Contact Sensitivity Analysis of a Coupling Pin For the Nose Cap of a Launch Re-entry Vehicle

The present work has been developed within CIRA Unmanned Space Vehicle-Sharp Hot Structures (USV-SHS) activities. The Sharp Hot Structures Project (SHS) is focused on the applicability of modified diboride compounds to the manufacturing of high performance and slender shaped hot structures. The final products of the research are, in the short term, an innovative nose cap and a wing leading edge. The aim of the work is to size the coupling pin and the corresponding contact area with massive ZrB2-SiC and C/SiC-Graphite dome, ensuring structural integrity of the components connected. The use of a coupling pin is necessary since adhesive ceramics present several attaching difficulties. The design variables considered in the thermal-structural design of the coupling pin are: pin length, hole length, pin and hole shapes and diameters. The coupling pin is made of the same material of the massive cone to avoid thermal stresses caused by the mismatch between coefficients of thermal expansion; however, metallic coupling pin will be analysed because of the reduced manufacturing costs. The results of this work will be useful to prepare a prototype of the Nose cap concept that will be on-ground tested in the arc-jet Plasma Wind Tunnel, available at CIRA. Ansys commercial code, employing finite element modelling, has been adopted in order to perform non-linear contact analyses.