Software Development for Thickness Optimization of Tile-Type Thermal Protection System

Abstract

During the flight mission of hypersonic aircraft, severe aerodynamic heating will occur on the surface, so thermal protection system (TPS) is required to protect the load-bearing structure of the aircraft. The present paper develops an engineering software for automatic optimization of the thickness of tile-type TPS for reusable aircraft. For requirements on TPS of reusable aircraft in the reentry stage, the method of heat flow-time curve enveloping, automatic material selection, and one-dimensional unsteady heat transfer calculation for multilayer plates under thermal load conditions had been researched, an interactive engineering software had been developed. The software improves the calculation accuracy and calculation efficiency of TPS thickness optimization, and it is suitable for rapid design in the conceptual design stage of the aircraft. Finally, by an example, the function of the software is verified.