Lightweight honeycomb thermal insulation structure
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsJohn R. Hull, Cameron Kai-Ming Chen, John Dalton Williams
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A honeycomb thermal insulation structure may comprise a first facesheet, a second facesheet, and a honeycomb core between the first facesheet and the second facesheet. The honeycomb core may include a plurality of honeycomb unit cells each composed of walls having a height and spaced by a distance. The walls of the honeycomb cells may have perforations. The honeycomb thermal insulation structure may further comprise a non-convective gas loaded in the honeycomb unit cells between the walls. A flow of the gas through the perforations may be substantially absent.
Claims20
A honeycomb thermal insulation structure (16), comprising:
- a first facesheet (18);
- a second facesheet (20);
- a honeycomb core (22) between the first facesheet and the second facesheet, the honeycomb core including a plurality of honeycomb unit cells (24) each composed of walls (26) having a height and spaced by a distance, the walls of the honeycomb unit cells having a plurality of perforations (28) that extend from about 70% to about 90% through the thickness of the walls;
- and
- a non-convective gas loaded in the honeycomb unit cells between the walls, a flow of the gas through the perforations being substantially absent.
A honeycomb thermal insulation structure (56) for a cryogenically cooled component (14), comprising:
- a plurality of facesheets (58);
- at least one honeycomb core (60) disposed between the plurality of facesheets, the honeycomb core including a plurality of pairs of rods (68) extending through a height of the honeycomb core and penetrating the facesheets, the honeycomb core further including a plurality of honeycomb unit cells (62) having walls (64) joined at corners (66) and formed by a thin film (72) threaded between the pairs of rods, each of the pairs of rods being located at one of the corners;
- and
- a gas loaded in the honeycomb unit cells between the walls, a height of the walls and a distance between the walls of the honeycomb unit cells being selected so that heat transfer through the gas by convection is absent.
A honeycomb thermal insulation structure (16), comprising:
- a first facesheet (18);
- a second facesheet (20);
- a honeycomb core (22) between the first facesheet and the second facesheet, the honeycomb core including a plurality of honeycomb unit cells (24) each composed of walls (26) having a height and spaced by a distance, the walls of the honeycomb unit cells having a plurality of perforations (28), the perforations providing the walls with a porosity;
- and
- a non-convective gas loaded in the honeycomb unit cells between the walls, a flow of the gas through the perforations being substantially absent, the height of the walls and the distance between the walls being selected to provide sufficient friction between the walls and the gas so that heat transfer through the gas by convection is substantially absent, the porosity of the walls being selected so that the friction between the gas and the walls is substantially equivalent to a friction between the gas and identical but non-perforated walls having the same height and the same distance between the walls.
A honeycomb thermal insulation structure (16), comprising:
- a first facesheet (18);
- a second facesheet (20);
- a honeycomb core (22) between the first facesheet and the second facesheet, the honeycomb core including a plurality of honeycomb unit cells (24) each composed of walls (26) having a height and spaced by a distance, the walls of the honeycomb unit cells having a plurality of perforations (28), each of the walls including a first wall member (36) having perforations, a second wall member (38) having perforations, and a film (40) between the first wall member and the second wall member;
- and
- a non-convective gas loaded in the honeycomb unit cells between the walls, a flow of the gas through the perforations being substantially absent.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.