Toexplore weight saving potential capability, a multidisciplinary optimization procedure based on simulated annealing algorithm was proposed to unveil the minimum weight design for integrated thermal protection system subjected to in-service thermal and mechanical loads. The panel configurations with one-layer and two-layer corrugated cores are considered for comparison. Heat transfer and structural field analysis for each panel configuration were performed to obtain the temperature, buckling, stress and deflection responses for structural components of interest, which were then considered as critical constraints of the optimization problem. Sensitivity analysis was performed to disclose the effect of individual design variables on the thermo-structural extreme responses, and the designed thermal protection system performance and weight for the two configurations were discussed. The results demonstrated that the two-layer structure provides superior structural efficiency and performance to resist thermal buckling deformation in comparison with the one-layer panel. Its area-specific weight is reduced by more than 14-29 % with respect to the one-layer panel design, and 30-50 % weight efficient can be implemented at higher thermal buckling constraint levels, while keeping considerable temperature, stress and deflection margins.
