ACTIVELY COOLED DECOY NOSETIPS

COOLING CONCEPTS FOR RE-ENTRY VEHICLE NOSE TIPS EMPLOY EITHER PASSIVE ABLATIVE TECHNIQUES OR ACTIVE COOLING TECHNIQUES. ABLATIVE TECHNIQUES CAUSE FOREIGN GAS SPECIES FROM THE ABLATION PROCESS TO BE PRESENT IN THE AMBIENT AIR AND EFFECT THE AERODYNAMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE VEHICLE. THE ACTIVE COOLING TECHNIQUES CONSIST OF EITHER A GAS JET NOSE TIP (GJNT) OR A TRANSPIRATION COOLED NOSE TIP (TCNT). THE ACTIVE TECHNIQUES ARE EFFECTIVE IN MAINTAINING THE NOSE TIP CONFIGURATION. AS A RESULT, ACTIVE COOLING TECHNIQUES AND CONCEPTS ARE MORE DESIRABLE THAN ABLATIVE TECHNIQUES. THE ACTIVELY COOLED TECHNIQUES TO DECOYS REQUIRES FABRICATION OF ACTIVELY COOLED NOSE TIPS TO SMALLER SCALE CONFIGURATIONS. THIS CREATES A NEED TO SYSTEMATICALLY INVESTIGATE ACTIVE COOLING CONCEPTS FOR APPLICATION TO THE SELECTED MISSION. A CONCERN OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE IS HOW EXISTING MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY AND MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY CAN BE EXTENDED TO THE MORE SEVERE HEATING LOADS OF DECOYS IN A TIMELY AND COST EFFECTIVE MANNER. THE EFFORT PROPOSED WILL APPLY ACTIVE COOLING DESIGN TECHNIQUES TO DECOYS TO DETERMINE THE MOST FAVORABLE CONCEPT (GJNT OR TCNT). THE RESULTS OF THE DESIGN ANALYSIS WILL THEN BE EMPLOYED TO DETERMINE THE MANUFACTURING APPROACH. CRITICAL FABRICATION STEPS WILL BE DEFINED AND DEMONSTRATED.