Steady ablation on the surface of a two-layer composite

Discovered is a quasi-steady ablation phenomenon on the surface of a two-layer composite which is formed by a layer of ablative material and another layer of non-ablative substrate. Theoretical exact solutions of quasi-steady ablation rate, the associated temperature distribution and end-of-ablation time of this two-layer composite are derived. A criterion for the occurrence of quasi-steady ablation is presented also. A one-dimensional transient numerical model is developed to perform a number of numerical experiments and hence to verify the correctness of the above theoretical solutions for the current quasi-steady ablation phenomenon. Based on the current results, a new method of measuring the ablation (or sublimation) heat is also proposed.