  The last years saw a renewal of interest for hypersonic research in general
and regenerative cooling specifically, with a large increase of the number of
dedicated facilities and technical studies. In order to quantify the heat
transfer in the cooled structures and the composition of the cracked fuel
entering the combustor, an accurate model of the thermal decomposition of the
fuel is required. This model should be able to predict the fuel chemical
composition and physical properties for a broad range of pressures,
temperatures and cooling geometries. For this purpose, an experimental and
modeling study of the thermal decomposition of generic molecules (long-chain or
polycyclic alkanes) that could be good surrogates of real fuels, has been
started at the DCPR laboratory located in Nancy (France). This successful
effort leads to several versions of a complete kinetic model. These models do
not assume any effect from the material that constitutes the cooling channel. A
specific experimental study was performed with two different types of steel
(regular: E37, stainless: 316L). Some results are given in the present paper.
