Comparative aerothermoelastic performance assessment of advanced TPS materials for hypersonic vehicles
AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, cilt.173, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 173
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.ast.2026.111792
- Dergi Adı: AEROSPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Compendex, INSPEC, zbMATH, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Engineering Source (EBSCO)
- Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Kuzey Kıbrıs Kampüsü Adresli: Evet
Özet
The design of Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) for hypersonic vehicles must simultaneously address extreme aerodynamic heating and ensure aerothermoelastic stability. Conventional approaches, as examined by Xie (2020), highlight that thickness distribution and material selection are critical to controlling flutter onset, stress evolution, and long-term structural safety. Yet, the performance of alternative advanced materials under fully coupled aerothermoelastic loading remains underexplored, leaving a gap in the development of next-generation TPS concepts. This study investigates the aerothermoelastic response of multilayer TPS panels by substituting the outer and insulation layers with three high-performance material combinations: (i) ZrBtwo/C/SiC with Silica Aerogel, (ii) C/SiC with AFRSI-2500, and (iii) Inconel 617 honeycomb with Cerrachrome Insulation, while retaining a Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo structural panel. An aerothermoelastic MATLAB simulation framework, adapted from Xie (2020), was employed to evaluate baseline and selected thickness configurations (Cases 1, 2, and 7). Key outputs including transient deflection histories, temperature distributions, heat fluxes, thermal stresses, and flutter onset times are obtained and analyzed. The results indicate that the ZrBtwo/C/SiC + Silica Aerogel system provides the most favorable stability across cases, C/SiC + AFRSI-2500 offers intermediate performance, and Inconel 617 honeycomb + Cerrachrome Insulation tends to be least stable under the same loading, consistent with differences in thermal protection and temperature-dependent stiffness retention. Overall, the study highlights that while the emissivity of the outer radiation shield layer is important, the choice of insulation is decisive. Aerogel-based TPS shows strong potential for enhancing structural stability and thermal resilience in future hypersonic missions.