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Tank Applied Testing of Load-Bearing Multilayer Insulation (LB-MLI)The development of long duration orbital cryogenic storage systems will require the reduction of heat loads into the storage tank. In the case of liquid hydrogen, complete elimination of the heat load at 20 K is currently impractical due to the limitations in lift available on flight cryocoolers. In order to reduce the heat load, without having to remove heat at 20 K, the concept of Reduced Boil-Off uses cooled shields within the insulation system at approximately 90 K. The development of Load-Bearing Multilayer Insulation (LB-MLI) allowed the 90 K shield with tubing and cryocooler attachments to be suspended within the MLI and still be structurally stable. Coupon testing, both thermal and structural was performed to verify that the LB-MLI should work at the tank applied level. Then tank applied thermal and structural (acoustic) testing was performed to demonstrate the functionality of the LB-MLI as a structural insulation system. The LB-MLI showed no degradation of thermal performance due to the acoustic testing and showed excellent thermal performance when integrated with a 90 K class cryocooler on a liquid hydrogen tank.
Document ID
20140016533
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Johnson, Wesley L.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH United States)
Valenzuela, Juan G.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Feller, Jeffrey R.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Plachta, David W.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Date Acquired
November 21, 2014
Publication Date
July 28, 2014
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Fluid Mechanics And Thermodynamics
Report/Patent Number
GRC-E-DAA-TN15839
Meeting Information
Meeting: Propulsion and Energy Forum 2014
Location: Cleveland, OH
Country: United States
Start Date: July 28, 2014
End Date: July 30, 2014
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 645454.04.03.01.01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
Thermal Insulation
Space Environment Simulation
Multilayer Insulation
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