Thermal Stress Analysis of Space Shuttle Orbiter Subjected to Reentry Aerodynamic Heating

Ko, William L. and Fields, Roger A. (1987) Thermal Stress Analysis of Space Shuttle Orbiter Subjected to Reentry Aerodynamic Heating. Technical Report NASA TM-88286, Research Engineering, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.

Full text available as: PDF - Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader or other PDF viewer.

Abstract

A structural performance and resizing (SPAR) finite-element computer program and NASA structural analysis (NASTRAN) finite-element computer programs were used in the thermal stress analysis of the space shuttle orbiter subjected to reentry aerodynamic heating. A SPAR structural model was set up for the entire left wing of the orbiter, and NASTRAN structural models were set up for (1) a wing segment located at midspan of the orbiter left wing and (2) a fuselage segment located at midfuselage. The thermal stress distributions in the orbiter structure were obtained and the critical high thermal stress regions were indentified. It was found that the thermal stresses induced in the orbiter structure during reentry were relatively low. The thermal stress predictions from the whole wing model were considered to be more accurate than those from the wing segment model because the former accounts for temperature and stress effects throughout the entire wing.

EPrint Type:	NASA Technical Memorandum
Keywords:	Finite-element modelings, Space shuttle orbiter, STS-5 heating, Thermal stress analysis
Subjects:	(31 - 39) Engineering: (39) Structural Mechanics Aircraft/Project: Space Shuttle Orbiter
ID Code:	511
Deposited On:	23 January 2006
Additional Information:	39 pages.