Thermal Protection System and Trajectory Optimization for Orbital Plane Change Aeroassisted Maneuver

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to identify, for a specific maneuver, the optimal combination between the trajectory and the associated heat shield configuration, namely the locations and thicknesses of the ablative and reusable zones, that maximize the allowable payload mass for a spacecraft. The analysis is conducted by considering the coupling between the trajectory's dynamics and the heat shield's thermal behavior while using a highly representative model of the heat shield. A global optimization procedure and original software were developed and implemented. The analyzed mission considers an aeroassisted transfer from two low Earth orbits with an assigned orbital plane change maneuver for a given delta wing vehicle equipped with a heat shield consisting of both ablative and reusable materials. The results indicate that the aeroassisted maneuver is more convenient than a "full propulsive" maneuver in the analyzed case, even considering the increased vehicle mass due to the presence of the heat shield.

Heat Shield Mass Minimization for an Aerocapture Mission to Neptune

“…The objectives of the analysis were to identify the most suitable materials to be used in the different areas of the heat shield and determine their minimum thicknesses, starting from a mapping established a priori based on the data available in the literature. The analysis approach is then applied to the optimization (minimization) of the mass of the TPS alone without regard to the total mass of the vehicle [3]. This case has only been addressed from the thermal perspective, starting from a trajectory and aero-thermal conditions that have been previously defined.…”

Thermal Protection System Design of a Reusable Launch Vehicle Using Integral Soft Objects

“…The aerothermal environment is a basic design criterion for either TPS sizing or choice of materials [12,13]. TPS sizing is generally performed once the reentry trajectory is assigned, having computed the peak heating flux and the time integrated heat load [14]. External rocket propulsion systems allow an RLV a less severe heating due to their different ascent trajectories.…”

“…The thermal model was based on a one-dimensional analysis, and TPS was modeled considering a stackup of ten different material layers. Mazzaracchio [14] proposed a method to identify the optimal combination between the ablative and the reusable part of TPS. This was dictated by a trade-off between the reentry trajectory and the TPS sizing.…”

Parametric Integral Soft Objects-based Procedure for Thermal Protection System Modeling of Reusable Launch Vehicle

“…The thermal model was based on a one-dimensional analysis, and TPS was modeled considering a stackup of ten different material layers. Mazzaracchio [15] proposed a method to perform the sizing of a TPS depending on the locations of ablative and reusable zone on a TPS considering the coupling between trajectory and heat shield. Multidisciplinary analysis, integrating a procedural NURBS-based shape representation, is adopted for a preliminary design [3].…”