Numerical Methodology For Full-Body TPS Sizing And Optimization For Access-To-Space Vehicles

This paper presents details of the methodology and numerical procedures developed at NASA Ames for full-body TEXAS sizing and optimization for Access to Space vehicle concepts. The core of the procedures is a robust implicit solver for one dimensional transient heat conduction in reusable multilayer TEXAS stackups. The solver includes an arbitrary number of material layers, contact resistances between materials, temperature and pressure dependent material and surface properties, numerous boundary-condition options, and self-adaptive time stepping. The solver is coupled with the Access-to-Space material database of 23 candidate TPS and structural materials and a thermal-environment database obtained from trajectory-based fullbody Navier-Stokes computations of the external flowfield. The thermal environment and material response are coupled through the use of T-type heat transfer coefficients. TIPS sizing and weight optimization are performed at every surface point on the vehicle based on sizing constraints which include material temperature limits, maximum backwall temperature, and cumulative interior heat flux. Typical results are presented for a lifting body concept with 10000 surface points, which required 35 minutes to compute on an SGI Indigo 2.