Predicting Performance of a Thermal Shield of a Spacecraft in a High-temperature Gas Flow

Updated time: 2019-03-13

【Summary】 A fundamental understanding of the mechanism of material interaction with a medium is based on correspondence between experimental studies and actual operating conditions of a given model or a structure. The study of performance of thermal shield structures was based on computations brought about considering physical properties of materials obtained under conditions simulating re-entry of a spacecraft into the atmosphere. A thermal shield consisted of a layered type shell, made of fiber glass with phenol-phormaldehide matrix. The mechanical and the thermo-physical properties were studied as a function of temperature. A thermal-stressed state of a cylindrical shield subjected to action of a high-temperature gas flow, is defined based on solving a 3D problem simultaneously using equations of theory of elasticity, thermal conductivity, and numerical analysis. The results showed that the largest compression stresses in a thermal shield shell made of fiberglass are concentrated at the vicinity of the surface being heated, and are not larger than the strength limit of the material under a given temperature.

【Keywords】 Thermal shield Spacecraft Re-entry Thermal stress Anisotropy High-temperature Gas flow Thermal deformation Carbon-carbon composite

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