Polymeric ablative materials play a strategic role in the whole aerospace industry: they are used to produce the Thermal Protection System (TPS) which protects vehicles during the hypersonic flight through a planetary atmosphere. Inflatable Deployable Aeroshells (IDAs) offer an alternative to rigid TPSs: IDAs are based on the use of Flexible TPSs (FTPSs). State of art FTPSs can handle heat fluxes up to approximately 20 W/cm²: however, next generation FTPSs for IADs should be able to survive heat fluxes up to 150 W/cm². To satisfy these stringent requirements, we propose a radically brand-new concept of flexible TPS based on the use of state of art elastomeric ablatives (EPDM/Aramid) employed to produce the insulation liners for Solid Rocket Motors (SRMs). This class of ablatives is tailored to survive heat fluxes in the range of (300/1000) W/cm². Most important, we envisioned to introduce an "Armadillo-Like" design in which a series of overlapping sacrificial movable tiles could work as a continuous flexible thermal barrier.
A new concept of flexible thermal protection system for inflatable decelerators
2014
18 Seiten, Bilder, Tabellen, 29 Quellen
(nicht paginiert)
Conference paper
Storage medium
English
Inflatable Aerocapture Decelerators for Mars Orbiters
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2007
|Advanced High-Temperature Flexible TPS for Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerators
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2011
|Inflatable Aerocapture Decelerators for Mars Orbiters
NTRS | 2007
|