Abstract
In case of the high-speed flight within the atmosphere, the orbital and suborbital spacecrafts suffer great aerodynamic heating. Using an efficient thermal protection system (TPS) is important for maintaining the structural integrity, but also for preserving the payload and onboard devices. The ablative materials are commonly used as thermal shield to protect the spacecraft during reentry. A new lightweight CFRP called the lightweight ablator series for transfer vehicle systems (LATS) was developed in Japan. The new lightweight CFRP is made of a carbon fiber felt and resin with a manufacturing method different from that of PICA, which was developed by NASA. In the present paper, the experimental results from the high enthalpy heating tests performed at JAXA, Sagamihara campus are compared with the numerical results, obtained using an ablation code developed at Ryukyus University, Japan. The comparison will provide a better understanding regarding the accuracy of the ablation code and the results confirm that the CFRP-based Ablator LATS behaves well when heated in a high-enthalpy flow.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
