Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) and Hot Structures for Hypersonic Vehicles

Thermal protection systems (TPS) and hot structures are required for a range of
hypersonic vehicles ranging from ballistic reentry to hypersonic cruise vehicles, both
within Earth’s atmosphere and non-Earth atmospheres. The focus of this presentation is on air
breathing hypersonic vehicles in the Earth's atmosphere. This includes single-stage to
orbit (SSTO), two-stage to orbit (TSTO) accelerators, access to space vehicles, and
hypersonic cruise vehicles. The presentation will start with a brief discussion of
aerodynamic heating and thermal management techniques to address the high heating,
followed by an overview of TPS for rocket-launched and air-breathing vehicles. The
argument is presented that as we move from rocket-based vehicles to air-breathing
vehicles, we need to move away from the “insulated airplane” approach used on the Space
Shuttle Orbiter to a wide range of TPS and hot structure approaches. The primary
portion of the presentation will discuss issues and design options for CMC TPS and hot structure
components, including leading edges, acreage TPS, and control surfaces. The current
state-of-the-art will be briefly discussed for some of the components. The two primary
technical challenges impacting the use of CMC TPS and hot structures for hypersonic
vehicles are environmental durability and fabrication, and will be discussed briefly.