Open Access

ARTICLE

Innovative Design and Additive Manufacturing of Regenerative Cooling Thermal Protection System Based on the Triply Periodic Minimal Surface Porous Structure

Xinglong Wang^1,2, Cheng Wang^1,2, Xin Zhou^1,*, Mingkang Zhang³, Peiyu Zhang¹, Lei Wang²

1 Science and Technology on Plasma Dynamics Laboratory, Air Force Engineering University, Xi’an, 710038, China
2 Basic Department, Air Force Engineering University, Xi’an, 710051, China
3 School of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China

* Corresponding Author: Xin Zhou. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Design & simulation in Additive Manufacturing)

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2020, 123(2), 495-508. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2020.09778

Received 18 January 2020; Accepted 04 March 2020; Issue published 01 May 2020

Abstract

The new regenerative cooling thermal protection system exhibits the multifunctional characteristics of load-carrying and heat exchange cooling, which are fundamental for the lightweight design and thermal protection of hypersonic vehicles. Triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS) is especially suitable for the structural design of the internal cavity of regenerative cooling structures owing to its excellent structural characteristics. In this study, test pieces were manufactured using Ti6Al4V lightweight material. We designed three types of porous test pieces, and the interior was filled with a TPMS lattice (Gyroid, Primitive, I-WP) with a porosity of 30%. All porous test pieces were manufactured via selective laser melting technology. A combination of experiments and finite element simulations were performed to study the selection of the internal cavity structure of the regenerative cooling thermal protection system. Hence, the relationship between the geometry and mechanical properties of a unit cell is established, and the deformation mechanism of the porous unit cell is clarified. Among the three types of porous test pieces, the weight of the test piece filled with the Gyroid unit cell was reduced by 8.21%, the average tensile strength was reduced by 17.7% compared to the solid test piece, while the average tensile strength of the Primitive and I-WP porous test pieces were decreased by 30.5% and 33.3%, respectively. Compared with the other two types of unit cells, Gyroid exhibited better mechanical conductivity characteristics. Its deformation process was characterised by stretching, shearing, and twisting, while the Primitive and I-WP unit cells underwent tensile deformation and tensile and shear deformation, respectively. The finite element predictions in the study agree well with the experimental results. The results can provide a basis for the design of regenerative cooling thermal protection system.

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