Thermal Analysis of Thermal Protection System of Test Launch Vehicle

In this paper, a thermal analysis of the thermal protection system (TPS) of test launch vehicle (TLV) is explained. TLV is heated during the flight due to engine exhaust plume gas by thermal radiation and a TPS is needed to protect the vehicle from the heating. The thermal analysis of the TPS is conducted to predict the heat flux from plume gas and temperature of the TPS during the flight. To simplify the thermal analysis, plume gas radiation and radiative properties are assumed to be surface radiation and constants, respectively. Thermal conductivity, emissivity and absorptivity of the TPS material are measured. Proper plume conditions are determined from the preliminary analysis and then the heat flux and temperature of the TPS are calculated.