A study on metallic thermal protection system panel for Reusable Launch Vehicle

Abstract

A Ni-based superalloy honeycomb thermal protection system (TPS) panel has been fabricated. And a curved Ni-based superalloy honeycomb sandwich has also been fabricated. The preliminary thermal insulation results of a fabricated Ni-based superalloy honeycomb TPS panel (the areal density of this panel is 6.7kg/m2 and total height is 32mm) indicate that the maximum temperature of the lower surfaces of the panel is lower than 150∘C when the temperature of outer surface is held at 650∘C for 30min. The flatwise tensile strength and compressive properties of a fabricated Ni-based superalloy honeycomb sandwich coupon was studied at room temperature. A multilayered coating has been developed on the surface of the superalloy honeycomb TPS panel for environmental protection and thermal control. The oxidation weight-change results show that the weight change of the Ni-based superalloy honeycomb sandwich with the oxidation resistant coating is extremely small at 1100∘C in air for 10h. The emittance layer of the multilayered coating imparts an emittance in excess of 0.85 during exposure at 850∘C, which was at least 14% greater than that of the substrate with oxidation resistant alone.