The COLDARC program was developed as part of an effort to predict the heating rate and surface friction effects on the Thermal Protection System of the Space Shuttle Orbiter during re-entry environments. COLDARC enables the user to predict the heating rate and surface friction on a test article during plasma arc testing. This program takes into account the effects of dissociated air flow over the specimen and the associated heat flux and surface temperatures. Normally, plasma arc testing involves air flow over a test specimen having a relatively smooth surface. Since the orbiter Thermal Protection System does not constitute a smooth mold line surface, the COLDARC program was necessary to assess the impact of this surface roughness and the dissociated air flow. COLDARC uses a simplified frozen flow model to represent the dissociated air flow and to predict the heat flux and surface friction, including the effects or retarded atomic recombination, from test facility data. ( Rockwell International Corp. )
This program was released by NASA through COSMIC as MSC-20522. The italicized text above is from the official NASA release.