Cost Effective TPS Technology for Hypersonic Applications

The focus of this proposed Phase I STTR will be on identifying and assessing initial low-cost acreage TPS technologies applicable to hypersonic conventional and strategic system performance objectives addressing affordability, capacity, and supply chain resilience.  The initial feasibility assessment will utilize a low-cost TPS technology, carbon phenolic, and assess performance over a range of notional boost glide and reentry environments.  A generic sphere cone vehicle configuration will be utilized for these initial assessments and will be representative of configurations of interest.  An assessment of current state of the art (SOTA) low-cost TPS technology will be investigated relative to technical performance, cost, and manufacturability with applicability to boost glide and reentry system configurations.  Preliminary modeling and simulation will be conducted to provide technical performance assessments of ablation, in-depth thermal response, and system weight meeting typical system requirements.  Cost assessments will be conducted to quantify the low-cost contributions to hypersonic systems supporting DoD increased demand signal and All Up Rounds (AURs) available.  An assessment of the current TPS supply chain will be conducted to identify gaps and risks in supporting increased capability for the Nation.  Recommendations for Phase II development will be provided to support further vetting and maturation of TPS technology through high enhanced modeling and simulation, material property characterization, ground aerothermal test and evaluation, prototype hardware manufacturing, and ultimately flight test demonstrations on the OSD MACH-TB flight test program.  The RTCS, LLC Team includes Southwest Research Institute (SWRI) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL) all contributing significant capability to performing the Phase I and future Phase II activities to identify low-cost TPS solutions for hypersonic systems.