Thermal analysis of a corrugated core sandwich panel for integral thermal protection system

One of the most critical needs in the space industry is to reduce the cost of launching a spacecraft. The thermal protection system (TPS) protects the space vehicle from the extreme reentry temperatures. An efficient and robust TPS has to be lightweight and multifunctional. The TPS must offer insulation as well as load bearing capabilities. Composite corrugated-core sandwich panel is a suitable candidate to meet the TPS requirements. The sandwich structure is characterized by two thin flat sheets, separated by two inclined plates acting as the core. A detailed formulation and description of the stiffness of the ITPS panel are presented for a unit cell by representing the sandwich panel as an equivalent thick plate continuum. The unit-cell was subjected to a realistic reentry temperature distribution through the core and the corresponding thermal forces and plate behavior were determined. A novel micromechanics approach was used to determine the unit-cell thermal forces and moments. A constrained and unconstrained thermal stress problem was solved for the ITPS. The results from the novel micromechanics approach which is significantly less in computational time agree well with the 3-D finite-element analysis. The goal of this research is to develop efficient analytical models to facilitate rapid design and optimization of the ITPS.