Novel heat flux controlled surface cooling for hypersonic flight

Area of Science:

• Aerospace Engineering
• Thermal Management Systems
• Materials Science

Background:

• Transpiration cooling is crucial for extreme heat environments like atmospheric entry and combustion chambers.
• Current methods often use constant cooling, which is inefficient and suboptimal for varying heat loads.
• A need exists for adaptive, mass-efficient cooling solutions that respond to real-time thermal conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel method for real-time heat flux determination and adaptive transpiration cooling adjustment.
• To enhance cooling performance and efficiency in extreme heating scenarios.
• To mitigate destabilizing feedback loops in transpiration cooling control systems.

Main Methods:

• Real-time surface heat flux determination using a system identification process.
• Non-intrusive heat flux measurement derived from plenum pressure.
• Model parameter identification and verification through calibration.
• Demonstration in a hot air plasma flow environment.

Main Results:

• Successful real-time determination of surface heat flux up to 1.4 MW/m².
• Adaptive adjustment of transpiration cooling based on measured heat flux.
• Demonstrated attenuation of destabilizing positive feedback loops in the control system.
• Validation of the method's applicability in simulated flight conditions.

Conclusions:

• The presented method enables adaptive transpiration cooling by accurately measuring heat flux in real-time.
• This approach optimizes cooling performance, enhances mass efficiency, and ensures system stability.
• The technology is validated and suitable for applications in extreme thermal environments such as aerospace vehicles.