2023, 44(11): 1299-1310.
doi: 10.21656/1000-0887.440163
Abstract:
The integrated thermal protection system (ITPS) needs to meet both load-bearing and heat-insulating requirements. In terms of the ITPS with a corrugated sandwich structure, this requires the connection structure of the ITPS to have high mechanical properties with low thermal conductivity. However, the re-entry environment is severe, how to reasonably design the connection structure is key to improve the performances of the ITPS. To solve this problem, 2 extreme load conditions corresponding to the maximum aerodynamic heat load and the maximum aerodynamic pressure load during the reentry process were comprehensively considered, the objective function was constructed with the minimized strain energy and the net heat transfer rate, the mass was used as a constraint, and the topology optimization of the ITPS connection structure was carried out. Then, the configuration obtained through the topology optimization was reconstructed and the thermal mechanical coupling analysis was carried out. The results show that, the maximum displacement of the top panel, the temperature of the bottom panel and the mass of the optimized connection structure were reduced effectively compared with those of the initial corrugated sandwich configuration and the topology optimization configuration in single load cases in the literatures. Due to the reduction of material consumption and the increase of the structural complexity, the stress level of the connection structure increases, but it still meets the requirements of use. This means that, the topology optimization strategy considering multiple reentry load cases can effectively improve the stiffness and the insulation capacity of the ITPS and alleviate the thermal short-circuiting of the structure. With the development of additive manufacturing and other related technologies, the topology optimization method has broad prospects in the design of the connection structures for the ITPS and other thermal structures.