A flight-weight radiative and actively cooled honeycomb sandwich panel (RACP) was subjected to multiple cycles of both radiant and aerothermal heating. The 0.61-m (2 ft) by 1.22-m (4 ft) test specimen incorporated essential features of a full-scale 0.61-m (2 ft) by 6.10-m (20 ft) RACP designed to withstand a heat flux of 136 kw/m2 (12 Btu/ft2-sec). The panel consisted of Rene 41 heat shields, a thin layer of high-temperature insulation, and an aluminum honeycomb sandwich panel with coolant tubes next to the sandwich skin. A 60/40 mass solution of ethylene glycol/water was used to cool the panel which successfully withstood a total of 3.5 hr of radiant heating and 137 sec exposure to an M = 6.6 test stream. Heat-shield temperatures reached 1080 K (1 945° R), and cooled-panel temperatures reached 382 K (687° R) midway between coolant tubes. Simulation of the full-scale panel indicated that the full-scale RACP would perform as expected.
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