Investigation on thermal and thermomechanical performances of actively cooled corrugated sandwich structures

Abstract

In order to prevent payload module from overheating or to be burnt up by large aerodynamic heating, a Thermal Protection System (TPS) with high performance is necessary to maintain normal work during flights. Actively cooled thermal protection systems become more and more popular with their advantages in flexible design, high cooling capability and reutilization. In the present research, an actively cooled thermal protection system with Corrugated Sandwich Structures is designed for use in hypersonic aircrafts. The heat transfer and fluid flow of typical corrugated sandwich structures of actively cooled thermal protection and bearing capability are analyzed and compared. The coupled thermomechanical analysis of the corrugated sandwich structures is performed in terms of the stress and displacement fields under different conditions. The investigation provides a powerful reference for further optimization design of thermal protection systems of hypersonic aircrafts.