Thermal Performance of Gaseous-Helium-Purged Tank-Mounted Multilayer Insulation System During Ground-Hold and Space-Hold Thermal Cycling and Exposure to Water Vapor

摘要

An experimental investigation was conducted to determine (1) the ground-hold and space-hold thermal performance of a multilayer insulation (MLI) system mounted on a spherical, liquid-hydrogen propellant tank and (2) the degradation to the space-hold thermal performance of the MLI system that occurred as a result of both thermal cy cling and moisture introduced into the insulation panels. The propellant tank had a 1. 39-meter(4.57-ft)diameter. The MLI consisted of two blankets of insulation;each blanket contained 15 double-aluminized Mylar radiation shields alternated with 16 double silk net spacers. A laminated aluminized Mylar and Dacron scrim cover sheet was applied to each side of each blanket.