APPLICATION OF MOVING GRID CONTROL-VOLUME FINITE-ELEMENT METHOD TO ABLATION PROBLEMS

This article presents the solution of two-dimensional axisymmetric abl ation problems with unstructured grids. The energy equation is formula ted and solved using the control volume finite element method. The ext erior shape of the ablating body is determined from a surface energy b alance with the interior mesh displaced in response to the surface abl ation as if the body was a linear elastic solid. Boundary condition ma trices are formulated for both heat of ablation and generalized thermo chemical ablation boundary conditions. Computed recession rates are co mpared to an analytical solution to demonstrate the accuracy and conve rgence of this approach. Additionally, the practical application of th is approach to the ablation of a re-entry vehicle nose tip is presente d.