Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Hypersonics Material and Structures: Carbon-Silicon Carbide Ruddervator Subcomponent Test and Analysis Task

摘要

In fiscal year 2006, planning was initiated for the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) Fundamental Aeronautics Program. As part of the ARMD planning efforts, NASA personnel proposed using the Carbon-Silicon Carbide (C/SiC) Ruddervator Subcomponent Test Article (RSTA) as a test structure to support research objectives within the Hypersonics Materials & Structures (M&S) program. By the end of fiscal year 2006, the RSTA test effort was established and incorporated into the Hypersonic M&S program. The C/SiC RSTA is a hot-structure control surface that was designed, fabricated, but never tested under the X-37 long-duration orbital vehicle technology development program, seen in figure 1. The RSTA was designed by Materials Research & Design, Inc. (MR&D) of Wayne, Pennsylvania, and manufactured by GE Power System Composites (GE PSC) of Newark, Delaware. The RSTA is a truncated version of the full-scale X-37 control surface but it incorporates all of the major full-scale features, including the metallic spindle, five major C/SiC quasi isotropic lay-up components fastened together with mostly C/SiC fasteners, and face-sheets which serve as access panels for assembly of the RSTA.