Photogrammetry Methods for Transient Surface Recession Measurement of Materials During Aerothermal Testing

This research develops methods for measuring and analyzing the surface recession of thermal protection system materials during aerothermal ground testing on an oxy-acetylene test bed using photogrammetric techniques. Developing a non-destructive visual measurement technique reduced experimental running costs and setup time while maintaining experimental and material flexibility and increasing recession data fidelity. The developed solution was a photogrammetric system for measuring the surface morphology of TPS materials during aerothermal testing on an OTB. Using stereo-photogrammetric techniques, a pair of cameras record time-synchronized images of a sample surface during testing. Synchronized image pairs are used to construct 3D point clouds representative of the sample surface that are further compiled and abstracted to generate tabulated data representative of overall surface behavior. Tabulated data allow for evaluating overall transient material performance along various circular sections of the sample surface. Photogrammetry introduces an additional dimension of data analysis for thermal protection systems TPS materials with applications in materials design and response modeling.