Rapid Evaluation Method for Thermal Protection Materials in Hypersonic Vehicles Developed

From the tragedy of the space shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003 to the now-routine return of commercial spacecraft, heat shields—formally called thermal protection systems—are critical for protecting vehicles from the intense heat and friction of atmospheric reentry or traveling at many times the speed of sound. Now, a team of engineers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed ways to rapidly evaluate new thermal protection materials for hypersonic vehicles. Their three-year research project combined computer modeling, laboratory experiments and flight testing to better understand how heat shields behave under extreme temperatures and pressures, and to predict their performance much faster than before. Hypersonic flight means traveling at speeds of at least five times faster than the speed of sound, or more than 3,800 miles per hour. Other vehicles, such as ballistic missiles, can travel this fast, but hypersonic vehicles are far more maneuverable and unpredictable, making them harder tointercept. Unlike reusable spacecraft, the thermal protection systems used on U.S. hypersonic missiles—which solely deliver conventional weapons—are designed for a single use. "This project came about because I was talking with Jon Murray one day and he told me he needed to predict the response of heat shields more rapidly to assist his Department of Defense customers," said Justin Wagner, an aerospace engineer and the project's lead researcher. "He said, 'Can we find a way to use the science tools that are being developed here and combine that with our systems integration know-how?' Ultimately, the project is focused on trying to understand what will happen in flight more quickly. It will limit how many materials we need to qualify and help us understand them better."