BASIC PERFORMANCE OF A MULTILAYER INSULATION SYSTEM CONTAINING 20 TO 160 LAYERS

摘要

An experimental investigation was conducted to determine the thermal effectiveness of an alumi-nized Mylar-silk net insulation system containing up to 160 layers. The experimentally mea¬sured heat flux was compared with results predicted by using (1) a previously developed semi-empirical equation and (2) an effective-thermal-conductivity value. All tests were conducted at a nominal hot-boundary temperature of 294 K (530° R) with liquid hydrogen as the heat sink. The experimental results show that the insulation performed as expected and that both the semi-empirical equation and effective thermal conductivity of a small number of layers were adequate in predicting the thermal performance of a large number of layers of insulation.