Ablation Characteristics of Aluminum Alloy Wings with Yttria Partially-stabilized Zirconia Coating

Abstract

The ablation characteristics of aluminum alloy 7075 wings with and without a coating were analyzed experimentally using an oxy-kerosene torch. The wing surface coating was fabricated using the thermal spray coating method using yttria partially-stabilized zirconia as a coating material. The thickness of the coated layer was approximately 200 mu m. The test condition was the heat flux of 4.12 MW/m(2), the stagnation pressure of 130 kPa, and the static temperature of 1,350 K. The ablation characteristics were investigated by analyzing the ablation rate, and the shape and surface changes after the test. The uncoated and coated wings began to ablate after 1.5 and 8 sec heating, respectively. The ablation rates were 176 +/- 1.2 mg/sec for the uncoated wing and 11 +/- 1.1 mg/sec for the coated wing after 2 sec of heating. The surface morphology was investigated by analyzing the microstructures and atomic compositions of the wing before and after the test. The surface microstructure and atomic composition of the uncoated wing were completely changed, while the coated wing remain relatively unchanged within the 2 sec of heating.