Thermostructural Responses of Metallic Lattice-Frame Sandwich Structure for Hypersonic Leading Edges

Abstract

Metallic lattice-frame materials, due to excellent heat transfer performance under high heat flux and mechanical property, are regarded as the potential candidates for a vehicle leading edge. This paper presents a new-style lattice-frame sandwich panel with active heat transfer wall-plate. The heat transfer performance and thermal–structural responses are numerically studied, considering the temperature-dependent mechanical and thermal properties. The effects of geometrical characteristics of the wall-plate channel on heat exchange and hydraulic behavior are explored. The different parent materials and channel types are respectively compared based on the thermal–structural responses of sandwich structure. A relatively optimized sandwich panel is employed as the vehicle leading edge, and the effects of attack angle on heat transfer and thermostructural behavior are discussed, subjected to intense localized heat flux. The metallic lattice-frame sandwich panel with an active heat exchange wall-plate shows attractive potential for a higher- temperature leading edge, which can withstand the hypersonic thermal–mechanical environment. It can still offer a great improvement space in thermal management as leading edges for hypersonic vehicles.