Health monitoring of reusable composite cryogenic tanks

Abstract

Martin Marietta Manned Space Systems is developing methodologies to automatically and efficiently determine the health of reusable composite cryogenic tanks. The integrated health management (HM) system will consist of sensors, instrumentation, and automated analysis tools which will certify and recertify reusable cryogenic tanks in a timely and efficient manner to support operational requirements of future reusable launch vehicles. The focus of the work described in this paper is the verification of embedded fiber optic strain sensors to support reusable composite cryogenic tank structure integrity assessment techniques. The cryogenic composite tank will experience a broad range of temperatures and loads during launch and re-entry. The survivability and reliability of fiber optic strain gages must be established to qualify these sensors as a viable candidate for future launch vehicle applications.