample provided by the orbital debris group, and 5-8 days on 3-d printed heat-shield materials provided by the thermal design branch.