HEAT-FLUX SENSORS INTEGRATED INTO THE STRUCTURE OF THERMAL PROTECTION COATINGS

In designing heat-loaded structural elements of descent modules, information on heat loads (heat fl uxes and surface temperatures) throughout the active stage of fl ight in the atmosphere is primary. When a spacecraft moves with hypersonic velocities, the level of temperature and processes occurring on the thermal-protection surface does not necessarily make it possible to use traditional tools to measure heat loads. In this case an alternative to direct measurements is provided by determining heat loads from the data of temperature measurements at several internal points of the structural elements of the thermal protection. The objective of the present work is to develop and evaluate sensors for measurement of the heat loading of thermal protection coatings of today′s descent modules. In the paper, consideration is given to heat-fl ux sensors for two classes of thermal protection materials: nondestructible fi brous materials and thermally destructible polymers.
   
Author:  O. M. Alifanov, S. A. Budnik, A. V. Morzhukhina, A. V. Nenarokomov, A. V. Netelev, and D. M. Titov
Keywords:  heat-fl ux sensors, thermal protection, inverse problems, iterative regularization, heat-insulating materials, decomposable polymer materials
Page:  26