System and method for cooling a leading edge of a high speed vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11352120-B2
Application number	US-201916685563-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 15, 2019
Priority date	Nov 15, 2019
Publication date	Jun 7, 2022
Grant date	Jun 7, 2022

Abstract

A hypersonic aircraft includes one or more leading edge assemblies that are designed to cool the leading edge of certain portions of the hypersonic aircraft that are exposed to high thermal loads, such as extremely high temperatures and/or thermal gradients. Specifically, the leading edge assemblies may include an outer wall tapered to a leading edge or stagnation point. A coolant supply may be in fluid communication with at least one fluid passageway that passes through the outer wall to deliver a flow of cooling fluid to the stagnation point. In addition, a nose cover is positioned at least partially over or within the at least one fluid passageway and is formed from a material that ablates or melts when the leading edge is exposed to a predetermined critical temperature, the nose cover being configured for restricting the flow of coolant until the nose cover is ablated or melted away.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A leading edge assembly for a hypersonic vehicle, the leading edge assembly comprising:
an outer wall that is tapered to a leading edge;
at least one fluid passageway that passes through the outer wall;
a coolant supply in fluid communication with the at least one fluid passageway for providing a flow of coolant through the at least one fluid passageway;
a porous tip joined to a forward end of the outer wall and extending forward toward the leading edge, wherein the at least one fluid passageway is defined within the porous tip and the coolant supply is in fluid communication with the porous tip for providing the flow of coolant through the porous tip, wherein the porous tip defines a radial direction extending from a center of curvature of the porous tip, and wherein a porosity within the porous tip varies along the radial direction; and
a nose cover positioned at least partially over or within the at least one fluid passageway and being formed from a material that ablates or melts when the leading edge is exposed to a predetermined critical temperature, the nose cover being configured for restricting the flow of coolant until the nose cover is ablated or melted away.

2. The leading edge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the nose cover is positioned at least partially within the at least one fluid passageway.

3. The leading edge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the outer wall comprises a first wall section and a second wall section separated by one or more coolant reservoirs, wherein the nose cover extends from the first wall section all the way around the leading edge to the second wall section.

4. The leading edge assembly of claim 3 , further comprising:
an aft bulkhead, wherein the one or more coolant reservoirs are defined between the aft bulkhead, the first wall section, the second wall section, and the nose cover, and wherein the one or more coolant reservoirs have a fixed volume and is charged with coolant such that a coolant pressure increases as an operating temperature of the leading edge assembly increases.

5. The leading edge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the porous tip comprises a first porous region at the leading edge and a second porous region downstream from the leading edge, wherein a first porosity of the first porous region is greater than a second porosity of the second porous region.

6. The leading edge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the porous tip defines a porosity that progressively increases toward the leading edge.

7. The leading edge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the porous tip further defines a circumferential direction, the porous tip comprising a plurality of porous segments spaced apart along the circumferential direction, each of the plurality of porous segments extending from an inner surface of the porous tip to an outer surface of the porous tip, wherein at least two of the plurality of porous segments have different porosities.

8. The leading edge assembly of claim 7 , where a porosity within at least one of the plurality of porous segments varies along the radial direction.

9. The leading edge assembly of claim 7 , wherein at least two of the plurality of porous segments are separated by an internal barrier.

10. The leading edge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the nose cover is impermeable by the flow of coolant.

11. The leading edge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the leading edge assembly is positioned on a wing, a nosecone, an engine cowl, an engine inlet, a fuselage, or a stabilizer of the hypersonic vehicle.

12. The leading edge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the coolant supply comprises:
a mechanical pump for pressurizing and supplying the flow of coolant or a pressurized tank for storing the flow of coolant.

13. The leading edge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the outer wall is constructed from at least one of aluminum, titanium, titanium aluminide, tungsten, tungsten alloy, nickel superalloy, refractory metal, single-crystal metal, ceramic, ceramic matrix composite, or carbon-carbon composite.

14. The leading edge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the outer wall is integrally formed as a single monolithic component.

15. A leading edge assembly for a hypersonic vehicle, the leading edge assembly comprising:
an outer wall that is tapered to a leading edge;
at least one fluid passageway that passes through the outer wall;
a porous tip joined to a forward end of the outer wall and extending forward toward the leading edge, wherein the at least one fluid passageway is defined within the porous tip and the coolant supply is in fluid communication with the porous tip for providing the flow of coolant through the porous tip, wherein the porous tip defines a radial direction extending from a center of curvature of the porous tip, and wherein a porosity within the porous tip varies along the radial direction; and
a nose cover at least partially blocking the at least one fluid passageway and being formed from a material that ablates or melts when the leading edge is exposed to a predetermined critical temperature, the nose cover being configured for restricting a flow of coolant until the nose cover is ablated or melted away.

16. The leading edge assembly of claim 15 , further comprising:
a coolant supply in fluid communication with the at least one fluid passageway for providing the flow of coolant through the at least one fluid passageway.

17. The leading edge assembly of claim 15 , wherein the nose cover is positioned over the porous tip.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Rathay Nicholas William
• Rush Brian Magann
• Natsui Gregory Alexander

Classifications

• B64C5/00

  Stabilising surfaces · CPC title

• B64C30/00

  Supersonic type aircraft · CPC title

• B64C1/38 Primary

  Constructions adapted to reduce effects of aerodynamic or other external heating · CPC title

• B64D13/006

  the air being used to cool structural parts of the aircraft · CPC title

• B64C3/28

  Leading or trailing edges attached to primary structures, e.g. forming fixed slots · CPC title