High-speed rocket sleds, traveling at velocities approaching or exceeding 6000 ft./sec have been observed to cause a gouging type of damage to the steel guiding rail of the rocket track. The gouging is a damage phenomenon occurring between the metal surfaces of the rocket sled slipper and the rail under conditions of high-velocity sliding contact. The gouges have a teardrop-shaped pattern, and are typically 2-4 in. long, 1 in. wide, and 1 16 in. deep. The gouge surface has a rippled texture and a bluish coloration. An investigation of the gouging was based on simulating the physical conditions of sliding between a rocket sled slipper and the sled rail by a projectile sliding at high velocity on a surface. Using a gun to attain the necessary projectile velocities and targets with a pronounced curvature, it was found possible to reproduce the gouging phenomenon in the laboratory. Although many fundamental aspects of gouging remain to be investigated, the laboratory technique developed for this study opens a number of possible avenues for further study. © 1969.
