Two-Dimensional Ablation and Thermal Response Analyses for Mars Science Laboratory Heat Shield

This paper examines transient simulations performed to predict in-depth thermal response and surface recession of the proposed heat shield material for the Mars Science Laboratory entry capsule, that is, phenolic impregnated carbon ablator. The finite volume material response code used in this paper solves the time-dependent governing equations, including energy conservation and a three-component decomposition model, with a surface energy-balance condition and a moving grid system to predict shape change due to surface recession. The predicted in-depth thermal response of heat shield material generally agrees well with the thermocouple data under various arcjet conditions. Also, two-dimensional computations using aerothermal environment for Mars entry (derived from a proposed three-sigma trajectory) are performed around the heat shield shoulder region, where high heating occurs as the result of angle of attack. Parametric studies are conducted to examine the effects of carbon-fiber orientation, material properties, and surface recession on heat shield bondline temperature history. It is proved that the fiber orientation configuration of the baseline heat shield has the lowest maximum bondline temperature.