Documents / Report
This Defense Intelligence Reference Document from the Defense Intelligence Agency, dated 12 January 2010, is one of a series of advanced technology reports produced in FY 2009 under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) program. It reviews materials for launch vehicles, space vehicles and reusable rocket engines, including aluminum alloys, polymer and metal matrix composites, titanium and nickel alloys, ceramics and titanium aluminides. It concludes that newer materials and design methods offer many ways to improve structural efficiency and cost compared with the space shuttle.
“The Advance”8 pages
UNCLASSIFIED,S,SFIR: IFFIIIAI: 1111 IHb'/ considered in light of the thermal stresses that were certain to develop in a large structure placed in the fluidized bed. Reusable Single-Stage-to-Orbit Vehicles A reusable single-stage-to-orbit (550) vehicle will require metallic materials for the TPS and for much of the other hot structure. This will be challenging from the standpoint of an empty vehicle weight. With the exception of military applications, which are outside the scope of this document, empty vehicle weight is a critical metric because every additional pound of empty weight reduces the payload by the same amount (assuming a fixed propulsion capability). As mentioned earlier, the key to a lightweight vehicle is the use of design methods that integrate the TPS and the load-bearing structure to. minimize structural redundancy and single-function structure (for example, a TPS that is not load bearing). Achieving this goal will require new design paradigms that incorporate true synthesis of new structural concepts. In reality, such designs can be . completed only if they are based on a detailed set of mission requirements, including the number of missions and expectations for turnaround time between missions. Furthermore, operational parameters such as the value of inserting a pound of payload into orbit are needed to bound the cost of the initial vehicle and the maintenance cost per mission (translated into cost per pound of payload). Absent such specific data, the following discusses possibilities for materials systems that can enable a reusable 550 vehicle. It is perhaps more efficient to discuss these materials according to their principal capability and the anticipated temperature regime in.which they can be used most productively. This categorization method is illustrated in Table 1. Table 1. Potential Materials by Use Temperature Regime and Property Temperature specific Specific Fatigue Fracture Creep . Regime Strenath Stiffness Resistance Toughness Resistance PMCs; Advanced Al PMCs; PMCs; Ambient up to alloys; AMCs; AMCs; PMCs; Ti alloys; 250 °C AMCs*; TMCs Ti Alloys; Ti alloys TMCs Ti alloys; TMCs TMCs* 250 °Cup to Ti alloys; TMCs Ti alloys; Ti alloys Ti alloys; 550 °C TMCs TMCs TMCs Ni-base Ni-base alloys; alloys; Ti Ti Ni-base Ni-base Ti aluminides; aluminides; alloys; alloys; alumlnides; Above 550 °C Refractory CMCs; Refractory . CMCs; CMCs; metal c-ccs metal alloys Refractory Refractory alloys; metal alloys metal CMCs*; alloys; C-C Cs* C-C Cs AMCs = Al matrix composites; TMCS = titanium matrix composites; CMCs = ceramic matrix composites: C-CCS = carbon-carbon, composites 10 UNCLASSIFIEl\C/5O8 AEEJCJ0P 1!SF ONI ¥
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Report, from the dia collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 27 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.