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Hypersonic Material Testing Services

High Temperature Material Testing Services

PSI offers testing services to test/validate thermal protection system materials for hypersonic flight.

PSI's Hypersonic Materials Testbed (HMT) provides a low cost alternative to arc-jet testing to assess the performance of thermal protection system (TPS) and other high temperature materials under the high enthalpy, high flow velocity and high heating rate conditions experienced at the leading edge of a hypersonic vehicle traveling up to Mach = 17.

Typical test results include:

1) leading edge temperature maps vs. time

2) assessment of the erosion threshold temperature

3) erosion rate at temperature, tensile strength at temperature

4) assessment of surface and bulk properties through post-test analysis. PSI provides quotes for testing based on the number of test samples (up to 8 per day). Tests can normally be completed within 30 days ARO.

HT Test Service

Key Features

Clean: Microwave jet, no electrode contamination
Treatment enthalpy (pure air on N2): 1 – 14 MJ/kg
Simulated Altitude: 15 – 60 km
Simulated flight Mach #: 3 – 17
Controlled heating rates: 0.25 – 1 kW/cm2
Heated area: ≤ 2.54 cm diameter
Maximum sample diameter: 20 cm
Steady-state leading edge temperature: 500 – 3500 K
Exposure time: 10 s to greater than 1 hour
In-situ measurements: Temperature vs. time maps of sample under test, erosion rate vs. temperature/enthalpy at simulated altitude, tensile strength vs. time at temperature, etc.