Distribution of radiation heat flux on a plane receiver produced by a multi-quartz lamps heating system for thermal-structural tests

Abstract

High heat flux generated by quartz lamps can be employed to provide a simulated aerodynamic heating environment for thermal-structural tests on spacecraft. To provide a general numerical solution for radiant heating problems and to investigate the properties of radiation heat flux distributions generated by quartz lamp heaters, a quartz lamp array radiation model is proposed based on Monte Carlo method (MCM). The performance of this numerical model, including result uncertainty and computation time, has been examined. The model is validated through the design and execution of experiments under various radiation intensities. Good agreements between the numerical and experimental results indicates the accuracy and stability of the numerical model for predicting radiation heat flux over a target plane. Then, the impact of various factors on the uniformity and efficiency of radiation dispersal are explored. The results indicate that increasing heater-receiver distance is an efficient strategy for improving radiation uniformity. The reflector is a crucial device for increasing heater efficiency. The edge effect reduces the heat flux within a 10 cm radius of filament ends. A neighboring lamp interval of less than 5 cm is an excellent choice for avoiding radiation troughs and increasing the heater's efficiency.

Keywords

• Aerodynamic heating
• Radiation distribution
• Quartz lamps
• Uniformity analysis
• Monte Carlo method
• Thermal-structural test