Design and analysis of a plate-fin sandwich actively cooled structural panel

The skin structure of hydrogen fueled hypersonic transport vehicles traveling at Mach 6 and above must be designed to withstand, for relatively long periods of time, the aerodynamic heating effects which are far more severe than those encountered by the supersonic aircraft of today. The use of conventional aircraft materials such as aluminum in combination with forced convection active cooling to accommodate aerodynamic heating is addressed. The basic active cooling concept consists of a stringer stiffened plate-fin sandwich. The sandwich surface is subjected to the aerodynamic heat flux which is transferred, via convection, to a coolant that is forced through the sandwich under pressure. The coolant, in turn, circulates in a closed loop through a hydrogen heat exchanger and back through the skin panel.