Ablating Material
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Ablating Material
[[/A>|/A>
]]A material, especially a coating material, designed to provide
thermal protection to a body in a fluid stream through loss of
mass.
Ablating materials are used on the surfaces of some reentry
vehicles to absorb heat by removal of mass, thus blocking the
transfer of heat to the rest of the vehicle and maintaining temperatures
within design limits. Ablating materials absorb heat by increasing
in temperature and changing in chemical or physical state. The
heat is carried away from the surface by a loss of mass (liquid
or vapor). The departing mass also blocks part of the convective
heat transfer to the remaining material in the same manner as
transpiration cooling.
References
This article is based on NASA's Dictionary of Technical Terms for Aerospace Use
