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Numerical and experimental investigation of aerodynamic heat control of leading edge of hypersonic vehicle’s flexible skin

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Abstract

In this paper, a flexible skin inspired by the sudoriferous gland structure of human skin is developed for ultra-thermal protection of hypersonic morphing vehicles. The effect of different coolants and cooling flow rates on the cooling performance of the leading edge is studied using finite element analysis. A wind tunnel experiment is conducted at high temperatures with the heat flux Q = 700 kW/m2, and the results indicate the following: (1) the flexible skin can effectively reduce the surface temperature of hypersonic vehicles; (2) when using liquid water instead of argon as the cooling medium, the cooling efficiency of flexible skin performs better; (3) when liquid water is used as the cooling medium, the cooling effect peaks at a flow rate of 0.01 m/s, and further increasing the flow rate will not benefit cooling efficiency significantly; (4) the flexible skin can withstand extreme thermal environments, demonstrating its feasibility in applications of over-limit thermal protection for hypersonic morphing vehicles. This study aims at optimizing the cooling performance of the flexible skin for ultra-thermal protection. The proposed skin can overcome the heat-resistance limit of flexible materials with morphing properties, laying a theoretical and experimental foundation for its future applications in hypersonic morphing vehicles.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Open Foundation of the Key Laboratory of Equipment Efficiency in Extreme Environments, Ministry of Education of China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Aerospace Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi’an, 710071, China

    Xiaozhou Lü & Chao Yuan

  2. Science and Technology on Space Physics Laboratory, Beijing, 100076, China

    Weimin Bao & Guanghui Bai

  3. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, 400054, China

    Fancheng Meng

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  1. Xiaozhou Lü
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  2. Chao Yuan
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  3. Weimin Bao
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  4. Guanghui Bai
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  5. Fancheng Meng
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Correspondence to Xiaozhou Lü.

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Lü, X., Yuan, C., Bao, W. et al. Numerical and experimental investigation of aerodynamic heat control of leading edge of hypersonic vehicle’s flexible skin. Sci. China Inf. Sci. 65, 202203 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11432-021-3312-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11432-021-3312-4

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