The ablation mechanism of a silica-reinforced composite is studied. Special attention is given to the effects of the presence of gas bubbles within the molten layer and certain internal chemical reactions. The assumption of two-phase laminar-flow for the melt layer is used to characterize the process. The physical properties which appear in the governing equations are considered as functions of the void fraction within the molten layer. The governing equations of change are simplified by adopting the model of constant drift velocities and are solved by the integration method. The void fraction is shown to have a substantial effect on the heat of ablation. The presence of gas bubbles affects the apparent viscosity, the effective thermal conductivity, the carbon-silica reactions, and the flow pattern of the molten layer. These effects vary with the magnitude of the stagnation enthalpy. Nomenclature a = constant of the viscosity equation C p = specific heat, cal/g °K E = activation energy, cal/mole g = acceleration due to gravity, cm/sec 2 h = enthalpy per unit mass, cal/g h T = total energy denned by Eq. (42), cal/g H eff = heat of ablation = q s /(m a + m p ), cal/g H f = heat of fusion, cal/g H p = heat of pyrolysis, cal/g H R = heat of carbon-silica reaction, cal/g K -thermal conductivity; also coefficient of apparent viscosity when not subscripted, cal/sec cm°K K e = effective thermal conductivity of the molten layer, cal/sec cm°K K R = carbon-silica reaction rate constant, g/cm 2 sec m = gas mass transfer rate, g/sec cm 2 m a = rate of formation of char, g/sec cm 2 m f = interface gas mass transfer rate, g/sec cm 2 m p = rate of pyrolysis gas formation, g/sec cm 2 m R = rate of formation of gas from carbon-silica reaction, g/sec cm 2 M = ratio of molecular weight of gas phase to air n = exponential coefficient of viscosity p = pressure, atm p' = pressure gradient in x direction, dp/dx, atm/cm p" = dp'/dx, atm/cm 2 p v = partial pressure of vaporized silica, atm Pr = Prandtl number q = heat flux, cal/cm 2 sec q c = conductive heat flux, cal/cm 2 sec q s = heat-transfer rate to the nonablative surface, cal/cm 2 sec r = body dimension measured normal to the axis of revolution, cm R = gas constant, 1.987 cal/g-mole°K R b = radius of the blunt body, cm T = temperature, °K AT-7;-r o ,°K -u = velocity component in the x direction, cm/sec u gj = drift velocity of the gas phase in the x direction, cm/sec v = velocity component in the y direction, cm/sec v gj = drift velocity of the gas phase in the j; direction, cm/sec v w = ablation velocity, cm/sec V -velocity vector, cm/sec w = mass fraction of the pyrolysis gases x = coordinate parallel to the body surface, cm y = coordinate normal to the body surface, cm a = thermal diffusivity, cm 2 /sec p = volume fraction of the liquid phase in the molten layer, (!->) S = molten layer thickness, cm 6 T = thermal layer thickness, cm e = geometric constant H = viscosity, g/cm sec H m = apparent viscosity of gas-liquid mixture, g/cm sec p = density, g/cm 3 T = shear stress, dyne...