Suitability of a Coal‐Derived Carbon‐Based Foam for use in Thermal Protection Systems of Common Aero Vehicles
Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials and Structures
ISSN: 1573-6105
Article publication date: 1 January 2007
Abstract
Common Aero Vehicles (CAVs) are relatively small‐size, un‐powered, self‐maneuvering vehicles equipped with a variety of weapons and launched from space. One of the major obstacles hampering a full the realization of the CAV concept is a present lack of lightweight, high‐temperature insulation materials which can be used for construction of the CAV’s thermal protection system (TPS). A computational analysis is utilized in the present work to examine the suitability of a carbon‐based, coal‐derived foam for the TPS applications in the CAVs. Toward that end, a model is developed for the high‐temperature effective thermal conductivity of foam‐like materials. In addition, an insulation sizing procedure is devised to determine the minimum insulation thickness needed for thermal protection of the vehicle structure at different sections of a CAV. It is found that the carbon‐based foam material in question can be considered as a suitable TPS insulation material at the leeward side and at selected portions of the windward side of a CAV (specifically the portions which are further away from the vehicle nose).
Keywords
Citation
Grujicic, M., Zhao, C.L., Biggers, S.B., Kennedy, J.M. and Morgan, D.R. (2007), "Suitability of a Coal‐Derived Carbon‐Based Foam for use in Thermal Protection Systems of Common Aero Vehicles", Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials and Structures, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1163/157361107781360086
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited