Predicting the Wear of High Speed Rocket Sleds

Holloman Air Force Base houses the 10 mile long Holloman High Speed Test Track HHSTT in New Mexico and can run hypersonic experiments at speeds up to 10,000ms. Tested objects are loaded onto sleds, which are connected to the track by slippers that slide along the rails. The payload sled is propelled down the track by a series of rocket sleds. The ability to predict the wear that will occur on the slippers during these experiments is important for slipper design and preventing catastrophic failure. However, high speeds complicate wear prediction as there additional contributing factors, including inconsistent surface contact, fluctuating thermal and friction properties, and additional speed-induced melt wear. The goal of this project is to utilize a hydrocode program -- CTH -- to predict high speed wear results using a damage criterion that allows damage to occur and be removed. Results will be compared to the wear seen in other plane strain models which did not allow the damaged regions to be removed, 3D ABAQUS simulation, and experimental data derived from a 2008 test run at the HHSTT.