• thermal control
• TPS

The purpose of this project is to study the behaviour of the new concept of Thermal Protection System to be used in the DART test-vehicle by means of Finite Element Method analysis. Finite Element Modelling was undertaken with the FEM software ABAQUS, a powerful tool capable of solving, among other problems, non-linear transient heat transfer analyses.
The simulations of some configurations of the cooling mechanism under particular conditions need to be undertaken, and the best configuration for the real application has to be determined. The expected outputs of this thesis work are:
• A fully operational model of the laboratory version of the cooling mechanism that accurately simulates the heat load tests performed in the experiments.
• A better knowledge of the phenomena that take place in the cooling mechanism, their relative importance and the most convenient way of modelling them.
• A better knowledge both of the behaviour of the steam flow and of the effects of the convection phenomena inside the gap between the outer skin and the inner porous medium sheet.
• An estimate of the cooling capability of this thermal protection system.