THERMAL PROTECTION SYSTEM ANALYSIS IN AN INTEGRATED DESIGN ENVIRONMENT FOR LAUNCH VEHICLES

The US Air Force's Reusable Military Launch System study team has continued its development of an integrated design environment for space launch vehicle design, analysis and assessment by adding objects and methods in the discipline of aerothermodyn amics. This discipline is needed for the design and analysis of the vehicle's thermal protection system. The team has previously developed and documented the integration of other conceptual-level disciplines into a knowledgebased engineering environment. Furthermore, the team has previously documented the advantages of using a collaborative engineering framework for the design and assessment of complex engineered products. While these previous discussions will be summarized for context, this effort focuses on the tools, objects and data needed for the design and analysis of space launch vehicle thermal protection systems. The result of this development is an improved launch vehicle synthesis environment, but still with only a conceptual or early preliminary-level of capability. Finally, this paper outlines a few of the next steps that will need to be taken to increase the fidelity of the integrated design environment.