DEVELOPMENTS IN CONVECTIVE HEAT TRANSFER MODELS FEATURING SEAMLESS AHD SELECTED - DETAIL SURFACES EMPLOYING ELECTRO LESS METALLIC PLATING

摘要

Several model/instrument concepts employing electroless metallic skin were considered for improvement of surface condition, accuracy and cost of contoured-gecasetry convective heat transfer models. A mated seal-infinite slab approach was chosen for development and evaluation in a hypersonic wind tunnel. The plated slab model consists of an epoxy casting containing fine constantan wires accurately placed at specified surface locations. An electroless alloy is deposited on the plastic surface that provides a hard, uniformly thick, seamless skin.nA selective electroless plating procedure was used to deposit scaled heatshield tiles on the lower surface of a 0.0175-scale Orbiter model Twenty-five percent of the tiles ware randomly selected and plated to a height of 0.001-inch. The purpose is to assess heating effects of surface roughness simulating misalignment of tiles that may occur during manufacture of the spacecraft.