Predicting performance of a thermal shield of a spacecraft in a high-temperature gas flow

Article history Received: 15 MARCH 2019 Accepted: 21 March 2019 Published Online: 30 March 2019 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.