Experimental investigation of dredging thermal protection system of hypersonic vehicle leading edge

Abstract

According to the characteristics of dredging thermal protection system (DTPS) of hypersonic vehicle leading edge, both the structure of embedded high conductivity materials and that of integrative plate of heat pipe are designed to complete the two kinds of comparative experiments so as to prove the feasibility of the DTPS. As a source of radiation heating, the spherical short arc xenon lamp is simulated for aerodynamic heating. The pure steel leading edge, the embedded copper leading edge, the plate pure steel leading edge, and the integrative plate for heat pipe leading edge are heated respectively. Temperature variations of stagnation point region and tail fins are measured. Experimental results show that DTPS of the embedded high conductivity materials can reduce the temperature of stagnation point region and increase the temperature of the tail fins. It also can achieve the aim of thermal protection of leading edge. The DTPS of integrative plate heat pipe whose working fluid is pure water also can protect the leading edge under the condition of low heat flux. At the huge pressure of vapor, DTPS of the integrative plate of heat pipe may be broken at high heat flux. It is shown that the working fluid of heat pipe can play a key role in the application range for the thermal protection effect.