Numerical investigation of the hydrothermal performance in novel cooled panels with flow-guided pin fins and secondary channels for reusable launch vehicles

T.Y. Zhang, H.Z. Liu, Q.G. Fei, Q. Chen and D.H. Zhang

Energy, 2025, vol. 324, issue C

Abstract: To enhance the performance of active thermal protection systems for reusable launch vehicles, a cooled panel (132 mm × 100 mm × 6 mm) with flow-guided pin fins and secondary channels (CP-FGFSC) is proposed, and streamlined ribs are introduced to reduce drag (CP-LDHFSC) in this study. The hydrothermal performance of cooled panels is numerically investigated and compared with the cooled panel featuring front triangle ribs and secondary channels (CP-FTRSC) at the Reynolds number (Re) from 84 to 670. It shows that, due to the enhanced fluid guidance and vortex suppression of flow-guided pin fins, the relative Nusselt number of CP-FGFSC is improved by up to 11.4 % compared with CP-FTRSC at Re = 670. The introduction of the LD-Haack curve significantly reduces flow resistance, resulting in the performance evaluation criterion (PEC) of 2.036 for CP-LDHFSC at Re = 670, which is a 7.4 % improvement compared to CP-FTRSC. After structural parameter optimization, the PEC of CP-LDHFSC can be improved to 2.15 at Re = 670 when relative rib width/length/position is 0.2/0.2/0.7 and relative secondary channel width is 0.75, representing a 5.6 % increase compared with the pre-optimized value. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the rib width and secondary channel width are critical parameters for structural design, with impacts on the comprehensive performance of 0.487 and 0.336, respectively.

Keywords: Minichannel heat sinks; Secondary channel; Rib; Pin fin; Cooled panel; Reusable launch vehicles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:324:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225016330

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.135991

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